Friday 17th June 2016

IMF, NEC Welcome Decision to End Currency Peg CBN expects naira to settle at N250/$ in the long run Equities sustain bull run, naira appreciates on parallel market Goddy Egene and Obinna Chima with agency report The International Monetary Fund (MF) and National Economic Council (NEC) both endorsed the decision by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to abandon

its currency peg and adopt a flexible exchange rate policy, saying this was important to reduce fiscal and external imbalances.

Reuters quoted IMF

spokesman Gerry Rice to have told a weekly news briefing that the fund wants to see how effectively the naira exchange market functions once the new float system is

put into effect next Monday.

“I think the announcement yesterday to revise the guidelines for the operation of the Nigerian interbank foreign exchange market is

an important and welcome step,” Rice told reporters. “It will provide greater flexibility in that market, the foreign exchange market.”

Senior IMF officials,

Buhari to Return on Sunday… Page 10

including Managing Director Christine Lagarde, had urged Nigerian officials to allow the naira to fall to absorb some of the shocks to the economy from a plunge in oil prices and revenues.

Continued on page 11

Friday 17 June, 2016 Vol 21. No 7722. Price: N250

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House Probes Three Members on Allegations of Sex Solicitation in US Visas of accused lawmakers revoked as Gbillah, Ikom head to court, deny wrongdoing Damilola Oyedele in Abuja The House of Representatives has said it has commenced investigations into allegations of sexual misconduct against three of its members by the United States embassy, even as the embassy has already revoked the US visas of the accused lawmakers.

The US ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. James Entwistle, in a June 9, 2016 letter to Speaker Yakubu Dogara, accused three lawmakers of attempted rape and solicitation for sex, while on a recent trip to Cleveland, Ohio for the International Visitors Leadership Programme.

Continued on page 10

Five States Meet Conditions to Access N90bn Loan

Lagos turns down facility States rush to meet Monday deadline for submission of documents Tobi Soniyi in Abuja The federal government yesterday said that five states had met the 22 stringent conditions it stipulated for the 36 states of the federation seeking to draw from the N90

billion budget support loan facility in order to help them meet their obligations.

Akwa Ibom State Governor, Mr. Udom Emmanuel, who disclosed this while briefing Continued on page 11

Former Customs Boss, Dikko Inde,Amb BUHARI, TINUBU ‘HOLIDAY’ TOGETHER Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Bola Tinubu (left) and President Muhammadu Buhari, when Hassan Adamu in EFCC Net… Page 57 National the former Lagos State governor met with the president in London… yesterday

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Buhari to Return on Sunday Tobi Soniyi in Abuja President Muhammadu Buhari will return from the United Kingdom on Sunday, Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo has said.

Osinbajo, who spoke with

State House correspondents yesterday shortly before the commencement of the National Economic Council (NEC) meeting, said he spoke with the president yesterday.

He said: “I spoke with him yesterday evening and

I think it is just the best that he takes the weekend off. He will certainly be back on Sunday.

“I think the most straightforward thing is when he will be back. He will be back on Sunday. There is no point rushing back on Friday

or something like that.

“He will just take the weekend off and be back on Sunday. He is in perfect health and ready to resume work on Monday morning.

“Mr. President is in good condition, he is fine, he is

very well. He should take a day or two off in London and rest a bit and come back hale and hearty on Sunday and be ready for work on Monday.

“So we expect him back on Sunday.”

Based on the 10-day

vacation he said he was going to be away, the president was expected back yesterday.

During his stay in the UK, the president was expected to have seen an ear, nose, and throat specialist on a persistent ear infection.

completely innocent.

“It is also unfortunate that at a meeting with your Deputy Chief of Mission in Abuja the attempt by members of the group to express their exception to and displeasure with these allegations, the lack of proper investigation and the tainting of the image of the entire group was considered to be a very negative reaction by your Chief of Mission and your good self.

“I suppose the US Embassy expected renowned personalities in Nigeria like Members of the House of Representatives to accept complicity in such malicious and spurious allegations without proper investigation or evidence or any opportunity to defend themselves.

“Considering the psychological trauma, irredeemable defamation of my character and reputation before my spouse, children, family, colleagues, leadership, constituents and the general Nigerian and global public and the incalculable damage to my political career, I intend to take the following actions: 1) Institute legal action in the United States against the Marriot Hotel Brand, the Cleveland Council of World Affairs and the US State Department requesting for damages, comprehensive investigation of these allegations to exonerate myself and a formal globally publicised apology.

2) Institute legal action in Nigeria against the US Embassy in Nigeria also requesting for damages, comprehensive investigation of these allegations and a formal globally publicised apology.

3) Demand that the US Embassy and the US State Department (regardless of your revocation of my US visa) allow me to travel to Cleveland even at my own expense to confront my accuser and confirm my innocence. I otherwise have no desire to travel to a country that appears to pay only lip service to the ideals they claim to uphold.

4) Demand for the full video/ cctv footage covering the period of our entire stay at the hotel; this should clearly show the movements and activities of every member of the group throughout the hotel.

“It is unfortunate that I have to write to your good self under these circumstances but I believe you will use your good office to redress this very grave injustice and redeem the image of your country.”

Another House member, who was accused of asking the hotel parting attendant to find him a prostitute, Ikom, also refuted the allegation, adding that he would take steps to clear his name.

In a statement yesterday, he said: “I wish to state unequivocally that this is false and definitely not me. This to me is a case of mistaken identity and I have already instituted measures both

legally and diplomatically to clear my name and the institution I represent. I call for patience and God's abiding wisdom at this time.”

Entwistle’s strongly worded letter to Dogara, read in part: “The US Mission took pains to confirm these allegations and the identities of the individuals with the employees of the hotel in Cleveland.

“The conduct described above left a very negative impression of Nigeria, casting a shadow on Nigeria’s National Assembly, the International Visitor Leadership Programme, and to the American hosts’ impression of Nigeria as a whole.

“Such conduct could affect some participants’ ability to travel to the United States in the future.

“While the majority of Nigerian visitors to the United States do behave appropriately, even a few Nigerians demonstrating poor judgement leads to a poor impression of the Nigerian people generally, though it is far from accurate.

“Such incidents jeopardise the ability of future programming and make host institutions and organisations less likely to welcome similar visits in the future.

“In addition, most of the members of this group reacted very negatively to my deputy when she brought this matter to their attention, further calling into question their judgement and commitment to the goals of the International Visitor Leadership Programme.

“This leads us to question whether to include National Assembly members for other similar programmes in the future.

“I request, in the strongest possible terms, you share this message with members of the National Assembly so they understand the seriousness of these issues, and the potential consequences of their actions, not only for themselves as individuals, but also for the future of such programmes designed to benefit Nigeria.”

HOUSE PROBES THREE MEMBERS ON ALLEGATIONS OF SEX SOLICITATION IN US The accused lawmakers are Hon. Mohammed Garba Gololo (Bauchi APC), Hon. Samuel Ikom (Akwa Ibom PDP) and Hon. Mark Gbillah (Benue APC) who were on the trip with seven other House members.

Gololo allegedly grabbed a housekeeper cleaning his hotel room and solicited her for sex, while Gbillah and Ikom allegedly asked hotel parking attendants to help them find prostitutes.

Spokesperson of the House, Hon. Abdulrazak Namdas, acknowledged receipt of the letter from the ambassador to the speaker.

He told THISDAY that “as a responsible parliament” the House has commenced investigations into the allegations.

“We are doing our investigations... they remain allegations until proven otherwise.

We have our laws and when investigations are conducted, we will brief you further,” he said.

Namdas however declined to explain what form the investigations would take and if they were being carried out with the US Embassy.

“None of them is before any court of law, it is a letter that alleged the development,” he said.

THISDAY however gathered that the development has thoroughly embarrassed the House leadership which nominated the participants for the US government-sponsored programme.

“This is not a good development even if nothing comes out of the allegations. It may deprive the House members of crucial exposure,” a lawmaker lamented.

Gbillah has however indicated his intention to institute legal action to clear his name and save his political career.

A copy of his response to the US Ambassador, which he made available to THISDAY, stated that he would institute legal action in the United States against the Marriot Hotel brand, the Cleveland Council of World Affairs and the US State Department requesting damages, a comprehensive investigation of the allegations to exonerate myself, and a formal globally publicised apology.

In the letter dated June 16, 2016, he stated: “It has come to my attention that via correspondence from your good self to His Excellency, Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (a copy of which I also received), you made very serious allegations against me and other members of the House of Representatives group that visited the United States in April 2016 as part of the International Visitors Leadership Programme (IVLP).

“In your letter you claimed that I was identified as one of the members of the aforementioned group who asked for the

assistance of a hotel parking attendant to solicit for prostitutes at the Residence Inn Downtown Cleveland Ohio.

“I am extremely shocked, upset, irked and embarrassed by your letter and want to categorically state that these allegations are completely false, unfounded, malicious and a calculated attempt to malign and cast aspersion on my reputation and character as a Nigerian citizen and Honourable Member of the House of Representatives and to bring disrepute to the hallowed institution of the National Assembly and the entire nation of Nigeria.

“Considering the enormity of these allegations it is instructive to note the following: 1) The US State Department and the US Embassy in Nigeria appear to have concluded on the accuracy of these allegations based on the testimony of the employees of the hotel without recourse to a response from the accused individuals or a proper forensic investigation. Paragraph 5 of your letter clearly states that 'The US Mission took the pains to confirm these allegations and the identities of the individuals with the employees of the hotel in Cleveland'. The Embassy claims the accused individuals were identified by the hotel employees from a photograph of the group. Is this the manner in which such allegations against any US citizen (not to mention Members of the US Congress) are investigated and prosecuted in the United States or does the US State Department and Embassy have so much disdain towards Nigeria and her citizens that they did not bother to carry out a proper investigation? For a country that prides itself as the bastion of Democracy, justice, the rule of law, fair hearing and human rights it is quite alarming that allegations of this magnitude can be made and confirmed without allowing the accused individuals to respond.

2) Without conclusive evidence of any sort or contact with any of the accused individuals the US State Department and US Embassy in Nigeria have less than six days after your letter to the Speaker gone ahead to revoke the US visas of accused individuals based on hearsay from the employees of the hotel in Cleveland. Affected individuals received correspondence from the US Embassy on Wednesday 15th June 2016 indicating the denial of their US visas and requesting that they bring their international passports with current US visas to the Embassy.

3) The accused individuals were not accosted with these allegations while in the US so they could immediately defend themselves, the hotel employees conveniently refrained from making these allegations while the members of the group

were in the United States and curiously decided to do so after our departure. What is the reason behind their not reporting these incidents immediately they occurred and why are we only being informed about these allegations two months after our return from the US? 4) None of the members of the group was driving a vehicle while at the hotel and would therefore have had no cause to interact with the car park attendants as the Residence Inn car park is not in front of the hotel but somewhere behind and some distance away from the hotel. You will have to go out of your way to go to the car park so video footage should clearly indicate whether or not any member of the group interacted with a hotel car park attendant.

5) Other groups comprising African Americans and other ‘people of colour’ were also occupying the Residence Inn while this group of House of Representatives members was visiting Cleveland because of the scheduled basketball game between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Atlanta Hawks at the Quicken Loans Arena which is just across the road from the hotel.

What is the certainty of the ability of the probably caucasian hotel car park attendants to accurately identify the specific members of any of the groups at the hotel as being responsible for the purported infractions?

6) The US border agency has it on record that I came into the US with my wife and baby on this trip and although the organisers did not allow them to stay with me in the hotel I was always communicating with my wife on facetime whenever I returned to the hotel. I stayed indoors on the days we had a break from our usually hectic schedule and only had cause to go to the grocery store to pick up items for my room. I wonder when it was I found the time to solicit for prostitutes from a hotel parking attendant and how I intended to bring a prostitute to my room when I had a regular facetime schedule with my wife which we never concluded until I was ready to turn in. This can very easily be verified from my log in activity on the hotels Wi-Fi service.

7) I have visited the US and several countries in the world countless times over the last several years and have stayed at countless hotels all over the world and want to dare the US government to find any instance where I have previously solicited for prostitutes from a hotel employee even when I was not a married man. I am a Hilton HHonors Diamond Member with over 1,500,000 reward points, an Intercontinental Ambassador Platinum Elite Member, a Ritz Carlton Rewards Silver member, a Marriott Rewards Member, a Starwood Preferred

Guest Member and a Fairmont Presidents Club Member. I am a member of two of the rewards programs of the parent hotel brand of the Residence Inn (Marriott Rewards and Ritz Carlton Rewards) and the record of my previous lodgings at all the hotel brands can be obtained to ascertain whether or not I have ever solicited for prostitutes from any hotel employee. Although it is very easy to obtain the previous travel history and track record of accused members, it is obvious the US State Department and the US Embassy have presumed our guilt without proper investigation because of the disdain and disrespect they have towards the average Nigerian citizen even when such citizens are Members of the Nigerian House of Representatives, a treatment they will never mete out to an ordinary American citizen who is not even a member of the US Congress.

8) It is noteworthy that a member of our group made a formal complaint to the organisers of the programme about his being defrauded to the tune of about $100 at the Renaissance Hotel Dupont Circle Washington DC but neither the US State Department nor the US Embassy in Nigeria has deemed it fit to take any action or initiate any investigation in this regard. Members of the group also expressed their dissatisfaction, displeasure and disappointment with the organisers of the programme over their inability to organise a single meeting with any member of the US congress and constraining members to meet with only one State Representative and several County Representatives and officials contrary to the initial objectives of the programme. Perhaps there are other underlying reasons behind the lacklustre attitude of the US State Department and the US Embassy towards ensuring proper investigation of these allegations.

“Your Excellency, this unfortunate and malicious situation has further been exacerbated by the fact that your Embassy by omission or commission has allowed your correspondence to the Speaker to fall into the hands of the print media in Lagos without fair hearing or upholding the rights of the concerned individuals; an employee of one of the national dailies intimated me about this and their desire to publish the story.

“This story was indeed published in the New Telegraph of Thursday, 16th June, 2016 alleging that related Members of the House of Representatives were involved in a sex scandal.

“You can imagine the incalculable damage to my reputation and image with the publication of these spurious allegations especially when I unequivocally know that I am

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T H I S D AY • FRIDAY, JUNE 17, 2016

PAGE ELEVEN IMF, NEC WELCOME DECISION TO END CURRENCY PEG IMF officials have said that Nigeria has not requested IMF financial assistance, but has been in consultation with the fund on dealing with budget shortfalls.

“As we have said before, a significant macroeconomic adjustment that Nigeria urgently needs to eliminate existing imbalances and support the competitiveness of the economy is best achieved through a credible package of policies involving fiscal discipline, monetary tightening, a flexible exchange rate regime and structural reform,” Rice said.

“Allowing the exchange rate to better reflect market forces is an integral part of that.”

In addition, NEC yesterday approved the new foreign exchange policy announced by the CBN. Akwa Ibom State Governor, Mr. Udom Emmanuel said this in Abuja while briefing State House correspondents on the outcome of the NEC meeting presided over by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, reported the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

According to Emmanuel, the CBN Governor Mr. Godwin Emefiele told the council that the foreign exchange policy would be determined by total interplay of the market forces based on demand and supply.

“Certainly, it is a welcome development. (There are) two areas that we needed to really take headlong and one is this flexible foreign exchange policy.

“And to make it a little bit more flexible right now, I think it is a welcome development.

“That is the opinion of almost everybody today who knows the advantages of having a flexible exchange policy.

“It is going to help the economy, it is going to help ease of access.

“And if you also listen to the details of what he (the CBN governor) gave, so that I don’t actually repeat what he has said, I am sure at the end of the day, head or tail, we should be better off for it.”

Naira Expected to Settle at N250/$ Meanwhile, the central bank is “reasonably optimistic” that the naira will settle at around N250 to the dollar after an initial period of weakness following a floatation on Monday, Emefiele has said in a letter to President Muhammadu Buhari.

The naira is expected to fall sharply when interbank trading begins on Monday, but the central bank said it did not have a target for the currency and the price would be “purely” market-driven. The naira traded on the black market at around 360 to the dollar yesterday.

According to Reuters, giving the first

indication of a target, Emefiele said in a June 3 letter to Buhari that the central bank hopes the naira will eventually trade at around N250 per dollar, a level the president has “approved”.

“I must assure Your Excellency that we are indeed reasonably optimistic that at some point the rate will settle around 250 naira,” Emefiele said in the letter.

The letter, which briefed Buhari on the foreign exchange plan announced on Wednesday, said it could take three to four weeks to clear a $4 billion backlog of foreign exchange demand.

Buhari for months said that he did not want the naira to be devalued, but backed a more flexible exchange rate policy when the central bank outlined its plans in May, without elaborating.

The presidency has not commented on the new regime, with Buhari's spokesman declining to comment when Reuters called on Wednesday.

The central bank could not be immediately reached for comment.

Africa’s biggest economy, which contracted by 0.4 per cent in the first quarter, faces its worst crisis in decades after the decline in oil prices since 2014 and last year's introduction of a currency peg, which prompted a large-scale capital flight.

With a likely sharp fall for the naira, Nigerian products will become relatively cheap and imports more expensive, which should stimulate the domestic economy but also lift inflation.

Buhari had previously raised concerns about the inflationary impact that a weaker currency will have on Nigeria’s poor.

Nigeria, Africa's largest crude exporter, has resisted devaluing its currency for more than a year despite other major oil producers, including Russia, Kazakhstan and Angola, allowing currencies to fall after crude prices collapsed.

Equities Sustain Rally, Naira Appreciates However, buoyed by the excitement that trailed the decision by the CBN to remove the peg on the naira and float the Nigerian currency, the stock market sustained its bull run yesterday, with the benchmark index, Nigerian Stock Exchange All-Share Index (NSE-ASI) appreciating by 2.14 per cent from 27,891.96 to close at 28,489.87, while market capitalisation added N205 billion to be at N9.785 trillion.

The volume of trading similarly rose to 618.248 million shares valued at N5.410 billion, exchanged in 6,757 deals, compared with 588.427 million shares valued at N3.477 billion in 5,088 deals the previous day.

Market analysts at Cordros Capital Limited said stocks would continue to record gains in the market as investor appetite remains strengthened by the

new flexible foreign exchange policy.

On the parallel market, the naira also appreciated by N10 yesterday to close at N360 to the dollar, stronger than the N370 to a dollar it closed the previous day.

Analysts had predicted that the new forex policy, which allows the exchange rate of the naira to be marketdetermined, would help strengthen the value of the naira exchange rate.

Speaking to journalists in Abuja on Wednesday, Emefiele said the central bank had resolved to henceforth deal with FX Primary Dealers (FXPDs) under the new arrangement. He also said the existing ban of 41 items from accessing forex from the official window would remain in place.

He said part of the objectives of the new framework, which included the introduction of the Naira-settled Over-the-Counter (OTC) FX Futures market, was to discourage people from front-loading or hoarding forex due to uncertainty.

He also assured the markets that the backlog of matured letters of credit would be cleared.

However, yields on Nigerian nairadenominated bonds rose across the board during auction on Wednesday, which was a reflection of a drop in bond prices.

The Debt Management Office (DMO) sold N112 billion worth of paper maturing in 2036, 2026 and 2020. A breakdown of this showed that the debt office sold N50 billion debt maturing in 2036 at 14.98 per cent at Wednesday’s auction, compared with 13.90 per cent at last month’s auction.

It also sold N40 billion of 2026 debt at 14.40 per cent, against 13.74 percent, and N22 billion of the 2020 debt at 14.20 per cent against 13.24 percent.

The rise in yields was a reflection of the rise in inflation, which climbed to a six-year high of 15.56 per cent in May. Commenting on the appreciation recorded by the naira yesterday, the President, Association of Bureau De Change Operators, Mr. Aminu Gwadabe blamed it on uncertainly in the informal market.

“There is a lot of fear in the market.

Those holding dollars are selling because of the fear of the unknown,” he said.

Nonetheless, the Group Managing Director of the United Bank for Africa Plc, Mr. Philips Oduoza, described the move to a flexible exchange rate regime as positive for the economy.

“This is one of the best monetary policy decisions in recent months and a very big commendation to CBN governor for this. It will turnaround the economy rapidly,” Oduoza said in response to THISDAY's enquiry.

But London-based Managing Director/Chief Economist, Africa, Standard Chartered Bank, Razia Khan, pointed out that while the CBN’s apparent embrace of currency

flexibility was positive, macroeconomic concerns were likely to persist.

According to her, how the country plans to settle accumulated backlog of forex demand was still unclear.

“The risk is that if all of this demand is brought to the newly established interbank market at the outset, the Dollar-Naira FX rate would come under significant pressure.

“By establishing guidelines for a futures market, the authorities may hope to settle some of this backlog gradually over time. With May inflation reaching 15.6 per cent year-on-year, there is likely to be limited desire for further significant FX volatility, even as the CBN embraces currency flexibility.

“A second concern is the lack of monetary tightening accompanying the move towards FX flexibility. With Nigeria’s FX reserves already pressured by deteriorating fundamentals, and oil output threatened by a new wave of Niger Delta militancy, raising the policy rate and sterilising excess liquidity in the money market may have provided a better defence of the currency.

“As things stand, Nigeria’s entire bond yield curve is currently negative with respect to headline inflation. This may make it more difficult for Nigeria to attract meaningful offshore portfolio inflows. It may also weaken domestic confidence in policy, eroding trust in the naira.

“In the absence of accompanying tightening of monetary conditions, the move to FX flexibility – with a properly market-determined FX rate – might risk further currency overshooting,” Khan added.

She also held the view that a weaker FX rate will likely boost Nigeria’s receipts from oil revenue, and help contain the overall fiscal deficit.

She added: “However, there are potentially negative implications.

The foreign exchange exposure of the Nigerian banking system, given the preference for dollar-lending in previous years, remains a key concern.

“Amuch weaker FX rate may initially bring loan deterioration, with higher system NPLs. Even in the presence of accommodative monetary policy, appetite for new bank lending may take some time to recover.

“The benefits of this policy accommodation, and hopes for an imminent resurgence in lending, may not be realised.

“Our projection is for Nigeria’s current account deficit to widen further near-term. Falling oil output will be a key source of stress on C/A receipts.

“Even with currency flexibility, this is unlikely to be fully compensated for by other inflows, at least in the near term. Nigerian FX reserves will likely remain pressured.

“More will be needed to boost confidence in the new FX regime, ensuring its workability.”

In her comment, Johannesburgbased Sub-Saharan Africa Economist at Renaissance Capital (RenCap), Yvonne Mhango, said Nigeria’s new forex rules would release a pressure valve for the economy.

“We see the economy beginning to thaw and green shoots emerge possibly as soon as a year from now. Before then, we believe the macro-picture will deteriorate. Now the question is where the market will put the naira?

“We look to the Kazakh tenge (KZT) for some guidance. Investors draw parallels between it and the naira because they are both oil-exporting currencies, and have followed similar trajectories – at least until August 2015, when Kazakhstan floated the tenge, which resulted in it depreciating by almost 30 per cent against the US dollar, over a couple of days.

“If the naira were to mimic that move next week, when trading begins, we could see the FX rate at NGN260/$1, which is close to our fair value estimate of NGN255/$1. (It is likely the central bank will anchor the FX market by setting the opening rate on 20 June.)

“However, this would just be the start. It took over six months for the KZT to fall to its low, representing an additional 50% fall. If the NGN follows this path, we may see the FX rate fall to NGN390/$1 by YE16, before retracing,” she added.

But Mhango’s colleague at RenCap, Adesoji Solanke, who is the Sub-Saharan Africa Banking Analyst/Head of Research for the financial advisory firm, in a note yesterday, stated that the FX trading and revaluation gains should be the biggest positives on the profit and loss books of banks, adding that capital and NPL risks would be the biggest potential negatives.

Also, analysts at Ecobank Nigeria stated that CBN’s actions were aimed at unlocking the interbank foreign exchange market that hitherto has been inactive due to challenges arising from sustained low oil prices, low level reserves and strong import demand.

They however expressed displeasure over the continuous ban of the 41 items, saying: “While this move may help to conserve FX reserves, we believe that this policy measure is counterproductive and will continue to damage the economy via higher inflation, slower growth and FX market uncertainty given the concerns already existing about weaker oil production in the economy.

“While the CBN did not announce any exchange rate, it is our opinion that a new exchange rate will emerge from the interbank exchange market, which will likely be above the current rate of $1:N197, at which the CBN has been selling dollars to banks.

“We think this rate is initially likely to be around $1:N285-320 as pent-up demand for dollar is released onto the market.

“Over time, the move is likely to increase the supply of US$ liquidity to the interbank market as remitters and exporters are likely to be more willing to sell dollars at the interbank rate.

“Similarly, we believe that investors who have been sitting on the sidelines for fear of not being able to get dollar out of the economy will now be more willing to commit.

“Overall this greater flexibility will be positive for the economy as it will improve access to foreign exchange (albeit at a higher rate) for firms which have been struggling to buy hard currency.”

Also, Cyprus-based Research Analyst at Forex Time (FXTM), Lukman Otunuga, in a note yesterday said global markets received a pleasant surprise during trading on Wednesday following the CBN’s “unanticipated decision to de-peg the naira against the dollar in an effort to revive economic growth”.

“For an extended period, the incessant decline in oil prices have slashed the nation’s foreign exchange earnings, while the dollar peg heavily eroded reserves which simply pressured the nation further.

“With fears mounting that a recession could be pending in second quarter amid depressed oil prices, the central bank’s move to de-peg the naira may have mitigated some concerns, consequently boosting sentiment.

“Although the naira may be set to depreciate to unfathomable levels as the natural forces of supply and demand determine its true value on the free floating exchange, this could encourage domestic import substitution, while re-attracting foreign investors.

“As of now, the CBN will need to act with haste by hiking rates, as ongoing naira weakness may punish Nigerians further while causing inflation to spiral uncontrollably,” he said.

The Head, Investment Research, WSTC, Mr. Tola Oni, said the new forex policy signposts the termination of a protracted period of constriction of trade and capital flows.

“The liberalisation of the FX market will improve confidence in the CBN’s FX management and attract foreign portfolio and direct investments.

“The introduction of the FX OTC futures markets should subdue volatility in the spot market and foster appropriate planning of capital intensive projects in the real sector.

“The liberalisation of the FX market is a necessary condition for a rebound of the domestic economy. Thus, we expect improvement in economic activities.

“However, we believe that the retention of the 41 excluded items from the FX interbank market (given the inability to meet demand through domestic supply) remains an inhibiting factor to the realisation of the full economic benefits of an efficient market,” Oni stated.

lifelines provided by the federal government to help states to meet their obligations, including the payment of salaries of civil servants in the states.

President Muhammadu Buhari had in July last year approved a N804.7 billion intervention package to help bankrupt states pay salaries.

A repayment plan was also worked out on how the states would meet those obligations.

Also, the federal government had deferred up to N10.9 billion obligatory repayments due from states for April this year in respect of their restructured bailout loan obligations.

Last Tuesday, it announced a N90 billion bond for the states with 22 stringent conditions attached to it.

The conditions are contained in its Fiscal Sustainability Plan (FSP) Fiscal Framework for Sub-National Governments (States) in Nigeria

which the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, released at a stakeholders’ meeting attended by the 36 states Commissioners for Finance.

The conditions followed a report by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences (ICPC) which showed that most of the states had diverted the bailout funds earlier given to them.

Emmanuel also stated that the federal government owed the states for federal projects executed by them and a reconciliation of the accounts between states and the federal government was ongoing.

He explained that while the reconciliation was ongoing, states should have access to funds to address their needs. This, he said, explained the rationale behind the N90 billion facility.

He said: “It doesn’t actually mean that states which will take

this money do not have something acruable also from the federal government, pending the time we reconcile our books.

“The federal government may have some balances to settle the state government but in the meantime while we are awaiting for the reconciliation to be concluded, we had to open the window so we can have access to liquidity and implement our 2016 budgets, I think that was the whole idea.”

He said the Minister of Finance reported to the council that the balance in the Excess Crude Account (ECA) as at June 15, 2016 stood at $2.261 billion He said that the minister also informed the council that the full report on the forensic audit instituted on the revenue accruals into the NNPC and other revenue generating agencies would be made available to them when it is ready.

FIVE STATES MEET CONDITIONS TO ACCESS N90BN LOAN State House correspondents at the completion of the National Economic Council (NEC) meeting held at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, said the loan would attract a nine per cent interest rate.

He however said that one state had declined to access the loan, but did not disclose the identity of the five states that had met the criteria to access the loan, nor the one that turned it down.

However, a presidency source who was privy to the deliberations at the council meeting said Lagos was the state that turned down the loan.

The source added that the deadline for the submission of the documents by the states interested in the facility is Monday and was not sure that just five of them had qualified for the loan.

"I don't know why the Akwa Ibom governor said five states had

met the criteria for the loan. May be he is referring to those who have submitted their documents to the Ministry of Finance already, but the ministry is still expecting others to do so by Monday which is the deadline for the submission of their documents.

"As you know, they also have to get the approval of their state assemblies before applying for the loan, so I expect that more applications would pour in between now and Monday.

"What I know for certain is that only Lagos State has said it is not interested. Also Anambra has a policy of not taking loans, so the ministry might not hear from the state, otherwise, it is wrong to say that only five states have met the criteria when the finance ministry is still expecting their applications and has not started evaluating them," the presidency

source informed THISDAY. According to Emmanuel, the loan will be disbursed after the next meeting of the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC).

Udom said it was not compulsory for states to access the facility but was a lifeline made available to them as a result of the economic crunch that has hit the country today.

He said: “It is just to make this available, it is not compulsory. What is important is, people have access to a lifeline? You see what is happening today is not peculiar to Nigeria as a country, you know the impact of the fall in crude oil price that has actually impacted oil producing countries like Nigeria.

“What we are looking are the solutions, we must provide a lifeline for people to survive and to move on. I don’t think it is too much for the government to do.”

This is the third in a series of

12

FRIDAY, JUNE 17, 2016 • T H I S D AY

NEWS

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

Kachikwu Visits Maritime University Site

Sylvester Idowu in Warri

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, yesterday paid a surprise visit to the site of the contentious Maritime University at Okerenkoko, Gbaramatu kingdom in Warri South West Local Government Area of Delta State.

The minister was said to have been directed by President Muhammadu Buhari to embark on the trip.

The visit to Kurutie, the site of the institution, came barely four days after both Kachikwu and Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, openly disagreed over the propriety or otherwise of the institution.

“We can’t take further chances anymore, president directed the minister to embark on the trip to have an on-the-spot assessment of things,” a source disclosed.

The source further disclosed that the minister was considering a bill to the National Assembly for the conversion of the school to the Nigerian National Petroleum Academy. But the bill will come in form of an executive bill to be presented by President Buhari.

Although those on the minister’s delegation were sketchy as at press time, a prominent Gbaramatu leader, Chief Daniel Ekpebide, led the team to the temporary site of the university in Kurutie as well as the ongoing permanent site at Okerenkoko.

Both Kachikwu and Amaechi had disagreed at a town hall meeting in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital on Monday over the sustenability of the university.

The transportation minister had said: “I am not against the university. I hope you people appreciate that. My argument about Okerenkoko is that the land

alone is N13 billion. If you give me N13 billion I will buy half of Lagos. That N13 billion has built the university already so there is no need to spend more money.

“Let Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) retrieve the money from them and then release them and we would build the university. I believe the federal government has no money to continue. When we have money we would continue.

“The Minister of State for Petroleum has whispered to me that he would look for the money to continue...Minister, bring it to me and I will continue,” he said However, responding to Amaechi, Kachikwu did not only oppose the transport minister’s position but was emphatic that the university, which has been embroiled in controversy, would be developed.

According to him, much has gone into the property, therefore, he will ensure that the university will be developed, as it doesn’t make sense to “throw away the baby with the bath water.

“First let me say on Maritime University, I disagree with the Minister of Transportation. Any facility that is placed in the South-south, we should work towards developing it. I don’t care the circumstances under which we are placed.

“It is not my position to determine whether land was valued at N19 billion or N10 billion or N3 billion. The appropriate institutions which are the court systems will determine that.

“That has nothing to do with the development of the infrastructure. As far as I know, so much has gone into that property.

So much fiscal assets are being developed. We are not going to

Mo Ibrahim Foundation Announces No Winner of 2015 Ibrahim Prize The Mo Ibrahim Foundation has announced that there was no winner of the 2015 Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership, a statement issued by the foundation stated yesterday.

The announcement was made following a meeting of the independent Prize Committee chaired by Dr. Salim Ahmed Salim.

Commenting on the decision of the Prize Committee, Mo Ibrahim, Chairman of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, said: “The board respects the decision of the independent Prize Committee.

When we launched the prize ten years ago, we deliberately set a very high bar.

“We want the prize to shine a spotlight on outstanding leadership to provide role models right across society, as well as supporting laureates to continue to serve the continent by sharing their wisdom and experience.”

The candidates for the Ibrahim Prize are all former African executive heads of state or government who have left their office during the last

three calendar years, having been democratically elected and served their constitutionally mandated term.

The Prize Committee meets on a regular basis to review eligible candidates and has begun considering candidates for the 2016 Ibrahim Prize.

Since being launched in 2006, the Ibrahim Prize has been awarded four times. The previous laureates were President Hifikepunye Pohamba of Namibia (2014), President Pedro Pires of Cape Verde (2011), President Festus Mogae of Botswana (2008), and President Joaquim Chissano of Mozambique (2007). Nelson Mandela was the inaugural honorary laureate in 2007.

The Ibrahim Prize is the largest annually awarded prize in the world, consisting of: US$5 million over 10 years and US$200,000 per year for life thereafter.

It is also possible for Ibrahim laureates to apply for an additional US$200,000 per year for philanthropic activities.

throw away the baby with the bath water. We will deal with the issues but the university will be developed.

“If he doesn’t want it in maritime, I will take it to petroleum,” he said.

According to the source, the minister had a conversation with the president on the raging issue of the university and he was directed to visit the site for an on-the-spot assessment.

The presidential directive was obtained after the junior minister conferred with relevant security chiefs, including the National Security Adviser (NSA).

The source said: “we should de-emphasise the disagreement of the ministers and focus more on the need to forge ahead in spite of all we are going through. If

the petroleum minister proposed to the president to visit the site and see to the possibility of a national petroleum academy, what is wrong in that?

“It is still at the level of proposal but something urgent needs to be done and it will be done sooner than later because such move to establish it such that requires the National Assembly and we are sure the president will present an executive bill to that effect,” he said.

Also last night, Kachikwu held a closed door meeting with the monarch and traditional chiefs of Gbaramatu kingdom.

THISDAY learnt that similar meetings were also held in Asaba, the state capital, where he met with Governor Ifeanyi Okowa and his deputy, Kingsley Otuaro,

and prominent Ijaw leaders on Wednesday night.

Government sources disclosed that the Wednesday meeting prompted the minister’s unscheduled visit to Oporoza, traditional headquarters of Gbaramatu kingdom and the site for the take-off of the controversial Federal Maritime University, Kurutie.

It was gathered that the Wednesday’s meeting with the governor also included the members of the recently inaugurated Delta State Advocacy Committee Against Vandalism, where the report of the committee was also presented to him.

Kachikwu’s visit was part of moves by the federal government, sources said, to

pacify members of the Niger Delta Avengers, whom claimed responsibility for series of attacks on oil facilities across the Niger Delta in recent times.

The minister was said to have been presented with an album containing photo gallery of the temporal site of the university by Oboro-Gbaraun II, Aketekpe, Agadagba, the Pere of Gbaramatu kingdom.

THISDAY further learnt that Kachikwu who flew to Gbaramatu with on a chopper from the Osubi Airstrip in Okpe Council Area of the state, also inspected Oporoza Guest House and Chief Government Ekpemupolo’s (aka Tompolo) house alleged to have been vandalised by military operatives.

ON-SPOT-TOUR

Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Ibe Emmanuel Kachikwu (middle) and members of the Kurutie community during inspection of the Nigerian Maritime University, Kurutie in Warri South West Local Government Area of Delta State.....yesterday

Senate Passes Bill to Compel FG to Patronise Nigerian Products ’Ajaokuta steel can produce in full capacity’ OmololuOgunmadeinAbuja The Senate yesterday passed an amendment to Public Procurement Act 2007 with provisions which mandate governments at all levels to patronise locally-manufactured products.

The bill was passed after the consideration of the report of the Senate Committee on Public Procurement presented by its Chairman, Senator Joshua Dariye (Plateau Central).

Tagged ‘ABill for anAct toAmend the Public ProcurementAct to Provide for and Adopt a Local Content Policy and Timely Completion of Procurement Processes and Other Related Matters,’ the bill provides amendments to some sections of the 2007 Procurement Act with the intention to promote the purchase of locally manufactured goods and also ensure speedy completion of projects.

Presenting the report, Dariye said

the bill amended Section 15(1) of the Act by inserting additional clauses to close the gap created by the Act “as we have witnessed in the recent arms procurement saga.”

He added: “Similarly, the issue of disposal which is an integral aspect of procurement has been aptly captured by the amendment in the new sub-clause 1(e). The committee has equally sustained the amendments of section 34(1,2) sought by the bill for the purpose of patronizing made in Nigeria goods: this will go a long way to encourage our Nigerian manufacturers.

“The amendment proposed by the bill in section 35 is to review upwards the mobilisation fee from 15 per cent to 25 per cent that may be paid to a supplier or contractor.

This is aimed at enhancing timely completion of Procurement Processes at various phases.”

The Senate also approved the inclusion of Nigerian Institution of

Architects and the Nigerian Institute of Quantity Survey as Members of the National Council on Public Procurement.

After adopting the committee’s report and the subsequent conclusion of clause-by-clause consideration, the bill passed third reading and was proclaimed as passed.

In his remark, Senate President Bukola Saraki said the new amendments would enhance the nation’s economy.

“We all have a role to play to ensure that the Executive comply especially in the area of giving first priority to locally produced goods.

This is has helped many countries to develop when they had issues of downturn in their economy.

“One of the things that we have done today is also trying to shorten the process of awarding contracts; this will go a long way in helping budget implementation. It would go a long way in ensuring that most of the funds

are available as quickly as possible and jobs are actually completed. I want to commend my colleagues for passing this bill,” he said.

Also yesterday, the Sole Administrator of Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited, Isah Onobere, said one of the 43 plants installed in the complex was capable of producing 600, 000 tonnes of steel annually. He also said the quantity could cover a 10, 000 kilometres of rail network across the country.

Onobere who stated this at a public hearing organised by the Senate Committee on Privatisation, said the company required N80 billion to put the plant into full capacity use.

According to him, the firm would put together a business proposal to the federal government to accommodate it in the memorandum of understanding recently signed with the Chinese government on the construction of two major rail tracks across the country.

13

FRIDAY, JUNE 17, 2016 • T H I S D AY

NEWS

Sheriff was Validly Removed, PDP Tells Court

Port Harcourt national convention was duly convened by NEC Party leaders warn security agencies against bias

Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja and Ernest Chinwo in Port Harcourt The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday told the Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt that former acting National Chairman of the party, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, was validly removed by the legally constituted May 21, 2016, National Convention of the party which was held in Port Harcourt River State.

The PDP further declared that the caretaker committee of the party headed by Senator Ahmed Makarfi was duly appointed in line with the constitution of the party.

The party also stated that the national convention was convened by the National Executive Committee (NEC) headed by the former National acting Chairman, Sheriff, who himself participated in preconvention events including his participation in the screening exercise.

Making the submission on behalf of the PDP at the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt presided over by Justice Abdullahi Liman, counsel to the PDP, Oladejo Laminkanra (SAN), in an originating summons, stated that: “Sheriff submitted himself for screening at the Port Harcourt national convention. Realising that he has lost his bid to be national chairman, Sheriff alone without consent and consultations with the NEC, claimed he postponed the convention. Sheriff, had no such powers to postpone a convention approved by the NEC.” Submitting further, the PDP averred that: “Sheriff is not the chairman of PDP. He was never elected at any convention and he is subject to the extant judgment of AB Mohammed J (FCT High Court, which Sheriff is curiously seeking to enforce.

“The FCT High Court Justice AB Mohammed had in judgment of May 18, 2016, in FCT/CV/1443/2016 rejected Sheriff’s argument that he is PDP chairman until 2016.”

The PDP argued that no court stopped the party from holding its national convention.

It added that the Constitution of the PDP was also never suspended, hence the national convention derived its powers from the party’s constitution.

The party stated that the interim order of the Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt stopping Sheriff from parading himself as PDP chairman was still subsisting.

The PDP stated: “The interim orders could not possibly lapse when Sheriff had an application asking court to set aside same order. It could not possibly lapse when Sheriff was asking the named PDP to be struck out from the suit.

“An interim order met with the applications mentioned does not lapse until 14 days after

arguments are taken. That is 14 days from May 16, 2016.”

He noted that the suit was filed by the PDP and not Senator Ahmed Makarfi and Senator Ben Obi as claimed by the former acting national chairman of the party.

Earlier, Sheriff urged the court to dismiss the originating summons.

Sheriff, through his counsel, Ajibola Oluyode, filed applications asking the court

to set aside the interim order directing him to stop them to parading himself as acting national chairman.

The former acting national chairman also urged the court to strike the name PDP from the suit and subsequently strike it out.

Justice Liman adjourned the matter to July 4, 2016, for judgment.

Meanwhile, the leaders of the party have asked the security agencies and others who are not

directly involved in the crisis rocking the party stare clear to allow it put its house in order.

The party leaders also expressed concerns over the statement credited to Sheriff to the effect that he was going to go beyond the Inspector-General of Police in a bid to gain access into the party’s secretariat.

Rising from their meeting which ended in the early hours of yesterday, the leaders said the party was “on course to

finding lasting solution to its challenges.”

Speaking shortly after the meeting, the Chairman of the PDP National Caretaker Committee, Makarfi, said the party was confident that justice will be done to the matters in court, adding that security agencies should always be on the side of what is right.

“We are calling upon security agencies especially that at this period of our nascent democracy

with all the difficulties we are having in this country, peace must be allowed to reign. Any illegal action by any party member, no matter how highly placed, must be checkmated.

“And those elements that may be interfering in our internal affairs, whether they belong to any particular party or they do not belong to any at all, they should allow us to be, as we are not interfering in any other body’s affairs,” he said.

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T H I S D AY • FRIDAY, JUNE 17, 2016

COMMENT

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

IT’S ANOTHER SUMMER

F

When next are you travelling abroad for summer? Folu Olamiti gives tips on what to do to enjoy your stay

or some Nigerians, going abroad, even to a country with low fortune, fame and status, is the ultimate. By now, hundreds, if not thousands, of Nigerians are either booking their flights or are already abroad for what they often see and cherish as summer holidays. Yes, it’s another summer, and the rush from here is overwhelming! Nigerians travel out of their country for many reasons. Some, especially the elite, prefer going abroad for medical check. They prefer to take all that risk to treat even common cold, cough and catarrh! They gleefully label it as medical tourism. For others, going overseas is a yearly ritual that affords them the opportunity to re-unite with friends, families and business associates. And there is this critical mass that jet out, almost on a daily basis, sinking millions to seek greener pastures or the Golden Fleece as they call it. In all, those who make peremptory trips outside the country often do so with pains and great discomfort. They do so in most cases while “suffering and smiling”, as the legendary Fela Anikulapo-Kuti sang in one of his chartbusters.

In the course of my public service and journalistic odyssey, I have garnered long years of experiences and chalked hundreds of thousands of kilometres crisscrossing the world. Some of those experiences have prodded me to share a little on the inconveniences, sometimes mindnumbing risks that many Nigerian travellers, go through just to have some summer freaks. While the youth see long haul flights as adventurous, the attendant stress and pains always have a telling effect on the old; senior citizens. They often experience unusually prolonged jet-lag, have swollen feet, experience some numbness in their limbs and joints, not to talk of the deafening effect of planes on their ears.

It is to our senior citizens I want to offer this advice. I need to give some useful tips for the elderly who may seem addicted to the long haul flights. First, it is not advisable to travel alone. If you can afford it, you need the company of your spouse or any of your children. Second, medical science has established that long haul trips can aggravate arthritis or thrombosis. In that case, sufferers are always advised to be well equipped with flight socks. The socks, which are often sold at duty free shops at most international airports, are clinically packaged to improve blood circulation. They are prepared to make travellers endure long hours on the plane, ultimately making users feel light and relieved of joint pains.

Third, aged travellers must adequately fortify themselves with correct medication well ahead of an impending trip. The use of multivitamins, especially vitamin C, helps to boost body immunity against flu. This is necessary in case you are seated with someone nursing flu, cough or exhibiting symptoms of other contagious conditions. Every traveller must be aware that the toilets in every plane breed dangerous bacteria. So, when using toilets, either onboard or in transit, you are strongly advised to use hand soap and sanitisers. Tip number four is that every traveller of age must avoid concentrating attention on watching movies or engaging in long hours of sleep onboard. It is imperative that at intervals, you must stretch your legs and body either by standing, or walking round the cabin, or engaging in mild body exercises. Travellers who stay glued to their seats are prone to stroke or deadly thrombosis.

Travellers should be mindful that a well-planned journey makes your trip less stressful. Ahead of flying over 24 hours with stops, or 15 to 16 hours non-stop, purchase ticket which include hotel accommoda-

EVERY TRAVELLER OF AGE MUST AVOID CONCENTRATING ATTENTION ON WATCHING MOVIES OR ENGAGING IN LONG HOURS OF SLEEP ONBOARD. IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT AT INTERVALS, YOU MUST STRETCH YOUR LEGS AND BODY EITHER BY STANDING, OR WALKING ROUND THE CABIN, OR ENGAGING IN MILD BODY EXERCISES. TRAVELLERS WHO STAY GLUED TO THEIR SEATS ARE PRONE TO STROKE OR DEADLY THROMBOSIS

tion, most especially where a stop-over takes over six hours before connecting the next flight. I have seen some aged persons falling sick or collapse at transit lounges during long journeys. Most international airports have good hotel accommodations for sound rest and you must avail yourself of the facility.

The next tip concerns the point where travellers face immigration clearance. Once you are armed with relevant documents, your clearance is guaranteed. Hard times await those without valid documents at entry points. If you find yourself in a situation where you have to be delayed, you need to ensure that your medication is in place. An asthmatic patient who suffers sudden attack may find it difficult to survive when exposed to stress at the immigration counters.

Travelling long hours in a plane is energy sapping. It always results in jet lag which often times takes up to two to three days to shake off. The case is worse for anyone who might have contacted flu or suffers from the usual summer allergies that often induce cold, coughing, sneezing and blood shot eyes. In some cases, and from personal experiences, the allergies could take about two weeks before full recovery. The body will now battle with differences in time zones and climate change. While the sun is receding in the United States, for instance, we are moving towards dawn in Nigeria. Presently, in Europe and far Eastern countries, they are witnessing heavy rainfalls and severe flooding. America is currently contending with high or humid temperature, which often requires the use of cooling devices.

Perhaps, the only reward meant for Nigerians who travel out is their dream to better security, good infrastructure and facilities. For them, leaving Nigeria is a temporary good escape from the harsh realities that they have been battling with for years. At least, they will be relieved of the sneers of armed robbery, kidnapping, killings and bombings by Boko Haram and now, Niger Delta Avengers, police brutality, fuel scarcity, ‘NEPA’ failures, hike in prices of essential commodities, poor medical facilities and others.

Travelling abroad for vacation may not be a bad idea but it can get scary when one discovers that time is an impatient customer. It flies so fast. For instance, four weeks of stay usually runs so fast you think you have just spent a few days. In that regard, the thought of returning to inclement situations at home brings some pangs of heaviness or sadness. This is the crux of the matter. It is time for the government to start building solid infrastructure and facilities that would make Nigeria a beauty to behold and a place of allurement to seduce citizens to remain at home.

Government officials who travel out too often should be alive to their responsibility by returning home to replicate the good things they see abroad in their country. Nigeria is great. The country is imbued with natural and human resources which, if effectively managed, could turn Nigeria into an El-dorado. Perhaps, both the government and the governed can, indeed, latch onto this era of ‘Change’ in making a collective resolve to begin laying solid foundations for the revival, re-invention and re-orientation of Nigeria. Doing so will make the country a destination of choice for people from across the globe. After all HOME IS HOME. Olamiti, a Media Consultant, wrote from Abuja

HOLD ON BABANGIDA, THANKYOU (2)

Innocent Oparadike appreciates former military president, Ibrahim Babangida, and others for standing by him at a critical time of his career

R

ather, he allegedly convinced Mr Mohammed Haruna, in the interest of the North, to accept the position of editor while they looked for a suitable Northerner to appoint as managing director.

After acting for six months, the board had to decide to confirm my appointment or revert me to my substantive position. It chose the second option.

But there was a problem. Its preferred candidate, Mr Mohammed Haruna was in Columbia University as a student. So they came up with the brilliant idea that I continued to edit the newspaper, which they acknowledged I was doing well, but the name on the imprint would be Mohammed Haruna’s.

I felt very sad that bigotry could descend to this level. I wrote back to say what they asked me to do was unlawful and unjust, therefore impossible for me to accept. They decided to recall Mohammed and summoned me to a meeting and ordered me to withdraw my letter where I had stated that members of the board were as individuals, decent persons, but as a collectivity, a disgrace to human decency. I went to the board room, reaffirmed what I had written and walked out on them. Leaving the board room, I went to my office, picked my bag and left the premises. I was simmering. I was sad. I was confused. I couldn’t go home, because I didn’t know what to tell my expectant young wife.

I decided to visit an army general friend of mine living in Kaduna. I knew him in Rotary Club and saw in him a decent Nigerian. Luckily, he was in.

General Mohammed Inna Wushishi was Chief of Army Staff in the Shagari administration in the Second Republic.

The general was surprised to see me at that time on a working day. He wanted to know if anything

was the matter. I told him I was out of a job. I narrated to him what had happened. He asked me how I felt. I said sad. Sad that a body of eminent Nigerians would judge somebody for a position not based on competence on the job but on extraneous factors such as geography, faith, tribe and tongue.

That day as I walked in, there was somebody who was sitting quietly apparently reading the dailies. He was not introduced to me, so I just greeted him and sat down with my host to converse.

At some point in the conversation, he asked our host for the use of his phone. He told him that the phone was by his side. He asked for permission to use the phone inside. This other visitor was also a general, somebody I already knew by repute but was yet to meet. General Mohammed Ibrahim Gusau was this visitor. He finished his conversation, came out and went back to what he was doing earlier without saying a word. Soon after General Gusau completed his call and came out, I took leave of my host. He asked me what I planned to do, I told him I planned to go back to Lagos.

I actually went back to Lagos that same day but not the way I imagined, for after whiling away time, I forced myself to go home. But before I could open my mouth to explain why I was home so early, I was told that my office had been calling me. I was told that I was required that evening in Lagos by Dodan Barracks, but I should first see the Minister of Information, Prince Tony Momoh. I packed an overnight bag and with Mohammed Haruna went to Lagos.

In Lagos there was a pleasant surprise. We took the 5pm Kabo flight to Lagos. Got to Lagos after 6pm, got into Lagos traffic and got to the minister’s home a few minutes to the NTA 9pm network news.

Our appointment as managing director and editor

respectively was the lead story and the reason we were summoned to Lagos. I was told by Mr Yusuf Mamman, an IBB confidant and press secretary to Commodore Ukiwe, that Gusau’s phone call made General Babangida aware that his directive had not been carried out. He had long approved our appointment but unpatriotic public and civil servants wanted to subvert it. He directed that it must be announced that day.

Thanks to Generals Babangida, Wushishi and Gusau, the day my name was to disappear from the imprint as acting editor, was the day the qualifier was removed and I became substantive Editor. They were willing tools of God’s will and grace. This is the first reason for thanking General Babangida. Additionally, on at least three occasions high level conspiracies were hatched to nail me.

I was abroad in 1986 when Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe was booted out of office. When I returned, I left Kaduna for Lagos to pay him a courtesy visit.

There was nothing clandestine about this. I went in an official car, gave my complimentary card to the secret service personnel at the gate and also signed the visitors register. This was conveyed to General Babangida as proof of my loyalty to Commodore Ukiwe and by inference, disloyalty to him.

He asked the then Military Governor of Kaduna State, Col. Abubakar Umar, to look into the allegations. The governor dutifully invited me and after hearing me out went to Dodan Barracks to report back.

What was my defence? I owned up to visiting Ukiwe. And I asked the general what kind of friend he would consider me if as soldiers are wont to do, he is removed and out of fear for my job, I refuse to visit him to cheer him up. I am told he understood that impulse to stand by a friend or mentor in

distress.

On another occasion, the Marafan Sokoto, Alhaji Umaru Shinkafi accused Alhaji Ibrahim Dasuki, then General Secretary of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, of running a one man show and issuing self-serving orders in the name of an ailing sultan. The New Nigerian ran the story, the subject of a press conference and the editor earned the wrath of the man who later became sultan in controversial circumstances, Alhaji Ibrahim Dasuki. He asked General Babangida to remove me because I was putting a wedge between Northerners. The general reportedly told him to do some soul searching because an outsider can only put a wedge, where there is a crack.

After the Kafanchan riots and the crisis it generated, when for one month I couldn’t sleep in my quarters and had to send my family down south, because the then police commissioner considered me an infidel who didn’t deserve police protection, General Babangida through his press secretary, Duro Onabule facilitated a holiday abroad.

Unfortunately, it seemed I paid him back with ingratitude when the paper I edited accused the wife of going on Hajj with an entourage of 100. That was one set-up I couldn’t “cleverly side-step” to quote the publisher of the defunct Hotline, Alhaji Hassan Kontagora, who said that when I cleverly sidestepped all previous traps, including people offering me financial assistance with the plain clothes police ready to pounce, they hit on a plan that was foolproof.

The Hajj story was covered by our Kano editor, who always covered Hajj. So one is bound to believe the story. Two, not being a moslem, it would not occur to me to query why the First Lady was travelling with such a large entourage and without her husband.

15

T H I S D AY • FRIDAY, JUNE 17, 2016

EDITORIAL EKITI AND ITS‘STRIKING’GOVERNOR

“

The crisis in Ekiti has brought to the fore the issue of viability of many states in the federation simply because what he receives from the Federation Account has dwindled dramatically as a result of the fall in oil prices. He has a responsibility to pay the wages of the workers and he must find a way to do that.

However, the crisis in Ekiti has also brought to the fore the issue of viability of many of these states. Even when we concede that the major problem is the absence of good governance in many of the states where workers are owed—some for as many as 10 months— we must also acknowledge that we have a serious structural problem. That is why we have supported the argument for the restructuring the federation, an issue that is now on the front burner of national discourse.

What we want is our money to alleviate our poverty,” said the Ekiti State chairman of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Odunayo Adesoye, in response to the declaration by Governor Ayo Fayose that he had placed himself on indefinite strike in solidarity with the workers over non-payment of five months salaries. “We appreciate the governor for sharing our pains and anguish. But the workers will appreciate and commend him the more if he can pay at least two or three months salaries out of five months owed.”

In explaining the plight of workers in Ekiti State, Adesoye said their situation had gone beyond a solidarity strike by the governor. “We need more of action now than talk because our situation is gradually becoming hopeless. Some of us have the intention of going to work, but there is no money to pay transport fare. Some of us cannot take two square meals a day. Our situation has gone beyond what anyone can trivialise,” said Adesoye.

WHEN COMPLEMENTED While we agree WITH A MECHANISM with the Ekiti State FOR IMPROVING TUC chairman ACCOUNTABILITY, that such a serious RESTRUCTURING HAS THE matter should not POTENTIAL FOR ENSURING be trivialised, we GOOD GOVERNANCE AND are also at pains to HUMAN DEVELOPMENT IN understand what NIGERIA point the governor was making by his declaration which flies in the face of both reason and the law. To the extent that many of the states are going through rough times as a result of dwindling revenues from oil sales, on which most of them depend, we can understand why Ekiti State may be in dire straits. But we consider Fayose’s theatrics very unhelpful. The governor cannot just fold his arms and say there is nothing he can do to alleviate the suffering of Ekiti workers

Letters to the Editor

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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

s things stand today, most of the 36 states depend almost solely on allocations from the Federation Account, the bulk of which they expend on salaries and other recurrent expenditures. The countervailing mechanisms that ensure some level of accountability at the centre are either non-existent or too weak in these fragmented units and the logical result is that the promise of good governance embedded in the theory of decentralisation is delivered almost always in the breach.

Therefore, it is our considered belief that bigger federating units will allow for economies of scale on large infrastructure projects, will make for more economically viable and competitive federating units, and will reduce the undue pressure on the centre. When complemented with a mechanism for improving accountability, restructuring has the potential for ensuring good governance and human development in Nigeria.

We call on Governor Fayose to suspend his “solidarity strike” while urging him and his other colleagues that are also owing workers’ salaries to find ways to pay. But we believe that the ultimate solution lies in restructuring our federal system so it can work for the people.

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.

CAN AND THE HIJAB CRISIS IN OSUN

he situation has been described as a “crisis” by mainstream news outlets like The Punch, Vanguard and Premium Times. The Osun State High Court had on June 3, 2016 given a judgment which recognises and upholds the constitutional rights of female Muslim students in the state to wear their hijabs at school, during school hours. The court specifically cited section 38 of the 1999 constitution (as amended) as the basis for its ruling. Hijab is a “fundamental right” of the female Muslim students under that section, said the court. The said section grants “every person” in Nigeria the freedom to “manifest” their religion. That obviously covers the use of the hijab by any Muslim citizen.

In the Islamic faith, the hijab is of exactly the same status as the five daily prayers. Both of them are absolutely obligatory upon the matured Muslim girls and women. She must wear it wherever a male – who is not from her immediate family – is present. To give a clearer idea of the status of the hijab, it is, to the devout Muslim woman, more important than the turban is to the Sikh. Therefore, while it is easy to find Muslim girls and women who do not like wearing the hijab (mostly due to their upbringing and environment), there are indeed others who wish to carry out the command of their God by wearing it anytime they are outside their homes. Under the Nigerian constitution, they have the “fundamental right” to do that. It is indeed

noteworthy that the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) had never denied this either. They too concede that the hijab is a fundamental right of female Muslims. However, they simply cannot let them exercise that constitutional right.

According to the leaders of CAN in Osun State, the hijab symbolises the “Islamisation” of the state. So, their opposition to its use by female students is, in their view, a kickback against creepy conversion of the “Christian”(?)

State of Osun into an Islamic caliphate. On June 7, CAN even organised an “emergency” meeting over the renewed hijab “threat.” Elisha Ogundiya, their local chairman, later issued a statement declaring that the hijab is an Islamic propagation tool. CAN fears that as soon as Muslim students started wearing their hijab at school, everyone in Osun State would somehow become Muslim, and then possibly a caliph would emerge. These facts reveal that CAN views the hijab as an existential threat. So, they will never stop opposing it, and may even go to very desperate lengths to stop Muslims from wearing it. This necessarily puts them on an eternal collision course with the generally peaceful and law-abiding Muslim majority of Osun State.

CAN threatens to direct Christian students in the state “to start wearing Christian garments and vestments as part of their school uniform for the propagation of our own faith” if the governor decides to respect the court’s pro-hijab ruling. The exact point of comparison between

the hijab and the Christian garment is, however, not mentioned. The hijab is compulsory for the female Muslim, in all places and at all times – except only when she is with her immediately family. Is that the case with the “Christian” garments (whatever that means)? When a female Muslim is prevented from wearing her hijab, she is thereby automatically denied the right to perform one of her most fundamental religious obligations. Is it then really the case that the “Christian garments” are obligatory upon female Christians in all places and at all times (except in the presence of their immediate families) as well? Is it truly a religious obligation in Christianity to adorn choir robes and other “Christian” vestments virtually everywhere they are?

It is obviously impossible to miss the intolerance and fanaticism of Christian leaders like Ogundiya, who raise false alarms over non-issues and needlessly stoke religious tensions between Christians and Muslims. The world has moved beyond such kinds of religious rascality. This is the age of intellectualism and mutual tolerance. In Western countries, Sikh policemen and soldiers are allowed to wear their turbans and beards, and this has not led to any Sikhisation of Europe and America. Besides, why on earth would a mere piece of clothing lead to mass conversions in any faith?

Toyib Olawuyi, Ikirun, Osun State

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T H I S D AY • FRIDAY, JUNE 17, 2016

POLITICS

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

PERSONALITY FOCUS

Umar’s Incautious Utterances At different instances, the Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal, Danladi Umar, who is currently handling the trial of Senate President Bukola Saraki has shown flashes of his inability to be fair and just, the latest being his allusion to Saraki suffering certain “consequences”. Shola Oyeyipo writes

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n practically all cases, the sanctity of the court is well revered. The judges are demi-gods because they command absolute respect from those standing trial before them and the reason is simply because they are deemed fit to be dispassionate in justice delivery. Though judges are the sole administrators in their courts, events that surround court trials around the world have also played significant parts in how the quality of judgments is rated.

For instance, in Nigeria, while the burden of proof that an accused person is actually culpable in an allegation lies absolutely with the accuser, someone standing trial is always presumed innocent until it is proved to the contrary.

These two constitutional provisions are enshrined in the Nigerian legal framework and in adherence to these provisions, not a few politicians and private individuals have restrained themselves from passing comments on an ongoing litigation until it is resolved.

But the Code of Conduct Tribunal ((CCT) Chairman, Mr. Danladi Umar, threw caution to the wind last Tuesday, when he was quoted to have said that Saraki would face the full consequences of the charges of alleged false declaration of assets brought against him by the federal government in spite of purported delay of his trial.

“I am not happy at the delay tactics employed by the defence counsel. And I must say this thing out that this delay tactics will not reduce the consequences the defendant will meet from this tribunal at the end of the trial,” Umar said.

Though the statement was in reaction to the prosecution counsel, Mr. Rotimi Jacobs’ (SAN) allegation that the Saraki team is deploying delay tactics as a way to frustrate the trial, the weight of such utterance which depicted that Saraki would suffer the full consequences of the trial and charges by the tribunal is suspicious. It is actually prejudicial because the trial is still ongoing and the accused person is still proving his innocence.

That is by every standard unprofessional on the part of the judge considering the very sensitive nature of the case, particularly amidst the fact that Saraki has persistently claimed that his trial is because he became the Senate President without the approval of some powers that be and many Nigerian are aware that there is political undertone to the ongoing trial, so, not a few follower of the case would agree that Mr. Umar ought to have uttered such an unguarded statement.

The reason is simple. Those in Saraki’s camp have simply interpreted it to mean that the tribunal chairman already had a mindset to convict Senate President Saraki, whereas he should still be considered innocent in the face of the law.

But the weight of Umar’s comment was not lost on Saraki’s lead counsel, Mr. Kanu Agabi (SAN), who expressed shock and tacit disapproval for the statement by the CCT chairman, when he asked Umar what he meant by the consequences of the tribunal.

He expressed personal worries and on behalf of his client, saying the judge’s action is assumed prejudices.

“From the defence side, we are not worried about the law and facts that will be placed before this tribunal by the prosecution. But we are worried about enemies, who may wish to use this tribunal to achieve their

Umar...a gradual descent into the abyss

ulterior motives. As the tribunal chairman, we love you, we respect you, but we are afraid of consequences, especially as just stated by this tribunal this morning. Our fears have been reinforced, but we pray against consequences that are against natural justice,” said Agabi, the former Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), in reaction to the Umar’s statement.

Faced with overwhelming disapproval reaction of lawyers to his remarks, the chairman was compelled to reassure the people that nobody would be prejudiced. It is however

The weight of such utterance which depicted that Saraki would suffer the full consequences of the trial and charges by the tribunal is suspicious. It is actually prejudicial because the trial is still ongoing and the accused person is still proving his innocence…

That is by every standard unprofessional on the part of the judge

not clear if Saraki loyalists are persuaded by Umar’s reassurance that the Senate President is not facing a pre-determined trial because of some statements credited to the same CCT chairman in recent past.

At the resumed hearing on the 16-count criminal charge against Saraki Umar, said he was under “serious influence” during the trial of former Lagos State governor and a national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Bola Tinubu. He revealed that pressure was mounted on him from a certain quarter to take specific decisions. Though he did not disclose those, who attempted to influence him, he said he was resolute and ensured that justice was eventually done in the matter.

“During the trial of Bola Tinubu, we were under serious influence. But you saw what happened. We did what we needed to do based on what was before us,” Umar said.

While this statement could have been designed to allay the fear that the tribunal might dance to the whim and caprice of Saraki’s traducers, the fears of Saraki and his lawyers that the tribunal was being manipulated by external influence did not subside.

Recall that the federal government charged Tinubu before CCT over allegations that he falsely declared his assets and operated 10 foreign bank accounts while in office as governor between 1999 and 2007 but discontinued further hearing on the threecount charge in 2011, even as it discharged and acquitted Tinubu on the grounds that the federal government failed to fulfill the necessary conditions precedent before the charge was filed.

It held that the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), which recommended the prosecution, never accorded the defendant the opportunity to explain alleged discrepancies in his assets declaration form as it should be. But now that Saraki is facing similar charges before the same Umar, who presided over Tinubu’s case, who had prayed the tribunal to equally discharge him the same way it discharged Tinubu because he was not also allowed by CCB to offer explanations.

While denying Saraki’s prayer, Umar, in a ruling on March 24, admitted that the tribunal discharged Tinubu in error.

“The tribunal has since realised that the decision it made on the case between FRN vs Tinubu was in error and has clearly departed from it,” Umar reportedly said.

He was also quoted to have said: “I swear by the Almighty Allah to do justice.

On our part, the insinuation that we are being influenced to see to the conviction of the accused (Saraki) is false. During Bola Tinubu‘s case, we were under influence to convict him but we did the right thing”.

As much as a lot of Nigerians would prefer to stand with Umar – believing that he would ultimately do justice as he vowed, the truth is that the activities of the tribunal has remained of immense interest to the people, who are closely monitoring development from therein.

For example, during the inaugural Constitutional Law Conference of the Ben Nwabueze Centre in Lagos with the theme: “The code of conduct enshrined in the constitution of Nigeria and its crucial importance in the fight against corruption,” legal luminaries, including retired and serving Supreme Court justices, picked holes in the trial, stressing that the CCT had no judicial powers to try criminal matters.

Some of the very prominent lawyers who insisted that the CCT was flouting provisions of the 1999 Constitution in the manner it had handled the trial so far, included former Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Salisu Alfa Belgore; Professor Ben Nwabueze (SAN); former Supreme Justice, Justice Samson Uwaifo; Justice George Oguntade; Justice Nnoruka Udechukwu; Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN); Dr Olisa Agbakoba (SAN); Chief Emeka Ngige (SAN) and Chief Solomon Asemota (SAN) among others.

Also showing interest in the epic trial, the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO), said the outcome of the trial will determine the faith of Nigerians in the judiciary and democracy.

The CLO president, Mr. Igho Akeregha, warned that the courts must not allow the hallowed chambers to be used by politicians to settle scores but ensure that justice was not only done but also seen to have been done.

“The CLO, therefore, urges the CCT handling this case to be fair and upright in its adjudication by not giving in to any form of intimidation, inducement or harassment.

Anything to the contrary poses a grave danger to the judiciary and the nation’s democracy.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the CLO believes and supports the drive to combat corruption in all its ramifications from our polity but we recognise that there are imperfections that have increasingly come to the fore as a result of its prosecution. It is our, duty as one of the gatekeepers of democracy in Nigeria, to ensure that the processes of governance are not distorted

by Dr Saraki,” Akeregha said.

T H I S D AY • FRIDAY, JUNE 17, 2016

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RIGHT OF REPLY

Re: Shema’s Litmus Test The alleged plans to serve former Governor Ibrahim Shema of Katsina State a notice of invitation by a panel of inquiry set up by the incumbent administration in the state through alternative means, is false and part of the campaign of calumny against him.

Oluwabusola Olawale insists

O

ur attention has been drawn to the calculated attempt to discredit and malign the reputation and integrity of former Governor Ibrahim Shehu Shema concerning the issue of Commission of Inquiry set up by the present administration of Governor Aminu Bello Masari.

To correct the misinformation released to the media as published on the page 18 of THISDAY newspapers of June 14, 2016, on the issue of substituted service ordered by the commission of inquiry, there is no iota of truth that an attempt was made to serve His Excellency, Barrister Ibrahim Shehu Shema, the notice of invitation at any given time. He heard about it for the first time through the media.

We are saying it without ambiguity that there was no sincere attempt to serve Barrister Shehu Shema the notice of invitation by the commission of inquiry; it was part of the campaign of calumny. His Excellency, Ibrahim Shehu Shema is not afraid of any probe, having served Katsina State creditably well for eight years with outstanding record of performance for anybody to verify.

As at May 29, 2015, when Shema left office, no salary arrears of workers, both at the state and local government levels were bequeathed to his successor, even when many states in the country were already owing workers’ salaries.

He left over N7 billion in the state government’s coffers. Also, a similar amount was left in the 34 local government accounts. Not only did Shema’s

Shema...he has nothing to hide

administration pay workers’ salaries as and when due throughout his tenure, contrary to the trend of events in the state presently, his administration also paid

over N8 billion as pensions and gratuities without borrowing money from any source.

Shema ensured that the residents of the state enjoyed free education throughout eight years of his administration, including the provision of foreign scholarship for not less than 1000 beneficiaries to study in various specialised fields abroad.

On infrastructure development, Shema’s administration executed laudable projects for all to see. These included the construction of 68 road projects, 3000 housing units both at the state and local government levels; massive infrastructure development at the site of the newly established Katsina State University that enables the university that was later named after the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua to compete with any other university.

His administration also provided over N3billion support to the Federal University of Dustinma, which made the university the first to graduate students from among the six federal universities that were established at the same time.

There was provision of free medical care for the following: pregnant women and children; accident victims within the first 48 hours; malaria patients; establishment of craft village for youths training among many others. Shema also ensured he completed all the inherited projects from his predecessor without engaging in blame game.

Without mincing words, Shema is not afraid of any probe provided it is done in fairness and based on the rule of law.

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Despite all these monumental achievements of his administration, Shema never borrowed any money from any source both local and foreign. Yet, he left robust treasury for his successor simply because he efficiently and prudently managed the state scarce resources through eight years of his administration.

- Olawale is the Head of Shema’s Media Team

Political Notes

NOTES FOR FILE

The Monster Called EFCC

he news, on Tuesday evening, of the alleged invasion of the residence of a former Minister of Defence, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro in Park View, Ikoyi, Lagos, without a search warrant by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is the latest in the series of EFCC’s growing impunity in the name of combating corruption. It is unfortunate that not many people see the monster in this graft-fighting agency as led by Ibrahim Magu, who wields such incredible powers as if he is EFCC’s life chairman.

Invading a man’s house in his absence without a search warrant and without officially establishing that he has a case to answer is certainly not the kind of change any society that intends to gravitate towards egalitarianism embraces.

Obanikoro’s turn is just the latest in the series of EFCC’s habitual monstrosity. It wasn’t the first and certainly not going to be the last as far as Magu’s EFCC is concerned, at least, as evidently so. The poor and unprofessional handling of cases of former National Security Adviser, Col Sambo Dasuki, aides and family members of former President Goodluck Jonathan like Moses Jitoboh, Hasaan Tukur, Azibaola Roberts, Olisa Metuh and of recent, Femi Fani-Kayode, come handy too.

When the EFCC arrested a member of the APC, Isa Jafar, a man believed to be close to President Muhammadu Buhari, not a few knew it was rather stage-managed to dismiss the impression of selective persecution of mainly PDP members. Indeed, when Jafar, who

Without mincing words, Shema is not afraid of any probe provided it is done in fairness and based on the rule of law. Despite all these monumental achievements of his administration, Shema never borrowed any money from any source both local and foreign.Yet, he left robust treasury for his successor simply because he efficiently and prudently managed the state scarce resources through eight years of his administration

Magu...the almighty caezar

was detained next to Metuh’s cell was eventually released on the grounds that he had paid some money in the region of N100,000,000 and promised to bring whatever was left later, there was no need for further debate because when Metuh eventually agreed to pay up the alleged N400 million, he was still turned down and kept in prisons because they are comfortable to illegally put him behind bars than adhere to the rule of law they had professed as part of the change agenda.

Imagine the illegality in the continuous detention of Fani-Kayode as the agency travels all over the country in the bid to renew the detention order of a man, who is in no way a flight risk? Were he a flight risk, he would not be in the country by the time he was picked up. Are the airports and borders that safe he would be unable to sneak out? But

because these are mean, lawless, vindictive and highly primitive individuals, who are unable to interpret the change agenda the administration sold to the people, let alone deliver it, they act indiscriminately with incredible impunity.

What about their curious involvement in the trial of Senate President Bukola Saraki as they are seen to have literally taken over the process by providing witnesses as if it was their show? Operatives of the agency were said to have visited Kwara State recently in their usual Gestapo style, searching for what ‘Magu probably forgot the last time he was there’.

Unfortunately, they retuned empty-handed and were said to have been so pained that ‘one of them’ allegedly banged his table and screamed: “We will still get him, In Sha Allah!”

These unsavoury developments might be difficult to comprehend or interpret in apt context by the ordinary Nigerian, to whom they had sold the tales of billions of naira allegedly stolen and who would also look at his present condition and find excuses for why he has remained in his pitiful economic state.

But the truth is that the EFCC as many other high-handed agencies of government is subtly killing the Nigerian project and it would be no surprise if this present experience fails.

They are doing more harms than good and by the time the monster is done preying on the ‘high and mighty’, those on the lowest ebb of the society will merely turn out snacks in-between, including those members of the APC, who have already been ‘marked’ as corrupt and undeserving of their positions in the cabinet. And lest they know, their collective silence will be their greatest undoing. Period!

Kachikwu, Please Grow Up The Minister of Transportation, Hon. Chibuike Amaechi, and the Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Ibeh Kachikwu, on Monday, openly disagreed on the establishment of a Nigerian Maritime University, proposed for Okerenkoko in Delta State. The incident, which happened at a town hall meeting in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, has since left a sour taste in the mouths of the observing public about a team that has remained disagreeable in all things than merely disagreeing.

In fairness to the Minister of Transportation, Amaechi, he neither said nor did anything out of place. In fact, he had alluded to having conferred with his junior counterpart in the petroleum sector, apparently feigning they were on the same page before Kachikwu chose to create a scene.

Even where Kachikwu genuinely disagreed with Amaechi’s position, that very meeting was not a platform to expose the practically non-existent cohesion in the Muhammadu Buhari cabinet, which is fast becoming the norm.

Kachikwu’s response was not only illconceived; it was politically immature and has shown that all he cares to do all the time as he has become a regular face on the social media, ranting his claptrap, is grandstand even when he is unable to justify the basis of his ranting.

Unfortunately, for both ministers, the essence of the town hall meeting was completely lost in their needless and disgraceful disagreement.

Not even the most obscure news medium reported the crux of the meeting but their disagreement. What, therefore, was that showoff for? Should the cabinet members continue with this concealed hatred amongst them, the government will not only end up the worst, the people will regret ever considering change as an option.

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T H I S D AY • FRIDAY, JUNE 17, 2016

POLITICS

OFF-THE-TURF

Although Brain Racking, Scrabble Relaxes Egba A member of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly, representing Yenegoa, Alfred Egba says scrabble is more than just a game for him, it helps to decompress him too.

Segun James writes

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lfred Egba is better described as a child of destiny. He was for some time a security detail attached to a former governor of Bayelsa State. He had also been detailed at different times by the department of State Security (DSS) to protect eminent and prominent persons in the society such as the former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon; former Speaker of the Hoouse of Representatives, Alhaji Ghali Umar Na’Aba; former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Chibudom Nwuche; former Deputy Governor of Ebonyi State, Dr, Chigozie Ogbu and former Governor of Rivers State, Dr. Peter Odili without knowing he had also been destined to become a lawmaker himself.

Just as it is usual with life, Egba spent over seven years between 2000 and 2007 protecting dignitaries without knowing that he would soon become one of them as a legislator as he was in 2007 elected to represent Yenagoa in the state House of Assembly.

For Egba, however, everything revolves round the waters. He is a fisherman, fish

farmer and swims very well too. A visit to his home just behind the infamous Tower

Apart from fishing, the other thing that gives Egba a sense of understanding in his new calling is the game of Scrabble. Egba believes that politics can be likened to Scrabble, a game that surprises with unexpected word combinations, and when you think you have a perfect word, the move from your opponent can destabilise your every plan

Hotel in Yenagoa reveals a man at home with nature. But that is not all that is with this Graduate of Mass Communication from the Rivers State University of Science and Technology (RSUST), who made security and protection of life and property his primary forth.

Today, he is also a graduate of law at the Delta State University, Abraka and wants to specialise in conflict resolution. This is understandable given his antecedents. Apart from fishing, the other thing that gives Egba a sense of understanding in his new calling is the game of Scrabble. Egba believes that politics can be likened to Scrabble, a game that surprises with unexpected word combinations, and when you think you have a perfect word, the move from your opponent can destabilise your every plan.

It was such move that propelled Egba to become a two term member of the Bayelsa Assembly, one of the few persons to have such a privilege, given the intricate political system of the state.

Born some 40 years ago in Nembe, the native of Famgbe in Yenagoa, Egba attended

the Nembe National Grammar School before proceeding to the UST to study Mass Communications, after which he joined the DSS. The other thing that gives Egba satisfaction is Education and the love of learning. It was this love for education that encouraged him to attend the Business School of the University of Oxford as well as The Management School, London.

He was the head of the Bayelsa State delegation to the Netherlands on the Dutch government collaboration with the state government on development efforts. Aside this, he also attended several Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Conferences between 2007 and 2015, as a member of the state legislature.

Today, Egba is a member of the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) in Bayelsa State, having moved from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) along with is political leader, Chief Timipre Sylva in 2014. Even as Egba continues to calculate and plot against the opposition in his political Scrabble, there is no doubting the fact that he knows the game.

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T H I S D AY • FRIDAY, JUNE 17, 2016

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GOOD TO HAVE YOU HERE

L-R: Fleet Manager Lufthansa Technik, Mike Ronneberger; Deputy Managing Director Arik Air, Captain Ado Sanusi and Director Line Maintenance Network & Tech Ops Management, Lufthansa Technik Maintenance International, Jurgen Hupe, during the visit of Lufthansa Technik Director to Arik Air Aviation Centre in Lagos …recently

Airlines to Save N30bn Annually from Local Refining of Jet-A1 Stories by Chinedu Eze With about 2million litres demand daily, Nigerian airlines may be saving over N30 billion annually if aviation fuel, known as Jet A1 is refined locally.

The Minister of State for Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika told Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) recently that was in talks with his counterparts in the Ministry of Petroleum, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu on how to dedicate one of the three refineries in the country to Jet A1 refining.

Airlines said the product is sold at exorbitant rate to them because it is imported

AVIATION and there are too many costs that go with the importation, including demurrage, transportation and storage, which are added to every litre of fuel sold to the airline. Besides, the uncertainty created by the scarcity of the product keeps some passengers away.

Aside the high exchange rate also reflects in the final prices of the product, which explains why international airlines are buying fuel at cheaper rate because of the low price of crude, whereas Nigerians are still buying the product at outrageous prices.

In addition, the scarcity of the

product usually spreads panic among airlines and air travellers due to uncertainty, which in turn sends the prices higher and sustains the cartel, which allegedly fix the prices; as the airlines believe they would have been generating more money if tickets are cheaper because more passengers will be attracted to the airports.

According to the airlines, part of the reasons why air tickets are relatively high in Nigeria is because of the high prices of aviation fuel in addition to charges, which the passenger must have to pay, adding that passenger traffic could increase by 35 per cent with low fuel prices.

In a meeting with AON, Sirika said he met with Kachikwu, who said that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) would put the Port Harcourt Refinery on-stream before the end of the year to begin to refine Jet A1, and also that with some investment they would get Kaduna back on-stream so that the more they refine the more the fuel would be available.

“We are committed to it, we will begin to produce it and if there is anything we can do to bring down the price we will do so. The whole essence of refining it Continued on page 20

NCAA Withdraws Licences of Three Pilots over Excess Alcohol Intake The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has withdrawn the license of three Nigerian pilots who allegedly took alcohol when they were about to operate their flights.

According to sources, aviation experts frown on this because it infringes on safety. Besides, it is one of the critical rules that must be obeyed by pilots. A pilot is prohibited from taking alcohol three hours before flight time.

THISDAY spoke to some pilots and other experts in the industry who confirmed that prohibition of alcohol intake shortly before flight

AVIATION was clearly stated in their licences as one of the things a pilot must not do three hours before fight.

They consequence they said could be plane crash or a major incident. It was learnt that if a pilot is caught with alcohol during random testing at the ramp, his license is withdrawn but how long the pilot would be made not to fly is discretionary.

But a seasoned pilot and presently aircraft inspector told THISDAY that the NCAA

should go further than withdrawing the pilots’ licences to find out why they took to alcohol, pointing out that the pilots might have taken to drinking due to stress, frustration, family problem or even depression.

He recalled the tragic incident of Germanwings Flight 9525, where a depressed pilot crashed the plane with all the passengers.

The pilot admitted however, that it is rare to see pilots with alcohol in their breath, because it is a major offence but blamed the airline for not testing the

pilots before the regulatory body did and suggested that the airlines involved should also be sanctioned.

“Such incident is very, very rare but very irresponsible.

Some pilots are actually drunkards but they don’t drink during flight. There is need to investigate to know the root cause of the drinking.

NCAA did the right thing but it should not only end in withdrawing their license; that is what those who don’t have intrinsic interest in the industry do; they should Continued on page 20

Chi Limited has introduced Chivita Active Vegetable & Fruit Nectar into the market. It adds to an impressive array of leading high quality products from Chi Limited. According to the company, with the power of vegetable and fruit, perfectly blended with the goodness of vitamins, fibre and nutrients, Chivita Active vegetable fruit nectar is a healthy and tasty way to get the antioxidants and stamina required for a healthy active lifestyle. The product was made with no artificial colours, flavours or preservatives in three different exciting variants – Carrot Orange, Beetroot Grape and Beetroot Apple. The Carrot Orange variant comes with a burst of Orange and the goodness of carrot to ensure a great taste and a healthier lifestyle. While the Beetroot Grape is a tasty blend of beetroot and grape which guarantees stamina and rich antioxidants. The Beetroot Apple variant which is a mix of beetroot and apple ensures a healthier and active lifestyle through the stamina, antioxidants and wellness it provides.

Managing Director of Chi Limited,Roy Deepanjan said: “We are once again pioneering a new segment of the juice market with the Chivita active vegetable & fruit nectar in line with our market penetration strategy. As an innovative company, we are always looking for new ways to excite and invigorate the market which is why we will continue to develop the right products, that meets market expectation of consumers who are health conscious, in the years ahead.”

Arik Air Gets Royal Endorsement

Nigeria’s major carrier, Arik Air has received a royal endorsement from the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi Ojaja II as the foremost traditional ruler and a large entourage including some traditional rulers from the South West States of the country reaffirmed their support for Nigerian brands by flying Arik Air from Lagos to New York on a tour of America. The First Class Monarch, who travelled from Lagos to New York aboard Arik Air’s A330-200 aircraft that departed the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos for JF Kennedy Airport, New York at midnight last Wednesday said: “I am an apostle of made-in-Nigeria and that is why everything you see on me except my wrist watch are 100 percent made in Nigeria.” Speaking with a team from Arik Air led by the Chief Pilot, Captain Adetokunbo Adekunbi, who was on hand to usher him to the departure lounge of Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ogunwusi in company with his wife, Olori Wuraola Ogunwusi, said his decision to fly Arik Air to New York was a deliberate one aimed at reinforcing the need to “patronise our own.”

He commended the management of Arik Air for flying the flag of Nigeria high and pledged to use his position to get Nigerians to patronise the airline.

Iran to Acquire Boeing Planes

Iran said it has reached an agreement with Boeing for the supply of airliners, reopening the country’s skies to new US aircraft for the first time in decades.

According to Reuters, details of the agreement were left vague, but could involve flag carrier Iran Air acquiring more than 100 Boeing jets, both directly and from leasing companies.

“In coming days details of the deal with this company will be announced,” Roads and Urban Development Minister Abbas Akhoundi said, according to the semi-official Mehr news agency.

The agreement is so far only a broad outline of what a formal deal would look like once Boeing has the necessary US government approvals to sell planes to Iran.

So far, Boeing has only been granted permission to present its products to Iran Air and a handful of other airlines as it tries to catch up with Airbus, which has won a provisional deal for 118 aircraft worth $27 billion.

“The players in the industry are known; their challenges are also known. I am trying and working hard to drive this through government for government to understand them.

Minister of State for Aviationa

Senator Hadi Sirika

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BUSINESSWORLD AIRLINES TO SAVE N30BN ANNUALLY FROM LOCAL REFINING OF JET-A1 locally is not only to make it available, but it will also make it cheaper because then the element of importation is removed,” Sirika said.

Also the Director-General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Captain Murhtar Usman confirmed that the Minster of State for Aviation has been working to make aviation fuel available and affordable.

A senior executive of one of the major airlines in the country told THISDAY on Wednesday that with local refining of Jet A1, prices will come down, and become available and this “will give rise to cheaper flights and “we will start enjoying what other airlines are enjoying all over the world.”

He noted that the dollar exchange increases the prices of the product, adding, “ I know that government will sell to us at the cost of refining.

Currently many airlines in the world are declaring profit because of cheaper oil. You cannot quantify the savings that airlines will make because scarcity which happens often helps to increase the prices and we lose passengers because of fear of cancellations.”

NCAA WITHDRAWS LICENCES OF THREE PILOTS OVER EXCESS ALCOHOL INTAKE investigate it further,” the pilot suggested.

He also noted that without the finding the drinking could have resulted in an accident and if the incident was not investigated further the situation could degenerate.

“If it is stress, family problem or whatever, the person ought not to come to work, but I must tell you that operators (airlines) mount so much pressure on the pilots, so the operators should be fined for not detecting this before NCAA did. But NCAA, I must say, did a good job but they should go further to find out the root cause of their problem that led them to take alcohol while on duty.”

Group Business Editor

Chika Amanze-Nwachuku 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 (Maritime)

NEWS

Bauchi Farmers to Access N15bn CBN Interest-free Agric Loan Segun Awofadeji in Bauchi Following the provision of N1.5 billion made by Bauchi State Government as contribution to farmers’ equity that will also settle interest charges, farmers in the State can access about N15 billion from the Central Bank of Nigeria agricultural loans.

The state Governor, Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar stated this at a town hall meeting between Bauchi State Government, Central Bank of Nigeria, Financial Institutions, Anchor Companies, Agro Dealers and Farmers for Anchor Borrowers in Bauchi State.

The governor, who revealed that discussions have reached advanced stages with financial institutions on how to release funds to the benefitting farmers for the success of the programme, noted that provisionsof N1.5 billion in the 2016 budget as his government’s contribution to farmers’ equity is also expected to settle the “interest charged by the banks and allay the fears of farmers who always avoid banks loans”.

“Agriculture no doubt remains the main stay of over 80 per cent of people who reside in both urban and rural areas and remain the only source of food and raw materials to our agro-based industries which henceforth serve as major source of income for our country”, Abubakar said.

While stressing that everybody must contribute to the success

of change mantra, he however maintained that the people who are mostly small scale farmers need to be adequately carried along by empowering them to produce more.

He said: “It is in line with the above that the present administration under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari launched an agricultural finance programme tagged ‘Anchor Borrowers Scheme’ in November last year in Kebbi State as a pilot project, which is now being

replicated in the whole country.”

The governor said the programme is one of the CBN’s policy initiatives that seeks to pursue development objectives of job creation, reduction in food imports and diversification of the economy, by “creating economic linkages between 200,000 smallholder farmers and reputable large-scale processors with a view to increasing agricultural output and significantly improving capacity utilisation of our

integrated mills”.

He promised that Bauchi is among northern states that have the capacity of producing the crops needed to feeding the whole of the country, but lamented that successive regimes have neglected that important sector, and pointed out that if the name of Agricultural Development Programme is mentioned, the entire nation knows it is a serious institution that has curved a niche for itself.

He revealed that the state

government has registered over 800,000 farmers under the NAPI programme with a view to having more registered farmers in the State, adding that the vision of his administration in the area of agriculture for the State is empowering the small scale farmers to produce enough needed in feeding the entire population and beyond, thereby making the nation self sufficient in food production, thus making the small scale farmers more empowered.

WE ARE IMPRESSED

L-R: Vice Chairman, Senate Committee on Industries, Senator Abdulfatai Buhari; President, Masters Energy Group, Dr. Uche S. Ogah; Wife of former Governor of Ebonyi State, Mrs. Eunice U. Egwu and Chairman, Senate Committee on Industries, Senator Sam Egwu during the visit of the Committee to Masters Energy Industrial City in Uturu, Isikwuato LGA of Abia State…recently

Stimulate the Informal Sector to Reduce Hardship, Kwakpovwe Urges FG Chika Amanze-Nwachuku Renowned author and publisher of the daily devotional, Our Daily Manna (ODM) Bishop (Dr.) Chris Kwakpovwe, has called on the federal government to find ways of creating incentives to stimulate the informal sector so as to reduce the hardship that Nigerians are exposed to in the face of a tottering economy.

Speaking at a Roundtable with the theme ‘Financial Intelligence: Basic Money Management Skills to Create Wealth’, Kwakpovwe said, the informal sector should be positioned as the engine of economic growth in the face of dwindling oil earnings and low capacity utilisation by the manufacturing sector; factors that have literally crippled the economy.Kwakpovwe said there was urgent need for the government to address the twin issues of basic infrastructure like electricity and funding for SMEs so as to encourage more Nigerians

to embark on self-employment rather than continue to search for non-existent jobs in an economy where the otherwise vibrant sector like banking, is already throwing thousands of Nigerians into the streets. The Bishop urged Nigerians to rise to the challenge of contemporary economic realities and acquire basic financial intelligence and management skills that would enable them set up and manage small businesses successfully, which he insists, hold the key to earning a decent living in the face of a shrinking economy.

He said the Roundtable, which assembled experts from various fields of finance, entrepreneurship and management was put together to offer members practical money-making and entrepreneurship skills to enable them live meaningful lives.

As the cleric noted, “times are hard and I implore everyone to think of how to create employment than resort to begging”.

Speaking further he admonished, “The time has come for us to move from just praying to taking practical steps to doing something in addition to prayers.”

Speaking also, one of the resource persons and a Finance and Management Consultant, Kayode Stephens, cautioned Nigerians to be wise with their finances, cut down unnecessary expenses, desist from taking short cuts and acquire skills that would enable them put their money to profitable ventures.

Another resource person, Innocent Enyinna, expressed regret that the Nigerian education system is run on an out-dated curriculum that leaves the school leaver lazy and confused. He said over the years, operators of the nation’s school system should have evolved curricula that would equip the school leaver with basic entrepreneurial skills; people who would turn out job creators not only for themselves but for others also.

Enyinna blamed the difficulties faced by entrepreneurs on the failed school system. He said that majority of SMEs fail because Nigerian educational system failed to equip students to practically create and secure wealth in the current economic realities.

According to him, schools fail to teach students what they need to practice in building sustainable businesses through skill acquisition.

On his part, a Marketing Communications Consultant, Onyekachi Nwosu, emphasised the need for employees to have alternative source of income beside monthly salaries. According to him, workers cannot survive the harsh environment when they depend on salaries; rather they should be involved in basic money management skills for wealth creation.

The experts warned that as the economy continues to totter, even those who are working need to create additional streams of

income by setting up little businesses they can manage while still in paid employment; cautioning that it was erroneous to wait for retirement or retrenchment before thinking of self-employment.

Impressed by the outcome and excitement generated by the Roundtable Kwakpovwe said the forum, organised by the Manna Prayer Mountain Ministry would become a regular one to encourage members to learn to rely less on government but think of how they can contribute to the economy.

To demonstrate his resolve to impact members of the ministry positively, the Bishop, at the close of the Roundtable, launched, in conjunction with representatives of the Lagos State Government, the Manna Prayer Mountain Cooperative aimed at pooling funds for easy access to members who have acquired the basic financial intelligence to manage businesses of their own.

experience in feed concentrate and poultry business.

Speaking at the ceremony, the Chairman, Tuns Farm, Badmus, said that NEGPRO will aid in job creation and the provision of 50 million eggs on a daily basis by the year 2018.

In his words, the programme will provide sufficient eggs for the school feeding programme for children across the country.

He commended the Federal

government for focusing on agriculture as a pivot for Nigeria’s food security and economic re-growth.On his part, Ogbeh assured Tuns Farm of the ministry’s support towards the success of the scheme. He called on the Bank of Industry and other financial stakeholders to support the scheme and actualise the goal of the school feeding programme aimed at giving a child at least three eggs a week.

TUNS Farms to Lead N25bn NEGPRO Project Tuns Farms Nigeria, a leading food production company specialising in the production of world class safe and quality broiler meat and other poultry derivatives will lead the federal government’s aggressive National Egg Production Project (NEGPRO).

NEGPRO is a N25billion programme under the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) anchor borrowers scheme through the

Bank of Industry (BOI). It is an initiative of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture aimed at increasing the output of egg production in the country to 50million table eggs by 2018. Under the terms of the deal, which was signed this week in Abuja by the federal government, represented by the Minister of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Chief Audu Ogbeh and the Chairman, Tuns Farm, Asiwaju Olatunde Badmus,

Tuns Farm will recommend eligible entrepreneurs to access the N25billion facility as well as endorse their loan requirements and application and monitor their activities within the scheme.

Furthermore, Tuns Farm is charged with the responsibility of developing and marketing customised and standard feed concentrate in collaboration with regulatory agencies. The company will leverage its over 30 years’

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BUSINESSWORLD

AVIATION

NCAA Moves to Certify Lagos Airport Chinedu Eze The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has disclosed that it is on the verge of certifying the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.

This is in line with the recommendation of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), which audited the four major airports in the country in Abuja, Lagos, Kano and Port Harcourt recently.

Nigeria passed the audit, which paved the way for NCAA certification process.

When certified, the Lagos airport would be rated among the best in the world in terms of safety and security.

The Director-General of NCAA, Captain Murhktar Usman who confirmed this to THISDAY, noted that during the audit, there were open items which were recommended to be closed by ICAO and the regulatory body has gone far in closing the items,

hence the certification of the airport.

“The areas of shortfall we had we are developing the corrective action plan to ensure that we recover them. Part of it was the none-certification of our international airports.

And I am also happy to announce that we have almost completed it, in fact we are at the last stage of certifying Lagos airport. The certification would have been done since the 2006 audit, so 10 years later, and since I came just shortly over a year ago, we are at the last stage of certification. And Abuja is to follow and the other international airports also,” the Director-General said.

After the certification, Lagos airport would be recognised worldwide as meeting all safety and security standards and it would receive international recognition and approval for any kind of aircraft to fly in, land and takeoff at the airports.

Only very few countries

in Africa have been certified and the certification would further boost the image of Nigeria in the comity of nations as a country with very high safety standards.

The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has provided critical equipment on the airside of the Lagos airport and the other major airports in order to enhance landing and take off of flights.

The agency has installed airfield lightings, upgraded the runway and rehabilitated other landing aids at the Lagos airport.

In the past, obsolete infrastructure had been a drawback to certifying the airport but with modern security equipment, the installation of X-ray machines at the entrance of and other areas of the international terminal, the rehabilitation of the airside and the tightening of security both at the landside and the airside have prepared the Lagos airport for certification.

Med-view’s Boeing 737-500 Aircraft Returns After Major Check Chinedu Eze Med-View Airline has brought back its Boeing 737-500 aircraft after undergoing a comprehensive check in far away Estonia.

The arrival of the aircraft puts the number on its fleet at six while the newly arrived aircraft was immediately deployed for its Accra operations the next day.

The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Med-View Airline, Alhaji Muneer Bankole received the aircraft on arrival at the Murtala Mohammed Airport two (MMA2) in Lagos alongside other top management staff of the airline.

The interior part of the aircraft was branded with First Bank logo but the MD explained that it was done

to appreciate the bank for being its reliable partner over the years.

He said two more aircraft are also expected in the next one month to enable the airline open up the West Coast, start its Dubai operation and provide back-up for its London-Gatwick operation, among others.

He decried the difficulty in accessing foreign exchange by indigenous airlines and commended the efforts being made by the Minister of State for Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika to address the challenges confronting the local carriers.He urged the minister to impress it on President Muhammadu Buhari to realise that the local airlines are a driving force for the economy.

He said: “We changed dollars at 370, that is very

sad. It is very painful. We had to source for it from different local areas, both foreign partners and friends and that is the game.”

Bankole said the new aircraft had been immediately deployed to Accra, adding, “We are opening up the West Coast and you should know the London route is doing very well.

Throughout July and August, we have no seat available. I have been talking with my colleagues to deploy a 747 late June –July to bring Nigerians home for the summer. Jeddah is doing very well. We are on already for the special Umrah operations. We are doing a heavy one with three flights now. We are doing charter for the fourth one. We have a charter for Sokoto, in Gombe, we are doing charter.”

Ethiopian Aviation Academy Graduates 347 Aviation Professionals Ethiopian Airlines Aviation Academy (EAA), the largest and one of the most technologically advanced Aviation Learning Institutions in Africa which is recognized as ICAO Center of Excellence with full membership of ICAO TRAINAIR Plus and IATA authorized global training center, is pleased to announce that it has graduated 25 Pilots, 35 Aviation maintenance technicians, 43 Cabin Crew and 244 Commercial and Ground Service professionals at a colorful ceremony held at Ethiopian Aviation Academy on June 09, 2016. This round of graduates includes Rwandese

nationals, which testifies Ethiopian Airlines key role in African Integration and self-sufficiency.

On the ceremony, Group CEO of Ethiopian Airlines Mr. Tewolde GebreMariam congratulated the graduates and gave out diplomas to all the graduates, flight wings to graduating pilots and cabin crew and achievement award to outstanding academic performers. He said “Our sharp focus in Human Resource Development and adequate and timely investment in our Aviation Academy’s internal Capacity Building are the

strong foundation for the remarkable success in our vision 2025 strategic road map of fast, profitable and sustainable growth. Adequate number and quality of qualified aviation professionals are the prerequisite for a successful and vibrant African Aviation industry and Ethiopian Aviation Academy is working hard to progressively realize this objective.”

Ethiopian Aviation Academy is certified by the Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority, the U.S Federal Aviation Administration, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), and IATA Safety Audit (IOSA).

AIR WATCH Movement of Perishable Goods

Makurdi cargo airport

M

ost farm produce like tomato, cucumber, watermelon, cashew, mango and orange are cultivated in the far northern part of the country and the middle belt. These farm produce are consumed largely in states like Lagos, which has arguably over 18 million population, Port Harcourt, Anambra and other states in the south.

The farmers who cultivate these crops do not reap the gains fully because they are sold cheaply to the middlemen who buy from them and then transport them by road to the markets in the southern part of Nigeria where they are consumed.

It is very laborious moving these produce by road to the south. Sometimes, it takes the overloaded trucks that convey them up to one week to get to their destinations owing to the poor state of the roads.

It is projected that 40 percent of the farm produce that leave the farms in the northern Nigeria never made it to the southern markets due to road failure. Stakeholders have suggested that the quickest and safest way to move these produce is by air. According to them, there should be local cargo companies that specialise in moving farm produce from far off farms to the ready markets in at most one hour, compared to four to seven days it takes to move them by road.

Besides, it is cost efficient, safer, quicker and stress free.

Government in conjunction with the private sector can build cold rooms at designated airports where the produce can be stored and moved to beckoning markets in various parts of the country.

Industry operatives said the gains of moving farm produce by air are enormous. Farmers will earn more from their produce, the industry will attract farmers that will be willing to invest more and the farm produce will get to their destinations fresh. Over all and farming will become a very lucrative business.

Besides, it will boost air cargo business in Nigeria, attract more people into the business and reduce unemployment and many airports presently idling away in the northern Nigeria will become viable. This enterprise may also give fillip to international movement of farm produce directly from those airports. For example, it was gathered that Morocco imports onions from Kebbi state, so cargo flights can just take off from Kebbi airport to Morocco.

In Bauchi, THISDAY learnt that there is a huge meat factory that could slaughter and dress up to 5,000 cows daily. That factory is today moribund.

If activated, it could generate enormous revenue for the state government. But more important is that instead of bringing cattle to slaughter in Lagos, Port Harcourt, Warri and other cities, the cattle could be slaughtered and dressed in the Bauchi factory and flown to Lagos. This just requires synergy and a good business will to blossom.

If revived, the factory will at least employ about 2000 people, the hazardous movement of cattle from the north to the south will be stopped and instead the meat will be processed and flown down to the demanding markets. By 8:00 am every morning, the cargo planes are already at the airports discharging the meat to the vehicles that would take them to the markets.

The question is why is it that government has not thought of this lofty idea of growing the economy and getting more people employed?

Few years ago, the federal government started the building of cargo airports but the effort was later lampooned by critics who saw it as elephant projects. Industry observers said the critics were however looking at the export market alone without considering the enormous gains of moving farm produce from areas of source to the huge markets all over the country. At a recent stakeholders’ meeting, the Minister of State for Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika spoke about government’s plan to revive and build cargo airports for the movement of perishable farm produce.

In an interview with THISDAY recently, the Director of Consumer Protection at the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Adam Abdullahi, highlighted the gains of airlifting farm produce.

He said: “If the farmer in Katsina gets his tomatoes, onions and pepper out of Katsina on a daily basis and put on your table in Lagos that afternoon or that night it will be much better than to transport everything by road at a loss.

“I pity most of the farmers that transport tomatoes by road; I pity them because when they go on the road and there is a breakdown the whole thing is gone. It deteriorates and before you know it the whole thing turns to water and it is dripping on the floor. These are things that if you have good cargo system and some good cargo airlines that can ship these things, it is a matter of one hour from Katsina to Port Harcourt, Lagos or Enugu. And the things that are needed up north you just take them back.

“All these cows that you see being transported by road, this is archaic, these are things that don’t happen anywhere in the world. You don’t see live cows being transported on the road. You take care of the cows there. In Bauchi we had a meat factory a long time ago, which if it were operational would have the capacity of dressing 5000 cows per day.

If you can dress 5000 cows per day you can get a refrigerator cargo aircraft, you can do one leap drop in Kano, drop in Abuja, drop in Lagos, Port Harcourt, go back to Bauchi sleep there the next day you take another 5000 this is good business. And people are not thinking in that direction. And if you have the meat and you have the refrigerator cargo aircraft; cargo doesn’t complain, it will not say you have delayed me, it will not say that your terminal is not well lighted, it will not say your toilet is dirty, so cargo is much easier to handle than human beings.”

Given the numerous benefits that will emanate from it, domestic air cargo is a huge business that is waiting to be fully tapped in Nigeria.

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BUSINESSWORLD

AVIATION

Usman: Economic Downturn Has Not Impinged on NCAA Operations

The Director-General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, Captain Muhktar Usman said the agency carries out its functions effectively despite the economic downturn and the over-bloated workforce. He spoke to Chinedu Eze. Excerpts: Your workers seem to be aggrieved by your style of leadership possibly because their expectation is not being met in terms of training but they acknowledged they are paid as at when due their salaries and allowances. What do you think is wrong?

Thank you very much, first all I would like to say that I am happy that the staff have acknowledged that their salaries are paid as at when due which so many other agencies and companies are struggling to do. I am happy to say that we have ensured that because of our concern for the welfare of our staff, that we pay them as at when due. As for training, training should be seen for what it is, the tool for the staff to be able to perform whatever function he is being asked to perform.

We are all aware that sometimes in the past a barrel of oil cost substantial amounts in dollars, even close to $130. Two, the foreign exchange value against the naira is not helping matters also. Most importantly, the time they claimed that such training was going on regularly was when they were very few in number. Currently we have almost double that number; 1400 staff and a lot of them are high-level technical personnel.

That is not to say that we have reduced the training and in those days people were going for trainings, in some cases you can say irrelevant training, not the core training they should attend.

Rather, people were looking at it in terms of how many days they are going to spend over there, so that will depends on the amount in dollars that you are going to get as allowance.

And we said we are going to prioritise, but we will start doing what we must do, first based on the limited resources available to us, that is what we have been doing.

And briefly I would say I assumed duty on the 31st of October 2013. When I arrived there was no signed budget at all. There was no training approval for that year and yet people were expecting that we should go outside the books, outside the law and do training. There is no provision, no appropriation, and so it was not possible to do that.

People are used to indiscriminately allocate trainings to themselves, loading the training programme just for the purpose of it, but things have changed, we told them, let us look at it practically, we are regulatory agency, let us do what we are supposed to do, do the training we need to do; technically you need training and it is not as of you have not had training, even 2015 we did not have a formal training programme approval. But we still did some necessary foreign training that we needed to do.

And some of these other trainings that we could domesticate we domesticated them. Example is the government safety inspector trainings. We had quite a number of trainings here in Nigeria; we also hosted the accident and investigation trainings, which were core trainings required for our own inspectors.

There is this allegation of your doing a deal with MTN. the allegation is that you made arrangement between NCAA and MTN and other network providers, you shortchanged NCAA by diverting some of the money to yourself instead of paying it to NCAA. How true is that?

Well, unfortunately people live on rumours rather than looking at things objectively. The issue of MTN with their mast dated back to 2005 when MTN as a company refused to pay the height clearance charges levied on operators of high rises and mast. And they went to court, so for 10 years the case was in court. At the end of the day it was resolved that the matter should be settled outside the court. By the time we came a consultant had already been engaged and also there was a cost of judgment. We were to pay this cost and also pay our lawyers. In fact if anything, instead of losing, we gained a lot because our own lawyer was willing to

Usman

forfeit all the cost of the legal work he did for us in all the cases. I did not strike any deal with MTN. I should be praised really because I saved the day by bringing in revenue for NCAA from there because for 10 years that revenue was lost.

When I came I was able to get the money.

The payment was done through the court. So the chance of anybody collecting anything and converting it to his own does not arise; in fact, I don’t know about that. And if anybody has any evidence I challenge him to bring it out.

Lets talk about this issue of not resigning your appointment with Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) before you took this job as Director-General. This should be a kind of an appointment, which does not follow your work as a civil servant, which means, you ought to have resigned at a certain time, before you take up this new appointment.

So why didn’t you resign?

Well, if I am retired, I will not be here, so that is the answer to the first one. It is very natural you are in the same government establishment, you have been asked to move to another department, you are not expected to resign because you are

still within the same government work, I am not leaving for a private setup. It is the same government that they nominated me. I went through all the due process. I got confirmed by the Senate so I was not retired; I work here, I am a public servant. And also I did not collect salaries in both organisations (AIB and NCAA) while serving in one organisation. So when I left, when I was confirmed here in NCAA my salaries ceased to be paid by the accident investigation.

On the age issue, it was alleged you ought to have retired?

Well as of age, first of all I can tell you that in the civil service you are expected to retire when you are 60. I am most certainly not up to 60 and I think people are just being lazy.

This is because it is very easy to establish the age of an individual who has gone through the system, both here and abroad. I have pilot license in the United States. You can confirm that, my age is there. I also have a flight engineer’s license in the United States; the age is there. I have a Nigerian pilot license and I have flight engineer’s license issued by NCAA, which is a government organisation, and the age is there.

I went through College of Aviation Technology, Zaria (NCAT) as a student, my age is there, I was employed as an instructor in the same school and my age is there. My age has never changed because I was not born twice, so it very easy to establish. And of course I had several international passports dating back from 1977 to date; my date of birth has never changed.

So people are just being lazy; if not out rightly mischievous.

There is this allegation of recruitment you did; in fact, somebody sent me the recruitment list, the allegation on the recruitment list is that it did not reflect federal character, which did you choose to ignore the policy?

Very, very interesting, I think the same person should have given you the list of our nominal role for all the staff from inception to date.

The list should reflect all the state of origin and see what the balance was like and where those individuals who are talking about this imbalance now were at that time. Even now, if you take the current nominal role and look at it you will see that there is still serious imbalance.

When I came in I was accused wrongly because those who did the lopsided employment then

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AVIATION

USMAN: ECONOMIC DOWNTURN HAS NOT IMPINGED ON NCAA OPERATIONS to NCAA would have been automation but unfortunately the automation has not really fully taken off. There are still some teething problems and we expect all the airlines to be on that but the fundamental difficulty we had was a provision in the Civil Aviation Act which we are proposing for amendment, which has to do with the method of collection. The essence is for us to be able to provide very strong safety and security regulation for the aviation industry in Nigeria. But having said that we are also pleading with the operators to pay up. Of course, without the operators we will not be able to regulate anything but at the same time the operators may not be there if there is no regulation. So we try as much as possible to work with them, encourage them to pay and also where we need to sanction them to ensure that there is compliance with the payments we do so. So we are working, for the time being, we are trying to use the carrot but if we have to use the stick, we also use it. But we also take into consideration the traveling public in addition to the operator.

But safety is the watchword.

were no more in the system, so I was made to apologise on their behalf for the wrongs that were done before I came in. A strongly worded directive with the warning came from the Federal Character Commission, which is the agency saddled with the responsibility of ensuring compliance with the provision of that section of the constitution. And whatever recruitment we did was fully in line with the rules and we have been duly satisfied as in compliance with the Federal Character principle.

Last year some people were relieved of their duties, especially the inspectors. It is said the number of inspectors you have both on contract and otherwise are not enough to carry out their responsibility of aircraft inspection. How are you managing the depleted workforce?

First of all what I would like to say is that those who were initially removed, were removed based on a directive that indicated that proper procedure was not followed in the first place when they were employed. In the second place, out of the people that were relieved of their employment as a result of that irregularity, only one person is no longer with us and that person chose not to be with us. So in other words, it is only the person that voluntarily decided to leave. He was called back, in fact he even reported and finally he left.

But it was alleged that some of them were downgraded in their level?

No, no, no, there was nothing like that. In the first place, they were not placed appropriately because I told you there was irregularity in the first place and based on directive we asked them to go. And then we now called them and placed them appropriately. Everybody except one person came back. So you can see, if out of probably about nine, one choose not to come back and the others accepted then you know what the answer is. And moreover when they talked of partisan, I have heard it, some people say that maybe they are from a particular section of the country, which is not true. But even if it is so it is because they were the people involved.

You cannot go and punish somebody who is not involved in something. Even then I don’t even look at it as punishment; it was supposed to be corrected because we recalled them and normalised the process.

There is chasm between you and your directors. They feel you don’t carry them along and they feel that in certain situations when you are supposed to relate with them you subordinate such responsibility to the junior staff to relate with them, which to them is undignifying. This has brewed animosity and bitterness. What is your take on this?

I run an open door policy and no human being is perfect, so if there is any issue that does not go down well with them there is no director that does not have access to me, none of my directors. In fact other heads of departments that don’t have directorates, they relate with me directly. So if there are issues I expect they should come to me. Of course, I have an office; I have somebody coordinating the office. If there is information sometimes I send that information through him which is very normal in any democratic setup or any other setup. For example, the presidency has a chief of staff and so on. So if that’s what people say, I don’t think they should take it in that light because information must flow and I don’t think there is anything that I do that I don’t carry directors along.

We meet all the time and we even have an item on the agenda all the time, AOB, which is an opportunity for even things that are not listed for people to talk about. And we also have an AOB in our meetings. So I believe it is either misconception or maybe some people are just trying to be mischievous or maybe people are already. We are open and we give everybody his rights and privileges.

Is it lack of communication or rapport that made things not as smooth as they used to be in this place?

Well as I mentioned earlier, people expect you to operate the same way you operated when they were only about 700; now you are 1400. People expect you to operate the same way they operated when oil prices were about $130 -140 per barrels now that it is under $50 a barrel. People expect you to operate the same way they operated when the dollar was probably

Usman

officially at N200; now it is based on interbank, which is about N350 or 360.

Certainly things will have to change. When I came here I met a lot of backlog in staff claims.

I don’t want to go into the genuineness of those claims but the fact of the matter was that what I met was almost a billion naira debt; a lot of them in third party debts in foreign exchange, in dollars, euro and in some even pounds sterling.

And we made a programme, tried to pay them back, and I find out that it is just not possible to continue along that direction. If we continue that way, one day we will wake up and there is no NCAA because even the salary and allowances that we are paying regularly we would not be able to pay again. And we said we have to change and we put some things in place to reduce those leakages; if possible to block them completely and also try to shore up our own internally generated revenue.

But I don’t want to use that word, generate because essentially NCAA is supposed to be a cost recovery agency, which is what it is worldwide.

We are not really commercial to go and make money but whatever money comes into the civil aviation authority is to be ploughed back into the system to enhance and improve the system.

So certainly there are expectations from people that business should be as usual but certainly the realities on ground dictates it is not possible to do that. So we had to prioritise, which is what we have been doing and do what we have to do and any other thing will come later.

Earlier this month there was this IATA AGM in Dublin and Tony Tyler was talking about aircraft tracking. And after the MH370 disappearance there was an emphasis on aircraft tracking. I know NCAA had a romance with that idea before when the Beechcraft 1900D disappeared in Cross Rivers in March 2008. So is that project still on or is it dead?

Most certainly it is still on, in fact what we have in the proposed budget for the year is much more enhanced system that will even give us some kind of backup data from the aircraft directly. There are some of the parameters that would even be inside the black box, so in a situation where the black boxes are not located in the event of an unfortunate crash at least the information that would be available to us, we can make it available to the investigation authority to help unravel what the causes are for us to learn lessons and prevent such from happening again. So what we are planning to do is actually to have something that is much, more enhanced and it is already in the proposed 2016 budget.

By the end of 2015 it was expected that airlines that are operating in Nigeria would have met the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) certification. Are you still enforcing that regulation on Nigerian airlines?

Let me start by saying that since I came we have had two airlines, one was a cargo airline

that passed IOSA and one just happened recently, this Friday. So you can see we are really on course on that and we are working to ensure that all our airlines are compliant in line with those targets.

What is your evaluation of the safety status of Nigerian airlines?

NCAA is guided by the standards and recommended practices as set out by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). We carry out inspections; we mount surveillance to ensure that all safety and aviation security requirements are met. And we also go as far as giving enforcement sanction for none compliance and we have achieved a lot really and I thank God there has not been any major accident and we pray that we will continue to sustain it. Shortly after my coming here, just barely six or seven months we were first of all audited for security by the ICAO and we did very well, well over 96 percent, which only few countries in the world have been able to achieve. But we are not saying that we are going to sleep, we will continue.

Just in March this year also we underwent an ICAO audit, which is safety. The basic target is for countries to meet 60 percent. From the preliminary report we had we were at almost 69 percent. And the areas of shortfall we had we are developing the corrective action plan to ensure that we recover them. Part of it was the none certification of our international airports.

And I am also happy to announce that we have almost completed it, in fact we are at the last stage of certifying Lagos airport. That would have been done since the 2006 audit, so 10 years later and since I came just shortly over a year ago we are at the last stage of certification. And Abuja is to follow and the other international airports also. So in areas of safety we are doing well and we intend to do even better because there is always room for improvement, until we score 100 percent, there is always room for improvement.

Shortly before the last audit some people came and vandalised runway lighting at Lagos airport. Don’t you thing that was sabotage?

It is something that is difficult to comment on, yes what you said really happened and we all knew that it was an insider that did it because nobody will have access to the airside unless he had authority. So it must have been an insider that did it and I am happy to say that we quickly recovered from that and they are replaced and since then nothing of such has happened. And we will continue to be on the lookout to ensure that the safety and security of our teaming passengers are adequately protected at any time.

NCAA has problem of collecting its charges from the airlines, how are you coping?

The issue that would have solved the failure of the airlines not paying the five percent charge

Do you think the domestic airlines are over charged? What is your view about those charges and foreign exchange challenges?

Are there things to be done to enhance their operation and their capacity?

Let me start with the forex issue, during the aviation stakeholders forum, the Honourable Minister of State for Aviation addressed some issues which included the forex and he has been working and we have been working along with him in the issue of classifying aviation as a priority when it comes to allocation of foreign exchange. When the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) met him, he took it up upon himself and took them along to the Central Bank Governor and I am happy to report that I got a lot of commendation coming from the airline operators that the visit made it possible for them to get a lot of the foreign exchange they require to carry out their safety responsibilities which is positive.

In addition to the foreign exchange issue, the Minster has been working; he is making aviation fuel available and affordable. Because we have a promise that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) will try to start refining Jet A1 (aviation fuel) in Nigeria, and that will reduce the cost even if it is transportation cost, two, availability will be the watch word also.

Flights delays and cancellation arising from the non-availability of fuel will be a thing of the past.

And of course when we engage our production lines, chances are that you will have more Nigerians employed. So it is a positive chain reaction, and also when you talk of the taxation, well tax is different from charges and there is a process. Tax goes to government and charges go to the relevant agencies. So there is process for charges and if any operator or operators or group feel they are shortchanged when it comes to charges, they should come to the regulatory agency, file their complaint and we will check if the process was followed and we will arrive at amicable solution.

This is because whoever is charging should also consult with the stakeholders and eventually when they come into an agreement they will file that charge with us. If they have disagreement they will still come to us and then we will intervene and mediate and ensure that everybody get what he is supposed to get. We have this terrible attitude, some people use service they don’t want to pay for it, I think we should go beyond that. Whoever gets service should be able to pay for that service and if we all do that promptly we will end up with a very efficient industry, which is what we are all striving for.

Does the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and the Nigeria Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) come to you to get approval before they enforce those charges?

That is the process but don’t forget that FAAN was created before NCAA and both have enabling laws. NAMA also was created that way. So those are some of the conflicts that are being addressed by the amendment of the civil aviation act, which is already an ongoing process. So those will be addressed where regulatory provisions were inadvertently put in those agencies. But the Civil Aviation Act 2006 is clear, NCAA is the only regulatory agency as far as civil aviation is concerned in Nigeria and I am sure with the amendment all will be brought in line with that provision under the Civil Aviation Act.

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MARITIME

Stepping up War against Corruption in Maritime Sector Nosa Alekhuogie takes a look at critical steps taken so far by the government to rid the maritime sector of corruption

Buhari

It has been a mixed grill for players in the maritime sector of the nation’s economy in the last one year of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration. The sector, which has the potential to generate about N8trillions annually, has over the years been mismanaged.

To reverse the trend, the federal government has in the last one year, put in place some measures aimed at repositioning the sector.

The first step taken by the government was the appointment of a former Rivers State governor, Rotimi Amaechi as the Minister of Transport with the mandate to reposition the nation’s maritime sector and make it a major revenue contributor to the nation. The government has also appointed a new head for the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and Dr. Dakuku Peterside as the new director general of the Nigerian Maritime Administration Safety Agency (NIMASA).

A New Dawn The federal government is being taken seriously now in the corruption war unlike before. The positive outcome of the fight against corruption has started manifesting in the maritime sector. Recently, a former DG of NIMASA, Raymond Omatseye, was jailed for five years.

Giving judgment in a case brought by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Justice Rita Ofili- Ajumogobia of the Federal High Court convicted Omatseye for a N1.5 billion contract scam.

The EFCC had accused the former NIMASA boss of committing the crime while he was in office, in violation of the country’s public procurement law.

Omatseye was arraigned before the court on a 27-count charge bordering on alleged contract variation, bid rigging and awarding contract above his approval limit.

At the final hearing of the matter on March 24, before the court fixed a date for judgment,

Amaechi

the prosecution counsel, Godwin Obla, and defence counsel, E. D Onyeke made their final addresses and adopted them before the court.

Not all Bad Story While much has been said about the massive corruption in the sector, not much was publicised about the achievement of the past administration in NIMASA. The agency, under the previous administration, established six maritime institutes and departments at some universities across the country as part of efforts to encourage maritime studies by Nigerian youths and rekindle the seafaring career in the country. The agency has also sponsored over 2,000 cadets in the last five years at some universities abroad under the National Seafarers Development Programme (NSDP). Maritime industry stakeholders had criticised the agency for patronising universities abroad instead of undertaking the NSDP at home universities. However, the tenure of the former DG of NIMASA, Peter Akpolobokemi was marred by controversies.

Shortly after he assumed office, Buhari terminated the appointment of Akpobolokemi.

It was gathered that the president did this as part of his fulfillment of his campaign promises to effect positive changes in the country. Akpobolokemi had been accused of partisanship in the build up to the 2015 general elections and diverting funds meant for the agency into private pockets.

A fresh charged was filed against him and this made it the sixth time the EFCC would file different charges against the former NIMASA boss for alleged fraud perpetrated during his time.

According to the prosecution, NIMASA, under the former DG, approved billions of naira to several military personnel, who were purportedly engaged to patrol the creeks to prevent pipeline vandalism and illegal bunkering. The funds, it said, ended in private

accounts through fraudulent means.

Assessing Amaechi’s Tenure It was not then a major surprise when Amaechi was appointed Minister of Transport.

Since his appointment as minister in 2015, he has made some efforts to revamp the transportation sector, flush out corruption completely, refloating the national shipping line even though results have not been gotten.

He has also forged ahead with the completion of rail tracks, building of the University of Transportation, and has promised to complete all ongoing rail projects in the pipeline and to extend rail lines across Nigeria.

Amaechi sees the transport sector as the second most important sector of the economy after oil and gas. Amaechi believes the transport sector is the one that affects all sectors, including oil and gas.

In a chat with newsmen on his appointment he said: “We are currently upgrading all modes of transport, including rail, roads, sea, and air. We have been working on the seaport at Onitsha, Baro, and Lokoja. The first two are ready and the third will be ready soon. We are talking with Chinese companies to see how we can capitalise on Nigeria’s internal waterways and use them as a means of transport. In railways, we’re in the process of developing a plan for laying 2650km of new railways, investing $20 billion over a period of four years.

The construction of two deepwater ports is also underway in Lekki, near Lagos, and at Ibaka in Akwa Ibom River State. The Lekki deepwater port is still in a starting phase but both these developments will be critical, particularly to handle trans-shipping.”

New NIMASA Head One of the many controversies that dogged the maritime sector in the last one year was the appointment of the APC gubernatorial candidate in the 2015 Rivers State election, Perterside as the DG of NIMASA. Despite

the reactions, which trailed his appointment, and the mixed feelings of various maritime stakeholders, it cannot be denied that the new DG and Amaechi, both have things in common, which stakeholder believe, can turnaround the fortune of the maritime industry.

During his tenure as the Chairman House of Representatives Committee on Strategic Petroleum Resources (Downstream), Peterside influenced a lot of policies that propelled the growth of the oil industry in Nigeria.

The NIMASA boss has, however, since announced that the agency is to undergo structural, cultural and performance reforms as well as put in place a three year developmental plan from 2016 to 2019 to ensure that the maritime industry contributes positively to the economy.

Few weeks into office, he expressed the agency’s desire to work with other stakeholders and also to speed up the passage of the Anti-Piracy and Other related Crimes at Sea into law.

He also noted that the agency is developing a medium term strategic growth plan which will aid its management to focus on its core mandate of promoting the development of indigenous capacity in international and coastal shipping as well as effectively regulating the maritime industry in Nigeria.

While commenting on the public perception of NIMASA over the years, Peterside said that the agency under his leadership will completely change the narrative from the negative perception of corruption, inefficiency and abandonment of its core mandate to that of a maritime administration that is alive to its responsibility intent on making Nigeria the preferred destination for maritime activities in Africa.

He stressed that the agency will leave no stone unturned, including seeking legislative amendment if need be, to ensure full submission with the Cabotage Act 2003, which according to him is necessary to fast track the desired growth in the maritime sector.

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BUSINESSWORLD

PERSPECTIVE

MD/CEO, AMCON, Mr. Ahmed Kuru (right) in a handshake with Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami at the inauguration of the Inter-Agency Committee in Abuja…recently

Hard Times Await AMCON’s Debtors Jude Nwauzor The recent inauguration of the Presidential Inter-Agency Committee (PAIC) on recovery of loans owed Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), by President Muhammadu Buhari GCFR has been described as one of the silent achievements of his administration in its first year. With the Presidential Inter-Agency Committee in place, analysts are of the opinion that AMCON has at last received the necessary back which will enhance its loan recovery drive.

“There is no doubt that hard times await obligors of the Corporation in the days, months and years ahead,” said an analyst.

He reasoned that the PAIC committee will greatly enhance AMCON to perform its statutory roles as stipulated in its enabling Act. The Presidential Inter-Agency Committee came into being on the persistent requests of Mr. Ahmed Kuru, Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer of AMCON to President since he (Kuru) assumed office.

According insider sources at AMCON, Kuru has clear idea of what he sets out to do at AMCON. He’s always seeking ways to improve the performance of the Corporation since assuming office. He has consistently harped on the fact that the AMCON needs the support of the presidency to galvanise relevant agencies of the government to assist AMCON to achieve the statutory objectives for which Corporation was created in 2010. At last, his persistence paid off with the setting up of PAIC by President Muhammadu Buhari a couple of months before the first anniversary of this administration.

“Since coming on board as AMCON MD/CEO, Kuru has exhibited unreserved passion to turn the tables against recalcitrant debtors of the Corporation. He knows what the Corporation need to give it teeth to bite, the support of the authorities in its debt recovery drive. So, he has been in continual discussion with President Buhari, insisting that AMCON needs the president’s support in order to confront the effrontery of recalcitrant debtors of the Corporation who were hitherto regarded as ‘untouchables’ before now,” the source said.

He added that, Kuru’s recognition of the fact that the job of recovering the huge funds owed the Corporation by debtors has become even more challenging also led him to seek more efficient but civilised ways

of resolving issues with the Corporation’s debtors through negotiation strategies as well as the special enforcement powers vested on the Corporation by the Act establishing it which empowers it to compel its debtors to pay their debts. However, most of these efforts were to no avail as some of the Corporation’s politically connected and business heavyweights still think its “business as usual” at AMCON. On the contrary, Kuru resolved to make it known to the recalcitrant debtors that it’s a new Sheriff in Town. Hence, his unwavering stance to secure the buy-in of the presidency to assist AMCON achieves its statutory obligations in order for the Corporation to pursue its assignments with renewed vigour.

Apparently, the presidency became worried after seeing the facts and figures Kuru presented before it with regards to the huge amount the recalcitrant debtors are owing AMCON. A source in the Corporation explained that President Buhari became passionate about the plight of AMCON when he became aware of the fact that the top 400 obligors of AMCON account for more than N4.5 trillion, which is approximately 80 per cent of the total outstanding loan balance of the Corporation’s 13,774 accounts with the recalcitrant obligors. Some analysts also expressed that the President must have taken special interest in the case presented before him by Ahmed Kuru to the effect that despite spirited efforts by AMCON to make these obligors to repay their debts to the Corporation’s debtor remained adamant. This, they argued, must have prompted President Buhari to grant Kuru’s request by setting up a high-powered PAIC which is chaired by the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami, in order for the presidency to keep close watch on activities in the Corporation.

An investment security analyst who also preferred anonymity says the PAIC “is a welcome development. That’s exactly what AMCON needs to carry out its statutory roles effectively,” he said; adding that the way the Corporation’s debtor companies, obligors and their promoters with strong political and economic influence and have perfected the art of frustrating and circumventing AMCON’s recovery efforts before now; AMCON needs the intervention of the authorities to galvanise and coordinate relevant Ministries, Departments

and Agencies (MDAs) of government to join forces to assist AMCON tackle issues of debt recovery from these recalcitrant debtors and obligors irrespective of their power and influence.

The setting up and inauguration of the PAIC was a dream come true for Ahmed Kuru, MD/CEO of AMCON. Addressing the committee in Abuja at its inaugural meeting recently, Kuru, said “the committee was set up by His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari GCFR, to find ways and means of assisting AMCON towards achieving its statutory objectives.”

“AMCON,” he explained, “is a unique Corporation with narrow and specialised statutory functions that was primarily established in 2010 to bring financial stability through the procurement and management of Eligible Bank Assets (EBAs).”

He stated that, President Buhari had to beckon on the MDAs for assistance because AMCON had acquired about 13,774 Non-Performing Loans (NPLs) worth N3.6 trillion from 22 commercial banks in Nigeria and provided financial accommodation of N2.2billion. With the action, about N4.7trillion of depositors’ funds and interbank takings were protected and approximately 14,000 jobs saved as a result of AMCON intervention in the banking sector. Therefore at the heart of AMCON’s statutory mandate is the recovery of NPLs and the enforcement and realization of collateral.

With this background, Kuru who described the development as well-desired intervention, reiterated that the assignment at AMCON had become even more challenging because the performance rate has also dropped to less than 5 per cent as the Corporation currently carries a debt portfolio of about N5.6 trillion out of which substantial part lies in the energy and aviation sectors of the economy.

The AMCON helmsman added that “A significant portion of the debt is owed by companies or individuals with strong political and economic influence in the society, and this fact translates into serious challenges in the ability of the Corporation to achieve meaningful resolution of the debts. Additionally, quite a lot of transaction with us, besides the unwillingness by obligors to pay also has underlying issues relating to diversion, collision and money laundering.”

Recently too, the Corporation renewed its strategy to resolve over six thousand

accounts with loan balances of N100million and below, inducted successful firms that qualified as its Asset Management Partners (AMPs). The AMPs are consortia with specialist skills required to ensure recovery and debt resolution; banking, legal, valuation and accounting.

AMCON under Kuru has also strategically focused on value enhanced exits of its portfolios, which encompasses continued negotiations and resolution of loans through cash recoveries, asset forfeitures through negotiation or enforcement; capital restructuring for short to mid-term exits as well as joint venture arrangements for asset operations and land development. And as the second largest land and real estate property owner in Nigeria, AMCON is exploring the creation of robust Real Estate Investment Trust Scheme (REITS) that would provide market driven exit for AMCON’s real estate assets as well as additional capital market instruments for institutional investors such as the Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) and other interested parties. To achieve this, AMCON is engaging with financial advisers, private equity and mezzanine Funds as potential partners for joint venture and other capital restructuring arrangements.

Analysts opined that with therenewed efforts of the Corporationunder Kuru combined with the assistance it would get from the Presidential Inter-Agency Committee, there is no gainsaying that AMCOM debtors, whose actions have greatly contributed to Nigeria’s economic woes will begin to feel the heat. The days ahead would leave these stubborn obligors and recalcitrant debtors with no hiding place any further.

The high-powered PAIC committee also include members like Senator Hadi Sirika, Honourable Minister of State (Aviation), Inspector General of Police, Mr. Solomon Arase and Mr. Ibrahim Magu, Chairman, Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC). Others include Alhaji Ahmed Idris, Accountant General of the Federation, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, Group Managing Director Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Abraham Nwankwo, Director General, Debt Management Office (DMO), Mr. Farouk Ahmed, Executive Secretary, Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) and Mr. Ahmed Kuru, AMCON MD/CEO. -Nwauzor, Head of Corporate Communications at AMCON writes from Lagos

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PERSPECTIVE

TSA Has Hurt Instead of Helped Nigerians Magnus Onyibe Roughly 1,500 Nigerians in the financial services sectors have in the past couple of weeks been relieved of their jobs.

This comprise of 200 from Sky bank,200 from Diamond bank and 1,040 from Ecobank, just mention a few.

Without the threat to withdraw banking licenses of institutions that would further sack employees by minister of employment and productivity - an intervention Nigeria Employers Consultative Council , NECA aver is illegal-more bankers heads would have rolled as First bank which suffered 82% profit loss in the last financial year, had plans to lay off much more than 1000 employees.

Since banks are the custodians of the funds that make the economy go round, when financial institutions are wobbling,the whole economy goes lame as evidenced by the trickle down effects such as factory closures and associated workers lay offs that are now the increasingly overbearing scenarios in Nigeria.

What’s the catalyst for the upsurge in the mass sacking of staff in the banking sector in the manner that they scramble with each other for customers juicy money deposits ?

It’s simply, in part due to the introduction of the Treasury Single Account,TSA by the current regime.

To me, First bank’s unprecedented massive profit loss in 2015 financial year is proportional to the size of govt’s funds in its treasury that has been returned to the CBN vaults through TSA. This is without prejudice to First bank’s credit impairment which spiked from about N26b in 2014 to nearly N120b in 2015,and also partly accountable for the drop in profit .

As a close scrutiny has revealed,the less the amount of govt funds in a bank, the less staff they are likely to lay off as reflected in the case of Skye and Diamond banks which are third tier and laid only off 200 staff apiece.

Compare that to Ecobank which is higher on the echelon, and it sacked over 1000 just as First bank which is next only to the CBN in the hierarchy of financial institutions holding public funds, could have laid off much more staff than 1000 if govt had not directed a stay of action on staff rationalization.

In the light of the foregoing, there is credible intelligence that if funds now held in TSA domiciled in CBN are not urgently returned to the deposit money banks, DMBs, where they are traditionally meant to be,via payments to contractors , the threat to seize banking licenses by govt or NLC/TUC picket warning alone , can not deter the sacking of at least 10,000 bankers before end of 2016.

The Central Bank of Nigeria,CBN itself in a recent report has admitted that bank deposits dropped by about one trillion naira in the period between April 2015 and 2016. That obviously confirms reduction in banking activities which would also compel staff redundancy that underscores the need to downsize.

Sometimes, a purge becomes a compelling line of action to be taken by an organization for survivability . This ranges from reasons of inability to sustain existing overhead costs due to paucity of financial resources or to correct image/structure concerns.

Take for instance the sacking of 40 senior officers by the Nigerian army which the military considered inevitable.

While the banks embarked on their right sizing exercise based on financial squeeze which is the former, the army purged itself of ‘politically tainted’ personnel, which is the latter.

The rhetorical question arising from the two scenarios depicted above would be, did the minister of employment or NLC/ TUC query or threaten picketing the army for doing what it needed to do due to exigency as they did to banks?

At this juncture,further background information on what spurred the TSA ini-

Buhari

tiative, deemed to have triggered the mass sacking and labour crisis in the financial services sector, and which underscores the fact that, at the moment, TSA is hurting more than it is helping Nigerians and the economy, is in order.

Before the Ascension to power of the present govt, Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs in Nigeria cumulatively operated 17,000 bank accounts.

Obviously, it’s govt’s funds, in excess of three trillion naira, N3t that were lodged in those accounts, but now tracked and mopped up into a single account in the CBN that has been buffeting the 21 banks in Nigeria.

With the advent of TSA, banks no longer have cheap funds in their vaults to lend to entrepreneurs and in the process also create employment for Nigerians who are trained to facilitate banking services.

Keep in mind that the nation’s economy is practically driven by govt business, that’s why each time there is delay in the passage of annual appropriation bill by the National Assembly, NASS, the economy literarily grinds to a halt.

Prior to the advent of the TSA, banks were very liquid because MDAs kept the funds required for daily operational activities like purchasing of office supplies that facilitate the functioning of govt business like files, fuel,electricity, telephone as well as water services etc in the banks.

In the private sector, such funds in sundry bank accounts would be deemed to be working capital. While govt had all that fund, it was not in bulk because they were held in 17,000 different accounts spread across Nigerian and overseas banks-JP Morgan etc.

With such dispersal of govt funds across local and international financial institutions , it was difficult to keep track and protect the funds from being abused from a central position as is now the case through TSA.

One typical way that govt funds were mismanaged by MDAs was by lodging the money in banks for little or no interest payment to govt, while govt borrows- its own money- as it were from banks at exorbitant interest rates.

Such impropriety was so rife that often times, salaries and pension allowances of workers were lodged by crooked public officers into banks to earn under-the-table interest income for themselves, and to the detriment of workers whose salaries may be delayed by weeks and maybe months while yields from the pervert transactions are awaited to line the private bank accounts of the fraudulent public and civil servants .

In summary, the proliferation of bank accounts operated by MDAs was a veritable platform for corruption by public officials in Nigeria until TSA was introduced to plug the loopholes.

As the old saying goes, for every action, there is a reaction.

With 100% compliance, the effect of the implementation of TSA on the economy, was like draining a human being of blood because deposited funds in banks are their life lines and comparable to the role of blood in humans.

No matter how resilient and vibrant the financial services sector maybe, the withdrawal of a whooping three trillion naira from an economy with a mere GDP size of $530b could not have resulted in less shock and associated collateral damages hence banks are currently stretched to their brims and maybe in distress if quick remedial actions are not taken by the authorities sooner than later.

That’s also why, Nigerian economy that was expanding at a galloping speed of 7% barely 24 months ago, is now contracting at a rate that Nigeria had not recorded in over 24 years.

We all are now familiar with the nation’s misery index mirroring the deplor-

able standard of living in Nigeria, so it bears no repetition, but could the nation have avoided the ensuing socioeconomic paralysis? The answer is a resounding yes, if the TSA policy was calibrated.

It is worth recalling that TSA is not the brain child of the current govt but it was originated by the previous administration which failed to implement it.

Goodluck Jonathan regime’s decision not to implement the TSA policy, was to avoid the dire consequences now being suffered by Nigerians.

At the point of attempting to introduce the policy, social impact assessment was conducted and it was discovered that it could create shock waves that would unhinge the economy and result in distress in the banks that would lead to mass sacking of staff which could cascade down the line to closure of businesses as currently being witnessed.

To avoid such calamitous consequences, it was agreed that TSA would be implemented in phases.Which means that it was decided that a stage by stage mopping up of funds off bank vaults in small doses would be more tolerable ,than one fell swoop, which is the method adopted by this govt and the economy ended up in a bind. Ostensibly, for failing to achieve the desired transformation in the fortune of Nigerians, Jonathan’s regime was punished by voted out of office on March 28th 2015.

Similar to TSA was the now infamous steve Oronsanye Committee which was set up to rationalize the over sized public service through reduction of MDAs by the outgone regime.

The implementation of its recommendations was also stalled owing to the fear of undesirable fallout outs like jobs losses which could have created social upheaval and which Goodluck Jonathan’s govt CONTINUED ON PAGE39

WEEKEND WEEKLY PULLOUT

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

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‘I’M PASSIONATE ABOUT FOOD AND COOKING’ ACTING EDITOR CHARLES AJUNWA / charles.ajunwa@thisdaylive.com

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‘I’m Passionate About Food and Cooking’ Michael Elegbede travelled to the United States of America to study medicine. But after his pre-medicine studies at the University of Illinois, Chicago, he gave them up to become a chef. Though he said his decision shocked his parents who wanted him to become a medical doctor, Elegbede told Peter Uzoho that he has no regrets over his decision You are an up and coming chef, how did you learn how to cook?

I’m a chef in Nigeria. I just returned back to Nigeria about two months ago after 13 years in the United States of America, to really focus on Nigerian food and cuisine. And my background in food is rooted in my upbringing; my grandmother and my mother are both cooks. My grandmother studied culinary arts during the colonisation of Nigeria from a French chef that resided in Nigeria at the time. My mother naturally learnt how to cook from my grandmother and she became a cook.

When she got to the United States of America, she went to the Le Cordon Blue to get her culinary degree as a pastry chef.

It’s no surprise that I became a chef as well. However, it didn’t begin that way. My parents won a visa lottery to the United States of America and they left my brother and I with my grandmother while they went to settle down there. We spent about eight years with my grandmother and during that time, I had the opportunity to learn about food and cooking and fall in love with cooking with my grandmother without really knowing that was what I was going to be doing for the rest of my life.

Eventually, we moved to the States when I was 13 to meet my parents. At that point, I had no perception of becoming a chef. I went to high school, and when I finished, I attended college at the University of Illinois, Chicago, to study pre-medicine because I was good in sciences. Naturally, this automatically meant I was going to be a doctor. So after my years doing undergrad in pre-medicine, I realised that this cooking is more than just a hobby, it’s something that I want to do for the rest of my life. So I enrolled at the Culinary Institute of America in Greystone Napa Valley, CA which is said to be the Harvard of culinary schools in America. There, I experienced a completely different way of cooking; a very personal and in-depth way of understanding food.

Food and cooking became more than what I did to fill the stomach of hungry folks, but a holistic phenomenon that is capable of communicating to all the senses, insinuate memories, inspire artistically, and natural.

During school I had the opportunity to do my internship at Eleven Madison Park Restaurant in New York and upon completion of culinary school; I got hired to be a full time chef. Eleven Madison Park being a three Michelin star restaurant, as well as the fourth best restaurant in the world, instilled in me standards that are necessary to cook food in a beautiful and philosophical way.

It was a struggle being alone in the kitchen, the only black man at the time and more so the only African in the kitchen, I felt out of place. But the more I came in there every day, the more I fall in love with what I was cooking. And I knew I was there for a reason and my reason was to learn, and I just kept pushing and kept doing everything I was supposed to do.

Sooner or later, I became part of the team.

The farther I moved up the ladder, the better I understood what it meant to cook at such a high level. There came a point in my career where I was like, I love what I’m doing but there is something missing. And I realised that for me it means my foundation in food which is Nigerian food. My foundation, was falling in love with food with my grandmother and my mother. And I realised that somehow, I have to incorporate my background with my new found love with culinary art. To do that, I have to really rethink what it means to cook Nigerian food. And rethinking what it means to cook Nigerian food is really, completely wiping it off the plate and redoing the plate.

What that meant to me was re-envisioning what it means to eat eba, what it means to eat

At what age did you start cooking?

When I was very young and from that moment I started peeling potatoes for meat pie when I was less than five years old, when I started watching my mother cook food. Both my mother and my grandmother owned a restaurant here in Nigeria.

They also had structures where they taught young women apprenticeship in Nigeria; where there was a caterer teaching people how to cook. My grandmother had cooking school that graduated up to 60 people at a time in Aguda, and every time there would be a new set of students coming in to learn how to cook, how to bake, I would like to go into the kitchen; I would try showing them some techniques. I would like to correct them. I would be like, that’s not how to roll a meat pie, and they were like, what does this little boy know. I think just being in that environment really inspired my love for cooking without really knowing it. If anyone had asked me even when I was 13, if I was going to be a chef, I would have been like, of course not.

But that’s just what I love to do. As a male coming from Nigeria, the idea of a man cooking in the kitchen as a career is not something that can be easily understood. I think I fall in love with cooking before I even thought it would be a career.

Elegbede

amala, what it means to experience bole or suya, and in the way that I now understand cuisine and how food can be cooked .

Through that I started this testing menu series in New York, where I would do a seven to eight course testing menu that people would pay a certain amount and they would come and eat different courses that are Nigerianinspired, like a corn dish that has popcorn or steamed corn; like just bringing in the cuisine to the people. And people fall in love with it. People experienced Nigerian food in the way they’ve never experienced any African dish before because they were able to see that food is not just spice and starch on a plate; that there are so many other flavours and complexities to our food. After doing this for a while, there was still a longing to do it. I felt that, it was important for me to do it for our own people, not for anyone else. Not for what the international community thought of us. And I want to cook Nigerian food for Nigerians in the way that they can be inspired.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Nigerian prose writer, I watched her talk “I care more about what Africans think about Africa than what anyone else thinks of Africa.” That was very inspiring for me. So I realised that it was time for me to come back to Nigeria to see what it means to make this idea come to reality

and that seed is now fruiting a restaurant that is here in Nigeria called ‘Itan’. Itan means story in Yoruba.

So the idea is that, this restaurant tells the story of the Nigerian people; the culture, the diverse ethnic groups, the extent of our produce, our sea food. A lot of things that are embedded and integrated inside Nigeria.

Things that are real to our culture. We have over 320 ethnic groups, with very diverse techniques to food and food is one thing I believe brings everyone together. I want this restaurant to embody a cradle aspect of that.

When are you going to open the Itan Restaurant to the public?

We’re hoping to open the restaurant in the middle of next year and it’s going to be located in Victoria Island, Lagos.

How spacious is the restaurant and what is the staff strength?

It’s not a small place, but it’s not a giant place either. We’re planning to have about 50 seats at any given time people come into the place. For the staff strength, we’re going to have about 15 to 20 people maximum in the kitchen, and 15 to 20 people outside dining area as well, making it 40 people that will be working in the restaurant at any given time.

What is your best delicacy?

I love pounded yam and egusi soup with some fresh foods like croaker fish or prawns.

You talked about leaving Nigeria for the US and that your parents wanted you to study medicine but you ended up becoming a chef.

How did they take your decision?

Shocking! To my mum, not much because she had a restaurant in Chicago as well. Every time, after school in High school, I was at the restaurant cooking. I was the chief cook in the restaurant. The name of the restaurant is Jumidell Restaurant. It was an award-winning restaurant. And telling my father was the hardest because it’s hard for a Nigerian man to see his first son say he wants to be a cook and he was like, how are you going to be happy in life. You should just go to medical school, become a doctor, may be you can then open a restaurant. I was like what is the point.

Why should I go to medical school, become a medical doctor and after that I open a restaurant. Why will I go to medical school, then become a doctor, after that, I open a restaurant. And he was like, what are you going to tell your friends in Nigeria. He took it as such a shameful thing for me to do.

But for me it was more like, how can something I love so much be bad. He left me to finish that decision and for my mother, once she realised that that was what I wanted that will make me happy in life she gave me her full support.

No matter what anyone says, I feel that we all have a calling in life and the meaning of life is finding that calling and hopefully using that calling to impact the world around you.

For me, food is that calling that I find myself to be passionate about. And in everything that I do, I’m hoping to use this my love to impact my world, which is another reason why I’m here in Nigeria. I think Nigerian food is being underrated. I could cook and be in love with food anyway. That’s not a problem, but how can I do it without being meaningful and impactful in this life that I’m living. That’s one of the reasons why I’m here.

I have no regrets over my decision.

Recently, you participated in the Guarantee Trust Bank food and drink fair in Lagos. Can you tell us about the food fair?

It was a great experience. I was the keynote speaker in the event where I got to demonstrate a dish to a group of people and it was very exciting. The other exciting part was where I

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that it is the epicentre of cuisines all over the world. I believe Nigeria, Lagos specifically has the platform to be the epicentre of food from so many different places in Africa and even other places in the world. But, one thing that we have to do before we know everyone else is that it’s important we know ourselves before we know anyone else. So I see really amazing things happening in the restaurants from the amala booker to the finest dining places in Victoria Island.

I think we’re growing in our understanding of the ingredients we are using and the ones we are not using. We are not using MSG again as much anymore and that’s something that everyone has to feel like this is bad for my health, I won’t accept from eating anywhere than eating at home. So that awareness I think is being driven by restaurants as well. So I ‘m seeing a lot of great things in the restaurants in Nigeria and I see a brighter future for our country.

You talked about going into cooking and how people will perceive it, when you came back to Nigeria how did your friends receive you?

Oh! With joy, with so much support. I don’t think I was surprised. Nigeria is a very accepting place. You see the best makeup artists now in Nigeria. So many men are into fashion and are being accepted, admired for that. Things that are typically, seemingly feminine in our culture, are now things that men can do and they are okay.

So coming into Nigeria, especially, with my knowledge internationally, it was easy. Because, they were like, what have you brought for us? I brought cooking techniques for us to learn. It was very warming and inviting. My family were very supportive and my friends very excited and asking me when I would come to cook for them. It’s been great; I have zero negative reaction for what I do.

With your experience and your knowledge in cooking, are you in the nearest future thinking of setting up a training centre where you can train the younger ones?

In the future hopefully in Nigeria, I also plan having a restaurant that the kitchen can be a place for training people who are passionate about cooking and about food. They can come through and learn the details that hopefully, inspire a high level knowledge about food through that channel.

had Itan Restaurant featured in the event and everyone seemed to see how the restaurant would be. It was very exciting for me.

We had some cassava chips for people to taste and it was funny. People started arguing with us that the cassava chips were not cassava chips; that there had to be some other vegetable. That was because, the only way they’ve ever had cassava was in fufu or in any other form of pounded starch way. So when they saw it as a chip and they found that it was sweet. They were like there is no way this can be cassava.

It was also exciting to see how they interacted with the dishes and how they found it very exciting, and they were like, oh! My God, this is Nigerian food and it looked so beautiful.

It’s not just a pounded meal and stew. There is much more to it, it’s beautiful, it’s autistic and it inspires. So it was quite exciting.

What kind of food did you cook?

We had a five course tasting menu where we had our first course as avocado pear with plantain and cassava chips, with Hibiscuspikled, onions, and slices of tomatoes. Then, in the second course, we had mango pawpaw salad with candid cashew, agbalumovinaigrette and citrus segment.

Then after that, we had prawn. It was very exciting because prawn and pepper soup fit together. So we were thinking of how pepper soup can be served. A lot of time when we eat pepper soup, it’s always very spicy. So we decided that we were going do a more flavourful take on pepper soup with really delicately cooked prawn with it. We had braised lamb dish with pounded yam and egusi, which was a bit favourite for most people. That was what we gave them at the GT Bank event and it was quite exciting.

You are invited as one of the keynote speaker to this year’s International Food Design Conference taking place New Zealand.

What is it all about?

For the International Food Design Conference in New Zealand, it’s where food designers from around the world are invited to come and talk about the progress of food and I’m privileged to be one of the keynote speakers at this year’s event. It’s a big day to me because I’m the first and the best person to keynote this event. I’m proud to be the first African and more proud to be the first Nigerian to be invited as a keynote speaker to the event.

I’m even more excited to share our food at that event, because one thing that they want to see is the fact that they don’t see African food in the culinary spotlight. But the way I’m beginning to idealise and present our food is making it more inviting and making it more experience based.

They want to understand the inspiration behind this innovation in our cuisine that I’m portraying. So I think the food revolution in Nigeria also is motivating people to want to understand what it means that Nigerians love so much about their food. Seeing what I’m doing with Nigerian food which I lectured at the Otago University, which are the people coordinating this international food design conference, they contacted me to see if I could be one of their international keynote speakers and I was very excited to be part of it.

When is the event coming up?

The event is coming up from June 29 to July 3 and I be in New Zealand from June 20 till July 8.

You talked about food revolution in Nigeria.

What is your assessment of the food revolution in the country. Are we getting it right?

Yes! I think for the most part, we’re getting it right. I think we’re getting to the awareness of what we’re eating and the understanding that there is so much to food than just eba and the starches. We’re diversifying what we eat and realising that food can become more than just eating events; when you’re hungry, you just stuff your face with food. We’re realising that you can actually be creative with food. I’m seeing a lot of events where people are eating food as arts, using food as a means of interaction and it’s such a base to our core.

As humans we need food to live and seeing the revolution in Nigeria, taking it to what we are typically taking it to be useful and elevate the sense. We are understanding that it’s important that we eat less imported food and more food that is grown in Nigeria, because it’s not only good for us but also good for our

Elegbede

economy and the more we appreciate the food here and the produce here the better it is for our country. Understanding the techniques to diversify how to use those ingredients is also important for us not to be bored with food. So I’m really excited and proud of the food revolution in Nigeria.

What is your assessment of hotels and restaurants in Nigeria in terms of meeting international standards?

I think there is a big movement for finer dining in Nigeria. Even in the more local dining

and eating, you see a better sense of service.

You go to a restaurant in Victoria Island and you see them having really standardised and well put together restaurants where people can go into and eat. They serve very well and many are using more inspirational food in their menu.

What I would like see more is more focus on our traditional food in the restaurants.

You go to the classiest and finest restaurants; you see that a lot of them are trying to bring international food more here in Nigeria, which is good. One thing I like about New York is

You know food and agriculture have a link, the present government at the national level has said agriculture is the way to go.

Are we really there?

I think we’re getting there. I think what is important is that we continue to push agriculture, because over the years, we’ve really depleted in our internal produce when it comes to agriculture. Apart from just growing base, we need more infrastructures, a better processing of those things that we are producing and better ways of transporting them.

This is where people like me come in; better ways of utilising them. For instance, in Otupo, Benue State, there are mango trees everywhere.

We shouldn’t be wasting so much food. But the bad part is that there are insufficient ways of using food in Nigeria. So this is the part where we can work with the agricultural sector to diversify the use of our produce.

So it has to be more than yes, let everyone move into agriculture to grow more food.

There has to be diversified ways of using those foods grown.

What is your message to Nigerians especially to youths?

I think it’s time for we young ones to really look at the things that we love to do; the things that nothing will stop you from doing them; things that will help our society. Not everyone was born to become a doctor or a lawyer.

So, focus on what you love doing and finding that, invest your time, invest your everything and grow in it. Because with the state of Nigeria now, everyone is talking about diversifying our economy and what does that mean? It means that we have so many parts in the professional and business sectors that are not being accessed. Most people focus on the five core professions, but I know farmers that are richer than bankers in the United States, because they are focused on the produce from their farms. So my biggest message will be, do what you love and do it well. Sacrifice your time, sacrifice everything you have and you can see that the future is bright. If you do it well, if you’re focused, you will make it.

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Lagos ICSAN Restates Commitment to Ascend Higher Stories by Mary Ekah In her inaugural speech as the newly elected Chairman, Lagos State Chapter of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of Nigeria (ICSAN) a couple of months back, Mrs. Abiola Laseinde, said categorically that the focus of her administration was to deploy resources in moving the chapter forward. This she noted would focus on four crucial strategic points: the institute’s growth, visibility, relevance and integration with the goals and objectives of ICSAN national.

It was therefore a thing of joy for her when the institute held it first Business Meeting in 2016.

Reiterating her pledge and commitment to serve the institute, Laseinde recalled that she promised that majority of ICSAN’s activities will be more ‘member-centric’ in approach.

This stance informed the choice of the theme of the recent meeting tagged, ‘Harnessing your Values as a Chartered Secretary and Administrator’, a topic which was given full expository by the keynote speaker and discussants during the meeting in Lagos.

Delivering her welcome speech at the Quarterly Business meeting held recently in Lagos, she said, “Our Business Meeting is a veritable platform for members to interact, network and create great relationships and opportunities as part of our own family time. Assuring that exciting times are

Godbless Eduviere

Lagos ICSAN Chiarman, Mrs. Abiola Laseinde (right) with guests speakers at the event

ahead, Laseinde revealed further that as part of the institute’s strategies to drive members’ engagement and participation, for the first time in the history of the chapter, we have expanded its EXCO units for members to join in service, a platform she believes will enable members, as ISCAN most important stakeholders, to add value to the activities of the Chapter.She noted also that as a way of focusing on members’ continuous professional development, ICSAN would be conducting a free training session for members this year.

She however enjoined members that only their cooperation and greater engagement with the chapter and of course their constructive feedback, will help the institute to strive to deliver on its promises. While enjoining members to listen with rapt at-

tention during each of the presentations and offer meaningful contributions at the appropriate time, she stressed that it will be appreciated if members made the forum as interactive as possible.

While presenting his paper, one of the discussants at the meeting, Mr. Bayo Adaralegbe, a partner in the law firm of Babalakin & Co, noted that when it comes to possession of proficiency, flexibility and competencies across diverse fields in business spheres, Chartered Secretaries were the ones calling the shots. This, he said was so because their comprehensive training, spanning many fields such as accounting, law, management, administration, information system and corporate secretarial practice, make them the professionals with the broadest set of skills and competencies.

Man Wins N1m as Kingdom Lottery Holds in Abuja The popular Wuse Market in Abuja came alive recently as Kingdom Lottery thrilled traders and visitors during the official launch of the company’s offerings where Mr. Martins Okechukwu won N1m from a transparently conducted raffle draw.

The colourful launch came with lots of activities with performances from comedians, musicians, dancers and comic Nollywood actor, Mr. John Okafor, popularly known as Mr. Ibu, who is the brand ambassador of the lottery company.

Licensed by the National Lottery Regulatory Commission, Kingdom Lottery has, in less than one year of its operation in Nigeria, offered Nigerians more by giving customers who did not win originally in their games a second chance to win big. It does this with an innovative and transparent monthly raffle draw where losers can still win big.

Ibu told the impressed crowd that transparency and sincerity were the

Uti and Mike on Breathless set

key reasons why he agreed to become the brand ambassador of Kingdom Lottery. He encouraged his fans not to entertain any fear or reservation about playing the games offered by Kingdom Lottery.

An elated Okechukwu, who emerged as

the winner of the monthly draw, expressed gratitude to God for the blessing and thanked Kingdom Lottery for making good their promise. He encouraged those present at the launch to take advantage of the opportunity presented them by Kingdom Lottery to become millionaires.

Rose of Sharon Tasks Stakeholders on Plight of Widows It is no hidden fact that about 245 million widows and over 500 million children suffer in silence worldwide while over 115 million widows live in poverty, struggling to survive. Many of these women and their children are malnourished, exposed to disease, and subjected to extreme forms of deprivation.

In considering these facts, Rose of Sharon Foundation (RoSF) is seeking corporate entities, governmental agencies, partnerships and alliances to provide assistance in various ways so as to alleviate the plight of widows and their children while also calling on all stakeholders, law enforcement agencies, other NGOs and the media, to join forces with RoSF to draw attention to these horrors.

Speaking to journalists during a press briefing to announce RoSF’s activities to mark this year’s International Widows’ Day scheduled to kick off on June 23, the Founder of Rose of RoSF, Mrs. Folorunso Alakija in a speech read by the Foundation’s Public Relations Officer, Mrs. Tope Olusola, noted that persecution and abuse against widows and their children is not a crisis limited

DPA to Present Official Research on State of the Nation to Buhari

RoSF Trustees,from left: Project Officer, Stella Awoh, Treasurer, Gladys Ifeozo, Secretary, Esther Osho, Public Relations Officer, Tope Olusola, Protocol Officer, Lydia Saka and Welfare Officer, Dupe Chidi during the press briefing

to the developing world as large groups of widows can also be found in Europe, including Russia and Central Asia.

She said therefore that there was a need for assistance in the areas of information technology (services or supplies) and educational supplies’ computers, laptops, textbooks, stationery and learning materials as well as healthcare services amongst other things.Alakija appealed

to stakeholders to all work together as a team to bring smiles to the faces of the downtrodden in our society, particularly widows and orphans.“We rely on you to positively impact their lives through your professional expertise as we ask you to partner with us in taking this message to Nigerians, the rest of the African continent and the world at large,” she noted.

As part of plans to keep citizens and the government updated on the successes of its yearlong campaign on “End Sexual Harassment and Bribery in Nigerian Colleges”, the founder of Dream Project for Africa, Oluwabukola Nelson has declared his team’s intention to meet with President DPA boss, Oluwabukola Nelson Mohammadu Buhari soon in order to present official documentations and reports from its campaign and researches that could boost government’s efforts at rebuilding the crashing educational system. “DPA will keep this tradition for as long as the organisation exist”, said Nelson.

He also explained that since April 2015, Dream Project for Africa has provided free consultation worth N20 million in logistics and human hours on behalf of the government and has contributed to resolving issues ranging from academic corruption to fight against terrorism. “More importantly, we have been able to reignite the hope of Africans living abroad in coming back to their motherland to rebuild its walls.”DPA will also be launching its second annual campaign, which will focus on the importance and benefits of paying tax and the need for government to invest taxpayers’ money into programmes that can outlive each administration thereby creating systems that serve the society and the nation over generations.

Honeywell Harps on Youth Entrepreneurship

L-R: Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, Executive Director, Marketing, Honeywell Flour Mills Plc, Mr. Benson Evbuomwan, The Vision of the Child Painting Competition Winner, Miss FavourUti, Executive Director, Supply Chain, HFMP, Mr. Rotimi Fadipe and Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Dr. Idiat Oluranti Adebule, at the VOTC Award Gala Night

In its continued support for the Nigerian youths in discovering themselves to be more useful to the society through talent development and skills acquisition, Honeywell Flour Mills Plc. recently co-sponsored the 2016 edition of Vision of the Child (VoTC) held in Lagos.

Speaking at the prize presentation to winners at the ceremonial event, the Managing Director of the company, Mr. Lanre Jaiyeola, said being the leaders of tomorrow, it is essential for parents to help bring out the unique talents in their children with a view to equipping them to be able to take advantage of future opportunities.

“At Honeywell, we have a number of programmes aimed at developing young adults, developing the youth and children. Not only do we have a brand that is targeted at children but beyond that for us there is never a prize that is too much to pay. Working with children is amazing. It is amazing to know the kind of thought that pass through their minds, it is amazing to know that children sometimes know so much that you can never imagine. So, for us at Honeywell, there cannot be a better time than now to work with these set of young and upcoming children who are leaders of tomorrow”, he said.

While noting that the modern day economy is driven largely by hard works exemplified in small and medium enterprises, he said unemployment will reduce considerably if youths shun the quest for non-existing white collar jobs and rediscover themselves by tapping into their creative talents and innate abilities.Jaiyeola particularly lauded organisers of the VoTC initiative, saying their efforts will greatly benefit society. He urged everyone especially corporate organisations to support the initiative. Honeywell, according to him, will continue to support noble causes that add value to society and to youths in particular, especially in the area of talent development and skills acquisition.

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Kids Sensitised on Environmental Sustainability Mary Ekah In a bid to help deepen environmental sustainability in Nigeria, the leading retail shop giant, Shoprite has thrown its weight behind the Season 3 of the Youths for Green Economy initiative of a Non Governmental Organisation (NGO), MfonEdet Educational Foundation.

Shoprite through this initiative is striving to develop and promote the culture of environmental conservation by educating the populace on the effects of improper waste management and wealth opportunities in waste. The retail shop also provided shopping vouchers for the students that took part in the essay and art competition to mark the World Environment Day Celebration with the theme, "Go Wild For Life".

Speaking on the theme for this year’s celebration, Vice President, MfonEdet Educational Foundation, Mrs. MfonEdet said though the theme is a worldworld conversation but Nigeria have her our own peculiar problems with environmental issues.

“We also have wild lives that are endangered here in Nigeria but there are other immediate problems that are being faced in Nigeria like flood, deforestation and even the inappropriate way of disposing refuse, which are affecting us and these are things we are trying to tackle with programmes like these”, she noted.

Edet who said the Foundation believes in catching them young, added, “it has been difficult to get the adults to start with, so if we use the children by starting now to educate them, and teach them the importance of the gifts of nature and the act of keeping their environments clean, disposing their wastes properly and other benefits they can derive from nature, as well as the possibility of creating wealth and jobs opportunities from waste management, we can in future be sure that we would have a better place to live – better and safer environment.”

The benefit of recycling waste, she said cannot be overemphasised because there is so much in waste in which people can harness the opportunity and create wealth

L-R: Vice Principal (Academics), Bishop Howells Memorial Grammar School, Bariga, Mr. Laurence Oyebanji ; Mrs. MfonEdet; Head Teacher,/Director, The Fountain Schools, Surulere, Rev. AdekunleOlaitan; and National Chairman, Brand Journalists Association of Nigeria, Mr. GoddieOfose, at the World Environment Day, in Lagos

and these, she stressed are things children must be made to understand.

On how the world theme, “Go Wild for Life”, applies to the Nigeria environment, she said, “Go Wild for Life is about animals that have gone on extinct. So go wild for life is about going all out for wild animals, that are for now are being exported or going on extinction due to illegal trade, so as to preserve them because by the time we allow them to go into extinct further, the benefits we would have derived from these animals would have been lost completely and that will cause an imbalance in the ecosystem.”

Speaking on the competition by the children, Edet said, “The children’s essay competition

comprises things they are passing through right now and what they can also benefits from the nature. They wrote on climate change, one of the biggest threats of the 21st century; climate change, pollution and on all the things that are happening around us and that are affecting us and which the children should start to proffer solutions to.

“It has been overwhelming what these children put down in their essay and thanks for our sponsors because these children are going to go back with some gifts to show for their efforts. And it is not just about them writing the essay and winning a prize but it is a win – win venture, because it is going to bring back one very big culture that we have

lost due to the effect of technology. Getting children to sit down and write these things has helped them imbibe that culture of writing and reading, and it is very amazing what they hope for the future through what they wrote and if we do not start an effort right now to achieve their hopes and aspirations, in 10 years from now what they wrote may not be attainable, and that will be very disappointing and discouraging for them. We also have plans to publish their essays for people to read far and wide. This is the children’s dreams and passion. This is the future they have in mind, which they have put in writing and if we don’t start now to take action, this dreams may not be realised.”

Achieve Healthy Lifestyle with LG Technologies Living a healthy lifestyle is now easier than ever, thanks to the array of fitness tracking apps, wearable devices, and other smart products now available. Technologies such as smartphones, activity monitors and video games provide an avenue for people to enhance measure, understand and alter their daily activities to live a healthier lifestyle with reduced risk of disease. This and many more can be used to achieve the best healthy living.

With the demand of work, raising a family and other obstacles consumers are faced with on a daily basis, it is just too much a hassle for most people to count calories, make healthy food choices and get to the gym a couple of times a week. Luckily, we are in the golden age of technology. Electronics giant, hence, LG Electronics has created devices and services to help simplify our everyday lives, and that includes numerous technologies that can help achieve your health goals. LG Electronics is taking the bull by the horn by investing heavily on innovations that will help actualise a healthy global population and come up with innovative tailored solutions, which will help people in living a modern lifestyle with healthy living.

It is no longer news that LG has a history of churning out innovative products designed to keep users a step ahead of competition by allowing them to track their vitals alongside a range of fitness statistics. The LG watch Urbane equipped with a smart monitor to check the heart rate and a number of sporty features, apart from measuring total calories burned, the smart watch catalogs daily activity to help users chart progress over time. LG watch Urbane no doubts combines style and flexibility that modern consumers demand. Interestingly, the LG advanced Twin wash allows users to simultaneously wash

LG’s mosquitoes repellent AC

multiple loads with differing settings which allows consumers that are allergic to strong detergents to wash their clothes in the same washer used by the rest of the household. It is also tilted to a more accessible six-degree angle, so users don’t have to bend over as much to put clothes in or take them out saving them back or waist pain.

Head of Corporate Marketing, LG Electronics West Africa operations, Mr. Rajesh Agnihotri said: “For us the next step in the expansion of health benefits will be the addition of smart technology to everyday appliances, and LG is incredibly poised to succeed as the market evolves. When multiple products combine they form a safety net that protects users on multiple levels, compounding the individual benefits of each technology- making

it easier for users to stay healthy.”

LG’s kitchen appliances are made with food safety in mind. For instance, the LG microwave uses linear power control between 200 to 1200 watts to evenly cook or defrost food all the way through. The microwave also boasts several features, which lock in nutrients, helping users prepare healthier dishes. Perhaps the second most important factor in maintaining a healthy kitchen involves food storage. LG refrigerators are designed with a special emphasis on keeping the users’ food safer and their kitchen more organised.

The LG Door-in-Door (DID) refrigerator has been designed to meet many families complaining of certain types of food going bad due to constant opening of the fridge to get “go-to” foods during the regular quick

grab and go visits.

The refrigerator also keeps food fresher for longer, further contributing to overall cleanliness inside the fridge. In addition, The Door-in-Door design makes frequently used items more accessible while still allowing less frequently used items to remain in sight.

Having known the prevalence of mosquitoes and in order to protect customers from the diseases being spread by these mosquitoes, LG has developed impressive ultrasonic wave technology, a safe and effective non-toxic technology method for repelling mosquitoes.

This technology is featured prominently on LG’s air conditioners. In addition to their outstanding cooling capabilities and advanced humidity control systems, the AC is designed to assist local consumers in their daily fight against mosquitoes. When active, the AC repels mosquitoes and prevents more mosquitoes from entering the room with its ultrasonic technology, without relying on potentially harmful chemicals.

Moreover, LG has continuously been in the forefront in terms of designing and manufacturing vacuum cleaners with modern technology to perform tedious cleaning exercise with little or no supervision from the user. The HOM-BOT has contributed in small measure in promoting cleanliness and improves healthy respiration; these technologies combine together guarantees a healthy habitation.

The advancement in innovative healthy technology is promoting a hassle free world with LG championing it with its ever-innovative core technologies. The standardisation and innovation of modern technology has made it possible for consumers to now see healthy living as not just systemic but as a way of life worthy of embracing, all thanks to LG Electronics.

17.06.2016

32/ENTERTAINMENTRAVE

eraveonline@gmail.com

@eraveng

www.eraveng.com

The Struggles of OJB Jezreel Veteran and legendary music producer, OJB Jezreel in 2013 announced that his two kidneys had stopped working and needed N17m to undergo a successful transplant in India.

He said “God willing, I have like eight to 10 weeks more to get the transplant done. It’s strange, I still walk around a little. I can’t eat much though. I trust God and Nigerians for their financial support.”

This news shocked the music world with the understanding that OJB Jezreel has limited time to live if funds cannot be raised for the kidney transplant.

As a matter of life and death, donations started from different quarters of the country but a lot of Nigerian artistes, especially those he worked with weren't coming out to donate.

There were reports that certain celebrities had donated towards OJB's surgery which later turned out to be false. It was reported that pop star D'banj donated seven million Naira and Wizkid donated one million Naira but those claims were later refuted

by OJB's camp.

A lot of Nigerians wondered why so many A list artistes were not coming out

OJB Jezreel

to support the award-winning producer.

Afterwards, there was outrage on the social media which made some Nigerian celebrities to lend their hand of support to OJB Jezreel.

Some of the celebrities that donated were Julius Agwu, Ruggedman, Psquare, DJ Jimmy Jatt, Don Jazzy, Dele Momodu, Mercy Johnson, amongst others.

Rotimi Ameachi, the then Governor of River State supported OJB with a sum of $100,000 which was N16m back then.

It was the life booster for OJB. In August 2013, OJB Jezreel travelled to India and had a successful kidney transplant, with his wife, Mabel as the donor of the kidney. After returning to the country, OJB Jezreel joined his colleagues in the industry to continue the music business.

However, the quest won’t last long as the Pretete crooner continued to battle kidney problems which many attributed to the complications from the kidney transplant surgery he had about two years ago.

Sources revealed that OJB had a relapse about two weeks ago and had to be placed on dialysis but situation worsened on Monday leading to his death in the early hours of Tuesday July 14, 2016.

The late music producer’s body was immediately deposited in a morgue at the General Hospital, Isolo, Lagos. He is survived by three wives, Mabel, June and Korede, and eight children.

OJB Jezreel would have turned 50 years old in a month’s time.

Tiwa Savage Reveals more about Her Life and Estranged Husband Nigeria music diva, Tiwa Savage featured on prominent entertainment channel, E! for its mini documentary on some of Africa’s best entertainers, tagged the ‘E! VIP series’ On the episode which features the Mavin first lady, she talked about a wide range of topics – such as her humble beginnings, her relationship with former manager/ estranged hubby, Tee Billz, being a mother, the legacy she wants to leave behind and more.

The singer revealed that her parents vehemently stood their ground against her decision to nurse a musical career as a young child. “Since I was a kid, I knew I wanted to be an entertainer but my parents didn’t support that idea. They wanted me to be a doctor, lawyer, engineer or one of those ones. So I had to go to school to study business and accounts.”

Tiwa’s dad who was also featured in the documentary confirmed her passion for music at a young age and said he gave her a condition that if indeed music was her calling, she would have to get a first degree in a professional course. “She has always wanted to do music and go into music. Growing up, she used to organise musical shows for all the children in the estate and she will lead the group. So my condition was that if you want to go into music, you must have your first degree, finish your secondary education, go to

university and after that you can go into music.”

Tiwa also revealed how TeeBillz, her former manager helped give her image a face-lift and build the Tiwa Savage brand.

“I needed to do something and I met my manager who is now my husband. He saw me and was like ‘you could be really pretty if you put an effort into it’ and I was like, ‘wait what do you mean’ and he was like ‘you need to lose a little weight, wax your legs; that might be attractive.

So he just literally put me through this whole programme and told me that ‘the music is great, the talent is there but 80

per cent of it is branding’. So if you want to do the tom-boy thing, you have to take it to the extreme if you want to be hot and sexy you have to take it to the extreme. So I started learning how to wear heels and he basically just groomed me into the image of Tiwa Savage that we see now”.

Tiwa explained how she and TeeBillz had their ‘fair share of marital ups and downs’, even narrating how they had a little argument at their wedding reception.

Of course we know what has befallen their marriage but in this documentary which was shot months before their infamous split, Tiwa discussed how they had issues like every other normal couple.“Everybody who is married knows that there are ups and downs in marriages and we had our fair share. So we just had this little tiff outside and we are like arguing and everyone is like ‘welcome the beautiful bride and the groom and we are dancing in and he’s just like grumbling and it’s on camera,” she told E!.

Tiwa revealed her desire to work with American award-winning artiste, Beyonce and Rihanna. “I would love to work with Beyonce. She is married. She has child of her own. She is still hot. Rihanna is that fierce alter-ego we all have in us. In front of the mirror, we all pretend to be Rihanna.

So I’ll love to work with Rihanna.”

DAYO AMUSA Nollywood actress DayoAmusa and KemiOlunloyo are trolling each other on social media. Kemi, the social commentator initially called DayoAmusa a prostitute and that she is dating actor, JideKosoko whom she described as a ritualist. Actress, DayoAmusa however, did not go easy with Kemi on social media, who she said has not only been calling names but running her down.

The actress said Kemi had committed a crime in Canada and was deported. However, while the war of words continued, she deactivated her Instagram account.

WIZKID

Wizkid and Tania Omotayo had several fans that were rooting for their relationship when they were together.

However, earlier this year the couple confirmed they had split. They have however remained friends and Tania has been spotted hanging out with artistes on Wizkid’sStarBoy record label in the past couple of months. Tania’s birthday was last Tuesday and Wizkid gave his ex a sweet shoutout on Twitter saying “Happy birthday to my best friend and the realest person I know. Love always T!”

Denrele Edun, Beverly Osu, Other Stars Attend Pepper Soup Premiere Pinnacle Medical Services Productions and Derwin Productions has released a short film titled ‘Pepper Soup’, which is based on a real life story as part of its advocacy efforts to raise awareness on health consciousness, substance abuse and addiction arising from eating at random public places.

Featuring eccentric media personality, DenreleEdun as the lead character alongside faces such as LayoleOyatogun, Beverly Osu, TounOgundu, and Lisa Omorodion among others, the short story tells the tale of a popular celebrity who got addicted to Pepper Soup that was spiced with illegal substances.

Speaking at the premiere, executive producer, Dr. Maymunah Yusuf Kadiri said

KERI HILSON Nkem Owoh centre and others at the-screening

that mental illness is a pertinent issue in the society, which a lot of people ignore because of the stigma associated with it. “A lot of people believe that mental addiction

is gotten from smoking and drinking but then the movie "Pepper Soup" tells us that when you eat in random places, you could get addicted.

American singer, Keri Hilson was on a visit to Nigeria and it seems she enjoyed her visit. The singer was on a visit as one of the guest judges for the ongoing Airtel Trace Music Star, however the International singer could not hide her love for Nigeria. She with spoke with toolz on The Beat99.9FM and she had so much to say about Nigeria and how much she felt at home.

33/ TRAVEL, LEISURE & TOURISM

17.06.2016

Ethiopian Aviation Academy Graduates 347 Aviation Professionals Group CEO re-appointed to IATA board of governors Ethiopian Airlines Aviation Academy, the largest and one of the most technologically advanced aviation learning institutions in Africa which is recognised as ICAO centre of excellence with full membership of ICAO TRAINAIR Plus and IATA authorised global training centre, has graduated 25 pilots, 35 aviation maintenance technicians, 43 cabin crew and 244 commercial and ground service professionals at a colourful ceremony held at Ethiopian Aviation Academy recently.

This round of graduates includes Rwandese nationals, which testifies Ethiopian Airlines key role in African integration and self-sufficiency.

On the ceremony, Group CEO of Ethiopian Airlines Mr. Tewolde GebreMariam congratulated the graduates and gave out diplomas to all the graduates, flight wings to graduating pilots and cabin crew and achievement award to outstanding academic performers.

He said “Our sharp focus in human resource development and adequate and timely investment in our Aviation Academy’s internal capacity building are the strong foundation for the remarkable success in our vision 2025 strategic road map of fast, profitable and sustainable growth. Adequate number and quality of qualified aviation professionals are the prerequisite for a successful and vibrant African aviation industry and Ethiopian Aviation Academy is working hard to progressively realize this objective.”

Ethiopian Aviation Academy is certified by the Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority, the U.S Federal Aviation Administration, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), and IATA Safety Audit (IOSA).

L-R: Traffic and Sales Manager, Ethiopian Airline, Mrs. Firiehiwot Mekonnen; Ethiopian Ambassador to Nigeria, Mrs. Samia Zekaria Gutu and General Manager, Ethiopian Airline, Mr. Solomon Begashaw, during the celebration of 70th anniversary of Ethiopian Airline in Abuja…recently

The airline’s Group CEO Mr. Tewolde GebreMariam has been re-appointed to the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Board of Governors for a three year-term at the 72nd IATA Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in Dublin, Ireland.

GebreMariam has also been appointed to the IATA Strategy and Policy Committee. He has been serving to the Board of governors since 2013. The IATA Board of Governors

has 31 members, who are elected from the representatives’ of IATA active member airlines. Its members exercise an oversight and executive role on behalf of the membership as a whole in representing the interests of the Association and the Board of Governors acts as the government of IATA, which represents around 260 airlines in over 117 countries, carrying 83 per cent of the world’s air traffic.

Among the Board of Governors members,

11 key members are elected as the Strategy and Policy Committee member, which acts on behalf of the Board with respect to the duties and authority delegated to it by the Board.

Subject to review and approval by the Board, it has an overall responsibility for industry policy and for providing policy directives and guidance to the Industry Committees and subsidiary bodies as well as policy guidance to the IATA Traffic Conferences and to industry settlement plans. Mr. Tewolde GebreMariam also serves as a member on the High-level Advisory Group on Sustainable Transport (HLAG-ST) with United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, as an Executive Committee member of the African Airlines Association (AFRAA), A Board member of the Airlink Advisory Council, A member of Board of Directors of Africa Travel Association (ATA), A member of Board of Directors of Ethio-Telecom, A Board member of Ethiopian Railway Corporation, A Board Member of Commercial Bank of Ethiopia; and The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Ethiopian Tourism Organization (ETO). Mr. Tewolde has received prominent awards from different organizations including The Best African Business Leader and Professional Excellence Award. The re-appointment of the Ethiopian Group CEO to this prestigious airlines association IATA Board of Governors and his appointment to the Strategy and Policy Committee is recognition of Ethiopian fastest growth and significant role in the development of the African Aviation Industry as well as Ethiopian sound and commendable growth plan, vision 2025.

WEIZO: West African Tourism Government Shouldn’t Fund Leaders to Meet in Accra Carnivals, says Amachree Private tourism stakeholders in West Africa will be meeting in Accra, Ghana on the 15th of July 2016, at the Accra Weizo event, to discuss tourism in West Africa. Accra Weizo is an event put together by the organisers of Akwaaba African Travel Market with the support of Ghana Ministry of Tourism Culture and Creative Arts. The 2016 edition themed: “Seamless Travels in West Africa” will host a discussion session on West Africa as a single destination.

The session will have as discussants the President of Nigeria Association of Tour Operators (NATOP), Tour Operators Union of Ghana (TOUGHA), National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies (NANTA), and heads of the Tourism Associations from Benin and Togo. It will be moderated by a leading Ghanaian journalist. Accra Weizo is hosted

by La Palm Royal Beach Hotel, supported

by Ethiopian Airlines and Accra city hotel.

The second Accra Weizo is themed: “Seamless Travel in West-Africa”. It will be an in-depth look at ways to improve Travel and Tourism growth in West Africa through easy access to towns and cities in West Africa. Improving and simplifying airport and border processes; standardising hotel and facilities for tourism through shared vision. The Guest Speaker in the Aviation session is Mr. Henock Teferra, the Managing Director of ASKY Airlines, ASKY Airlines is a pan Africa airline, based in Lome, Togo. He will be speaking on the topic “The Challenges of Running a Successful Regional Airline in West Africa, at the Event. The Tourism session will be on “The Prospect of West Africa as a Single Tourism Destination”. There will be case studies like “SAT Experience in West Africa” by Hloni Pitso, the Regional Manager of South Africa Tourism in West Africa.

Other speakers at this year’s event are the Chief Executive Officer of Aero Contractors Limited, Captain Fola Akinkuotu and the Vice Chairman of SAHCOL Mr. Chike Ogeah.

Captain Akinkuotu who was the former Director General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation

Authority (NCAA), is also a pilot, as well as flight and aircraft engineer, and has vast experience in the aviation industry will be heading the team of panelists which include several top aviation experts and government functionaries as they discuss and deal with issues that relate the how theme of this year’s event: “Seamless Travel in West-Africa” during the 2nd Accra Weizo.

Mr. Chike Ogeah served as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Skyway Aviation Handling Company Ltd. Mr. Ogeah is currently the Vice Chairman of Skyway Aviation Handling Company Ltd. Mr. Chike will be speaking on ‘Integrating Airport Operations in West Africa. Mr. Ikechi Uko, the Organiser, said Accra Weizo is a one-day Travel Seminar, Awards, Exhibition and the objective is to improve Travel and Tourism growth in West Africa through easy access to towns and cities in West Africa. The event will be taking place at the La Palm Royal Beach Hotel, Accra, Ghana on the 15th of July, 2016 from 10am-4pm.The West Africa Award (Balafon) will hold at 5pm, with award categories to include: West Africa Tourism Man of the Year, West Africa Aviation Man of the Year, West African Personality of the Year, and Top 50 Hotels in West Africa.

La Palm Royal Beach will host the Carnivore night by 7pm, Eat all you can, meat from all nations, dance, dance and party till dawn affair.

The Target audience is Travel Professionals in West Africa. Over 150 Travel Professionals are expected from all over West-Africa. There will be tours on the 14th and 16th to Cape Coast.

The maiden edition of Accra Weizo in 2015, attracted some global rated expert like Adefunke Adeyemi, Regional-Head, IATA for Africa and the Middle East. She spoke on Intra Africa Air Connectivity, the facts, Challenges and Benefits. Mr. Frank Nneji, Managing Director, ABC Transport Limited, Dr. Kwabena Adjei, Founder Kasapreko Company Limited, Femi Adefope- Head HRG & GSA Delta Airlines in Nigeria were all Speakers at Accra Weizo 2015.

An elder statesman and one of the leading tourism promoters in the country, Alabo Mike Amachree, has advised both the federal and state governments to stop investing in cultural carnivals.

Amachree who organised the first Abuja Carnival in 1990 and the second Rivesr State cultural festival with other stakeholders in 1993, in Port Harcourt, explained that cultural carnivals are not capable of attracting inbound tourists to Nigeria.

He said: “It is merely a jamboree. For instance, the carnival usually organised in Port Harcourt and Abuja did not even attract local tourists talk less international tourists.”

He said what could bring international tourists to Nigeria were investments in world class tourist sites and museums where Nigerian culture and history will be displayed permanently.

Amachree said all the carnivals organised in the country in Calabar, Port Harcourt, Lagos and Abuja should be done by the private sector while the government ‘s position should be to provide tourism infrastructure. He reiterated that government is required to encourage and assist the private sector to grow as the success of the private sector was the only way the government could claim success in tourism.

He said attractions such as the National Theatre, Lagos, should be upgraded to first class tourist centre adding that it should be named a film production village where artistes will entertain on daily basis. “It will be likened to Hollywood in Los Angeles,” he noted.

Also, he said the Yankari Game Reserve was the only game reserve that could compare to the Nairobi Wildlife Park in Kenya. He urged the Federal Government to partner Bauchi State in developing it.

The Port Harcourt Tourist Beach, he said, has the best location for aquatic tourism (boat regatta, boat cruise, fishing festival and swimming competition in Nigeria.

The tourist expert described Ogbunike cave in Anambra State as a wonder of nature. He

Amachree

likened it to the Hercules, Tangiers in Morocco.

He also called on the Federal Government to assist the state to develop the state into an international tourist site.

The Wase Rock, in Plateau State which has been described as highest mountain in Nigeria compared to the Tanzanian Kilimanjero according to Amachree should also be developed.

He also explained that the Emir of Kano’s palace should be furnished with antiquities and monuments and tourists should allowed to tour the palace and savour the rich culture of Kano. He said: “During my visit to the palace with members of the Nigerian Tourism Associations in the 1990, the late emir (Ado Bayero) and I agreed that the palace should be elevated to a tourist site. They will also enjoy the pleasure of horse display in the palace to know the history of the emirate. “ Amachree also recommended for the development of the six tourist sites to ensure that the Federal Government is fair to the six geo-political zones in terms of federal assistance to tourism development and promotion in the country.

34/ETIQUETTE

17.06.2016

THE ETIQUETTE FORUM ADEKANMI OTEDOLA-OLUSANYA

email mretiquetteonline@yahoo.com

tel. 08112661635, 0809285 4855

Parenting With Etiquette (2)

Talking with a friend on a particular day, the subject of a daughter of a female pastor in one of Nigeria’s major churches came up. And the lady quipped “She even has a boy friend but her mother must not know.”

This mother is a reflection of many parents who in their estimation appear to be doing a great job parenting and think they know their children and what they are up to but seldom do. I want to emphasise today on the need for openness in the parents-child relationship.

So many parents do not know the children they claim to parent simply because the style of parenting they adopt does not encourage What you say to your child is openness. By the time these children become teenagers very important. Abusing a child and adolescents, these

verbally should be the one thing any parent with etiquette should never do. Micheal Jackson’s father allegedly used to call him ‘Ugly’ and it later led to his fixation with plastic surgeries

parents don’t even know intimate details of their children such as ‘Is my daughter still a virgin?’, ‘Does my son have a boyfriend?’, ‘What kind of friends does he keep?

JanetofJackson What kind habits does he have?confessed Etc. Some ofthat theseher parents don’t even have the courage to find childhood was masked by out. Hence they tacitly relegate her father themselves to a reluctance wishful assumption to ofexpress who they think their and children are. his love who The main mistake these parents insisted totheir be called make is in styles by of parenting which his first namedoes not encourage openness. The proper way to correct children is not to threaten them or to even though you have to be firm from time to time. When a

parent becomes very draconian the tendency for children is to hide things away from you. Once openness has been hampered then distrust and fear replaces trust and reverential love which are the hallmarks of a true parent – child bond. I know this to be profoundly true because many teens and children have had to confide in me on issues they keep from their parents because they do not feel safe and secure sharing same with their parents.

More than any other thing, your attitude towards a child’s shortcomings would determine the extent to which the child would be open to you. Utilising punishments alone is not the most effective way of getting a child to open up to you. Many parents have lost their children relying heavily on this means. While I am not advocating for children to be spoilt or permissive parenting to be the order of the day, and while I think children should be disciplined when necessary, such disciplining should be accompanied with affirming. I am a strong advocate for explaining yourself to children when you discipline them let them know why you are disciplining them. It lets the message sink in better and ensures that the essence of the correction is best gotten.

Always affirm your children. Even when they appear to have failed or let you down in a particular way, they are not what they did last week but essentially what they choose to become. Call them great names. ‘Smart’, ‘brilliant’, ‘polite’, ‘well behaved’. When you put so much confidence in a child they will try as much as possible not to fail the trust you have put in them.

What you say to your child is very important. Abusing a child verbally should be the one thing any parent with etiquette should never do. Yet I see and hear many parents do so regularly. When a child is called ‘Good for nothing’, it sinks into the child’s consciousness. When you abuse a child, the natural tendency of the child is to drift away. When the child should be open, he or she becomes reclusive. Micheal Jackson’s father allegedly used to call him ‘Ugly’ and it later led to his fixation with plastic surgeries.

More than what you say, the way you say a thing is also important. Frowning and saying ‘Don’t forget to thank your teacher for yesterday’ is not the same thing as firmly saying ‘I trust you will not forget to thank your teacher for yesterday’. Don’t let your frustration drive your parenting. Anger driven parenting is seldom effective. It will only estrange your children from you.

Janet Jackson confessed that her childhood was masked by her father reluctance to express his love and who insisted to be called by his first name.

Children are getting smarter now than ever before because of the resources open to them so from an early age you would have a lot of explaining to do. Let them know why it is dangerous for them to hide things from you. And yes it is dangerous. Share convincing examples with them which should not be difficult since we were all children.

If a child develops an injury say at his back and hides it from the parents and it could lead to an infection which could be fatal.

Communicate intensely. Let your children know about the mistakes you made, share real and childhood experiences with them. Ask a lot of questions. By asking a lot of questions, you encourage them to share a lot of their experiences. Pick a keen interest in their lives. This includes the games they love, the programmes they watch, the celebrities they adore.

Explaining yourself to your child will foster openness and bridge whatever harmful gap there may be between them.

You could purchase a copy of my book on etiquette titled PROPER MANNERS AND ETIQUETTE IN ANYTHING AT ANYTIME AND ANYWHERE at the price of N3,500 at our corporate head office at 340 - 344 Ikorodu Road, by Idi-Iroko Bus Stop, Maryland, Lagos.

Or call 0802 312 6010 or 0811 266 1635 to have a copy sent to you.

35/ENTREPRENUER

17.06.2016

Ayinde: Passion Key to Entrepreneurship Lateefat Ayinde, who describes herself as a trend spotter, is founder of Stile, a forwardlooking boutique in Lagos. She tells Clement Danhutor how she started the journey that sees her managing a store stocked with a sophisticated collection of bags, shoes and new season clothes from luxury brands How did you start in the fashion Industry?

I was born and raised in Ilorin, Kwara State.

At the age of 15, I needed to raise money for my WAEC exams so I got a job at a local boutique. I just also happened to have a flair for fashion and that ignited the passion. It was then I knew that I enjoyed working with people and styling them in particular.

In the process I travelled to major fashion cities like Milan, Paris, Stockholm, Berlin, Istanbul, and more where I encountered devoted fashion entrepreneurs who shared information on how to thrive in the fashion industry. Now at 24 and with a degree in international relations, I have my very own fashion business.

What does Stile mean and what does it stand for?

Stile means “Style” in Italian. The brand represents fashion forward designs. We bring fresh and bright women’s clothing to the Lagos market. My motto is “Follow Your Dream”.

The clothing is inspiring and promotes fashion empowerment.

What is a random day as a fashion entrepreneur like?

First thing I do when I wake up is check my emails. Then, breakfast, then I head to the store. This is the fun part, I spend a lot of time with my customers, and engage with them on social media, so I know exactly what to expect when they come into Stile. When I’m in the store, I really enjoy styling my customers for events and providing a complete in-store experience. I try to offer a bit of everything in terms of clothes, and keep fashion fun and beautiful. When I have some ‘downtime’, I take snaps for our Instagram content, from in-store shots, to beautiful clothes and bags.

In the evening, I upload products onto our online store—it’s a good time to do it when I won’t be interrupted.I normally spend this time to do the fun stuff like compile orders and keep track of deliveries and the financial side.

Ayinde

What brands do you sell and what’s your target market?

Stile is the exclusive Lagos home of Italian brand Pinko. In addition to the glamorous brand, Stile features other European brands and a selection of American and African brands such as For Love and Lemons, kendal + kylie, Aquazzura, Kumesu, and more. Our target market is anyone who loves affordable luxury and great quality.

What are some of the fashion trends you’ve taken note of lately in Lagos?

Prints and patterns are very in. Bold colors and yet very structural clothes with unique shapes and movement are totally the trend right now in Lagos.

Are there certain piece and accessories that are always in demand?

Lagos does not have many venues that supply lingerie. Customers are always seeking out quality and unique undergarment designs. I am looking forward to providing these styles for my clients.

Do you think that having a business background, or taking business courses helps in the fashion business?

I’m sure it helps, but having a natural flair and passion for the fashion business is also very important. I don't have a business background and I had never taken a business course before, but I have an incredible appetite to learn.

After college I acquired hands-on experience and learned from successful business owners.

Being an entrepreneur isn’t just a job title, and it isn’t just about starting a company; it’s state of mind. It’s about seeing connections others can’t, seizing opportunities others won’t, and forging new directions that others

Some peices displayed on a mannequin

Learning that failure is a good thing and can be an opportunity in disguise to start again with a new angle. Failure is a part of the learning process to create something new or better. If you never fail, you never learn.

Also, follow your dream, be very driven, work What will you say to other female entre- really hard, network in your industry. You are preneurs who are contemplating following not going to go anywhere unless you always work hard. Sometimes luck plays a part, but in your footsteps? haven’t. It’s about being innovative wherever you are and in whatever you do. It’s about having courage to give into passion for an idea that makes your heart race. Throughout all I learned that passion is the key.

lazy people rarely get to where they want to be.

What are some of your goals for the further of your boutique?

In the short term, I would like to focus on making my current store a big success in Lagos. Looking longer term, my ambition is to open more branches within Nigeria and expand into other African countries.

36/COLLAGE

L-R; A University don, Prof. Siyan Oyeweso; Speaker, Lagos State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa; his wife, Olusola Obasa; and Chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee on Corruption and one of the guest Speaker, Prof Itsay Sagay SAN during a special parliamentary session/lecture to commemorate the first anniversary of the 8th legislative session of the Lagos Assembly in Ikeja...recently

17.06.2016

L-R; Chief(Mrs) Kemi Jaiyeoba,Chief Ayoade Adewuyi,Prince Dayo Lawal,General Brimo Yemi Yussuf,celebrant,Otunba Adebayo Alao-Akala and Hon Wumi Ladeji cutting the 66th birthday cake of AlaoAkala in Ogbomosho...recently.

L-R;, Company Secretary/General Counsel, Funmi Adedibu; Group Managing Director/CEO, Ladi Balogun and Divisional Head, Human Resources and Strategy, Felicia Obozuwa, all of FCMB during the celenration of this year's children's day organised by FCMB Women in conjunction with the Human Resources Division of the Bank, at the corporate head office in Lagos...recently

L-R; Elder Ajisafe Olorunda, Elder Mariam Akinrinola, the G.O of city of the Lord church Dr (Rev) J.S.A Oladele, Deaconess Fadekemi Olajide., Philip olamilekan Aguda, and his wife, Evang Olusola Aguda.at the City of the Lord Church, Oke Aro Parish, 2016 anniversary celebration in Ogun State...recently

L-R; Past President Rotarian Doyin Adebayo, Charter President, Rotarian Bola Oyebade, the President, Rotarian Femi Akodu, Kabiyesi Oba Nurudeen Yusuf of Onigbongbo, In-Coming President, Rotarian Babatunde Ojo, and Past President, Kareem Arigbabu cutting the 14th Anniversary Cake of the Maryland Rotary Club,lkeja....recently.

L-R: General Overseer, The Lord's Chosen Chrismatic Revival Ministries, Pastor Lauzarus Mouka; his Wife, Pastor Joy Mouka; and Head, Media/Public Relations, Pastor Loius Chidi, at the Church's International crusade tagged ' And the Enemies Submitted'' in Lagos recently PHOTO: Etop Ukutt

L-R; Corporate Communications/Brand PR Manager, Nigerian Breweries Plc;Patrick Olowokere; a popular Hip Hop musician, Abolore Adigun (9ice); , a notable Fuji analyst and Poet, Olawale Obadeyi; and Senior Brand Manager, Regional Mainstream Brands,Nigerian Breweries Plc;Funso Ayenii, at the maiden Fuji Roundtable, powered by Goldberg Lager Beer, in Lagos...recently

R-L; Elder Irene Adeyinka Johnson, Eider Yetunde Balogun,Mrs B.Olatoye ,(Rev)Mrs. .C.A.Oladele the G.o of church (Rev) Dr J.S.A oladele ,Rev Yemi oyetunji the Host and his wife Mrs. .Olatunji cutting the cake to celebrate the 2016 anniversary of the City of The Lord Church Believers Parish in Suru Lere, Lagos...recently

37/THISLIFE

17.06.2016

Emeka Enejere: A Man of Content and Character Malachy Ugwummadu I formally met Comrade Dr. Emeka Enejere precisely on July 6th 2013 approximately three years ago. The setting was the Standard Alliance Event Centre, Lekki Phase 1 Lagos. The event was the 84th National Executive Council meeting of the University of Nigeria Alumni Association.

The previous day we exchanged pleasantries, but in passing, at Prof. Pat Utomi’s residence in Ikoyi during a dinner to welcome him and other dignitaries who had arrived for the NEC meeting.

Comrade Dr. Emeka Enejere was invited and attended the programme in his capacity as the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the 14th Governing Council of University of Nigeria. He was there with some members of his Council, a novelty that effectively rehabilitated an otherwise frosty relationship between the University Administration and the Alumni Association. It seemed a deliberate resolve on his part to foster closer tie with the Alumni movement which is a major stakeholder and an integral part of the University Community.

On October 20th 2013, he attended the Alumni US Convention in Los Angeles, California United States of America and promised to always be available at the Alumni Programme(s). By 2014, he expressed serious desire to attend the same convention in Menphis Tennessee and contributed immensely to the success of the event but could not attend owing to ill health. He was in the preceding NEC at Owerri In September 2015.

When we assembled in Chicago USA, Comrade Emeka Enejere was already ousted from office on account of very profound and radical reforms he introduced in the University administration. The reforms were clearly captured in his Report to both the National University Commission (NUC) as well as the then Supervising Minister of Education but certainly didn’t sit well with the Jonathan Government. Although out of office and down with cancer in his hospital bed in New Jesssey, he painstakingly monitored and related with some of us several days before, during and after the event.

He loved the institution passionately and was sufficiently prepared and equipped to transform the institution into a world class varsity.

I attended the same event as I did the preceeding NEC meetings in my capacity as the legal Adviser of the Lagos State branch of the Association. That particular meeting was crucial to me because I was in the thick of a serious national campaign by which, we were sensitising Nigerians and mobilising the University Community to ensure that Mr. Salisu Buhari, the first Speaker of Federal House of Representatives in 1999, who was appointed into the Governing Council of the institution was removed as a member. Immediately the appointment was made, we kicked and vowed to resist it. I protested to both the national body of ASUU and the UNN ASUU local branch. Initially, it was not a popular campaign but soon gained traction and momentum as I moved from state to state where education and the alumni activities went on.

I firmly anchored my objection to Salisu Buhari’s appointment on the following grounds: i.

The captivating motto of the UNN as an institution of learning and character formation is to: TO RESTORE THE DIGNITY OF MAN – an inimitable injunction handed down by the founder of the institution, Late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe. ii.

Salisu Buhari, the first Speaker of the House of Representatives in 1998 was ousted from office for false age declarations and academic qualifications. iii.

If the University took seriously the issues of morals and character, as I know it does and for which reason degrees are awarded to persons found worthy both in learning and character then, it was completely anachronistic to honour Salisu Buhari, who was found wanting in character and integrity, with an appointment into the Governing Council of the same institution. iv.

It bothered me greatly that the appointing authorities President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and the then supervising Minster of Education Mr. Nyesom Wike now Governor of Rivers State and the larger University Community remained largely insensitive to the implications of such appointment to the moral compass of the institution. v.

It is generally the intendment of every enabling legislation including the University of Nigeria Act to ensure that any person appointed into the Governing Council of any tertiary institution should be a person of proven integrity. Prof. Ruquyyatu Rafai at the inauguration of the Governing Councils of the 21

Late Enejere

Federal Universities on April 9th 2013 pointedly emphasised the issue of proven integrity. vi.

Having been actively involved in the affairs of the institution even as a student it became extremely difficult for me to accept such an appointment as a stakeholder appreciating the wrong signal it sent to the university community and the highly impressionable students.

As I addressed the delegates to NEC along the foregoing points, I considered it a huge and deliberate embarrassment that such appointment was made into the Governing Council of the UNN and not into any other institution. In effect, It was our contention that the Federal Government should publicly withdraw his name in the same manner that his name was publicly announced as a member of the Governing Council. All of these, I had articulated in press statements and interviews both in print and electronic media before the event.

Albeit, Comrade (Dr). Enejere and a few elders in the gathering took the view that we shouldn’t adopt a confrontational approach against the Government, he couldn’t, nevertheless, hide his admiration for the principled stance I took and the successful campaign we launched on the matter. He would publicly request that I stepped forward to the podium for my contact details. This was how it all started. I imagined that he did some investigations and found a lot more about me particularly at the University of Nigeria between 1991-1998.

In less than one week after that encounter, Dr. Enejere called and made very profound statements particularly on his vision for the University of Nigeria. He loved UNN and was deeply proud to be an alumnus of the institution. He wanted everyone to see the potentials that abound in that institution. Dr. Enejere believed so much in the theory of Knowledge power and how it would serve as an antidote to the general malady in the country.

A visit to his studies and library would reveal why such a man of enormous means and sufficiency was clearly very humble. He knew so much from philosophy, politics (world politics) to theology, faith and understood Nigerian history and trajectories like the back of his palm yet was ever so thirsty to study and research more into contemporary human challenges. One after the other, he picked out from his huge book shelves some of his treasured books and summarised major world events to me from creation to medieval civilization to the major world revolutions especially those of the French, Europe and US, through to slavery, colonalisation, cold war, liberal democratic experiments, science and technological advancements and now terror and terrorism all of which have shaped the different stages of human identity. From the same history and experiences, he clinically projected into the future and identified where humanity will be in the twilight of the 21st century. He warned seriously about the collapsing fabrics of our society and admonished Nigerians to organise and act fastly before they can no longer safe themselves from the impending crises.

My consistent reference to Dr. Emeka Enejere as “Comrade” is both deliberate and consistent with whom he was to me. I didn’t have the privilege of operating with him when his generation occupied the Nigerian political stage, yet in the course of our numerous meetings, he related to me the extent of his involvement in the major

political events that shaped the course of our history. We discussed the Nigerian civil war and the Nigeria State. He realised that if our country was not restructured alone the lines of true federalism then, we will not escape the consequences of that failure. His last two page interview in the Vanguard Newspaper of January 14th 2016 largely focused on this. He had serious sympathy for the working class including ASUU and their numerous agitations and expressed that much on every occasion he had the opportunity to speak. He was sensitive to the plight of the citizens of this country but genuinely believed that all was not lost. Even as Pro-Chancellor, and Chairman, Governing Council of a foremost University, Comrade Enejere believed fervently that our present struggles and progress recorded will not be sustainable if we did nothing about recreating ourselves. In this regard and around August, 2013, he commissioned me to reach out to other notable student leaders in the past who were still committed to the ideals of a just society and explore the possibilities of re-organising the students’ movement on our campuses starting from the University of Nigeria, where he was the Pro-Chancellor. Comrade Enejere was a student leader between 1964-1965 but mentioned over 10 Nigerian names including Late Comrade Segun Okenwo who passed on a few days after that initiative. He was further devastated when Emma Ezeazu, another veteran of students’ movement, passed on in quick succession. At first I thought he didn’t mean to go the whole hug until months later when I had privilege of reading his Report to the NUC and the supervising Minister where the idea was not just muted but developed for practical purposes. It dawned on me that I was relating with a revolutionary thinker and septuagenarian Comrade who had the benefit of experience and hindsight to fall back on.

There was hardly any week, sometimes twice a week during his stay in Nigeria when I didn’t receive his usually long telephone calls. He never called me by my name but “Comrade”. He was magisterial in handling every topic and issues he discussed and strategic on the approach of achieving set goals. He was on his way to Nsukka en-route Enugu for their Council meeting in December, 2013 when Mr. Nysom Wike, Governor of River State but then supervising Minster of Education directed his removal as the Pro-Chancellor, and Chairman of the Governing Council UNN. He heard about it over a radio broadcast. They didn’t have the courtesy of formally communicating him as though his appointment was made over the radio. Some of us encouraged him, to proceed to the meeting because in the eye of the law nothing has happened yet. Given his popularity and acceptability based on the reforms and checks he introduced in the University, there were instantaneous reactions from virtually all members of the University Community including the local ASUU, SSANU, NASU, Students and even the Nsukka Community. The protests continued for days both at the Nsukka and Enugu campuses.

I attended the University of Nigeria, actively mobilised and participated in most mass actions and can categorically say that only issues of extreme importance and perhaps the popularity of the person(s) involved, as in the instant case, would attract such unanimity of action that attended the unfortunate removal of Comrade Enejere as the Pro-Chancellor, and Chairman of the14th Governing Council, UNN. They were resolute and persistent in their demand for the restoration of Comrade Enejere who was visibly on track in returning the institution to its past glory and creating new vistas for serious progress.

In fact, the University of Nigeria Alumni Association in which I presently serve as the Chairman of the Legal Services Committee had no difficulties whatsoever in approaching the Federal High Court Abuja Division in Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/41/2014 to determine the propriety or otherwise of such illegal removal and for other injunctive and restraining orders. The matter was pending before Hon. Justice G.O Kolawole but may now abate considering the demise of Sir (Dr.) Emeka Enejere.

In the aftermath of that unpopular decision the need arose more than ever before to proactively strengthen the struggle and campaign for a more harmonious academic environment across the country. I broached the idea at Abuja and we discussed the strategies which clearly dovetailed into his own blue print on the way forward at the UNN. In less than a fortnight precisely on Thursday the 3rd of April, 2014, I extended invitations and coordinated a successful meeting of some committed education and rights activists at Raya Chiness 77, Ojui Road, Enugu with the following persons in attendance: Prof. George Amadi former

Chairman ASUU, UNN and then the substantive Dean, Faculty of Law UNN; Chief (Barr) Andrew Oru, National President, University of Nigeria Aliumi Association; Dr. Ifeanyi Abada, Chairman ASUU UNN; Mr. Emeter Patrick Okechukwu Chairman NASU UNEC; Mr. Ugwu Chairman NASU Nsukka; Comrade Osmond Ugwu, a veteran and renowned labour activist and mobiliser; Comrade (Dr.) Gambo Danjuma, an alumus and long standing ally in the human rights/pro democracy movement in Nigeria; Barr Ola Omotayo, CLO, South East Coordinators and Mr. Ben Motanya.

Surprisingly, Comrade Enejere arrived at the venue of the meeting an hour earlier to ensure that all was set at the venue which he secured himself notwithstanding that he was already ill and was billed to return to the US for the continuation of treatment. On that occasion, I witnessed the depth of Comrade's vast knowledge on how to move education forward in Nigeria regardless of the unfortunate circumstances of his removal then. He was deeply committed to the idea of Knowledge power which he advocated can only be acquired through a quality education.

He had done this all through his life with an admirable devotions, commitment and relative successes. It is an idea he pushed even as the first President of the Biafran Students’ Union; 3rd President of the University of Nigeria Students’ Union Government between 1966-67 after the duo of Comrades Isaac Jasper Adaka Boro 1964-65 and Ibezim Chukwumerije 1965-66; a renowned author and lecturer of political science with bias for research and world politics; a revolutionary theoretician and strategist in the circle of the Biafran think Tank (1967-70); an efficient and credible diplomat of note in an “unusual times"; a strategic member of the glorious MANSA team; an influential member of the University of Nigeria Alumni Association and the immediate past Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the 14th Governing Council of the University of Nigeria from April 4th, 2013 to December 2013. In the last one year and half, I have had the misfortune of losing two close friends and comrades in the academia to the dreaded terminal illness of cancer. The first being Prof. GOS Amadi who succumbed to the cancer of the colon on 24th of February, 2015 and now Comrade Dr. Emeka Enejere who passed on May 20th, 2016. Both men fought their cancerous situations courageously in Nigeria but for longer times abroad forcing to the front burner the same vexed question of quality health services in Nigeria particularly for cancer. Recall that Chief Gani Fawehinni, another friend and mentor was diagnosed with pneumonia and treated for it for over six months while he, indeed, had cancer of the lungs.

My last meeting with Comrade Emeka Enejere was on the 18th of April, 2016 at his G.G. Ganaka Street residence in Gwarimpa Abuja. I had a court matter at the High Court of the Federal Captial Territory Kubwa Abuja and decided to see him since it was a relatively short distance to his residence.

He had sent a text message earlier reminding me of my promise to drop by after my matter. I hardly entered his spacious compound when he beckoned at me from his balcony upstairs and said “Comrade”, come over! As usual, our discussion intensified completely oblivious of his health conditions until he directed his domestic staff to serve launch. As I made my way out of the gate, he held my right hand and said "Comrade, remember all that we discussed" Jisi Ikea! In the past, he would have hopped into his black Mecerdes Benz Jeep and driven me to my hotel room, but not so easily this time. I realised that he was far too weak to do that as I encouraged him to return to the house. He did more than that and shocked me in 2014 when he bought for me one of the most treasured books I have today titled "Why Marx Was Right" by Terry Eagleton. He was hospitalised in an American hospital for the greater part of that year but still managed to order for that book. He returned with it during a brief visit he made to Nigeria to attend his son's wedding and gave the book to my elder brother whom he monitored until he was sure that I took delivery of it. He was a man of tremendous faith and hope. Even on his health challenges, he made sure our discussions focused more on the possibilities rather than what went wrong or the dangers associated with the very expensive and excruciating experience.

What an inspirational and purposeful life?

Good night Sir (Dr.) Emeka Enejere! .Ugwummadu, is President Committee for the Defence of Human Rights NOTE: Interested readers should continue in the online edition on www.thisdaylive.com

38/OPINION

17.06.2016

ADEOLAAKINREMI HOME TRUTHS

Email: adeola.akinremi@thisdaylive.com

Tel 08116759785(sms only)

Presidents of Nigeria, Patients of Foreign Countries

W

ith an out-of-hand economy, it will be difficult not to fall sick if you’re the president. And then you have the iteration of the Niger Delta militants at the most unexpected time, when the challenge of getting rid of the rabies called Boko Haram is a slugfest.

I am with Buhari and it is my conviction that President Muhammadu Buhari is governing at an unusual time and he’s indeed a man of courage.

But the obsession within the ruling elite to go abroad for medical treatment for which President Buhari himself became powerless to resist has defined his government.

Yes, Nigeria has many problems, but two stand out. It has not been able to find final solution to political corruption since independence; and its sitting presidents find it too easy to travel abroad for medical treatment.

Ridiculous.

No one would argue against the need for President Buhari to seek medical help whenever there’s that need. It’s hard to lead without falling sick. In clear words, if you’re fortunate to be Nigeria’s president, you must resume duty with pain reliever to cure light headaches at least.

But when you budget so much for State House clinic and you still leave the country to go abroad for medical treatment, there’s something not right about your mathematics.

Paradox.

Slow and stumbling, old age may be responsible for Buhari’s ill health. We can only wish Mr. President speedy recovery and good health.

Buhari

As he returns to the country, my sincere advice will be for Mr. President to reform the healthcare sector with the sincerity and urgency it deserves. His trip to London to treat ear ailment and cough is an example of “persistence of unwisdom in government,” a theory advanced by Barbara Tuchman, an American.

As we will know later, it wasn’t only Buhari who left the country on a medical trip abroad; one of his ministers was also in the United States at the same time on a medical treatment.

Thankfully, it is not the minister of health.

It is the Minister for Women Affairs, Hajia Aisha Alhassan, a.k.a Mama Taraba.

The question we’re now frantically grappling with is how medical treatment abroad became a norm for sitting presidents and serving ministers who should show faith in our healthcare facilities.

In a 1979 lecture at the United States Military Academy, West Point, New York, Tuchman

used instances of several poor judgments by leaders and governments to make case for reform.

“A problem that strikes one in the study of history, regardless of period, is why man makes a poorer performance of government than of almost any other human activity. In this sphere, wisdom-meaning judgment acting on experience, and on common sense, available knowledge, and a decent appreciation of probability—is less operative and more frustrated than it should be. Why do men in high office so often act contrary to the way reason points and enlightened self-interest suggests? Why does intelligent mental process seem so often paralyzed?” Tuchman queried.

Tuchman suggests “wooden-headedness” as a factor. He described it as a refusal to learn from experience. In Buhari’s case I tend to agree with Tuchman’s suggestion. How can you be a president and not have a good a hospital with human resources in any part of the country to care for your ill health?

One thing Nigerians detest is to hear that their leader is on a medical trip. That was the reaction everywhere last week. Unfortunately for Buhari, there was less sympathy for him from Nigerians.

If a president goes for Hajj or to Jerusalem to pray, the resentment may not be there, but to know that a president is out of the country on a medical trip angers Nigerians to a sore point. It is for one reason: access to qualitative medicare in Nigeria is like pissing into the wind.

We’ve not managed to get it right so far despite all the resources allocated to healthcare over the years. It’s terrible that doctors continue to go on strike with successive government and

no clear solution has been found to salvage the situation by each successive government.

Historically, since we returned to democracy in 1999, all the presidents we have had, including their deputies have had to go abroad for medical treatments, except Vice President Yemi Oshinbajo.

Olusegun Obasanjo’s medical trips out of Nigeria as a sitting president perhaps outnumbered that of others with many of the trips so secretive or padded with official.

Vice President Atiku Abubakar was in the United States to treat knee injury during his time.

We all know the story of the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua not from the books.

“Umoru are you dead?” That famous quote from Obasanjo’s telephone to Germany.

And the immediate past President, Goodluck Jonathan was equally in Germany too during his tenure on a medical trip.

So what happens to the National Hospital in Abuja and other states and federal hospitals?

There’s something dangerous about this trend.

It shows a clear path that Nigerian leaders have alternative to Nigeria.

As I see it the problem of poverty and healthcare are not getting the right attention in Nigeria. It is a country the Ministry of Health is not afraid to give the chilling statistics of 2,300 children below the age of five dying of malnutrition annually. It is a country where doctors are still carrying placards to demand for their wages. It is a country where public health sector is rated among the worst in the world, despite all the billions budgeted for health sector every year. Finally it is a country, where church is better than hospital during medical emergency.

LEKANFATODU HEADS-UP

A

s inspired by the United Nations and observed by many countries around the world on different dates, Nigeria marks May 27th for the celebration of childhood, which is regarded globally as Children’s Day. Usually, the day is celebrated with fanfare and inspiring actions and commitments by government at various levels which are geared towards proferring solutions to the myriads of problems faced by Nigerian children.

But this year’s Children’s Day, completely far away from the optimism and fervent excitement that are synonymous with the important date and the previous celebrations in Nigeria, was evidently a sober experience.

Nigerian children would probably never have been in such a depressing and pessimistic mood as this moment. Children, by common knowledge, are incapable of securing and fending for themselves and that’s why questions about their well-being; actions and inactions are often directed to parents, guardians and governments who bear capability and responsibility for their upbringing.

A good example of this responsibility can be gleaned from the state’s commitment to the social contract to the people in many advanced democracies of the world which have robust welfare policies like monthly child’s stipends, housing priority and benefits for mothers including adequate healthcare and education which are normally provided free at the early stage of development of every child.

Nigeria has, for so long, earned the shameful reputation of waffling on the policies and actions

Email lekantodun@yahoo.com

Tel 07058069255

A Dismal Children's Day

Children's Day celebration

that directly affect the most vulnerable of her citizens. The manner in which over 200 girls were abducted from their school in Chibok, northern Nigeria and are still being held in captivity by the evil Boko Haram sect, for over two years now, tells so much about the duty of the government to the governed in Nigeria.

Nonetheless, the Nigerian government, more than ever before, should take a more serious look at the 45 per cent of its population which according to a United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) report, are children with 70 per cent of them living below the poverty line and the lives of a good number of them often shortened by high rate of infant mortality and preventable diseases.

Though nothing would have been more fitting than a renewed collaborative and bottom-up approach at all levels of government, involving the federal, state and local governments, in addressing the challenges of

the Nigerian children, the fiscal indiscipline so far shown by many states of the federation has unfortunately made the matter worse for the children whose parents or guardians are presently at the mercy of the states that can’t pay workers' salaries.

Right now, there are pockets of industrial strikes across the country over non-payment of salaries by states that are owing workers salaries of about three to 10 months. Even after the federal government provided a bail-out to many of these indebted states, their workers and children are still groaning under pernicious conditions of lack and want.

In fact, it became so unbearable for workers of Egor Local Government Area in Edo State during last Christmas that they took to the streets to beg for alms to celebrate the yuletide season and provide for their wards.

It therefore didn’t come as a surprise when the despatches from this year’s children’s day were filled with tales of woes and the agonies of the Nigerian children. And the atmosphere was occupied with discomforting conversations on the way forward by the federal government to usher in a country where the future of the younger generation will be well nurtured, secured and prepared to contribute to a greater Nigeria.

Yes, the government has promised to enthrone change that will impact positively on the lives of every Nigerian child amongst other development frameworks for the nation, and President Muhammadu Buhari further validated this in his 2016 Children’s Day address.

“On this happy occasion for our children, I reaffirm my belief that it is the right of every

Nigerian child to have access to quality and affordable education, as well as healthcare and other basic necessities for a good life, in a peaceful and secure environment. The good health and well-being of children remain a top priority on our agenda for national development and we have demonstrated our strong commitment in this regard with the allocation of N12.6 billion in the 2016 budget for vaccines and programmes to prevent childhood killer diseases such as polio, measles and yellow fever. Other measures in the 2016 budget, such as the school feeding programme for children at a cost of N93.1 billion, will ensure that more children go to school and enjoy the fun of learning and growing together with their peers. Despite the current economic and funding challenges facing our dear nation, my administration will continue to do all within its powers to achieve better living conditions and greater access to quality healthcare and education for all our youth,” he said.

But as much as many Nigerians are never in doubt on the resolution of the President to match his talk with action, the delay in delivery is consistently standing in the way of continuing trust and confidence in his policy; and affecting the coordination of the lives of millions of Nigerians, particularly the children, who have waited on this government for succour.

Basically, prolonged promises are never a substitute for palpable palliatives. This is a juncture one hopes this government will swiftly move the wheel of governance towards the popular will.

39

T H I S D AY • FRIDAY, JUNE 17, 2016

BUSINESSWORLD

NEWS

TSA HAS HURT INSTEAD OF HELPED NIGERIANS could not bear.

Co-incidentally , the outgone govt and the new one had the shared vision of implementing TSA and downsizing of MDAs , but one demurred by not taking action , while the other took the bull by the horns and damned the consequences.

This the reason that contrary to the care, caution and restraint applied by the previous govt, the current regime in the bid to bring the change that was promised Nigerians during campaign, appear to have thrown caution to the wind and delved straight into implementing TSA and rationalization of MDAs. Typical of politicians, the national auditor of APC ,George Moghalu has railed at banks for laying off workers and dubbed it a ploy to sabotage the new ruling party and president Buhari’s govt.

He is wrong.

Rather, the downsizing of staff in banks is a direct consequence of TSA policy and which the new govt rushed it’s implementation.

For obvious reasons banks and bankers can’t defend themselves for fear of losing their licenses and such trepidation is justified in view of the stern nature and low appetite for dissent by the govt currently in power.

Interestingly, the NLC/TUC-comprising of senior civil servants who were involved in the policy formulation-that should have prevailed on govt not to implement the policies due to obvious unpalatable consequences -failed to do so then,and are now threatening to picket banks for disengaging redundant staff when they should have encouraged govt to only implement the TSA policy in phases.

Make no mistake about it, l’m not by any stretch of imagination condemning the introduction of TSA and reduction of MDA’s policies of this govt.

They are like malignant tumors that needed to be surgically removed but there

was no surgeon bold enough to take on the job because the tumor was located too close to the heart of the patient, requiring methodical surgery until Buhari’s govt took the bull by the horns.

As there are two sides to a coin,there are pros and cons to the introduction of TSA and reduction in MDAs. However, only the pros have been highlighted so far which has compelled me to bring to the front burner, in this article,the cons with a view to getting the authorities to address the inherent short comings of TSA policy.

Of course benefits derivable from the TSA initiative such as reining in corruption in the public sector and having a poll of funds to augment the current budget as opposed to borrowing from banks to conduct govt activities at exorbitant rates and sundry benefits are the most common.

However, the less obvious flip side, is that as a result of TSA, in the past one year,N3t has been sterilized in CBN vault which is contrary to and a negation of the principle of the function of money which is supposed to move from areas of surplus to areas of need to facilitate commerce and industry and in the process keep the wheels of production turning.

This is analogous to the parable of three talents-funds- given to three servants by their master who was embarking on a long trip as told in the holy bible.

The one who buried the talents that his master gave him for safe keeping while he was away, was condemned and the ones who traded with their talents and earned more talents which they presented to their master upon his return, received encomiums and gratuitous rewards.

The lesson in the foregoing analogy is that money should always be put to work as opposed to the current case of literarily burying the money in the past one year, through TSA. Arising from the above,it is the combination of failure to harness the value

of TSA funds trapped in CBN and the tumbling of crude oil price that are now manifesting as distress in the economy and debilitating hunger and starvation in the land.

Although at a grievous cost, the demon that the previous govt failed to confront, the present govt has taken on frontally and it is now wrestling with the ghostscorruption- which if dexterously prosecute would be buried,hopefully sooner than later.

In an article titled “ 100 Days Of Buhari: Political Paralysis or Policy Crisis “ published on sept 23rd in Businessday newspaper and several online platforms, l alerted the authorities about the probable negative consequences of policies that do not pass through the crucible of critical thinking.

Perhaps due to the misalignment derived from the tunnel vision encapsulated in the short term mission of fighting corruption as opposed to long term view of quickly delivering democracy dividends to long suffering Nigerians by this administration , the TSA addressed the immediate challenge of corruption in the public sector, but in the process created the problem of economic paralysis that Nigerians is currently grappling with.

In defense of president Buhari, the national leader of APC, Bola Tinubu before the celebration of 100 days in office of this administration, had admonished critics in an article published in The Nation newspaper by asking a rhetoric question “May 29 was when this president was sworn in. It is a norm: there is a honey moon period, at least a minimum of 100 days honeymoon.And you won’t allow honey moon at all”?.

One year after assumption of power , the 100 day honey moon period advocated

by Tinubu is definitely over, so it’s time to deliver to Nigerians democracy dividends,recovered loot.

Without much ado, l would like to urge the authorities to jettison uncertainties in the economy emanating from inconsistencies in policies and programs which have incredibly assumed the dimension of being the policy thrust of this administration. It should replace it with the attitude that indicates that critical thinking is invested in policies and programs that this administration is governing us with.

Having achieved the objective of channeling all govt revenues into the CBN where officials can now have clear view of all govt financial resources,as promised,authorities should immediately re-inject into the economy, the bulk of the TSA funds it scrubbed from banks to stimulate growth and get Nigerians working again.

Perhaps mr president’s economic team , especially finance minister,Kemi Adeosun who is an economic stimulus enthusiast,should read Eric Rauchway’s book ‘The Money Makers:How Roosevelt and Keynes Ended the Depression, Defeated Fascism and Secured a Prosperous Peace’.

The author’s insight would be invaluable in their struggle to return Nigerian to the path of prosperity. As Andy Stanley, Atlanta Georgia, USA preacher who was invited to preach during U.S president Barack Obama’s inauguration church service noted some four years ago, “ Leaders who don’t listen will be surrounded by people who have nothing to say”.

I personally don’t believe that is the case with the present leadership, but without concerted efforts to prove skeptics wrong,onlookers may jump to such an absurd conclusion.

- Onyibe, development strategist and futurologist was a former commissioner in Delta State and an alumnus of Fletcher school of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, Massachusetts, USA

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CITYSTRINGS

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

Reaching out to the Needy Recently, the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Olive Tree Parish, Banana Island, Ikoyi, through its Liberty School and Soup Kitchen initiative carried out free eye tests for primary school pupils and provided free food to indigent children in Ikota, Ajah, Lagos.

Ugo Aliogo writes

The pupils receiving their lunch

W

hen Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, left Redeemed Christian Church of God, Olive Tree Parish, Banana Island, Ikoyi, Lagos State, he was greatly missed by the church. It was not because he was leaving the church for the much coveted position of Vice President, but because he has left a lasting legacy which would stand the test of time. The church passed on their good wishes and blessings on him. They believed that he was God’s sent messenger destined to transform the fortunes of a country broken down by corruption and other vices.

While he was the Senior Pastor of the church, he established 10 pious groups known as kingdom ministries. The ministries were Life Changers, Soup Kitchen, Mercy Cross, Liberty Schools, Women Alive, Hospital Project, Parents without Borders, Just Justice, Friends for Life, and Friendship House. The groups were aimed at meeting certain needs in the church and the society at large. During his stay in the church, he exemplified himself as a man with a large heart. He was concerned about the needs of the downtrodden and needy in the society, therefore it was his wish that these ministries carry out these tasks of meeting societal needs.

Today, these ministries are discharging the mandate handed over to them by the founder. The communities that they live in are feeling their impacts and their contributions are having far reaching effects. The

Liberty School and the Soup Kitchen have been working actively to change lives and affect the less privileged in the society.

Liberty School started in 2014, to provide free education in underprivileged areas in Lagos State, and the school fees are paid by

Liberty School started in 2014, to provide free education in underprivileged areas in Lagos State, and the school fees are paid by the parish.

The Soup Kitchen was setup to feed people in the locality and other areas, many of the kids are from poor families, therefore members of the two ministries who come from privileged backgrounds assist in providing good quality foods for them

the parish. The Soup Kitchen was setup to feed people in the locality and other areas, many of the kids are from poor families, therefore members of the two ministries who come from privileged backgrounds assist in providing good quality foods for them.

Some communities visited by Soup Kitchen include, Basimore Settlement (Banana Island), Falomo Underbridge, Obalende, Iporin Underbridge, Kuramo Beach, contributed to Eleko crusade, Ikota Slum and Ikate Waterside (The Slum). Presently, they have over 200 volunteers, beside outreaches; they are serve free lunch at the Liberty Schools located at Obanikoro and Ikota respectively with over 100,000 packs of food served till date.

Recently, the Liberty School and Soup Kitchen organised a free eye test exercise for some primary school pupils in Ikota, Ajah Local Government Area of Lagos State.

The exercise was aimed at treating pupils with various eye defects in order to help them improve in their academic performance.

Soup Kitchen also gave out free lunch to the pupils while the eye tests were ongoing.

It was a laudable gesture which will create a lasting impression in the minds of the parents of these kids. On their part, they may not have the financial withal to give their kids this sort of medical care.

Many of these parents are largely farmers and fisher men, whose basic concerns are to meet family needs of shelter and feeding.

For them, survival is a necessity, giving the child a good medical care and qualitative

education may not be in their budget due to lack of awareness and the financial means.

In this community, some of the children have had their destinies truncated not by their own making, but the unfortunate circumstances around them. Many of them become ‘Areas Boys’ and ‘Omoniles.’ While some who are able to break through by dint of hard work, self-determination and focus, become exploits in the larger society. These families live in the coastal areas and face a lot of housing challenges during the rainy season, but they have continued to prevail despite the odds of life.

Speaking at the exercise, the pastor incharge, Alex Okoh, lauded the good works carried out by the Kingdom Ministries, adding that they are conducting these free eyes tests for the children, because they heard reports that some of them have issues with their eyes, “therefore, we want to help them correct it so that they can learn better and quicker, so it does not affect their future.”

He stated that they were carrying out the free eye test in collaboration with St. Edmund Eye Hospital, noting that the Liberty School and Soup Kitchen came together to see how these kids are progressing and what they can do. “The Soup Kitchen offers three meals to every pupil every day of the week,” he noted.

“We do this to encourage these kids to come to school, because the parents cannot CONT’D ON NEXT PAGE

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The pupils having their lunch

The pupils having their eyes examined

afford the school fees, many of them come to school hungry. The food we offer them is of good quality and it is good enough for us to eat. The parents are very positive and happy about it because they are getting high quality education. Secondly, the parents are happy that their kids get fed very well once daily, so that burden is being uplifted off their shoulders which is very good.

“The far reaching effects we tend to create with this initiative are in two folds; first that free education can be given to people at minimal cost. Secondly, there are people who will ordinarily go to school, we are also taking school to them in order to help them. One of these kids might become the president of Nigeria in the future. These kids are very brilliant; therefore it is not only less privileged individuals, but people who do not have the money. We also help those that do not have the money to go school and we provide them with free education.

“The pastor at the time said these ministries have been setup for anybody so that people can be part of it and people gravitate towards any ministry which they had a liking for.

Liberty School was setup to give free education in underprivileged areas. We have one here in Ikota, Ajah and Obanikoro. The Soup Kitchen carries out feeding interventions.

Our vision is that in the next few years we will be able to build a couple of hostels where people can sleep over and we feed a

Dr. Ayo Harriman examining the eyes of one of the pupils

thousand people at different locations. At least one thousand people a day.”

The School Proprietor, Mrs. Olabisi Gbenga Awe, who commended the exercise, noted that the pupils are performing very well academically and appealed that more of such exercise will come to the school.

She stated that the aim of the Liberty School is to take the children off the road, in order to prevent them from becoming area boys. “We take them off the road, help to transform their lives and give them a destiny in the future,” she said.

Awe noted that the community members were very much impressed with the free education and the daily feeding Liberty School and Soup Kitchen have been organising, adding that it was a welcome development for them because the free education initiative has helped to assist the indigents students in the community.

“In this environment, we noticed that children who are above school age do not have the opportunity to go to school until we came in. So what we did was to start the literacy class. That literacy class embraced all the children who were within the school age who have never been to school, so they are moved into literacy one.

“When they showed signs of improvement, we move them from literacy two to basic one (primary one). Right now, we have basic one to four, by next year we will have basic

five year. In the upper year, we will have

We do this to encourage these kids to come to school, because the parents cannot afford the school fees, many of them come to school hungry. The food we offer them is of good quality and it is good enough for us to eat. The parents are very positive and happy about it because they are getting high quality education

our new set of graduates. This is not the only Liberty School, the other one we have is at Obanikoro, and there we had our first set of graduates last year.

“Another set has registered for this years’ examination. The Soup Kitchen organised

this initiative in partnership with Liberty School and the church because both are Non-Governmental Organisations in Olive Tree Parish at Banana Island,” Awe said.

The Ophthalmologist, Saint Edmund Hospital, Dr. Ayo Harriman, stated that they were treating those with refractive errors which meant that they were either long or short sighted and those who had astigmatism.

She said refractive errors are errors that do not allow the child to see sharply, therefore, it will definitely have a far reaching effect, admitting that when they pick up those who cannot see well, their vision would be corrected where possible, and they will be able to improve in their school works.

“They will be able to see the white board, and they will able to see their books and read properly.

“As I said before, once the child can see what is written on the board, it should improve their academic performance as long they study. We have done this in other schools, but this is our first time in Liberty School today. We will like to come back if we are invited again. We were invited by Mr. Toyobo whom I know personally. He mentioned it to me that there is a school which RCCG Olive Tree Parish looks after and he will like us to come and carry out free eye test for children. I think it is very good initiative,” she added.

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WORLD OF ISLAM Repentance: A Bountiful Blessing Edited by: MJO Mustapha Email deji.mustapha@thisdaylive.com

Suhaib Webb/Emel/IslamiCity As the warm breeze of Ramadan settles, we are reminded of the Prophet’s statement, ‘Upon the arrival of Ramadan the gates of Paradise are opened, the gates of Hell are closed and the devils are chained.’ Ramadan brings with it a host of possibilities. Look at it as a chance to enter into a garden filled with fresh fruits, luscious vegetables and beautiful flowers. Some will fill their baskets to the brim, others will fill them half way, and some will fail to fill their baskets with anything.

Those who filled their baskets will have done so with a varied harvest; some choosing the best the garden has to offer, while others simply settle for those of a lesser quality. One of the best fruits we can reap during this month is one of the most difficult to attain.

Its fruit is not found on the ground having fallen from a tree, nor is it found amongst the lower branches.

This fruit is found at the highest part of the tree and getting to it takes effort, patience and most importantly truthfulness with oneself. This is the fruit of repentance and reflection. ‘Repent to Allah, oh believers, and you will be successful.’

Success is a tough word Success is a tough word, it haunts us at work, home and school. And like a beneficial medicine, it is not easy to swallow. The reality of success is that it is anchored in the tangible; it is not a theoretical enterprise, but, as we say ………., “requires one to strap on his boots”.

The Arabs understood this well, thus the word for success falah is associated with the one who farms or harvests al-falaah because the latter cannot come without diligence and hard work. So, repentance is a substantial enterprise, an effort, a struggle towards spiritual inventory. Caliph Umar said, “Audit yourselves before you are audited by Allah.” Hassan, the Prophet’s grandson also explains this concept. He said, “Those who have the easiest time in the hereafter are those who are keen to call themselves to account in this life.”

Returning to Allah while struggling to swim the deep seas of life is a difficult enterprise, no one likes to hear bad things about themselves. But if we are able, during this blessed month, to sit and audit ourselves, to take account of our spiritual principals;

investigating our true state and relation with Allah , family and others, we will have reaped the fruits of a blessed harvest; setting the stage for a new course in our relationship with the Most Merciful. Once the Prophet ascended the pulpit and at each step he was heard saying, “Ameen”. Later the companions enquired about the Prophet’s statement upon which he responded that Gabriel came to him supplicating against three types of people, one was he who failed to repent during the month of Ramadan thereby failing to be forgiven for his sins.

Overcoming the Obstacles There are a number of obstacles that lurk hidden for the one who seeks repentance. Perhaps the greatest is the feeling of fear and despondence. Many feel that it is simply too late to change: “I’ve done my dirt and there is simply no way to get back on track.”

Firstly, let’s understand that sinning is part of human nature. The Prophet said, “Every person commits sins.

And the best sinners are those who repent.” Many have claimed that the feelings of profound guilt and depression regarding their state, chain them from turning to Allah . This is one of the greatest tricks of the Devil; closing the door of hope to Allah’s mercy after sinning. Once a man came to the mosque of the Prophet complaining about his sins; the man was so overcome and saddened by his state that the Prophet said to him, “Say this: O Allah, your forgiveness is greater than my sins and my hope in Your mercy is greater to me than my [evil] actions.”

The man said this and the Prophet said to him, “Say it again.” The man repeated it, then the Prophet said to him, “Say it again.” The man did it and the Prophet said to him, “Arise for, indeed, Allah has forgiven you!”

For this reason Ibn Kathir reports that the Prophet, upon him be peace, said about the verse, “Say [Muhammad] to My servants who have transgressed against themselves, do not despair of Allah’s mercy.

Indeed, Allah forgives all sins and He is the One who forgives and is Merciful”, “It is more beloved to me than anything under the Heavens and on Earth.”

Secondly, sins should be seen as a strategy for one to turn in humility back to Allah . One of the early scholars

said that, “A person could enter Paradise because of a sin he committed.” Upon hearing this, his student challenged him by asking, “How could that be?” The scholar responded: “The sinner persistently thinks about it, which causes him to fear it, regret it, weep over it and feel humiliated in front of his Lord due to it. He stands before Allah , broken-hearted, with his head lowered in humility. So this sin is more beneficial to him than doing many acts of obedience, since it caused him to have humility and humbleness – which leads to his happiness and success – to the extent that this sin prevents him from entering Paradise.”

Thirdly, rebounding from sin is one of the simple fruits related to our success. If we were to ask many people what it was that brought them back to faith, many would mention a mistake they made in the past.

The Prophet said, “Repentance is regret.” That regret is one of our greatest fears. In reality, however, it is a mercy from Allah which pricks at our conscience until we ultimately return to Him. Allah says, “And [He also forgave] the three who were left behind [and regretted their error] to the point that the Earth closed in on them in spite of its vastness, and their souls confined them and they were certain that there is no refuge from Allah except in Him. Then He turned to them so they could repent.

Indeed, Allah is the Accepting of repentance, the Merciful.” (9:118) Notice the wording at the end of this verse “Then He turned to them so they could repent.” Thus, repentance doesn’t start with the sinner, but begins when Allah turns to him with His mercy, love and compassion; awakening his heart with guilt, gently guiding him to His forgiveness. The sinner was lost in a sea of confusion and misery and Allah found him, guided him and forgave him.

The Prophet said: “Allah has greater joy at the repentance of one His servants when he turns towards Him than one of you would have over his mount, which, having escaped from him saddled with food and drink in the middle of the desert, so that he has despaired of finding it and gone to a tree to lie down in its shade, it suddenly appears standing by him while

he is in that state, so that he takes its reins and then says out of the intensity of his joy, ‘O Allah , You are my slave and I am Your Lord!’ getting confused because of his intense joy.”

Fourth, I’ve done so many things in the past and failed to repent. How is it that, after all of these years, I could face Allah with such a blackened record? The Prophet, upon him be peace, said, “Allah the Mighty and Majestic accepts the repentance of His servant as long as his death-rattle has not begun.” Thus, no matter when, as long as one turns to Allah seeking His forgiveness, only then can that person expect to be forgiven.

Furthermore, there is no sin greater than Allah’s ultimate mercy and forgiveness. The Prophet said: “Allah the Almighty has said: ‘O son of Adam, so long as you call upon Me, and hope in Me, I shall forgive you for what you have done, and I shall not mind.

O son of Adam, were your sins to reach the clouds in the sky and were you then to ask forgiveness of Me, I shall forgive you. O son of Adam, were you to come to Me with an earthful of sins and were you then to face Me, without having associated anything with Me, I shall grant you an earthful of pardon.’”

Ibn Rajab noted that this Prophetic tradition begins with “O son of Adam” because of its context, repentance and forgiveness. Thus, when one despairs over his mistakes and shortcomings, he should recall Allah’s favor upon mankind, exercised upon their forefather Adam. Thus, just as Adam repented to his Lord and, as noted in the Qur’an, “He immediately forgave him,” his offspring should do the same.

The Qualities of Repentance Scholars noted that sound repentance should be coupled with the following qualities: 1.

Leaving the sin 2.

Regret, and 3.

Resolving never to return to the sin again.

The month of Ramadan is a time of serious reflection, increased awareness and devotion. Its beginning is mercy and its ending is marked by forgiveness and salvation. Let us take advantage of this time to set aright our affairs, rebounding from our mistakes and sins from the past. Let us turn to the Most Merciful.

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INTERNATIONAL

email:foreigndesk@thisdaylive.com

British Lawmaker Shot Dead, EU Referendum Campaigns Suspended A British member of parliament was shot dead in the street yesterday, causing deep shock across Britain and the suspension of campaigning for next week’s referendum on the country’s EU membership.

Jo Cox, 41, a lawmaker for the opposition Labour Party and a vocal advocate for Britain remaining in the European Union, was attacked while preparing to meet constituents in Birstall near Leeds in northern England.

Media reports said she had been shot and stabbed. West Yorkshire regional police said a 52-year-old man was arrested by officers nearby and weapons including a firearm recovered.

“We are not in a position to discuss any motive at this time,” said Temporary Chief Constable Dee Collins.

One witness said a man pulled an old or makeshift gun from a bag and fired twice. “I saw a lady on the floor like on the beach with her arms straight and her knees up and blood all over the face,” Hichem Ben-Abdallah told reporters.

“She wasn’t making any noise, but clearly she was in agony.”

Media reports, citing wit-

nesses, said the attacker had shouted out “Britain first”, which is the name of a rightwing nationalist group that describes itself on its website as “a patriotic political party and street defence organisation”. But the deputy leader of the group completely distanced it from the attack, which she described as “absolutely disgusting”.

The rival referendum campaign groups said they were suspending activities for the day, with the Remain camp saying its activities would also be suspended on Friday. Prime Minister David Cameron said he would pull out of a planned rally in Gibraltar, the British territory on the southern coast of Spain.

Cameron said the killing of Cox, who was married with two children and had worked on U.S. President Barack Obama’s 2008 election campaign, was a tragedy. “We have lost a great star,” the Conservative prime minister said in a statement.

“She was a great campaigning MP with huge compassion, with a big heart. It is dreadful, dreadful news.”

It was not immediately clear what the impact would

be on the referendum, which has polarized the nation into pro- and anti-EU camps. But some analysts speculated it could boost the pro-EU “Remain” campaign, which in recent days has fallen behind the “Leave” camp in pre-referendum polls. Britain’s sterling currency strengthened

against the dollar after news of the attack, reversing a weakening trend that had accompanied the Leave campaign’s surge.

“The whole of the Labour Party and Labour family - and indeed the whole country - will be in shock at the horrific murder of Jo Cox today,”Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said. The

last British lawmaker to have been killed in an attack was Ian Gow, who died after a bomb planted by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) exploded under his car at his home in southern England in 1990.

Police said a 77-year-old man was also assaulted in the incident and suffered injuries

that were not life-threatening.

BBC TV and other media showed a picture of the alleged suspect, a balding white man, being apprehended by police. Temporary Chief Constable Collins said a “very significant investigation with large numbers of witnesses” was under way.

Trump Backs Surveillance of Mosques despite Criticism Presumptive Republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump, has called for surveillance of mosques as part of U.S. law enforcement efforts to prevent terrorism, and stood by his remarks on banning Muslim immigrants, which others in his party have criticized.

Trump repeated his call for a temporary ban on the entry of Muslims into the United States after a U.S.-born Muslim, the son of Afghan immigrants, fatally shot 49 people at a gay nightclub in Orlando early on Sunday. The New York real estate developer said that while the Florida gunman was born in the United States, “his parents weren’t and his ideas weren’t born here.”

“We have to maybe check,

respectfully, the mosques and we have to check other places because this is a problem that, if we don’t solve it, it’s going to eat our country alive,”Trump said at a rally in Atlanta. Trump had called for surveillance of mosques in November, as well as a database of Syrian refugees entering the United States.

The Orlando gunman, Omar Mateen, is believed by authorities to have acted alone, inspired by radical ideology he was exposed to over the internet. “Any kind of extremism and violence is not preached in American mosques,” said Ibrahim Hooper, communications director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations.“In fact, research has shown that mosques are a moderating

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Prominent Republicans this week distanced themselves from Trump’s comments about Muslims. House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan said on Tuesday he did not think a ban

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52

T H I S D AY • FRIDAY, JUNE 17, 2016

BUSINESS/MONEYGUIDE

CBN Unveils N500bn Non-oil Export Stimulation Facility Obinna Chima As part of efforts to boost activities in the non-oil sector of the economy, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday unveiled a N500 billion low interest rate non-oil export facility.

The banking sector regulator in the guidelines of the: “The Non-Oil Export Stimulation Facility (ESF), said the fund was established to support the diversification of the the economy away from oil and to expedite the growth and development of the non-oil export sector.

According to the guidelines for operating the fund,the CBN will invest in a N500 billion debenture to be issued by Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM) in line with section 31 of CBN Act. It further stated that thefacility was essentially designed to redress the declining export credit and reposition the sector to increase its contribution to revenue generation and economic development. It will improve export financing, increase access of exporters to low interest credit and offer additional opportunities for them to upscale and expand their businesses in addition to improving their competiveness.

The Nigerian Export – Import Bank (NEXIM) shall be the Managing Agent of the Non-Oil Export Stimulation Facility (ESF).

It shall be responsible for the day-to-day administration of the Facility and rendition of periodic reports on the performance of ESF to CBN. “Facilities with a tenor of up to three (3) years, would be granted at a maximum all-in interest rate of seven and half percent (7.5%) per annum; Facilities with tenor of over three (3) years, would be granted at a maximum all-in interest rate of nine percent (9%) per annum.

“Export of goods wholly or partly processed or manufactured in Nigeria; Export of commodities and services, which are permissible and excluded under existing export prohibition list; Imports of plant and machinery, spare parts and packaging materials, required for export oriented production that cannot be produced locally; Export value chain support services such as transportation, warehousing and quality assurance infrastructure; Resuscitation, expansion, modernization and technology upgrade of non-oil exports industries and; Stocking Facility/Working capital,” the guidelines added.

Furthermore, it stated that

the facility shall not exceed 70 percent of the total cost of the project or transaction subject to a maximum of N5 billion.

The ESF shall have a tenor of up to 10 years and shall not exceed the 28th of December, 2025. Stocking facility shall be for a maximum tenor of one year with the option of roll-over not exceeding twice.

However, this shall attract an additional fee of 0.25 percent per annum of the loan amount and is subject to approval of CBN. Working capital facility shall be for a maximum tenor of one year with the provision of roll-over not exceeding twice.

However, this shall attract an additional fee of 0.25 percent per annum of the loan amount and is subject to approval of CBN. Meanwhile, in a separate circular yesterday, the central bank stated that in other to ensure continuous flow of credit to the export sector at competitive rates, especially against the background of declining export loans and the need to promote sustainable non-oil exports, it has expanded the Export Credit Rediscounting and Refinancing Facilities (RRF) by N50 billion to support the banks in the provision of pre- and post-shipment finance to exporters to undertake export transactions.

Julius Berger Records 70.4% Drop in Profit to N2.440bn Iyobosa Uwugiaren in Abuja Julius Berger Plc, has recorded a 70.4 per cent drop in profit after tax, posting a N2.440 billion profit for the year ended December 31, 2015, compared to N8.239 billion recorded in previous reporting year 2014.

The total revenue of the group also declined to N133.807 billion, compared to N196.808 billion recorded in 2014.

In the same reporting year, the company also announced the mass retrenchment of ‘’approximately 33, 000 workers’’ only on public projects, consequently leading to ‘’indirect retrenchment of approximately 130,000 people’’ in 2015.

These were contained in the company’s Annual Report 2015 and Financial Statement presented to the shareholders at its

Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in Abuja yesterday. The Chairman of Julius Berger Plc, AVM Mohammed Nurudeen, was however attributed the low performance of the company to the persistent economic challenges that enveloped the nation in the reporting year: low crude oil prices, higher interest rates, devaluation of the naira and stringent fiscal policies.

“More specifically, in the public sector, lower crude oil prices had a detrimental effect on the ability of government, at all tiers, to meet its contractual obligations and fund capital expenditures,” Nurudeen stated.

“In the private sector, the macro-economic slowdown and foreign exchange scarcity also triggered a downward review of capital expenditures.’’

To alleviate the effect of the

economic downturn and mitigate potential adverse consequences on the group, the chairman revealed that strategic reduction of overheads and adjustment of performance planning and resources were carried, which included what he described as “the very unfortunate and painful requirement’’ to retrench a significant number of its well-trained and capable staff.

He added: “Due to the lingering unfavourable economic climate thus far detailed, the entire construction industry remains in crisis mode until today.

“Moreover, the additional issue of foreign exchange scarcity and depreciation of the naira have further exaggerated difficulties. The sourcing of foreign currency at a bearable rate of exchange has become of paramount importance.’’

Union Bank Deepens Banking Penetration Union Bank Plc has showcased its new brand identity in two of its newly upgraded branches in Plateau State.

The unveiled branches were those at Pankshin/ Shendam Road, Langtang and 48 Muritala Mohammed way, Jos Plateau state, this is in continuation of its efforts to make banking “simpler and smarter” for its teeming customers.

Speaking at the upgraded branch unveil at Langtang and Jos, the Executive Director, Public Sector, Union Bank, Ibrahim Kwargana, was quoted in a statement to have said the unveiling of our new brand was to further consolidate Union Bank’s position as one of the best corporate and retail banking financial institution in the country, with simpler and smarter packages that will afford

our customers quality, reliable, secured and effective services.

According to him, “What we are doing is in furtherance of our transformation journey that started three years ago with restructuring and upgrading of Union bank branch networks.”

He noted that the banks expansion represents Union Bank’s strategic objective to maintain significant market share, expand its pan-Nigeria footprint and diversify earnings while delivering value to customers and stakeholders.

“We want to assure our customers that we are innovative bank and to date, we have refurbished over 70 branches across the country and a lot has also gone into the innovative products that we are currently offering.”

In his remarks, the bank’s

Transformation Director, Joe Mbulu, called on customers to partner with the bank in utilising the transformed platform, saying that customers can now do bank transactions from the comfort of their homes using online and mobile banking platforms.

He maintained that the essence of the restructuring and upgrading is to “ensure that we are in the right locations and serving the right customers in a functional and professional setting.

Promising customers of security, Mbulu said; “Our pillar is our transformational standard, we make promise and we fulfill it. The simpler and smartest banking we have transformed into is to ensure easy banking. So, we want our customers to join us and experiment with us in this journey.”

MARKET INDICATORS MONEY AND CREDIT STATISTICS (MILLION NAIRA) March 2016 Broad Money (M2)

20,470,436.00

-- Narrow Money (M1)

9,040,817.68

---- Currency Outside Banks

1,441,365.03

---- Demand Deposits

7,599,452.65

-- Quasi Money

11,429,618.32

Net Foreign Assets (NFA)

5,551,714.27

Net Domestic Assets(NDA)

14,918,721.73

-- Net Domestic Credit (NDC)

22,664,815.74

---- Credit to Government (Net)

3,782,578.01

---- Memo: Credit to Govt. (Net) less FMA

4,991,246.39

---- Memo: Fed. and Mirror Accounts (FMA)

-1,208,668.38

---- Credit to Private Sector (CPS)

18,882,237.73

--Other Assets Net

-7,746,094.02

Reserve Money (Base Money)

5,758,634.07

--Currency in Circulation

1,811,090.48

--Banks Reserves

3,947,543.59 • 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 15 June 2016 The price of OPEC basket of thirteen crudes stood at $45.36 a barrel on Wednesday, compared with $45.64 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

53

T H I S D AY • FRIDAY, JUNE 17, 2016

Nigeria’s top 50 stocks based on market fundamentals

16-June-16 15-June-16

% Change

Capitalisation

EPS

P/E

P/S

Div. Yld

Price/ Book Value

01 Dangote Cement Plc

175.06

172.20

1.66%

2,983,111,226,319.30

10.64

16.45

6.07

4.57%

4.63

02 Nigerian Breweries Plc

141.76

133.75

5.99%

1,124,029,341,882.88

5.37

26.41

4.07

2.54%

6.60

03 Guaranty Trust Bank Plc

20.70

19.95

3.76%

609,225,409,936.80

3.38

6.13

2.66

8.55%

1.47

04 Nestle Nigeria Plc

757.03

757.03

0.00%

600,064,562,451.56

29.95

25.28

3.97

3.83%

15.79

05 Zenith Bank Plc

16.59

15.77

5.20%

520,867,831,909.74

3.37

4.93

1.20

10.85%

0.88

06 Lafarge Africa Plc.

74.01

78.88

-6.17%

337,108,282,958.10

5.93

12.49

1.26

4.05%

1.91

07 Ecobank Transnational Incorporated

16.81

16.40

2.50%

308,455,955,924.15

1.39

12.07

0.60

3.69%

0.82

08 Forte Oil Plc.

198.00

198.00

0.00%

257,891,258,394.00

4.45

44.51

2.07

1.74%

5.57

09 Seplat Petroleum Dev. Co. Ltd

350.00

350.00

0.00%

193,658,609,550.00

23.48

14.90

1.71

4.55%

0.69

10 Access Bank Plc

5.99

6.00

-0.17%

173,278,550,069.69

2.28

2.63

0.51

9.18%

0.47

11 United Bank for Africa Plc

4.69

4.60

1.96%

170,150,978,450.18

1.64

2.85

0.54

12.79%

0.51

12 Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc

16.00

15.90

0.63%

160,000,000,000.00

2.04

7.86

1.35

0.63%

1.42

13 Guinness Nig Plc

102.50

102.90

-0.39%

154,353,539,270.00

0.78

131.70

3.10

0.00%

3.45

14 FBN Holdings Plc

4.20

4.04

3.96%

150,760,229,726.40

0.42

9.95

0.30

3.57%

0.26

15 Unilever Nigeria Plc.

32.70

33.02

-0.97%

123,713,787,375.00

0.32

103.75

2.09

0.15%

15.46

16 7-Up Bottling Comp. Plc

138.00

138.00

0.00%

88,401,470,094.00

11.12

12.41

1.13

1.59%

3.68

17 Oando Plc

7.32

6.93

5.63%

88,093,410,304.08

0.50

14.64

0.15

10.25%

0.56

18 P Z Cussons Nigeria Plc

21.49

21.61

-0.56%

85,325,551,697.05

1.10

19.58

1.18

6.05%

2.03

19 Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc

6.90

6.63

4.07%

82,800,000,000.00

0.96

7.18

0.82

7.25%

1.42

20 International Breweries Plc.

19.48

19.48

0.00%

64,171,975,974.40

0.64

30.48

3.47

1.28%

5.33

21 Mobil Oil Nig Plc.

169.50

169.50

0.00%

61,120,896,909.00

13.51

12.54

0.95

4.25%

3.98

22 Total Nigeria Plc

179.00

179.00

0.00%

60,774,408,823.00

11.92

15.02

0.29

7.82%

3.74

23 Transnational Corporation Of Nigeria Plc

1.47

1.45

1.38%

56,919,866,214.75

0.05

28.02

1.40

0.00%

0.65

24 Flour Mills Nig. Plc.

21.50

21.50

0.00%

56,421,099,520.50

1.84

11.68

0.17

9.30%

0.55

25 Julius Berger Nig. Plc.

42.10

42.10

0.00%

55,572,000,000.00

1.85

22.77

0.42

3.56%

2.29

26 Diamond Bank Plc

2.33

2.34

-0.43%

53,963,706,295.44

0.24

9.54

0.25

0.00%

0.25

27 Sterling Bank Plc

1.51

1.51

0.00%

43,473,531,370.26

0.36

4.22

0.39

5.96%

0.45

28 Fidelity Bank Plc

1.41

1.36

3.68%

40,837,245,825.72

0.48

2.94

0.28

11.35%

0.22

29 U A C N Plc.

19.50

19.33

0.88%

37,456,855,546.50

2.70

7.22

0.51

5.13%

0.51

30 Presco Plc

35.70

35.70

0.00%

35,700,000,000.00

3.28

10.89

3.14

0.28%

1.59

31 Cadbury Nigeria Plc

18.00

17.35

3.75%

33,807,636,720.00

3.21

5.61

1.00

7.22%

3.27

32 FCMB Group Plc

1.68

1.68

0.00%

33,268,554,112.08

0.24

6.99

0.22

5.95%

0.20

33 Wema Bank Plc.

0.84

0.79

6.33%

32,402,551,508.04

0.06

13.92

0.71

0.00%

0.70

34 Okomu Oil Palm Plc

30.00

30.00

0.00%

28,617,300,000.00

2.76

10.88

2.94

0.33%

2.37

35 Cap Plc

36.12

36.12

0.00%

25,284,000,000.00

2.49

14.53

3.58

3.18%

16.63

36 Mansard Insurance Plc

2.10

2.00

5.00%

22,050,000,000.00

0.16

13.27

1.33

2.38%

1.27

37 Custodian And Allied Insurance Plc

3.67

3.50

4.86%

21,586,441,595.65

0.71

5.14

0.72

3.81%

0.83

38 National Salt Co. Nig. Plc

8.00

8.00

0.00%

21,195,507,024.00

0.79

10.07

1.31

6.88%

2.99

39 Glaxo Smithkline Consumer Nig. Plc.

14.13

15.64

-9.65%

16,897,734,775.44

0.81

17.51

0.55

2.12%

1.28

40 Skye Bank Plc

1.20

1.20

0.00%

16,656,361,692.00

0.85

1.40

0.12

25.00%

0.12

41 Honeywell Flour Mill Plc

1.75

1.70

2.94%

13,877,845,901.50

0.14

12.39

0.28

9.14%

0.65

42 Unity Bank Plc

1.17

1.08

8.33%

13,676,525,392.14

0.54

2.16

0.21

0.00%

0.16

43 Continental Reinsurance Plc

1.14

1.09

4.59%

11,824,928,515.68

0.21

5.52

0.60

10.53%

0.76

44 Cement Co. Of North.Nig. Plc

7.76

7.35

5.58%

9,751,819,464.16

0.96

8.12

0.75

1.29%

0.96

45 Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Plc

4.68

4.68

0.00%

7,601,343,750.00

0.33

14.13

0.89

4.27%

1.25

46 UACN Property Development Co. Limited

4.15

4.09

1.47%

7,132,812,479.25

1.81

2.30

0.64

16.87%

0.22

47 Wapic Insurance Plc

0.50

0.50

0.00%

6,691,369,126.00

0.10

5.16

0.94

6.00%

0.45

48 Resort Savings & Loans Plc

0.50

0.50

0.00%

5,664,866,202.00

4.68

0.11

0.02

0.00%

1.89

49 AIICO Insurance Plc

0.81

0.80

1.25%

5,613,465,628.80

0.28

2.93

0.17

6.17%

0.58

50 Fidson Healthcare Plc

1.90

1.91

-0.52%

2,850,000,000.00

0.50

3.83

0.35

2.63%

0.45

TOTAL

9,114,152,646,679.24

TOTAL MARKET CAP

9,784,836,188,813.64

% OF MARKET CAP

93.15%

Annotation - MA* = Simple Moving Average

Table 1 Market Statistics Mkt Indicators

Open Close Change % 15-June-16 16-June-16

NSE All Share Index NSE Market Cap (N'Trillion)

27,891.96 9.58

28,489.89 9.78

2.14% 2.14%

Thisday BGL 50 Index Thisday BGL 50 Market Cap (N'Trillion) Diamond Bank Plc

114.88 8.95

117.05 9.11

1.89% 1.89%

3.96

4.08

3.03%

Table 3 Top 5 Gainers Stock

Open Close Change % 15-June-16 16-June-16

Unity Bank Plc Wema Bank Plc. Nigerian Breweries Plc Oando Plc Cement Co. Of North.Nig. Plc

1.08 0.79 133.75 6.93 7.35

1.17 0.84 141.76 7.32 7.76

8.33% 6.33% 5.99% 5.63% 5.58%

Table 4 Top 5 Losers Stock

Open Close Change % 15-June-16 16-June-16

Glaxo Smithkline Consumer Nig. Plc. Lafarge Africa Plc. Unilever Nigeria Plc. P Z Cussons Nigeria Plc Fidson Healthcare Plc

15.64

14.13

-9.65%

78.88 33.02 21.61 1.91

74.01 32.70 21.49 1.90

-6.17% -0.97% -0.56% -0.52%

Market ASI appreciates further by 2.14% as CBN introduces new forex guidelines Market pulse on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) today – Thursday, June 16, 2016 ended on a bullish note as the market closed green today due to renewed optimism stimulated by the newly introduced CBN guideline on foreign exchange. This was further highlighted by positive performances from all the NSE Sub sectors: Banking, Insurance, Consumer Goods and Oil & Gas. However, trading activities increased in volume as 618.25 million shares worth N5.41 billion in 6,757 deals exchanged hands today. This is an increase from the 588.43 million shares worth N3.47 billion in 5,088 deals carried out on Wednesday. Topping in volume terms was UBA Plc, Zenith Bank Plc and FBN Holdings Plc while Zenith Bank Plc and UBA Plc ended trading as the most active stocks in value terms.

The All Share Index (NSEASI) closed positive with a 2.14% (+597.93) increase to close at 28.489.89 from 27,891.96 the previous trading day. Market Capitalization appreciated in tandem to N9.78 trillion from N9.58 trillion of prior trading day. Similarly, the Thisday BGL 50 Index followed suit with an increase of 1.89% to close at 117.05 from 114.88 recorded the previous trading day, while its market capitalization stood at N9.11 trillion from N8.95 trillion of the previous trading day.

A total number of 31 stocks gained on the bourse today while 16 stocks declined, 53 leaving stocks unchanged. Unity Bank Plc emerged the toast of investors as it topped the Thisday BGL 50 Index gainers’ list with a gain of 8.33% to close at N1.17 per share. It was followed by Wema Bank Plc with a gain of 6.33% to close at N0.84 per share. Others on the gainers list include: Nigerian Breweries Plc Oando Plc and CCNN Plc, while on the decliners’ list; GlaxoSmithkline Consumer Nig. Plc led with a loss of 9.65% to close at N14.13 per share. It was followed

by Lafarge Africa Plc with a loss of 6.17% to close at N74.01 per share. Others on the losers list include; Unilever Nigeria Plc, P Z Cussons Nigeria Plc and Fidson Healthcare 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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T H I S D AY • FRIDAY, JUNE 17, 2016

MARKET NEWS

Lafarge Africa Raises N60 billion from Bond Issuance Goddy Egene and Eromosele Abiodun Lafarge Africa Plc yesterday announced the conclusion of its Series I and II N60 billion Bond Issuance. It three year 14.75 per cent Bond due 2019 ( Series 1 Bond) and N33.614 billion five year 14.75 per cent bond due 2021 (Series 11 Bond).

The proceeds of the bond

issuance will be used to part-refinance the debt of its wholly-owned subsidiary, United Cement Company of Nigeria Limited.

The dual-series issuance, the first of its kind and largest ever bond issuance by a corporate in Nigeria’s debt capital markets, was concluded through book building with the order book oversubscribed.

T H E

A signing ceremony in respect of the Series I and Series II Bonds was held on June 15, 2016, following the Securities & Exchange Commission’s approval. The bonds will be listed on FMDQ-OTC. Chapel Hill Denham acted as Lead Financial Adviser, Lead Issuing House and Lead Book Runner on the transaction.

Citibank Nigeria acted as Joint

N I G E R I A N

Lead Financial Adviser and Book Runner with Standard Chartered and Stanbic IBTC as Joint Issuing Houses and Book Runners.

Commenting at the signing ceremony, Chairman, Lafarge Africa, Chairman, Mr. Bolaji Balogun said: “This largest ever bond issuance by a corporate in Nigeria’s capital markets, affirms Lafarge

STO C K

Africa’s reputation as a prime issuer. We are grateful for the overwhelming support we have received from domestic institutional investors, especially the Nigerian pension funds. We also wish to thank the SEC for its support on the completion of the transaction.”

Speaking on the conclusion of the bond, Group Managing Director/CEO, Lafarge Africa,

E XC H A N G E

Mr. Michel Puchercos said: “The proceeds of this issue will allow Lafarge Africa Plc part-refinance the debt of its now wholly-owned subsidiary, Unicem. These proceeds will deliver savings in financing costs to Unicem and Lafarge Africa.

Unicem is currently undergoing a 2.5mtpa capacity expansion which will be completed by the end of 2016.”

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FRIDAY, JUNE 17, 2016 • T H I S D AY

NEWSXTRA

African Child’s Day: 196 Teachers, 314 School Children Killed in Boko Haram Insurgency Centre organises skills acquisition workshop for IDP camps

Paul Obi in Abuja As the world celebrates the African Child’s Day, Plan International, a global advocacy group, yesterday said about 196 teachers and 314 school children were killed in the ongoing Boko Haram insurgency in the northern part of the country.

Country Director of Plan International, Dr Hussaini Abdu, stated this yesterday in Abuja at a symposium to mark the day, stating that, children continued to face a brutish future since the Boko Haram insurgency started.

He said: “It is reported that over 300 schools have been severely damaged or destroyed and at least 196 teachers and

314 school children were killed in the period of Boko Haram insurgency.

“The last six to seven years have been difficult for Nigerian children, especially those in the North-east states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe. The region has been ravaged by devastating Boko Haram insurgency and state military action.”

According to Abdu, “since 2009 when Boko Haram started, its violent campaign, over 20,000 have been reported killed, 2.2 million displaced, many of them women and children. As at June 15, 2016, 14.8 million people have been affected by this crisis. Seven million of these numbers are in need of humanitarian assistance,

of which only 3.9 million are being covered.”

He further called for the strengthening of the Child Rights’ Act by government, stressing that with the devastation in the North-east, it is incumbent on Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States to enact such laws that safeguard against abuse of children rights.

The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, represented by Deputy Director, Basic Education, Mrs. Ariba Opeyemi Adeleye, said government remained committed to providing protection for children in conflict zones.

“Nigeria has recorded appreciable progress in protecting the Nigerian

children during conflict and crises, particularly in the area of taking care of internally displaced children as a result of insurgency in the north-east,” the minister said.

He cited the relocation of “2,400 displaced secondary school students from states in high risk areas and transferred them to Federal Unity Colleges in safe areas on government’s scholarship” as government intervention programme to rescue children caught up in the Boko Haram insurgency.

Guest Speaker and Former Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Prof. Chidi Odinkalu, called for concerted efforts to ensure that policies are

implemented to provide adequate protection for children.

Meanwhile, the Maria Centre, an initiative of Sisters of Our Lady of Apostles, Abuja, is to organise an empowerment and skills acquisition workshop for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) at the David IDP Camp, Durumi, Area 1, Abuja, next week Thursday.

Maria Centre National Coordinator, Rev. Sr Anna Falola, said: “The aim of the workshop is to provide friendship, support, counselling, empowerment and skills for vulnerable girls and women who are living in IDP camps and other slum areas within the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.”

Falola further observed that

the need to organise the skills acquisition workshop had become sacrosanct given that “the level of poverty and the growing number of people with poor living conditions in slums has become more alarming in the last two years.”

She stated that the programme had commenced since March 8, 2016 where “about 30 women were trained on producing beautiful beaded bags, sandals, purses, bracelets and necklaces. Also, they produced liquid and tablet soaps. The women have had classes on hygiene and nutrition, while they have learnt to make some snacks and soya milk for nourishing their children.”

Court Admits Evidence Linking Okah to Independence Day Bombing Alex Enumah in Abuja A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja yesterday admitted in evidence the alleged confessional statement made by the second defendant, Obi Nwabueze, in the ongoing trial of Charles Okah, the alleged mastermind of the Independence day bomb blast in Abuja in 2010.

Obi, in his statement at the DSS, had allegedly linked the first defendant (Okah) to the Independence day bomb blast which he later denied, claiming that his statement was obtained under duress.

Justice Gabriel Kolawole, while ruling in the application, held that the defendant failed to prove the claim that his statement was made under duress or under any form of inducement by the DSS. Kolawole while noting that the statement was earlier admitted in evidence during the trial of one of the defendants (Edmond

Ibiware), said the defendants never complained of been tortured while in custody, adding that the only complained made then was that their room was too cold due to the air conditioner in use.

The judge, while also dismissing the claim that the defendant were denied access to their lawyers, stated that in the extra-judicial statement of the defendants they had complained that each time they met with their lawyers officials of the DSS were always at a hearing distance to listen to their conversation.

Justice Kolawole held that the allegation of torture by the defendant was not only insignificant but self-serving. ``It is my decision that the extra-judicial statement made on October 18, 2010 is admissible and hereby marked as exhibit 2D and 2D,” he ruled.

The case was adjourned till July 5 for continuation of trial.

Police Refute Rumour of Pipeline Attacks in Akwa Ibom OkonBasseyinUyo

The Akwa Ibom State Government and the state police command yesterday debunked the claim by the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) of bombing pipelines in Ikot Osutek axis in Oruk-Anam Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State.

The state government called for calm among citizens who might have been troubled by the purported development.

Reacting to the rumours after a visit to the site, the Commissioner for Information and Communications, Mr. Aniekan Umanah, stated that “there is no iota of truth in the claims making the rounds on social media,” stating that what happened was an eruption occasioned by leakage in the old pipeline of the Nigerian Gas Company, NGC, which traversed

the area.

He further emphasised that “no pipeline has been bombed in Akwa Ibom State” adding that “those peddling such rumours are ignorant of the true situation in the affected area.”

According to the commissioner, “as at Thursday (yesterday) morning, when security operatives and officials of the state government visited Ikot Osute, the state Ministry of Environment, NGC personnel and other gas companies operating the area were on site, working round the clock to ensure safety in the area.”

Umanah enjoined the people of the state and indeed Nigerians to remain calm and go about their businesses as government was committed to protecting lives and property of all citizens in the state.

GATHERING FOR THE ECONOMY

R-L: Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir David Lawal; Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma; and Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Hajia Zainab Ahmed Adebule at the National Economic Council meeting held at the Council Chambers of the Presidential Villa , Abuja … yesterday GODWIN OMOIGUI

Police Re-open Senate Forgery Case, Summon Mark, Ekweremadu, Enang Ndoma-Egba, Maikasuwa also invited Omololu Ogunmade in Abuja The police have re-opened the case of alleged forgery of Senate Standing Rules in 2015 by some senators and consequently summoned the presiding officers of the seventh Senate and relevant individuals to appear before it.

The rules were alleged to have been forged to alter the pattern of electing presiding officers from hitherto open ballot system to secret ballot at the inauguration of the eighth Senate on June 9, 2015.

The alleged forgery also included the alteration of the pattern of the nomination of committee chairmanship in such a way that the new rules now permit the opposition to chair Grade A committees in contrast to the trend in the past.

The letter of invitation obtained

by THISDAY yesterday, dated June 6, 2016 and signed by an Assistant Inspector-General of Police, James Caulcrick, listed the affected officers to include immediate past Senate President, Senator David Mark, his deputy and also incumbent Deputy Senate President, Dr. Ike Ekweremadu.

Also on the list are former Senate Leader, Victor NdomaEgba; former Clerk of the National Assembly, Salisu Maikasuwa, Chairman, Senate Committee on Rules and Business, Ita Enang and the committee clerk, Dr. Nma Ogozy and former Clerk of the Senate (now deceased).

The letter was tagged: “first reminder” as it made reference to the earlier letter written by the Police to the officers on July 1, 2015 with the caption: “Forgeries/Fraudulent Use of

Senate Standing Order/Rules 2015 (as amended) by the Eight Senate.”

Although the police did not include incumbent Senate President Bukola Saraki on the list of invited officers, it was learnt yesterday that the police are under pressure from higher authorities to also include Saraki on the list.

The letter read: “I refer to the Deputy Inspector-General of Police’s letter No. CR:3000/X/ FHQ/ABJ/VOL. 186/98 dated 1st July, 2015 requesting the under-listed officials of the seventh Senate to report to the Force Criminal Intelligence and Investigation Department for the purpose of conducting investigation on the above subject matter: Senate President, Deputy Senate President, Majority Leader of the Senate, Clerk of

the National Assembly, Clerk of the Senate, Chairman, Business and Rules; Secretary, Business and Rules. “As at the time of writing this letter, none of the officials in the above seventh Senate list honoured the invitation to respond to the allegations, except the clerks of the National Assembly and Senate.

“Consequent upon the above, you are kindly requested to inform the listed officials yet to respond to report to the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Force Criminal Intelligence and Investigation Department on 9th June, 2016 for the purpose of further investigation on the matter.

“While hoping that you will accord this request the urgent attention it deserves, please accept the warm regards of the Inspector-General of Police.”

FRIDAY, JUNE 17, 2016 • T H I S D AY

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NEWSXTRA

Fashola: Sustained Pipeline Breaks Render Electricity Supply Vulnerable Says he now has funds to pay power, road contractors FG to clear legacy debt to Discos before year end

Chineme Okafor in Abuja The sustained sabotage of Nigeria’s petroleum pipeline in the Niger Delta by militant groups has rendered the country’s public electricity supply system extremely vulnerable, Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola said yesterday.

Fashola disclosed this when he launched the Building Energy Efficiency Guideline (BEEG) for Nigeria in Abuja noting that because of such frequency in breakage of pipelines that supply gas to thermal power plants in the country, the federal government has stepped up its effort to

diversify the country’s energy sources.

He noted that this effort will include accelerating works on several hydro power projects, as well as other energy sources with the potential to minimise the impact that such cuts in gas supply exert on the country’s electricity sector.

The minister who also spoke at another event – The Podium – which was organised by the Kukah Centre, reiterated that unless new energy sources are brought to the grid, militants and other criminal elements will continue to hold the country to ransom with frequent pipeline breaks.

He had at the launch of the BEEG which was put together

House Demands Details of Implementation of N500bn Social Intervention Fund

by the Nigeria Energy Support Programme (NESP) stated that the country’s electricity sector was left at the mercy of pipeline vandals but would have to find a way to overcome the menace.

“Repeated acts of vandalism has rendered us vulnerable and we have to proactively move to overcome that one single source of supply,” said Fashola.

He added: “This is a journey of diversification and energy security, and it will make it impossible for anyone to hold the country to ransom on energy supply.”

The minister subsequently said when he spoke at the public dialogue organised by the Kukah Centre that the country would in line with plans to ensure energy security, concession about eight small hydro power plants to private operators to build and operate.

He also stated that works on

other bigger hydro plants like the Zungeru, Kashimbila and Mambilla would be accelerated, adding that work on Zungeru has resumed after unplanned interruption.

“I have always asked myself, why should I damage an asset that serves me because I am angry? It is a matter of public ownership and collective trust that anyone who tampers with it tampers with all of us and so no matter how angry you are, you must find another way to ventilate your anger, otherwise, it just doesn’t make sense to me,” he said in reference to the breaks by militants.

The minister also took time to disclose other developments in his ministry, parts of which include the government’s decision to pay off legacy electricity debts owed to the 11 electricity distribution companies (Discos) in the country by its Ministries,

Departments and Agencies (MDAs) as well as that owed to road contractors who he reportedly persuaded to go back to their respective sites.

“MDA debts, we are in the process of winding down that debt, I have written to the debt management office and I got a response from them just two days ago proposing options to wind down the debts and I think as government, we must live by example, if we ask people to pay for what they use, then we must pay as well and I am determined to ensure that we do that.

“The ministry of defence through the minister is also acting in concert and it is something we hope that before the end of the year, we wind down,” Fashola stated.

The Discos had through their platform, the Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANED) said that government’s

MDAs owed it huge debts for electricity they consumed but did not pay over the years.

ANED gave a breakdown of the debt profile in which the Nigerian Army was the single largest debtor to the Discos with N38.75 billion; the Nigerian Airforce followed in the inglorious list with N3.09 billion, Navy N3.3 billion, Police N4.66 billion, Customs N528.78 million, Prisons N895.6 million and Immigration N47.8 million. The MDAs also owed the Discos N9.98 billion in unpaid electricity bills.

Fashola said he got approval two days ago to disburse what was approved in the 2016 budget for his ministry and which has now been given to the ministry. He said contractors of the ministry, majorly road contractors will now be paid monies owed them by the government.

Says Nigeria lost N3.7bn through Manitoba’s dubious exchange rate Damilola Oyedele in Abuja The House of Representatives has directed the Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Poverty Alleviation to make available the administrative framework and details of the programmes to be implemented under the N500 billion social intervention fund.

The details are to be submitted to the Committee on Poverty Alleviation within the next three weeks.

The resolution of the House followed a motion of urgent public importance sponsored

by Hon. Chika Adamu (Niger APC) who also harped on the need for the disbursement of the N500 billion to be stopped until the framework has been provided.

Chika argued that the office of the Vice President is not the right structure to handle such social intervention fund to mitigate the plight of the poor and vulnerable.

He added that different intervention programmes introduced at different times in the country have failed due to mismanagement and lack of strong institutional structure.

The majority leader, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, argued that there was no need to request for any framework for the implementation as the fund is already backed by law through its inclusion in the 2016 appropriation.

The Chairman of the Committee on Appropriation, Hon. Jibrin Abdulmumim, also argued that officials from the Vice President’s office met with the relevant committees to defend the intervention fund.

The Speaker, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, however noted that while the fund is backed by law through its inclusion in the budget, the lawmakers can

request for the details of its implementation.

The House also alleged that Nigeria lost N3.7 billion to an unlawful exchange rate of N395 to the dollar, being used

by Manitoba’s since 2012.

While the official exchange rate of the Naira to the dollar stood at N160 in 2012 before rising to N199 in 2015, Manitoba used an exchange rate of N395, the House alleged.

Manitoba International, a Canadian firm which was later incorporated in Nigeria as Manitoba Hydro International Nigeria Limited, manages the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).

The House yesterday lamented that in spite of the harsh economic climate the managing director of TCN earns N35.5 million monthly.

Other expatriates in the TCN earn between N19.1 million and N20.5 million every month, the House added.

Hon. Jonathan Gaza Gbewfi (Nasarawa PDP) who moved the motion on the need to investigate massive corrupt practices being perpetrated at Manitoba, noted that the company has not met its key performance indicators under the management contract.

“And has failed to justify the humongous sums of money it has drawn in expatriate emoluments,” Gbewfi added.

“In April 2016, the management company unlawfully revalidated a 2010 contract worth N1.9billion and awarded it to ABB India without due process, in flagrant violation of the Public Procurement Act 2007,” he added.

The House therefore directed its Committees on Power and Public Procurement to investigate the allegations raised against the company and report back in four weeks.

THANKS FOR BEING MY GUEST

Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (left), and Founder, the Kukah Centre, Bishop Mathew Hassan Kukah, shortly after the minister’s presentation at The Podium, a town hall forum organised by the Kukah Centre with the theme: ‘Fixing Nigeria’ at the Auditorium, Merit House, Maltama in Abuja....yesterday

Dasuki Heads for Supreme Court over Denial of Freedom After Meeting Bail Former National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd), is fully set to storm the Supreme Court to press for his freedom denied him by the federal government after three different High Courts in Abuja had admitted him to bail in the criminal charges filed against him by the government.

The ex NSA had on Wednesday at the Court of Appeal in Abuja lost his bid to enforce his freedom after he had secured bails on all the charges against him.

Dasuki’s lawyer Mr. Ahmed Raji (SAN) confirmed that appeal papers have been put together to be filed at the apex court to challenge the judgment of the Court of Appeal and the high courts that gave judgment to government on the re-arrest after bail.

The SAN said there are sufficient grounds for his client to approach the Supreme Court to seek the enforcement of his freedom from detention ordered by the federal government after he had been granted bail by three judges who are prosecuting him on the charges.

Dasuki said he was not afraid of trial in the charges against him as a former NSA but added that the proper thing must be done by government by respecting the bail granted him lawfully but courts.

He claimed that since government had approached the court in his matter, the same government must be fully ready to abide by court decisions in the interest of justice and the rule of law.

The ex-NSA had been admitted to bail by three different high

courts in Abuja but he was rearrested on December 29, 2015 by operatives of the Department of the State Services (DSS) on the alleged order of the federal government and had since been held incommunicado.

But the government in its defence in a motion on notice filed in court, claimed that Dasuki being a Crown Prince of Sokoto Caliphate had large sympathisers across the length and breadth of the country who may jeopardise his trial if allowed on bail.

Dasuki had asked the high courts and the Court of Appeal to stop the federal government from further prosecuting in the criminal charges until the bail granted him is obeyed and also pleaded that the courts should no longer grant indulgence to the federal government having been in contempt of the courts by

the refusal to allow him freedom after the bail.

In an unanimous judgment of the full panel of the court delivered by Justice Abdul Aboki, the Appeal Court upheld the submission of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which put Dasuki on trial, that it was not in contempt of any court order because the re-arrest of the appellant (Dasuki) in December last year was not at its (EFCC) instance.

Justice Aboki said from the submissions of the appellant counsel, Mr. Joseph Daudu (SAN) and the EFCC counsel, Mr. Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), the bail condition granted Dasuki was perfected on December 29 last year and that a warrant released to that effect was served on the Comptroller of Prisons in Kuje, upon which he was released.

FRIDAY, JUNE 17, 2016 • T H I S D AY

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NEWSXTRA

Protests Cripple Warri over Blackout, Alleged Corruption against Delta Govt Sylvester Idowu in Warri Socio-economic activities were yesterday paralysed in some parts of Warri and its environs in Delta State as hundreds of people marched through the major roads protesting the incessant hardship occasioned by electricity blackout, bad roads and alleged corruption by the state government.

As early as 9a.m., the protesting people, young and old, gathered at the popular Orhuwhorun in Udu Local Government Area of the state with various placards condemning the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) and Delta State Government for the hardship they are passing through.

The Coordinator of the protest, Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR) led by Mr. Kehinde Taiga and his executive members, marched the aggrieved residents through the major roads chanting anti-state government and BEDC songs.

Some of the placards read thus: “Anti-corruption peaceful protest”,”Say No to corruption”, “We want light”, “Pay LG salaries”, “FG revoke BEDC licence and “No road, No Light, We are Living in darkness,” among others.

Addressing the protesters later, Taiga decried the nonchallant attitude of the state government towards making life suitable for the people of the state.

He lamented that the people of the state had not been reaping dividends of democracy since the present administration came into power last year.

The CDHR, Delta State branch chairman wondered the essence of having a government if not for the provision of basic amenities that would make living worthwhile for her people.

Also speaking at the event, former National President of CDHR, Mr. Sunny Enenewedia wondered what the state government had used the over N124 billion that had accrued to the state on and

yet the roads are deplorable, no salaries for local government workers and no light for the comfort of the people.

“We don’t know what this government has been doing since it came into office. There has been no light, the roads are deplorable, they are not paying salaries to local government workers.

“We are inviting the EFCC to come and look into the accounts of Delta State Government.

Let them account for all the monies received since last year because we are at a loss as to what they are doing with our commonwealth,” he lamented.

Enenewedia also called on the federal government to revoke the licence of the BEDC for allegedly defrauding the people through its estimated bills as well as refusal to make available prepaid meters.

He observed that most part of the states have not been enjoying constant electricity and in some instances total blackout over periods ranging from three to six months and yet bills were sent monthly.

Former Customs Boss, Dikko Inde, Hassan Adamu in EFCC Net Senator Iroegbu in Abuja A former Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Alhaji Abdullahi Dikko Inde, has been arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for alleged fraud.

A top source at the commission yesterday, disclosed that Inde is being quizzed over two key allegations bordering on criminal conspiracy, diversion of public funds, theft, abuse of office and living above legitimate means.

The source disclosed that the former customs boss is being grilled over the source of the funds with which he acquired the palatial mansion valued at over N2billion located at 1, Audu Ogbeh Street, Jabi Abuja.

“There is also a further allegation that he diverted over N40billion from customs coffers.

The funds were allegedly drawn from proceeds of the seven per cent cost of collection and one per cent comprehensive import supervision scheme,” the source stated.

Inde who arrived the

commission’s headquarters at about 10a.m. yesterday, is being held and interrogated in the custody.

Also, the commission quizzed Ambassador Hassan Adamu, Wakilin Adamawa at its zonal office in Gombe on his role he played in the collection and distribution of N450 million campaign funds for the reelection of former President Goodluck Jonathan.

A source from the antigraft agency said a team of investigators handling the campaign slush funds, interrogated the elder statesman.

According to the source, Adamu arrived the office of the commission at about 9.30a.m., yesterday and was grilled for several hours before he was allowed to return home.

“He was abroad when his name appeared as co-signatory to the collection of the share of Adamawa State from Fidelity Bank.

He admitted his involvement but that the money was taken to the Government House in a bullion van by the officials of

the bank,” the source said.

The ambassador was said to have added that the Chief of Staff to the acting Governor, Mr. James Ngilari, Alhaji Hamman, and the Accountant to the Government House, Mrs. Aisha Waziri counted the money and confirmed the figure.

The duo, it was said, became custodians of the fund based on the directive of their boss, the governor.

Furthermore, he claimed to have left at that point and did not know how the money was shared neither did he personally benefit from it.

“Adamu had made good his promise to appear at the commission whenever returned to the country to explain his role.

Meanwhile, Ngilari, who also was at the commission, denied authorising his former aides to take custody of the fund,” source stated.

However, at the time of writing this report, a detention order had been signed and most likely, he would spend the night in EFCC custody.

FG Alerts Nigerians to Extremist ISIS App Targeting Children Olawale AjimotokaninAbuja The federal government yesterday raised the red flag about the existence of a newly-launched mobile application developed by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) solely for extremist ideology to gullible children.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said through a statement issued in Abuja about the existence of the mobile application tagged: ‘Huroof’ (Arabic alphabets or letters).

The statement said: “It is design

by ISIS to teach children the Arabic alphabets with the aid of guns,

military tanks and cannons.

“The application utilises colourful illustrations that attract and engage the attention of young children.’’

Mohammed subsequently urged members of the public and parents in particular to be vigilant and prevent their children and wards from being indoctrinated

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NEWSXTRA

Court Adjourns Case on Buhari’s Certificate Indefinitely Tobi Soniyi in Abuja A Federal High Court has adjourned the suit seeking to disqualify President Muhammadu Buhari from the 2015 presidential elections on the grounds that he failed to exhibit his West African School Certificate (WASC) in the form he submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Justice Adeniyi Ademola adjourned the suit following an application by counsel to the defendants namely: President Buhari, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the INEC that the case be adjourned to enable them prosecute the appeal in respect of a ruling by the high court that the president was properly served with the originating processes.

The defendants also filed an application for a stay of proceedings pending the appeal.

They also filed an affidavit to prove that the Court of Appeal had entered the appeal.

The affidavit was served on both the plaintiff, Nnamdi Nwokocha-Ahaaiwe and the court yesterday.

The plaintiff had objected to the application to stay the proceeding on the grounded that having been served with the said affidavit right inside the court while the proceedings were on, he would require time to react to it.

He however later decided to leave the issue to “the discretion of the court” in order to save time.

The trial judge, Justice Adeniyi Ademola agreed with the submissions of Kola Awodein, SAN, leading three other Senior Advocates of Nigeria: Charles Edosomwan, Taiwo Osipitan and Emeka Ngige, challenging the hearing of an amended originating summons seeking the cancellation of Buhari’s election.

The judge upheld Awodein position that the matter be ‘adjourned indefinitely when the Appeal Court has been seized of it pending its conclusion.

Nnamdi Nwokocha Ahaiwe had earlier asked the court to hear his application for

amendment of the originating summons challenging the president’s Primary Six certificate and WASC. In the amended motion on notice, Ahaiwe is also seeking an order of the court invalidating the candidature of Buhari in respect of the 2015 general election.

He is asking the court to order INEC to withdraw the ‘Certificate-of-Return’ given to Buhari and issue a fresh one to former president, Goodluck Jonathan, who came second in the election.

According to him, the president’s affidavit on the position of his certificate was false because when he deposed to the affidavit of 24th November, 2014, which was attached to his INEC Form C.F. 001, ‘there was no organ, institution, agency, department or authority known as and called ‘Military Board’ in the Federal Republic of Nigeria’.

He said when the affidavit was made, there was no office or officer known and called the ‘Secretary to the Military Board’ existing in the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

He also asked the court to hold that that “neither the Nigerian Army nor any of its organs is in possession of the Primary Six School Certificate or the WASC of the third defendant, General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd).”

He also seeking a declaration that Buhari was not qualified to stand for and contest the election to the office of the President of the Federal republic of Nigeria at the 2015 general election for making false statement to INEC in breach of the provisions of Section 31 (6) of the Electoral act, 2010 as amended and failure to attach proof to his nomination form that he has attained educational qualification to qualify to contest election to the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as set out in 131 (d) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

In the appeal, APC and Buhari are challenging the ruling of the court on February

FG Shuts NERFUND over Staff Differences Ndubuisi Francis in Abuja The federal government has shut down the operations of the National Economic Reconstruction Fund (NERFND) indefinitely.

The action, which is preemptive, was taken to forestall a breakdown of law and order in the agency following growing staff differences.

A circular obtained by THISDAY announcing the shutdown, which was addressed to all the staff of the agency by the Permanent Secretary, Interim Management Council, said the Federal Ministry of Finance decided to take the action after its intervention to achieve reconciliation by contending

interests failed.

“Following recent developments in your organisation and failure to reconcile the differences between the executive management and the entire staff, in spite of the ministry’s intervention, the FMF has decided to close down your agency with immediate effect to forestall the breakdown of law and order.

“All staff should proceed on indefinite leave pending further instructions from the ministry,” the circular said.

NERFUND is a federal government agency set up to provide needed medium and long-term financing to viable small and medium scale production enterprises in Nigeria.

16, 2015 granting ex parte application to Ahaiwe to serve Buhari with the

originating summons on the APC by substituted means at No 40 Blantyre

Street, off Adetokunbo Ademola Street, Wuse II, Abuja rather than his

residential address at No 4A and B Sultan Lane, off Sultan Road, Kaduna.

80 YEARS AND COUNTING.....

Archbishop of Jos, Ignatus Kaigama; Celebrant, Archbishop Emerius of Lagos Diocese, Anthony Cardinal Olubunmi Okogie; Archbishop of Lagos, Adewale Martins; Bishop of Abeokuta Diocese, Peter Adetoyinbo, at the 80th birthday and priestly ordination golden jubliee thanksgiving mass of Cardinal Okogie at Holy Cross Cathederal in Lagos... yesterday KOLAWOLE ALLI

Islamic Groups Declare Support for Osun Muslims over Ruling on Hijab Security operatives meet with state govt, CAN, Muslim body Yinka Kolawole in Osogbo The Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) and Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria (MSSN) have expressed support for Muslims in Osun State over the hijab crisis.

This is as tension was doused in the state yesterday with only Muslim students wearing their hijab to school.

Sources in the schools told THISDAY that normalcy had returned with full academic activities taking place.

The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) had asked Christian students to wear church garments to school after the state High Court granted Muslim students the right to wear hijab (Muslims veil)) in public schools.

While Secretary General of the NSCIA, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, described the action of CAN as malicious, MSSN National and Lagos State Amirs (Presidents), Mallam Jameel Muhammad and Saheed Ashafa respectively tagged it an attempt to cause violence.

According to a statement yesterday by MSSN Lagos Head of Editorial, Kunle Mu’Sodiq, the Islamic groups spoke at the grand finale of the 14th biennial Qur’an memorisation competition organised by MSSN, Lagos State area unit.

In the statement, Oloyede

said neither Christians nor Muslims had the right to resort to violence in a bid to get their rights.

He added: “I believe that CAN will understand that there is no value in blocking people from enjoying their rights for as long as that right doesn’t violate the constitution.

“Those who are in court are doing the right thing by going to the court. It will be malicious for any other person (CAN) to appeal in my own opinion. But is also their right to appeal and the truth will be decided by the court.

“Muslims can’t be deislamised because they want western education. I think it is a ploy by those who want Muslim females to be illiterates. We are totally in support of taking legal action.”

On their part, Lagos State Amirs (Presidents), Mallam Jameel Muhammad and Saheed Ashafa respectively appealed to the Muslims in the state to resist the reactions of CAN by shunning violence.

He said: “Muslims don’t need to be violent with them (CAN). As Muslims, we should be law abiding and not be distracted by statements that are capable of causing chaos.”

Ashafa also urged Muslims in the state to be calm and coordinated.

“We wish to express our support for the Muslim Community and Muslim students in Osun State. They should protect their rights within the confines of the law and through peaceful news,” Ashafa said.

Meanwhile, a meeting to resolve Hijab crisis was secretly held yesterday with security operative in the state.

The meeting which was held at the office of the state Director of the Department of State Services (SSS), Mr. Ike Madagwana, had in attendance the state police commissioner, Mr. Femi Olanipekun Also, the representatives of the state government who were the immediate past Commissioners for Information and Strategy, Hon. Sunday Akere and Attorney General of the state, Wale Afolabi were in attendance.

Equally present at the meeting were representatives of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), other relevant security agencies in the state and representative of the Baptist Church in the state.

However, details of the meeting were not yet clear at the time of this report.

The meeting which lasted several hours, was said to have generated serious argument between the security personnel and

officials from the Baptist Church.

The church officials, it was learnt, made it known to them that they were not qualify to hold any meeting with security officials, saying it is only the CAN that was qualified to meet them on the issue.

Those came from the Baptist circle wanted to leave the venue as they claimed that they were not informed that there would be a meeting with them until they got to the place after they received a call from the Director of DSS that he wanted to see them.

The body remarked: “We were even surprised that all the security outfits in the state had already gathered in the place waiting for our arrival.”

According to them, “We declined to sit with them as we told them that only CAN officials could meet us. How can they say that they want to see us in their office and organised a meeting that we were not aware of with us.”

THISDAY source hinted that one of them said: “After a lot of persuasion by all security agencies that gathered there, we sat with them and when the issue of hijab was raised, we only told them that we were not for war but for peace anytime, anyday but our own right also should not be taken away from us.”

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FRIDAY ,JUNE 17, 2016 • T H I S D AY

NEWSXTA

SON Deploys Strict Measures against Erring Steel Manufacturers Crusoe Osagie

The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) yesterday stated that stricter measures would be enforced on errant steel manufacturers who continue to deviate from the minimum requirement of the Nigeria Industrial Standards (NIS), noting that iron and steel products cannot afford

to be toyed with considering the role they play in buildings in the country.

The State Coordinator, Lagos Office 3, SON, Mrs. Ngozi Ekweme, explained that the agency discovered that most local manufacturers continued to deviate from the accepted standards despite efforts of the agency to sanitise the nation’s steel industry.

Two Killed, Others Injured as Daredevil Robbers Rob Lagos Bank Chiemelie Ezeobi In broad daylight, armed robbers yesterday robbed the Odun Ade Market branch of Access Bank at the Orile area of Lagos, killing two of the customers and injuring several others, before carting away an undisclosed amount of money.

Although three of the robbers were later arrested by policemen from Ajegunle police atation, a policemen attached to the bank and several others sustained varying degree of injuries.

The armed gang, numbering six, were said to have arrived the bank on three motorbikes and under the guise of being among the early morning customers, penetrated security.

On sighting a bank customer, the robbers had blown their cover and opened fire on him, gunning him down in the process.

They then pounced on the victim as soon as he fell, and collected the black nylon bag said to contain an undisclosed amount of money, leaving the victim in a pool of his blood as he bled to death.

According to an eyewitness account, some mobile policemen around the vicinity immediately engaged the robbers in a gun duel, and injured one of the robbers.

However, the gang resisted arrest and shot their way through in order to make a getaway. In the melee, a policeman was also shot.

Having created the escape route they sought, the gang carried their injured colleague, mounted their bikes and zoomed off while shooting sporadically.

It was gathered that as soon as the state Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, got wind of the attack, he put all Area Commanders of Area B, C and Area E and their respective divisional police officers on the alert.

His explicit directive was that they should all team up and apprehend the fleeing gunmen.

Upon receipt of the orders, the Ajegunle Divisional Police Officer, CSP Aminu Gusau and his anti-robbery policemen laid ambush at all the escape routes within his division.

Minutes later, they were able to sight the fleeing gunmen along Oregie area, carrying their wounded colleague on one of their motorcycles.

On sighting the policemen, the robbers shot dead their injured colleague and dumped him on the way, although the gunshot also hit a mechanic identified as Idris Taiwo.

Notwithstanding, the police were able to nab three of the robbers, who have since been transferred to the Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Lagos Command.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, Dolapo Badmos, a Superintendent of Police, who confirmed the incident, said it was undergoing investigation at the Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS).

JSS Pupils to Win Exciting Prizes in Commonwealth Body’s Essay-writing Competition An essay competition for pupils in junior secondary schools has been unveiled by the Commonwealth Scholars and Fellows Alumni Association Nigeria (COSFAN), a non-profit organisation, consisting of eminent Nigerians who have, from 1960 till date, enjoyed scholarships and fellowships from the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission (CSC) United Kingdom.

COSFAN’s President, Dr. Uduak Udom, said the pupils would write on “An Inclusive Commonwealth” which is the

2016 Commonwealth theme and prizes include laptops, scrabble boards and cash.

All students in JSS 1- JSS 2 in public secondary schools in Nigeria are eligible for the competition which closes on July 8, 2016. The application form can be accessed on COFSAN’s website: www. cosfan.org. All essays are expected to be strictly not more than 400 words.

Three winners would be chosen from a long list of top 10 contestants after a three-part telephone interview.

“Now that we have found that these local manufacturers’ products pass the standards in their factories but do not meet the minimum requirements outside the factory, we will fish out the manufacturers with the markings of their products after which the errant manufacturer will pay heavily for producing iron rods below the minimum requirement of the standard,” she said.

Ekweme during an on-thespot enforcement exercise to stores of some iron rod dealers in Lagos, said SON has been in the process of sanitising the iron and steel industry in Nigeria, maintaining that the country had been experiencing rampant building collapses as a result of substandard building materials used in constructing these collapsed buildings.

”Most of the time when SON goes to the factory for inspection, we find out that most of the rods local manufacturers produce conforms to the minimum requirement of the NIS, but we found out that buildings are still collapsing in the country, so as a result of this, the federal government has ordered SON to go out to carry out enforcement activities and we have decided to start from conducting market survey to find out the quality of iron and steel products supplied to dealers by manufacturers,” she said.

According to her, “Most of the dealers have opened up to say that when they visit the factory to buy their products, they sell iron rods that are not of standard.

These dealers at the end of

the day do not get patronised by engineers and construction companies. From some of the samples we have taken, we discovered that some of them are substandard in terms of the specified diameters and length when compared to the minimum requirement as stipulated by SON. “We are taking them to our laboratory in Enugu to conduct our chemical analysis.”

The Managing Director, Oluwanishola Nigeria Investment Limited, Mr. Akomolafe Saka, commended SON for the exercise, urging the agency to continue with such initiatives to guard against building collapse in the country.

“They should not restrict this exercise to the steel industry, but in other sectors of the economy.

This is a very good initiative

and we are ready to support them all the way,” he said.

He complained that most dealers in the country do not enjoy patronage from construction companies due to the standard of the iron and steel rods locally produced, saying that these companies prefer importing steel rods to carry out their construction activities.

The Managing Director, Okiki Steel Limited, Mr. Omotayo Afariogun, said SON’s inspection exercise is a good move and a welcome idea to address substandard iron rods produced and imported into the country.

He said this move by SON will booster the confidence of dealers in the industry in terms of the quality, size and other parameters.

GOVERNOR’S GUESTS

L-R: Business magnate, Chief Oyewole Fasawe; former President Olusegun Obasanjo; Oyo State Governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi; and Chief Idowu Akanle, during a courtesy call on the governor by the ex-president, at the Governor’s Office, Ibadan....yesterday

Kogi Assembly Crisis: Court Orders Parties to Stay away from Sitting Alex Enumah in Abuja A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has ordered parties in the suit of the Kogi State House of Assembly to stay away from the assembly, pending the determination of an application challenging the judgment of the court restoring the Speaker and other principal members of the house.

Justice Nnamdi Dimgba gave the order yesterday to enable the respondents file their response to the application.

Justice Dimgba had in a judgment he delivered on June 19, 2016, reinstated the impeached Speaker of the Kogi State House of Assembly, Hon. Momoh Jimoh Lawal, the Deputy Speaker, Aliyu Akuh and seven other principal officers of the state House of Assembly, saying the process that led to their purported impeachment on February 16, 2016, was unconstitutional and illegal.

Aside the Speaker and his deputy, others the court also reinstated were Kolawole

Mathew, Osiyi Godwin, Sunday Shigaba, Ndako Idris, Oluwatoyin Lawal, Musa Jimoh and Victor Omofaye.

He said their removal was not in line with the provisions of sections 90, 91, 92 (2) (c), 95 (1) & (2) and 96(1) & (2) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.

The court voided the purported election of Umar Imam as the Speaker of the assembly, as well as the emergence of four others; Friday Sani; Lawal A.T. Ahmed; Bello Abdullahi and John Abah as principal officers of the assembly.

The court held: “The continued sitting and conduct of the affairs of the state House of Assembly by the 1st – 5th defendants after the purported removal of the 1st plaintiff and other principal officers of the House and purported installation of themselves as principal officers of the Kogi State House of Assembly on the 16th day of February, 2016, is illegal having regard to section 96(1) of the Constitution and Rule 5(1).”

Besides, it restrained the Inspector General of Police, Director General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Commandant of the National Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), which were 7th to 8th defendants in the suit, “from further barricading the assembly complex and preventing the plaintiffs from accessing the hallowed chambers of the Kogi State House of Assembly to conduct their legal and legitimate duties as legislators validly elected to represent their various constituencies.”

However, the defendants not satisfied with the judgment, took the matter to the Appeal Court.

The defendants had on May 23, 2016, filed an application before Justice Dimgba, seeking to set aside the judgment pending the determination of the appeal.

When the matter came up for hearing yesterday, counsel to the 1st to 10th plaintiff, Emeka Etiaba, told the court that they were served a further affidavit out of time and insisted they

be given time to respond, adding that there were certain allegations in the affidavit that they had to disproof.

Etiaba while asking for the adjournment, also requested the court to grant an order restraining parties from going back to the house of assembly to sit.

He told the court that each time the court sits, the defendants still go back in total disregard of court and judgment of the court to sit, hence the need for the restraining order.

Responding, Justice Dimgba in a brief ruling, ordered parties in the suit to stay away from the assembly pending the hearing of the application or judgment of the court.

He also advised parties not to do anything that would undermine the judgment of the court or peace of the state, adding that the parties as representatives of the people must set good examples for those they represent.

The matter was then adjourned to June 28 for hearing of the application.

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CRIME&PUNISHMENT Court Orders Gani Adams to Pay N100m as Damages for Libel Alex Enumah in Abuja An Abuja High Court yesterday ruled that the factional leader of the Odua People’s Congress (OPC), Gani Adams, should pay the sum of N100 million as damages in a libel suit filed against him.

Founder and leader of OPC, Dr. Frederick Fasehun, had in 2013 slammed an N11 billion suit against the Independent Communications Network Limited (Publishers of PM News and the News Magazine) and Adams for defamatory and libelous publication against him in the News Magazine.

Delivering judgment on the matter yesterday, Justice

Sunday Aladetoyinbo held that the comments contained in the interview granted by Adams and published in the August 26, 3013, edition of the News Magazine was defamatory and libelous of the plaintiff.

Consequently, the court awarded a N100 million damages against Adams and the publishers of the News Magazine, as exemplary damages for the defamatory publication.

He however stated that the sum would attract a 10 percent interest from June 16, 2016, that the judgment was delivered until all the money is paid to the plaintiff.

Aladetoyinbo also ordered

the defendants to publish an apology, retraction and rebuttal of the libelous materials in the News Magazine and two national dailies in three consecutive days.

The court, in the judgment, restrained the defendants from further publishing the libelous materials against the plaintiff.

Fasehun, in his writs of summons marked FCT/ HC/CV/513/2013, said the defamatory publication, predicated upon the interview granted the magazine by Adams referred to him as a murderer, kidnapper among other defamatory remarks.

The plaintiff’s lawyers, Edwin Inegedu and Habeed

Oredola, had earlier told the court that the defamatory remarks by Adams in the said publications would, “Unequivocally affect the personality and reputation of the plaintiff among right thinking members of the public.

“It is the plaintiff’s case that the publication was made in malice and in extremely bad faith and contains no iota of truth whatsoever.

“The plaintiff, who is a reputable citizen of Nigeria, a democrat and an emancipation movement activist, has been subjected to public ridicule and embarrassment due to the malicious publication of the defendant.”

In Brief Bail: Jonathan’s Ex-aide, Dudafa to Know Fate on June 20 A Federal High Court in Lagos yesterday fixed June 20 to whether or not to grant bail to the former Special Assistant on Domestic Affairs to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, Warpamo Dudafa. Dudafa was arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission---EFCC alongside Taiwo Ebenezer who is also known as Olugbenga Isaiah on a 23-count charge bordering on N5.1 billion fraud. They were arraigned before Justice Mohammed Idris. On Wednesday, Justice Idris adjourned the case till June 20 for ruling on the accused persons’ bail application, after listening to arguments from the counsel to the parties. When the case was called, counsel to the accused, Mr. Gbenga Oyewole, argued that his client was entitled to bail as provided by the 1999 Constitution. Citing a plethora of authorities, the lawyer insisted that his client would attend court to defend the case if granted bail. He argued further that his client had stayed in custody of the EFCC for 60 days, and prayed the court to be liberal in granting the bail. Counsel to the second accused, Mr. Sunday Abumere aligned himself with Oyewole’s submission. Meanwhile, the prosecutor, Mr. Rotimi Oyedepo, vehemently opposed the application for bail on the grounds that the accused were most likely to evade trial if granted bail. He submitted that there were intelligence report to the effect that the accused persons would jump bail if granted, and urged the court to dismiss the application for bail. Justice Idris fixed June 20 for ruling, while the accused are to remain in prison custody. In the charge, the EFCC alleged that the accused had between June 11, 2013, and June 2015, used different companies to commit offences. Some of the companies allegedly used in committing the alleged offences included Seagate Property Development and Investment Limited, Avalon Global Property Development Company Limited, Iwejuo Joseph Nna and Pluto LUTO Property. Others are Investment Company Limited, Iwejuo Joseph Nna and Rotate Interlink Services Limited. The accused were alleged to have concealed proceeds of a crime in the sum of over N5 billion, contrary to the provisions of the money laundering prohibition act, 2012. The alleged offences are said to be contrary to and punishable under sections 17(a), 18(c), and 27 (3) (c) of the EFCC (Establishment) Act 2004.

Convicted Money Laundering Suspect Forfeits $86,000 to FG The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)

AWARDS FOR HARD WORK

Cross section of the award recipients during the long service merit award as part of activities marking the 2016 Public Service Day at the Adeyemi Bero Auditorium, Alausa, Ikeja....yesterday

Troops Clear Boko Haram Insurgents from Eight Villages in Borno, Kill Six Terrorists The Nigerian military, in a follow up operation to ensure proper clearance of suspected Boko Haram terrorists hideouts and prevent the fleeing terrorists from escaping the Operation Crackdown in Sambisa Forest, has raided the terrorists from about eight villages in some parts of Borno State.

The Director of Army Public Relations (DAPR), Col. Sani Usman, in a statement yesterday said the troops of the 155 Task Force Battalion, last Wednesday evening, carried out a swift clearance operation at Kircha Dungus village and surrounding areas.

During the operation, Usman said the troops encountered pockets of Boko Haram terrorists in which four of them were killed while others fled leaving behind four women and a child. He said the troops had rescued and evacuated them for screening and further rehabilitation. “While checking the general area, the troops further discovered a pair

of military desert camouflage uniform and a Boko Haram terrorists’ flag hoisted in the village.

They also recovered a generator set and a water pumping machine,” he stated.

In the same vein, the DAPR said the troops of 7 Division Strike Group Team B attached to 21 Brigade have braved harsh climatic conditions to also clear seven villages of Boko Haram terrorists presence the North-east area of Kumshe village.

He listed the villages to include Mulfuta, Baibawa, Jenere, Bembem, Maksamari, Bula Kafie and Bula Bodi.

Usman revealed that while advancing to Jenere, the troops encountered some Boko Haram terrorists elements who engaged the troops in a fierce battle.

“The troops were able to kill two terrorists, wounded several others and continued with their patrol to Jenere-Hausari,” he said.

Usman revealed that the troops have discovered that

Boko Haram terrorists now evolved new tactics of evading surveillance by drones and aircrafts, adding that: “They now hide in makeshift camps covered with shrubs.” In the operations, he said the troops recovered some motorcycles, two Dane guns, large quantity of foodstuffs stored in a wellconstructed storage facility and solar panels.

He said: “Thereafter, the troops proceeded to Bembem, where the suspected Boko Haram terrorists also laid an ambush for them.

It was however cleared successfully although a soldier sustained gunshot wound during the clearance.

He has been evacuated and receiving treatment.

“The team discovered and rescued some hostages held by the Boko Haram terrorists in the area. Although the patrol team did not encounter any terrorists in Maksamari, they made a very rewarding

recovery of an invaluable communication gadget.

“Through it, the troops discovered the terrorists new tactics and dispositions. “In a related development, troops of the newly created 8 Task Force Division have commenced operations in earnest.

“The formations and units under its command have equally been involved in clearance operations through daily patrols, raids and offensive actions against remnants of Boko Haram terrorists.”

The Army Spokesman also said the troops of 153 Task Force Battalion conducted aggressive patrol to Gudusuri, Malalewa, Khadaamari, Rundi and Mugu villages in northern parts of Borno State.

He stressed that even though the forces did not encounter Boko Haram terrorists in the area, they recovered five vehicles, six motorcycles and one Boko Haram t

yesteday obtained conviction on a case of suspected money laundering brought against one Samuel Duru before Justice M.N Yinusa of the Federal High Court, Enugu. Duru was charged for failure to declare the sum of $86,000 out of a total sum of $96,000 in contravention of Section 12 of the Foreign Exchange (Monitoring and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2011.

The accused was arrested by officers of the Nigeria Customs Service at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport Enugu while travelling to China in December 2015 and was subsequently handed to EFCC for further investigation and prosecution.

When the case came up today, Duru pleaded guilty to the one count charge preferred against him. The defence counsel Ikuka Kennedy pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy since the convict had shown remorse and a was a first time offender that had no past criminal records. Justice Yinusa subsequently convicted and sentenced the accused to six months imprisonment from the date of arrest. He further ordered that the undeclared $86, 000 be forfeited to the federal government, while the $10 thousand USD and his international passport be returned to the convict.

US Hosts Nigeria Police, Community Leaders on Crime and Violence Prevention The United States Consulate General in Lagos, Lagos State Police Command, civil society organisations, and community leaders met for an exploratory discussion to reduce violence in Lagos and encourage nonviolent resolution of disputes, as well as improve opportunities for youth. United States Consul General, F. John Bray, hosted a roundtable discussion on June 9, 2016, with the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly Mudashiru Obasa, Oba of Lagos Rilwan Akiolu, Lagos Police Commissioner Fatai Owoseni, Nigerian pop singer and Nigeria Police Force Youth Ambassador, Korede Bello, and eight other civil society representatives, leaders of security agencies, and leaders of road transport unions in attendance. The participants shared best practices for peace-building, their vision for a safer community, and ways of further strengthening partnerships between youth and the police. “We sought to spark a dialogue for leaders in law enforcement, government, civil society, trade unions, and culture, where they could come together informally and generate ideas that could improve safety and security for the citizens,” said Consul General Bray.

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FRIDAYSPORTS Controversy over Where to Bury Keshi

Group Sports Editor Duro Ikhazuagbe Email duro.ikhazuagbe@thisdaylive.com

Ilah or Benin City? That is the question before ‘Big Boss’ family Duro Ikhazuagbe Controversy over where to bury late Super Eagles Head Coach, Stephen Okechukwu Keshi, appears to be the factor delaying the announcement of obsequies for the most decorated indigenous football coach in the land who passed on penultimate Wednesday.

Family sources in Benin City, the adopted home of the former Eagles captain, told THISDAY during the week that a meeting over where to bury Keshi appears to have deadlocked as kith and kin of the ex international want his remain buried in his ancestral home in Ilah, Delta State.

But a section of the family appears to be in favour of the former Eagles supremo being interred in his house situated inside the Government Reservation Area of Benin City. Keshi did not build a house of his own in Ilah but his father’s is being renovated for the purpose of the burial.

“Keshi is too big to be buried outside his house. He deserves a befitting final rest place in the house he built while alive,” a family source confided in THISDAY during the week.

However, the larger Keshi family appears not to be in favour of this thinking as it would amount to their son being taken away from them.

They are not bought over by the general impression that the late footballer was more of a ‘Benin person’ as that was where his career got wings and kept faith with the city till his death on June 8. The Aburimes, the family of Keshi’s late wife, Catherine, equally have their home in Benin despite their Esan heritage.

The duplex apartment promised Keshi when he won the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa by the Delta State government remains a promise. The promise was made to the former Togo and Mali gaffer by the Emmanuel Uduaghan administration.

However, the arrival of Keshi’s eldest daughter, Jennifer, from the United States of America on

Tuesday is expected to lay to rest the issue of where to bury the famous coach.

Jennifer is going to coordinate the burial plans with members of the larger Keshi family.

With the Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports showing a lot of interest in the burial plans, Jennifer is also expected to tell the family the wish of her dad concerning his final rest place.

The tentative burial date of July 28 has also not be totally agreed upon.

On the other controversy over Stephen Keshi Jr who on Wednesday denied that a date has been fixed for the burial when he visited the NFF’s Glass House in Abuja, the family said it was not interested in heating up the scene with their son yet to be interred.

A family source declared that he is actually Keshi’s adopted son and will be accorded all rights due him.

“His real names we know, but we have no problem with him, he will take part in all rights due and we pray that we should not drag controversy into the burial of a great man like Keshi,” the source noted.

CAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Zamalek Lists Nigerian-born Moruf against Enyimba Zamalek of Egypt 18-man team arrived Lagos yesterday with Nigerian-born Moruf Youssef included in the squad that will take on the Enyimba FC of Aba on Match day-one of the CAF Champions League in Port Harcourt on Sunday.

Although the former Egyptian champions left out injury-hit skipper Mahmoud Shikabala, Zambian International forward, Emmanuel Mayuka, was included in the squad for the Group B opener.

The squad for the Port Harcourt clash also included

2018 WORLD CUP

FIFA to Announce New Seeds for Africa World football governing body FIFA has said it will release new seeds for 2018 World Cup qualifying tournament African zone on June 21 following complaints from several of the teams.

Egypt is among the countries who have complained about the seeds which put them in Pot 2 along with Nigeria.

The Pharaohs have argued they should be in Pot 1 which is reserved for the top seeds.

According to a memo to the

The Excel Education Centre boys celebrating their victory at the 18th edition of the NNPC/Shell Cup after defeating Fosla Academy, Abuja, 3-2 at the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos… yesterday

20 teams in the final rounds of the qualifiers signed by FIFA Deputy Secretary General Marco Villiger, a new special ranking will be released on June 21, which is three days before the draw for the World Cup qualifiers.

The 20 teams will be drawn into five groups of four teams with the overall group winners qualifying for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

The qualifiers are from October to November 2017.

11 Egypt internationals like goalkeeper Ahmed El-Shennawy and Hamada Tolba.

The Egyptian champions will be counting on former Southampton striker Mayuka for goals against Enyimba.

The former heavyweight continental club side domestic league game on Monday lost 2-3 at home to Al Masry in the Egyptian Premier League before leaving Cairo for Lagos.

After their game on Sunday against Paul Aigbogun’s side will face Mamelodi Sundowns and ES Setif in Group B of the competition.

Meanwhile, Sani Kaita is

optimistic that Enyimba can upset Zamalek in Sunday’s game in Port Harcourt.

The People’s Elephant progressed to the last four of Africa’s premier club competition having edged Etoile du Sahel in the third round, and will begin their campaign against the north Africans in their quest for a third title.

Against a firmly established Mohammed Helmy, the former Super Eagles player who had a stint with the Aba giants knows Paul Aigbogun’s men have their work cut out against the five-time champions, but is positive they can prevail.

“Enyimba knows that anything

short of victory against Zamalek will affect their aspirations of winning the CAF Champions League again,” Kaita told Goal.com “With the quality the People’s Elephant have, I see them securing a win against the Egyptians but they have to very careful because their (Zamalek) intention will be to get a draw in Nigeria to start their campaign on a good note.

“It will certainly be a tough game but with the way Enyimba played Etoile in the last round, they can get a very good result at home if they are determined.

“Many would pick the Egyptians as favorites but they will be must not forget that the Enyimba have

won the competition twice,” he concluded.

The match against Enyimba comes up 4:00 pm on Sunday.

LIST IN FULL Goalkeepers: Ahmed ElShenawy, Mohamed Abou Gabal Defenders: Hazem Emam, Ahmed Duiedar, Ali Gabr, Hamada Tolba, Mohamed Adel Gomaa, Ramzi Khaled Midfielders: Maarouf Youssef, Tarek Hamed, Ibrahim AbdelKhaleq, Ahmed Tawfik, Mostafa Fathi, Mohamed Ibrahim, Mahmoud Khaled Forwards: Emmanuel Mayuka, Ahmed Hassan, Mohammed Salem.

Excel Boys of Port Harcourt Lift 18th NNPC/Shell Cup Kelvin Bamaiyi, Joseph Ejeh selected for Netherlands training In a classy display of skills and talent, the golden boys of Excel Education Centre, Port Harcourt yesterday clinched the 18th edition of the NNPC/Shell Cup with a 3-2 victory over their counterparts from Fosla Academy, Abuja.

For their efforts, the Port Harcourt team received N3.5million as winners while N2.3million cheque was handed to the runners up. The third and fourth placed teams also got N1.3million and N1.1million respectively.

Kelvin Amadi of Excel and Joseph Ejeh of Fosla were selected

by the coaching crew from Feyenoord Academy as the two best players of the 2016 tournament and would be sponsored for a training tour to The Netherlands.

In the match played at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere Lagos, Joseph Tari of Excel opened the goals in the 13th minute of play when he beat the Fosla defenders and the goalkeeper to lob the ball into the net.

The thunderous applause from the team’s supporters was short-lived as SolomonAbraham of FoslaAcademy delivered an equaliser barely a minute later. Jacob Bamaiyi shot the Excel boys

back to the lead in the 33rd minute of play.

The second half saw Tari finding the net again to give victory comfort to his team. In a brilliant show of resilience and determination, Solomon converted a penalty to score the second goal for his side.

Amongthelargecrowdthatcheered the two teams were the Managing Director, Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) and Country Chair, Shell Companies in Nigeria, Mr. Ahmed Laminu who represented the Group General Manager of the National Petroleum

Investment Management Services (NAPIMS); and President of the Nigeria Schools Sports Federation, Mallam Ibrahim Mohammed.

Earlier, the boys from the Government Science Secondary School, Bauchi had defeated their Asegun Comprehensive High School, Ibadan team 4-3 in a keenly contested yet very entertaining third place match.

In his comment, Mr. Okunbor commended the discipline exhibited by the students and charged them to live by that standard even away from the pitch.

63

T H I S D AY • FRIDAY, JUNE 17, 2016

FRIDAYSPORTS

England Beats Wales to Top Group B Daniel Sturridge struck an injury-time winner as England came from behind to beat Wales and secure their first victory at Euro 2016.

England keeper Joe Hart’s dreadful blunder allowed Gareth Bale’s 30-yard free-kick to creep in and put Wales ahead just before the interval in Lens.

Manager Roy Hodgson’s side were jeered off at the break and, with England’s campaign - and arguably his future - on the line, he gambled by introducing Jamie Vardy and Sturridge for the struggling Raheem Sterling and Harry Kane.

The roll of the dice worked as Vardy scrambled in an equaliser from close range after 56 minutes before constant England pressure saw Sturridge work his way into the area and poke past Wales keeper Wayne Hennessey at the near post.

England move top of Group B and need a point against Slovakia on Monday to earn automatic qualification into the last 16, while Wales must beat Russia to guarantee a top-two finish.

When England left the pitch at half-time accompanied by abuse from their own fans, everything was on the line in this Euro 2016 campaign.

England were facing a humiliating first defeat by Wales since 1984 and the pressure was on Hodgson as his own future would

have been in jeopardy if he and his team had made an ignominious exit from France.

He needed to be positive and inspirational, qualities his detractors have accused him of lacking in the past - but here it came off.

Out went Kane and Sterling and on came Sturridge and Vardy. It was all-out attack and the momentum shifted almost instantly as the second half was a tale of almost virtual England domination.

A different script might have been written had Sturridge not produced that late winner, but the bottom line is Hodgson’s ploy worked.

It was not scientific - more a question of throwing everything at it and see what happens - but the desired result was achieved and England secured a win from a losing half-time position for the first time at a major tournament.

Hodgson gambled with England’s Euro 2016 future and his own. Now he will hope the tournament is ignited for his team.

Wales had spent the week taunting England, light-heartedly at times, about a shortage of desire

Russian Fans Jailed for Violence A French court yesterday jailed three Russian football supporters for up to two years for their role in violence in Marseille before the England-Russia Euro 2016 match.

Alexei Yerunov, Nikolai Morozov and Sergei Gorbachev were among 43 Russian supporters detained by French police in southern France on Tuesday after the pitched battles which left more than 30 people injured.

Yerunov, 29, who is supporters’ liaison officer at Lokomotiv Moscow according to the club’s website, received the longest

prison sentence of 24 months.

He admitted he was at the scene of an attack on an English supporter who was left in a critical state after being beaten around the head with an iron bar. He denied being responsible.

“I apologise. I recognise that I was there but I didn’t hit anyone.

My hands are clean,” he told the court.

Gorbachev, who leads a supporters’ club at Russian second division club Arsenal Tula, was jailed for 18 months.

Morozov, 28, received the shortest sentence of 12 months.

Rufai Solicits HotSports’ Partnership Ex-Super Eagles’ living legend, Peter Rufai is seeking the partnership of HotSports Nigeria, a subsidiary of HS Media Group, in discovering and promoting hidden football talents in schools in order to help develop the game nationally.

The renowned ex-goalkeeper nicknamed ‘Dodo Mayana’ was at the company’s corporate headquarters in Oregun, Lagos where he held a closed-door meeting with the group’s Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Taye Ige, on how best to collaborate in discovering latent talents for Nigeria.

Rufai, in conjunction with Mind Builders Schools in Oregun hold football clinics, where they encourage football participation in schools and skill development.

The retired goalkeeper is seeking HotSports Nigeria’s involvement in the areas of logistics and other support to take the project to higher heights.

“We had a fruitful discussion,” HotSports Nigeria Chairman, Mr. Taye Ige, said as he emerged from the closed tete-a-tete.

“He came to ask for our support for his project and the company has agreed to do that in furtherance of its social responsibility to the public and in the company’s belief in grassroots sports development.

“We want to support them because we believe in the development of youth in Nigeria and in giving them opportunity to chart a career in football. Who knows how many Okochas, Kanus and Iheanachos will develop from there tomorrow.”

In response, Rufai said: “We have always known that our belief in HotSports Nigeria is not misplaced.

We have come to the right place and we were not disappointed. We share the same ideal with HotSports Nigeria and we look forward to achieving our collective targets.”

and passion, but Hodgson’s side had the last word as Chris Coleman’s players slumped to the turf in agony at the final whistle.

The fightback began instantly as Bale rallied around his desolate colleagues to form a huddle with captain Ashley Williams at the heart of it.

Williams addressed the team passionately and the main message will surely be that they are still right in Euro 2016 and this result, while damaging, is hardly fatal.

If Wales beat Russia in their final game, something they are eminently capable of doing, they

will be in the knockout stages, a feat which can be regarded as a success in their first major tournament since 1958.

They were second best here, not offering enough attacking options around the world-class talent of Bale, but there is a resilience and unity about this team that serves it well.

They were outstanding defensively until that late twist.

Their fate, however, remains in their own hands and this Wales team will not go quietly.

RESULTS Ukraine 0 - 2 N’Ireland Germany 0 - 0 Poland

English players celebrating Sturridge’s winner yesterday at the ongoing Euro2016 in France

NPFL: Ajani Downgrades Shooting Stars’ Ambition to Relegation Survival Tunde Oyedele Ibrahim Ajani has played down ambitions of Shooting Stars this season saying they are only preoccupied with how to survive the drop to the lower division despite the arrival of Coach Gbenga Ogunbote.

The striker said there was much relief in camp after he inspired Shooting Stars to a 1-0 victory over defending champions Enyimba International on Match Day 22 in Ibadan last Sunday. Ajani scored the crucial goal with a well calculated flying header following a free kick by defender Yinka Adedeji whose curly shot beat the visitors’ defence hands down.

After the tension-soaked encounter, Ajani told npfl.ng that

their victory against the People’s Elephant was important to their struggle to escape the drop this season.

“Obviously I’m happy and relieved for the goal I scored, but I didn’t do it alone, my teammates deserve kudos for their determination in that tough match against Enyimba.

Thankfully we got the win, first to appease our fans and I don’t think Coach (Gbenga Ogunbote) would’ve been too pleased if we hadn’t”, Ajani told npfl.ng.

The former Sunshine Stars forward says the slogan in Ibadan now is ‘Operation Rescue Shooting Stars From Relegation’, saying the players, officials and management have resolved to put in more than 100 per cent of their energy to help the club

remain afloat.

According to him; “It has been a challenging season for us as a team and our position on the table shows we are struggling, but we have resolved to turn the table around from the match against Enyimba. I will do my best to ensure Shooting Stars do not go down and that’s the target of everyone in our camp”.

On how he is coping with life in Ibadan since leaving his favourite base in Akure and the return of Coach Gbenga Ogunbote to the camp of the Oluyole Warriors, Ajani said: “My time at Sunshine Stars in Akure was great and Ibadan has been good to me as well because I’m enjoying myself.

And for Coach Ogunbote’s return, it is good for Shooting Stars at this trying moment and all the

players believe in his ability to steer us above the waters at the end of the season”.

After the big game against Enyimba, Shooting Stars sit in 18th position on the log with 23 points behind Heartland FC and Plateau United who share the same 23 points with the club (but with inferior goal difference).

Shooting, who have won just seven games, drawn two and lost 12 from 21 games played so far this season, lost their first two games of the first round (0-1) at home to Lobi Stars and (2-0) away to Enyimba.

The Oluyole Warriors would be guests to 7th placed Mountain Of Fire And Miracles, MFM FC at Agege Stadium this weekend and return to Adamasingba to do battle with FC IfeanyiUbah on 26 June.

Okonkwo Happy to Banish ‘Makurdi Demons’ Chinonso Okonkwo has spoken about his happiness after scoring a spectacular goal for Rivers United in their 4-0 dismantling of Kaduna United in the round of 32 of the Federation Cup. Okonkwo fired home from 25 yards as Kaduna United was put to the sword in emphatic fashion at the Aper Aku Stadium.

The attacker missed a last-minute penalty at the same Stadium on May 22 as United lost 0-1 to Lobi Stars in the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL).

He voiced his sentiments on scoring such a special

goal at a venue that only recently reminded him of so much pain.

“Before I scored (on Wednesday against Kaduna United), I missed a very good chance in the game.

“I felt so bad because the miss was from the same spot that I missed the penalty (against Lobi Stars).

“I was however confident that I would correct that mistake as the game progressed.

“I felt so happy that I eventually scored a (fantastic) goal in the game,” Okonkwo told supersport.com.

The attacker concluded by discussing the club’s next

NPFL fixture against FC IfeanyiUbah which will be played in Nnewi on June 19.

He admonished that the manner of Wednesday’s big win against Kaduna United may not be repeated unless the players approached the game with the right mentality.

“We have to stay humble and approach the game in Nnewi the right way.

“If we do that, then the chances of us getting a good result will be quite high,” he said.

Rivers United currently sits in second place on the NPFL standings with 38 points from 21 matches.

FEDERATION CUP Akwa United 2-0 Kwara United Dynamite FC 3-2 Flash Flamingoes MFM FC 0-1 Katsina United Dreams FC 1-3 Plateau United ABS FC 0-1 Enugu Rangers J. Atete FC 1-0 Top World ROUND OF 16 FIXTURES Rivers United Vs Shooting Stars Sunshine Stars Vs Akwa United Nasarawa United Vs Dynamite FC Crown FC Vs Enugu Rangers Wikki Vs Plateau United Prime FC Vs Warri Wolves IfeanyiUbah Vs Katsina United J. Atete FC Vs Enyimba/El-Kanemi

Friday, June 17, 2016

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Price: N250

MISSILE Saraki to FG

“We have failed to take the necessary steps in policy and legislations that would set us on the path to developing the kind of economy that we desire...The collapse in oil price has without doubt brought huge shock to our economy on a scale that perhaps, has never been experienced before. This requires us to develop creative strategies that would stimulate business and investments into other sectors.”

Senate President Bukola Saraki deploring the federal government for failing to adopt policies meant to draw a productive economic roadmap for the nation.

SHAKAMOMODU THIS REPUBLIC

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Restructuring: The Change Nigeria Needs

T

he news in town is that both President Muhammadu Buhari and his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), have in words and in deeds rejected calls for the restructuring of Nigeria. Buhari emphatically declared in interviews to mark his one year in office that he would prefer to see the National Conference report, which comes close to resolving the national question and many of the contentious issues plaguing this land, gather dust in the archives. These were his words: “I advised against the issue of the National Conference.

Teachers were on strike then. I have not even bothered to read it or ask for a briefing on it and I want it to go into the so-called archives.” But recall that during the electioneering, the same Buhari promised to look into the report and implement the good aspects of it that would help move the country forward. It now appears, he was just being politically correct, to sway votes from a particular constituency in the last presidential election. Buhari’s change of tune only adds to his litany of broken promises since assuming power.

For those of us who saw through the superficiality of a changed Buhari dummy sold on the campaign train, it didn’t come particularly as a surprise. What came as a surprise was perhaps the interim position of a party that had previously arrogated to itself the curative solutions of national afflictions, which now unfortunately aligns perfectly with Buhari’s casual and contemptuous dismissal of a report that will, to a large extent, calm this disquiet in the land. It is this position that has left a distinctively chilling feeling in many people that words can hardly express. More so, there is a growing anger and frustration with these agents of change that approbate and reprobate at the same time on the same issues between daybreak and nightfall.

Even more disturbing is the shameless attempt at rationalising every misstep of the Buhari administration with excuses of dubious colouration. The applause from his supporters that follows every motion of his body celebrated as achievement is to say the least, mystifying.

And for a moment, you are tempted to agree that everyone needs a psychiatric evaluation to determine their sanity.

There appears to be a prolong bout of epileptic seizure of rational thinking in this debate to free Nigeria from the forces that want it to stay perpetually down while other nations are moving up. One week after Buhari’s declaration, the chairman of the APC, John Odigie Oyegun, followed suit with his party’s position, stating that the party was uninterested in the restructuring of the country for now, because there were more important priorities such as rebuilding the economy, creating jobs and ensuring the security of lives and properties. But can any meaningful and sustainable thing be achieved without creating the necessary environment which will unleash a tidal wave of opportunities and possibilities as we will have in a restructured country?

As they dismissed the National Conference report out of hand, they have also dismissed the very panacea to rebuilding the economy and ensuring the security of lives and properties in the long-term; they have also waved aside true federalism to make the country more workable, thereby freeing it from the strangulating clutches and vestiges of an obtuse structure that defies not just common sense but economic and political realities. The indirect result of their action is that the entire man-hours of work put into the conference report, the deliberations, the conclusions reached and the money invested in it have all gone to waste on the whimsical excuse that some leading APC members did not support it from the outset and that “teachers were on strike” when the conference was held. Can anyone

Buhari out there tell me how the teachers’ strike during the duration of the conference diminished the value of the report? Ironically, our president is more fixated with the financial cost of the conference than the final outcome of the deliberations no matter how noble it may be.

I cautioned Nigerians that the change upon which some deeply flawed politicians of the APC campaigned was designed to grab power purely for the sake of it but I was ignored. This is what you get when the truth and the reality are sacrificed for the temporary relief that illusion brings. It was never about the country or its people. It was a campaign built on a powerful word that easily captured the imaginations of many – including some hitherto discerning individuals. Their casual dismissal of the report has shown that they had no allegiance to the principle and practice of true federalism, neither do they have the desire or the capacity to address the fundamental problems besetting this country - which have their roots in this opaque restructure. It is a tragedy of immense proportions that some of the outspoken elements of the South-west who rode to national prominence on the crest of the struggle for the convocation of the Sovereign National Conference and the clamour for fiscal federalism are no longer keen on it.

The architects of this fraudulent contraption that brought ultra-centrists and progressives together to form the APC are now showing a supreme contempt for the very ideals and principle we had previously known them as believers and fierce advocates of. They have become men of straw, tongue-tied by their own contradictions and ravenous desire for power. Nothing best reinforces this flawed alliance and exposes them for the hypocrites they truly are than their lacklustre attitude to the current clamour for fiscal federalism as once-upon-a-time vociferous campaigners for restructuring and true federalism have once again been caught red-handed in their own duplicity.

The questions we should ask them are: was it all just convenient because they were not in power at the centre?

What has changed about restructuring they had rigidly canvassed that they now no longer want? Is it because they have now tasted the intoxicating power at the centre and are relishing it? I am unable to understand the precise motivation behind this sudden change.

The sad irony here is that Nigeria’s interests clash with the interests of its leaders, and in this epic life-and-death struggle to liberate the country, the interests of our leaders have always emerged victorious. Now is the time to tell them, we want our country back. How else does one explain that what will save Nigeria and fundamentally redefine its future for the better is now being rejected by a party that carries the barge of progressivism and won elections on the mantra of change? Why can’t

the nation change a system and the structure that has stunted its progress for so many years and made it a big for nothing giant? Why can’t its leaders take the right steps to fix this problem we all know and identify as hindering the country’s progress? Well, I tell you what, if you judge the future from what we have suffered in the past and are still suffering, you will see ominous dark clouds gathering over Nigeria. So why can’t we discuss how we relate with each other; how we allocate national resources; who gets what and how?

Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has become the unlikely voice of reason in this debate as other leaders of the party of change are either keeping silent or mocking calls for restructuring in a selfish diminution of those values of freedoms, equity and justice, human rights and enduring principle of the rule of law they once vehemently defended as articles of faith.

The truth here is that the structure of Nigeria as it is now is not working. And when a building or a bridge has structural defects, there is no other way to fix it than to knock it down and rebuild. The structural defects in Nigeria have become the single most important inhibition of its growth and development. These have made corruption so rife in the country that it has become second nature. The structure must be knocked down for a new foundation to be laid for the birth of a new nation. And for this to happen, we need a resolute leader with a broad vision, strong progressive political convictions and a pan-Nigerian disposition to drive such a change. In my view, Buhari may be a patriot in the eyes of some, but does he possess the requisite attributes to liberate and reform the country and set it on the path of development? Does he believe that the structure upon which the country was built is deeply unjust and fundamentally flawed? I have my doubts, the reason being that he is a creation and beneficiary of the system that has brought this country to its knees.

But history is replete with examples of unlikely heroes who turn around an unjust system that created them to bring healing to their country and in the process became beatified in the hearts and minds of the people forever. Will Buhari look at this moment and decide he would bend the arch of history to the path of a new nation? Again, it is unlikely but not improbable.

Restructuring Nigeria is a chance at rebirth and an opportunity at regeneration. The country as currently constituted has become a gift to some that keep on giving and getting nothing in return. The APC leadership’s position is driven and motivated largely by an inordinate ambition for power for self-interests.

Interestingly, following the removal of subsidy on petrol by the then president, Goodluck Jonathan in January 2012, the governors elected on the platform of the then Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) which alongside others later morphed into the APC met on January 7, 2012 at Lagos House, Marina, to deliberate on the removal of fuel subsidy by the federal government.

They declared inter alia: “We fully associate ourselves with the position of our party. In our view, the debate on the fuel subsidy is a narrow one... We are more concerned about the totality of the economy. For this reason, it is imperative to immediately implement the long-standing demand for fiscal federalism. The first step in this direction is the immediate review of the lopsided revenue allocation formula.” In attendance were Governors Babatunde Fashola (SAN), Lagos; Kayode Fayemi, Ekiti; Rauf Aregbesola, Osun; and Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State These people are still active players in the politics of this country today. Two of them are cabinet ministers at the federal level in a government that has openly rejected the clamour for fiscal federalism and restructuring.

What is Fashola and Fayemi’s position on the issue today? They are now mute and indifferent.

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