Sunday 17th July 2016

PDP Chairmanship Battle Begins, APC Govs Seek Backing for Buhari Secondus, Bode George, Adeniran, others enter PDP race as Obaseki gets APC guber flag in Edo

Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja and Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City As the Peoples Democratic Party prepares for a fresh national convention in Port Harcourt on August 17, some leaders of the party have indicated

their willingness to vie for its national chairmanship position.

Prominent among them are former deputy national chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, a member of the Board of Trustees, Chief Bode George, and Professor Tunde Adeniran.

But there are others who are also believed to be nursing the ambition of becoming the next national chairman of the opposition party. They include, chairman of Daar Communications Plc, owners of African Independent Television,

Chief Raymond Dokpesi, Chief Bode Olajumoke, Chief Shuaib Oyedokun and Mr. Jimi Agbaje.

In another development, governors elected on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress yesterday in Benin City rallied behind President

Muhammadu Buhari in his effort to better the lot of the country. It was at a ceremony where the APC candidate ahead of the forthcoming governorship election in Edo State, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, was officially given the party’s governorship

flag by the national leadership.

Meeting under the aegis of Progressive Governors' Forum as a gesture of solidarity with Obaseki, the governors called on Nigerians to support Buhari.

With Support of the People, Erdogan Remains in Power ...Page 6

Continued on page 8

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Electricity Tariff Judgement Threatens N300bn Banking Loans Kunle Aderinokun in Lagos and Chineme Okafor in Abuja Palpable anxiety appeared to have pervaded the financial sector following the judgement of the Federal High Court in Lagos, which annulled the recent increase in electricity tariff. At over N300 billion, the total banking sector loan exposure to the power sector is at high

risk as deals and contracts predicated on the new tariff regime are now seriously threatened.

A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos had last Wednesday gave a ruling which proscribed the existing tariff structure used by the 11 electricity distribution companies (Discos) to bill their consumers for electricity services to them.

Though Nigerian Electric-

ity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has appealed the ruling and filed for stay of execution, fears have gripped operators in the financial sector and the power sector as a result of the judgement, which would also adversely affect electricity supply to residential and industrial consumers.

While the figures for the banking loan facilities extended to the power sector

as at the 2015 financial year were not readily available, some of the banks’ 2014 full year results showed that a significant portion of their loan portfolios was offered to the electricity operators.

THISDAY checks revealed that United Bank for Africa Plc's audited results for 2014 showed that lending to the power sector stood at N83.601 billion in 2014 while First City Monument Bank's full year

results for 2014 revealed that its lending to the power and energy sector in the year was N25 billion. Besides, in same year, Fidelity Bank Plc's lending to the power sector gulped N58 billion in the bank's loan book whereas Skye Bank Plc's loan book showed that it lent N19.358 billion to the power sector.

Also, Sterling Bank’s full year results for 2014 showed that the bank committed

N13.743 billion as loans to the power sector even as Union Bank Plc and Diamond Bank Plc granted a total of N23 billion and N50.8 billion, respectively to the power sector.

Apart from the foregoing, THISDAY checks also revealed that local and international investors that participated in the string of Continued on page 6

THE BANKING SERIES (I) Dozie, Diamond Bank's Chief Sparkling Officer, Speaks to THISDAY

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WEEKLY PULL-OUT

17.07.2016

STEP ASIDE FEMI FALANA...

HERE COMES FOLARIN FALANA

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SUNDAY, JULY 17, 2016 • T H I S D AY T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R

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With Support of the People, Erdogan Remains in Power Erdogan demands US arrest exiled cleric

Demola Ojo with agency reports How important the support of the people could be to an elected government was on display on Friday night in Turkey as a military coup was foiled by the will-power of the people who trooped out to protest against attempt to oust the democratically elected government of President Recep Erdogan.

About 2,839 soldiers, including high-ranking officers, were arrested after the botched coup due to popular resistance. Those held include two army generals, according to Turkish media.

Explosions and firing were

heard in key cities on Friday night but thousands heeded a call by President Erdogan to rise up against the coup-plotters.

At a point during the attempted takeover of power, Erdogan had to broadcast to his nation via a mobile phone, fueling street protests and urging military forces loyal to the president to suppress the coup that left at least 265 dead. Turkish authorities say 104 were suspected coup-plotters.

At least a further 1,440 people have been wounded.

Erdogan, who returned to Istanbul in the early hours of yesterday morning from his holiday in the resort of Marmaris, said the attempted

Over 200 killed, close to 3,000 soldiers arrested

coup was “treason” undertaken by “a minority within our armed forces”.

The rebel army faction – who called themselves the Peace Council and denounced Erdogan’s increasingly nonsecular and autocratic approach – said they were trying to overthrow the government to “protect human rights”. Among them are 29 colonels and five generals. Rear Admiral Nejat Atilla Demirhan and General Memduh Hakbilen, the chief of staff of Turkey’s command for the Aegean region, are said to be among those detained.

“They will pay a heavy price for this,” Erdogan warned,

calling for the death penalty to be reintroduced. Meanwhile 2,745 Turkish judges have been dismissed in the wake of the failed coup.

“This uprising is a gift from God to us because this will be a reason to cleanse our army,” the president said in response to the bloodiest challenge to his 13-year-rule.

"The president, whom 52 per cent of the people brought to power, is in charge," Erdogan said. "This government brought to power by the people, is in charge. They won't succeed as long as we stand against them by risking everything."

Turkish authorities named

Akin Ozturk, a former air force commander, as one of the “masterminds of the coup” alongside two army generals, Adem Huduti and Avni Angun.

However Erdogan blamed a "parallel structure" for the coup - a reference to Fethullah Gulen, a powerful but reclusive US-based Muslim cleric whom he accuses of fomenting unrest. In a televised speech yesterday night, he called on the US to extradite Gulen. Gülen’s followers were known to have a strong presence in Turkey’s police and judiciary, but less so in the military.

The cleric, however, condemned the attempted coup and said he played no part in

it, but Erdogan has demanded his US allies hand him over for questioning.

But Gülen said, “I condemn, in the strongest terms, the attempted military coup in Turkey. Government should be won through a process of free and fair elections, not force.

“As someone who suffered under multiple military coups during the past five decades, it is especially insulting to be accused of having any link to such an attempt. I categorically deny such accusations.

reversed the increase, declaring it illegal, NERC led by its acting Chairman, Dr. Anthony Akah, has appealed the judgement.

Commenting on the ruling, a highly-placed industry sources, who lamented that the annulment would be detrimental to the power sector and the economy in general, said there was no basis for it.

The sources also pointed out that banks that hitherto were enthusiastic about investment in the power sector and had secured deals based on the new tariff regime would now shy away from

such deals.

For instance, the banks that have concluded arrangements to build the Qua Iboe power plant in Akwa Ibom State may no longer proceed with the project as it would no longer be profitable for them to do so.

Besides, sources also revealed that two other major power projects may be stalled since they were predicated on the annulled tariff by the recent ruling of the Federal High Court. It was gathered that one of the projects recently approved was First Power, being promoted

by Chief Dapo Abiodun, and the other, a solar power plant, involved the International Finance Corporation (IFC).

More importantly, it was gathered that power shutdown was imminent in the industry as there would be huge revenue shortfalls for the distribution companies (Discos) and the federal government, which has already been affected by dwindled revenue, would not be in a position to cater for the shortfalls.

Industry sources further revealed that with the current cost components of their operations, if the Discos are not making money, they would have to be forced to close shops and the resultant effect would spell doom for electricity consumers.

In fact, THISDAY learnt that the current dip in revenue in the privatised electricity market would be exacerbated by the ruling.

THISDAY also gathered from an industry expert that the sector would be hard-hit by the judgement because its revenue generation profile was already on a very poor status, and this could make it worse.

The expert, who is privy to the internal workings of the sector’s finances, said that at the moment, the electricity market was in a dire financial situation, and will hardly withstand the new threat which he said the court ruling posed.

The expert also said the Discos were currently doing just about 28 per cent of their monthly remittances to the market instead of 100 per cent as agreed in the tariff, adding that an average of N20 billion existed as current monthly revenue deficit in the market.

This claim of such huge monthly revenue shortfall was in addition to a historic revenue shortfall figure which the Discos said was over N300 billion and yet to be closed.

The Discos’ representative, Sunday Oduntan, confirmed the N300 billion historic revenue shortfall to THISDAY.

Analysts are of the view that with the judgement, Discos would not charge cost reflective tariff from which generation companies and gas suppliers would be paid for their services to the sector.

That is going to be a tough one on the sector, analysts posited.

Speaking further on the court decision, analysts maintained that if the ruling stands, the market will either pack up or be bailed out by the government, an option that may not be practicable.

“The first thing to note is that it is unfortunate that after several years of NERC’s engagement stakeholders to enlighten them on power sector reforms and the Act, a decision collectively agreed upon was annuled.

“One thing that is very clear and should be made abundantly clear to everyone including the legislature is that without cost reflective tariff which is actually part of the Act, the industry will suffer or government will still have to dip hands into its pocket to support it.”

A major player in the industry who pleaded anonymity said: “It is rather unfortunate that such an outcome will come from the suit.

If you inject up to 8000MW, maybe we will not feel the impact but at the level we are, this is definitely going to hit the finances of the industry.

“I also think it is going to be another excuse for the Discos not to pay the Gencos, this is a very bad development. The last time I checked on remittance it was just an average of 28 per cent compliance with payment. The shortfall has been up to N20 billion every month for a while now.”

Stressing that the judgment was not in the interest of the sector, he also noted that the Discos were also guilty of breaching service rules and challenging NERC’s powers to enforce compliance.

“I recognise that participants are running to the court for everything - you have the same distribution companies who went out to seek an injunction on NERC’s regulatory powers, and now they are coming out to shout that this is wrong whereas they were at the court at a time to undermine the powers of the regulator.

“I would have thought that there should be an engagement with the regulator; operators and consumers to find a balance. The Discos are right to say they cannot give what they don’t have but I don’t think that is alright because at times they ask for what they have not given – they give bills for what they did not supply,” he added.

See concluding part on www.thisdaylive.com

ELECTRICITY TARIFF JUDGEMENT THREATENS N300BN BANKING LOANS acquisitions in the oil and gas sector between 2010 and 2015 as well as the takeover of assets created from the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), raised over $11.6 billion from banks to acquire these assets. The investors staked about $2.929 billion to acquire the assets of the PHCN under the federal government's privatisation programme.

NERC introduced a new electricity tariff under the Multi-Year Tariff Order (MYTO) 2015, with effective from February 1, 2016, which abolished fixed charges and

increased the tariff by a maximum of 45 per cent.

With the new tariff structure, residential customer category (R2) in the Federal Capital Territory, , Nasarawa, Niger and Kogi states, served by the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) franchise, who previously paid N14 per kilowatt/hour, are expected to pay N23.60 per kilowatt/hour.

Also, residential customers in Eko and Ikeja electricity distribution areas will be getting a N10 and N8 increase respectively in their energy charges. The same situation

applies to residential customers in Kaduna and Benin electricity distribution companies, who are expected to experience an increase of N11.05 and N9.26, respectively, in their energy charges.

Explaining the implication of the review, the then NERC Chairman, Sam Amadi, said the new tariff was actually a reduction of what consumers ought to be paying before the commission froze tariff increase for residential consumers.

While the Wednesday judgment delivered by Justice Mohammed Idris has

PDP'S CHAIRMANSHIP BATTLE BEGINS, APC GOVS SEEK BACKING FOR BUHARI They expressed optimism that things would get better in the country.

PDP had held an expanded national caucus meeting last Thursday at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre, Abuja, to try to resolve the leadership crisis that has brewed in the party since its May 21 national convention in Port Harcourt.

That convention was marred by controversy following the decision to remove Senator Ali Modu Sheriff as national chairman and constitute a national caretaker committee led by Alhaji Ahmed Makarfi.

Besides fixing the date for a new convention, the national caucus meeting also decided to zone the post of PDP national chairman to the South. This followed the decision at the last convention to zone the presidential position ahead of the 2019 general election to the North. The national caucus also decided to constitute a reconciliation committee headed by the deputy senate president, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, to reunite members of the PDP in the South-west ahead of the national convention.

The decision to hold a new convention and zone the chairmanship post to the South has caused intense politicking within PDP, as prominent southern members struggle quietly to win support for themselves ahead of the contest for the headship of the main opposition party.

Secondus, from Rivers State in the South-south geopolitical zone, had led the party for almost eight months in acting capacity after the resignation of Alhaji Adamu Muazu as national chairman, before handing over to Sheriff. He is being tipped as the likely person to clinch the chairmanship post if the choice is narrowed to the South-south. A reliable source told THISDAY at the weekend that the former party scribe had

been positioning himself for the post since he handed over to Sheriff.

The source said, “Secondus knows that as a well-grounded party man with an added advantage of being close to the Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike, he stood a good chance of picking the top job. All he has been doing is to play safe and avoid drawing attention to his ambition so as not to arouse suspicion from other interested parties.”

A source close to George confirmed last night that he was in the chairmanship race, stressing that he has been “drafted by the South-west PDP to lead the way for the zone.”

Adeniran also confirmed his participation in the race.

But the issue of who becomes the next national chairman of PDP has seemed to be made more difficult by disagreement among stakeholders from the South-west. It was learnt that the recent crisis that rocked the party in the zone was the result of a clash of interest between those, allegedly, seeking to position themselves for the vice presidential post in 2019 and others who feel that the zone should take its chance now by producing the national chairman.

However, a source said that following a recent reconciliation meeting at the Ondo Governors Lodge in Abuja by top party leaders from the South-west, the coast may be clear for the zone to make a strong bid for the chairmanship position at the August 17 national convention.

The South-west PDP caucus at the weekend came close to settling the intra-party crisis rocking the zone.

Among the resolutions reached at the peace meeting were that henceforth, none of the leaders should interfere in the affairs of any state apart from their home states. It was also

agreed that the state executive committees in Ogun, Ondo and Ekiti states, as presently constituted and approved by the National Executive Committee before the last national convention in Port Harcourt, should remain.

Other decisions in the peace deal were that the state executives of the PDP in Lagos, Oyo and Osun would be harmonised and consolidated.

Notable leaders of the party in the South-west, such as Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State, Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State, and Senator Buruji Kashamu were also said to have met at the Ondo State Governor's Lodge in Abuja and agreed to drop their differences to allow peace to reign.

Another source of concern in the PDP as it goes towards the national convention is the seemingly adamant posture of Sheriff and his loyalists. They are, apparently, not satisfied with the way the reconciliation is going.

PDP leaders at the expanded national caucus meeting believed the presence of Kashamu, a strong supporter of Sheriff, was evidence that its reconciliation effort was working. But Sheriff’s deputy and former national vice chairman of PDP (South-south), Dr. Cairo Ojuogboh, who spoke to journalists yesterday, said they were still pursuing their cases in court.

Ojuogboh said , "I have the express permission of Sheriff to inform our teeming supporters and PDP faithful nationwide that he has not reached agreement with anybody, neither has he permitted anybody to conclude on any processes on his behalf.”

He said that Sheriff would address a press conference tomorrow to state his position on the state of the party.

"We are continuing with our cases in court. We respect the

rule of law,” Ojuogboh stated, saying, “Our goal remains to return the party to the people and stamp out impunity,".

Makarfi, who addressed newsmen shortly after the expanded national caucus meeting said, “We received reports of reconciliation. You can see by yourself our brother, friend and associate, Senator Buruji Kashamu. That is evidence of the reconciliation making progress and I can assure you that we will never foreclose full reconciliation with Senator Ali Modu Sheriff and others that may still be associated with him.

“What we want is an allinclusive PDP. An equitable, fair and just system in the PDP, where the right of everyone commiserate with their own level is protected and preserved."

Meanwhile, the APC governors meeting in Benin City yesterday, apart from showing solidarity with Obaseki, also canvassed support for the federal government and sought ways to end the incessant bloody clashes between herdsmen and crop farmers.

“We have also requested that the people of Nigeria should support President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration in the face of difficulties that our nation is going through, promising that things will get better as soon as possible,” chairman of the Progressives Governors Forum, Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha, told journalists yesterday.

Okorocha said the party had set up a campaign council for Obaseki, aading, “We also deliberated on the issues of Fulani herdsmen and the crisis we have had as a result of some of their activities. We have requested that all governors should engage the Fulani in their areas with a view to finding a lasting solution and then to avoid further clashes from now henceforth.”

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JULY 17, 2016 • T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R

SUNDAY COMMENT

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

CURBING SECTARIAN VIOLENCE IN NIGERIA

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Government must get tough with sectarian crimes – which are actually getting worse

ollowing a motion by Senator Oluremi Tinubu (Lagos West), the Senate last Wednesday condemned the brutal killing of a Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) pastor, Mrs. Eunice Olawale Elisha, in Kubwa, Abuja. Coming not long after the equally brutal murder of another woman in Kano, on grounds of alleged blasphemy, the latest tragedy is pointer to a worrying tendency that does not augur well for the unity of a nation in which all should have equal protection under the law.

While we commiserate with the family of Mrs. Elisha, we call on the security agencies to find her killers and bring them to book. However, the silence from the federal government on the issue is rather disturbing.

Yes, Mrs Dolapo Osinbajo, The casual wife of the Vice-President, execution of has paid the bereaved fellow citizens family a visit and signed for the simple the condolence register. reason that they But that was a private that cannot believe differently gesture substitute for a clear is the beginning message from the highest of something authority in the country more frightening. that the brazen manner in We must all which human lives were remember that being taken, especially by terror lone wolves, televised public sundry is unacceptable. This is beheadings by against the background global terror that a good number of merchants, these casual killings were of perceived carried out by persons adversaries, or groups brandishing credentials. began this way sectarian First, there is a basic issue of protection of lives by law enforcement agencies. Tragically, this vital requirement of any civilised democracy is lacking in our country today. From the hundreds that were mowed down in Zaria by the military last December, to the recent executions in Onitsha and Aba of citizens whose only crime was that they dared to remember a sad aspect of our past, to the more isolated killings of individuals in Kano and now Abuja, there would seem to be a contest about who can take more lives between

Letters to the Editor

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agents of state and the growing army of casual fundamentalist executioners.

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S U N DAY N E W S PA P E R EDITOR TOKUNBO ADEDOJA DEPUTY EDITORS VINCENT OBIA, FESTUS AKANBI 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 DIRECTORS 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

econd, these killings have so far not attracted any consequences for their perpetrators. To the extent that crime is inherent in every society, what deters perpetrators is the certainty of consequences and penalties. We are not aware of any serious measures to bring these murderers to justice. Nor has there been any inquiry into the conduct of policemen and soldiers detailed to control crowds but who resorted to killing innocent citizens. Just on Wednesday, an operative of the Directorate of State Security (DSS) was reported to have killed a mother of five on the Kaduna-Abuja road.

Third, and perhaps more seriously, the casual execution of fellow citizens for the simple reason that they believe differently is the beginning of something more frightening. We must all remember that televised public beheadings by global terror merchants, of perceived adversaries, began this way. In a nation swarming with all manner of militant groups, we might be headed for that day when some fundamentalist crack heads could just round up people of a different faith and routinely execute them in utter defiance of the state which has repeatedly proved ineffectual in protecting lives and basic freedoms.

Unfortunately, while the bloodletting raged, the government of the day remained inexplicably silent and helpless in the face of a clear erosion of its sovereign legitimacy. This aspect is quite worrisome because the state, even with all its imperfections, remains the ultimate guarantor of our individual and collective freedoms. If, by act of omission or commission, it fails to act as that guarantor, then anarchy is the clear and present danger.

At a time like this therefore, we need to emphasise the point that one Nigerian life unjustly lost in the manner of these recent incidents diminishes all of us and corrodes the fabric of our society. That is the only way we can reaffirm and reinforce faith in our suddenly fragile unity. To do otherwise is to provide additional ammunition to agitators and militants who already have chips on their shoulder. To paraphrase Martin Luther King, injustice committed against one Nigerian should be recognised as injustice to all Nigerians.

Therein lies the essence of equality under the law.

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 (950- 1000 words). They should be sent to opinion@thisdaylive.com along with the email address and phone numbers of the writer.

LAGOS, RAPID RESPONSE SQUAD AND PUBLIC SECURITY

ublic security is the main duty of any government, be it federal, state or local.

The lack of viable public and safety mechanisms in any given society makes sustainable socio-economic development a very difficult task.

Lagos’ position as the commercial nerve centre of Nigeria, and indeed West Africa, has potent security implications.

Its sheer human density, border with Benin Republic, high concentration of banks, industries, companies, and other commercial enterprises makes it naturally attractive to criminals. Thus, the rate of crime in Lagos, over the years, has always been relatively higher than those of other parts of the country.

It is, therefore, only natural for successive administrations in the state to evolve various strategies to tackle crime in the state. Prominent among such is ‘Operation Sweep’ by the Buba Marwa military administration. The

Tinubu administration restructured and re-organised ‘Operation Sweep’ and renamed it, ‘Rapid Response Squad’ [RRS]. As the name implies, the squad was charged to be on the move at the snap of the finger once there was any incident of robbery in any part of the state.

Over the years, the RRS has undergone various stages of transformation as deemed necessary by succeeding administrations. Presently, Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode has made upgrading of security mechanism in the state a top priority. Therefore, one of his tasks upon inauguration was to meet with key stakeholders in the state to advance security course. On the occasion, over N1 billion was realised as cash donations from various corporate organisations and individuals while others made commitments to provide other vital technical supports.

In order to sustain the tempo, the Ambode administration has made

concerted efforts to fortify the RRS, in partnership with the State Police Command and other stakeholders, to further enhance its operational capability.

This is reflected in the handing over of two surveillance helicopters, 10 armoured tanks, 10 brand new Hilux vehicles and115 new power bikes, to the State Police Command and RRS respectively. This is in addition to the purchase of 100 new squad cars for a new initiative tagged Special Operation Service (SOS), which will harmonise community policing in partnership with the RRS. Likewise, an integrated security and emergency control platform that interface with all security networks in the state has been set up.

With a view to attracting the needed investment that will enhance prosperity in the state, the Ambode administration got involved once again in what is, perhaps, the most audacious intervention by any state government in the country in public security by donating security

equipment worth N4.7 billion to the State Police Command. As enormous as this financial support is, the administration has continued to put in place further investment aimed at enhancing professionalism and efficiency in the RRS. The overall aim is to ensure that the squad has the capacity to swiftly respond to crimes in the state.

Not long ago, the state government made a presentation of 140 brand new Ford Ranger Pick-Ups and 335 power bikes fitted with communication gadgets, helmets, bullet proof vests and other kits at a cost of N1.85 billion to the squad. The equipment, which was launched by the Vice- President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, has since been distributed to the RRS, 107 Police Stations and 13 Police Area Commands in Lagos State. Other beneficiaries include the Nigeria Customs, Immigration Services, the Nigeria Army, Air Force, Navy, DSS, AIG Zone Two, Civil Defence, Federal Road Safety Corps, LASTMA,

NDLEA, Lagos State Task Force and the Nigeria Prison Services. Provision of this equipment is a deliberate attempt to fast-track investigation, surveillance and intelligent information gathering The state government has equally rebranded the RRS in order to give it a refreshingly new outlook. This is geared towards improving public perception of the outfit. Cheerfully, months after the re-branding process, things are, indeed, getting better with the RRS. This much is validated by its commander, Assistant Police Commissioner Tunji Disu, who recently revealed that the squad is currently experiencing better days in terms of performance and professionalism. This is reflected in the enhanced operation of the outfit as some of its operatives are now strategically located in various locations across the state, especially at hitherto uncovered places.

––Biola Ajayi, Ministry of Information & Strategy, Alausa, Lagos.

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R • JULY 17,2016

SUNDAYNEWS

News Editor Abimbola Akosile e-mail: abimbola.akosile@thisdaylive.com, 08023117639 (sms only)

Commission Approves Promotion, Posting of AIGs

• Appoints 37 commissioners of police Dele Ogbodo in Abuja

FOR STABLE POWER SUPPLY L-R: Minister of Power, Works & Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, SAN; Governor of Kaduna State, MaIlam Nasir El-Rufai, and the

Minister of State in the Ministry, Hon. Mustapha Baba Shehuri, during the Executive Session of the National Council on Power at the Umaru Musa Yar’Adua Hall, Murtala Muhammed Square, Kaduna State...recently

In a New Suit, Dasuki Demands N15bn, Public Apology from FG • Says he’s been in solitary confinement • N4bn paid to 29 ghost workers, NSA’s auditing and verification exercise reveals Tobi Soniyi in Abuja and Chiemelie Ezeobi in Lagos Detained former National Security Adviser (NSA), Colonel Mohammed Sambo Dasuki (rtd), has dragged the federal government to an Abuja High Court challenging his incarceration in the custody of the Department of the State Security Service (DSS) since December last year.

In the new suit, Dasuki is praying the court to order his immediate release from detention either conditionally or un-conditionally.

ThesuitmarkedFCT/HC/ABJ/ CV/2005/2016 instituted on his behalf by Messrs Joseph Daudu SAN and Ahmed Raji SAN was brought pursuant to Order 11, Rule 1, 2 and 3 of the Fundamental Rights Enforcement Procedure Rule 2009.

Dasuki, who claimed that his fundamental right to freedom of liberty and dignity to life had been grossly violated by the federal government with his detention, prayed for an order of the court to compel the federal government to pay him N15 billion as general damages and compensation for his alleged illegal detention inviolationofhisrightsas enshrined in the 1999 Constitution.

He also prayed the court to compel defendants in the suit to jointly and severally tender a public apology to him to be published in two national dailies for the violation of his rights.

Defendants in the court action are the Department of State Security Service (DSSS), National Security Adviser (NSA), Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Dasuki asked the court to declare that he was entitled to his rights to dignity of human person, personal liberty, fair hearing, freedom of movement, private and family life and to acquire and own properties as enshrined in the 1999 constitution.

He also wants the court to declare that his arrest and continuous detention since December 29, 2015 in the custody of the DSSS and NSA by officers of the federal government without allowing him

access to his medical personnel, members of his family and without charging him to court within the time prescribed by law is wrongful, unlawful, un-constitutional and a violation of his right granted by the country’s constitution.

In a 43-paragraph affidavit in support of the originating summon, the applicant claimed to be a retired army officer, decent with no criminal record, lawfully resident in Nigeria and had served the country in various capacities.

He averred that on July 16, 2015, the agents of the federal government unlawfully invaded his houses in Abuja and Sokoto and that during the invasion, his properties mainly cars and monies were unlawfully carted away.

In the affidavit deposed to by one of his sons, Abubakar Dasuki, the applicant claimed that in protest against the unlawful invasion and detention, he instituted a court action at a federal high court for the enforcement of his right.

Upon receipt of the court process, the affidavit claimed that the federal government quickly charged him to court in charge number FHC/ABJ/CR/319/15 in September 2015 and that he was granted bail by the court.

Dasuki averred that upon his bail, he applied for court permission to travel abroad for medical attention and that the court granted him approval on November 3, 2015 but the following day, the security operatives in brazen defiance of the court permission, laid siege on his house and dis-allowed the trip.

He claimed that in spite of his life threatening ailment and persuasions, his house was kept under siege during which he was not allowed to move out or receive any member of his family and visitors.

Dasuki said that on December 1, 2015, the DSS operatives arrested him and that the following day, he was moved to EFCC custody from where he was on December 13 arraigned in an Abuja high court in the charge FCT/HC/CR/43/2015 where he was also admitted to bail.

The applicant claimed that he was on December 15, 2015 arraigned in the third court in the

charge FCT/HC/CR/42/2016 where he was also granted bail.

Upon his release on bail at Kuje prison on December 29, 2015, Dasuki averred that he was re-arrested by the operatives of the DSS and had since been kept in solitary conferment, thereby impairing his ability to provide for his family.

The affidavit indicated that the concern and apprehension of his familybecamecompoundedwhen president Muhammadu Buhari in his maiden Presidential media chat of December 30, 2015 said that Dasuki will not be released because oftheweightofchargesagainsthim and that he may likely jump bail.

The applicant claimed that unless the court comes to his rescue by protecting him and order his immediate release, his right to life, human dignity, personal liberty, privacy, family life, freedom of movement and right to own properties already impaired and violated by the defendants will continue to be impaired and put in jeopardy.

The case has been assigned to Justice Peter Kekemekun. The court is however on vacation.

In another development, the officeoftheNationalSecurityAdviser (NSA) has reportedly unearthed a whopping N4billion fraud involving 29 ghost workers supposedly working in the presidency after an auditing and verification exercise said to have been carried out on the instruction of President Muhammadu Buhari.

THISDAY gathered that the National Security Adviser, Major General Babagna Monguno (rtd), was said to have carried out the exercise and in the process uncovered the fraud.

A source in the NSA office who spoke on the issue said: “Monguno uncovered over N4 billion security fraud within the Presidency.

A security audit and verification exercise ordered by the President, uncovered these can of worms in Aso Rock.

‘The verification exercise showed that about 29 ghost security personnel have been on security pay roll in the presidency over the years.

“Prior to the emergence of Buhari’s administration, the internal Aso rock security budget was N6.5 billion for 2015 and to sanitise the security circle in the presidency, Monguno sought and got approval to embark on the verification exercise.

The source said, “The N4billion was alleged to be part of the N6.5billion dedicated to the security personnel and logistics in the presidency, most of which allegedly went into private pockets.

“The NSA, who considered the N6.5 billion as outrageous, insisted that it should be reduced.

He subsequently brought the figure down to N2billion. It was a move commended and approved by the President.

“Expectedly, the verification exercise did not go down well with some persons in and around the security circle. These people felt the exercise would expose their dirty deals.”

Speaking further, the source said: “A particular security agency delayed their auditing and verification for six months before releasing its personnel for the exercise few days ago. Interestingly, under the N6.5 fraudulent budget regime, junior security personnel in the presidency received N18, 000 per month, while senior personnel were entitled to N35, 000 only, with no form of welfare packages.

“Currently, under the supervision of Monguno, with a realistic budget of N2 billion being effectively deployed to the general benefit and welfare of men and women saddled with the responsibility of the safety and security in the presidency; the junior security personnel who were paid N18,000 under the N6.5billion budget regime, now enjoy a minimum of N80,000, while the senior personnel who received N35,000 then, now collect a minimum of N150, 000, including other benefits.”

“The new security budget regime, introduced another new middle level cadre of personnel, with a minimum of N100,000 monthly allowances and attached benefits.”

The Police Service Commission (PSC) has given approval for the promotion of 18 Commissioners of Police (CPs) to the next rank of Assistant Inspectors General of Police (AIGs) with 4 other AIGs. The body has also approved the appointment of 37 Commissioners and 9 Deputy Commissioners of Police. A statement, signed by the Head of Public Relations of the Commission, Mr. Ikechukwu Ani, in Abuja, showed that 16 of these Commissioners retained their Commands.

They include: CP Peace Ibekwe Abdallah, Ebonyi; Emmanuel C. S. Ojukwu, Enugu; Frederick Taiwo Lakanu, Imo; Adeleye O. Oyebade, Oyo; Basen D. Gwana, Abia; Yunana Y. Babas, Taraba; Austine I. Iwar, Gombe; Murtala U. Mani, Akwa Ibom and Ajani Fatai Owoseni, Lagos. CP Henry Fadairo was also moved from Research and Planning to Jigawa State.

The statement further added that 12 of the AIGs are now to man the 12 Police zonal commands while the remaining 10 will head Police special formations such as Operations, Training, Police Academy, Info-Tech, Investment and Maritime.

The Commissioner of Police

Kaduna State, Mr. Ibrahim Adamu, is now AIG, Zone 1, Abdulmajid Ali, CP, Ogun State, AIG, Zone 2 and Usman Tilli, AIG Border is now AIG zone 3, it added.

The only female in the pack, AIG Dorothy A. Gimba, retained her Command of the Investment Formation, AIG Mohammed K. Mohammed, SPU and Mohammed Musa Katsina moved from Maritime to DS, NIPSS. AIG Katsina will be replaced at the Maritime Desk by Paul Okafor, CP Benue State.

The Chairman, of the Commission, Mr. Mike Okiro, in the statement said the promotions and postings were in line with the Commission’s resolve to reposition the Nigeria Police Force for better performance.

He congratulated the officers and demanded from them hard work and dedication to duty. He said the Commission would hold any of them personally responsible for any failure in the discharge of their duties.

The Chairman also said the officers should rededicate themselves to the service of their nation and abide by the rules and regulations guiding police work. He noted that these leadership positions should be held with the fear of God and fairness to all parties.

In Brief Ihedioha Bags Legislative Fellowship

Immediate past Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha will on Monday, July 18, be conferred with the award of Fellowship of the National Institute for Legislative Studies (NILS). A letter nominating Ihedioha for the award said conferment is in recognition of his “immense contributions to the growth of the Legislature in Nigeria, particularly the National Institute for Legislative Studies.” The letter signed

by Dr. Ladi Hamalai, Director General of NILS on behalf of its Governing Council said the conferment ceremony would be presided over by Senate President, Bukola Saraki and Speaker, House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara. Other fellowship awardees by the Institute are Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, Governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal and immediate past President of the Senate, David Mark. Others are former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole and ex deputyspeakerandincumbentSenator,IbrahimNafada.

Prof. Egunjobi Dies at 80

A one-time Head of Programmes at the African Academy of Sciences, Nairobi, Kenya and one of Nigeria’s leading experts on ecology, Prof.

James Kolawole Egunjobi, has died. He died on Monday, July 11, 2016 aged 80. Egunjobi who was with the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) between 1977 and 1980, was formerly Head of the Department of Agricultural Biology at the University of Ibadan.

The late don was born in Emure Ekiti on August 22 1935 to Pa Jacob Egunjobi and Madam Janet Egunjobi. He attended St. Pauls Anglican Primary School Primary School Emure Ekiti and Christ’s School Ado-Ekiti between 1951 and 1955, where he was Senior Prefect in his final year. Prof. Egunjobi was widely travelled and contributed many technical papers to journals in his chosen field of Plant Ecology.

He was married with children.

Late Egunjobi

RETRACTION We wish to retract any insinuations contained in a piece in the Loud Whispers column of our Saturday paper titled Femi vs Falz: A Falana of Confusion, which has been considered offensive. We regret and retract the entire content and apologise for any embarrassment it may have caused Mr. Femi Falana SAN whom we hold in very high esteem. Notwithstanding that materials on the said column are always on the lighter side, the public is advised to disregard the insinuation in the content as it concerns Mr. Falana.

-–Editor

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NEWS Forex: Experts Charge Private Sector on Innovation Omolabake Fasogbon

AMONG KINSMEN Minister of Transportation and immediate past Governor of Rivers State Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi (3rd left) met with his kinsmen, a delegation from the supreme council of Ikwerre traditional rulers who came on a ‘thank you’ visit to the Minister in Abuja...recently

Obasanjo: Agriculture, the Solution to Nigeria’s Economic Downturn Ademola Babalola in Ibadan

Former president Olusegun Obasanjo yesterday in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital called on President Muhammadu Buhari to take seriously the diversification efforts of his government from oil to agriculture, in the process of bailing the country out of its current economic downturn.

Obasanjo also charged all Nigerians to embrace agribusiness, saying as a former President he was proud to be seen and identified as a farmer because of the gains accruable from such ventures; and also described agriculture as the solution to the present economic situation in the country. The former president made the remarks while delivering the maiden Eminent Persons Business Lecture, titled ‘Agribusiness: Time to Act is Now’ organised by the University of Ibadan

School of Business in partnership with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan.

He said the fall in prices of oil at the world market which may be a blessing in disguise has contributed to economic hardship, and collapse in businesses.

He added that to overcome these challenges, all hands must be on deck to practically embrace agriculture and not just on papers.

While highlighting the importance of agriculture in the areas of economic growth, development and wealth creation, the former President maintained that agri-business has potentials to stimulate industrialisation; generate employment and engender economic growth.

Speaking on how to practically make agriculture a major source of revenue in view of the need to diversify the economy,

Obasanjo said if the present government is truly determined to diversify the economy through agriculture, attention must be given to the sector at the high level of government, to incorporate all departments, ministries and agencies of government in the agricultural sector and not just the ministry of agriculture alone, in order to make Nigeria a truly economically viable nation.

He canvassed for adequate infrastructure for storage and transportation of agricultural produce. On the involvement of youths and the unemployed in the agriculture business, the former President noted that “Agri-business must be attractive to youths and students should be encouraged.

He said “We have to glamorise agri-business and that is why I say wherever I go I call myself a farmer. If a former President can

call himself a farmer why can’t we call ourselves farmers?”

Adequate support must be given to agriculture to search for innovation, we must give incentives to farmers, he noted, adding that “there must be consistency in government policy formulation and we must also ensure its sustainability”.

The former President who concluded that the individuals andprivatesectorcannotsucceed in agriculture without government support therefore solicited full support of government at all levels for Nigerians to practically embrace and encourage going into full scale agriculture.

“Your Excellencies and Ladies and gentlemen, let me conclude that while agri-business cannot be practiced without government support, a good policy must be put in place to support and encourage agriculture.”

Despite the adoption of a flexible foreign exchange rate policy by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which overall motive is for the good of the economy, experts have advised businesses to redefine their strategies in a way that will drive the exchange rate in the country’s favour.

The experts made the call at a breakfast session on ‘Business Dynamics Under a Flexible Exchange Rate’ put together by the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigerian (CIBN) recently in Lagos.

The president of the Institute, Prof. Segun Ajibola declared that the search for a workable, efficient and fair exchange rate regime is bound to persist in an economy like Nigeria that relies

excessively on imported basic necessities of life.

Ajibola noted that the private sector is the major driver of growth and exchange rate in the country, and pointed that businesses need to reorder their modus operandi by harnessing the country’s own resources for local and global productivity; hence strengthen the local currency.

He said: “More than before, businesses need to redefine focus, move away from import dependent technology and substitute imported raw materials for local ones. It happened before when in the 1980s and 1990s flour millers and breweries, among others, moved away from wheat technology to locally grown sorghum, corn and cassava bread, etc. “

Ooni of Ife Receives US Congressional Award si, Ojaja II with a congressional plaque. The monarch also received Congressional Certificates of Recognition from Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Houston) and Rep. Janice Hahn. (D-CA).

Oba Ogunwusi was appreciative of the warm reception from the Congressional Black Caucus and the American people. “We thank the American people for extending a hand of friendship to my people and I. We are grateful and appreciative of your friendship. If we understand that we are the same irrespective of our color, the world will be a better place. We all belong to the same humanity,” stated the king.

The congressional events were organised by American Kenneth Miller of Los Angeles, Nigerian-American Wilson Ebiye, Founder/CEO of YesoohTV and native Nigerian author/writer Benedict Amushie of Houston Texas.

Don’t Carry out Repair Works, Avengers Warn ExxonMobil

Foremost Nigerian monarch, His Imperial Majesty, Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, Ojaja II was honoured for his role in promoting peace in Africa by Congresswoman Maxine Waters at the Congressional Black Caucus reception presented by Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity at Rayburn HOB on Capitol Hill recently in Washington DC, USA. The Nigerian monarch was awarded prestigious Congressional Recognition plaque certificate presented by congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA). Waters praised the monarch for the great role he plays not only in Nigeria but across the world.

“You really represent our culture and you are doing good things whether it is helping young people, education and business, so we are just delighted to have you here,” Waters said.

Waters also presented Oba King Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwu-

Sylvester Idowu in Warri and Emmanuel Addeh in Yenagoa

GOtv Customers Forum

Niger Delta Avengers (NDA), the militant group claiming responsibilities for pipeline bombings in the Niger Delta, has warned ExxonMobil not to repair its vandalised Qua Iboe terminal blasted by its operatives last Monday.

Thegroup,inastatementsigned by its spokesperson, Mudoch Agbinibo, warned that if the oil major makes any attempt to repair the terminal, “something big and worst (sic) will happen”.

“We are warning ExxonMobil not to carry out any repair work on the blown pipeline; if they refuse

and go ahead with any repair work something big and worst will happen”, it warned.

The Niger Delta Avengers had last Monday night claimed that it breached Qua Iboe 48” crude oil terminal, operated by ExxonMobil in Akwa Ibom State. It claimed in a statement then that the attack was carried out at about 7.30 p.m. for alleged refusal to yield to its directive not to effect repair works on any breached facility.

ExxonMobil however reacted, noting that none of its facilities was attacked as claimed by the militant group.

According to a terse statement signed by its spokesman, Agbinibo,

the Niger Delta Avengers said it blew up the ExxonMobil Qua Iboe 48” crude oil export pipeline at about 7.30 p.m.

In the statement titled ‘Other Export Pipeline Blown’, the militant group said “At about 7:30pm the Niger Delta Avengers blow up ExxonMobil Qua Iboe 48” crude oil export pipeline. When will these International Oil companies (IOC) learn to listen. We (Niger Delta Avengers) said no export.”

Reacting swiftly to the NDA claim, ExxonMobil Corp said no attacks had taken place at its facilities after the militant group said it had blown up the Qua Iboe 48” crude oil export pipeline operated by the

OPC Issues 14-Day Ultimatum to Ijaw Group over Violent Activities in Ogun, Lagos Sheriff Balogun in Abeokuta Oodua Peoples’ Congress (OPC Reformed) yesterday issued a 14-days ultimatum to Ijaw groups over the invasion, killings and kidnapping being perpetrated in Ogun and Lagos States, saying “if they fail to yield, it will be eye for eye and tooth for tooth.”

In a statement by its President, Comrade Dare Adesope, the

group said, “enough of this invasion, killing and kidnapping of our people right on our own soil”.

According to him, “we OPC Reformed have waited so long with dismay, hoping that government will curb the deadly acts of the Ijaw people on the citizens of this country in Ogun and Lagos; but it now dawned on us that lives of we poor masses is of no importance to them.”

He said “it is a known fact that we the Yoruba race are the most contented and most tolerant tribe in Nigeria.”

He added that “this is why we gave warm reception to other tribes coming into our states either to reside or to do business but if they want to take our hospitality for stupidity we will prove to them that the gentility of a tiger is not an act of cowardice.”

company. “There were no attacks on our facilities,” said ExxonMobil spokesman Todd Spitler.

But the militant group said yesterday that it was aware of a plan

by ExxonMobil to carry out repairs having claimed “system anomaly”.

“When we published the Que Iboe 48-inches crude oil export line was blown by us (Niger delta avengers) ExxonMobil denied it, but now ExxonMobil has admitted that the 48” pipeline we (Niger Delta Avengers) blow up is “System Anomaly”, it added.

The Avengers urged the oil company to admit its terminal was blown, stressing that its refusal was none of the militants’ business.

He stated that before it was the herdsmen now it is the Ijaw people, saying “enough is enough. If they care to know, we have information and fact about where their leaders’ properties are situated in the entire South-west and where their people reside in our midst as well”, he said.

He therefore, urged Oodua descendants to take the destiny of the race in their hands by giving the OPC Reformed their absolute support, saying “is it until when we are wiped out completely before we react?”

Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) service provider, GOtv, yesterday, hosted its subscribers in Ikorodu and environs at a customer forum. The GOtv Customer Forum, a subscriber engagement initiative, provides subscribers an avenue to ask questions related to GOtv services and receive responses from GOtv management staff. In attendance at the forum, which held at Honeymeal Eatery in Ikorodu town, were GOtv subscribers, dealers and sales agents. Significant among the issues raised and addressed at the forum were reconnection difficulties after subscription renewal, signal degeneration and loss as well as proliferation technical persons claiming to work on behalf of GOtv. Subscribers who had difficulties with their hardware or service were resolved at the GOtv Clinic set up at the venue. Suggestions on how to improve GOtv services were also made. Speaking at the forum, GOtv Public Relations Manager, Efe Obiomah, thanked the subscribers and everyone present and gave assurances that the issues raised will be addressed. On the proliferation of GOtv outlets and technical persons claiming to work on behalf of GOtv, Obiomah explained that the company runs a vast distribution network, but advised subscribers to adopt the GOtvEazy self-service option because it is convenient, as it eliminates the need to visit a physical outlet torenewsubscriptions.

Hi-Impact Planet Amusement Park

Due to the global insecurity trend and the attendant colossal loss, HiImpact Planet Amusement Park and Resort Nigeria makes security of guests and property its priority by providing adequate measures in ensuring safety. The Park is equipped with full body scanners, baggage control equipment and turnstiles to ensure the security of guests and crowd control. Well-trained security personnel are also on duty round the clock, to ensure all guests at the park and its environs are safe. HiImpact Planet Nigeria continues to upgrade its facilities, giving more fun and excitement with the installation of new high profile facilities.

In addition to the new adventurous experience intended to be opened to guests in Nigeria and from around the world on August 6, Hi-Impact Planet Nigeria will also debut its very first summer camp for children themed Hip Summer Camp on August 15 to 28 2016. This is to engage children and teenagers in fun activities like sports, indoor and outdoor games, arts & craft, aerobics, team bonding sessions, health & safety classes and much more in a luxurious and exciting environment.

T H I S D AY SUNDAY JULY 17, 2016

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NEWS

MONARCH HONOURED R-L: Foremost Nigerian monarch, the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, Ojaja II being honoured

for his role in promoting peace in Africa by Congresswoman Maxine Waters at the Congressional Black Caucus, held in Washington DC, USA...recently

PROMOTONG LAGOS L-R: Director, Centre for Black Culture and International Understanding and Guest Speaker, Lagos at 50

Celebration, Dr. Wale Adeniran; Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Tourism, Art and Culture, Mr. Ashimi Adewale and Special Adviser to the Governor on Housing, Mrs. Aramide Giwanson, during a colloquium by Ikeja division committee on the celebration of Lagos @50, at Airport Hotel, Ikeja.....yesterday Photo: KOLA OLASUPO

AU Summit: Osinbajo Tasks Nigeria, African Nations on Poverty, Inequality Abimbola Akosile

Nigeria and other African nations have been told to rise up to the urgent need of addressing the problems of poverty and inequality even as the global community focuses on its new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The call was made yesterday by the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, at a side event hosted by the President of Ghana, Mr. John Mahama on Africa and the SDGs at the African Union (AU) meeting in Kigali, Rwanda.

Osinbajo, who led the Nigerian delegation to the continentwide meeting told the breakfast event attended by a number of presidents and several heads of delegations to the AU meeting that the whole idea of the SDGs “is really about addressing inequality and poverty.”

Continuing, he observed that “the problems are so obvious

that however we describe the programme, we really must do something and something urgently.”

The Vice President then cited the example of the N500 billion social investment programme of the Buhari presidency, in a release issued yesterday by the Senior Special Assistant-Media & Publicity in the Office of the Vice President, Mr. Laolu Akande.

According to him, “In Nigeria, in the current budget cycle we have the largest social protection programme in the history of the country. It’s a N500 billion programme- (worth over $2.5 billion as at the time budget was signed.)

Basically we are looking at lifting many out of poverty, of course many are familiar with the size of the Nigerian state and we have close to 110 million people who are poor and about two-tenth are in extreme poverty.

“So it is a very huge problem

and part of what we are trying to do is to look at how not just to empower people but also to ensure that what they are given is sustainable. For the women, we are doing a programme, microcredit programme for a million market women and artisans.

“All would be given facilities, training facilities as well to enable them to be able to do some work for themselves and to continue to be able to live. And we think that giving this micro-credit loan to women is to make sure that they handle money better and do a much better work on the whole.

So l think that with what we have done already, we have seen that they are certainly going to work”, Osinbajo said.

“In the case of Conditional Cash Transfer, again we are handing these to women. We are giving (this to) another million, to the poorest of the poor.

In determining who the poorest

is, we had problems on that, but we have very good assistance from the World Bank and the Bill Gates Foundation. They helped in trying to map the really poor.

“We had to get inside the communities looking for the poorest of the poor with the small sum of money which is about N5000 (which is roughly about $25 dollars or there about) which is a sum of money that would be given to the poorest every month, which may enable them feed themselves and find something that they may do and on the condition that they send their children to school and participate in immunisation.

“So we are really excited about some of the works we are trying to do around the SDGs and we are hopeful that we’ll be able to get the Social Protection Programme working. We just recently appointed a Senior Special Assistant on SDGs. “

Onu: Why Ruling Parties Emasculate Opposition, Institutions Dele Ogbodo in Abuja The Minister of Science and Technology, Mr. Ogbonnaya Onu, has said ruling political parties in Africa stop at nothing to emasculate opposition parties and institutions, describing them of being to fundamental human rights.

The Minister who spoke at the fourth convocation lecture of the Nigerian Turkish Nile University, in Abuja, weekend with the theme: ‘The effect of the emergence of All Progressives Congress (APC) on

the promotion of world peace’, said African leaders will stop at nothing to strangulate the opposition.

He said: “This is so even in multi-party democracy where there are many political parties, the opposition political parties are so weakened that one political party, the governing party, is so dominant as to produce virtually all the leaders in the country “In other to achieve this, they move very quickly to weakened and emasculate all other institution of state. With weak institutions they

find it easier to deny their citizens the protection of their fundamental human right.

“They then manipulate elections such that votes no longer counts and the voters no longer matter as citizens can no longer exercise their basic rights to select who governs them.”

According to him, African leaders can only realise their full potential when they commit themselves to serving the interest of their nation and make the people the epicenter of development.

When this is done, he said it would be easy to seamlessly develop the continent and uplift it to enviable position among the continents of the world.

Onu lamented that Africa is so rich that virtually all important minerals resources are found in commercial quantities on the continent, yet the continent is so poor that many of them risk their lives and forgo their human dignity as they desperately struggle to leave their homeland for foreign lands in search of better life.

CPCC Calls for Interrogation of Two House Members George Okoh in Makurdi

Commissioner of Public Complaints Commission in Benue State, Alhaji Abubakar Tsav yesterday called for the interrogation of Hon John Dyegh, member representing Gboko/Tarka in the House of Representatives, Gboko Local Government Chairman, Emmanuel Kwagba and Hon Terhemba Chabo of the Benue State House of Assembly over allegation of the destruction of some properties belonging to a widow in Ikyumbur, Mbatiav, Gboko Local Government Area of Benue

State.

A petition writing by Adam Terkula Raphael, son of the widow, Eunice Adam, alleged that Hon John Dyegh and others aided the destruction of his mother’s properties which included houses, farm produce, motorcycle and economic trees valued at ten million naira (N10,000,000).

Raphael in his petition to the Public Complaints Commission further stated that when Hon Dyegh was informed about the initial destruction of 160 lines of yams and cassava by Lagos and his gang, instead of coming to

their aid, he mobilised the youths to cause further havoc “. He told the whole community that my mother is a very bad woman and they should go ahead and burn down her house.

“He described our house as the only home of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP in his own kingdom, Mbatiav. That while he is from the APC nothing of PDP should exist in his own council ward,” stressing that the law maker was erroneously informed that my mother had named her dog after him. Raphael who said everything they laboured for which he

estimated at N10million has been destroyed said 13 persons have so far been arrested by the state CID and charged to court.

However, Tsav in his petition to the state Commissioner of Police dated July 8, 2016 and copied the Inspector General of Police, IGP, the state Governor, the Director General, Department of State Services and the Honourable Chief Commissioner, Public Complaints Commission stated that the damage done to the compound of the petitioner is monumental and can best be likened to a village overran by enemy forces.

AU Passport Needs Legal Framework to Work, Says Minister Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama, has said that the soon-to-be launched AU passport may not achieve the desired result if it does not have legal framework to support it.

He said this in an interview with the News agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Kigali, Rwanda on the sidelines of the ongoing 27th Ordinary Session of the AU summit.

Onyeama said lack of a legal framework might impede the aim of the passport because member states of the AU would not be bound to allow free movement into their countries without visas.

“We have to follow a legal framework to avoid uncertainties. An example was made of ECOWAS and that it should be seen as the ECOWAS passport but that cannot fully be the case.

“This is because the ECOWAS passport is hinged on a treaty that recognises free movement of peoples and each country has ratified that so the issuance of passport is just to give effect to what has been agreed by the countries.

“In the case of the AU there has been no treaties ratified by the member states accepting the concept of a continental free movement of peoples so if you are issuing this AU passport it has no legal base to it. So no country is obliged to accept it because no country has acceded and ratified a treaty in the regional conti-

nental framework allowing free movement of peoples and that is the problem,” he said.

He also said there were indications that Heads of States at the last summit said the AU should go ahead and issue the passport.

He noted that declarations by Heads of States of AU countries do not have legal effect in the countries because every country has a rule and mechanism for giving effect.

“We (Nigeria) have a national assembly that has to domesticate and ratify such a treaty and it has to be signed allowing anyone that has this passport to come into the country.”

The minister said the objective of introducing such passport was noble in its entirety and could achieve the aim of regional and continental integration which includes free movement. He noted that true integration was not limited to economic and political integration but also people to people integration.

He, however, said it all depended on what the passport was supposed to be and do, but that the issue of security, if such free movement is allowed, would be further discussed at the summit.

“The thing is this, the objective is free movement of people within Africa visa free. If it is to a certain extent symbolic as a way to prompt and push African countries to effect this integration then that is fine. “

Gilbert Umuamaegbu for Burial July 29

Sir Gilbert Obiadiwe Umuamaegbu, the father in-law of Senator Annie Okonkwo, who passed on April 18, 2016, at the age of 93, will be laid to rest onFridayJuly29,2016athiscompoundinIsu-UmuonyenoraVillageofOba Town in Idemili South LGA, Anambra State. Thursday July 28, 2016 will be the commendation Service at St. Pauls Anglican Church, Oba. Time 5pm while service of Songs and wake keep will take place at his compound in Isu-Umuonyenora Village of Oba Town on Thursday July 28, 2016. Time: 7pm.

According to the statement made available to THISDAY, Friday July 29, 2016 will be the lying-in-State at his compound in Isu-Umuonyenora Village.

Time 8am. “Burial Service at St. Johns Anglican Church, Isu-Umuonyenora, Oba. Time 10:30am followed by internment on Friday July 29.

Saturday July 30, 2016: Funeral rites and condolence visits by In-laws and Friends. Sunday July 31, 2016: Outing Service at St. Johns Anglican Church, Isu-Umuonyenora, Oba. Kindly keep us company as we bid him farewell.”

Late Umuamaegbu

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JULY 17, 2016 • THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER

OPINION A Case for The ‘Ekwueme Constitution’

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C. Don Adinuba argues for the restructuring of the country into six zones

ne of the most perplexing paradoxes in today’s Nigeria is the strident campaign for the adoption of the report of the 2014 national dialogue on the Nigerian condition organised by the Goodluck Jonathan administration as the basis of a new constitution. Even people who should know better have joined the bandwagon, showing that many Nigerians just go with the flow.

Mental rigour remains a commodity in awfully short supply in the Nigerian public space. The most critical objective for the campaign for Nigeria’s structural redesign since the mid-1990s is to reduce the number of states from 36 to about six, so as to, among other factors, free the economy from perennial paralysis arising out of the humongous annual recurrent expenditure at all levels. But the 2014 Conference agreed that the number of states should, in fact, balloon from 36 to 54.

The delegates believed that Nigeria, whose 28 out of the 36 states cannot pay workers’ salary, should have the highest number of states throughout the globe, four more than the United States, the world’s wealthiest nation which has 50 states and a population of 300 million. This recommendation highlights the emptiness of the Nigerian political class. Still, some people who delight in being called social critics and statesmen have of late been trumpeting the 2014 Conference Report as Nigeria’s only hope for survival whereas it actually sounds the country’s death knell. Pray, how can Nigeria survive for up to six months with some 54 states?

High-minded people recognise the enormity of power conferred on Nigeria’s centre, observing it is a principal cause of the country’s socioeconomic underdevelopment. And a major reason for the concentration of power at the centre is the large number of states. In other words, the more states are balkanised to create other states, the more they become dependent on the federal government. And yet the people who complain that the centre is too powerful are the same individuals and groups pushing for the 2014 Conference Report which advocates as many as 18 more states to be created in one fell swoop! The truth is that the death of the report was foretold ab initio. Besides the fact that there is no law creating the 2014 Conference, it never had legitimacy or moral authority. All the almost 500 delegates were appointed by one single individual. This is not tenable in a democracy in the 21st century. And those asking President Muhammadu Buhari to adopt and implement the report should know the constitution does not vest such power in the president. Interestingly, those who advocate Buhari’s implementation of the report frequently

accuse the president of dictatorial tendencies.

Nigeria needs to be redesigned. Much of the work has mercifully already been caught out, as can be gleaned from the 1995 Constitution which is sometimes called the Ekwueme Constitution because its key differentiating features were canvassed by former Vice President Alex Ekwueme at the 1994/5 Constitutional Conference in Abuja. The major differentiating contents of the 1995 Constitution are the division of the country into geopolitical zones, the adoption of the zones as the federating units, rotational presidency, one term of five or six years for the president and each state governor which is not renewable, increase in the use of the derivation principle from three to 13%, etc. Sani Abacha had begun to implement the 1995 Constitution, as shown by his creation of six states in 1996, with each zone getting one new state. One good thing about the zones is that it makes for equity and stability. It divides the South into three zones and the North into another three zones. Nigeria began as an amalgamation between the North and the South.

It is regrettable that Afenifere leaders coerced Abdulsalami Abubakar into jettisoning the 1995 Constitution and replacing it with the 1979 Constitution. Afenifere leaders felt that since the 1995 Constitution was drawn up under Abacha who was justifiably considered an enemy, it must be rejected, even though Abacha had practically no input in it. It was a case of throwing away both the baby and the bath water. Abubakar was desperate to have the Yoruba participate in his transition to civil rule programme, and so capitulated to the Afeniferi demand. He acquiesced to the demand that the 1979 Constitution be brought back. This is why there are almost no differences between the 1979 and 1999 constitutions.

The few differences lie in such matters as the establishment of the

Nigeria needs to be redesigned. Much of the work has mercifully already been caught out, as can be gleaned from the 1995 Constitution which is sometimes called the Ekwueme Constitution. The major differentiating contents of the 1995 Constitution are the division of the country into geopolitical zones and the adoption of the zones as the federating units

National Judicial Commission and the increase in the use of the derivation principle from three to 13% in the revenue allocation formula because the chairman of the committee set up by Abdulsalami to look into the adoption of the 1979 Constitution, Justice Niki Tobi, an indigene of oil-rich Delta State, insisted on its retention from the Ekwueme Constitution. Ironically, the Afenifere leaders who made jettisoning the 1995 Constitution and its replacement with the 1979 Constitution their condition for participation in the transition programme are the same people now accusing the Abubakar military junta of imposing the 1999 constitution on Nigerians—and many otherwise perceptive Nigerians believe the propaganda stunt!

Nigeria needs a new constitution to meet its new challenges.

Only people directly elected by the citizens can have the mandate to undertake such a sacred enterprise as designing or reforming a constitution in a fundamental sense. Though some critical national issues have been addressed by the 1995 Constitution, one matter which should not be overlooked is the imperative for multiple vice presidency. It was about the only issue which Ekwueme spiritedly but unsuccessfully fought to include in the 1995 Constitution. Ekwueme argued that there should be six vice presidents, with each zone, including the home zone of the president, supplying one. In the event of the president dying in office or resigning or removal from office, the vice president from his zone will complete the term of the president.

If the term is not completed, the people from the president’s zone are most likely to feel cheated, as we have seen in the case of President Umaru Yar’Adua when he died in 2010, in the third year of national leadership; the North felt shortchanged.

To reduce costs and make things easier, the people who may be regarded as vice-presidents can be the Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives, secretary to the federal government, head of civil service, and a person who may be designated as Vice-President One and working daily with the president in State House. This means that people coming from these offices mentioned above will perforce hail from different geopolitical zones. Nigeria needs a new constitution or a comprehensively reformed one. The states as currently constituted and local government areas cannot have a place in the new constitution. The idea of a so-called third or fourth tier of government is a misnomer. The 1995 Constitution, otherwise known as the Ekwueme Constitution, provides the starting point for a new Nigeria.

Adinuba is head of Discovery Public Affairs Consulting.

Cutting Through The Noise

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The ICC could do more in communicating its role and impact on the continent, argues Bettina Ambach

n popular accounts, Africa and the International Criminal Court (ICC) are pitted against each other. The ICC is derided as being “biased” against Africa, ignorant of the attitudes and desires of Africans, and even neo-colonial. We, the Africa Group for Justice and Accountability (AGJA), wish to set the record straight.

The first question we need to answer is: how did we get here? Why is the debate about the relationship between Africa and the ICC so acrimonious?

The reality is that the Africa-ICC relationship suffers from misinformation, misperceptions and misunderstandings. Many parties share responsibility for this. Some African leaders have decried the ICC in order to protect themselves from the court’s scrutiny. Yet it must also be said that the ICC has not been able to communicate its message and mission effectively on the continent, leaving its record susceptible to those who seek to undermine the institution for political purposes. Furthermore, members of the UN Security Council have not always been willing to engage in a dialogue with African states about issues relating to international criminal justice.

Created in 2015, the AGJA has put itself forward as an unbiased broker in the relationship between the ICC and Africa. We are an independent group of African experts from a diversity of backgrounds. What we share in common is, above all, a commitment to ending impunity on the African continent and the world over. The ICC is a key player in this mission and continues to have a place in Africa.

Some insist that the ICC has no place in Africa and that African states must withdraw from the court because the institution has intervened primarily in African conflicts, while situations outside the continent remain uninvestigated. However, perfect justice cannot be made the enemy of any justice. To suggest that because justice cannot be served everywhere, justice should not be served anywhere makes little sense and insults the victims and survivors of human rights abuses.

There are two important and related questions that need to be asked. First, why has the ICC focused its investigations almost exclusively on Africa? To this, let us respond with another question: can anyone argue that the situations in Africa where the court has opened official investigations —northern Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic,

Darfur, Sudan, Kenya, Libya, Cote D’Ivoire, and Mali— are not deserving of an ICC intervention? The answer is clearly no! All are situations where systemic crimes against humanity or war crimes have been perpetrated. All are situations where it can be reasonably claimed that the local justice systems were either unwilling or unable to investigate and prosecute international crimes themselves. The ICC was justified in intervening in every one of these situations, the majority of which the court intervened in following an invitation from the relevant governments.

In other cases, African Member States of the Security Council voted in favour of referring the situations to the court.

The second question is: why has the ICC not intervened elsewhere and, especially, in powerful states? Here, it is important to acknowledge that the court remains severely limited in its reach. While there have been recent calls for the ICC to intervene in Syria and North Korea, for example, the court’s current jurisdiction prohibits it from doing so. Still, the ICC has now opened an official investigation into the 2008 war between Georgia and Russia, a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. The court also continues to examine allegations of international crimes on other continents, including allegations of torture and enhanced interrogation techniques by US officials in Afghanistan and of war crimes by British troops in Iraq.

The AGJA believes in and has consistently advocated universal ratification of the Rome Statute of the ICC as being the best means of ensuring justice and accountability around the world.

Never before has so much been done on the African continent to achieve accountability for international crimes. We welcome the numerous and impressive developments across Africa to address systemic human rights abuses, such as the trial of Hissène Habré in Senegal’s Extraordinary African Chambers, the Central African Republic’s planned Special Criminal Court, South Sudan’s proposed hybrid tribunal, and the expansion of the jurisdiction of the African Court for Human and People’s Rights to include international crimes. While none is perfect in itself -and any furtherance of immunity of Heads of State for atrocious crimes in international criminal courts is unacceptable- these and the many other recent developments point to a continent with the potential to take a leadership role in international criminal justice. These are also opportunities for us and for the interna-

tional community as a whole to share expertise and engage in respectful and context-specific judicial capacity-building projects.

And let us be clear: these new institutions are not alternatives to the ICC —they are complementary to the court and can help to solidify and reinforce a comprehensive system of global justice.

Even so, the ICC must listen to those who offer it constructive criticism. Many view the court as being too close to the Security Council, whose three most powerful Member States —Russia, China and the USA— are not parties to the Rome Statute. On two occasions (Darfur and Libya), the ICC has accepted referrals from the Security Council and consequently intervened in non-Member States. While it has to be said that the Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC is not bound to accept UN Security Council referrals automatically and will independently ensure that the necessary legal requirements of the Rome Statute are met, it is nonetheless difficult to accept that referrals for the worst crimes known to mankind can be made with caveats that exclude a number of potential players in those conflicts from the ICC’s jurisdictional reach.

The ICC must do a better job of responding to overt attempts to politicise its mandate. It must not only do justice, but be seen to be doing justice by being more effective, robust and responsive to the ordinary African’s justice needs. The ICC must do a much better job of communicating its role and impact on the continent.

African states are friends of the ICC. Forty seven African states participated in the drafting of the Rome Statute and 34 African states have ratified the ICC Statute. African states have continued to refer situations to the ICC. Africans hold the most senior positions in the court. African states fund the institution.

We constantly hear from African officials and diplomats that they support the ICC and have no intention of leaving the Rome Statute system. We call on these governments to stand up and speak loudly and courageously in the fight against impunity —both in Africa and beyond. We are committed to working towards and supporting a world without impunity for international crimes and without double standards. Yet that will not and cannot be served by heightened, disingenuous rhetoric or by African states leaving the International Criminal Court.

––Ambach is director of Wayamo Foundation.

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R • JULY 17,2016

LETTERS

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THE FALLACY OF ENFORCING NATIONAL UNITY

he threat of violence and force of arms cannot guarantee or enforce Nigeria’s fragile “unity” forever. It is an exercise in futility to attempt to do so; the very idea of a “forced or enforced unity” is unnatural; even animals are not forced to live in unity. It has been almost half a century since the first question of Nigeria’s unity was asked, and yet the question is still being asked today by a large segment of the society; that should tell us and our leadership something.

The violent challenges to the authority of the government and the violent contest with the Nigerian state over territory by different ethnic actors are indicative of a fundamental and underlying problem with our system, one that the gun cannot and will never tame. It may suppress it for a while, but it will rear its head again and perhaps with more devastating consequences for the polity.

For there to be sustainable unity, there must be a voluntary buy-in by all Nigerians into #ProjectNigeria.

The Nigerian people must ‘own’ Nigeria and see its unity

Dambazzau

as their business, not as an imposition, because for as long as the idea of being “Nigerian” continues to be seen as an imposition of either colonial taskmasters or their military dictatorship heirs, there will always be disillusionment and revolt.

This is because it is not in the nature of free and independent men to gleefully accept an imposition

or a forced union, or service to a cause or person they do not believe in. It is the very antithesis of being human.

Thus to insist that the free men and women that make up the entity known as Nigeria cannot decide their destinies is inhuman and repugnant to natural justice.

If the current President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration wants national

Unity, then it cannot “force it” or “enforce it”, it must seek to build it, and to build unity, there has to be dialogue and the correction of flaws and inequities in the system that has given rise to the agitations for a re-negotiation of the status quo.

The federal government cannot enforce what does not exist. Our disunity manifests itself in almost every facet of our national life: it is in the schools, in the public institutions, even in a molue bus. It is everywhere and some have alleged that it manifests itself even in the appointments made by the President of Nigeria.

It is in this context that Mr President is humbly invited to undertake a little introspection and consider, if the allegations of prebendalism levelled against him vis a vis the “nationalistic character” of his appointments is helping build and foster unity in Nigeria.

Whilst appreciative of Mr President’s desire to work with ‘those he knows’ and his burning desire to reward the trust and loyalty Northern Nigeria voters gave him, Mr President is humbly enjoined

SENATE TRIAL: UNMASKING THE DESPERADOES

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read a recent editorial by a national daily, entitled “Ekweremadu’s Desperation”, and which attacked Senator Ike Ekweremadu’s letter alerting the international community to what he perceived as the endangerment of the Nigerian democracy Entitled “Nigerian Democracy is in Grave Danger: Re: Trumped Up Charges Against the Presiding Officers Of the 8th Senate”, Ekweremadu, in forwarding the court summons containing what he termed trumped-up charges against himself, the President of the Senate, Senator Bukola Saraki; and two others, requested various members of the international community like the UN, EU, EU Parliament, USA, Canada, UK, etc., to “read through the annexures- petition by members of the Senate Unity Forum, statements by persons interrogated, and the police report- to see if our names appeared anywhere in these documents”.

He continued: “You may, thereafter, judge for yourself whether the Federal Government, acting through the Attorney-General of the Federation, has any justification whatsoever to generate our names for trial. The list of the accused persons appear to have been politically generated because you cannot by the documents attached, relate any of our names to the offence for which we are now being charged.

“Moreover, the rules and principles of fair hearing have not been adhered to because the police have not interacted with me or the President of the Senate as at the time of writing this letter.

“You may also wish to judge for yourself whether this trial orchestrated against me is not a political trial, calculated witch-hunt, barefaced intimidation, and a clear attempt to emasculate the parliament and silence me as the leader and highest ranking member of the opposition in Nigeria.

“You may further wish to judge for yourself whether this unfolding scenario, coupled with the clampdown on the opposition, such as targeted arrests and indefinite detention of opposition figures and dissenting voices in spite of court pronouncements and in clear violation of the Nigerian constitution, as well as the sustained marginalisation of the South-East and SouthSouth geopolitical zones of Nigeria, does not constitute a grave danger to the nation’s hard-won democracy.”

He reminded them that the security agencies did nothing to unravel the attempt on his life on November 17, 2015, which was duly reported to them.

However, far from requesting the intervention of the international community in his case as erroneously/mischievously reported by some, Ekweremadu clearly stated: “This is for your information and reflection”.

Ekweremadu’s letter has expectedly generated serious reactions among Nigerians, mainly in support, but also with some dissents.

In the words of the newspaper, “Ekweremadu’s letter, as usual with the typical Nigerian elite’s manner of defence, was not about whether he and the three others actually committed the alleged crime of forgery or not; it pandered to the usual

appeal to pity and sentiment more than any attempt to exonerate them of the alleged crime”.

I won’t waste the paper’s space on this since the letter substantially reproduced above, clearly addressed this, coupled with the fact that there was no crime of forgery in the first place as the Standing Rule 2015 evolved like others before it.

Nigeria, being a member of the international community, is not an island. Our hardwon democracy did not come entirely by our own efforts.

The global community also pressured the military to quit.

The UN, EU, Britain, Canada, USA, etc., have also continued to fund several aspects of our democracy and development efforts.

If the ruling party feigns ignorance regarding the grave implications to Nigeria and Africa, of full-blown political crises that could result from the plethora of deliberate constitutional breaches and exclusion of some parts of the country from government, let them allow the international communities to, on their own, say that Ekweremadu raised a false alarm.

Professing the rule of law, the newspaper said those accused of forgery should “face their charge instead of trying to politicise their trial”.

What the editorial, however, fails to address, is what happens where the actions of the Inspector-General of Police and Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) breached the constitution and amounted to what the Federal High Court (FHC), Abuja, recently described as “an abuse of legal process”?

There is a subsisting case

(FHC/ABJ/CS/646/15), filed

by Senator Gilbert Nnaji, challenging the constitutionality of the police investigation into Senate Standing Order in question. Although Justice Gabriel Kolawole of the FHC, Abuja refused Senator Nnaji’s ex-parte application last year seeking to stop the police from further investigation pending the exhaustion of the pending suit, he ordered the respondents namely, Office of the Inspector-General of Police and Office of the AttorneyGeneral of the Federation not to take actions that would undermine the suit.

However, even in refusing the application, Justice Kolawole made some instructive judicial pronouncements that should have guided the AGF, whom himself, was a counsel to a party to the case (Senator Suleiman Hunkuyi).

He said: “The issues as relating to the Senate Rules or Standing Orders are firstly, a purely domestic legislative matter. Where allegation of forgery is made, it is for the Court to reflect deeply whether it is not an allegation, which the Senate Committees on Rules and of its Ethics, can validly investigate and to take steps within its own internal proceedings to nullify any of its Standing Orders found to be irregular and to also sanction any of its members that may be found culpable….”

“I am wary that a dangerous precedent is not being set for the 8th National Assembly to have its internal proceedings, being regulated, and perhaps supervised by other arms of government of the federation, i.e. the Executive and Judicial arms”.

––Uche Anichukwu, Abuja.

to remember that there is more at stake. His desire to reward voters is not in any way advancing social cohesion; it is rather damaging it severely and has sadly become a needless distraction from the real business of governance.

It is noteworthy that the allegations of prebendalism levelled against the president has not been limited to southern commentators, as there have been allegations of discrimination levelled against the president by elements within the president’s home region of Northern Nigeria; with the Northern chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), recently accusing the president of a pro muslim-North bias in his Northern appointments.

It is humbly suggested that if we are to build unity, then the symbol of the Nigerian state, which is largely the president, must always be seen to be nationalistic and devoid of primordial sentiments and loyalties. He must manifestly be seen to be a “Nigerian President” and not a Fulani President; this would be a good first step towards building national unity.

Furthermore for national unity to be built and sustained then the inequities in the current Nigerian politicaleconomic system which had given rise to the separatist agitations and calls for review should be addressed and corrected via dialogue and negotiations, amongst the different ethnic groups that make up Nigeria; this is what

the 2014 National Conference report seeks to achieve.

Nigeria is no colony, no monarchy, and certainly no slave llantation; there are no slaves or serfs here, only free men and women and they are allowed by the laws of God and nature to sit down to discuss and determine their shared destiny, without the threat of murder or summary execution.

Thus, whilst the unity of Nigeria may be “sacrosanct”, the terms and conditions of that unity is very negotiable, and if we are to have real and sustainable unity, peace, and economic development, then we must in fact sit down and determine the basis upon which we will march forward into the next 100 years of our national existence. Our last 100 years together was dotted with mass-murder, dictatorships, ethno-religious violence, massive corruption and a civil war; our next 100 years cannot be the same and only honest dialogue can ensure that.

The right to free speech and dialogue should not be considered an assault on the State in a democracy. It is trite that every structure and system periodically requires review, the methodology for such a review may differ from clime to clime, but there must always be a review-mechanism for the correction of identified errors and the updating of out-dated or corrupt systems that perpetuate injustice and inequality like ours.

––Ugochukwu Amasike, Lagos.

EUNICE OLAWALE: THE NEED TO BE SOBER

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part from the gruesome murder of Mrs. Eunice Olawale, similar incidents that allegedly claimed the lives of some early morning criers (those who wake-up very early in the morning to do street evangelism) have been reported around the pipeline area of Kubwa which is one of the developed satellite towns of Abuja. And it should worry the authorities because Kubwa is now very close to the city-centre by virtue of developments. As a matter of fact, Kubwa serves as a residential area to most of the people that are working in the Abuja metropolis.

Unfortunately, the place also harbours some religious extremists that have been hacking down the lives of some Christians just because they engage in early morning street evangelism. Some people are already insinuating that the recent upsurge in religious intolerance and the new found boldness of some Fulani herdsmen in causing mayhem in the communities hosting them may be the price that the Christians are forced to pay for supporting and bringing in the era of “change.” But I found it difficult to believe and do not want to jump into conclusions even though the indices are there to show that there is real cause for alarm. Yes there is a cause for alarm that should prompt all those that are interested in the

Nigeria project as stakeholders to be watchful and prayerful.

We should watch and pray as the scriptures have enjoined us. In fact, in moments like this we need to be sober instead of trading accusations and counteraccusations among ourselves.

Instead, let us “be sober and watch unto prayer.”- 1 Peters 4:7, KJV. 1 Thessalonians 5:6 also corroborated this injunction when it states, “…therefore, let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.”

We need to be sober and ask for God’s forgiveness in case the nation has missed it in asking for a new government.

But the nation seemed not to have a better choice then. In actual fact, the continuity of the past administration could have turned the nation into a pariah state judging by the monumental level of alleged corruption that characterised that era. Apart from the issue of lopsidedness in appointments, the new government in my own opinion seems a better choice. And that is why we need prayers to turn things for good, even if we must have inadvertently made a mistake as a nation. “And we know that all things work together for good, for them that love God who are the called accordingly to His purpose.”-Romans 8:28, KJV. I rest my case.

––Gbemiga Olakunle, JP General Secretary, National Prayer Movement.

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SUNDAY JULY 17, 2016 T H I S D AY

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THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER • JULY 17,2016

INTERNATIONAL

Edited by Demola Ojo e-mail: demola.ojo@thisdaylive.com

Under May, Cool Kids out, Experience in

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hey used to be somebody, and it seems they aren’t quite sure how to be nobodies again just yet. David Cameron and George Osborne killed three hours on Thursday drinking coffee in a Notting Hill cafe, but didn’t look as if they were enjoying their newfound freedom all that much. Michael Gove was snapped wandering morosely through a bookshop, presumably having realised he’ll have a lot more time for reading now.

The vacuum left by the sudden withdrawal of power will be filled eventually, of course.

All newly sacked ministers – and Cameron has sacked enough to know – have the faint air at first of zoo animals released back into the wild, only to realise they’ve forgotten how to hunt. The instinct usually returns.

But the twist for what remains of the Notting Hill set isn’t just the fall from grace.

It’s the people to whom power has been lost, the people they might once have passed in corridors without a second thought; the ones they dismissed as headbangers always ranting on about Europe, the people they thought they’d put out to pasture years ago. Overnight the cool kids are gone, replaced in some cases by people old enough to be their parents.

This time last year who’d have predicted a second coming for David Davis, whose government career peaked somewhere back in the mid-90s? Yet at 67 he’s taking on the most fiendish job in government, negotiating Brexit. New work and pensions secretary Damian Green, an old friend of Theresa May’s since their university days and a former minister under her at the Home Office, was retired to the backbenches two summers ago in a cull of older male ministers, but has now been catapulted back into a crucial role.

May

Chancellor Philip Hammond, leader of the Commons David Lidington and defence secretary Michael Fallon are all in their 60s, an age when every reshuffle is viewed with trepidation; but under a prime minister who will be 60 herself this autumn it’s the young Turks heading for the door and greyer ones moving up.

You may not know the names, but you probably know the type. Middle managers in their 50s, who never did much wrong but were let go in the last redundancy round or are no longer considered for promotion because – well, there’s always someone younger

and more exciting snapping at their heels.

Decent sorts, reliable and knowledgeable and appreciated by their juniors, but intensely aware that suddenly everyone around them is half their age and the IT guys are explaining the new computer system very slowly.

So how sweet it must feel to MPs of May’s generation – too often made to feel by some of the more impatient Cameroons that they’d had their chance and blown it. New prime ministers often skip a generation to stamp their own mark on a party, but unusually May has skipped backwards rather than forwards, trawling in unfashionable places for overlooked judgment and experience.

For all the outrage about Boris Johnson’s comeback as foreign secretary, what springs to mind looking down the list of cabinet attendees is how lonely he may feel. The overall vibe is less posh, more rightwing, less Londoncentric – were she ever forced from power, it’s impossible to imagine May chillaxing over a flat white in Café Lisboa – and distinctly baby boomer.

Where the Notting Hill set shared school runs, this lot have grown-up children trying to establish themselves in an uncertain job market, and will come together for 60th birthday parties and significant wedding anniversaries, not wild parties in Chipping Norton.

May has good reasons, of course, for picking a cabinet with a long political memory. The echoes of the John Major era are clear – a dangerously thin majority, a looming war with Brussels, a hardcore of backbench Eurosceptics waiting to scream betrayal at every turn – that it makes sense to keep veterans of that era close. (Green started out as an adviser to Major, and Davis was his minister for Europe).

Nevertheless, the generational shift feels alarming to some younger Tories. Some see in

the talk of social mobility a possible revival of hoary old arguments about grammar schools that Cameron thought he’d killed off.

Others are already worried about where all the vaguely retro-sounding talk of “industrial strategy” (a phrase banned from ministerial speeches under the last chancellor for sounding too 1970s and interventionist) fits into a world turned upside down by Google and Uber. Hard to see the woman who once observed that “the creative winds of destruction don’t feel quite so exhilarating when they’re sweeping past your factory gates” embracing tech giants as uncritically as the tech junkie Osborne. But while she’s clearly tapping into a powerful feeling that things are changing too fast and at too great a cost, what if there’s an economic price to be paid for holding back the tide?

It’s sheer ageism, of course, to think an older cabinet must inevitably be a backwardslooking one or set in its ways; that only the young can be progressive. But the sense of ageing populations moving towards governments they can recognise in the mirror, for good or ill, is striking.

For now at least, May will face a 67-year-old Labour leader, after years when the Commons was gripped by a cult of youth. America is choosing between 68-year-old Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, two years her senior.

Those rising to prominence now are children of the anxious postwar years, whose political awakening came in an age of conflict and crisis: three-day weeks and power cuts, the oil price shock and the collapse of sterling.

Sometimes organisations don’t realise what has been lost from the collective memory until they need it – even if all that’s on offer is the grim stoicism of those who have seen it all before.

From www.thegaurdian.com

Trump and the GOP Convention

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ll eyes are set on Cleveland Ohio tomorrow as it hosts the 2016 Republican Party National Convention which begins at the Quicken Loans Arena. Expectedly, the presumptive Republican Party Presidential nominee Donald Trump will officially be adopted as the flagbearer of the party for the November Presidential election. But this is not without the expected controversies that have driven the candidate thus far in his quest to “Make America great again,” a euphemism resurrected from a post-world war two nostalgia but adopted by Ronald Reagan as a rallying point against Jimmy Carter, who was seen to be a Democratic lame duck president.

This mantra which appeals to the psyche of the average American “white man,” will hopefully set the stage for Trump who believes he has a magic formula to trounce Hilary Clinton at the polls. However it does look like he has some major hurdles to cross getting the party behind him. One of his defeated contenders Governor John Kasich whose state is hosting the convention has indicated his unwillingness to be at the convention and this is not good news for Trump who has been advocating the need for the party and its big wigs to fall in line or remain quiet.

What Trump is trying to do is to make sure all those who have refused to endorse him do not have speaking time at the convention and one of those is Senator Ted Cruz his closest opponent during the primaries. Although Cruz seem to have burned his zeal for further combat on the soapbox, by the rules since his name still appears on the ballot box, could be given a speaking time if he so insists just like the presumed host Kasich.

However both Chris Christie and Newt Gingrich have been penciled for prime time speech at the convention. Recall Christie was a real rising star who was seen as a rising star after his famous speech in 2012 during the Republican National convention.

Although Trump met Cruz recently, there was little talk about endorsement while top members of the party are working behind closed doors to take the rug off his feet. The GOP contender has been passing through series of rebranding to ensure he becomes Presidential enough for the elections but that is beginning to work for him. Trump behind the teleprompter does not seem to exude the charm that steered him to the front seat of the GOP as its presumptive nominee against ‘Crooked’ Hillary Clinton and the low energy Jeb Bush and Ted Cruz whose father “had a hand in the assassination of John Kennedy. The list is endless.

Well maybe just may be the most visible force of the party Paul Ryan will today endorse Trump but moving forward it does seem the candidate will continue to goof with his tweeter account making racist comments and insinuations primarily to keep his white supremacist voters intact and further disparage his critics nationwide. As he goes into the convention the polls are swinging in favour of Trump in Ohio, Florida and Pennsylvania, a Quinnipiac University study which the Clinton camp acknowledged by stating Trump was a real danger, which was why they were not sleeping and would do everything to keep him at bay. Of course with the FBI slamming Clinton as extremely careless with her state department mails and polls showing letting her off the hook was bad enough, Clinton was bound to lose some ground in the ensuing week.

Overall she seems to still have a wider rating nationwide as well as in the remaining eight

swing states of Colorado, Iowa, Michigan, North Carolina, Nevada, New Hampshire, Virginia and Wisconsin. With his Vice Presidential pack settled, Trump’s war today is to ensure the GOP Rules Committee does not truncate his show by unbundling candidates who want to vote against Trump although he won in those states.

When Trump leaves Ohio, his major concern would be how to raise a war chest that would match Hillary’s. In bringing Pence, an appealing candidate of the social conservatives, he hopes to pull a victory in Indiana as well as the South West of the country, with an evangelical appeal and ability to calm the elders and bring in donors like the Cooke Brothers, most of whom are unwilling to place their stakes on Trump. That explains why Trump wants a man who has not hidden his criticism of what he considers to be outrageous statements of the candidate and the list remains endless; he is more interested in results even if the devil is the one offering it.

Obviously it is clear that Trump was faking, apologies to Justice Ginsburg, when he boasted he would fund his campaign and possibly float an independent candidacy if the party refused to adopt his candidacy, with Rein Priebus, the RNC chairman running cap in hand asking him to make haste slowly. Many are also puzzled that at the end of it all, Trump is unwilling to declare his tax returns because they would expose his underbelly just as the Trump University is turning out to be a scam project. Trumps rising supporters seem to have an answer to every outrageous statement he has made in the past. What they are not sure of is what he has up his sleeves as the election comes closer. With his tweets he is very much at home to scream at Crooked Hillary and probably call her a liar unequalled in the history of the United States. Gingrich who leads the pack would retort asking of Hilary: “What has she been right about?

Trump’s strategy and damage control measure is to evolve new expressions carefully couched as a way of redeeming his image from certain alienated sections of the American society. He had earlier said he would ban Muslims from

Trump entering the US and would deport 11 million undocumented immigrants in the US, what Gingrich calls an evolution in thought. On Muslims, Trump has moderated it to those Muslims from terror states but Gingrich insists there has to be a test on Muslims with a leaning for Sharia law including allegiance to ISIS. “We’re fighting people all over the world who are dangerous to us,” Gingrich asserted.

With the attack last Thursday in Nice France both Clinton and Trump made statements Trump declaring this is war without uniforms while Clinton called it a different kind of war that calls for smartness, for calmness. While Clinton called for increased exchange of intelligence with other countries and expectedly wiping off ISIS, Trump wants something radical in terms of check on Muslims both within and outside. Well the Anti-Trump campaign according to Trumps campaign chairman has been defeated and Marco Rubio has indicated his intention to speak at this convention With Pence in the picture, will Trump boost his war chest and offset paid communication needed by his campaign to fight a more organized, more battle ready Hillary whose predecessor Barack Obama vanquished Mitt Romney with a robust arsenal? Well he just has to be more proactive and up and doing because tweets alone and his media-genic persona may not be enough to wage this war to victory.

18

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER • JULY 17,2016

INTERNATIONAL

Professor Tam David-West and Non-Negotiability of Nigeria’s Sovereignty: The Missing Points

P

rofessor Wole Soyinka’s argument, that the sovereignty of Nigeria is negotiable, was reportedly described in the press by Professor Tam David-West as ‘absolute rubbish’ and ‘absolute nonsense.’ One of the cover stories of Daily Sun of July 9, 2016 was titled ‘David West Bombs Wole Soyinka.’ Oluseye Ojo, writing from Ibadan, reported that the virologist and egghead, Professor David-West, expressed surprise that ‘somebody as eminent as Wole Soyinka’ could say that the sovereignty of Nigeria is negotiable and therefore described his argument as ‘absolute nonsense’ and noting further that ‘no sovereignty is negotiable. When something is sovereign, you cannot negotiate. He is talking nonsense. Nigeria’s sovereignty is not negotiable and that of any other country is not negotiable.’

Perhaps more interestingly, Professor David-West also reportedly said that ‘conceptually, there is no way you can negotiate sovereignty. But if it comes to socio-political consideration, what you are going to negotiate is not sovereignty, but modus vivendi. How you can live together can be negotiable, but it is impossible to negotiate the sovereign state of Nigeria.’

In this regard, as Professor David-West has argued his point at the level of conceptualization, it is useful to distinguish between conception and conceptualization by simply asking what do we mean by sovereignty? What is a sovereign state?

What does the sovereignty of Nigeria mean and imply? What is modus vivendi? What really is sovereignty that it cannot be negotiated? Why is Nigeria, as a sovereign state, not negotiable?

What the Nobel Laureate reportedly said was that the argument of non-negotiability of Nigeria’s sovereignty is antithetical to development and functional unity. As The Punch of June 29, 2016, has it on page 7, Professor Soyinka declared as follows: ‘I am on the side of those who say we must do everything to avoid disintegration. That language I understand.’ He said further that he did not ‘understand (exPresident) Olusegun Obasanjo’s language’ and also does not ‘understand President Muhammadu Buhari’s language and (that of) all their predecessors, saying the sovereignty of this nation is non-negotiable.’ In the thinking of Professor Soyinka, it is ‘bloody well negotiable and we had better negotiate it. We better negotiate it, not even at meetings, not at conferences, but every day in our conduct towards one another.’

More interestingly, Professor Soyinka also added that ‘when people are saying “let’s restructure,” they have better things to do. It’s not an idle cry. It is a perennial demand…

We cannot continue to allow a centralisation policy which makes the constituent units of this nation resentful.’ Rejection of state or community policing, killings by Fulani herdsmen, Government’s intention to establish graving reserves for the herdsmen, rather than ranches, in addition to the questions of fiscal federalism, return to regionalism, devolution of power, etc were some of the issues raised by Professor Soyinka for discussion and negotiation.

It is clear from the positions of the two great Nigerian professors that none of them can be considered a minus habens, that is, someone with little capacity, especially intellectually speaking.

They are both eggheads on their own right. However, for avoidance of doubt, the intention of negotiability of Nigeria’s sovereignty, as reportedly said by Professor Soyinka, is not for the purposes of dismantlement. It is development-driven.

Consequently, the meaning of ‘negotiable’ has an applied, cognitive or connotative meaning. The sovereignty of Nigeria, in terms of right to exist as a nation-state is not the question but its dynamics, the issues involved in nation-building, all of which fall under ‘policy conception’ efforts. This is what Professor David-West has described as modus vivendi. If anyone is against the hypothesis that the sovereignty of Nigeria is negotiable, as submitted by Professor Soyinka, it means the non-negotiability of the over-centralisation of policy in Abuja and the need to continue to sustain federalism as it is operated in the country today should be sustained.

Understanding Sovereignty as a Concept

As regards modus Vivendi, it should not be confused with modus operandi and modus faciendi all of which are Latin expressions. Modus faciendi is the manner of acting and reacting in terms of human behaviour, while modus operandi is about the operational modalities of policy making and execution.

Modus Vivendi is about how to live, particularly in terms of an arrangement in which two persons in dispute seek mutual assistance pending a final settlement. Professor David-West is quite right on the negotiability of modus vivendi and modus faciendi in the sense of their foregoing meanings and also in the sense that they only refer to one of the aspects and means of sovereignty. Sovereignty itself is an attribute of the State without which it cannot enter into international relations on the basis of equality and respect. Sovereignty enables a State to define its status in international politics. However, the acceptance of negotiability of modus vivendi is necessarily an acceptance of divisibility of sovereignty, contrary to Professor David-West’s submission. Additionally, if we consider sovereignty as a continuum, at the bottom of it will be concep-

VIE INTERNATIONALE with

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David-West

tion of sovereignty. At the crescendo will be the concept of sovereignty. In the middle will be the various dynamics (modus faciendi and modus vivendi) of the concept of sovereignty.

On the conception and concept of sovereignty, its origin is traceable to the 16th Century when it was first adopted into the political science lexicon. The literature on it is rich and unending. The concept is also fluid, giving room for many ways of categorising sovereignty. For instance, Grace Rosinski of the Northeastern University has provided a typology of four types on the methodological basis of historical evolution: Classic Sovereignty, Liberal International Sovereignty, Post-liberal Sovereignty and Cosmopolitan Sovereignty (vide her work, Evolving Beyond: The International Community and the Applicability of Sovereignty in the 21st Century).

The genesis of classic sovereignty dates back to the preWestphalia Peace Treaty of 1648 which ended the thirty-year old war in Europe. By then, classic sovereignty referred to a state with a decisive and absolute authority which was concentrated in the hands of a sovereign. Its deponents argued that in the world system, there was no authority greater than the sovereign state, hence the notion of sovereign authority.

More importantly, since sovereignty, whatever its categorization, has two main areas of operation, internal and external, classic sovereignty accepts that there are internal and external sovereign rights. Hence, the post-1648 Westphalia Peace Treaty witnessed the reign of classic sovereignty until emergence of liberal international sovereignty scholars.

Unlike the proponents of classic sovereignty who used it to justify all government actions, the advocates of liberal international sovereignty posit that only governments that adhere to the international liberal code should be considered as having legitimacy. Any state violating the international code is presumed to have lost its legal sovereignty. Essentially thus, liberal international sovereignty scholars hold states accountable to promotion of human rights.

Regarding Post-liberal Sovereignty, its scholars reject the conception of both the classic and liberal sovereignty, insisting on the need to re-strengthen sovereignty along the lines of liberal ideology, human rights protection and promotion of democracy. They also advocate the weakening of government in deference to market forces.

Most importantly, post-liberal sovereignty advocates want the re-consideration of sovereignty as ‘a capacity’ and no longer as ‘an absolute right.’ With sovereignty re-defined as that of capacity or ‘capable responsibility’ as Rosinski put it, international mechanisms should be put in place to control the solvency of a state without violating any autonomy as it does not exist anymore. In this regard, the role of the international judicial sovereignty would be strengthened and protected as a separate entity from sovereign autonomy.

Finally, Cosmopolitan Sovereignty rejects the internal

structures of states and seeks the establishment of a singular global community to which all human beings should belong and all will live under a singular standard of law. This means that there will be no longer any claims to international borders.

This is an expression of globalization in another form.

What is important to note here is that sovereignty has remained a very topical issue being discussed and negotiated at all societal levels in international relations. That of Nigeria cannot be an exception. A few international illustrations will suffice to show some of the missing points in Professor DavidWest arguments.

David-West’s Missing Points

First, the non-negotiability of sovereignty, as posited by Professor David-West, has been overtaken by several global developments. His arguments miss many relevant points and are at best untenable. They do not reflect the situational reality in contemporary international relations as the notion, conception, and concept of sovereignty have evolved over the years.

Secondly, the implication of his argument, that the sovereignty of Nigeria is not negotiable, implies that Nigeria is a sovereign state that has the necessary attributes to engage in international relations; that it will be illogical to suggest that Nigeria does not have international personality and responsibility; that sovereignty is abstract and cannot be an issue for debate; that Nigeria has been united or unionized eternally and cannot be disunited again whatever the situation; that the people in whom sovereignty resides will eternally remain the same, think the same and will not change in their attitudinal disposition; and most significantly, that the environmental conditionings of political governance in Nigeria will remain eternally constant. These are some of the deductive interpretations that underlie the thrust of Professor David-West’s argument, with which we do not agree, because a state and all it stands for cannot but remain and shaped by the whims and caprices of the people that enable its existence.

Thirdly, virtually all constitutions of modern states clearly admit that sovereignty belongs to the people. The Fifth French Republic Constitution of 1958, for instance, states that ‘sovereignty shall belong to the people who shall exercise it through their representatives and by means of referendum.’

This constitutional provision is a resultant of Jean Jacques Rousseau’s theory of sovereign power of which he said only the people are the bearers. He said sovereignty cannot be inherited or separated from the people. This clearly shows that state sovereignty is in itself delegated. If sovereignty resides in the people, it is only the people that can determine whether or not to negotiate it. Any pronouncement by the delegatee, his associates or agents claiming non-negotiability of sovereignty cannot but be wrong in believing that sovereignty can be stolen. To argue that sovereignty of Nigeria is not negotiable, both in terms of the physical unity and modus Vivendi cannot but be an attempt to steal and confiscate the authority of the people by fiat and manu militari.

Fourthly, the meanings of sovereignty as given by Professor David-West do not reckon with the fact that both in conception and conceptualization, sovereignty has internal and external dimensions. Externally, sovereignty means that there should not be any form of interference or intervention by another sovereign state in the exclusive domestic affairs of the country.

Thus, the function of sovereignty is to limit the power and interferences of other powers. In this regard, every sovereign exercises unlimited power to control the destiny of the country and its people. At this external level, sovereignty is a common issue that is regularly discussed and negotiated.

In fact, the most recent example is the dispute between China and Philippines over who has sovereignty over an island in the South China Sea. The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague has said that China’s claim to sovereignty is ‘ill founded’ (vide details of the report in The Nation of July 13, 2016, p.4). What is important to note here is that China has said she is not pretty bound by the ruling of the tribunal.

Even though the type of sovereignty involved in China’s relationship with the Philippines is territorial sovereignty, the object of contention at the level of David-West and Soyinka is State sovereignty. Again since the issue of non-negotiability is about sovereignty whatever its type, there is nothing so serious about sovereignty that it cannot always be negotiated as clearly shown in this Sino-Philippines case.

Internally, sovereignty means the highest level of authority. The issue at stake is not that the Federal Government or its head, PMB, is not the legitimate sovereign, holding the sovereignty on behalf of the people. Besides, the issue at stake is also not about how to dismantle Nigeria but how to make Nigeria live better, more functionally united, and well in order to avoid a possible disintegration. Thus, anything aimed at how to make Nigeria survive cannot but be negotiable by the people that delegated part of its sovereignty. The true sovereign is the people.

Fifthly, sovereignty can refer to authority in terms of policy making and control. It is the most important attribute of statehood.

(See the full article on www.thisdaylive.com)

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R • JULY 17, 2016

BUSINESS

Editor Festus Akanbi Email festus.akanbi@thisdaylive.com

QUICK TAKES Electricity Tarrif

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission has said it would uphold thecourtrulingmandatingittoreverse the 45 per cent increase in electricity tariffs across the country, six months after implementing the Multi Year Tariff Order 2, which brought about the hike in the tariffs. A Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos had reversed the 45 per cent increase in electricity tariffs by NERC and the Federal Government in a landmark judgment.

The court declared that the increase was illegal and ordered that it should be reversed immediately.

Thecourtheldthattheimplementation of the tariff hike constituted a violation of its interim order, and awarded N50,000 cost against NERC. Thisiscomingasthepowerdistribution companiessaidthattheyhadappealed against the Federal High Court ruling and filed for a stay of execution.

The Acting Chief Executive Officer, NERC, Dr. Tony Akah, disclosed that after consulting with his legal department, the commission resolved to comply fully with the judgment before considering any other option if necessary.

Increased VATProposed

Hope on the horizon for Nigerians as prices of food items are coming down

Slight Relief for Economy with Projected Decline in June Inflation Kunle Aderinokun

Economic Research analysts have projected a slight relief for the economy, forecasting a decline in the consumer price index (CPI), commonly called inflation, for June.

The analysts, whose work have just been released and made available to THISDAY are from the Economic Intelligence Group of Access Bank, DLM Asset Management Ltd and Financial Derivatives Company Ltd. The inflation as at May had risen significantly to 15.58 per cent from 13.7 per cent in April but analysts from Access Bank have forecast a drop in inflation to 15.4 per cent in June from 15.58 per cent while those from DLM and FDC projected a moderation to 15.53 per cent and 15.50 per cent respectively.

According to Access Bank analysts, “The Economic Intelligence Group forecasts inflation rate (year-on-year) to moderate downwards to 15.4 per cent in June 2016 from 15.6 per cent posted in May 2016. Our methodology adopts an autoregressive analysis of past prices, while it recognizes all the assumptions used by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in its computation of monthly composite consumer price index (CCPI).

They explained: “Our expectation for a downtick in inflation rate for the first time in 2016 is based on an anticipated downward movement in the food sub-index and core

ECONOMY sub-index.

“The slowdown in the pace of advance in the food sub-index would be driven by decline in the prices of food items such as rice, tomatoes, and vegetable oil on the back of availability of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) which may have aided transportation and distribution of these items.

“The core index should also descend marginally due to slight change in consumer behavior witnessed during the review period towards imported goods. Therefore, weak demand for imported items is expected in June as higher prices in the previous month may have caused cutbacks in consumption spending.”

However, the bank’s analysts cautioned that, “Our June inflation expectation of 15.4 per cent still leaves the real rate of return in negative territory.

“Yields in the fixed income market may start to trend downwards as inflation rate begins to descend.

There is almost a one-month lag relationship that exists between inflation and yields. This phenomenon is best seen looking at May’s rise in inflation rate to 15.6 per cent (from 13.7 per cent) and CBN’s primary market auction in June which showed treasury bills’ true yield for 91 day investment increase by over 200 basis points to 10.25 per cent per annum while the true

yield for 364 day investment rose by over 400 basis points to 17.63 per cent per annum in the previous auction.

Similarly, a lower inflation in June should lead to a reversal in yield trend at the next auction in July.

Also in their assessment on the headline inflation, analysts at DLM stated, “We estimate a marginal decline in headline inflation to 15.53 per cent year-on-year in June 2016; down by 5 basis points from 15.58 per cent recorded in the preceding month. This in our view will be Our expectation for a downtick in inflation rate for the first time in 2016 is based on an anticipated downward movement in the food sub-index and core sub-index

primarily driven by slower rises in the food index. Our model also shows a movement in the food and core sub-index to 204.3points and 196.3points respectively in June 2016. This translates into a food and core inflation of approximately 14.71 per cent and 15.06 per cent respectively. Inflationary pressures to subsist in the short term.”

They however added: “Whilst we note the respite expected in June inflation figures, we see the likelihood of upward price movements in the coming months given

structural constraints which in our view would not necessarily respond to monetary tightening. In our opinion, the need to stimulate investment and economic growth using fiscal policies cannot be over-emphasized. This would support employment, boost food production and prices will become more stable in the near term. Furthermore, we are of the view that the successful operation of the InterBank Foreign Exchange Market is crucial to easing some degree of inflationary pressure.”

Similarly, analysts at FDC posited that, “after an almost unstoppable rise in headline inflation to a record high, the economy may be entering an era of disinflation or declining rates of inflation. We are projecting inflation in June to drop from 15.6 per cent to 15.5 per cent. If this estimate turns out to be accurate, it will raise some fundamental questions as to the direction of inflation and possible level of interest rates in the money markets.

According to them, “Headline inflation in Nigeria had almost been a loose cannon, defying most rules of economic gravity and logic. The root cause of the near hyper inflation rate can be traced to supply shocks at-times attributable to artificial scarcity compounded by uncertainty in the forex markets.

The Big question therefore is whether this drop in inflation is a blip or a point of inflection.”

The Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission on Thursday called on the Federal Government to raise the rate of the Value Added Tax from the current five per cent to between 7.5 per cent and 10 per cent.

It said the need to increase the VAT rate was born out of the conviction that the nation could not continue to rely on oil revenue when it had other sources of raising funds to finance its activities.

The Chairman, RMAFC, Mr. Shettima Gana, who said this at a national revenue retreat, said the increase in VAT rate would help the government improve the country’s revenue base.

Gana, who spoke on strategies to expand the revenue base of the government and new sources of revenue generation, lamented that Nigeria’s current VAT rate of five per centwasoneofthelowestintheworld.

Backing his argument with statistics, the RMAFC boss said South Africa currently had a VAT rate of 14 per cent, whileTogo, Senegal, Guinea and Chad allcharged 18 per cent asVATon goods and services. Niger Republic, he added, had a VAT rate of 19 per cent, adding that the tax was a high revenue-yieldinginstrumentthatcould be used to raise funds to finance the expenditure of government.

Automotive Hub

As the federal government’s automotivepolicytakesshapeandpurchasing power increases, Nigeria is set to become Africa’s next automotive hub, a report by PwC Nigeria has revealed.

The report, which painted three possible growth scenarios, projected averagegrossdomesticproduct(GDP) growth of 6.6 per cent through to 2020, 5.1 per cent to 2030 and 5.4 percentto2050. Inthereport,growth in new car sales was assumed to run at twice GDP expansion on the basis of other large emerging markets such as Indonesia.

The report predicted a production of 4.16 million locally manufactured vehiclesin2050,463,000newvehicle imports and no second-hand imports (tokunbo). It also predicted a park of 40.4 million cars in 2050 including 18.3 million Nigerian used.

PwC’s estimates for 2015 have a park of 14.5 million vehicles, tokunbo imports of 335,000, new vehicle imports of 91,000 including the grey cross-border market and just 30,000 locally manufactured cars.

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R • JULY 17, 2016

BUSINESS/ENERGY

FG vs. PENGASSAN: How Truce was Reached

After some days of negotiations, the federal government was able to convince striking senior oil workers under the umbrella body, Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), to suspend their almost one-week nationwide strike against alleged unhealthy practices in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry. Chineme Okafor, who witnessed part of the negotiation processes, writes

O

n Wednesday, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) suspended its one-week nationwide strike with immediate effect, citing its satisfaction with the outcome of negotiations with the federal government on issues it said were affecting operations in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.

PENGASSAN had embarked on an indefinite strike on July 7, saying it was protesting against the government’s refusal to implement or even consider agreements it reached with it in the past on how certain actions and practices were preventing the country’s oil and gas sector from growing.

It listed these issues to include backlog of cash call arrears on Joint Venture operations dating back to 2014 and which the government has reportedly ignored.

The association said this had greatly hampered the ability of the joint venture partners with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to discharge their obligations both to the industry and their workers. They also alleged that it contributed to the mass layoffs in the industry by operators.

Other issues that motivated the association’s strike included the poor state of the country’s four refineries in Warri; Port Harcourt and Kaduna, as well as alleged massive waste of resources on turnaround maintenance (TAM) for the refineries; continued importation of petroleum products; on-going industry reforms and NNPC restructuring as well as the politicisation of the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) whose legislative consideration has remained inconclusive since it was introduced.

But announcing the suspension at the end of its National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Abuja, the oil workers union said the NEC was called to review offers made by government during days of its negotiations both at the ministry of petroleum resources and labour and employment.

First, the union met with the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, and the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, at the instance of Kachikwu, and where majority of the issues for dialogue were ironed out, before another one with Ngige at his office where an agreement on the last outstanding issue was then reached.

In announcing its suspension of the strike, President of the association, Johnson Olabode, said at the end of the NEC meeting that extensive deliberation on their requests was done with government’s representative after which it took the new position.

“NEC met to appraise the industrial action after an extensive debate with the representatives of the federal government and the following provisions were reached.

“NEC in session in conciliation of the issues during the meeting with the federal government has accepted to show understanding.

“NEC in session, in the spirit of patriotism has been satisfied with the outcome of the meeting with the federal government thereby suspending the current nationwide industrial action effective immediately,” Olabode said.

He further asked its member workers to get

L-R: Kachikwu, Ngige and Enang at the PENGASSAN-FG Meeting in Abuja

back to their respective operational bases, having extracted from the government a commitment to address its requests.

How the Negotiations Went Even though parties in the negotiation failed to disclose the content of what they agreed on the negotiation tables, Ngige in his response to questions from reporters after the first meeting at the ministry of petroleum resources, said the government expected the unions to take a reasonable position, having addressed their sundry complaints.

He noted that all but one of the issues which bordered on alleged unfair labour practices by some of the oil companies was resolved and that a resolution will be reached on the outstanding issue when the dialogue resumed in his office the following day.

“We had a wonderful meeting, a good meeting and we provided PENGASSAN the information on the various issues that needed clarification.”

“The issues as you know, range from JV cash call, they felt that because the federal government has not paid, it is making the IOCs not to invest more and closing down and laying off workers.

“We looked at the issue of collective bargaining agreement reached on their condition of services for their various agencies and it was also addressed. The remaining portion of that area we will give a timeline for it to be addressed.

“We looked at IPPIS and a committee is sitting on it now to know which of agencies under the purview of the oil industry that can benefit on such waiver. The agencies that fall under it will be captured,” said

PENGASSAN President Francis Johnson

Ngige.

He further stated: “We only have one matter outstanding and that will be addressed tomorrow because the IOCs are not here.

A lot of the companies have undertaken by their (PENGASSAN) own allegations, unfair labour practices: laying people off without going through the normal clause in the Labour Acts, and even rusticating people who are officers of their union because they undertake labour acts, we felt it is unjust and that meeting will continue tomorrow in my office.”

He said on PENGASSAN’s position on

the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB): “The Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters, Senator Enang, gave us proper elucidation on where the bill stands today, everybody was satisfied and we now fashioned out a roadmap on how to get it out so that it will address some major burning issues.”

“Tomorrow, we expect PENGASSAN to brief their NEC in session and after that they will tell Nigeria what they think.

“This meeting is not inclusive and that was our timetable and they know. The IOCs are not here today because we did not invite them and we envisaged that this meeting will be long that is why we asked the IOCs that were involved to come tomorrow for the industrial relations issues,” Ngige added.

On his part, Kachikwu who provided a scanty disclosure of what was agreed at the meeting in his office said: “The meetings were collaborative. They were deliberate and frank and in most of the key areas, I think we had a collaborative landing. All the issues that we planned to handle today, we reached conclusions but one singular item we said from point one we will handle tomorrow because they involved third party but the relationship was cordial in terms of solutions.”

As disclosed by Ngige, the meeting moved from the petroleum ministry to his ministry from where the outstanding issue on employment practices was resolved.

While no official statement on what the parties agreed on this issue, THISDAY, however, gathered that PENGASSAN could not have suspended the strike had it not extracted a favourable commitment from the other parties on this.

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R • JULY 17, 2016

21

THE BANKING SERIES

Dozie

PHOTOS: IBRAHIM ADEWALE

DIAMOND’S CHIEF SPARKLING OFFICER!

Dozie: Our Retail Strategy Gives Us an Edge over Competition

On one of the floors in the PGD’s Place headquarters of Diamond Bank PLC in Lekki sits the rectangle-shaped office of the Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer. The tinted window blinds cozied up the room, creating an ambience of a good mix of comfort and workplace. Wearing a white shirt on fitted black trousers, with his jacket neatly hanging on a coat rack standing just a few inches from his desk, Uzoma Dozie cuts the image of a simple but vibrant, knowledgeable and articulate business leader. Even though he heads one of Nigeria’s fastest growing banks, there are no airs around him. A warm personality, Dozie picks his calls by himself, even if from an unknown number - a habit uncommon with several of his peers. ‘I pick all my calls because I don’t know where opportunities would come from”, he said while explaining what has become a habit.

With a banking career spanning over two decades - close to a decade of which was spent as executive director across various roles and strategic business units including Credit and Marketing, Strategic Planning, Financial Control, Corporate Banking and Retail Banking – Dozie is no doubt a seasoned banker. The Diamond Bank helmsman also has a very rich resume. He graduated in 1991 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from the University of Reading, England and obtained a Master of Science degree in Chemical Research from University College, London in 1992. A year later, he started his banking career in Guaranty Trust Bank PLC, where he worked in the Commercial Banking Unit, before moving to Citizens International Bank Limited, where he worked in the Oil and Gas Division. He joined Diamond Bank PLC in 1998 as an Assistant Manager

22

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R • JULY 17, 2016

THE BANKING SERIES

DOZIE: OUR RETAIL STRATEGY GIVES US AN EDGE OVER COMPETITION and Head of the Bank’s Oil and Gas Group during which he expanded the bank’s Oil and Gas businesses.

He also served as the bank’s Financial Controller, its Chief Financial Officer, and later its Deputy Managing Director. In the course of his professional career, he attended the Imperial College Management School, London, where he obtained an MBA with specialisation in Finance. Dozie also spent time with the Amalgamated Bank of South Africa (ABSA), where he was exposed to the rudiments of Retail Banking and Wealth Management, Organizational Behaviour and Human Resources Management – a rewarding experience that led to the setting up of the Personal Banking Group with focus on offering propositions to the Affluent and Mass Market customer segments (Retail Business) upon his return home.

Presiding over the affairs of a major player in the banking industry at a time of financial turbulence - caused by the fall in oil prices, recent withdrawal of about N3 trillion government funds from the banking system following the introduction of Treasury Single Account (TSA) policy of the federal government, regulatory headwinds and loan impairments that have eroded profits - could be challenging.

In his office from where he directs the affairs of the bank and where he has been serving as the driving force behind the bank’s market leadership in the Nigerian Retail Banking space, Dozie fielded questions from Tokunbo Adedoja, Kunle Aderinokun and Abiodun Eromosele on how the bank has employed a robust retail strategy to stay ahead of competition and its contributions to the growth of several sectors of the Nigerian economy.

He also spoke on the future of banking in the country

W

ith the economic down turn, what kind of strategies are you adopting to ensure that you stay afloat?

Let me take you back to when we started 25 years ago. We started on two premises. We just got a licence, there were old generation banks then, and new generation banks were coming up, like Guaranty Trust Bank, Diamond Bank and a few others. For us, we were looking at which segment of the market is not been served appropriately and what we can do to enter there and provide service. It was the traders, the middle market, the traders who were moving goods from Lagos to the East and the East to the North and vice versa. They were moving the goods with cash. They take physical cash and go and buy the goods. For us, what we said was that how can we provide service for them in a different manner. There was technology available and Diamond Bank spent 80 per cent of its capital on deploying a state of the art banking solution. It enabled us to be online real time then. So people will pay money into the account by cheque or by cash and they will travel down to where they were buying or selling goods and do their transactions, make the payment into Diamond bank and move on. Diamond Bank did not follow the traditional pattern of branch expansion where banks

opened in Lagos and start moving out of Lagos.

We opened in Lagos, then Aba, then Kano, we were following the trade routes. We followed suppliers and distributors to open accounts.

We were providing a service that all the other banks were not providing. All the other banks were focused on corporate businesses and government businesses. For us, that route to the middle market allowed us to enter the corporate market much quicker as a new generation bank than most other banks. In those days, there were either cash or cheque books.

Clearing days for cheques was five days; it means that if a distributor pays money into a corporate account, it will take five days to get it. We found out that most of the middle market businesses were paying Diamond Bank cheques into their banking account. If they open their accounts in Diamond Bank, it means that they will get value immediately as opposed to five working days. Our move into that space was much faster. We got in there much quicker through our relationship with small businesses. Secondly, we started lending to this space which no one was doing. We understood the cash flows; they were putting their monies with us digitally. We could lend to them because we understood their cash flows. We followed our customers to the WAMU region. We did so because there was a lot of trade between Nigeria and Benin Republic. Twenty five years later, we are coming back to what we know

Cont’d from Pg. 21

Dozie

best, we are deploying a retail strategy and financial inclusion strategy. We are using the retail strategy even with our corporate clients.

We know that lending to corporate clients is a…., now with the development in the market; it also means that the corporate clients can raise money by themselves via commercial papers.

Just like it used to happen in 1993, 1994 they get it cheaper and pay high interest to people than they will get for bank deposit. So, we know that that is not a sustainable business model for us. What a sustainable business model for us is how to partner with our corporate clients to help them move their goods and services, help them sell it to businesses.

How do we help them improve their cash circles just as we did before? The new way to do that is by helping them digitalize their value chain. This means that all cash payments from distributors, how to develop the distributor to give them point of sale or enable them pay electronically and pay their suppliers on time. When you digitalize that value chain, money is faster; you get more information from the customers. 90 per cent of my payments are digital because in Diamond Bank, our staff don’t use cheque books anymore, they either use their mobile payments or ATM. So it means that if someone has paid through me for two years, I have an idea if he is single or married, whether their children are in Nigeria or abroad because you can see that from their statements.

So that is where we are moving to as a bank.

This has made us the biggest mobile financial service. We have about 8million people who use mobile banking to do their transactions.

Five million from the Diamond Y’ello space, 1.2 million from our core business and 300,000 from our market women. It means that our deposit base is predominantly from individuals and small businesses. It is their working capital, and working capital is monies they cannot put in savings, they need it for their business.

From a liquidity perspective, we have always been very liquid. Before the new currency regulation, we had 50 per cent liquidity and that is because our customers can access their monies 24/7. Part of customer’s decision making when it comes to putting their monies in a bank is whether they can get the money at anytime at anywhere. People will always put their monies where they can access it at anytime, and that is what Diamond Bank provides. From a liquidity perspective, we are very liquid because our deposit base is 75 per cent low cost deposit and 60 per cent of that are our retail customers. It is cost effective and diversified.

Our fixed deposit is minimal. So our need for expensive fix deposit is very minimal. Some of our customers complain that we don’t give high interest rate; we don’t do so because we don’t have to. From a capital perspective, we are strong as a systematically important bank.

We are above the 15 per cent threshold. In this kind of turbulent environment, liquidity is very important. Capital is second. If you do not have liquidity to meet your day-to-day obligations, there will be a run on the bank and your capital cannot save you. Capital helps you absorb the shocks from losses on lending.

Nigeria is one of the highest in the world in terms of capital requirements. So, it poses a lot of challenge for us, we are supposed to be enablers of economic growth in the country.

Regardless of that, you want us to stimulate credit into that environment that is most risky, especially with limited capital. Because of the structures we have on ground and the models we are working on, lending in the retail space is less risky than lending to big business-taking N5 billion to one business. We have been in this business for twenty five years; we know how we started when we banked in the middle market, no concentration in a particular area. In times of economic challenges, if your customer base is diversified, you will have a hedged portfolio. For us, we want to lend to multiple segments, multiple people in multiple areas and you can only do that if you have retail structure. You cannot do that in power sector, oil sector or manufacturing. The only way you can get that diversity is when you go lower down the pyramid. We believe we can serve the corporate segment, the middle market and the unbanked, using a retail strategy. For the corporate clients like Dangote, Nigerian Breweries, they are all in the retail strategy, they are serving retail customers. So they understand retail, we understand their business and their logistics, distributions and cash flows. So, when we have a conversation with our corporate clients, we talk about the business model, where the customers’ preferences are and the customers” changing lifestyle.

For example if I talk to a customer of a fast moving consumer goods company or Telco, I know that there business model will change because of people like my children. For my kids, it is not voice that they are interested in, it is data. If they don’t come up with data models, very soon those people are going to look for other providers. Voice is just secondary, data is now the primary. Nigerian Breweries sells to distributors and distributors sell to the

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R • JULY 17, 2016

THE BANKING SERIES

‘IT TOOK US 22 1/2YEARS TO REACH 5M CUSTOMERS AND 2YEARS TO DOUBLE THAT NUMBER’

Cont’d from Pg. 22

Dozie

end users. Nigerian Breweries do not actually have an idea of what the customers wants, they rely on its distributors to give them feedback. What we are doing as a bank is that if our customers are paying electronically and I know exactly where they are spending the money, what time of the day, which area in Nigeria. That information is useful for a company to determine it resource allocation, it product mix and who is actually consuming it products. When you have 1.2 million customers using mobile banking, there is something that you get. These people are using different devices and networks to access data, it means that I can go to MTN and tell them the customer base using their services. Our competition is banks and companies that have a large customer base. If you look at Diamond Bank 25 years till date, you will notice that our last rebranding was optimization of our brands.

We know that banking is not what people go to anymore, it is what should be done extensively. Today, Diamond Bank is a platform for which banking is just an aspect. For any segment that we are in, we are going beyond banking.

This is so because if it is just banking services you are offering, you will die very quickly. In our financial inclusion segment like Diamond Y’ello, we are going beyond banking by doing payment of utility bills. The MSME space is key to Nigerian growth. There are 17 million people unbanked, financial services is not the problem its just 30 per cent of the problem.

There are financial advisory services issues, access to market and that is key. Currently, there is over a N1 trillion available to small businesses in different areas. The Central Bank alone has N300 billion available for that space. We are working with partners from the IFC in different segments who have millions of dollars available to these people to lend to them. You have to be in a state of readiness as a small business to accept that money. So, it means there must be capacity building, infrastructure available and a business plan that says the business is sustainable. So not only have we provided the finances, we have also partnered with institutions like Lagos Business School so as to provide that capacity building. We try to create access to market for people. So we have to move our small business owners to digital because you cannot do business if you are not digital enabled. So we have to decide on how to collect payments. Is it cash or electronic? How do you create market awareness? Is it by fliers?

Are you using over-the-counter easy to use or digital media? Are you getting information about your customers? Information for us is the basis of competition for the future. How much information do you know about your customers?

What are their names? Who are their children?

When is their birthday and what creative ways do you collect that information? I went to England and I bought some accessories and the woman said to me that she could give me a paper receipt or get my email address and send the receipt to me and in that receipt, there is insurance for one year. Some people often misplace paper receipt, even before they get home. The company is doing three things, they are collecting data about the person so that can send him information later, they are saving cost because they are not printing and they are creating a customer experience. These three things are very powerful and it is repeat business that makes a difference between a business that is good and one that is not. So, that is the kind of thing that we are trying to imbibe in our business and help our customers put into their own business. For us it is not how big our balance sheet size is, size for us is important but it depends on the quality of the size. For us the key determining factors of our success are the number of active customers that we have in our business. If we have 20 million active customers that you know their lifestyle, their preferences and needs, it is important.

Like you mentioned, banks are the engines of growth in any economy, what is the contribution of Diamond Bank to the development of other sectors of the Nigerian economy?

Fantastic! We are in 300 locations in Nigeria, providing direct and indirect employment.

Secondly, we have over 11 million customers that we are serving, six million on mobile and five million traditionally. We are not just providing banking services for people. We are also showing people better ways of doing things. We have brought over one million people that were unbanked into the banking space in the last two years. So, it means that we have improved their way of doing business. One of them is the BETA Proposition; it is a collaboration between Diamond Bank and women world banking, where we provide better financial services for people in the market space. Most women do not have time to come to the bank because of the nature of their businesses so they have

to rely on ‘Ajo’ (thrift), but in this is that the risks are high and there are uncertainties. So in line with our beyond banking philosophy, we decided to take the bank to them. So, we did this on the mobile phone. We built a banking solution around them which was centered on their mobile phone. We added a new layer of bankers, which are called better bankers who were HND holders. They did the work of the ‘ajo’ and the only difference was that they went to the market women and did their jobs for them using the mobile phones. They were given a banking card and we had their identities. Anytime they give them money, they get a credit in their accounts. So, when they want to withdraw money, the person goes to them and they give them cash from their account and it is keyed into the system and the women get the notification of

We expect 10 per cent growth of deposit in 2017 and we are in line to achieve it. We think that the nonperforming loans will be in line with the expectations and not to the detriment of our capital and we also think that operating income will be buoyant because we are serving a large base of customers. We have multiple products and services that people are buying into. We do not expect a disappointing Q2.

cash withdrawal and she knows her balance. In two years, 330,000 market people have signed up with balances in excess of N4 billion. In an average balance of account, it is actually higher than our savings account holders. The fact that you were not in financial inclusion does not mean that you are poor; it just means that the services that existed were not convenient for your lifestyle. In a small business space, we provide education. For us, the success of any bank is the value of the customers that you have. If I am going to lend to small businesses, I have to educate them on financial discipline and help them sustain their businesses. We have over 400,000 small businesses in our book, we charge you a fix fee every month regardless of your turnover. This means we will lend to you, we will also give you an opportunity to access our financial opportunities. We partner with EDC where we ask people to enter into a competition where they come up with their business plans. Last year, we had about 5,000 entries, which was shortlisted to 500 people and finally we selected 50 who went into training for three months and it was shortlisted down to 10 and the last five got a grant of N3 million to further their businesses and if they reach certain level, another N2 million is added over time.

We have trained over 100,000 people through this avenue. We have conferences across the country where we get successful small businesses who come and give lectures to people on how to improve their businesses and they just pay a token of N1,000 and the place is often full.

People want to learn about how to succeed.

We provide technology to ease transactions and that is where Diamond bank is stronger.

We know that with technology, we can reach more people as we have done with our mobile banking. In 25 years, it took us twenty two and half years to reach 5 million customers and two years to double that number and that was with the help of technology. One of the things we are doing is that our Diamond TV is another access point for customers to access content to help them. If they have questions, there are avenues for customers to ask questions on how to go about their transactions or access market. Why our contribution is critical is because in any developed economy, 70 per cent of employments are in small businesses, in Nigeria, 80 per cent of employment is the government, it is not a sustainable model. So, we know that the small business market is the engine of growth in Nigeria, so if we focus on

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R • JULY 17, 2016

THE BANKING SERIES

‘FOR US, THE SUCCESS OF ANY BANK IS THE VALUE OF THE CUSTOMERS THAT YOU HAVE’

Cont’d from Pg. 23

providing and developing service for that area, we are going far and beyond in contributing to the economy. That space is not enough to create the employment that is required to sustain the country. So, if more banks are in that space, then as a banking sector, we will be contributing to the growth of the country.

The profit warnings that banks announced earlier in the year rattled the capital market, what can investors expect from your bank in Q2?

Market is very tough right now and Nigeria is import and oil dependent at the moment and we are trying to diversify. So, if you look at Diamond bank, business portion of our customer base depend on foreign currency, which has been scarce, that is also a driver of risk asset, a driver of income. That also reinforces our strategy of going into the retail space. What we expect to see from our approach is that in liquidity perspective, we will be better in Q2 because our deposit base is growing, we have been acquiring new customers despite the challenges, we have a diversified customer segment base from the bottom of the pyramid, to individuals, to small business space. That is going to continue to grow. Risk asset will be flat, retail lending is small because we can lend to one thousand people N50 million compare to lending N2 billion to just one customer and because retail loans are small sizes and duration is shorter, we are doing salary and pay day loans. So, those come and go. What that does is that it impacts your profit line because you are generating fees. We expect 10 per cent growth of deposit in 2017 and we are in line to achieve it. We think that the nonperforming loans will be in line with the expectations and not to the detriment of our capital and we also think that operating income will be buoyant because we are serving a large base of customers. We have multiple products and services that people are buying into. We do not expect a disappointing Q2.

Following the recent action taken by CBN in a tier 2 bank, there are strong indications that banks will soon embark on massive capital raising exercise. Given the situation at the capital market in the moment, how feasible is this?

It is very challenging to raise capital anywhere in the world right now, not just Nigeria. You only have to look at what is happening in England where they are having challenges from a capital perspective. The business model from a country’s perspective has changed, there are a lot of uncertainties and when there are uncertainties, no body starts doling out capital.

It is very challenging. In that type of situation, you look at the capital management perspective.

How do I utilize my capital more efficiently?

What are the things I will have and what can I forgo and that is the model Diamond Bank is taking and the beauty of that for us is that when we look at it from a capital utilization perspective, we need to manage risk asset portfolio, be close to customers, engage them and make sure you can minimize deterioration of your loan book. For us, when it comes to foot print expansion, we do not have that problem anymore. We have 300 branches and we believe that is enough and the next phase is how do we now engage with the community and that is part of our contribution. We already have up to 24 thousand agents who are Diamond Y’ello products, so we are providing more economic potentials from 24 thousand existing businesses to add income by providing cash-in and cashout banking services. So, we are expanding our footprint through already existing infrastructures and we know that the role of branches will completely change for the next five years. In other parts of the world, when people travel, they do not need to go to a travel agent, they just go online, but that is not the case in Nigeria.

Soon, our branches will change, it is not going to be over the counter transactions, and it is going to be more of advisory services, a place to network, and a place to collaborate. If you go to our new branches today, you will see that the look, feel and design are completely different from what it was.

What are the statistics that put you ahead of your peers?

I look at it from the kind of business I am running and where I am going to. We are in the retail business and we are building a business for the future, which is determining how many customers you can bring under your book, how you can sell them in a cost effective manner and how you can create the best customer experience.

For us, we have over 7 million people using

Dozie

mobile, as a way of doing business in Nigeria, I do not think any bank has that number in Nigeria. It means my cost of funding must be one of the lowest in the industry. It also means that my sources of income should be diversified as well. If you look at Diamond Bank’s operating income from a size perspective, it means our operating income is comparable to tier one banks. We have created a diversified money making machines, so we do not want to rely on the corporate banking system for generation of income, we want to generate our income from a systematically aligned infrastructure, which is connecting corporate to distribution to the end users because we know that money flows from government down to the grassroots. So, we are building a system that captures enough data by coming up with a business model that is appealing to all those businesses.

So, I understand what my corporate clients needs really are, beyond banking needs and I can build services for them around that and I know what my small businesses need just like what we did by coming up with Diamond integrated banking system. We can come up with solutions for them.

We work very strongly with Microsoft because we know technology is going to be key for businesses. We know people’s lifestyle, so we look at how we can partner and work with them so we can come up with the complete value proposition that makes sense. We do this across all our banking chain.

We have 1.2 million customers in our Diamond mobile, 25 years ago anyone when a bank wanted to do 100,000 transactions they must all come to the bank. It is not so anymore.

Today, millions of our customers are doing more transactions because our uptime is always high, our mobile application is strong. Recently, the Cable News Network (CNN) featured two mobile applications when they did a story on mobile banking and only two mobile banking applications featured, that of Barclays Bank, which is one of the biggest in the world and Diamond Bank’s mobile application.

The thing about it is that where innovation in banking is coming from now is actually in Africa. And with that innovation, we are looking for how to get people that are in disparate areas into banking. It’s only technology that can do it and it has to be digital and it is only in Africa where you have the highest apart from India and China where you have the highest competition of displaced unbanked people in the world.

So that innovation is actually centred around here, East Africa with Kenya and Nigeria, which

have the biggest opportunity because we have a 180 million people of which 90 million is bankable, which is bigger than any country is Africa.

As you know, Banks are in a safe mode and are not lending. The question then will be as an industry where will the profits come from when you don’t lend?

Banks are in safe mode but we are lending.

Our challenge now is to ask what people come to bank to do and provide different solutions.

Once every quarter I go into a branch and do

Diamond Bank did not follow the traditional pattern of branch expansion where banks opened in Lagos and start moving out of Lagos. We opened in Lagos, then Aba, then Kano, we were following the trade routes.

We followed suppliers and distributors to open accounts. We were providing a service that all the other banks were not providing. All the other banks were focused on corporate businesses and government businesses.

For us, that route to the middle market allowed us to enter the corporate market much quicker as a new generation bank than most other banks

teller work for a couple of hours. One of those times I met a pensioner who told me he came to the bank because he had nothing else to do for that day. People have a choice as to how they do banking transactions. But when you relate that with lending, how do the customers borrow?

They come to the branch. What we have done is to bring technology to revolutionalise the process so that when a customer comes into a branch and says he wants to borrow; when his details are imputed, it initiates the transaction. We are trying to remove the inconveniences of coming to the bank for everything. As banks in Nigeria we have not developed an infrastructure to help people that we say we want to lend to, the small business like the retail people to make it easier for them. It is only for the corporate banking clients that it’s easy. But for those people we say that this is the future of Nigeria, this is where we need to grow, what infrastructure have we put apart from the branch? So what we are doing now is that we have started our internet banking, we are moving with our ATM, we are moving to our mobile phone. So now if you want to borrow money and you are eligible, you can do it in a very convenient fashion. So we are on safe mode from the commercial sector, but where we are not in safe mode is in that retail space. So for us, what is the challenge?

The challenge is how we impact their lives in a manner not to put our shareholders and our depositors’ funds at risk.

Having put the structures you talked about in place, where do you see Diamond Bank say in five years?

First of all, I Know that Diamond Bank is now an organisation not just a bank. In that time I believe we will have over 20 million customers and provide services that will impact their lives. And in doing banking services it will be educational and value addition. We will be doing with our educational services, where we are educating people and it will be life improving.

So for us in Diamond Bank, one of the key areas for us is, we can’t be profitable if our customers are not in good shape or if we don’t have a society of people that are empowered.

We need people that are educated to actually drive our business. We need customers that are successful so that we generate income. So for us one of the key areas where we believe there is an opportunity is education. We will invest in education and go beyond banking.

Ours is going to be a collaborative one where we will be working with key organisations to add value to people’s lives.

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R • JULY 17, 2016

BUSINESS/MARITIME

An Amazon Takes Driver Seat in NPA

As Hadiza Bala-Usman takes over as the new boss of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), industry stakeholders highlight the challenges and way forward for the authority and industry. Francis Ugwoke reports

A

bout six days ago, the federal government announced the appointment of Hajia Hadiza Bala-Usman as the new managing director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA). For the maritime industry stakeholders, the timing of the appointment was certainly not a surprise. Stakeholders had expected it for obvious reasons. First, it is common for any new administration to make changes where necessary. Secondly, stakeholders were of the opinion that the NPA had derailed for a long time and there was a need for change.

However, what was a bit of surprise was the appointment of a young woman who is seen as having no industry background to head a major organisation like NPA and the sack of all the executive directors and appointment of new ones to replace them.

foreign exchange from the black market and this has reduced the level of trade and also affected every agency of government collecting revenue at the ports. The terminal operators and multinational shipping agencies are not left out. Industry stakeholders believe that for the new MD, bold efforts must be made to recover some of the money being owed by the NNPC and indeed some terminal operators in lease fees and others.

Brief on Bala-Usman From records available, the new NPA managing director is a vibrant and intelligent personality.

She was part of the Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) campaign for the return of the over 200 girls that were abducted by the Boko Haram insurgents in Borno over two years ago.

Born on January 2, 1976 in Zaria, Kaduna State, she holds a B.Sc. Business Administration from Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria and a Postgraduate in Development Studies from University of Leeds, UK in 2009. Bala-Usman worked with the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) from July 2000 to August 2004 as Enterprise Officer. She also worked with the UNDP in the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) and from October 2004 to January 2008, she was Special Assistant to the Minister on Project Implementation. She was Director of Strategy of Good Governance Group, from 2011 to 2015 in a Non-Governmental Organisation co-founded by the Governor of Kaduna State, Ahmed el Rufai. Until her appointment, she was el-Rufai’s Chief of Staff.

Tasks Ahead Away from the past job in Kaduna state, the new managing director has a more serious job to do in Lagos. This is even more so with so much expectation that the maritime industry is the hope for realising as much as what is needed in funding the national economy. NPA is a big organisation and its annual budget is more than the budget of many state governments. It is a revenue spinner if well managed and this explains why many would want to work there. On the new task for Bala-Usman, she will come face to face with maritime industry issues bordering on technical regulation of terminal operators, infrastructure rehabilitation, channel management, road network rehabilitation within the ports environment, among others. After the ports were concessioned exactly 10 years ago , NPA was left with the statutory responsibility of ownership and administration of land and water within port limits; planning and development of port operational infrastructure; leasing and concession of port infrastructure and setting benchmark for tariff structure; nautical/harbour operations and hydrographic survey; marine incidents and pollution; maintenance of safety and security at the common user areas and monitoring of operations and enforcement of relevant sections of respective agreements.

For some years now, many in the maritime industry believe that the NPA has not performed its statutory duty well. At a point, it did not appear that anybody in the industry knew the direction the NPA was heading in this national assignment. Everything appeared to have come to a standstill. The situation was worsened when the former administration fired Habib Abdullahi and brought in Sanusi Ado Bayero, a royal prince from Kano, in what was simply seen as a political move. The appointment only lasted few months and Abdullahi was again recalled. But many believe that Abdullahi came back without adding any noticeable value. It was the same docility as industry watchers would say. Perhaps the only identifiable project carried out by the NPA in the past few years was the rehabilitation of its head office in Marina. Many economic projects were put on hold, including those of the deep seaports in Lekki, Cross River, Badagry.

Even the state of the Calabar port dredging project which contract was awarded over 10 years ago is not clear now after the contractor had allegedly collected about N20 billion as at two years ago. As at the time of filing this report, a source in NPA said only a portion of the job was done. The channel stretches 84 nautical miles to the high sea. President of the

Bala-Usman

Nigerian Shippers Association, Cross River State chapter, Mr. Mike Ogodo, was last year quoted to have lamented that the contract had been awarded three times in the past three decades.

The former administration had flagged off the project two years ago. Perhaps what can easily be noticed is the failure of the NPA to carry out effective road network rehabilitation within the ports environment throughout the country. Apart from Lagos, it is the same in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, among others. Last year, terminal operators had complained that this problem was affecting ports operation.

Industry stakeholders point out that among the task for the new MD is to study the report of a ministerial committee released last year, which membership was drawn from the Transport Ministry, NPA, BPE and Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC). The committee, in its report, said that while some progress have been made in the port reform exercise, the critical issue of reducing cost by 50 per cent has not been possible. The committee said the NPA must live up to expectations in its statutory obligations, such as in the area of dredging, maintenance of common user facilities, access to utilities, maritime services, navigational facilities and quay wall and aprons. The committee while noting its efforts in the past charged the landlord to intensify efforts in this regard as government representative.

The committee’s report also showed that some terminal operators had complained that NPA had not been carrying out regular dredging of berths/channels of their terminals in line with the advertised depth. They said this has in turn affected the bigger ships that call at the ports. Some of the terminal operators had equally accused the NPA of not showing effectiveness in the removal of some of the wrecks on the waters. However, the NPA had in turn complained about the non-payment of penalties by port operators for failing to meet projected Guaranteed Minimum Tonnage (GMT)/unilateral application of incentives by those who exceeded their GMT. It was learnt that 80 per cent of the terminal operators had refused to pay the penalty for failing to meet up their projected GMT. Some of the operators that exceeded their projected GMT were said to have unilaterally applied the incentives while some ignored it without recourse to NPA. Revenue Generation The new chief executive is coming to inherit the

annual target of N500 billion set by the Transport minister some months ago. Amaechi had set the target for mainly NPA and Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA. Although, this is clearly unrealistic because of the policies of government that have stifled international trade, many interpreted that what the minister was expecting is an improvement on what he met on ground. Some stakeholders had even told him that the sector could comfortably finance the entire nation’s budget with at least N7 trillion revenue every year. But this is impossible with the current low traffic at the ports occasioned by foreign exchange policy that has thrown many importers out of business. The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), which revenue target for this year is close to N1.2trillion from every indication will only be lucky if it gets as much as half of that target.

Already, the Comptroller-General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ali (rtd), has raised alarm to this effect. The ports sector is suffering economic crisis as a result of the foreign exchange regime that denied at least importers of 41 items from benefitting from official foreign exchange from the banks. Those importers have to source their

On the new task for Bala-Usman, she will come face to face with maritime industry issues bordering on technical regulation of terminal operators, infrastructure rehabilitation, channel management, road network rehabilitation within the ports environment, among others

Agenda Setting by Stakeholders For the stakeholders in the industry, the new managing director has a lot of task ahead of her.

They urge her to be full of determination and political will to do what the industry expects as far as the statutory obligations of the NPA are concerned. A former General Manager, with the NPA, who pleaded anonymity, said the new helmsman should focus on what has become the core mandate of the organisation after the reform exercise and ensure that the authority excels in those areas. He identified continuous maintenance, dredging on daily basis and quay walls and aprons for easy navigation of vessels.

He also said the Bala-Usman-led administration must promote capacity building among staff as well improve on the automation programme of the authority to make services faster and easier.

President of the National Council of Managing Directors of Customs Agents, NCMDCA, Mr Lucky Amiwero, while noting that the former leadership of the NPA had been docile, said Bala-Usman needed to improve on the access roads to the ports and other infrastructure that will make the ports more efficient. Amiwero said this will make the ports compete with those of the neighbouring ports of Cotonou, Ghana and others within the West and Central African sub-region. He also said the NPA leadership should pursue the passage of the Ports & Harbour Bill now before the National Assembly. In their reaction to the appointment of the new MD, the Spokesman, Seaport Terminal Operators Association of Nigeria, Mr. Bolaji Akinola, said it was a good development. Akinola also joined others in advising the new MD to focus on rehabilitating the “ port access roads and reversal of certain policies that are not friendly to our ports.” He added, “We will also urge the new MD to work with the Nigeria Customs Service, the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Ministry of Finance to review policies that have taken cargoes away from our ports. The policies include the National Automotive Policy, the fish quota system, the hike in rice import duty and the CBN policy which excludes 41 items from accessing foreign exchange through the official window.”

He added, “We are confident that she will do well. Her experience at the BPE and as Chief of Staff to the governor of Kaduna State will certainly come handy in the discharge of her responsibilities at NPA. We want to assure her of terminal operators’ maximum support and cooperation.” President of the League of Maritime Editors and Publishers, Mr Ovie Edeomi, also said that part of the rehabilitation of the ports access road should include an expansion since 85 per cent of the goods that come through the country were through the seaports. Edeomi also said the entire infrastructure in all the concessioned ports need to be improved in line with the concession agreement. According to him, some concessionaires make money without commensurate infrastructural development.

Noting that there is an existing ban on private jetties, Edeomi called on the new chief executive to work on getting the federal government to unban the use of private jetties for proper security scrutiny and revenue generation from there.

With activities in 275 jetties, he said the NPA will realise revenue from the jetties. In so doing, he said the authority should reactivate the Warri and Koko ports for economic dividends. Former President of National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders, Dr. Eugene Nweke, simply advised the new NPA boss to borrow a leaf from the Director –General of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, Dr. Dakuku Peterside.

Nweke said Bala-Usman should call for a stakeholders’ summit where a roadmap would be drawn on the way forward for NPA as far as the ports industry is concerned. Having done this, she should go ahead with a management retreat where the inputs of the stakeholders would be subjected to debate and thereafter the release of a work plan or blueprint on the authority.

Nweke advised that Bala-Usman should do this before embarking on the traditional tour of facilities round the NPA establishments or ports.

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R • JULY 17, 2016

BUSINESS/ECONOMY

Market women waiting for customers to patronise them

FG Moves to Reflate Economy with Capital Vote Injection... but Where is the Beef?

James Emejo in Abuja

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etermined to halt a lull in the economy, caused by falling oil prices - leading to a dip in oil revenue and a weakened Naira - the Federal Government recently announced that it had released N235.9 billion of the capital vote in this year’s budget.

No doubt, the delay by the National Assembly in passing the 2016 budget has had far-reaching impact on the economy.

The country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) recorded a negative growth rate in the first quarter of the year while unemployment rate also rose in the same period.

Also, the country’s foreign trade further dipped in the first quarter, posting a negative balance.

Nigeria’s economic woes had been compounded by rising inflation amid higher cost of funds, a situation that has constrained the growth of the real sector.

Meanwhile, the dismal economic performance had largely been blamed on the unfortunate politicisation of the 2016 budget, leading to historic delay in its passage and halting virtually all economic activities.

Only recently, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, expressed concerns that the economy was unlikely to recover from the first quarter abysmal performance as the parameters that led to the decline in growth were still unaddressed, coupled with the late passage of the budget.

Nonetheless, with the eventual signing of the budget into law and recent capital injection by government to reflate the ailing economy, efforts have intensified to get the economy out of the woods.

But there are concerns about getting money to fund the budget following the failure to meet budgetary projections in terms of revenue generation.

So far, the budget implementation has been bedeviled by paucity of funds and procurement procedure.

Specifically, the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Sen. Udoma Udo Udoma, who brought this to the notice of the Senate Committee on Appropriation, blamed the delay in execution of capital projects as estimated in the N6.06trillion budget on low level revenue generation and

procurement procedure.

According to him, the overall revenue for the first quarter, was about 55 per cent of the projected revenue expectations, which according to him, was caused by agitation in the Niger Delta by militants and earlier difficulties faced by importers in accessing foreign exchange.

“The bulk of the problem of low revenue generation came from militant agitations in the Niger Delta which affected oil production which prevented us from reaching the 2.2 billion barrel even though the price is going up. At a point production went down to one million barrel but right now, we have been informed by the Minister of Petroleum that it is going up again to about N1.9 billion barrel but that, the revenue will come in three months time because the generation of today is not the revenue of today but of three months time.”

A clear indication of this challenge is that, of the N1, 587, 598, 122, 028 capital for MDAs, only N235, 916, 566, 642 has been released so far, representing about 15 percent of the vote even though this is the seventh month in 2016.

As for the procurement procedure, Udoma noted that the problem arose from the six months requirement for procurement process on execution of new projects as provided for, in the Public Procurement Act. “No new project is ripe for any capital releases because of the six months of procurement process including advertising and so on. It is only existing projects which already met the criteria for the various procurement stages that are qualified for capital releases”, he noted.

The current development with the budget has attracted the attention of economic analysts and observers, who have greeted the latest efforts of the federal government to reflate the economy with cautious optimism.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said the economic growth in the second quarter may not be strong enough to avert a recession, having recorded a negative growth in the previous quarter.

But economist and former acting Unity Bank Managing Director, Mr. Muhammed Rislanudenn, said channelling funds to critical sectors of the economy at single-digit interest rate could aid recovery.

According to him,“The 2016 budget is basically expansionary, geared towards pushing the economy away from stagflation and recession. With Q1 GDP

growth rate at -0.36 per cent, we are technically half way into recession and fiscal stimulus is urgently needed to reflate the economy and government need to do more to implement the capital aspect of the budget to bolster economic activities, enable improved job creation and reduce unemployment rate currently at 12.1 per cent.

“Positive stance taken on the monetary side specifically adoption of flexible, managed floating exchange rate, will eventually help in improving transparency in the market, improved liquidity and support real sector growth via easy access to forex to import critical inputs. Impact of such measure and economic recovery may begin to manifest in improving GDP growth across most sectors beginning from the last quarter of 2016.

According to him:“CBN should also device ways by which critical growth sectors have access to funds at single digit interest rate in line with the budget deliverables as set out by the federal executive council, in view of the fact that monetary policy rate is currently 12 per cent and with inflation rate at 15.6 per cent, banks may find it impossible to lend to real sector at single-digit interest rate.”

Similarly, Associate Professor of Finance and Head, Banking & Finance, Department, Nasarawa State University, Keffi, Dr. Uche Uwaleke, expressed hope that the economy will improve with the latest financial interventions.

According to him:”There is a strong possibility that the release of a substantial amount (about N253billion out of N350billion) set aside for capital projects in Q1 and Q2 of 2016 will positively impact output in Q2 and indeed the remaining half of the year. Another factor that will favourably affect economic performance is the recorded improvement in oil revenue due to relative increase in both oil output and price to about 1.9 million barrels per day and $48 per barrel respectively. While oil output is still below the 2016 budget benchmark, the on-going effort by the government to address the concerns of the Niger Delta groups promises to translate to higher oil output. Having said these, one must admit that the major factors responsible for the contraction by 0.36 per cent in output witnessed during Q1 of 2016 have not disappeared.

“While fuel scarcity may have moderated due to high pump price of petrol, scarcity of energy and forex are still prevalent. What is more, the new forex regime, which effectively devalued the naira, has negatively impacted the foreign component of the capital provisions in the budget to the

effect that the capital sums are now insufficient to import critical items for the timely execution of the projects. So a lot of delays should be expected.

“Overall, with the government’s graduate employment scheme yet to kick off and headline inflation likely to spike above the 15.6 per cent recorded in May, I am inclined to agree with the view recently expressed by the IMF resident representative in Nigeria that the economy would grow in the second half of the year but not to any significant level as the poor economic performance of the first half of the year would weigh down growth prospects.”

However, commenting on the prospects for economic recovery, economist/ex-banker and Managing Director, Bristol Investment Limited, Dr. Chijioke Ekechukwu, said economic reflation would depend on funding and full implementation of the budget.

“Every budget is meant to sweat itself out. What this means is that every budget once appropriated, is expected to drive itself. The release of capital votes is only allowing the budget to sweat. It will stimulate the economy and gradually reflate the system. My concern right now is the less than capacity in oil production and exports due to incessant destruction of the pipelines. I expect that the economy will gradually situate itself if the budget is fully implemented and funded.

Speaking along the same line, Executive Director, Corporate Finance, BGL Capital Limited, Mr. Femi Ademola, said a possible recession could be reversed with proactive policies by government.

He said:”A release of a substantial amount of capital votes would definitely help the economy if well applied. If spent on required infrastructure that will drive the boost in economic activities.

So it’s not too late for the economy to experience an uptick in the second half of the year.

“A negative growth in GDP for two consecutive quarters leads to a recession. Since Nigeria recorded a negative GDP growth in the first quarter and is likely to also report a negative growth for the second quarter due to the late passage of the budget and the non-release of the capital votes during the quarter, the country might have entered a recession. However, the recession could be reversed if the government will be quick in the release of capital votes and the application. If we experience positive growth in economic activities for the remaining two quarters in 2016, then we will be out of recession by early next year.”

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R • JULY 17, 2016

27

BUSINESS/ECONOMY/E-COMMERCE

Making Non-oil Export Stimulation Facility More Impactful Olaseni Durojaiye

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gainst the backdrop of renewed militancy in the country’s oil-rich Niger Delta and the attendant revenue loss to the federation, which has been conservatively put at over N2 billion daily, observers are of the opinion that any effort to diversify the economy and shore up the country’s foreign exchange earning potential should be a welcome development.

Though before the renewed bombing of oil assets, the federal government had identified the need to expand the country’s export profile to include non-oil sector as a way to shore up its foreign exchange earning potential. But keen observers noted the absence of articulate sustainable non-oil export strategy that will address the challenges stalling the growth of the sub-sector. The continued suspension of the Export Expansion Grant (EEG), some observers insisted underscored that contention.

According to THISDAY findings, the issues affecting non-oil exports are generally fundamental - infrastructure deficit, high cost of doing business and regulatory bottlenecks.

Findings also revealed that access to finance is yet another issue affecting the non-oil export business in the country.

However, some analysts insisted that the issues affecting the sector are not limited to finance.

Some of them voiced concerns that bordered on other issues including quality and standard even as they hailed the recently launched Non-oil Export Stimulation Facility (ESF) and submitted that it was a welcome initiative.

It could be recalled that the suspension of EEG came about when dried beans from Nigeria were found to have contained high level of pesticides considered dangerous to human health.

While the suspension lasted, relevant agencies including National Agency for Food, Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON), had assured at various times that the suspension would be lifted as necessary steps were being taken to see to that.

Last May, Coordinating Director, Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS), Dr. Vincent Isegbe, reportedly told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that “We are working towards the lifting of suspension. The suspension is to

Workers at a cocoa pre-shipment warehouse

end this year. We have sufficient laboratory equipment to test aflatoxin. So we don’t have any issues with that, we are trying to put our house in order,” he stated.

Non-oil Export Stimulation Facility At the launch of the ESF last month, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) explained that the N500 billion facility will be managed by the Nigerian Export Import Bank (NEXIM) adding that it was established to support the diversification of the economy away from oil and to expedite the growth and development of the non-oil sector.

According to the guidelines for operating the fund, the CBN will invest in a N500 billion debenture to be issued by the Nigerian ExportImport Bank (NEXIM) in line with the Section 31 of the CBN Act. It further stated that the facility 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 non-oil 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 competitiveness, the CBN added.

Managing Director of Nigerian Export-Import Bank, NEXIM, Mr. Bashir Wali, reportedly expressed optimism that with the release of the guidelines and commencement of the scheme, Nigerian exporters and export-oriented businesses will seize the opportunity to boost the current low contribution of non-oil exports, which has remained at about five per cent over the years.

Reactions and Suggestions Analysts who shared their thoughts on the facility with THISDAY argued that the fund is workable in the short term. According to them, the scheme, which is finite in concept and design,

also has a tenor, which cannot exceed 2025. Some of them also opined that government ought to continue with previous laudable initiatives rather than creating more webs and pointed at the EEG, which has been suspended since 2014 as one of such previous initiative.

According to a research analyst with a Lagosbased Economic Advocacy Group, Rotimi Oyelere, “Access to credit which the scheme intends to address is vital but not a key driver towards achieving competitiveness. I believe the CBN and NEXIM should have consulted widely even with government institutions before rolling out this scheme. These agencies seem to be playing to the gallery by throwing up scattered initiatives, just to please Mr. President, in line with his diversification agenda. NEPC, for instance has its own non-oil export promotion strategy: “The Zero Oil plan,” he stated. (see concluding part on www.thisdaylive.com)

SWAG Marketplace Pioneers Social E-Commerce Olaseni Durojaiye

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he advent of social media which has, over time facilitated human desire to share our lives with others, also led to the evolution of electronic commerce, more commonly known as E-commerce.

Ever since the late 1970’s when the demonstration of the first online shopping system was done by Michael Aldrich, this form of trade that has condensed time and space has continued to grow in leaps and bounds.

Facilitated by the internet and drawing on technologies such as electronic funds transfer, online transaction processing, and supply chain management, amongst others, the trend has also caught on in Nigeria with increased internet penetration.

Whereas big players have emerged in the ECommerce space in Nigeria, even leading to the creation of niche platforms, a key segment that has been overlooked until now is another evolving niche – Social E-Commerce.

Enter SWAG Marketplace, which has just been released on Mobile App, by Paragon Media Limited.

Created by Marketing Communications expert, Charles Odibo, who has led the Public Relations and brand transformation of three banks – Standard Trust Bank (now UBA); Platinum/Bank PHB (now Keystone); and Fidelity Bank, he shares insights about SWAG Marketplace, which is also complemented by a fast-growing social network, SWAG.NG. According to him, the SWAG platform consists of the social media, with online media for news, social interaction, and user contributions that facilitate buying and selling. The businesses on the e-commerce app, SWAG Marketplace, are embedded in a huge and fast-growing community thus giving the businesses huge market exposure. Moreover, the e-commerce sub-set is on Mobile App, thereby

enhancing accessibility round the clock.

The concept of social E-commerce enables shoppers, members of a social community, to get advice from trusted individuals, find goods and services and then purchase them because the social networks that spread this advice have been found to validate purchase decisions and increase customer’s trust.

Overall, a social e-commerce platform, which SWAG is pioneering in our clime encourages and facilitates engagement with brands; and provides information that users need not only for immediate purchase decisions, but to research and compare products.

SWAG Marketplace Mobile App, which has been released on Google play store for all android devices, offers the hottest deals in female fashion and accessories. The promoters of this trending social e-commerce platform recognize that social e-commerce, since its advent has had the greatest impact on the fashion industry.

Social media has played a huge role in promoting fashion brands, thereby facilitating sales. With SWAG Marketplace on mobile app, users can receive up to date style tips and fashion trends. Also, shop owners uploaded on SWAG can connect with shoppers at the point of purchase by giving them tips, recommendations, and offers, which can result in stronger customer loyalty.

SWAG Marketplace also thrives on the platform of a growing strong social community, which would be beneficial for forward-looking companies to develop partnerships with so that members of SWAG can engage with their products and narratives can also be woven around their services.

Mr. Odibo explains why it matters most: “As an interactive forum, if a business is identified with a strong community, what it does is that its customers are made to feel they are part of a special group, which reinforces their support for the brand and fuels resistance to rival brands.”

Speaking further, he shed more light on the

primary factors that are fueling the growth of online communities like SWAG and why brands should tap into them.

According to Mr. Odibo, people participate in online communities for a variety of reasons - to find emotional support and encouragement; to explore ways to contribute to a common good; and to cultivate interests and skills, amongst others. A community like swag exists to serve the people in it who are more often interested in the social links that they derive. Giving members of this community their own market place to buy and sell, is like having the world on their phones.

This, he believes is the business linkage for a forward-looking brand. A brand that associates with or identifies with a strong community will build loyalty, not necessarily by pushing or driving sales transactions but by helping members of the community meet their needs.

A brand can therefore, build fierce customer loyalty by seeking to understand the individual and social needs of members of a community and doing everything possible to support and engage them.

The key elements and features of a social commerce are embedded in SWAG, namely, content, community, commerce, connection, conversation, social proof, and authority.

Freshly-launched SWAG (community and marketplace) is a growing community of people who share similar or complementary values, likes and beliefs and are therefore more committed because they feel acceptance. What is therefore trending on SWAG is that groups tend to follow the same trends such that when one member introduces an idea or a product, it is accepted more readily to the benefit of the businesses uploaded on the marketplace app. Conversations are becoming markets.

SWAG is also programmed to accept social feedback and to show proof of transactions that are trending

on the platform because this will create trust. This will be supported with user reviews of products to validate the quality of products on sale.

Social content will also continue to be central in driving the growth of social commerce because it helps to engage with customers and bring them back to the site, especially when they are meaningful and informative.

As an evolving industry, experts continue to identify the trends that will largely shape social commerce, which Mr. Odibo assures that SWAG will take cognizance of to deepen their knowledge of the market.

So, what does the future hold for SWAG? Mr. Odibo goes philosophical: : “I’d like to answer this question by painting a picture of my understanding of what those who will take the future should be doing today because swag is an enabler.

“Every brand, every product, every business, big or small, has to re-adapt to the future because from time to time the future is becoming or pointing the brand in different direction from the past. It doesn’t happen every day, but maybe every decade or so. For instance, if you look at a person’s pictures taken over a two-year time, you will not see much change, but if you look at a person’s pictures over a 10-year interval, you will see how the person has changed.

“This happens to brands, so brands have to re-adjust not to the past, but for the future. No brand wants to be a copy of yesterday, but to be a jumping point for tomorrow. The nation’s demographics show that the future is the youth. Nigerians between 16 and 35 years account for 40% of our population.

70% of our population is under 35 years.

“How do we appeal to them today and serve them with the tools that will shape our tomorrow?

How can we enable them to make their dreams come true? Swag is an authentic route to the future that we seek.”

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R • JULY 17, 2016

NIGERIA’S TOP 50 STOCKS BASED ON MARKET FUNDAMENTALS

WAPIC INSURANCE PLC: Increase in profitability spurred by decreased income tax

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APIC Insurance Plc (WAPIC) is a composite insurance company with operations in both the life and non-life insurance businesses.WAPIC, formerly known as Intercontinental WAPIC is now a subsidiary of Access Bank Plc following the bank’s acquisition of the insurance company’s former parent company, Intercontinental Bank Plc.The company offers a wide range of insurance products and services, and boasts of solid industry know-how having been in operations for over five (5) decades.

WAPIC Insurance currently operates two subsidiaries;WAPIC Life Assurance Limited andWAPIC Insurance (Ghana) Limited.

The company’s results for the first quarter ended March 2016 shows a complete turnaround and significant improvement in performance, as both gross premium income and net income grew significantly.

INCREASE IN GROSS PREMIUM DRIVES NETUNDERWRITING INCOME For the period ended March 2016,WAPIC reported an increase of 11.28% in gross premium written to N3.02 billion from N2.72 billion in the corresponding period of 2015, despite stiff competition in the Nigerian insurance sector with regards to the sales of various insurance packages and products.The significant growth in gross premium was driven by an increase of 27.81% in gross premium income to N1.80 billion in December 2015 from N1.41 billion in March 2015. However, reinsurance expenses also grew by 39.27% to N713m from N512m over the period.

Despite the increase in reinsurance expenses, the strong growth in gross premium income resulted in a growth of 21.29% in net premium income to N1.09 billion from N899m year on year.The company’s fee and commission income also decreased by 34.84% to N68m in March 2016 from N104m in March 2015; however, net underwriting income for the period ended March 2016 grew by a substantial 15.43% to N1.16 billion from N1.00 billion in the corresponding period of 2015 despite a significant drop in Fees and commission income.

INCREASE IN UNDERWRITING EXPENSES WANES UNDERWRITING PROFIT Arguably due to strong risk management practices, the company’s claims expenses increased massively by 124.31% to N567m in March 2016 from N252m March 2015 while claims expenses recoverable also increased significantly by 50.33% to N171 from N114m over the period. Expectedly, net claims expenses also increased to N463m in the period ended March 2016

N110m over the period.

WAPIC HAS PUT IN PLACE AN ADMIRABLE STRUCTURE IN TERMS OF COMPLIANCE, CUSTOMER ACQUISITION AND RETENTION AND CAPACITY BUILDING TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE IDENTIFIED OPPORTUNITIES IN THE SECTOR. THE STRONG CORPORATE GOVERNANCE PUT IN PLACE BY THE COMPANY ALSO PROVIDE AN ATTRACTION TO INVESTORS

from N186m in the corresponding period of 2015. On the other hand, underwriting expenses increased by 13.81% to N337m from N296m over the period.

However, due to the significant rise in claims expenses and claims expenses recoverable, total underwriting expenses grew by 65.80% to N800m in March 2016 from N482m in March 2015. However, due to the higher expenses, the company’s underwriting profit decreased significantly to N358m in March 2016 from N521m achieved in the corresponding period of 2015; reflecting a change of 31.22%.

SIGNIFICANT RISE IN NETINCOME For the period ended March 2016, the company recorded a slight drop of 4.86% in employee benefit expenses to N248m from N261m in March 2015. However, other operating expenses decreased significantly by 17.35% to N435m from N527m over the period. However, due to the increase in operating expenses, profit before taxes decreased moderately to N163m billion in March 2016 from N179m in March 2015. Furthermore, income tax expense for the period ended March 2016 declined to N36m from N69m in March 2015; net income also followed suit with a massive increase of 14.91% to N126m from

IMPROVED ASSETQUALITY The company’s balance sheet shows positive changes in total assets, net assets and total liabilities, as at March 2016, when compared to the corresponding period of 2015.Total assets grew by 3.91% to N24.62 billion in March 2016 from N23.69 billion in December 2015.The key drivers of the company’s total assets were a 77.74% increase in other receivables and prepayments to N2.18 billion from N1.22 billion, 56.18% increase in deferred acquisition to N647m from N414m and a 58.53% rise in 58.53 to N1.46 billion from N922m in December 201m.

On the other hand, the company’s total liabilities shows a growth of 9.41% to N9.55 billion in the period ended March 2016 from N8.73 billion in December 2015.

The key drivers of the increase in liabilities were an increase of 25.78% in insurance contract liabilities to N5.88 billion from N4.68 billion, and a 33.06% rise in trade payables to N280m from N210m during the year under review. Expectedly, the company’s net assets grew by an insignificant 0.70% to N15.07 billion from N14.96 billion during the period under review.

Moreover, with respect to returns, the company’s return on assets (ROA) rose insignificantly to 0.51% in March 2016 from 0.46% in December 2014 while return on equity (ROE) followed suit with a rise of 0.84% in March 2016 from 0.74% in December 2014.

WE MAINTAIN OUR BUY RECOMMENDATION The potential of the insurance sector in Nigeria is huge.The reform of the industry which was concluded in 2007 resulted in the emergence of 47 recapitalized and stronger insurance companies.

Considering the existing insurance law for instance, the 16 compulsory forms of insurance should deliver over N1 trillion premiums for the insurance companies by 2012 when implemented.

The Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act (NOGICD), 2010 and the establishment of the Nigeria Content Monitoring Board (NCMB) is also expected to open up a new vista of large capital investment underwriting business to the insurance sector which has eluded the industry for long. In the meantime, the bourgeoning middle class in Nigeria over the last three years, rising awareness about insurance, and improved operational performances of the emerged insurance companies post reform have been paying off on the industry.

WAPIC has put in place an admirable structure in terms of compliance, customer acquisition and retention and

Valuation Metrics

15-July-16

Recommendation

BUY

Target Price (N)

BUY

0.90

15.12

Current Price (N)

0.50

Market Cap (N'm)

6,691.36

Outstanding Shares

13,382.74

Forward EPS (N)

0.19

Forward PE Ratio

2.58 Source: BGL Research

Q1 March 2016 unaudited Results Gross Premium Income (N'm)

3,022

Profit Before Tax (N'm)

163

Profit After Tax (N'm)

126

Pre-tax Margin (%)

5.41 Source: BGL Research

FYE December 2015 Audited Results Gross Premium Income (N'm)

7,100

Profit Before Tax (N'm)

1,667

Profit After Tax (N'm)

1,297

Pre-tax Margin (%)

23.91 Source: BGL Research

Shareholding Information Shareholders

% Holding

Reunion Energy Ltd Strategic Alliance Inv.Ltd Blakeney GPIII Ltd

21.39 5.96 14.09

Public Float

57.96

Outstanding Shares (m)

13,382.74

Source: BGL Research, Company Information

capacity building to take advantage of the identified opportunities in the sector.The strong corporate governance put in place by the company also provide an attraction to investors.

Using the Net Assets Valuation method, WAPIC appears to be undervalued.

Therefore, using an Industry average price to book value of 0.80 consisting of peer insurance companies (Mansard, Custodian & Allied Insurance, AIICO and Continental Re) in comparison toWAPIC’s book value per share, we arrive at a 9-month target price of N0.90 of each share ofWAPIC Insurance Plc. Since this represents a significant upside potential of 80.80% on the current stock price ofWAPIC Insurance Plc, we place a BUYrecommendation on WAPIC Insurance Plc.

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R • JULY 17, 2016

NIGERIA’S TOP 50 STOCKS BASED ON MARKET FUNDAMENTALS

NAHCO AVIANCE PLC- Profitability further declines on the back of increased finance cost

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igerian Aviation Handling Company PLC (Nahco Aviance) recently released financial statement for first quarter ended; March 2016 shows another blue performance as the ongoing tough operating environment amongst other factors led to notable decline in both top-line and bottomline earnings. Although instability in Brent crude oil price remains, recent prices per barrel of the product have risen above the detrimental price level which the Nigerian economy cannot sustain. However, the macro-economic environment remains tough for businesses due to government policies and regulations, insurgencies in different areas of the country and widespread cash constraint which have led to rising inflation, financial strain, foreign exchange difficulty and several fuel scarcities during the financial period.

Nevertheless, Nahco Aviance maintained its regular dividend payment, as it paid a recommended total dividend payment of N324.84m (on the basis of N0.20 per share) for every 50 kobo share Nigerian Aviation Handling Company PLC is a product of the Nigerian Enterprise Promotion Decree, starting operations in April 1979 with the commissioning of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.The Company has over 25 years of experience in crew/passenger transportation service delivery and continues to enjoy unhindered access to all areas of the airport which offers them the opportunity to serve airlines better, whilst providing comprehensive insurance for the vehicles as well as Passenger Liability Policy for the crew/passengers.

REDUCED OPERATING INCOME AND ENORMOUS RISE IN LOAN LOSS ERODES PROFITABILITY For the three-month period ended, March 2016, the Company’s revenue decreased by 13.56% to N1.85 billion from N2.15 billion recorded in March 2015. Further insight into first quarter’s revenue performance reveals that the Company’s core business of Air craft handling, Cargo Handling, Passenger handling and Crew transportation which continues to account for the large percentage of earnings recorded notable declines. Business activity of cargo handling and passenger & aircraft handling unexpectedly decline by 20.99% and 5.72% respectively. However, equipment rental & maintenance grew by 13.55% to N89m from N79m in March 2015.

However, cost of operation grew slightly to N1.39 billion from N1.34 billion over the period; representing a growth of 3.70% which does not typify efficient management of resources when compared with generated revenue.The increment we believe rose from the combined effect of various macro-

WE EXPECT THE INITIATIVES TO RESULT IN ENHANCED EFFICIENCY WITH POTENTIAL GROWTH IN CORE BUSINESS ACTIVITIES OF CARGO AND PASSENGER HANDLING WHICH WILL LEAD TO INCREASED REVENUE AND PROFITABILITY

economic components mentioned earlier.

Unsurprisingly, due to the higher growth in cost of operation compared to the decrease in generated revenue, gross profit dropped significantly by 42.54% to N460m in the three-month ended, March 2016 from N801m reported in the corresponding period of 2015.

PROFITABILITY DECLINE FURTHER AS FINANCE COST SOARS Nahco Aviance performance shows enormous growth of 788.23% and 30.30% in sundry income and rental income respectively as a commendable feat as other gains doubled its previous period figure by indicating an increase of 122.35% to N125m from N56m in the corresponding period of 2015. Administrative expenses decreased to N469m from N595m in March 2015, indicating a negative change of 21.11%.

In spite of the aforementioned increase in other gains and expenses decline, operating profit decreased considerably by 55.72% to N116m from a first quarter 2015 figure of N262m.

Net finance cost recorded a marked increase of 21.97% to N93m in March 2016 from N76m in the corresponding period of 2015.

We understand that the significant increase is a direct result higher growth in finance expenses which rose by 8.60% to N185m from N170m in March 2015 while finance income decline by a modest 2.14% to N93m from N94m in March 2015. Noticeable, interest expenses remains steady in amount

at N148m; and trails the schedule on the Company’s borrowings through a N2.15 billion bond issued at 13% in October 2011 for the modernization and expansion of the warehouse; and a second tranche of N2.05 billion bond raised in December 2013 at 15.25% for furtherance of the Company’s inorganic expansion. Both bonds pay interests bi-annually. Repayments are to be made in full by September 2016 and November 2020 for the first and second tranches respectively from a sinking fund created exclusively for the repayment purpose.This is arranged to prevent constraints to cashflow.

Expectedly, as a result of the increase in financial charges and drop in operating income, the Company’s profit before tax recorded a substantial decline of 87.40% in profit before tax to N23m in March 2016 from N186m reported in the corresponding period of 2015. Although, taxation expense decline by a remarkable 90.14% to N5m from N47m in March 2015; this could not prevent a massive decline of 86.48% in profit after tax to N19m in the first quarter ended, March 2016 from N140m reported in March 2015.

STRONG ASSETQUALITY For the period ended March 2016, total assets grew moderately by 7.31% to N16.02 billion in March 2016 from N14.93 billion recorded in December 2015.The growth in total assets is attributable to a rise of 27.41% increase in other non-current assets to N3.40 billion in March 2016 from N2.67 billion in December 2015 and a significant rise of 43.33% in short term prepayments to N1.99 billion in March 2016 from N1.39 billion recorded in December 2015 Total liabilities for the period ended March rose by 12.08% to N9.90 billion from N8.83 billion in December 2015.The rise in total liabilities is attributable to an increase of 35.45% in trade and other payables to N4.40 billion in March 2016 from N3.25 billion in December 2015. However, due to higher rise in total liabilities compared to total assets, total equity grew by a meagre 0.39% to N6.12 billion in March 2016 from N6.10 billion in December 2015.

Furthermore, net income margin for the first quarter ended March 2016 stood at 1.02% when compared to 6.51% as at the first quarter period ended march 2015. Also, the balance sheet liquidity ratio stands at 0.85% for the quick ratio and 1.13 for the current ratio.The Company’s Return on Average Equity (ROAE) stood at 0.31% as at March 2016 while Return on Average Assets (ROAA) is 0.12%.

WE MAINTAIN OUR HOLD RECOMMENDATION We expect the initiatives to result in enhanced efficiency with potential growth in core business activities of cargo and passenger handling which will lead to increased revenue and profitability. However,

Valuation Metrics 14-July-16 Recommendation

HOLD

Target Price (N)

4.00

Current Price (N)

4.00

Market Cap (N'm)

6,496.88

Outstanding Shares (m)

1,624.22

Rolling EPS (N)

0.26

Rolling PE Ratio

15.57x

Forward EPS (N)

0.26

Forward PE

15.56x Source: BGL Research

Q1 March 2016 Unaudited Results Turnover (N'm)

1,854

Profit Before Tax (N'm)

23

Profit After Tax (N'm) Pre-tax Margin (%)

19 1.27%

Source: Company Data 2016, BGL Research

FYE December 2015 Audited Results Turnover (N'm)

8,499

Profit Before Tax (N'm)

797

Profit After Tax (N'm)

538

Pre-tax Margin (%)

9.38

Source: Company Report 2015, BGL Research

Shareholding Information Shareholders

% Holding

Rosehill Group Limited

9.52%

Sycor Private Investment Limited

8.93%

AWHUA Resources Limited Lufthansa Commercial Holding GmBH Air France

7.11% 6.00% 5.81%

Others

62.63%

Outstanding Shares (m)

1,624

Source: Company Report 2015, BGL Research

in the short-term, escalating finance costs will continue to hamper growth until the Company successfully curtails its expenses to attract investors.

Considering the above, we therefore maintain our projections of N8.87 billion for gross earnings and a net income of N557m for the year ended December 2016; leading to a forward earnings per share (EPS) of N0.26.

Using the Price-to earnings (PE) method of valuation, we arrive at a 9-month target price of N4.00 on the shares of Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Plc.We therefore recommend a HOLD on the shares of Nahco Aviance.

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TRAVEL Virgin Atlantic Confirms Order for 12 A350 Aircraft Edited by Demola Ojo Email demola.ojo@thisdaylive.com

Stories by Demola Ojo

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s part of a fleet modernisation program which will see 50 per cent of Virgin Atlantic’s aircraft replaced in a six year period, creating one of the world’s youngest fleets, Virgin Atlantic and Airbus have announced agreement on a firm order, valued at $4.4bn, for 12 Airbus A350-1000 aircraft.

Of the 12 firm orders, eight will be purchased and four leased, as Virgin Atlantic continues its investment into increasing the mix of owned and leased aircraft in its fleet.

The aircraft, powered by Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines, continues Virgin Atlantic’s investment in a greener, cleaner, quieter fleet.

The aircraft is designed to be 30% more fuel and carbon efficient than the aircraft it replaces in the fleet and is expected to reduce the airline’s noise footprint at its airports by more than half.

Virgin Atlantic President Sir Richard Branson said: “We’re thrilled to welcome the A350 to Virgin Atlantic. It is an outstanding aircraft from both a customer and sustainability point of view. Sustainable growth and meeting our carbon targets is incredibly important to us, and the aircraft’s environmental credentials were a genuine factor in our selection. We will be pairing its cutting edge customer proposition with our own Virgin magic to give customers the best possible experience.”

Former British Prime Minister, David Cameron said: “I welcome the news of Virgin Atlantic’s investment. As well as being good news for passengers, it’s great news for jobs in the UK. The fantastic Airbus A350 is part built in the UK with Rolls Royce engines and other suppliers across the country. It’s an investment in the UK itself, and our world-beating

Branson’s Virgin Atlantic has placed orders for 13 A350s aerospace industry.” The A350-1000, which will replace Virgin Atlantic’s remaining Boeing 747-400s and Airbus A340-600s, is due for delivery from early 2019. The aircraft offers outstanding levels of comfort and reliability, and the Virgin Atlantic model will be designed with its customers’ needs in mind. The airline

is currently undertaking in depth research, including its customers in the process, to ensure it delivers the industry-leading experience for which it is known.

The aircraft will operate on both business and leisure routes for Virgin Atlantic worldwide with a base at both London Heathrow and

London Gatwick. Initially the aircraft will fly to key US destinations from London Heathrow.

The aircraft will be delivered to Virgin Atlantic in two configurations – one for the business fleet seating up to 360 customers and one for the leisure fleet seating up to 410 customers.

Seychelles Named Top Island Destination in Africa, Middle East Amachree: Ojo Maduekwe Nigeria’s Best Tourism Minister

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oremost tourism practitioner and former President of Association of Tourism Practitioners of Nigeria (ATPN), Alabo Mike Amachree, has condoled with the family of Nigeria’s first tourism minister, Chief Ojo Maduekwe on his demise. Amachree described the late Maduekwe as a dedicated Nigerian who tried his best as the pioneer culture and tourism minister of the country to move the industry forward.

“The first time I met the late Chief Ojo Maduekwe was after his appointment as the tourism minister in his office. He was in his full indigenous Ohafia regalia. He

told me that he was proud of his culture and intended using Nigeria’s culture to market tourism. He told me that what Nigeria has to offer to the world is her rich and diverse culture. He said just like Egypt has its pyramids and red sea to sell Egypt’s tourism, Nigeria’s tourism product is her rich culture.”

Amachree said one of the biggest assets of the late Maduekwe as the tourism minister was is his relationship with the practitioners. He said: “He visited all the states to dialogue with practitioners and travelled to tourism sites for firsthand information on the state of the sites and how to develop them. For him, this is what has made him not only the first but the best we have had in the industry.”

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eychelles was named the top island destination in Africa and the Middle East in the Travel + Leisure’s 2016 World’s Best Awards.

Readers rated islands on their natural attractions and beaches, activities and sights, food, friendliness, and overall value.

The survey is held every year. Readers are asked to weigh-in on travel experiences around the globe, to share their opinions on the top hotels, resorts, cities, islands, cruise lines, spas, and airlines among others.

Boasting white and pristine sandy beaches, Seychelles, an archipelago in the western Indian Ocean, came out on top of the readers’ list, with one survey respondent saying,“These are the most beautiful islands I’ve had the pleasure of visiting.”Seychelles Tourism Board official, David Germain, said,“Achieving the distinction of top island in Africa and the Middle East is a tremendous honor

Port Launay North Beach Mahé Island Seychelles for the Seychelles, recognizing that the region has much to offer in terms of world-class island experiences.”

Other key factors for Seychelles’ top position were proximity to other regional

destinations, as the country’s main island of Mahé is now connected to Dubai by twice-daily Emirates flights, as well as regular regional connections to the African mainland.

UAE, Bahamas, Bahrain Issue US Travel Warning UNWTO: Tourism Catalyst for Peace and Development

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everal countries have advised their citizens to avoid crowds and exercise increased caution while visiting the United States. In light of recent violence, multiple nations are urging their citizens to be careful when traveling to the United States.

Following a mass shooting in Orlando, the deaths of two young black men at the hands of police officers in Louisiana and Minnesota, and the killing of five police officers in Dallas over the past few weeks, several countries have urged their citizens to proceed with caution if they’re visiting the United States.

First, after a man from the United Arab Emirates who was in Ohio for medical treatment was falsely

accused of being a terrorist because he was speaking Arabic on the phone, the UAE cautioned its citizens to avoid traditional dress abroad“to ensure their safety.”

Now, the UAE has been joined by Bahrain and the Bahamas, both of whom issued travel warnings over the past weekend.

On Twitter, Bahrain’s embassy in Washington DC wrote,“Please be cautious of protests or crowded areas occurring around the US,”and listed emergency contact numbers for the embassy.

Meanwhile the government of the Bahamas issued a statement as well:“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Immigration has taken note of the recent tensions in some American cities over shootings of young black males by police officers.

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ourism can play a key role in building peace and supporting reconciliation processes, concluded the UNWTO Conference on‘Tourism, a catalyst for development, peace and reconciliation’ held in Passikudah, Sri Lanka last week

(July 11 to 14).

“We face a deficit of tolerance. Tourism brings people together; it opens our minds and hearts”, said UNWTO Secretary-General Taleb Rifai, opening the Conference.“Yet to gain peace we need to give people opportunities for a better future; we need to create jobs and bring them hope,” he added.

Community engagement and empowerment,

capacity building and training, and public/private sector partnerships are key factors in advancing a culture of peace through tourism in post-conflict societies. Participants recalled the importance of placing tourism at the heart of the peace and reconciliation agenda, to ensure the sector can deliver on its capacity to generate development and social inclusion.

“Tourism is a vehicle for trust and goodwill.

Cultural understanding can change attitudes and build peace. Tourism’s role in peace building is also enacted through its contribution to poverty alleviation, cultural preservation and environmental conservation,”said President of Sri Lanka Maithripala Sirisena in a message to the Conference.

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WEEKLY PULL-OUT

FOLARIN FALANA

FLYING THE FLAG IN ANOTHER FIELD

17.07.2016

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FOLARIN FALANA

FLYING THE FLAG IN ANOTHER FIELD When both your parents are famous lawyers, it takes a lot of guts to step out of line. Nseobong Okon-Ekong and Vanessa Obioha spoke with Folarin Falana, better known as Falz Tha Bahd Guy, whose rising profile as an entertainer has finally scored with his parents who hitherto struggled with the reality of his chosen vocation

O

nce upon a time, the name Femi Falana (SAN) went far ahead of the bearer, by miles. A diminutive man, what he lacked in physical attribute, he made up for in professional excellence. He was the Enfant Terrible to many Nigerian despots. On the human rights and development turf, Femi and his wife Funmi were greatly revered across the country for their human rights activism and legal prowess. For a season, it looked like they were the only ones who answered to the name, as it gained more prominence, particularly in the legal profession. Anyone who shares same surname was assumed to be a relative of the Falanas.

But all that has changed, immensely. Another family member has extended the family’s fame beyond the corridors of the courtroom.

Nowadays, the Falanas are not only known for Femi and Funmi’s eminence in law. In the same manner that Charles Oputa, better known as Charly Boy upstaged his father ’s popularity, Folarin Falana, better known as ‘Falz tha Bahd Guy’s meteoric rise to stardom (and surprisingly) without the influence of his surname has brought a fresh wave of fame to his family’s doorsteps.

These days, Falz has become the eminent Falana. People no longer ask if one with the name Falana is related to Femi Falana.

The frequently asked question is whether one is related to Falz.

A fact his siblings and parents readily attested to.

None of his parents anticipated his sudden stardom. Therefore, his recent accomplishment as a recipient

of the BET Award for Best New International Act category brought out the pride in his family, as they called for celebration. Family members, friends and loved ones were recently feted at a private and cozy setting in Protea Hotel, GRA-Ikeja, Lagos.

Anchored by his two sisters, Folake and Foladele, bits of Falz’ childhood stirred nostalgia in the gathering - from the riveting tale of his passion for music which on one occasion earned him a slap from his mother to the infamous lockup in toilet by his Uncle Femi Samuel whenever he misbehaved.

Friends who knew him back in secondary school and university also shared their moments with him, particularly his determination to be a musician at all cost. “He never stopped rapping, whether people listened or not,” a friend recounted.

Groping for pointers in his background that could explain his proclivity towards music, he recalled that there was a piano his parents acquired. But he never learnt to play it. And he was not sure if the musical instrument was bought to nudge them in that direction.

Perhaps the most inspiring of all was his parents’ struggle to deal with his decision. It was particularly hurting to his mother who wanted him to follow in their footsteps, as a practicing lawyer. She couldn’t deal with the reality. How could she have a musician as a son?

She recalled an incident where she paid him an unscheduled visit in his secondary school in Osun state. His teacher had called her aside and told her in a concerned tone that Falz spends most of his prep time writing

Cont’d on pg. 57

Folarin Falana a.k.a Falz

PHOTOS: Yomi Akinyele

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Falz with his parents, Femi Falana (SAN) and Funmi

musical lyrics. She was so upset.

Unfortunately for Falz, that same day in the company of his two sisters, he was going to impress his female classmates with the new song he had penned down. It wasn’t helpful that the song had an obscene title. An angry Funmi stormed into his little party and literally wrecked it with a dirty slap on his flustered son. All through the journey back home, she wept her heart out that her son had an uncanny interest in music, which she considered disgraceful.

While his mother was insistent on him toeing her path, the father on the other hand was more cooperative. She accused him of supporting their son despite her attempt to make him pursue a career in law. Femi had been a close associate of the iconoclast Fela AnikulapoKuti and was familiar with the rebel musician’s life trajectory.

Perhaps, this hindsight influenced Femi’s tacit support for his son, much to the chagrin of his wife.

Still adamant that he would study law, she bundled him to England where he interestingly, graduated with a second class upper in Law. Despite his academic brilliance in the field, his pursuit of music was still stalled by his parents. They insisted that he practiced law for two years. Although, his father argued that his practice was just six months, his siblings insisted that he completed the full cycle.

In obedience, he danced to their tune but not for too long.

At a point, he had to throw

DESPITE HIS ACADEMIC BRILLIANCE IN THE FIELD, HIS PURSUIT OF MUSIC WAS STILL STALLED

BY HIS PARENTS. THEY INSISTED THAT HE PRACTICED LAW FOR TWO YEARS. ALTHOUGH, HIS FATHER ARGUED THAT HIS PRACTICE WAS JUST SIX MONTHS, HIS SIBLINGS INSISTED THAT HE COMPLETED THE FULL CYCLE. IN OBEDIENCE, HE DANCED TO THEIR TUNE BUT NOT FOR TOO LONG. AT A POINT, HE HAD TO THROW ALL IN THE RING TO CONVINCE HIS PARENTS THAT MUSIC IS HIS LIFE-LONG AMBITION. IT TOOK MORE THAN MERE WORDS TO SWAY HIS PARENTS. HE HAD TO DO A PRESENTATION TO PROVE TO THEM THAT MUSIC IS HIS TRUE CALLING. THEY FINALLY, EVEN IF GRUDGINGLY ALLOWED HIM TO DO WHAT HE WANTED. TODAY, AN OVER-JOYOUS FUNMI IS PROUD OF HER SON FOR HIS GIANT STRIDES IN THE INDUSTRY WITHIN A SHORT TIME

all in the ring to convince his parents that music is his lifelong ambition. It took more than mere words to sway his parents.

He had to do a presentation to prove to them that music is his true calling. They finally, even if grudgingly, allowed him to do what he wanted. Today, an overjoyous Funmi is proud of her son for his giant strides in the industry within a short time.

Indeed, Falz in his own right used his creativity to launch himself in the competitive music industry. There was nothing about his upbringing that suggested music. If anything, it was an innate ability, supported by his hunch. Harping on the boundless opportunities of social media to today’s youths, he devised a medium of promoting his brand.

First, he started updating comedy skits on his Instagram page. His hat-trick was his accent - an affected Yoruba accent tinged with colloquial expressions. The acting caught on, garnering loads of interest.

Within a short time, he became an online sensation, gathering faithful followers on Instagram.

Apart from his accent, he accessorised his outlook with a pair of framed spectacles without lens, similar to that of popular Yoruba actor, Baba Sala.

Falz explained the look. “It is a unique and striking part of my identity. Initially, it started in the university days where I was just playing around. The first time I wore it out, people liked it so I liked the effect it had on people so I kept it.”

This is perhaps the only eccentricity one would find

on the artiste. Not for him the craze for body decoration and piercing. He feels “tattoo looks good on fair skin” and earpiercing is just not his thing. So much for one who has found a good use for ‘Bahd’. For him, b-a-h-d means ‘Brilliant and Highly Distinct’.

Alongside his comedy skits, he promoted his music. His first major hit that shot him into the spotlight was the single ‘Marry Me’ featuring Yemi Alade. The hit earned him a nod in the 2015 Nigeria Entertainment Awards in Best Rap Act of the Year, Best New Act to Watch and Best Collaboration of the Year categories. Subsequent tracks from him like ‘Soldier ’ featuring Simi, ‘Ello Bae’ further highlighted his profound artistry. Describing his music as ‘Wahzup music’, he released his debut album ‘Wazup Guy’ in 2014, followed by ‘Stories that Touch’ in 2015 under his own record label Bahd Guys Record.

His latest hit ‘Soft Work” is the most downloaded caller tunes on MTN network.

By 2015, Falz started appearing on the big screen as an actor. He featured in ‘Couple of Days’ and ‘Jenifa’s Diary’. The latter fetched him an African Magic Viewer ’s Choice Award as the Best Actor in a Comedy/Movie series early this year. Last month, he was rewarded with a BET award as Viewer ’s Choice Best New International Act. He is currently a co-host of the Bigger Friday Show on MTV Base.

Despite his various achievements in the industry, Falz described himself as a

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Falz acknowledging greetings from a fan

musician, an actor and an entertainer but not a comedian.

He was emphatic that he is not a comedian, and as long as he does not perform as a stand-up comedian, he doesn’t regard himself a professional in that aspect of entertainment. Still deepening the mystic about his persona, he said he did not mind flying with the label ‘comic’.

An excited Falz who was hosted to a welcome party for his BET award was speechless at the outpour of love by his friends and loved ones. “I never expected this crowd,” he said during his vote of thanks speech.

It’s been over one month since he saw his parents and siblings. These days, the demand of his new celebrity stature has taken a toll on the close relationship with his family. But that is not the only thing that has suffered. His frequency at church service has dropped. Most times, his shows on Saturday night drag late into the early hours of Sunday and by the time he goes to bed, going to church is a forgotten issue. However, he said the important thing he never forgets to pray and maintain an unwavering relationship with Jesus Christ.

Moving out of his parents’ home last year was his first act of independence since he veered into the music industry. That strategic change of address is a big reminder that he is now his own boss. Add the fact that he has since asserted his financial independence by refusing to collect pocket money from his parents. But he won’t say exactly when he untied himself

NOWADAYS, THE FALANAS ARE NOT ONLY KNOWN FOR FEMI AND FUNMI’S EMINENCE IN LAW. IN THE SAME MANNER THAT CHARLES OPUTA, BETTER KNOWN AS CHARLY BOY UPSTAGED HIS FATHER’S POPULARITY, FOLARIN FALANA, BETTER KNOWN AS ‘FALZ THA BAHD GUY’S METEORIC RISE TO STARDOM (AND SURPRISINGLY) WITHOUT THE INFLUENCE OF HIS SURNAME HAS BROUGHT A FRESH WAVE OF FAME TO HIS FAMILY’S DOORSTEPS. THESE DAYS, FALZ HAS BECOME THE EMINENT FALANA. PEOPLE NO LONGER ASK IF ONE WITH THE NAME FALANA IS RELATED TO FEMI FALANA. THE FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTION IS WHETHER ONE IS RELATED TO FALZ. A FACT HIS SIBLINGS AND PARENTS READILY ATTESTED TO

from his parents’ financial apron string.

Doubling as a CEO and artiste of his record label adds more pressure to him. Even though he is coping just well, he looks to the future when he can engage more competent hands as the company grows in stature.

If there is one thing that Falz has at the back of his mind, it is not to disappoint his family by getting into a scandal. “The only thing I can do now that will surprise them now is to do something bad that will have a negative effect on my career, like getting into a scandal. They will be disappointed in me. I pray not to get into one particularly because of the nature of my industry.”

From all accounts of Falz coming from different quarters, on this special day, one thing stood true: He is shy.

“I keep wondering if this is the same boy that used to lock himself up in the room for days,” said his father looking at his young star.

“I’m still shy. I wouldn’t say I have grown out of it,” he said later in an interview. “But at the end of the day, being a performer teaches you to find a way out of that shell every now and then. People are different,” he continued. “My type of creativity doesn’t flow when I’m around people. So I like to be by myself a lot. It helps me reflect, make my mind travel so that’s how I’m able to write songs and develop ideas. Usually when I’m around people, I get distracted easily because my concentration span is not very long.”

He attempted to define a shy person. “A shy person is

someone that is not excessively outgoing. I think that is the best way to describe it.”

His shyness limits the number of persons in his social circle. “I have very few friends, others are acquaintances. In this industry, a lot of people are fake. You can only see me in public when I have to work, otherwise I keep to myself. I enjoy my own company.”

To be sure, Falz emphasised that his law degree was not out of parental pressure but a selfambition. He genuinely wanted to study law because he admired his parents. He revealed a little known side of Femi and Funmi Falana. “My parents are very interesting characters. They are full of drama.”

He arguably defended his position as a lawyercum-entertainer. The sharp vehemence with which he retorted, “says who?”, to the suggestion that he could not practice law now that his popularity as an entertainer is on the rise.

He argued: “I can still practice law even as an entertainer. The rule, to my knowledge, is that if you do something that brings the legal profession to disrepute, then you will not be allowed to practice. So it’s arguable that being an artiste or entertainer does not necessarily bring the profession to disrepute.

“Maybe in the future, I will practise law. But for now, I’m still trying to marry my entertainment with law. Maybe I will further my education in entertainment law so I can still develop a practice in that area and become an expert.”

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entertainment

with nseobong okon-ekong 08114495324, nseobong.okonekong@thisdaylive.com

Sahara Group Partners Kunle Afolayan to Groom Film Extrapreneurs

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n one of the meeting rooms at its corporate headquarters in Lagos filled with souvenirs, awards and photos depicting its interesting journey on the Nigerian business landscape, Nigeria’s growing multi-sector conglomerate, the Sahara Group recently announced a unique youth empowerment project and in doing so, added the word, ‘extrapreneur’ to the English lexicon.

MD Sahara Group, Anthony Youdeowei, described an extraperneur as an individual who applies himself creatively in his/ her area of expertise and looks out for opportunities to connect with people driven by similar interests to maximise productivity and expand the scope of growth and sustainability of the businesses created.

Even as Bethel Obioma, Head Corporate Communications, Sahara Group spoke glowingly about his company’s intention to create a network of opportunities both internally and externally for the winner of this competition that will expand the winner’s hub of influence and open up a world of opportunities for allied professionals in the sector who stand to benefit from the success of the overall winner, it was clear that mementoes from the project, particularly images of the overall winner will, in due course, find a pride of place in what may be referred to as the Sahara Hall of Fame.

Sahara Group’s Extrapreneurship Framework which is being driven

by Sahara Foundation, the Group’s corporate responsibility vehicle is one of the creations to commemorate its 20th anniversary. The project will make a direct intervention in the careers of 20 young Nigerians.

D-TRUCE HOPES FOR “BETTER DAYS”

Feel good music rapper, D-Truce has released the music video for his debut single hit ‘Better Days’ featuring fellow X3M label mate, Praiz.

Directed by Tolu Itogboje, the video was filmed at Ebutte-Metta and had scenes of children playing in a crowded

L-R: Head Corporate Governance Sahara Group, Uade Ahimie; Award Winning Film maker, Kunle Afolayan; MD Sahara Group, Anthony Youdeowei, and Head Corporate Communications, Sahara Group Bethel Obioma, during the press conference to announce the Sahara initiative

They will be given a life-changing opportunity through a mentorship project.

Grooming Film Extrapreneurs (with Kunle Afolayan) is a Sahara Group initiative that seeks to promote a hub of enterprise that connects budding film makers with stakeholders that can help hone their skills to enhance productivity, excellence and sustainability in their careers. They will be expected to go where they reside and capture in 15 minutes, an average Nigerian at, whatever work he or she does. From their entry, Kunle Afolayan will select 20 of the best entries, which tallies with the number of years that Sahara has been in business.

Documentary film making was selected to provide a platform to task youth in Nigeria to channel their creativity and innovation to celebrate entrepreneurship in Nigeria using the theme – ‘My Nigeria, My Platform…

Nigeria’ through entrepreneurs’ eyes.

This theme is a concept targeted at redefining the perception of Nigeria as a country around the globe. The project street. The crowded buildings, beggars and traders hustling depict the perfect ghetto look.

A gentle D-Truce sits on a car and raps while the soulful Praiz stands in front of the car. There are also scenes of the rapper rapping from a balcony and walking down a dark staircase, while Praiz was captured playing a drum for the little children who flocked around him.

The setting perfectly blends with the message of the song which offers hope for a better day. Released last year, the soul hip-hop hit enjoyed massive airplay for its inspiring message of hope.

“Better Days is a song of hope to all those hustling for a better tomorrow. I believe if we do things properly, we will achieve our goals. It’s all a matter of time.” said the X3M label artiste.

Defining his kind of music as ‘feel good music’, the rapper got signed to X3M Music Label in 2014. His unique style combines rap with other genres of music.

BEAUTY QUEEN, TOMI SALAMI SPEARHEADS POSITIVE CHANGE

D-TRUCE

Former beauty queen, Tomi Lydia Salami, has championed through her organisation, Aurora International Foundation, a new positive change in the world of tourism and philanthropy.

will be used to shape a narrative for Nigeria that captures our enterprise and productivity as a people Over the next four years, Sahara Foundation plans to directly impact 12,000,000 beneficiaries and also create value through the identification, development and maintenance of relevant stakeholders through which beneficiaries can grow and sustain businesses. This will be achieved through skills acquisition training, mentoring and access to a network of committed stakeholders.

Multiple award-winning and leading filmmaker, Kunle Afolayan, is the lead faculty for the project. Kunle will over-see the process of shortlisting entries and grooming the eventual winner for six months. Sahara Group hopes that the Grooming Film Extrapreneurs with Kunle Afolayan initiative will birth a new dawn of excellence in the film industry and foster an extrapreneurship hub that scale up expertise, productivity and sustainability in the sector.

The project is open to young film

makers (male and female) across the nation who must not be more than 35 years old.

The videos will be subjected to scrutiny by selected judges, led by the widely acclaimed Kunle Afolayan. The participant who emerges as the winner will undergo a mentorship programme with Kunle Afolayan for six months.

Submission of videos closes on July 25.

Afolayan said he jumped at the opportunity because it offered him a chance to give back to the society through training. Describing himself as a rich film maker, he said the winner will have the opportunity to learn from him and his team at Golden Effects Production.

According to him, “it will be a dream come true for the person, because I am involved in every aspect of film production, including the business side.

This person will be learning a lot”. He said some of the factors that will decide the winner include; production value, style, camera quality, sound, aesthetics, point of view and camera angle.

Tomi Salami Tomi, the former Miss Tourism MBGN, had in the last three years been quietly impacting the lives of needy kids in public schools in various states in Nigeria.

Recently, the former queen turned Kwara State into a hub of development for education and tourism as she concluded her Kits for Kids Africa initiative where she generously donated brand new school bags, sandals, stockings, stationery, exercise books and many more to thousands of needy kids in the state’s public schools.

Supporting Tomi during the donations were visiting beauty queens from India, Botswana and South Africa.

Asides that, they all joined in enlightening the kids on the benefits of education and encouraging them to strive for greater heights in the future.

Speaking on the success of her foundation’s outing, Tomi expressed her gratitude to Kwara State Governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed; Microsoft; Zuma Energy; Bubbles and every single supporter who contributed in one way or the other to the success of Kits for

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ENTERTAINMENT

UAC UNSCRIPTED FOCUSES ON CELEBRITY COUPLES

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new family-oriented television game show titled ‘UAC Unscripted’ has been launched. The package was conceptualised and produced by the HS Media Group as a vehicle to promote the services and products of UACN Plc. The show follows an established pattern in which UACN attracts and connects with its different audiences through comedians. Anchored by ace comedian, Okey Bakassi, UAC Unscripted is a 30-minute show on NTA Network on Mondays.

Recounting previous television programmes made possible by the collaboration between UACN and his company, the CEO of HS Media, Mr. Taye Ige, listed Teju Baby Face’s The Real Nigerian Show in 2008; TA, Holy Malam & McAbbey’s UAC La ½ Hour in 2010 and Yaw, Klint da Drunk & Koffi’s UAC Soccer La ½ Hour in 2012.

However, the new show adopts a new format. Every week, the brand selects two celebrity couples to compete in puzzle games comprising, music, sports and current affairs quiz in the spontaneous and unrehearsed reality family game show. A sample of the programme screened at the launch featured comedian Owen Gee and his wife, Moyo and popular Goje Africa presenter couple, Isaac and Nneka Moses in a hot contest.

Executive Director, Corporate Services, UACN Plc, Mr. Joe Dada adduced reasons for the company’s sponsorship of television programmes. “Upon reengineering our corporate identity

Kids Africa.

She stated that supporting initiatives like this is a proper way to invest in the future. She said, “It was truly an amazing experience - hectic and time bound but very rewarding. The children in the schools we visited were ecstatic. They were truly inspired to look beyond their circumstances and to hold on to bigger dreams. I hope we are able to receive more support and thus cover more grounds on our next outing.”

One of the highlights of the events in Kwara State was the visit of the beauty queens to Owu Falls.

“The feel of the ice-cold showers from the falls on our skin was mind-blowing.

Legend says the water falls faster and more heavily when you call its name...

We hope for investor interests and massive infrastructural development in the State so that spot can be turned into a goldmine for tourism,” Tomi said.

FOR EVERY MODEL, A BOOK

Veteran model, Magi Michael has released two books, ‘411 on Modeling’ and ‘Modeling as a Career’. He said the books were birthed out of the need to place modeling on the pedestal it should be and to also make modeling the interesting and noble career it has always been.

“In these books everyone will know that everybody can model and everybody is a model. This is so because there is a department for everyone in modeling. We have different department in modeling, there is fashion modeling, body part modeling, glamour modeling etc. The misconception people have about modeling is that modeling is about the slim people that walk on the runway. But fashion modeling is not modeling but a department in model-

L-R: ED, Corporate Services, UACN Plc, Mr. Joe Dada; Chairman/CEO HS Media Group, Mr. Taye Ige, and CEO Red Uhuru Consulting Ltd, Mr. Demola Olusunmade, at the unveiling of ‘UAC Unscripted’ – a Family TV Game show at HS Media Group complex in Oregun, Lagos…recently

in 2008, the need arose to identify strategies that are broad enough to meet varying communication needs of the business units despite the

diversifying nature of their target audiences.

“Being the leaders in various sectors of the economy where models.

A HORROR FLICK CALLED REVERIE

Magi ing,” said Magi who been modeling since 1979. Magi said it took 10 years to come up with the books.

Some of the subjects treated in the books include but are not limited to how to walk like a model, the link between modeling and hieroglyphic, the harm of anorexia and how to avoid it, and there are other chapters about modeling and all its interesting crannies.

In Modeling as a Career, there are chapters on a Supermodel, what it is to be a supermodel, what it takes to be one and how to be one. There is a chapter about the contractual agreement between a modelling agent and a model. The somatotypes was also discussed because of its relationship between regular models and anorexic

The new short horror flick, ‘Reverie’ produced by Grey Lotus Studio, Eagles House Global Resources and Bobbyflex Studios has been described as a work created by minds and hands that are super talented.

According to the Director, Ikenna Oguike, Reverie is filled with blurry echoes of ghostly choruses from fears of the unknown and a must see movie.

This story is about a beau who found himself in a mystic wasteland with erratic creatures and wrestled with life.

While in his subconscious mind, he was quarantined and continued rambling in his thoughts on how to survive the unknown expedition.

The official trailer of the short film which was unveiled some days ago asked a simple but direct question “what would you do if you find yourself in a

A scene on the set of Reverie

they operate, the business units need to supremely identify with their customers in a manner that makes them stand out and yet identifiable as members of the same family - the UACN Plc family. Attempting to meet their communication needs led to us identifying comedy as a veritable platform for reaching out,” he said.

“The TV game show Unscripted is a 30-minute reality family game show, which is a platform to engage, educate, celebrate and reward our consumers. Alongside HS Media Group, our TV content provider, we have since then created a number of programmes beginning with The Real Nigerian Show before giving way to UAC La ½ Lines where serious issues in the society are discussed and solutions proffered in a very, very relaxed and lighthearted atmosphere created by comedy.”

Other celebrities to be featured include musical couple, Tunde and Wunmi Obe who will battle actor Segun Arinze and his wife, Julie, in one of the episodes.

There are also Gbenro and Osas Ajibade versus Yemi and Remi Blaq, and several other popular couples.

“Everything that happens on the TV game show UAC Unscripted are not scripted or rehearsed. Rather, they are spontaneous,” Okey Bakassi said at the unveiling.

Other celebrities present at the unveiling included comedian Klint Da Drunk and renowned football analyst Biola Kazeem among others. mystic wasteland?”, and that was the question posed to the character played

by Frank Paladini, the lead actor in the movie.

One of the producers of the movie, Alayande Stephen said, “It is a new undertaking for me for I have been more involved with sitcoms and soap series within and outside the shores of the country in the last few years.

But producing a short film came with its own attendant challenges and we hope for the best”. Other producers were Adeniyi Adebayo and Ikenna Oguike.

The cast of the film include Emmanuel Ilemobayo and Kelechi Amaole, Cynderalla Ukwunna, Olayiwola Abujade and Alayande Stephen T. The story was written and screen played

by Heaven Kalu. The monumental duty of rendering the Special Effects was taken up by Abigail Pender, while the film was edited by Sola Idowu.

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ENTERTAINMENT NEWS

Kit Harington, Adele Gets First Emmy Nod Vanessa Obioha

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ndoubtedly, the Game of Thrones cast are having a blast in this year’s Emmy Awards. The HBO series scooped 23 nominations, allowing favourite characters to be in the Emmy spotlight for the first time.

Kit Harington (Jon Snow) who gets his first Emmy nod after six seasons is overwhelmed with gratitude. He is nominated in the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. Also joining him in the newcomers’ fever is his fellow co-star, 19 year-old Maisie Williams who played Arya Stark in the series. She will be up against her fellow co-stars Lena Headey (Cersei Lannister) and Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen) in the Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series category.

Fox Series ‘The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story’ follows the HBO series closely with 22 nominations.

Adjudged the most diverse awards show of 2016, Emmy 2016 also beamed spotlights on Adele for the first time.

The Brit is nominated in Outstanding Variety Special for ‘Adele Live in New York City’ favourites. Beyonce also slays with four nominations including Outstanding Directing for a Variety Special category for co-directing her HBO visual album and film ‘Lemonade’. The 2016 Emmys will hold on September 18.

Kit Harington

Jennifer Aniston

NICE TRUCK ATTACK HINDERED RIHANNA’S TOUR, 50 SHADES DARKER CONTINUES PRODUCTION

A truck attack on the Riviera beach side of Nice, France last Thursday has led to the cancellation of Rihanna’s scheduled concert at the Allianz Stadium. The show, which was part of her “Anti World Tour”, was scheduled for Friday.

The cancellation was further confirmed by the president of the region, Christian Estrosi on Twitter as well as other social events that were planned to take place in the city on Friday. The attack viewed as a terror attack claimed over 80 lives on the French Nationals Day (Bastille Day). Reports disclosed that the cargo truck drove down the street of Nice’s Promenade des Anglais where many gathered to watch a fireworks display. It zig-zagged for a while before driving into the crowd, maximising pedestrian casualties.

Rihanna who was in the city during the attack was reportedly safe. Also in the city when the attack occurred were ‘50 Shades Darker’ cast and production crew. The crew which was filming just outside the Riveria beachside were all unharmed by the attack.

However, unlike Rihanna who had to cancel her tour, the production crew will continue their filming, but will co-operate with officials on any security measures in the wake of the attack.

The film is the sequel to the BDSM ‘50 Shades of Grey’ and will feature lead stars Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson.

The film is slated to debut in theatres on February 10, 2017.

FOR THE RECORD, JENNIFER ANISTON IS NOT PREGNANT!!!

The ‘Friends’ actress painstakingly took her time to debunk pregnancy rumours that have trailed her recently in a blog post on Huffington Post. Accusing the media for the overly scrutiny and objectification of female celebrities, she candidly wrote “For the record, I am not pregnant. What I am is fed up. I’m

Rihanna

fed up with the sport-like scrutiny and body shaming that occurs daily under the guise of ‘journalism’, the ‘First Amendment’ and ‘celebrity news.’”

Aniston went on to advise tabloids to re-examine the warped ideas of woman’s worth and beauty that they are projecting in the society, particularly to young girls who look up to them as role models. According to her, the press has somehow tied the success and happiness of a woman to marriage and child-bearing, which is disturbingly absurd.

She concluded by adding that “we are complete with or without a mate, with or without a child.”

Expectedly, vitriolic commentaries have followed her essay with British Television personality taking the lead.

In a similar fashion, he advised the actress to stop attributing the problem to the media because she also contributed to it. “Female stars like Jennifer Aniston deliberately perpetuate the myth of ‘perfection’ by posing for endless magazine covers which have been airbrushed so much that in some cases, the celebrity is virtually unrecognisable.”

He told the actress to take the recent scrutiny of her fame as part of the business. “Once you put your body up for lucrative personal gain, I’m afraid you have to accept a level of scrutiny and debate that comes with it.”

Marvin Gaye

His final blow to the actress suggests that she should get a little bit uglier and let people see what she REALLY looks like on a magazine cover. “Then the little girls she’s so worried about can know exactly what they are aspiring to be,” he writes.

However Chrissy Teigen and Anna Paquin have come for his head for writing such blatant article on their friend.

NEW MARVIN GAYE’S DOCUMENTARY IN THE WORKS

A new feature documentary on the legendary Motown artist Mavin Gaye was recently approved by the singer’s family.

The documentary which centres on its 1971 classic ‘What’s Going On’, that highlighted the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. and Vietnam War also flies with same title. A statement by the family described the documentary as an amazing creation of the singer.

Developed by Noah Media Group and Greenlight, production is expected to start this year and will be filmed in Detroit, Los Angeles and Washington.

‘What’s Going On’ will also feature never-before-seen footage as well as interviews with Motown’s “top stars”.

AT 72, MICK JAGGER IS STILL ON DADDY-DUTY

Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger

is expecting his 8th child from his 29 year-old girlfriend. Jagger, 72, started dating Melanie Hamrick in 2014. Although the relationship is not formal, the couple are being supportive of each other.

Hamrick is the fifth woman that will bear a Jagger’s child. Other women include Jerry Hall, Marcia Hunt, Luciana Gimenez and his only and recognised wife Bianca Jagger.

TYRA BANKS LANDS MENTORSHIP ROLE IN ‘FUNDED’

The model will be joining Rob Dyrdek and Rohan Oza as mentors in a new Shark Tank-esque show titled “Funded” for NBC. The new TV show will see contestants competing for $1 million investment.

Each episode will see contestants pitching their ideas to a venture capitalist. The former host of ‘FABLife’ and ‘America’s Next Top Model’ enthused about her involvement in the show.

“I have spent my life encouraging people to BYOB - Be Your Own Boss.

Making everyday people’s dreams come true is what I live for. ‘Funded’ is the life-changing type of television power project that gets me pumped. We will enlighten and entertain audiences big time and encourage our viewers to attack their most outrageous goals with fierce determination.”

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R • JULY 17, 2016

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ON THE COUCH

PRINCESS ADEBISI SARAH SOSAN (POLITICIAN)

Why My Husband Didn’t Live with Me in the Govt House Interviewed by Funke Olaode Is there a secret to this calm and youthful look?

I enjoy inner peace. When you are in Christ, everything is possible. I take each day as it comes. I am conscious of what I eat.

school while the first two were in the university. We had a family meeting to agree on how we are going to balance it. I was in touch with my family all through. I was able to keep my home and was stable in the office as well.

You have been quiet since you left office as deputy governor. What have you been up to lately?

I have a small consultancy firm where I deal with educational issues. Once in a while, I go on speaking engagements. I attend a lot of seminars in and outside the country. I attend development programmes as well because as you age you still have to constantly renew yourself. I still do a lot of reading and writing.

But your husband didn’t live with you in your official residence?

It was not convenient especially when I had to work late into the night. Oftentimes, he came to my official residence and I visited my home regularly. My husband didn’t live with me in the government house because it wasn’t convenient for him.

Can we have an insight into who you are?

I am from Badagry in Ojo Division of Lagos State, which gave me the opportunity to serve my people as a politician.

I am a teacher by profession.

Ironically, going into education was accidental. I never intended to be a teacher. I went to collect a form for a cousin of mine, and from there, my passion was fired and I just said why not try it out. I found out it was my calling especially when it comes to improving the lives of young people. I studied English Education in the University of Lagos. And by the time I dabbled into politics I found that (both politics and education) are somehow similar in the sense that education is about dealing with people, while politics has to do with people as well. This made it easy for me to blend very well when I decided to go into politics.

Also, I come from a family of

So your husband was not afraid of losing you to politics?

He knows that nothing can move me or take me away from him.

politicians. My late father, Prince Remi Durosinmi was a progressive politician.

What was your husband’s stance on your going into politics?

He really supported me. He even took it more seriously than I did. He served in the Navy and knowing the family I come from it wasn’t a big deal for him when I was called upon to serve. When the time came there was no way I could run away from it.

You were in the limelight for four years with a retinue of aides. Is there anything you miss outside power?

The retinue of aides was for protocol sake and it is for a

certain period of time. I still have my aides but on more humble and quiet side. It is natural for everybody to enjoy the glamour of office. Outside it, you still attract that respect; you still get honour from a lot of people. Remember that life and power are transient and the only thing that is stable and constant is change.

There is a notion about female politicians neglecting the home front once they occupy positions. In your case, how did you balance it?

My husband supported me which made life easy for me while in office. My children were also grown up: My last child was already in the secondary

Did you sometimes handle his food while in office?

Of course, I did. You know men would want to do that husband thing. He would say ‘Please, can you cook that my vegetable for me?’ He loves it so much.

And I would cook it because the difference is in his wife’s hand.

I did that once in a while, not all the time.

Has Lagos politics seen the last of you?

I will continue like my father did it till he breathed his last.

Politics is not something you can quit once you get involved. I will continue to be of service to my people because I come from the riverine rural area that is always marginalised. It is only through political participation that their plight can be addressed and their voice heard.

EVENT

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AWLO Global Conference Beckons

rom all indications, all is set for the annual global conference of the African Women in Leadership Organisation (AWLO) to hold in Virginia, Washington DC, USA. Plans for the upcoming event were unveiled at a recent press briefing in Lagos which had in attendance the founder, Elisha Attai and other stakeholders like the Matron of the Youth Assembly of AWLO, Dr. Arene among others.

Flying with the theme ‘We’ve got the power’, this year’s conference is aimed at empowering women more to go beyond their limits and make positive impact in their society.

This was further elaborated by Attai who stated that the strategic conference which would unfold at the Ritz-Carlton, Pentagon City will provide an opportunity to harness and enhance leadership potentials of women and to channel these into promoting the unity and development of the African region, as well as giving various speakers a veritable platform to share their stories,

engage and inspire other women in a convivial atmosphere.

Since its inception in 2009, AWLO conferences has become a Mecca to women from different walks of life across the African continent and beyond because of its championing cause for women empowerment, gender parity, and the advancement of women in leadership.

Apart from the conferences, Attai revealed that there are now various State Chapters in Nigeria and Country Chapters of the organisation scattered across the globe to ensure that the message of the organisation trickles down to the women at the grassroots and also positively impact their lives.

It is indeed a testament to Attai’s continued vision to have a continent where women take their rightful place as home and nation builders with equal opportunities and equal access in all areas of existence.

Expected speakers at the conference include Folorunsho Alakija, Angelle Kwemo, Eveline Pierre among others.

Additional features of the conference

include Summit of the Next Generation which has been specifically designed for preparing youths for better performance in leadership. Resource persons will be inspirational women who will help equip participants with intellectuallystimulating tools that would redirect their energies and bail the continent out of the quagmire of poverty, corruption, insecurity and political crises.

There will also be an AWLO Distinction Awards where women of various spheres who have demonstrated sterling achievement in business, commitment to the course of women and leadership would be honoured. The men are not left out in this recognition.

For the first time, the non-profit organisation will reward men who have been supportive of women in their career and leadership pursuits.

Arene also pointed out that AWLO has become an organisation that has a holistic approach to issues affecting women from the cradle to the family, adolescence to adulthood.

She spoke passionately about the

lead project that was launched in Akwa Ibom State, which would be replicated across the country. “The project of empowerment is going on in Rivers State where ordinary women are being financed and provided with branded stalls for their petty business. Already, the Lagos Chapter just concluded a free digital training for 150 women in collaboration with Google. We also have the educational intervention to inhabitants of two IDP Camps in Abuja.”

She also talked about AWLO’s unique project, ‘One Mother, One Child’; a project she says portrays the African woman as a social mother by adopting a hapless child and seeing that child through his or her education.

On this project, Attai added “This is one project close to our heart. It is mandatory for all full members of AWLO to adopt and train one child that is not theirs biologically. We will encourage more Nigerians and corporate bodies to join us in this noble cause.” The conference will hold from August 16 to 21.

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R • JULY 17, 2016

High Life

63 with LANRE ALFRED 08076885752

...Amazing lifestyles of Nigeria’s rich and famous

‘Forgive My Daughter’s Behaviour’ - Former Oyo Governor, Olunloyo, Begs Pastor Adeboye

•How high society gadfly, Kemi Olunloyo, drove her father to make humiliating public apology

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prodigal child is like a hair across your cheek. You can’t see it, you can’t find it with your fingers, but you keep brushing at it because the feel of it is irritating. In the sad case of former Governor of Oyo State, Omololu Olunloyo, his daughter, Kemi, grates his cheek, rankles his peace and unsettles his soul in ways only a super prodigal could to her devoted father. Having painfully endured his daughter’s very frequent and embarrassing tantrums, the former governor was forced to come out of his shell to seek the forgiveness of victims of his daughter’s oft inexplicable tantrums.

One of such victims was Pastor Enoch Adeboye, the General Overseer (GO) of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG). On Sunday, July 10, 2016, Olunloyo came out to apologize openly to Pastor Adeboye for the statement his daughter

Dior Chidera Adiele

FAD OR FAUX PAS? NIGERIAN CELEBRITIES STRIP NUDE TO SHOW OFF BABY BUMP A violinist has his violin, a painter his palette but all a female celebrity has is her baby bump, you would think. You could be forgiven for thinking that the heavily pregnant Nigerian actress, dancer and musician to mention a few, are driven by spasms of selflove to frantically display their baby bumps on the social media. Critics of their action

made against him on the social media. Kemi had once openly called Pastor Adeboye a murderer, so when her father heard the man of God was coming to one of the RCCG parishes in Oluyole, Oyo State, he rushed there so that he could apologize to the RCCG pastor and also ask him to pray for him.

Olunloyo told Adeboye: “My daughter’s behaviour is utterly irresponsible, libelous and repeatedly painful to me and the whole family. He added that he and the entire family disassociate themselves from the statement.

In response however, Pastor Adeboye who sounded like he never heard anything of such said; ‘I’m not sure of what you are talking about. It’s just good to see another great citizen of Nigeria who served his people during his time.’

The former Governor, however, asked the man of God to pray for him, which he did. would interpret it as symptom of extreme vanity and esteem issues but fans of the celebrities would simply consider it: ‘moving with the times’ or ‘going with the trend.’

The rate at which local celebrities discard their clothing to reveal their bare skin covering their embryos would leave the conservative gasping for breath and clutching at norms with frenetic speed.

The roll call of local female celebrities who are subscribing to this cultural import from Europe and America has become worrisome to folks who believe a woman’s femininity is best preserved and motherhood better ennobled if the contemporary woman could endeavour to keep her hidden graces covered and shielded from the glare of an increasingly nosy and narcissistic world.

Just recently, Dior Chidera Adiele, shocked her fans and raised serious eyebrows by posing completely nude for a photo shoot celebrating her baby bump. The Nollywood actress, in a bold move, flaunted her huge baby bump completely nude like publicity seeking actresses do in Hollywood. No one had dared posing nude with baby bump until Adiele and worries are, the bug will catch on very soon among the nation’s publicity-seeking celebrities. Moralists believe the increasing fascination of

Omololu Olunloyo

Nigerian celebrities with the imported baby bump voyeurism and the reciprocal lust accorded their hankering for acclaim by their fans and media audience, poses inimical challenges to the preservation of Nigerian norms and culture.

MAKING SENSE WITH FORMER PDP CHAIRMAN, OGBULAFOR ‘PURE WATER’ BUSINESS Sometime life can play a cruel joke that can turn today’s hero into a villain in a few seconds.

A seeming bad circumstance

Vincent Ogbulafor

may come with all the didactic precepts of a lifetime. Many of the lessons that guide future actions are sometime learnt on the sacrificial altar of someone else’s misery. In that short spate of time, Chief Vincent Ogbulafor, former chairman of the People’s Democratic Party, must have realised how transient life is, and more importantly that in politics, there is no permanent friend, only permanent interest.

Since he was removed, he has resigned to the fickle finger of fate, living a low profile life and adjusting to life without the exaggerated obsequiousness and panoplies of power.

However, this might sound stranger than fiction, but it is the bitter truth, Chief Ogbulafor now sells pure water, but not in the archaic, small scale format that abounds everywhere. Back in his native Umuahia, Abia State, and prior to his political relevance, he had a company called NUELA along Aba road, opposite Modern Ceramics Industry, Umuahia that produces table water and ‘pure’ water. On the heels of his forced resignation from his plum position as chairman of selftouted Africa’s largest political party, Ogbulafor renovated the office complex housing NUELA, indicating that politics may be far from his mind at that moment. Today, his pure water Cont’d on pg. 64

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R • JULY 17, 2016

64

HIGHLIFE

Beatrice Abebe Finds Her Groove Back

•Late Stella Obasanjo’s in-law returns to social scene

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ife blossoms in the heart and ravishing eyes of Beatrice Abebe, like a phoenix rising from the ashes of its own demise, as you read. The widow of the maritime boss, late Henry Abebe, has finally resurfaced on the social scene after a long hiatus from the public arena. It would be recalled that Beatrice ended her intimate romance with fame and recoiled into a shell of solitude, while she grieved over the loss of her husband and soul mate. It would be recalled that the sister-in-law of late Nigerian first lady, Stella Obasanjo, once

reigned supreme among notables in the country’s high society. Beatrice’s fame knew no bounds and like a conspicuous gold fish, she was spotted at every high octane party or seen in the company of her late sister-in-law.

However, fame began to slip from her grasp like a deflating balloon when Stella Obasanjo died thus whittling down her influence among her peer in the country’s high society.

As you read, the resilient socialite is making a gradual comeback to the social arena. She was recently spotted at an event looking cheery and undeniably attractive.

business is really booming even as he engages in small politics by the side.

deserted the Adedibu family and would not want to have anything to do with the people he left behind. The situation also forced Bose to shun her late husband’s political associates particularly those he assisted when he was alive who later turned their backs on the family.

But such dismal happenstance is now a thing of the past. Today, Bose enjoys a fresh lease of life.

No longer is she the morose and disillusioned widow of a former garrison commander and politician. She has picked up the pieces of her life and moved on.

How? Wait for details on this page.

REALITY BITES… BOSE ADEDIBU BATTLES FOR SURVIVAL While her husband was alive, she had the sweetest experience of the world; she knew what it is to be the heartthrob of the political godfather. She understood what it is to be courted by the lowly-placed, the high and mighty seeking innumerable favours from her husband. But no sooner her husband died than Alhaja Bose Adedibu, widow of strongman of Ibadan politics, Alaafin Molete, Alhaji Lamidi Adedibu, tasted the bitter pill of betrayal. In friendship, she found coldness and in trust, she found treason. It appears her whole world has come crashing down like a giant iceberg. And the reasons are not far-fetched: no sooner the remains of her powerful husband were lowered into the grave than his friends and political associates began to desert his political empire and family. One after the other, they

Bose Adedibu

FROM GOVERNMENT TO THE PULPIT...EX-HOUSING MINISTER, AMA PEPPLE, PREACHES THE WORD The pulpit becomes the cradle and last resort of the disenchanted politician. Thus the idea that only a cleric can represent Christ at the altar is a most serious heresy in the parlance of the Nigerian politician. When push comes to shove and disillusionment sets on the erstwhile brilliant horizons of the career politician, the latter beats a retreat to seek comfort in unlikely places.

Some would retire to the bosom of a woman. Many more would retreat to comfort and safe havens of their business dynasties. But a certain breed would rather mount the pulpit.

As you read, Ama Pepple, a former Minister of Housing, Land and Urban Development in former President Goodluck Jonathan’s cabinet, has embraced the pulpit. The Opobo, RIvers State born beauty is seriously enmeshed in the gospel of the Lord. She is currently preaching salvation and righteousness and devoting the better part of her days to preaching and living God’s word.

While information about her ordination remains sketchy, she is said to have mastered the art of mounting the pulpit to preach the gospel.

Beatrice Abebe

Ama Pepple

Until she retreated to the pulpit, Ama Pepple was one of Nigeria’s well known female technocrats who rose to the pinnacle of the civil service. She was later named the Minister of Housing, Land and Urban Development before the cabinet shake-up that relieved ministers believed to be loyal to the G-7 governors who walked out of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) PDP convention during the Governors’ Forum crisis.

Her removal was more dramatic in that she was said to have gone to President Jonathan a few days earlier to plead with him to make peace with Governor Rotimi Amaechi.

Pepple travelled abroad immediately she was sacked and has since maintained a low profile and modest lifestyle.

of Access Bank. Wigwe, like a knight bearing shiny lance and armour, resourcefully steers Access Bank to financial success and entrepreneurial acclaim at the local and global business fronts. This claim is justifiable by the success stories and exploits of the bank under the leadership of Wigwe.

Recently, the bank was awarded the Euromoney Award for ‘Africa’s Best Bank Transformation’ at a wellattended event in the city of London, United Kingdom (UK).

The event which further attested to the cutting-edge facilities, futuristic policies and exploits of Access Bank, attracted the creme of London and Nigeria’s high society. Access Bank’s MD, Wigwe, was in attendance at the event with members of staff of his bank. Access Bank Plc scooped the award of the Best Flow House in Africa in the Euromoney Awards for Excellence 2015, which held at the Natural History Museum in London.

This would be the first time a Nigerian bank would be recognised as winner of this highly sought-after award.

Access Bank’s win comes in recognition of the bank’s

GLOBAL SWEEETHEART! HERBERT WIGWE JOYOUS OVER ACCESS BANK’S EUROMONEY AND KARLSRUHE AWARDS •HOW HE STEERS THE COMPANY TO GLORIOUS PATHS

It is so hard to ditch the winning habit particularly when you are Herbert Wigwe, the Managing Director (MD)

Herbert Wigwe

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HIGHLIFE

Nobody Knows Grief Like Halima Fernandez •Billionaire widow arrive homeland in a haze of sorrow

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s she alighted in her homeland, the beautiful widow wept and poured out her grief like an opera conductor dreaming in a Handelian mist. Thus Baroness Halima Fernandez, widow of late Ambassador Anthonio Oladeinde Fernandez, wept recently as she arrived in Kano from abroad.

In a heartfelt outpouring of grief, she said: “Good afternoon Kano. The sun feels incredible. Never knew Kano heat like this. Kowa yabar gida, gida yabar sa.

Alhamdulilahi. After five years, I’m home. It is more bitter than sweet though.

I left a married woman and now I’m back a widow.

Allah kayuma Garsan Fulani

Rahama. ka gafarta masa.”

And as if she mean to reply her traducers spreading the ill news and rumour that she was never married to her late billionaire husband, Halima said: “Our marriage is a part of me that I cherish. That we were married shouldn’t be in contention because it was a popular marriage in Kano with documentation, and important dignitaries were present.”

It is interesting to know that Baroness Halima is from Maude family in Kano. She met her late husband through the late Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero, and the late Emir turbaned Fernandez as the Garsan Fulani Kano, a title that translates as the Champion of the right of the Fulani people of Kano.

increasing transaction flows across Africa, particularly its dominance in the Nigerian financial markets.

For the umpteenth time, Access Bank has commanded the applause of critical agencies.

Like an indefatigable knight and conqueror of life’s greatest odds, the foremost banking institution also won the prestigious global Karlsruhe Sustainable Finance Award in Karlsruhe, Germany last Thursday. By its win, Access Bank emerges as the first African recipient of the much coveted Outstanding Business Sustainability Achievement award in Germany.

the incumbent Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, just before he mounted the throne. There’s been a raging feud fueled by anger and animosity between Ooni of Ife and Omisore, since the former ascended the throne as paramount ruler of Ile Ife kingdom. Worried by the festering animosity between them, prominent chieftains of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) led by Soji Adagunodo, trooped to the Ooni’s palace to plead on behalf of Omisore who is currently fighting tooth and nail to extricate himself from the dragnet of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in respect of certain allegations of financial fraud.

However, Omisore’s beef with the EFCC is unrelated to his spat with Ooni Adeyeye. Findings revealed that the ex-deputy governor of Osun State incurred the wrath of the paramount ruler courtesy the role he played during the selection process and campaign by contenders for the throne. It was gathered that during the selection process of the Ooni of Ife, Omisore allegedly tried to install his own candidate; he desperately tried to ensure that his favoured candidate assumed the throne as the Ooni of Ife, but gods are not men and his candidate fell short of the requirements and expectations of the gods. Since the Ooni of Ife’s emergence to the throne, Omisore has not been to the palace to pay homage to the King, neither has he made any effort to congratulate the new Ooni of Ife.

Iyiola Omisore

NOT IN MY NAME! INTRIGUES AS RIFT DEEPENS BETWEEN OONI OF IFE AND SENATOR IYIOLA OMISORE Had he known, Senator Iyiola Omisore would have picked his battles wisely. But the former Deputy Governor of Osun State failed to heed the voice of caution when it mattered most thus like the hound that would get lost for ignoring the hunter’s call, Omisore set on the path of discord by antagonizing

ONCE BITTEN, TWICE SHY...

FUNKE KUTI LAYS OFF MEN AND MARRIAGE •WHY FORMER AFROBEAT QUEEN IS WARY OF LOVE

Funke Kuti dreads love as the lion dreads the gnat. The estranged wife of Afrobeat maestro, Femi Kuti, keeps a wide berth from romance and Cupid’s fated arrow even as you read. Thus with a breast plate that blocks off the barbed arrows

Halima Fernandez

Funke Kuti

of passion and untamable lust, she has chosen to lay off love and wedlock.

You could be forgiven for thinking the elegant, faircomplexioned former wife of Femi Kuti has embraced a life of celibacy. When her marriage crashed over allegations of infidelity after the birth of her son for Femi, the sassy dancer was heartbroken. But she struggled to put together the pieces of her life and moved on.

She dumped her skimpy attire as an Afrikan Shrine dancer and built a career for herself in the corporate world. Having given up on men, her son and her company, F.K Management, became her priorities. Funke joined the singles club again but contrary to the expectations of her friends and loved ones, she would not get involve in another affair nor would she get married to another man. Rather she has shown extreme restraint, preferring to live as a single mother. She has seized every opportunity to tell the world that she has no man in her life except her son.

THE SECRET JOY OF FORMER

BANK CHIEFS There is no gainsaying the comfort and sanity of the good old days. The proverbial epoch of wisdom and modesty rubs off positively on the memories and personae of former bank chiefs in the country, to their infectious delight. Many of them are thankful and ecstatic over their good fortune in quitting the cutthroat finance sector while the ovation was loudest and truly appreciative of their fiscal practice and professional ethics. As you read, these retired finance gurus, most of whom presided as Managing Directors (MDs) and Chairmen of some of the country’s most solvent and now defunct banks remember the ‘good old days of the banking sector’ with warmth and an appreciative glow. They are happy that they left the banking industry before the onset of its current tumult.

According to a former bank MD, this is not a time to be a bank MD. It’s crazy right now.

That’s why so many bankers are looking spent and down. It’s a crazy period in the history of Nigeria. Gone are the days when they traversed the country’s financial landscape and held it by the jugular.

Their banks had crashed like a badly arranged pack of cards.

The likes of Jide Rogers of Gulf Bank, Fidelis Tilijie of Fortune Bank, Marc Wabara of Hallmark Bank, Sola Adeoti of City Express, Chuka Mbonu of Assurance Bank, Mike Chukwu of Guardian Express, Joy Udensi of Citizens Bank, Bimbo Olashore of Lead Bank, Robert Mbonu, Okey Nwosu, Frank Atuche, Odunlami Kola-Daisi of Fountain Trust. In their hey days, they rode the best of cars, lived large, dressed up to the nines. A very tiny fraction of them are quietly spending the money they acquired when they were the head honchos. Some of them who used to cavort in the midst of creme of the society and dine with the aristocrats now literally loll among the ragtag and bobtail.

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Strictly Exclusive Soiree

with LANRE ALFRED

08076885752

Pageantry and Class at Otunba Elegbeleyes’ 20th Wedding Anniversary

Former NSC boss celebrates blissful matrimony with close friends and family Abuja listed to their grace, like a vessel tilting to the splendorous splash of the Atlantic. Indeed, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) paid homage to Otunba Gbenga Elegbeleye and his beautiful wife, Solape, as they celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary recently at their Asokoro residence.

The couple’s wedding anniversary was no doubt an exhibition of pageantry and class; the Elegbeleyes have a reputation for understatement but in honour of their blissful matrimony, they threw subtlety overboard.

The former Director General of National Sports Commissions and Former Chairman House Committee on Sport and his ravishing wife surely understands the importance of celebrating the good times with verve and unparalleled class. With unusual fervour and matchless elegance, they enchanted the FCT, summoning unprecedented glamour and depth to excite the country’s exotic metropolis.

The event was well attended by friends and associates of Otunba Elegbeleye. In attendance were Edem Duke, John Fashanu, RT Hon Emeka Ihedioha, Sen Dino Melaye, Sen Ehigie Uzamere, Sen Uche Ekwunife, High Chief Edem Duke , Ex Bayelsa Dep Gov Ebebi, John Fashanu, Nollywood star ,Racheal Okonkwo, Hon Bassey Ewa, Hon Mayo Akinfolarin, Hon Yakubu Garo, Frank Edozie,

Otunba Gbenga Odusanya, popular TV presenter, Rachel the piper, Hon Paul Adah, Dr Oluleye, ex ES of PTDF, Chief Dele Oduwale, Super Eagles player, Femi Ajilore, MD Accolade, Ginika Tor Senator Dino Melaye among many others. As the A-list guests wined and dined and slipped into jolly moods, the Elegbeleyes thrilled their palates and souls to the choicest of exotic meals, music and liquor.

They held court and provide ample space and materials for their distinguished guests to hobnob in a sumptuous royal gathering designed to rival the best of the filthy rich’s parties. The couple hosted their guests court amid hundreds of exotic flowers, intricate carvings of ornamental architecture and an ambiance decorated with the best of grand decor.

The Elegbeleyes’ wedding anniversary was undoubtedly a spectacle of grandeur; among other things, it reflected the couple’s impeccable taste and high sense of fashion, order and splendour.

The spectacle may seem peculiar, but it actually reflected a deeply rooted culture of majesty and respect for the marital institution.

While the couple played host to a stream of family, friends, business and political associates, their posh residence pulsated with pomp and glamour. The

ye, Chief Edem Duke and Celebrants Otunba Gbenga Elegbele ye bele Eleg Mrs Solape

Rachel and John Fashanu

Hon. Bassey Ewa

Hon Ibrahim Gusau and Hon. Mayo Akinfolarin

Lioyd Chidi Abel and Hon. Edem Duke

Hon. Dino Melaye, Hon. Gbenga Elegbeleye, Mrs Solape Elegbeleye and RT Hon Emeka Ihedioha

elaborate event, which paraded top politicians, respected technocrats, society big wigs and captains of industry, saw the guests shuffle and nod to the liveliest and most delightful musical tunes. As the guests thrilled to delightful music, their hair stood on end and they tipped over in merriment - their joy spilling from their souls into the air and sky high into the blue firmament.

The Elegbeleye’s residence exploded inwards and outwards in colorful bursts, the bass and treble guitars black strumming and buzzing to mesh with the cymbals and drums in a thunder clap. Enthralled, the guests moved in gaiety, tap dancing and swaying to the beat as if they meant to enact a beach rave or simulate an indoor Ibiza.

The melody reverberated through the halls and passageways of their posh apartments and spilled into the atmosphere, drawing excited and muted sighs of pleasure from their invited guests and neighbours.

Otunba Elegbeleye who became Otunba of Ikareland few months ago, is indeed a true man of his people and his wedding anniversary serves as incontrovertible evidence of this fact. The calibre of dignitaries that trooped out to his residence to celebrate with him and his wife presents a worthy testament to his enduring popularity and acclaim.

Dr Oluleye

Sen Ehigie Uzamere and Hon Paul Ada h

Gbenga Familoni, Otunba Gbenga Odussanya and Rachel Okonkwo

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hairman, Tricontinental Group and President, Nigerian-American Chamber of Commerce (NACC), Chief Olabintan Famutimi, hosted two officials of the US Consulate, Mrs. Dehab Ghebreab and Mr. Brian McCleary, to a send-forth dinner in Lagos. Here are faces of personalities at the event.

Photos: Ibrahim Adewale

L-R: Mr. Benjamin Yessus; Chief Olabintan Famutimi; Mrs. Dehab Ghebreab; Mrs. Stella Famutimi; Mr. Brian McCleary; Mr. John Bray and Mr. Tara McCleary

L-R: Mrs. Olu seyi Afolabi; Mr. Osagie Okunbor and Chief (Mrs) Nike Akande

L-R: Mrs. Bolanle Austen-Peters and Mr. Kene Mkparu

Mr. Segun Ogunsanya

L-R: Mr. Femi Adesanya and a guest

Ms. Ify Osijo

Olga Ford (middle) and other United State of America Consulate Officials

Mrs. Joke Omotunde and her husband, Mr. Dele

L-R: Mrs. Olaoluwa Adebanjo and Ms. Keno Adeyemi

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Why Kola-Daisi Loves Entertainment

It looks like yesterday, but one decade has passed since Tunbosun Kola-Daisi quit banking to pursue his passion for entertainment. Vanessa Obioha reports that his modest investment in leisure activities has multiplied manifold

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e sauntered in unaccompanied by security guards, head bowed, briskly greeted the reporter and walked into his office. No one stopped what they were doing or kept mute at his arrival. Only the receptionist routinely followed him into the office and returned almost immediately.

It is easy to mistake Tunbosun Kola-Daisi as an employee of the company he founded 10 years ago. His quiet mien suggests simplicity.

There is nothing about his disposition that suggests his unbridled passion for entertainment.

Even his office - a spacious room adequately furnished - did not betray his keen interest in entertainment except for a painting on the wall. At first glance, he gives the impression of a banker or a doctor with his bespectacled eyes and tall gait. Interestingly, his first paid job was in the bank. He started off in First Bank London, moved to Oceanic Bank before finally settling down in Fountain Trust Bank which is present-day Heritage bank.

He finally left the finance world during the Sanusi-era of bank merger after 12 years. That period signaled a defining moment for KolaDaisi as he dumped his suit and tie to pursue his real passion: Entertainment.

It has always been a part of him. For some unknown reasons, he had his first degree in Geography and a Masters in Business Administration. Nonetheless, he never shied away from entertainment. During his bank days, he was the go-to man for social events, the perfect man for the job. On such occasions, the soft-spoken entrepreneur steps out of his gentle shell.

“I like music a lot, good quality music. I think that’s where it started from. I like seeing people enjoying themselves, being happy, celebrated, although I don’t really celebrate myself but I like to celebrate people.”

Out of this uncanny proclivity towards music, Kola-Daisi veered into the entertainment industry. But not as an event manager or musician, rather in a different turf entirely: audio-visual equipment.

The use of LED screens or super-quality sound system at social functions were almost non-existent then. What was obtainable was substandard owing to the stupendous cost of the equipment. The industry suffered from poor structure system and lack of professionalism.

Kola-Daisi would prove to be the game changer with the launch of his company Mobile Screens and Sounds Limited. Tapping on his banking experience, he was able to identify the vacuum and worked out a solution to cater to the evolving technologies in the entertainment industry.

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ast rising Nollywood actress, Ruth Kadiri recently embarked on another life-transforming journey through her foundation for children, Ruth Kadiri Kids Foundation, as she empowered 100 students of Ilasan Primary School, Jakande Lekki. She counseled them on choosing the right identity and appreciating who they are. She also handed out materials that would aid them in their studies.

The pupils were excited to be in the company of the actress, as Ruth highlighted challenges that they would encounter as they progress in

Kola-Daisi

Expectedly, funding was an issue for the capital-intensive venture but through a partnership with a UK company, ADI, the Oyostate indigene was able to set the ball in motion.

Till date, the partnership is still solidified with plans to penetrate West African countries.

Some of his revolutionary equipment included mobile LED screens that can be used any time of the day, irrespective of the weather, line array speakers, digital video cameras and more recently stage and lighting, which he did for the music reality TV show, The Voice Nigeria.

From a humble beginning of a small office in Awolowo Road, Ikoyi with two workers, Kola-Daisi now occupy a vast property in the industrial environs of Ilupeju, Lagos, with over hundred people in his employment. There is also an office in Abuja and probably more will be spread across the country soon.

His business has grown from just supply of this equipment to companies to maintenance, repair and training.

“What we do is to maintain and repair LED screens for some clients who bought them and have no prior knowledge of maintaining it, so sending it back to the supplier maybe very expensive. So we come in handy here because do maintenance and repair. Also we train.

“In fact, it’s part of our plan to open a training school where we can teach youths on how to maintain and repair this equipment because there is a high demand for it. At least, it is our own way of getting people off the streets. We will also work towards opening an

assembling store. I think it is one project the government will be happy about.”

His services are spread across the entertainment industry, corporate bodies, religious bodies, NGOs and others.

With the daily demand of his services, KolaDaisi and his staff members work round the clock. He is fiercely committed to his passion which explains his tagline wherever, whenever and however. “Events come in different shades and demands. Some people are doing an overnight thing; the corporate will do during the day. In the social sector, we have wedding or engagement. It all depends. The wherever, however, means whether you are here or in Kaduna, we will be there.”

While he has recorded impressive success since inception, the journey has not been a smooth one. From funding, lack of power supply and road infrastructure, to limited expertise in the country, Kola-Daisi swam through all to build the technology company he has today.

However, the current hardship in the economy is also biting hard on his business. “It is very difficult and challenging now, unlike in the past eight years where we buy one equipment every six months or the other to add to our stock to change the ones that have fully depreciated. But in the last one and a half years, we have hardly bought them because of the high rise in dollars, which is contending with import duties, clearing fees at the end of the day. People are no longer patronising the industry like before. However, I believe things

Ruth Kadiri Gives Back their studies, which if not well taken care of, might endanger their original dreams.

“When you get into secondary school, you are going to meet a lot of people that would make you feel like there is something wrong with you. However, you are okay, you are unique,” the actress advised the pupils, who listened with rapt attention.

Since the founding of her foundation, the actress has embarked on quite a number of projects that involves young people, in a bid to help them grow and become better persons.

Ruth with school children

are going to get better with the new exchange rate.”

For his tenth anniversary, the bankercum-entrepreneur gave his client a treat with an exhibition and rewarded old employees.

Coincidentally, the anniversary was marked on his birthday, July 16.

Certainly, the landscape of the entertainment industry has changed in the past ten years. Kola-Daisi shares his thoughts on the future of the burgeoning industry.

“The entertainment industry is competing with agriculture now but I know it will be the next big thing if government pays attention to it. For instance, according to statistics in 2014, the industry is growing in an average rate of almost 20 per cent on an annual basis, that is about four billion dollars’ worth of the industry.

“What contributed to this growth is the music industry and Nollywood where we were able to export some of our materials. The projection therefore is by 2019, the industry will be worth close to a billion dollars. Of course we can do much better if things like piracy are curbed because the intellectual capital these guys put in are not properly tapped.”

He continued: “If we have good equipment, both audio and visual, the quality of our production in terms of Nollywood will be much better and higher than it is today. I believe if there is funding and enabling environment, and also with the government and right authorities doing their own part, we can achieve the projected figure we talk about. Because, if you look at it, the industry helps in a way to curb crime, unemployment, and other things; among the youths. The government should really focus more on this industry,” he said.

Although, he may never hold the mic to sing or go to a recording studio, he however runs a record label company Blue Note where he hopes to achieve his music ambitions.

assistant editor nseobong okon-ekong senior correspondent funke olaode correspondent vanessa obioha designer ibirogba ibidapo CONTRIBUTORS onoshe nwabuikwu, temilolu okeowo, kelechi nduka THISDAY ON SUNDAY editor adetokunbo adedoja deputy editor vincent obia STUDIO art director ochi ogbuaku jnr THISDAY NEWSPAPERS editor-in-chief & chairman nduka obaigbena managing director eniola bello deputy managing director kayode komolafe

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PUBLICATION

A ROLL CALL OF THE LETTERED

Adichie, Saleh and Vervelde at the 2016 NB-Farafina Literary Evening in Lagos

17.07.2016

EDITOR OKECHUKWU UWAEZUOKE/ okechukwu.uwaezuoke@thisdaylive.com

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A ROLL CALL OF THE The famed writer and Creative Director, FarafinaTrust, Chimamanda Adichie adorned herself in a red knee-length hollow-sleeved dress, wearing a confident smile born out of the optimism for better African literature at the night of glamour that capped the 10-day Farafina Creative Writing workshop in Lagos. Yinka Olatunbosun reports

Participants at the 2016 Creative Writers’ Workshop with lead facilitator, Chimamanda Adichie, former governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi and the MD/CEO, Nigerian Breweries Plc at the 2016 Literary Evening in Lagos

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-treme Productions’ eclectic performance was the night’s grand appetizer. The cast, made up of three dance pairs, an artist and a violinist left many mouths agape at the literary evening that closed the curtain on this year’s edition of the Farafina Creative Writing Workshop.

It was also a warm discovery for many who witnessed last year’s event where Efe Paul Azino was the headliner. This year, Azino made what could be called a cameo appearance on stage with his poetry, leaving us wishing he had performed something fresh.

Anyway, the centre-stage of this annual literary night belonged to Chimamanda Adichie, a leading post-colonial writer with many awards on her sleeves. But she shared it with others at the Oriental Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos. The writer, who had become a mother recently, had been out of public glare for a while.

Although some believed that she is not one to be swarmed by paparazzi but anyone who had seen her at special events as this would agree that Adichie simply carries an enviable charisma beyond what had ever been written about her.

She, unconsciously, grabbed the attention of her audience with her witty remarks about each participant at the 2016 Farafina Creative Workshop sponsored by the

Nigerian Breweries. Her keen eyes and sharp sense of description did justice to the participants’ characters.

Every year, scores of creative writers are selected to participate in the workshop which is aimed at burnishing skills and reawakening the writer’s consciousness. At its 8th edition, the decorated writer took on the responsibility of grooming men and women of letters who will attract a new generation of readers to Africa. The list include Chisom Sunny-Eduputa, Akintunde Aiki, Pamela Naaki Tetteh, Ige Abimbola, Chinaza Attam, Miracle Adebayo, Lesley Agams, Ama Diaka, Munachim Amah, Osayuware Obaigbo, Grace Saleh, Fatima Mohammed, Olakunle Ologunro, Chioma Okolo, Tobore Ovuorie, Amy Woluchem, Aishat Abiri Funmi Unuajefe, Ifeoluwa Nihinlola, Onwuasoanya Chika, Nnamdi Anyadu, Umar Turaki, Nneoma Ike-Njoku, Chinaza Ezeoke.

They discussed, read and ate with Adichie between June 21 and July 1, which gave the writer the ample opportunity to glean the potential of each one.

The Caine Prize-winning Kenyan writer, Binyavanga Wainaina, Aslak Sira Myhre and others were also co-facilitators with Adichie. Typically, participants are assigned a wide range of reading exercises, as well as daily writing exercises to improve the craft of writers and encourage published and unpublished writers by bringing different perspective to the art of storytelling. Adichie believes that writing is not something that is taught

but a special gift naturally endowed on person but then being a reader of books makes a difference.

“I had a vision years ago for this workshop. I thought I had a good fortune to have been published books that people actually pay money to buy and read.

I felt that sense of responsibility that there is so much talent in this country and this continent. I thought of creating that space for writers to come together and that is what this workshop has been for me. But I also wanted to have the participants in the workshop not just learn from me but learn from other writers whose works I respect. Binvavanga, I want to thank you for your generosity.

Even after the workshop, she keeps in touch with the participants on their works, thereby creating an entry into what is called the writing life,’’ she said.

During her first edition, there was a participant that others in the workshop would think of as “ITK’’, an acronym for “I Too Know’’. This expression is often used to describe persons who are well-informed about a variety of subjects and often show off with such knowledge. Most times, some people do not deliberately do so; it has only been a part of their being to contribute to discussions meaningfully. But they end up getting branded as “ITK’’ by people who secretly wish they have their brains. Adichie knew this obviously

because rather than being pissed off by this knowledgeable individual, she brought him on board this year to contribute to the workshop as one of the facilitators. Adichie has taught one lesson by that singular gesture which is to always look for the good in everyone.

Adichie was thankfully to the sponsors, Nigerian Breweries, as well as key facilitators who had joined her during the workshop.

“Aslak is the National Librarian of Norway. Unfortunately, Aslak had to leave before the workshop ended and couldn’t be here today. Aslak talked a lot about writing non-fiction. Ehosa, until recently, was the publisher of Farafina House and had participated in the first writing workshop that I organised. I like to tell the story of how he is the ITK. And I hope the participants have benefited from his ITK,’’ she said, tongue-in-cheek.

This year, more than 2000 entries were received from different parts of the world including Libya, Saudi Arabia, United States of America and the United Kingdom making it even more competitive.

“The quality of the writing seems to be getting better each year which makes it more difficult to select. Selecting 23 people from 2000 entries is very difficult. Ehosa had to read all the entries. He would send a text message around 3 a.m. saying “I tire’’. He finally selected the first 100 entries. I had to do the final selection.

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TELEVISION

L-R: Professor Las Ekwueme and Mrs. Dayo Keshi at the press briefing held in Surulere,recently

ROLLING OUT DRUMS FOR 2016 CHORALFEST Yinka Olatunbosun

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Chimamanda Adichie with a participant at the event “Anybody on that list of 100 could have come to the workshop. But in selecting, I was looking not only for talent but for what I like to call art. I was looking for emotional truth. I wanted to see that not only did these people have something to say but what they have to say matters. I am not sure one can necessarily teach writing. But writing workshops can do is to teach you how to edit your work, read your works through the eyes of other people, teach you how to read,’’ she observed.

At the workshop, participants would talk with Adichie till late in the night on not just literature but on general topics such as politics, psychology and social issues. The result is that she learned from them. From Chika, she saw that words could be articulated by an engineer. From Adebayo, a lawyer, she inferred that a writer can speak profoundly about the gender construction by talking about something as seemingly playful as a woman’s bust, football and chesting the ball.

Through Umar, a film maker who hails from Jos, she could watch reel images in form of cleverly written narratives. Fatimah, who brings humanity into her legal documentation as a writer and Editor-in-chief of a legal magazine, served as a pointer to the need to humanised many Nigerian laws.

Obaigbo, whom she referred to as the “resident elder’’ at the workshop, had an impressive profile as well. A photographer, producer and author of the wretched billionaire, this graduate of the University of Benin wrote a play titled, “Reincarnation’’ which made the BBC playwriting shortlist in 1992.

“He spent a lot of time taking pictures of people without their permission. He started many interesting conversations. He would promptly disagree on any subject. What that disagreement meant for us what that it opened up the space for conversations that we might not have had. His writing is reminiscent of Ben Okri’s he would often tell us ‘I am a grand-father,’’ recounted Adichie.

Oforie, an investigative journalist at Premium Times taught her colleagues through her works that part of a writer’s responsibility is to break down the walls of silence. Ama from Ghana received her certificate just like others but in a stylish piece to make a statement about being a designer. Through Kunle, Adichie learnt that being hyper-active is not necessarily a bad or hindering factor in become a compelling writer.

“Kunle has a fantastic reading eye and writes well.

He is studying English at the University of Ilorin,’’ she remarked.

Munachi, who holds a first class degree in Economics, writes academic papers at the Lagos Business School. He wrote on very courageous subjects and poetically too.

Funmilayo, a television producer working on a new show, “Raising Kids’’ as partly a radio show online writes about necessary things with unflinching honesty.

Adichie Adichie admired Chioma’s incredibly vivid sense of imagination, Chinaza Attam’s beauty of language and Chinaza Ezeoke’s ironical temperament towards her difficult subjects in her writing. She hoped Aisha would not restrict herself to being a screenwriter nor Akintunde to his project management job.

Agams, a lawyer and former wild life photographer, also impressed Adichie with her writing as much as Pamela’s sense of humour spoke to her. Ife and Ige were both cherished participants by the facilitators as they are seen as the soul and the example of close to perfection at the workshop, respectively. While Ike-Njoku’s astute and wonderfully strange pieces were such delight, Chisom, who studies at Adichie’s alma mater in Connecticut, offers insight into understanding children through her writing.

“Nnamdi wrote about non-humans dwellers of the oceans, in a speculative fiction. It helped us to see humans from the point of view of non-humans,’’ noted Adichie who spent the evening deliberating more on new frontiers for writers from Africa.

he National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC), in conjunction with Professor Las Ekwueme, Tope Babayemi, Ayo Bankole and Babafemi Ogundipe, has announced that the 2016 Choral International Festival will be here in three months’ time. This was disclosed during a press briefing held at the Ayo Bankole Centre, a cultural hub in Surulere, Lagos recently where the Director General, National Council for Arts and Culture, Mrs. Dayo Keshi revealed that the festival is not just an art event but one with tourism biase.

The event fulfills in part the commitment of the NCAC towards youth empowerment, rural infrastructure as well as creating job opportunities. The present administration had harped on diversifying the nation’s economy and making culture and tourism sectors strong economic drivers. To this end, the ChoralFest will be staged in select locations across Nigeria.

“NCAC is fine tuning strategies towards the staging at least on National festival each in 6 geo-political zones of the federation aimed at accelerating the commercial and economic activities of such zones. The festivals in view are National Durbar, National Masquerade, National Boat Regatta and National Textile and Fashion Fair festivals. Choralfest in partnership with the corporate sponsors is one way of improving and contributing to the festival landscape in Nigeria as well as maximising their economic and non-economic impacts,’’ she revealed.

The festival is expected to feature a rich variety of choral music that reflects the different ethnicities in Nigeria. Ogundipe, also known as B-Clef in the same vein, disclosed that guidelines will be sent to choirs nationwide in four zones while zonal competition begins in three months’ time. Choirs outside the country will also be invited.

A foretaste of the ChoralFest was savoured by the journalists at the briefing. The B-Clef choir ended the session with a very harmonious presentation in English and indigenous languages.

For Aremo Tope Babayemi who is the co-ordinator, NCAC, South-West, this festival is one in the series of projects that will marry the public and private sectors.

“It is about rekindling interest in our music and our culture.

It is a celebration of community. There are various sub communities to be celebrated in this festival. From the youths to the adults, all cultural constituencies will be represented with particular attention to the youths. We are going to be working with schools and other educational partners.

“This is about strategic partnership. The way for development globally is to partner with the government on projects.

Some forms of support are in cash while others are in kind.

The NCAC represent the government and its political will, we have practitioners in the council. If you look at the people on board, you can see that they are reputable people. Reputation is not what you will do but what you have done. Las and Femi have made significant contributions in terms of practice. They represent the soul of the project in terms of the practice. It is delight and a rare privilege to be able to work with such a team,’’ he declared.

In his submission, Prof. Ekwueme, who had written several academic papers on music, emphasised the importance of choral music in ous cultural space.

“Of all the forms of music we have, singing is the most popular. You can simply make music with your voice. And we know that Africans do things together. When people sing together, they make choral music. Culture is very important to us. In this country we have over 350 ethnic groups. We also have about 500 languages. It is good that we are using a culture of words in music because instrumental music can only give you sound and ideas but no specific meaning unless words are involved. This is why singing has become a primary form of music making. And when people sing together, they protect their culture,’’ he said.

The grand competition is tentatively slated for October while the schedule for the ChoralFest will be released soon.

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JULY 17, 2016 • THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER

ARTS & REVIEW\\STAGELIGHTS

Jess Castelotte- art historian, His masjesty, Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Alfred Achebe and Rep. of the Vice Chancellor of UNN at the Colloquium

ACCLAIMS FOR LATE UCHE OKEKE AND HIS ARTISTIC LEGACY Agwu Enekwachi

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fter the passing away on January 5, 2016, of one of Nigeria’s greatest artists and the acclaimed leading light of Nigeria’s modernism, a national colloquium was organized by the Department of Fine and Applied Arts, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, to reappraise his role nationally, his art practice and contribution to what is taught at Nsukka. The event which was held at CEC, Nsukka campus, ended on Friday, June 24, 2016 with speakers emphasizing the need to do more than engage the personality and creative legacy of Uche Okeke but to equally take on emergent debates on the aftermath of post Zaranism which Okeke’s death has undoubtedly initiated. The impressive crowd at the event comprised of persons from the academia, culture sector, the media and contemporaries, friends and family of the late visionary artist. The Vice chancellor of University of Nigeria, Prof. Benjamin Ozumba was the chief host while Jess Castelotte an international art historian and architect chaired the sessions.

While welcoming guests, Dr. Krydz Ikwuemesi noted, “We have reasons to celebrate Okeke as a people who are critically conscious of our professional

parentage.” He noted that art is the soul of heritage and heritage thrives on transition, change and continuity, if it must remain a tool for the conversation between generations. He asserts that “we must, like Sankofa, the mythical bird, travel back from the future now and again to fertilize the present with the waters of the past.”

Notable speakers at the occasion included Dr. Simon Ikpakronyirepresentative of Dr. Abdulahi Muku, the DG of National Gallery of Art, Mr. Oliver Enwonwu, president of Society of Nigerian Art, The managing director, National Light Newspaper, Awka and a former art editor of the Guardian Newspaper-Chuka Nnabuife and Moses Ohiomokhare of Quintessence Gallery, Lagos. Ola Oloidi, emeritus professor of art history of University of Nigeria, Nsukka went back memory lane to share his encounter with Uche Okeke, who he said appointed him and others like Prof. El Anatsui and Seth Anku into the University faculty in 1975 without such pedestal considerations as tribe or clique. He described Okeke as a man imbued with clarity of vision. This he argued could be seen in the many firsts of Nsukka art school in Nigeria’s post modern art history. He declared that “Uche Okeke is the leader among Nigerian modernist and should be given that credit.”

The guest of honour, His majesty, Obi

of Onitsha, Igwe Alfred Achebe praised the late Professor of art for his contributions to the development of modern art in Nigeria. Igwe Alfred Achebe said his interest in art started when he got a gift of an art work from Uche Okeke during his sojourn in the United States of America. His majesty, the Obi of Onitsha has indeed become a major pillar of the arts in Nigeria especially in the southeastern Nigeria where he is building a museum at the city of Onitsha in addition to his several supports for art projects in the region. He used the opportunity to announce the institution through the Chimedie Museum, a prize for Creative Excellence in the Visual Arts in the Department of Fine and Applied Arts, University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

Other contributors to the colloquium include, Robin Renee Sanders, former US ambassador to Nigeria and scholar with interest in Nigerian cultures. She recently published a book on Uli. Simon Ottenberg, emeritus professor of Anthropology, University of Washington, a scholar who studied different cultures of Nigeria, presented his paper titled “Uche Okeke: Memories and Views” where he discusses the contexts of Okeke’s Christian religious orientation and his strong interest in certain spiritual aspects of Igbo beliefs as canon for the multi directional expansion of Nsukka artists. Prof. Jerry Buhari of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kunle Filani,

Tobenna Okwuosa, Prof. Frank Ugiomoh, chair,Omoba Yemisi Arts Foundation, University of Portharcourt also made contributions. Okechukwu Nwafor of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka did a review of the book “Postcolonial Modernism: Art and decolonization in twentieth century Nigeria,”written by Chika Okeke-Agulu a graduate of Nsukka art school and a professor of art history and archaeology at Princeton University.

The fruits of the colloquium include the announcement making the event an annual one. It was also an opportunity to formally receive two exceptional staff that worked under Uche Okeke as the head of department of Fine and Applied art University of Nigeria. Mention was also made of the many global accolades still being received by Professor El Anatsui. Recently the Havard University in America and university of Cape Town, South Africa respectively conferred on him doctorate degrees for his exceptional achievements in art.

For the successful organization of the colloquium by the department of Fine and applied arts of UNN, there was a meaningful partnership with the National Gallery of Art, the Quintessence Art Gallery, Lagos and many individuals and organizations. The event was indeed an opportunity to look back at the significance of the life and times of Prof.

Uche Okeke.

-Enekwachi writes from Enugu

Snippet of Nairobi’s Etisalat Prize for Literature Book Tour Yinka Olatunbosun

Manager, High Value Sponsorship & Events, Etisalat Nigeria, Opeyemi Lawal; Winner, 2015 Etisalat Prize for Literature, Fiston Mujila; Shortlisted Author, 2015 Etisalat Prize for Literature, Penny Busetto and Judge, 2015 Etisalat Prize for literature, Zikiswa Wanner at the Etisalat Prize for Literature Book Reading held in Nairobi, Kenya… Saturday.

Recently, Etisalat Prize for Literature held a series of public literary events in Nairobi, Kenya between June 15 to 18 to promote African literature and celebrate the winner and shortlisted writers of its previous edition.

The literary programme featured a panel discussion with the winner of the 2015 edition of the Etisalat Prize, Congolese Poet and Writer, Fiston Mwanza Mujila, author of Tram 83; as well as Etisalat Prize for Literature shortlisted writers, Penny Busetto, author of The Story of Anna P, as Told by Herself and Rehana Rossouw who wrote What Will People Say?.

The authors also visited the University of Nairobi and Daystar University and enjoyed some book reading sessions at Goethe-Institute Nairobi and PAWA254.

As part of the programme, Etisalat Prize

for Literature shortlisted books were donated to the institutions during the book tour.

Speaking on the essence of the tour, the Director, Brands and Experience, Etisalat Nigeria, Elvis Ogiemwanye said the programme is aimed at putting African literature in more hands across the world.

He expressed the hope that the tour will help encourage more Africans to embrace African literature, adding that Africa is rich in literary talent.

It would be recalled that on June 1, Etisalat announced its call for entries to the 2016 edition of the Etisalat Prize for Literature. The Chief Executive Officer, Etisalat Nigeria, Matthew Willsher, who made this disclosure, also announced the Judging Panel for the 2016 Etisalat Prize is chaired by the Nigerian novelist and poet, Helon Habila, with South African writer and activist Elinor Sisulu and Ivorian writer, Edwige-Renée Dro as members.

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THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER • JULY 17, 2016

ARTS & REVIEW\\soUnding off

WHERE ARETHE SUPER AGENTS AND MANAGERS? Emem Ema

N

o Hollywood success story is complete without the mention of an agent or a manager.

No successful sports story is complete without the mention of an agent, and football clubs have managers. When you hear the name, Michael Ovitz, Ron Meyer, Ari Emanuel CAA made up of breakaways from William Morris, cemented itself as a powerhouse in the industry in profound and even shocking ways, putting pressure on studios to paying mind blowing figures in salaries for its stars and expanding into new areas such as investment banking.

Talent agencies specialize, either by starting out by concentrating on a specific niche or specialty within the industry (literary, sports, broadcast etc.) or creating departments within the agency or developing entire agencies that primarily or wholly represent one specialty.

In the industry, you have modeling agencies, commercial talent agencies, literary agencies, voice-over agencies, broadcast journalist agencies, sports agencies, music agencies and with the advent of technology and disruptions in the industry, many more like mobile, gaming, tech etc.

Agents are respected as business people (some call them ruthless sharks); they see the end product from raw talent and also have the ability to make a ‘sell’, most importantly, they get the job done.

I often get asked, what the difference between an agent and a manager is, to bring clarity to this, I will lean on the definition by StudioD’s Lisa Magloff:

Agent

An agent is responsible for helping you find work and for negotiating the terms of your employment. For example, if you are an actor, your agent keeps an eye out for roles that would be suitable for you and contacts the casting director to arrange auditions. Once a director hires you, your agent will help negotiate your contract and make sure the terms and conditions of your contract are met. You will have a legally binding contract with your agent, allowing them to negotiate on your behalf.

Agents are usually paid a percentage of your fees for each job, usually between 10 percent and 15 percent of your earnings.

Manager

A manager provides career guidance and advice. Managers may also provide financial and legal advice, if they are qualified to do so.

While agents may have hundreds of clients, managers generally have only a few clients but spend more time with each one. A manager’s duties are far-ranging and may include advising you on what jobs to take, helping you to market yourself, organizing advertising and publicity, advising on how to develop your talents, making travel arrangements and advising on how to manage your income.

Managers generally earn between 15 percent and 20 percent of a talent’s total income.

This distinction is however becoming blurred as a considerable overlap exists as talent agents may opt to fill exactly the same roles for their clients out of a financial interest in developing the careers of their talent and currying their favour.

In California, because talent agencies are working with lucrative contracts, agencies must be licensed under special sections of the California Labor Code, which defines an agent as a “person or corporation who engages in the occupation of procuring, offering, promising, or attempting to procure employment for artist or artists”.

Agents were known to have started the

Ari Emanuel culture of putting together packaged deals which meant they presented a slate of their clients made up of actors, producers, directors, screenwriters for a particular project to the studios; this is also a channel to get their lesser known clients jobs.

Characteristics an agent must posses: • Trust: This is self explanatory and nonnegotiable. There has to be trust between agent and client.

• Honesty: As an agent one needs to be able to tell it as it is, be honest with your client, not necessarily put them down but let them know the reality of a situation, and as an agent be able to manage their expectations. Does the talent need more work on their craft done? Can you help get them or get them the necessary help to be better?

• Reputation: As a talent if your agent has a bad reputation, please caler any hopes you have of getting any jobs in the period you are affiliated with that particular agent. People or studios want to know they can deal with a respectable, reasonable or responsible individual at the table.

• Accessibility and clear communication are definite assets in a good agent. Your agent should be accessible and not have ninjatendencies, one minute they are here, next they are gone!

• An agent has to be able to be a good marketer of your brand, know how to sell your client and get them the best deals.

• An agent also has to have a good idea of the go-to people in the industry and be one. It isn’t a one sided street, no one will pick your call if you aren’t worth knowing or making things happen.

• Know your client: An agent should know their client well enough to predict what their next move is as an individual and as a talent. An agent knows what his/her talents strengths are and what their weaknesses are, knows how to project and promote the

strengths and correct or at least manage the weaknesses.

Ari Gold of the very popular and now rested TV series, Entourage and Jerry McGuire, Tom Cruise’s character in the movie with the same name, are some of the most popular agents known by Hollywood’s audience, now meet the real super agents: 1.

Mike Ovitz: He founded CAA in 1975 with four others and is became the face of talent agents, and he is credited with helping to carve out a larger, more competitive role for the genteel agents of that time.

2.

Ari Emanuel: Best known in pop culture as the inspiration behind the foulmouthed agent Ari Gold in the show Entourage.

An alumni of ICM, he was fired when it was discovered that he wanted to start his own agency. The merger of his Endeavor Talent Agency with the William Morris Agency in 2009 helped put WME back to the forefront of show business. In 2014 Ari bought IMG Worldwide in a deal worth $2.4 billion, and helped tip the scale even further by spreading out from movie talents – IMG represents the likes of Gisele Bundchen.

3.

Richard Lovett: Considered by many to be the most powerful agent in the most powerful agency in Hollywood. He took over as head of CAA in 1995, at the age of 41, after starting his career in the mailroom after college.

He’s credited with the success of many of the leading actors in today’s blockbusters.

4.

Cindy Osbrink: Best known for representing children in Hollywood, and making them stars. She discovered Dakota Fanning since she was five and represented her and her sister until 2012. Cindy began her career when her own children started acting, and she decided to represent them herself, leading to her founding the Osbrink Talent Agency.

5.

Sharon Jackson: Known for having an eye for raw comedic talent, signing Jason Segel when he was just a sidekick in Freaks and Geeks, and eventually convincing him to write

the script Forgetting Sarah Marshall, which she sold for a bundle and which made Segel into a sought-after screenwriter.

The biggest agencies in the world by size are Creative Artists Agency (CAA), William Morris Endeavor (WME) and United Talent Agency (UTA). The positions of CAA and WME might soon change as the latter is inching closer into different ventures, which will see its portfolio and value increase and trump its competitors soon; having recently acquired sports agency IMG, and added to its roster social media talent acquisition and is spreading its tentacles to Asia and becoming more involved in innovation and mobile gaming.

Other large agencies are Paradigm Talent Agency, The Gersh Agency, ICM Partners, and Agency for the Performing Arts (APA).

Most of these were independent agencies who broke out from the big four and cater to more specialized aspects of entertainment.

Before your crucify me and ask, where are the studios in Africa, my answer will be, since we are beginning to have the semblance of structure in the business so it makes sense for the super agents or managers to help in creating and concretizing this situation. Africa is the new frontier and the world is looking to Africa as an untapped market that has huge potentials and those who seemed to have their act together in terms of operations, turnover, organization, consistency and all, will have the big studios come after them.

My question is this, with the media and entertainment industry in Africa growing at an astronomical rate, where are the gatekeepers to create and close the necessary deals for the creatives? Calling on all business people with harnessing the creativity that abounds in Africa on their mind.

––Emem is the CEO of ONE Management. A Nigeria-based media strategy and support company. dealmaker@ one1mgt.com

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R • JULY 17,2016

IMAGES

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he memorial service of late Pa Lawrence and Madam Okusami, parents of Lady Comfort Nwosu, took place at the Emmanuel Anglican Church, lsonyin, ljebuOde, Ogun State, on May 7. The reception took place at the Emmanuel Primary School premises where friends and guests of the children of the departed were entertained. Here are some of the personalities that attended the ceremony.

Photos: Abiodun Ajala

L-R: Dr. Erastus Akingbola; Vicar, Emmanuel Anglican Church, lsonyin, Venerable Dr E.B. Dairo; National Coordinator, lndependent Shareholders Association of Nigeria, Sir Sunny Nwosu, and wife, Lady Comfort

L-R; Mrs Funmi Obisan and Mrs Busola Ladipo

L-R: Mrs. Lizzy Gbegbaje and Alhaja Ayodele Kudaisi

L-R; Mr. Bayo Ayoade and Mr. Arausi Adebisi

L-R; Mr. Bayo Adeleke; Mr. Rotimi Odusola and Mr. Moses lgbrude

L-R: Mr Sunday Okusami and Mr. Gbenga Okusami

L-R: Mr. Bonnyface Okesie and Mr. Osa Osunde

R-L; Mr. Tunde Savage and wife, Rose

L-R: Mr lgnatius Okoroafor and wife, Patience

L-R: Lady Comfort Nwosu and Daughter, Priscilla Caxtin-Martins

L-R: Mrs. Aina Quadri, Mrs. Funmilayo Olaleye and Mrs. Folake Adekunle

R-L; Elder Acha Kalu and wife, Ada

Alhaji Ajani Abdulwahab and Mrs. Mary Shofolahan

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R • JULY 17,2016

CICERO

Editor Vincent Obia Email vincent.obia@thisdaylive.com, SMS: 08054681757

IN THE ARENA

Governor Ambode’s Ambition of Zero Dependence on Federal Allocation The Lagos State governor’s plan for progressive elimination of dependence on federal allocations is laudable and worthy of emulation by governors of other states in the federation, writes Vincent Obia

V

erbalising the inability to meet basic obligations due to dwindling federal revenue allocations has of late become a familiar ritual among state governors in the country. A situation created and sustained by a pseudo-federal system that reduces states to unproductive spoon-fed entities and glamorises indolence, the drop in federal revenue has, ironically, caused both euphoria and despair. To many governors, it has provided a convenient excuse for owing their workers several months’ salaries. But one governor has decided to rise above the systemic limitations to focus on creating wealth for the good government of his state.

Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State says he hopes to reduce his state’s dependence on federal allocations to 10 per cent in three years. “We also have plans to achieve zero per cent as we develop our potential in tourism and services,” Ambode adds while addressing residents at a town hall meeting on Tuesday.

The Lagos State governor is exploring the state’s huge population as well as advantages in the hospitality and service sectors to eliminate the ignominious reliance on the federal government by states for sustenance.

Ambode’s ambition is praiseworthy and commendable. Other state governors should emulate the lofty ideals of the Lagos State governor, as he tries to up the ante in fiscal independence, which the state has been known for since the inception of the Fourth Republic in 1999. Nigerians cannot forget in a hurry the events

of 2004, when the state was denied revenue allocations due to its local governments from the Federation Account for nearly one year. Its offence was the conduct of elections into 37 newly created local council development areas, which brought the number of local governments in the state to 57. The then President Olusegun Obasanjo was offended that the Lagos State governor at the time, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, exercised what he thought was the state’s statutory and moral right to create local governments under a federal system.

The Lagos State government sued the federal government at the Supreme Court over the seizure of the state’s local government funds. And the apex court ruled on December 2004 in favour of the state, ordering the federal government to release the withheld funds. It was a landmark judgement that clarified the fact that no level of government has the power to withhold funds statutorily meant for another tier of government.

Very importantly, the state government was able to deal with the financial difficulty occasioned by the seizure of its council funds by the federal government and manage to stay afloat.

Lagos State has also led in internally generated revenue.

With an IGR of N185.541 billion in 2010, N202.761 billion in 2011, and N219.202 billion in 2012, Lagos topped the states’ IGR table, followed by the oil-producing states of Rivers and Delta, respectively. Lagos State’s monthly IGR increased from N20 billion in 2013 to N23 billion in 2014. The state currently generates about N24 billion monthly.

Ambode plans to eliminate dependence on federal fund

allocations altogether and run the state on the basis of internal revenues.

The Lagos experience brings to the fore the sad relationship between Nigeria’s obsession with a quasi-federal structure built on the nationalisation of resources and the country’s underdevelopment. The state has presented the strongest stand against this system, which has stifled creativity and killed healthy competition among the federating units since the early 1970s, and retarded national development. Lagos has remained the leader in terms of capacity and disposition to independent development.

Conversely, states that have seemed to be very comfortable with the partial federal structure have been the most backward – which sets the country’s fundamental economic challenge in stark relief.

The states must come together to demand fiscal federalism and a truly federal system that would release the creative capacities of the federating units to achieve their full potential. It is only then that they can really contribute individually and collectively to national development.

A truly federal structure that abolishes the current immoral expropriation of local resources would also prevent the federal government from being an encumbrance to itself. It would free the federal government from numerous needless burdens and enable it to focus properly on the core national obligations of ensuring a robust national defence system, strong currency, and effective border security. These are responsibilities on which the Nigerian government has fallen far short of expectations.

P O L I T I CA L N OT E S

The Plan to Create Special Force in NSCDC to Tackle Farmers/Herdsmen Conflict

M

Dambazzau

inister of Interior, General Abdulrahman Dambazau (rtd.), disclosed on Thursday in Abuja that the federal government had concluded arrangements to create a special force within the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps to deal with the incessant conflict between herdsmen and farmers across the country. The plan is okay for a temporary measure.

But the fact remains that the permanent

solution to the bloody clashes between farmers and cattle herders, which has seriously affected agricultural productivity, lies in the establishment of ranches. Nigeria needs to move along with civilised humanity by replacing the conflict-prone and anachronistic system of herding animals from one part of the country to another with the modern method of domesticating animals in ranches. This will make for greater productivity in both crop and animal husbandry.

– Vincent Obia

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R • JULY 17,2016

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CICERO/INTERVIEW

Lalong: Under Our Ranching Policy, Nobody’s Land Will be Confiscated Governor Simon Lalong has been at the helm of affairs of the North Central State of Plateau in the past 14 months. His state was for so long bedeviled by ethno-religious crisis and violent attacks involving herdsmen and farmers. Recently, the state was in the news over the controversial issue of grazing routes and ranching. In this interview with journalists, he explained that contrary to reports, what the state adopted was ranching, and traced the origin of the policy to the past administration at both the state and federal levels. He also spoke on why council polls had not been held, what he had been doing since assumption of office and how his administration plans to reposition the state. Olaseni Durojaiye was there.

W

hen you took over, what were the things you met on ground that suggested that the quantum of work you would have to do is enormous?

I inherited a State that was already in crisis, conflicts, killings here and there. In terms of security, there was none and that was the number one challenge. Secondly, immediately we were elected, I set up a transition committee and what the committee came out with was revealing. There were abandoned projects everywhere, many contractors had abandoned the state for almost a year.

We also saw that there was no civil service in the state. The workers were on strike for almost nine months, the judiciary was not there. We had uncompleted projects here and there and then, I inherited a debt profile of about N222 billion.

When I called for the State accounts, what I was given was just N95 million. So, imagine salary arrears of about nine months, a workforce that was utterly demoralized and then above all, a state that was in very serious conflicts. There were killings here and there. What I did was to look at the security situation because if you do not tackle insecurity, there is no way you can surmount the other challenges I mentioned. So, we went into how to curb the conflicts but I realised that you cannot tackle security without sorting out the issue of the workers. So, what I did was to borrow money, pleaded with the workers to return to work. Now, when they returned to work, we set up a five-policy thrust. The first was on the issue of security, second was agriculture, third was human empowerment, tourism and the last was on physical development.

What I did was to now follow the policy thrust in sequence. So, when the civil servants were back to work, people were working and we were able to meet up with the warring factions, we set up a committee, put them together. When we put them together because part of the problem I saw was that the inability of the last administration to bring the two factions together. The former governor had taken sides but this time in our own case, our campaign was that we were going to form a government of unity. When you talk about unity, Plateau State is like a miniature Nigeria where we have 53 ethnic groups resident on the plateau.So, if you want peace, you must consider all of these ethnic groups and bring them together. For the first time, we were able to bring together the 53 ethnic groups in the history of Plateau State and we got to their doorsteps; we did town hall meetings, got their grievances.

Immediately after the elections, we brought them

Lalong together and that is why you have a different Plateau today. As for the conflict, I knew some of these problems because I was the Speaker of the House of Assembly and I knew how to solve those problems quietly. What I did was to get the communities, get their representatives to sit together and to give me a solution to the crisis.

By God’s grace, they brought the solutions to the crisis and some of the solutions, we have started implementing it and as we were implementing, peace got back to the state. So, today, you will not hear people fighting; even cattle rustling that was rampant in the past, today, you hardly hear of such. Now, because there is peace in the state, we

There was a report by the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan and that report was presided over by a sub committee headed by the former governor of Benue State, Mr Gabriel Suswam, which made recommendations for the solution of these kind of crisis and those solutions were to establish either grazing reserves or ranches

have now gone back to development, workers are paid salaries.

You mentioned that you met about nine months salary arrears but I read that one Non-Governmental Organisation, SERAP, reported you and 10 other states to the ICC for not paying salaries. What is the status with that story?

To me, that was very mischievous, even my workers were complaining, they said they never said they were taking the governor to court. They knew what I inherited, they knew the efforts I made. Today, we are already paying arrears and I gave them assurance that I would settle the arrears of salaries. So, I don’t know where they (SERAP) are getting their facts from. I said I inherited nine months and when the bailout came, a lot of people were saying that Plateau was going to divert it, but I didn’t. I set up a committee of workers to pay the arrears because salary is not a one man thing and they cooperated with me. We were able to pay and we applied for the bailout but only part of it was given to us for no reason; but after five months of struggling, we realised that there was an error from the Central Bank of Nigeria. We requested for N10 billion but N5 billion was approved and then another N5billion came in the month of June. So, for me in Plateau State, I don’t have problem about payment of salaries, the workers are not complaining. There is no need for any one to take me to ICC because I

have paid workers’ salaries.

You said something about the state’s Internally Generated Revenue, what was it before and what is it now?

What I inherited in Plateau state was a zero account and even the IGR that was generated was tied to a debt, so there was nothing. A bond of about N20 billion was hurriedly packaged in my state and they left it for me including the IGR which was tied to the bond. One of the MoU was that the IGR that would be generated would be tied to the IGR and we would continue to pay for another 10 years. What kind of thing is that? It means I would preside over a failed state. First, I went and renegotiated with the bank, I told them I cannot tie my IGR to the bond and at the end of the day, we all agreed. They got part of it and they released the rest of the IGR. So, from that time, it was about N300 million but as we talk, we have up to N500 million in a month.

In addition to that, we did an understudy of Lagos and other states who are improving their IGR through lands and we have already flagged off our geographical information system. I am sure in the next two months, we will be hitting over N1 billion in a month as IGR. So, we are not joking with IGR but diverting the attention on over dependence on federation account to what we can generate internally to run our state.

You have achieved relative peace in the

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CICERO/INTERVIEW • Lalong: Under Our Ranching Policy, Nobody’s Land Will be Confiscated • Continued from Pg. 76 state since you came on board but that peace appears threatened because of the issue of grazing reserves and ranching. What is the true situation?

The one that cropped up was settled last week, that was the political angle. I call it the political angle because I inherited a policy that was not only included but gazetted in my state by my predecessor, Governor Jang. How did that come about? Due to the incessant crisis in the state, several commissions of inquiry were set up in the state. The last commission set up was the one headed by the late Justice Niki Tobi of blessed memory.

Now, Niki Tobi reached some far-reaching recommendations that would curb crisis on the Plateau and what he recommendrd was that if you want to curb the crisis, because that time it was still the issue of Fulani herdsmen and the natives, you must identify and establish the grazing reserve and grazing route. It was not implemented by Governor Dariye because of elections. Now when Governor Jang came in, he called for all the recommendations of all the judicial panels and made recommendations for grazing reserves and grazing routes and went ahead to gazette it in Plateau state in 2009.

When we came, things changed, implementing it would be a bit difficult. If you are going to implement it, where are you going to get the routes? The problem is the routes because when you establish it, you need to know the difference between grazing reserves and ranches. Grazing reserves means people will have to take their cattle to an open field for grazing, you can move from anywhere to come and graze your cows and in the process of grazing you will look for routes. In the process, they move into farmlands and feed on crops which is the cause of crisis and then, even the grazing reserves attracts the attention of petty rustlers, that is where you see the cases of cattle rustlers. So, the difference between that and what is being introduced today is the ranches, you cannot compare ranches and grazing reserves. There was a report by the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan and that report was presided over by a sub committee headed by the former governor of Benue State, Mr Gabriel Suswam, which made recommendations for the solution of these kind of crisis and those solutions were to establish either grazing reserves or ranches.

Coming back to the case of Plateau state, it was unfortunate that the first person who came in with that kind of thing was my predecessor.

He did a press conference and said that the new governor is bringing in something very obnoxious and dangerous to the state. He said I was bringing in grazing reserves from the federation in connivance with the president, who is a Fulani man to introduce to Plateau state. The moment he made that statement, there was commotion, his idea was to ignite crisis in the state but I took my time because even when I decide on the policy of ranches, I set up a 14-man committee made up of experts to go and study the difference between ranches and grazing reserves and off course, concentrate on how we are going to implement this new policy of ranches. The committee came back and made recommendations that I should adopt the policy of ranches for the state. Before the committee had reported to me, my predecessor went on air and made such statements. One of the recommendations of the committee was to sensitize people, so I took my time and did exactly what they proposed I do. We went on sensitization and we started with traditional rulers. The moment we finished with traditional rulers, they accepted. We invited the youths and they accepted too. It was just an explanation that we were not going for the grazing reserves but ranches. We made them realise the advantages of ranches and the disadvantages of grazing reserves.

I saw it as a good opportunity for the employment of our youths and benefit of our state, so all the groups we met told us to continue with the ranching policy. When we finished with the youths, we went to religious leaders and explained to them, we took on the House of Assembly and the last group was the National Assembly. I took them (National Assembly) last because I knew there were mischief makers among them. This policy came from the Federal Government and it was the National Assembly that sat and passed the budget for it, I saw it in the budget. They were going to implement it but because one was coming to Plateau state, the National Assembly members ran back to Plateau and addressed a press conference that the people

revenue generation. We have almost keyed into all the counterpart funding in agriculture as far as we are concerned. We have FADAMA, we are into rice, potato, cassava and several others. With our good weather, Plateau is known as the home of peace and tourism; so we are still going back to tourism. We would embark on reviving and developing our tourism.

Lalong of the state should not key into the ranching policy. It means it was political. From their reaction, they saw it as an APC policy because many of them are in the PDP. When I invited them, I said “tell me why you do not want us to key into it?” Their story changed. They said they thought it was grazing reserve but I asked them at what time did we say we were going into grazing reserve? The National Assembly passed the budget but now, they were mobilizing people against the policy. I explained to them that people of the state had accepted ranches, I did not bring grazing reserves to the state but I was only adopting the policy of ranches. After addressing the last group, the remaining members of the National Assembly accepted and asked me to go on with the ranching policy because Plateau is one of the states that have been confirmed for the ranches. So, we are waiting to go and start the implementation in conjunction with the federal government. One of the cardinal things I want to say is that, even implementing the concept was an issue because people were still claiming that government was going to confiscate lands and give it out for grazing, that was not what was agreed at the Governors’ Forum. If you look at the policy very well, the policy is about the willingness to go into it. If the government has land, they can go into it. If private individuals have land, they can register with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and key into it and will be given facility. The federal government is going to start a pilot scheme and the pilot scheme will go along with the subsidy just like we are doing subsidy on potato and rice. That is what the federal government is trying to do, we want to start the subsidy on livestock production. We have done our sensitization on the plateau and right now, we are already into the process. The people have understood it very well and they have asked us to go into it.

The challenge we are even having is that they are asking me what was the yardstick in taking it to a particular place, and so, there is serious conflicts now on who wants to get it to his environment but the federal government says they are only starting with 5,000 hectares which will be divided into two places because it cannot be in one place. So, for us, we are looking at two local government areas in the state to start the policy but almost all the 17 local government areas are fighting for the policy to be situated in their areas. I am even getting confused as to who would benefit and who would not and in addition to that, so many individuals in my state, over 3,000, have applied for ranches in the country and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture does not have the capacity to give all. Grazing is not for everybody but ranches is for everybody, it is business for everybody but nobody’s land will be confiscated for ranches.

Aside clearing the backlog of salaries, in the last 14 months since you assumed office as governor and having cleared the problem of insecurity, what can you point at as your developmental achievements in the state?

Even with the challenge of the backlog of salaries I met, within the period of one year, we have commissioned a lot of projects. One of the policies of the APC is not to leave abandoned projects, so when we came in, we continued with the abandoned projects, we completed many of them and we are still continuing with some of them. We also introduced new projects like the new roads we flagged off, which are ongoing. In addition to that, let me point out one thing, we set up a state university over 10 years ago. At that time, I was the Speaker of the House of Assembly and I presided over the passage of the law to set up the university but that university never graduated students. There was no graduation for about 10 years. So, when I came in as governor, I saw that the same university could not graduate students for one reason of the other.

Is it that the university did not start at all or they started...

(Cuts in) They started, students came in but they did not graduate the students.

For 10 years? So, what were they doing for 10 years?

There have been administrative problems here and there. About four Vice Chancellors were changed. On the volition of the governor, he would change the Vice Chancellor and not only that, there was problem of administration and at the same time, the students were suffering. So, the last Vice Chancellor was removed but the university said no, we cannot continue like that.

There was no accreditation of courses, instead of concentrating on accreditation of courses and graduating students, the politics of administration was what the governor was concerned about.

What we did was to go with the recommendations of the National Universities Commission and we implemented all the recommendations.

17 courses were accredited and right now, we are preparing for the first convocation of that university. I brought in the last Vice Chancellor that was removed. I followed due process. With the security situation, it is not easy to restore security in the state.

When we came in May 2015, people were running away from Plateau state, but now people are eager to come to the state. It is when you have peace that people will want to come to your state. Our state is already known for having the best weather and when you have a good weather, people would want to take advantage of that good weather. It was our responsibility to restore security. In terms of agriculture, that is also our focus for empowerment and also for

Still on the issue of grazing, what your predecessor is trying to make people believe is that the state government wants to take lands from the natives, the indigenous people of Plateau State and give to Fulani herdsmen. Is that what the ranching policy is about?

No, an emphatic no. The policy is that the government and people of Plateau state will own the land. Government will identify the land, the people of that area will give the land willingly for the ranches. Plateau State Government will not confiscate land from any community or force any community to provide land for the ranches. Now, when you give the land of about 2,500 hectares, the state government will pay for the land, the federal government will develop the land, they will bring in dams, fence the land and recently what they are doing is to provide security. Right now, they are training some civil defence corps members for the purpose of protecting the ranches.

They will be called rangers. The federal government will develop the land but the Plateau state government will own the land, then they will call for people who are interested in ranching to apply and then, the state government will demarcate the land and lease to people who want to participate. So, the land for the ranches belongs to the government and people of Plateau State but on lease to people who would come and participate in the scheme. They cannot be owners of the land. So, I don’t see why my predecessor is saying it is for Fulani herdsmen. It is not for the Fulani. Initially, they said they preferred grazing but when we did the stakeholders meeting, the Fulani people understood and they said for the purpose of peace in Plateau state, they also want to key into the ranching policy. So, the fear of acquiring somebody else’s land or community land is not there, it is for communities who are willing to provide land for the ranches. It is not all the states that have keyed into it, it means they don’t have the land or they don’t want it. But if you want it, the recommendation is that you must provide land because it is a pilot scheme. The federal government is trying to encourage people to go into that scheme. If you are doing that kind of encouragement, definitely the government must start something so that when people see it as good, they will go into it. Even the one that is for Plateau state now, I don’t know how we would allocate it because the number of people that have applied now is more than the allocation that we are going to do.

So, I have been explaining with every sense of responsibility that people should key into it, they should not be afraid that it is for the Fulani man, it is for everybody who wants to go into livestock production. There is even no basis to compare grazing and ranching; ranching is what we are adopting in Plateau. I was also confronted with the allegation that it was the President that was bringing it because he is a Fulani man, to benefit his Fulani people. With due respect and apology, may God forgive the people that say such vile and wicked things. This policy started in 2014 when President Jonathan was the president of this country. We inherited the document and recommendation from the last federal administration, so, what has it got to do with President Buhari? President Buhari waited for governors to make recommendations to him and we made recommendations for ranches, and I agree that ranches… I prefer ranches.

The federal government said those who are willing to key into it should bring their land. So, why should anybody say that we are going to confiscate our people’s land and give it to a Fulani man or Fulani herdsmen? Why I am saying this is for Nigerians to understand the policy. By the time you explain and they understand, you will see the number of applications to participate in the ranching always increasing.

The best thing is to avoid sentiments and move straight into ranching, which will be of great benefits to the people, including in the production of milk and beef.

Continued on Pg.78

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CICERO/INTERVIEW

Usani: Niger Delta Has Benefited More Under Buhari than His Predecessors Erstwhile State Chairman of the All Progressives’ Congress (APC), now Minister of the Niger Delta Affairs, Pastor Usani Uguru Usani, one year on, in this interview with Ugochukwu Aliogo, outlines the policy direction in his ministry. He also makes the argument against the recalcitrant approach of militants whose activities are crippling the economy; insisting that the region is currently benefiting more under the President Muhammadu Buhari’s regime than his predecessors of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)

Y

Unity. Let them unite and be able to call any leader to account.

They should be able to speak out through all known civil media. They should be able to take collective positions and speak same without intimidation by any leader, without fear or favour.

They should also resolve to individually and collectively ensure to live the ideology of APC, they should ensure to win all elections even as they complain daily about the PDP government in Cross River State.

ou were a surprise pick from your state to be minister, what is your experience in governance?

You should have asked for my résumé or downloaded it online to save all this time wasting.

However, perhaps you are interviewing me to give me another appointment as a journalist and so let me answer your question as summarily as I can.

I had my first appointment six years after graduation, in 1992 as PA to the then Cross River governor, Mr. Clement Ebri. It was an appointment which led me to administering two other offices, that is three offices at the same time. From then, I became a Director in Oban Rubber and Palm Estates Limited ( a government owned agriculture farm), member, Nigeria Copyrights Commission Governing Board,Commissioner under three military administrators and then contested the governorship twice before I again was asked to serve as the State Chairman of the All Progressive Congress. After which I was nominated by my people and later appointed to be minister by the President, where I am today.

You are accused of deliberately shutting out people decamping into the APC while you were State Chairman and that even now, you do not welcome people and therefore not accessible?

I will answer your last question first; I did welcome you into my private residence even when I did not know your mission. Didn’t I? When you came into my parlour, you saw all the people there or the ones I have attended to before. Didn’t you? I represent a people and I work for the entire Nigerians. So honest and good intentioned people can be sure that my doors, both in the office and at home are open to those with genuine problems and useful contributions as to how we can move the country and the affairs of the Niger Delta towards greater good.

To your second question, I had not become the chairman of the APC when the membership registration took place. I only became chairman during the revised congress and have since then followed the party guidelines to admit members into the party. Before the elections, I made deliberate and conscious efforts to woo some persons whom I knew we could midwife to victory into the APC but such persons apparently feeling that they will be automatic winners if they got PDP tickets rebuffed my overtures and went to wrestle it out in the PDP. Now tell me, are you talking about those who used all their might against APC? I had at no point refused anybody membership of APC. Where a man comes because he lost election in PDP or any other party and begins to insinuate that there were no persons in APC, this is not fair to the foundation members of APC. As state Chairman of the party, I owe my party men a duty to protect them and fight for their benefits. How does it feel for a man who ate and broke the pot to immediately go to another man’s cooking pot and want to even be dished food ahead of those who have been patiently waiting and persevering starvation when the food is

It seems there is a lull in activities since you mounted the saddle as the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs. What is going on?

Well, I don’t work to be heard but to achieve results.

Usani ready? I still maintain my stance, which is that benefits should be served first to those APC members who have suffered and worked because anything short of that will be a betrayal of the resilience and hard work of those who hoped when others scorned and some despised; this was also, the maiden pronouncement of the president after election. Let the so called “No names” be known. For example, I was PA and Commissioner before I became 35. It means there are many talents untapped in APC that we can harness, because, out of conviction displayed in their resilience, these group of people have the integrity to drive this government’s agenda and ideology. I tell you sincerely, strengthen a small name with character and watch him become a giant.

Is it true that new entrants into the party in your state are penciled down for choice appointments leaving out those who grew the party from scratch through thick and thin?

Well, I am a party man, a product of the party. If the leadership of the party so decides, I will not have any contrary stance. But I stated earlier that we have evenly qualified persons in the members that hoped when others scorned and despised APC and so those people should be considered first for appointments. If we want to prove that there is dignity in labour, in resilience and in contentment.

Under this rancorous circumstance what is your advice for all APC members in Cross River State?

Could you briefly tell us about your activities and the results achieved since assumption of office?

I have done what I will say I am happy with, but the ministry is new and so much is yet to be done. Unfortunately, we assumed office to meet the budgeting process and the budget has just been passed so you should expect more action now. I am however, worried that no project has been commissioned or completed since the formation of the ministry of Niger Delta Affairs except a cassava processing plant in Ondo State, which we commissioned recently. That has framed my burden whose jinx I want to immediately break. Recently, I formed a technical audit committee to audit all projects awarded by the ministry so far. Though they are yet to submit the full report, but the preliminary report will shock you. I think that’s the way to begin. We want to know what job was awarded and to whom, how much and what has been done. Does it conform to what has been paid, if not when was the job supposed to be completed and all that. You will realize that the observed differ remarkably from the claims we have.

With the reawakening of militancy in the region, how much is your ministry involved?

My ministry is deeply involved while the operational action is performed by the security Agencies. So the ministry of Niger Delta Affairs will continue to do what we have been doing before now, but I must say that the environment is ours and destroying it will not do us any good. Imagine the Ogoni reclamation is going to take 30 years, yet we have not learnt. Rather than support President Buhari to do more, we are adding to the destruction of the environment, our ecosystem, fresh water and aquatic lives. It is a condemnable and unthinkable approach that should be desisted. Imagine of all leaders that this UNEP report has been made known to, in just one year in office, this President has implemented it. I can say that the Niger Delta region is benefiting more under this APC regime led by President Buhari more than it benefited from any other regime.

How do you rate this administration, has it done well in one year?

More than well.

• Lalong: Under Our Ranching Policy, Nobody’s Land Will be Confiscated • Continued from Pg. 77 I was expecting you to talk about solid minerals because your state has been associated with tin and other kinds of solid minerals and frankly people are surprised that you are not generating a lot of revenue from this. What are you doing in the area of solid mineral development?

For solid mineral development, most of the policies are restricted by law to the federal government, on the exclusive list but Plateau state happens to be the headquarters of solid minerals.

The mining corporation is still there in Jos. At a time when we were all depending on oil, people left minerals but now, reality has dawned on everybody and we have gone back. We have a solid mineral development company in Plateau state, which was abandoned for a long time, so what we have done is that we have brought back, revived the company. Now, the company is back on stream. We are exploring and looking at areas in mining that will be favourable to the state. In Plateau, there is a place called Wase and apart from Wase, in almost all the 17 government areas, you will find solid minerals. We are putting a lot of emphasis on solid minerals, we are also looking at tourism and the gold mine in solid minerals.

We have provided enough security to chase away illegal miners. So, we are taking back gradually what is due to Plateau state and in terms of solid minerals, you will find people in the next few years talking about resource control in Plateau state on solid minerals.

One of the things that your predecessor has talked about is the local government issue. Why is it difficult to conduct local government elections in the state?

It is not difficult to organise local government elections. We came in and have been trying to tackle the issue of insecurity in the state.

My predecessor, who’s talking, left the state in complete mess. He destroyed almost everything.

The mess needed to be sorted out first before we talk of conducting local government elections. For instance, I have a case where N2 billion was sent to my state for youth SME empowerment, the money disappeared and no list of beneficiaries till date.

Now, when I applied for the second one, I was told that I am supposed to refund that N2 billion before I can access another one. So, I went back to ask him to give me the list of the beneficiaries and let me know where the money is, he has not accounted for that money. I am sorry to say that in such a case, I call such a person a hypocrite. I am asking him, let me know where the N2 billion went to that was meant for SME and who were the beneficiaries? The second one was that we got a record where 500 vehicles were bought in the state, that is the SURE-P and we asked, where are the 500 vehicles? And where is the list of beneficiaries? He went up and down, saying that I am witch-hunting him. Is that witch-hunting?

Let us put the records straight. It is supposed to be a revolving scheme so that when we get the proceeds, we can give to other people. We are determined to get all looted funds back to the state.

When Jang brought up the issue of the grazing reserves, I brought out the gazetted document where Jang gazetted grazing reserves in 2009 when he was governor. He even appropriated funding for it in the 2013 and 2014 budgets. So, if it was so bad why did he gazette it and provided money for it in his budgets of 2013 and 2014. Jang gazetted grazing reserves and grazing routes in Plateau state, if you ask him to come and implement it, he cannot implement it. He did that and he is now trying to pretend that he does not know anything about it; that is the hypocrisy I am talking about.

We will conduct local government elections, we are about putting a process in place. There are two conflicting judgements in Plateau after the last one conducted by my predecessor and all the judgements are from the High court. Unfortunately, they all stopped at the High court. There was one law that we did in 2005, I was then the Speaker of the Legislature but after we left, the governor who came on board during the state of emergency did something else. The deputy governor took over and amended the law, brought in another. When my predecessor came, he also amended the law and brought in another law, thereby confusing the whole exercise. The last election he had, two court judgements came from the tribunal nullifying the two laws. So, if you are going to conduct another local government election, you will require to put the proper laws in place first. I have set up a team and very soon, I will present the law to the State House of Assembly so that we will have the law

to be adopted to conduct the elections. Again, while we were pursuing this issue of investigation, implementation of recommendations, the local government chairmen rushed to court because they knew that some of the things we were investigating were about them. So they now rushed to court and after which the local government was dissolved. The law(put in place by my predecessor) states that the governor can dissolve the local government without giving any reason but when I was the Speaker of the House of Assembly, we restricted it and said that the governor cannot dissolve the council without the House of Assembly.

If you want to dissolve, you must give reason and send it to the House of Assembly for approval.

The last amendment that was done by Jang was to dissolve without reason or recourse to the state legislature and he dissolved local councils twice, without giving any reason. Instead of waiting for us to sort the issues out, they are rushing to court, we are still waiting for the court because all the issues are in court, for the court to decide.

However, we are already putting in place a process for the conduct of our local government elections. So, like I mentioned, key among them is to put the proper law for the conduct of the election.

If I should conduct the elections now, the court will eventually declare it null and void so, we must first and foremost go back to the law. I am not one that likes to keep caretaker committees, but I want to start the process of local government elections with a good law and a good process.

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CICERO/REPORT

Killings in The Name of Grazing George Okoh, in Makurdi, recounts the tragic events last week in some Benue communities invaded by marauding herdsmen

T

he account by an elder in Logo community in Benue State, Joseph Anawah, succinctly captures the events that look like a systematic killing of all the people from the areas attacked by the suspected Fulani herdsmen.

“That is the situation we have found ourselves in this part of the country; we are completely helpless, our women and children are being tormented almost on a weekly basis.

Maybe the herdsmen want us to vacate Benue State for them,” said Anawah. “At the moment most of our people are also moving in their numbers from villages nearest to the attacked communities. The majority of them are fleeing to Anyii, the local government headquarters where most of the wounded are also receiving medical attention.”

No single arrest has been made by the security agencies while the killings are said to continue.

Anawah said over 300 people had been killed in 20 communities. He chided the federal government for doubting the report of the killing of 81 people in the community. “They reports are true and the said figure was even far less than the killings that are taking place on a daily basis. There are sporadic shootings by Fulani militants at Akombo axis, a suburb near Anyiin town. So why the doubt when no single arrest has taken place.”

He said residents of Agbenge, Kwagh Agule, Tyoban, Tse Yough and Gemana villages were running for safety in the bush.

Anawah said, “The invaders crossed at the abandoned mobile police barracks to launch this attack. This area is one of the settlements harbouring many internally displaced persons from neighbouring communities of Turan, Tombo, Ukemberagya & Tswarev council wards in Gaambe-tiev Logo Local Government Area.

“This morning, two corpses were recovered from the Akombo village attack near Anyiin town. So far scores are missing, many wounded. This attack is a sustained assault on the Logo people by the Nigerian Fulani herdsmen terrorists.

“A school supervisor with Logo LGEA, Mr.Sam Wayo, and his brother, Mr.Msugh Iim, were by the early hours of today (Wednesday) also killed

by Fulani terrorists on their way to the farm. The Fulani jihadists opened fire on them from a church building where they laid ambush for Tiv unsuspecting farmers going to the farms this morning.

“The invaders hid in the church premises at NKST Tyogbihi (Tiza) after yesterday night operation at Akombo village near Anyiin where they killed two people and wounded many. Late Sam Wayo and his brother Msugh Iim all of Tombo ward from Mbazar and Mbaagia, respectively, were heading to Wayo’s rice farm when they met their deaths in the hands of Fulani herdsmen.

“It would be recalled that on Saturday, about 9:30am, they killed two people on a rice farm at Chembe settlement in Ukemberagya/Tswarev ward. Father of the deceased, Mr Emmanuel Emberga Baki, narrowly escaped death as he was shot on the neck where he is receiving medical attention at an Anyiin facility.

“On sunday the militant herdsmen shot and killed Mr Sugh Gede around 1pm on his way to Tse Avaan near

often behind the killings. He alleged that several thousands of cattle were rustled by members of various communities in the state.

But many believe the recent upsurge in attacks by the herdsmen may not be unconnected with the state government’s rejection of the grazing bills been propose by the federal government. The state governor, Dr Samuel Ortom, said the state rejected the bill for the simple reason that the state does not have enough land for grazing.

The situation in Benue is becoming worrisome by the day as security agencies saddled with the responsibility to protect the people have failed woefully in this regard. In most cases, the attacks occur before they react and arrests are hardly made.

Most residents of the affected areas said the headsmen have overwhelmed the security men.

Refugee Crisis

Ortom

Sevav in Mbawar, Nbagber council ward of Gaambe-tiev.

“Farmers have once again deserted their areas as a result of the continuous invasion of the place. In all these attacks no single arrest has been made by security operatives stationed in the area.”

Over five persons were killed on Saturday morning in a fresh attack on parts of Chambe and Anawah settlements, at Gaambe-Tiev, in Logo Local Government Area of Benue State, by headsmen The affected communities were invaded about 9am when most of the locals were already on their farms.

According to a source who said he witnessed the attacks, the armed herdsmen stormed the villages, singing war songs, shooting sporadically and torching houses, huts and food barns in the affected communities.

He said, “Like the cases before now, this latest attack was unprovoked.

The armed herdsmen stormed the settlements shooting sporadically and singing at the same time. People started running for their lives but unfortunately, about five persons were gunned down and several persons sustained machete cuts and bullet wounds.

“After chasing the people away, they took over and occupied the affected settlements while some houses and huts were also set ablaze.”

local government area and other areas of the state. The government said the state was under siege.

The deputy governor, Mr. Benson Abounu, lamented that these were happening despite the genuine efforts of the government to check the killings. He said the herdsmen stormed the affected communities from neighbouring Taraba State after which they withdrew.

Abounu said, “This latest attack clearly shows that we are a state under siege. That is the mildest way anybody can put it. What happened is quite unfortunate. Just when you think that the matter had died down one wakes up to news of another ugly attack and killing of innocent people.

“The government is terribly bothered and very worried by these developments and we are not sleeping over the matter. We just held an emergency security meeting over the mater, which was presided over by the governor himself.

“As a government, we will not continue to take this; we will soon take stringent measures to check these incessant attacks on Benue communities by these arms wielding herdsmen who have continued to unleash mayhem on our people.

“Very soon the government will send a bill to the state Assembly, and that bill will effectively take care of all issues pertaining to grazing in Benue State.”

Benue Government Reacts

Grazing Controversy

Benue State Government condemned the attacks on Tse Aondo, Tse Ankyou and Igbogom communities in Ukum

Benue State Coordinator of Miyati Allah Cattle Rearers Association, Garus Gololo, said cattle rustling was

The situation in Logo, Ukum, Buruku and Agatu has resulted in a huge refugee crisis in the state.

Meanwhile survivors of the recent bloody invasion of Agatu by armed Fulani herdsmen have lamented their alleged abandonment by the government. They regretted that they had no homes to return to, no standing school in the sacked communities for their children and wards to attend, and no food to eat in the various communities.

Speaking through their leader, Elder Ekoja Imanche, the Agatu indigenes lamented that since the cessation of hostilities in Agatu land, the people were yet to start their lives all over again because the government had reneged on its promises to help rehabilitate razed communities and avail the victims lifeline.

Imanche said, “After the cessation of hostilities in Agatu land, we were told to return back to our homes with promises from the government that our communities would be rehabilitated and our families would be assisted to start life all over again since all our houses, farmland and food barns were all destroyed.

“Unfortunately, as I speak with you, no such assistances has been extended to us. At the moment no school is standing in Agatu land, all of our houses have been razed and we have no homes to live in, our farmland, and food barns have all been destroyed.

“We have no food to eat and we cannot access the major farmland we have between Gwer West and Ogbaji because Fulanis are still occupying there, same for Odugbeho down to Okokolo an axis renowned for its farming prowess. The people cannot access their farms.”

Imanche added, “Everyday we hear of relief materials coming to the Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, most of whom are presently squatting in Makurdi and Ugbokpo but unfortunately we are not seeing any of such.

“The truth is that we have been abandoned and government has left us to our fate. Even the local government caretaker committee chairman has not visited the area to ascertain the condition of the people. That is the unfortunate condition we have found ourselves.”

Confirming the latest attacks, the Benue State Police Public Relations Officer, Assistant Superintendent of Police Moses Yamu, said the Commissioner of Police had dispatched a team of Mobile Policemen to the affected communities.

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Forgery Case: Enugu Leaping to Ekweremadu’s Defence Christopher Isiguzo, in Enugu, writes on the rallies in the state in solidarity with Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, who is being tried, alongside Senate President Bukola Saraki, for allegedly forging the senate standing rules

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ince June 27 when the Attorney General of Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, filed charges of forgery against Senate President Bukola Saraki, Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, and two others at a High Court in Abuja, different opinions have been expressed by different individuals and groups. Divergent opinions have been expressed as to the propriety or impropriety of the trial, especially in view of the constitutional provisions for separation of powers as well as checks and balances.

Some All Progressives Congress legislators led by Senator Suleiman Hunkuyi had expressed anger at the emergence of Saraki as senate president, against the party’s preferred candidate, Senator Ahmed Lawan. They also moved against Ekweremadu of the Peoples Democratic Party, who emerged as deputy senate president, contrary to the wish of the ruling party.

The angry senators petitioned the police alleging that the rules used to elect the leaders of the senate were forged. The development prompted the then Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase, to detail a Deputy Inspector General of Police to investigate the allegation.

The police report claimed there was, indeed, a forgery of senate rules. Arase referred the matter to the office of the Attorney General of Federation and Minister of Justice for further action.

Consequently, the AGF, Malami, filed charges against the senate leaders and two others, leading to their arraignment. The development has clearly opened a new vista in executivelegislature relationship in a democracy, as political observers see the situation from different angles.

Only recently, the national chairman of the APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, was quoted saying his party would stop at nothing in ensuring that Ekweremadu is removed from his position. He made it clear that Saraki was not the party’s problem, but his deputy.

That statement seemed to up opposition to the federal government’s forgery charges against Saraki and Ekweremadu. The people of Enugu West senatorial zone came out in their numbers at the Awgu local government area headquarters to demonstrate support for one of their own.

Rising Profile

Since the inception of the Fourth Republic 17 years ago, Ekweremadu has featured prominently in the politics of Enugu State. He took off as the chairman of his Aninri council and later became Chief of Staff to former Governor Chimaroke Nnamani in 1999. Ekweremadu was later appointed the Secretary to State Government under Nnamani before going to the senate in 2003. From then, he has continued to maintain a steady rise in profile, retaining the position of deputy senate president for a record three terms.

Solidarity

Over 3000 youths, old men, women traditional rulers and the political class from Enugu West senatorial zone rose in defence of the senator last weekend. They accused the federal government of deliberate attempting to silence the lawmaker and by extension the opposition PDP where he is presently the member occupying the highest political position.

They saw the on-going trial as nothing short of “political persecution”, and vowed to resist any attempt aimed at ousting Ekweremadu from his present position.

The crowd marched round the local government secretariat from where they

Ekweremadu

moved to the constituency office of the member representing Awgu-Aninri-Oji-River federal constituency in the House of Representatives, Hon. Toby Okechukwu, to formally present their grievances. Ekweremadu represents the zone in the senate.

After the protest rally, where they brandished placards with different inscriptions, and sang solidarity songs, they marched back to the local government field where a prominent traditional ruler from Okpanku in Aninri local government area and former Director General of the Nigeria Defence Academy, HRH (Prof.)

Sam Ukpabi, presented an address on behalf of the people.

Some of the placards carried inscriptions such as: “The life wire of Igbo should not be harassed by the Buhari-led Federal Government, Enough is enough”, “The Enugu West people will resist any attack against Ikeoha”, “Dictatorship of the executive- let separation of power prevail”, “Our son Dr. Ike Ekweremadu and Senate leadership are on course”, “Ekweremadu keep your good work”, “Ekweremadu is the real man for democracy” and “Federal Government should leave the legislature alone”.

Ukpabi, in his address, stated that the stakeholders in the senatorial zone had reviewed the state of the nation, especially the “political bitterness, nepotism, hate and crushing economic hardship, with a narrow cabal in the All Progressives Congress,” and resolved to condemn the “politically motivated persecution” of the Deputy Senate President on charges of forgery.

He said, “While the current political persecution has not come to us as a surprise, the Attorney-General of the Federation is yet to tell the world how he generated the names of Senators Ekweremadu and Bukola Saraki for trial, when the petitioners, all senators and National Assembly bureaucrats interrogated by the police, and indeed the Police Report itself did not mention or indict Senator Ekweremadu or Saraki in any way.”

While calling on the APC-led Federal Government to as a matter of urgency, refrain from the alleged culture of political persecution, the people declared that Ekweremadu was elected with an overwhelming mandate both as a senator and Deputy Senate President and his election did not violate known convention, practice or the nation’s constitution.

‘Witch-hunt’

In a similar vein, a former Majority Leader of the Enugu State House of Assembly, Hon. Jonny Obidinma, has asked the federal govern-

ment to drop the allegation of forgery preferred against the senate leaders, describing it as a witch-hunt. He advocated for dialogue between the federal government and the senate leadership on the obvious “communication gap” existing between them, noting that dropping the forgery charge would not only enthrone peace in the polity but would also advance the course of democracy, which is deeply rooted in dialogue and not confrontation.

He noted that since the trial of the senate president is on-going at the Code of Conduct Tribunal, beginning another round of criminal trial against Saraki would not only cause confusion in the polity but would also undermine the independence of the legislature. He insisted that the standing rule of the senate was entirely the business of the legislature.

Obidinma who also picked whole in the entire process recalled that the Assistant Force Public Relations Officer (AFPRO), Mr. Abayomi Shogunle, had told newsmen at the Force Headquarters on July 6, 2015 that although the police team met with the ex-Clerk to the National Assembly, Mr. Salisu Maikasuwa, they neither invited nor interrogated Saraki or Ekweremadu.

He stated, “It is even worse to try to obtain from the backdoor a statement after you have filed charges, because it shows somebody is desperate to nail somebody.

“From what they have filed at the court and the police report, there is no statement that Saraki or Ekweremadu made on the alleged forgery; there is no particular role those interrogated accused Saraki or Ekweremadu of playing in the alleged forgery. Even the Senate Unity Forum did not mention them in their petition. So, how did the Office of the AttorneyGeneral of the Federation zero in on Saraki and Ekweremadu? And if you are talking about the leadership of the seventh Senate, Ekweremadu was not the Senate President or the Senate Majority Leader or Chairman of the Committee on Business and Rules. So, why is every other member of the leadership of the seventh Senate missing? Again, was Saraki a member of the leadership of the seventh Senate?”

The former lawmaker observed that the country was presently faced with plethora of challenges such as the militancy in the Niger Delta, the rampaging Fulani herdsmen, the pro-Biafra agitations by MASSOB and IPOB and the collapsing economy noting that adding crisis in the legislature would totally derail the entire democratic process.

Another group, the Enugu West Peoples Forum, also defended Ekweremadu over his

letter alerting the attention of the international community to the on-going trial of Saraki, himself and two others and its grave implications for Nigeria’s democracy.

The ruling APC had asked Ekweremadu to retract his letter to the international community over his on-going forgery trial, insisting that by taking what should be an internal affair of the country to the outside world, the lawmaker had tarnished the image of Nigeria and by extension, the president.

Both the party’s chairman, Ben Nwoye, and the Vice chairman, Anike Nwoga, faulted the lawmaker’s decision to write to the international bodies, stressing that the senator only wanted to drag the nation’s integrity in the mud.

Nwoga spoke at a rally held by party members in Awgu town, Enugu State, with notable APC chieftains, including Deputy State Chairman, Comrade A.C. Ude, Woman Leader, Lolo Queen Nwankwo, Chief Flavour Eze, who represented the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, Special Assistant to the President on Justice Reform, Barrister Julie Ibekaku, Director General, Voice of Nigeria, Mr. Osita Okechukwu, and Barrister Sharon Ikeazor in attendance. He insisted that the letter was out of place. Nwoga urged Ekweremadu to desist from insulting the president.

But the Enugu West Peoples Forum said Ekweremadu was right, noting that Nigeria was not only a member of the global community, but also a beneficiary of the generosity of the international community. The group’s president, Hon. Paul Anikwe, berated the leadership of the APC in Enugu State for finding faults in Ekweremadu’s letter, describing them as “desperate job seekers”.

Nwoga stated, “Democracy is endangered when the executive refuses to obey court orders; when virtually every election is, especially in the strongholds of the opposition, is rendered inconclusive; when the AttorneyGeneral of the Federation abuses his office and court process for partisan and other vested interests; when the AGF defies parliamentary summons and joint resolutions of the National Assembly; and worst of all, when we go back to the military days of trumped-up charges against people who hold dissenting views with the aim of taking over an arm of the parliament which is the symbol of democracy”.

He added, “The Enugu West Peoples Forum dare to ask members of the global community who have themselves invested so much in enthroning and sustaining Nigeria’s democracy to call the Federal Government and its AGF to order before things get out of hand.”

Nwoga noted, “Chief Ogbonnaya Onu, a perfect gentleman, was the chairman of ANPP and a founding father of the ruling party; Chief Chris Ngige is a first-rate medical doctor, former governor and senator; Prof Anthony Onwuka is a renowned intellectual and former Vice Chancellor; Mr. Osita Okechukwu has been a consistent voice in the opposition and worked hard with leaders in the present government from the days of Senator Chuba Okadigbo; what did they get but third class ministries, junior minister, and a moribund parastal?”

Adjournment

Though, the case against Ekweremadu and the others has been adjourned to September 28 for commencement of hearing, the issue has clearly become a major talking-point in Enugu State. Many people in the state are in solidarity with the man, who is presently the Igbo man occupying the highest political office in the present administration. As far as they are concerned, any attack on the lawmaker is an attack on the people of Enugu West senatorial zone, Enugu State and indeed the people of south-east geopolitical zone.

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Chikamnayo: Abia Governorship Tussle is a Struggle against Our Consensus Politics ExecutivedirectoroftheAbiaInterestGroup,anon-governmentalorganisation,andformercommissionerinAbiaState,Dr.EzeChikamnayo,says thecurrentgovernorshiptussleinthestateisthemanifestationofaselfishstrugglebysomemoneybagstothwartthesmoothoperationofapower-sharingagreementreachedbyallmajorstakeholdersofAbiaState.OnyebuchiEzigbo.Excerpts:

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eyond the legal pronouncements, what do you think is behind the current governorship crisis in Abia State?

Like it is always said, conscience is an open wound and only the truth can heal it.

The truth of the Abia situation is that all political parties; not one, not two but all political parties are of the agreement that power in Abia State should be made to rotate among the three component senatorial districts of the state: Abia North, Abia Central and Abia South. Dr. Orji Uzoh Kalu, the former governor of Abia State, is from Abia North and he was governor for eight years. Governor Theodore Orji, the immediate past governor, is from Abia Central and he governed for eight years. It is in consideration of this fact, this truth, that all parties, All Progressives Congress, Peoples Democratic Party, and all the political parties chose their governorship candidate from Abia South. The contender who is causing all these confusion now, Dr Uche Ogah, is from Abia North the same zone as Dr. Orji Uzoh Kalu, the people who have governed for eight years. It is not the right thing to do. We of the Abia Interest Group are of the opinion that it is an attempt to scuttle the hollowed truth that is causing the tension in Abia today. It is this attempt, either by hook or crook or by the imagination of moneybags, to overrule the general good in favour of personal interest.

What alternatives is your group offering for the resolution of the problem, besides the legal actions?

Let me even address the legal issues you talked about. I am from Abia North. I am a working

encyclopaedia of Abia politics. I have served from 1999 till date in various capacities in Abia State. So when I speak, I speak out of practical experience.

It is not a sentimental thing. I am providing solutions that I think would bring stability to our people. But coming to the issue in contention, the matter is very simple. A civil servant, a public servant or anybody working under the employment of government went to the tax authority to ask of records of his tax deduction and he was given a paper prepared by that authority. In law and in fact it is very clear, even in the affidavits that we swear it is clearly written that I make this oath even to the best of my knowledge. If you prepare a document as a professional journalist I can only aver to that document to the best of my knowledge not being a professional in that field.

So whatever the people in the Board of Internal Revenue did and brought out as papers, which they have come out to take responsibility for what they recorded, is not within the purview of individuals who are not professionals in the issue of tax and tax returns to come out and give a text book interpretation of the receipt paper.

These matters are still in court and I don’t want us to prejudice the legal aspect, that is why I concentrated more on the issues that are outside the court and the issue is this, when you have three pieces of meat in a plate of soup and you have three men eating from that plate, it would be wrong for one person for whatever excuse to arrogate to himself the three piece of meat at the expense of one of the people in that meal. In Abia State it is given and well known that the position of governing now resides in Abia South, Abia North and Abia Central having tasted that position for eight years each.

Chikamnayo What is your advice to the Abia state government and other stakeholders in the state at this point?

First of all, you can’t belong to a group which you have so freely subscribed to and become a deliberate deviant in that group. Abia PDP has said we have zoned Abia governorship to the South. A law-abiding and loyal member of PDP should be able to honour that, that is a gentle man because it is voluntary to join a political party and if you don’t believe in their ideology, manifesto or decision of that party the honourable thing to do is to leave the party and explore your interest in another platform. Uche Ogah is a bull in a China shop. Ogah is doing what we call a deliberate and despicable disaster to the fabrics of cohesion that bind Abia State together and he must be told in clear terms that this won’t work. Secondly, my advice is for him to withdraw forthwith every legal gymnastic involved in this matter as a clear

condition for a political solution. When he has done that the elders will want to have some form of out of court discussion that will aim at the truth and nothing but the truth. And what is the truth?

It is that the people from Abia South should be allowed to finish their eight years like the other two senatorial districts have done. If there is anybody to contend for that position it should be from the same senatorial district to which this governorship has been allotted to by the generality of the Abia public.

Then on the part of the governor, I would advise him to be inclusive in all his dealings. He has tried so far to show equity in his appointments, in his projects. Out of the 66 roads he has done so far in less than one year, you can discover the level of parity in the way he has distributed the roads despite the very lean resources of the state. I would encourage him to do more of that.

I also want him to reach out to all the people that contested with him in the past at every level, whether at the primary level or the party level. I want to ask him to reach out to everybody and carry everybody along because he is now the father of the state and must be seen to accommodate all shades of interest and opinion within the state.

Do you think PDP has acquitted itself well in this matter, in terms of initiating dialogue aimed at resolving the issues?

The issue is dialogue between who and who?

Between the contending forces.

The contending forces are not entirely from Abia State, you must know. This is an act of impunity instigated by some moneybags in Igbo land; moneybags from Anambra, Imo and Abia.

Oyewumi: Why I’m in Ondo Governorship Race Mr. Akinboye Oyewumi is a governorship aspirant in Ondo State on the platform of All Progressives Congress ahead of the forthcoming election in the state. The 52-year-old business mogul, in this interview with Femi Ogbonnikan, expatiates on his ambition and vision for the Sunshine State. Excerpts:

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has been some progress there, but we can still take it to another level. That is why I said earlier that government is a continuum. Everything that is working with the present government, we will keep. Everything we will need to tweak, we will improve upon. And that is the way we want to govern.

hat are those things you think the incumbent governor of Ondo State, Dr Olusegun Mimiko, has not done well, which you would like to improve upon or change if elected

governor?

I have always seen government as a continuum.

And when you are forward-looking you will have to be conscious of the temptations to always look back. Whatever has not been done to satisfaction, we will improve upon them, but at this time, at this juncture, we are approaching the primaries.

It is not yet time for party politics between the PDP and the APC. Like I said, government is a continuum, the present government has recorded successes in some areas. There are some areas that are evident that not much has been done. We hope to build on what they have succeeded at doing.

And the areas that we know there is cause for improvement, like education, we will improve. The failure rate is quite high, we still have two out of three children in Ondo State not having five credits in WAEC. Those are the issues, the class sizes, the educational infrastructure, the fact that monthly remunerations are not paid.

How would you rate Mimiko’s administration since he came on board eight years ago?

The truth is that I have not assessed him, because you can’t look at something from a distance.

It is when you get there you will have a proper perspective. But what I know is that the people are crying for a change, and that is the change that I am representing. I know people want fresh ideas. I know the people want probity. I know they want

Oyewunmi

accountability, they want undiluted service, and that is what we are bringing to the table.

Why are you vying for the governorship of Ondo State?

It is not just a case of vying for the governorship, but a platform for me to touch the lives of the common man. If I had gone to the senate I would be using my little God-given skills, and I will not impact on the welfare of the common man.

There are two positions that allow you to do that in this country, either the local government or the governorship, that allow you directly, if you have a vision, to impact on the quality of life of the common man. So, my vision is to, as much as possible, eradicate the abject poverty that our people live in, to increase the quality of education, to maintain and increase the health care delivery system, there

What are some of your programmes for the people of Ondo State?

Most of the people in the state, 70 to 80 per cent, are in agriculture-based businesses. So we must make sure that we make agriculture attractive.

And who do you make it attractive to? It is not to the old, it is to the young who must see value in agriculture, who must see reward in agriculture, who must be sensitised by implements, by tractors, by a price mechanism that allows them to get what they want from the system. A situation where half of their produce gets rotten before they get to the market is not acceptable. A situation where there is no cooperative Society to look after their interest is not acceptable. A situation where there is no price or commodity board to assist is unacceptable. A situation where the government is not able to intervene in setting up farms or assist them with farm lands and all the seedlings, fertiliser, is not acceptable. We will need to move a whole lot of people from the unemployment sector into the productive sector of agriculture, because once you get into agriculture, you are not likely to come out of it. If you are a farmer, you cannot starve, and you can always exchange your crops for money. But they will have to be encouraged, they will have to be sustained, and they will have to have price guarantees. As much as possible, we will have to discourage middlemen, so that those who toil for six months or more on the farm get

proceeds of their toil. Many of our people whose children are farmers have made it well in life. Once you are on the farm, you are almost guaranteed a certain quality of life, if the government intervenes properly. Farming has gone beyond 12 by 12, if you are talking of plantation farming. And, thankfully, we don’t need irrigation as such in this part of the country.

A lot of produce that Ondo State has are actually quite exportable and once the quantity is assured, it is just a packaging that is missing. The exposure to do that is something that we would do through an export agency, which will allow farmers to export their produce. We will have to open up that channel for them, because I once used to do that business, where I exported cash crops to Europe.

There was just not much in it. We have clean produce, we have clean banana, no stains; you package it well, and send abroad. And you can never send too much, never, but the exposure to that market is not there, and that will come through a private-public sector engagement.

Seeking elective office in Nigeria is expensive.

Do you have the financial muscle to slug it out with other contenders in the governorship race?

When you say financial muscle that portends that everything is cash-and-carry, but I beg to differ.

If you look at the presidency in this country in the last couple of years, those who made it, eventually, didn’t have the financial muscle. If you have a product that is good, you will attract finance. So, those who have the finances have often fallen at the last hurdle. I think once in a while we should be children of history to understand that in every race, there is a David. And a David in a race does not need to come with heavy armour.

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PERSPECTIVE

ContentiousHawkers,theLawandStreetCredibility Steve Ayorinde

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gain, ferocious voices of concern are speaking out in support of the perceived voiceless and the lessprivileged in the society.

Such voices are not necessarily in the majority. But they are vociferous enough in asking government and general public to show more sensitivity in dealing with the issue of contentious street hawking and trading and the perceived need for restrictions of such activities.

The basis for the agitation this time is the decision of the Lagos State government to step up enforcement of the law that prohibits street trading and illegal hawking in Lagos State. Many expressing variegated opinions apparently have either not read the law or are unaware that it was not promulgated by the Akinwunmi Ambode administration.

The Lagos State Street Trading and Illegal Market Prohibition Law came into effect in 2003. It has been functioning ever since, with nobody asking for its review or outright repeal. But penultimate Friday when Governor Ambode drew attention to Section One of the Law which criminalises both the act of selling on the streets or citing markets in areas not designated for such activity as well as the act of patronizing them, and that either the seller or the buyer of wares on highways or illegal markets are liable for a fine of N90.000 or a six-month imprisonment, all hell was suddenly let loose.

But a cursory look at the arguments of the nay-sayers seem to border on one salient point: that street trading, and its twin-menace of hawking on the highways, form an integral part of informal sector in Nigeria and any attempt to either prohibit them or regulate their unwholesome conduct will amount to taking menial jobs away from the poor, the uneducated and the less privileged whose last resort, in their wisdom, is street hawking.

It is a considerate argument to make only if the proponents can enlarge the scope of the debate to appreciate the reason why this particular law was promulgated 13 years ago and be sincere to accept that Lagos State, much more than any other undoubtedly, has been the clear leader in creating opportunities for the poor and the lower middle-class all across the state, even while maintaining the need to keep the state tidy enough as an emerging megalopolis whose fortunes and future depend as much on keeping its teeming population open to opportunities as it does on keeping it attractive to foreigners to visit and invest.

And so, is it just the need to protect the right of street hawkers in eking out a living in Lagos and forcibly legitimize a kind of odious street credibility that is at the heart of this argument and pro-street hawking hashtags curious spinning out of certain quarters? Or it is a neatly woven veiled resistance from buyer-culprits who want to use the plight of hawkers to justify their unwholesome attitude of buying fruits, snacks and bottled water and consume them in traffic and then throw the thrash back on the streets?

When certain commentators say as a matter of factly that street hawking is part of our culture and that poverty is the only reason why anyone would choose to be on the streets selling, I would like to urge them to be true to their consciences and analyse why not every poor and uneducated persons have chosen not to be an armed robber, a commercial sex worker or to find life totally unworthy of living. Research has even shown that the percentage of physically challenged people that resort to begging for alms on the streets pale in significance when compared to those who are constantly demonstrating ability in disability in spite of their physical challenge.

However, the background as to why that law was promulgated in the first instance is important to puncture the argument of those who think the law is unfair to commerce and the sub-informal sector. Lagos owes this law to the vision of the Asiwaju Bola Ahmed

Hawkers on Lagos road Tinubu administration which inherited a somewhat dysfunctional state from the military but which took its time to build a solid foundation upon which the two successive administrations in the state have since erected pillars of continuous progress that has turned the state into not just the envy of others among its peers but the fifth largest economy in the whole of Africa.

It had become necessary, in those days of indiscipline, environmental degradation and reckless driving that certain laws be promulgated to arrest the untoward situation.

The situation was dire, for example, and therefore important not just to fine erring and recalcitrant drivers but also to subject them to sanity test at their own cost if they were caught driving against traffic and thereby causing needless but fatal accidents to themselves and law-abiding citizens who would not expect that a sane person would be driving against traffic in horrendously high speed. The intention certainly was not to generate revenue through the fines imposed on reckless drivers but to deter others who might think Lagos was no man’s land with unenforceable laws.

The needs of those times gave birth to Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), the Rapid Respond Squad (RRS) to combat the spiraling crime waves and the Kick Against Indiscipline (KAI) brigades as well as ‘Sanitation Gangs’ mandated to restore order and sanity on our streets.

The Lagos State Street Trading and Illegal Market Prohibition Law (2003) was part of those needed interventions at that time, which have not only rescued the state from pangs of lawlessness to an appreciable extent but which have also provided the needed intervention in such notorious markets such as Oshodi, as demonstrated by the Babatunde Fashola administration in January 2009 as well as the courageous relocation of the Owonifari market in the same Oshodi to a modern Isopakodowo in Bolade by the Ambode administration in January 2016 to pave way for an audacious multi-layered bus terminus.

The point of this background is that this same law has always been there and has been the pivot for the necessary intervention that KAI brigades have always carried out when hawkers turn our highways to an unsightly arena of commercial activities or respond to complaints of citizens who have had their streets, playgrounds, roundabouts or pedestrian bridges turned to illegal markets that obstruct human and vehicular movements or

endangers lives.

In any case, the basis for which street hawkers run away when they see KAI vehicles or brigades is because they recognize that they have transgressed. They are not ignorant of the law and they sure know the consequence of flagrant disobedience to the laws of the land. This is the type of narrative that is ongoing in major cities of the world – governments trying to maintain order and sanity in cities where many are desperate for survival.

It is the delicate balance between the two that dominate discourse from Accra to Cairo and from Mumbai to Rio de Janeiro. It is yet the same that has made Governors Nasir el Rufai in Kaduna and Abiola Ajimobi in Oyo to put their feet down in defence of propriety and acceptable public conduct in the matters of street beggars and traders in areas that government consider too strategic to deface.

It is unfortunate that a young man lost his life last month in Maryland area of Lagos while trying to escape upon citing KAI officials who were on routine patrol.

Governor Ambode has personally expressed his deep sympathies to the family of the deceased. It was an unfortunate but avoidable death, which also led to another unfortunate destruction of public assets that will be now be repaired by tax payers money.

It is therefore saddening that a few commentaries will be silent about the human cost of the illegality of hawking wares on the highways. I am concerned about the cost to the hapless citizens who have chosen this route for survival. We saw agitation because the Maryland incident was erroneously perceived to have been caused by a public truck. But hardly does any week passes that casualties are not recorded for street hawkers losing their wares and lives while running after buyers. There have been cases of vehicles running into hawkers or illegal street traders.

Many never get to collect payments for wares sold. And on each occasion that government decides to wield the big stick, in conformity with the law, the woes are endless for these people.

And yet we hear of commentators arguing that certain laws are enforceable or encouraging lawlessness by being silent about the consequence of defiance. Would it not be better to at least encourage the hawkers to leave the highways first for their own good while urging government to work with stakeholders to explore the possibility of amendments where necessary? Or simply encourage the

aggrieved to approach the courts as the commercial motorcycles did but lost in the end?

If we ignore the environmental nuisance that street hawking on the highways constitutes to a megacity that needs a good image to continue to attract and retain Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs), can we really pretend that some of these hawkers do not either shield or transform into armed robbers that dispossess drivers and commuters of their valuables?

But this does not have to continue!

Hawkers and street traders do not have to lose their lives this way. And public assets like roads and mass transit buses do not have to be destroyed just to get a few sausage rolls sold to people heading home for dinner. There is a law in place that has envisaged all these and what the present administration has done, like most civilized countries of the world, is to draw attention to the law, to sensitize the public about the dangers of this nuisance and to stress without any shred of timidity that there are rules here like elsewhere and laws that are for public good need to be enforced for the benefit of the majority.

Like the law restricting commercial motorcycles on major highways in Lagos, the concern of Lagos State government is first and foremost to enforce the street trading laws on our highways and major streets and to persuade those who choose to leave their shops for the ‘convenience’ of rush-hour traffic sales that such will no longer be tolerated, particularly on the highways. And serious commentators need not trivialise this issue by suggesting that the target of enforcement are newspaper vendors. They are not!

A government that is opening up hitherto abandoned areas with massive road constructions and rehabilitation, with street lights and world-class state-funded security apparatus to encourage a 24-hour economy in addition to an Employment Trust Fund that will allow underprivileged people with ideas and drive to have access to soft loans between N100.000 and N1m cannot be said to be anti-poor or anti-commerce.

The recourse to enforcement is to save the poor from wanton deaths and harassments on the highways and of course to remind visitors and every stakeholder that there are rules guiding public conduct in Lagos State and enforcing the laws of the land is the responsibility of a responsive government.

–Mr. Ayorinde is the Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Strategy

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JULY 17, 2016 • THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER

PERSPECTIVE

Governor Wike’s Unwavering Cordiality with the Ogoni Simeon Nwakaudu

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ivers State Governor Nyesom Wike is, undoubtedly, in love with the Ogoni ethnic nationality. He is committed to the transformation of the area and the comprehensive empowerment of Ogoni people. His love for the Ogoni is practical, without any form of deceit. As such, right from the time of campaigns for the governorship to his assumption of office as governor of Rivers State, Wike has established and maintained a functional communication channel with the leaders and people of the Ogoni ethnic nationality.

This functional communication channel has led to a symbiotic relationship between Wike and the Ogoni. It is, arguably, the most fruitful in the history of the state. While the Ogoni people are ever willing to support Wike every step of the way, the governor has reciprocated by always delivering on his campaign promises to the Ogoni people.

The Ogoni people appreciate the efforts of Wike, and the governor’s investments in the hitherto neglected area have kick-started a rebuilding process that the people have yearned for over the years.

On Wednesday, Wike embarked on a development visit to Bori, the traditional headquarters of Ogoni land. This visit was aimed at consolidating the development projects already being executed by the Wike administration in Ogoni land and also set in motion the machinery for new projects.

It turned out to be an agenda setting visit, as Wike met with the future leaders of Rivers State, exchanged views with them, and agreed on the processes to be adopted to further develop Ogoni and the state.

From the traditional rulers and political leaders, who received the governor on the project sites of

Wike the Sakpenwa-Bori Road, to the school children at the Birabi Memorial Grammar School, Bori, down to the students and staff of the Kenule Beeson SaroWiwa Polytechnic, Bori , the love for the governor’s commitment to the development of Ogoni land was palpable.

It was a day of celebration of the efforts of the governor to fully drive practical development in Ogoni land. It was a day when the reality of genuine development triumphed over the futility of propaganda. It was a day that a solemn commitment was made to carry forward the banner of development in Ogoni land, with Wike as the experienced driver.

Of course, the transformation of the Kenule Beeson Saro-Wiwa Polytechnic, Bori, into a world class centre for the grooming of leaders formed the centrepiece of the engagement of Wike with the Ogoni people. As a fundamental way forward, the governor stated that his administration will

work towards the accreditation of all the academic programmes of the Kenule Beeson Saro-Wiwa Polytechnic, Bori. According to him, the process to revive the polytechnic will start with the upgrade of the school’s workshops and laboratories.

Addressing the students of the polytechnic at the school’s auditorium, Wike stated that upon the improvement of the state’s internally generated revenue, his administration would establish a polytechnic in each senatorial district of the state to create more access to quality education. The governor explained that the establishment of the Port Harcourt Polytechnic was not an attempt to kill the Kenule Beeson Saro-Wiwa Polytechnic, as being peddled by political opponents. He said he was interested in the development of Ogoni and other parts of Rivers State.

Wike stated, “I make the solemn pledge to ensure the Kenule Beeson Saro-Wiwa Polytechnic facilities are improved for the school to carry out its core mandate. That is why I am here to inspect the school and thereafter improve her facilities.

“Having a polytechnic in another location will not remove the polytechnic here. We will extend the necessary grant to the Kenule Beeson Saro-Wiwa Polytechnic for the improvement of her facilities, especially, workshops and laboratories.”

The governor noted that the state government had concluded plans to improve security in Bori and its environs. He warned the students to shun crime and embrace peace. He assured that his administration will pay the bursaries of students after verifying the list of benefitting students across the state.

Wike announced the confirmation of the appointment of the Acting Rector of the Bori polytechnic, Dr Oneniye -Ofori Georgewill, following the request of the students through their leadership. The governor also announced the donation of a Toyota Coaster bus to the Students Union Government of the Kenule Beeson Saro-Wiwa Polytechnic.

In his remarks, the chairman of the Governing

Council of the Kenule Beeson Saro-Wiwa Polytechnic, Chief Adokiye Amaesimaka, commended the governor for his investments in the development of the institution.

Also speaking, president of the Students Union Government of the institution, Comrade Peter Dunobari, commended the governor for setting up a credible governing council and management that have improved basic amenities in the state institution.

At the Birabi Memorial Grammar School, Bori, Wike assured the students that his administration will conclude work on the total rehabilitation of the school. He said the laboratories and hostels of the school will be upgraded to the best of standards. He also said his administration will dualise the Sakpwenwa-Bori road.

While inspecting the Sakpwenwa-Bori road, Wike told Ogoni people that the state government will also install street lights from Sakpwenwa to Bori to give the area the facelift it deserves. “I am here to entrench good governance and not to play politics. Whatever I say I will do, that’s what I will do. I am free within this community because I keep all my promises,” the governor said.

The future for the Ogoni ethnic nationality is, certainly, bright. In Wike, they have a partner who will always be truthful to them. In Wike, they have a committed ally who will always give them their due in the development equation of Rivers State.

The days of the political propaganda merchants who did nothing but tell lies are gone. This is a new era, when the people must continue to enjoy the benefits of democracy. The person to deliver these projects is Wike. Like most people in Rivers State, Ogoni people are celebrating because Rivers State is new.

–– Nwakaudu, Special Assistant to the Rivers State Governor on Electronic Media, writes from Port Harcourt.

Abia and Uche Ogah’s ‘Divine Mandate’

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Ernie Onwumere

here is something uncanny about the gush of inflamed propaganda in public discourse that tends to submerge or bury the voice of truth in the cacophony of emotive polemics. And sometimes, if the real truth does not recover its own voice quickly and poignantly enough, lies, falsehoods and half-truths could be easily swallowed by the less discerning. This is most evident especially in political propaganda in an intriguing environment like Nigeria.

The loudest always seems to be more credible, but that is not true in reality.

Indeed, the foregoing scenario of the nature of lop-sidedness in political propaganda is quite prevalent in the current Abia State governorship tussle between Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu and Dr. Uche Ogah, both of the Peoples Democratic Party. Since the June 27 judgement of the Abuja High Court nullifying the election of Ikpeazu and ordering the Independent National Electoral Commission to declare Ogah as the de facto governor of Abia State, propaganda has gone haywire and lent itself to many unwieldy voices of varying sentiments and prejudices.

Suddenly, beyond the strident voices of defendants in the legal case, every interested Nigerian seems to have an opinion. Abia State has been fortuitously thrust into the limelight of national discussions. The national primetime TV stations, newspapers and online news media have become awash with interviews, opinions and analyses on who is right and who is not in the Abia ‘crisis’.

Some have questioned the judgement of Justice Okon Abang on the case. Some opined that INEC is wrong to have ‘rushed’ to issue Certificate of Return to Ogah when Ikpeazu had filed an appeal against the Abuja High Court judgement. Lawyers of different shades, too, joined the fray. Indeed, there are many expressions of blatant ignorance about the issue being talked about.

But in the whole din of typically riotous Nigerian political propaganda, the most unsettling of all public discussions on the Abia situation so far is the wrong notion that Ogah is desperate and taking an illegal back door to become governor. Nothing could be farther from the truth! That insinuation that Ogah’s victory at the court is a hurriedly executed legal ambush for the acquisition of political power is nothing but a brazen propagandist concoction of falsehood brewed by Ogah’s opponents to try to discredit him in the court of public opinion. It is simply a diversionary tactic by unscrupulous rabble-rousers meant to mislead Abia State citizens and other stakeholders.

For the purpose of disabusing innocent people’s minds and

Ogah setting the records straight, it is pertinent to assert that Ogah’s case was a pre-2015 election issue and is strongly anchored on fact. But the refusal of Ikpeazu to respond to the core issues and his resort to propaganda speaks volumes about how political desperation could twist facts to suit mischievous agenda. By the way, at a recent briefing in Lagos through his counsel, Mr Monday Ubani, Ogah confirmed that his case predated Ikpeazu’s swearing-in as governor and the case had even long ago reached the Supreme Court before returning to the lower court.

The real crux of the whole case is that Ikpeazu was not actually eligible to participate in the 2014 PDP primaries on the basis that he failed to pay his taxes as and when due as required by the 1999 Constitution, PDP’s Guidelines and the Electoral Act, 2010. So, on the face of it, Ikpeazu’s tax clearance was indeed questionable.

The Tax Clearance form (Code PD002/G), dated November 4, 2014, and sworn to at the High Court Registry, Aba, shows that Ikpeazu’s tax receipt number for December 2011 is 0012849; that of December 2012 is 0012846 and that of December 2013 is 0012847 and 0012848. Now the question is, going by the foregoing, did Ikpeazu use one booklet to pay tax for three years? Is he the only one paying tax? How come the tax number which ends in 49 came first rather than last?

By the way, Ogah went to court soon after the 2014 primaries because the PDP’s appeal panel failed to respond to his complaints about Ikpeazu’s alleged non-qualification. When Ogah filed the suit in 2014, Ikpeazu challenged the court’s jurisdiction. The

appeal process got to the Court of Appeal until it was decided by the Supreme Court, which ruled that the Federal High Court had jurisdiction to hear the case. The first judge that handled the case, Justice Adeniyi Ademola, withdrew from the case on the ground that he was accused of bias and returned the file to the Chief Judge.

The matter was then reassigned to Justice Okon Abang, who delivered the June 27 judgement that gave victory to Ogah.

So it can be clearly seen that Ogah is not undertaking any hasty legal ambush or taking a illegal back door to become governor, as being falsely assumed or propagated by perfidious propagandists.

Neither is Ogah also a desperado, as wrongly alleged by his opponents. In fact, despite the pressure mounted on him to dump the PDP for another party in his quest for justice, Ogah has vehemently refused. Up till today, he maintains that he will stay in the PDP because he has a divine mandate to actualise his vision for Abia State through the PDP. Again, the confirmation here of Ogah’s refusal to defect from the PDP has put a lie to insidious insinuations that he is being backed by Nigeria’s ruling party, APC, to take over Abia State.

What a big lie!

As an oil magnate, entrepreneur, investor and president of Masters Energy Group, a conglomerate with over 15 subsidiaries and interests across a variety of industries with over 40,000 employees, Ogah is neither driven by desperation nor in the race for primitive pecuniary acquisitions through political power. His involvement in politics is an opportunity to have more solid and sustainable impact on Abia State, by helping transform God’s Own State with well thought-out ideas to create a life more abundant and egalitarian for the Abia people. It is his relentless passion to see governance in Abia State built on enduring values of accountability, commitment, creativity, credibility and transparency.

Today, if Ikpeazu is convinced of the rightness of his cause, he should vacate the governor’s seat, plead his case in a court of law and, when granted victory, come back to assume office, rather than resort to mindless propaganda to mislead the public. INEC should not be blamed for issuing Ogah with a Certificate of Return because the court ordered that it should be with immediate effect. On why Ogah should be sworn in without delay, his lawyer has confirmed that an appeal does not operate as a stay of execution in pre-election matters, adding that it is absurd for a court of coordinate jurisdiction to arrest an order made by another court. Whatever happens eventually, Ogah would not take the laws into his hands but would pursue his case to the logical conclusion through the courts, as he is not desperate to become governor. Enough is enough of mischievous propaganda.

––Onwumere, a public affairs analyst and media consultant, writes from Lagos.

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PERSPECTIVE

Tenure Policy and Future of Civil Service in Nigeria Tunji Olaopa

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ecently, the news about the tenure policy in the federal civil service silently burst into the public sphere, and rather silently seems to have fizzled out like most significant issues that concern the progress of the Nigerian state. I however consider the issue one of rather immense significance, especially to the reform and transformation of the civil service in Nigeria, and so deserving of protracted debate and discussion that affects policy about how the civil service can perform and hence fulfil its mandate as a cornerstone of national development in Nigeria. My concern with this issue is, of course, not far-fetched. I have been a civil servant all my life; and my brief revolved around the reform of the civil service system in a way that backstopped Nigeria’s burgeoning democratic governance. For me, therefore, what is at issue is not the appropriateness of removing or retaining the tenure policy, but rather situating it within the overall well-being and performance capacity of the civil service.

There are so many things that are wrong with the Nigerian state. And the civil service system is one of the focal point of the inability to transit into a developmental state with the capacity to empower its citizens in terms of a democratic service delivery that concretises democratic dividends. And the civil service system in Nigeria has been the focus of more than six decades of active reforms that targets almost every dimension of its operational modalities, from wages to staffing. Yet, these reforms have had ambivalent effect on the progress of the system. Let us cite one cogent instance. By the time the massive purge of the civil service by the Murtala/Obasanjo regime was completed in 1975, the system had been so eroded that civil service professionalism was effectively compromised, and the critical performance that would capacitate the system was effectively lost. It was therefore most appropriate that the Phillips Report, which undergirded the Civil Service Reform of 1988, would essentially be concerned with restoring and enhancing professionalism and performance. Unfortunately, this Report politicised rather than professionalised the civil service elite corp. The wastage which ensued from this politicisation was the result of making permanent secretaries political appointees who mark time on a position for as long as the lifetime of the government which appointed them, and effectively ensured the erosion of cooperation and motivation.

When the tenure policy was established under the Yar’Adua government, one positive purpose it served was as a check against systemic demotivation to career progression officers who have always been in the Federal Service. No one civil servant would have the opportunity of sitting at the helms of affair in a ministry until s/he attained to managerial level through rigorous pipelining and tested career progression. The reversal of this policy simply demonstrates the subtle and not-sosubtle ways in which politics oftentimes trump policy and reform in Nigeria. I doubt if anyone would be able to seriously fault its significance as a plank in any effort to take the civil service, and especially its senior level cadre, to the next level in terms of productivity and performance.

Let us put the discourse in a new light. The tenure policy is not a stand-alone administrative policy; it does not exist or cease to exist for its own sake. On the contrary, its effectiveness or lack of it, in global administrative best practices, it tied to its specific function in the performance record of the civil service. All across the globe, from USA and the UK to the Netherlands and France, the tenure policy issue goes beyond the career progression of the civil servants; it has often been tied to the urgency of achieving a result-oriented civil service that is lean, economical, effective and efficient.

Countries which have confronted the tenure issue have done so, therefore, within the context of a larger smart practice which performance management imperative actualized through the deployment of numerous human resources

toolkits like flexible employment policies and performance accountability systems that draw any civil service into the service mandate of producing tangible results.

When Nigeria lost the golden opportunity presented by the Udoji Report of 1974, the Nigerian civil service system has been in a race against time to constitute the civil service into a policy implementation hub that efficiently delivers development outcomes through the effective circumvention of the policy execution trap which choke visions, development plans and policy outcomes. Since 1974, in other words, the civil service system has failed to achieve a shift from a system which manages input processes to one which supervises output outcomes. Mr. Oronsaye cannot be blamed for his valiant effort at laying the foundation of the tenure policy. The real issue is why successive heads of services have failed to deepen the administrative implications of that policy as a performance game changer which not only tenure civil servants but ask for price of the tenure in terms of accountability for results and outcomes within the context of rigorous and continuous annual assessment metrics. With the politicisation of the issue, and its eventual reversal, it becomes clear that we have on our hand a case of the system protecting its own top management in a manner that precludes accountability and results.

The tenure policy must be placed within the larger issue of cost of governance and the overbloatedness of the civil service in Nigeria. The reality in the civil service today is not only the existence of many deadwoods and ghost workers who shoot up the overheads of the service. This reality is complicated by the fact that government pay through its nose for the outsourced services of policy consultants and analysts. There is also the obscene surplus of special/personal assistants and special advisers as well as the frameworks of overreliance on technical assistance from development agencies. All these have become the unfortunate dynamics by which the civil service cope with its own deficiencies, compromised by skills deficits, nepotism, lack of any re-professionalisation programmes that bring the civil servants up to date on current administrative skills, and wrongheaded industrial actions.

The civil service in Nigeria has a tough choice to make between remaining a lumbering bureaucratic contraption that circumvents Nigeria’s democratic governance and a lean, efficient and professional system girded around by values and procedures that compel performance and results.

This is the dilemma that the adoption or reversal of the tenure policy places on us. While the objec-

that it may well be true that some persons do not actually know Hadiza Bala Usman beyond her role as the co-convener of the Bring-Back-Our-Girls (BBOG) Campaign that she and few other persons commenced in 2014 after nearly 300 girls were abducted from their secondary school in Chibok, Borno state.

The BBOG Campaign forced the Goodluck Jonathan government to act expeditiously to rescue all the girls alive. The very tenacious Hadiza and other members of the BBOG, fearlessly and relentlessly called out the government to act and their campaign helped to draw global attention to the plight of the hapless Chibok schoolgirls. Although the 276 abducted girls have not been rescued, the story might have been different if the Jonathan administration had acted fast and decisively.

Long before the BringBackOurGirls campaign commenced in 2014, Hadiza at a relatively young age had begun living indelible marks in the sands of time.

Groomed very early in life to speak truth to power and to take responsibility for her actions by her equally indefatigable father, the famous Historian, Dr. Yusuf Bala Usman, Hadiza has never missed an opportunity to make a mark. I had my first close interaction with Hadiza in 2001 at the Abuja Head Office of the Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE) whilst she worked as an aide to my very close friend and associate, Mallam Nasir el Rufai, the current Governor of Kaduna State. At the BPE, Hadiza, though fresh from the University was generally viewed as way older than her age. She was bold and courageous in her handling of huge projects at a time the BPE was at the peak of the disposal of federal government’s interests in hundreds of firms and enterprises. Under el Rufai, she and several other young Nigerians cut their teeth in the management of very complex projects. She and a number of her

colleagues while at the BPE benefitted from several management courses both within the country and abroad. It did not come to several of us as a surprise when el Rufai absorbed several of these well-groomed aides into the Federal Capital Territory Administration structure when he became the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory in 2003.

It is an open secret that el Rufai inherited an FCT administration that was steeped in uncommon corruption and land racketeering that had culminated in the total distortion of the Abuja master plan. Defying huge odds, el Rufai and his team of young and well-groomed aides commenced the arduous task of restoring the dignity, beauty and original master plan of Nigeria’s federal capital. They generally succeeded.

At the FCT, Hadiza was feared. Being the special assistant to the no-nonsense el Rufai on project implementation was never going to be a tea party but she was clearly tailor-made for the job. She never bent the rules for even the closest friends and political associates of her boss. I had the privilege of being a fringe political adviser to el Rufai while he served as FCT minister and I was always of the impression that Hadiza was rather too strict and I dare confess here that I had on more than one occasion advised el Rufai to prevail on her to be a bit ‘politically correct’ without breaking the rules. el Rufai typically would not have that and would always insist that anyone who was not prepared to meet the strict project implementation guidelines of the FCT administration should not seek to have anything to do with the administration. In fact, on several occasions, I heard him telling her: “don’t bend the rules even for me.”

Hadiza is a good student. She has, over the years been well tutored by some of the nation’s best brains particularly her dear father, the highly revered Bala

Winifred Ekanem Oyo-Ita, Head of Service

tive of the civil service, according to the National Strategy for Public Service Reform (NSPSR) is fast moving, intelligent, professional, information-rich, flexible, adaptable and entrepreneurial world class civil service that is performance-focused, accountable and capable of creating the policy climate that will instigate a new productivity paradigm in the national economy, there are obviously many options that could take Nigeria to this objective.

One of these numerous options is the concept of the Senior Executive Service (SES). This refers to a small, professional, non-political career civil service that would not only enjoy career protection, but would also enjoy a compensation package that serves as adequate incentive, especially in the face of private sector recruitment.

But the task of the SES goes beyond being retained in the public service. Specifically, it constitutes the nucleus of reflective innovation, leadership core and skills repository of the civil service. It is around the SES that the reform of the civil service can be achieved. Those recruited into this top echelon will be distinguished by a different pay package which is inevitably tied to a performance contract scheme. Thus, the SES is more about administrative leadership, performance outcomes and accountability than about security of tenure. More significantly, the SES option ensures that the civil service system is constantly kept in check within the purview of the administrative requirements of the knowledge society and its reform imperatives. The Senior Executive Service becomes critical in its mandate to increase the intelligence quotient of the civil service at the strategic, tactical and operational levels.

According to the French ecclesiastic, Cardinal de Retz, “Nothing indicates the soundness of a man’s judgment so much as knowing how to choose between two disadvantages.” The present administration is faced with the weight of public opinions on the rightness of removing the tenure policy or not. The way out, I submit, is to insert the retention of the tenure policy within a larger framework that not only allows the civil service to press its top management into performance management, but also gives the civil service system a firmer footing within the comprehensive change agenda of the government. Tenure by itself makes no sense except within the context of how it facilitates the performance of the system.

Or fails to do so.

––Dr. Tunji Olaopa is Executive Vice Chairman, Ibadan School of Government and Public Policy (ISGPP) [tolaopa2003@gmail. com; tolaopa2003@yahoo.com; tolaopa@ isgpp.com.ng]

A Glimpse into Hadiza Bala Usman’s World Uba Sani

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et me confess that at the Government House, Kaduna, we all received the news of the appointment of Hadiza Bala-Usman as the new Managing Director of the Nigerian PortsAuthority (NPA), with mixed feelings. It is an appointment roundly deserved. But the Kaduna State Government House without the gallant Hadiza seems unthinkable, at least for now as she is one of our finest. Following her appointment, slightly over a year ago, by Governor Nasir el Rufa’i as his Chief of Staff, Hadiza speedily become the bulwark and the engine room of sorts of the ever-busy Kaduna State Government House. However, moments after digesting the news of her appointment, it downed on me, once again, that our great nation is truly at the cusps of change – positive change, that is.

In placing the young but extremely energetic and innovative Hadiza Bala Usman at the helm of the Nigerian Ports Authority, President Muhammadu Buhari underscored the direction of the new Nigeria: a nation where mediocrity will no longer find space; a nation where the energy of young, educated, talented, patriotic and incorruptible citizens will be harnessed to re-work a country that was totally ran down by successive uncaring and insensitive governments.

I will not dignify the few critics of the appointment of Hadiza as the Chief Executive Officer of the NPA with a reply. It is not necessary. The Hadiza Bala Usman that I have known and worked closely with for almost two decades, has shown serially that she is more than able to defend herself and even other unduly oppressed persons at all times. But I concede

Usman and the phenomenal el Rufai.

It is absolutely important that I mention here that Hadiza brought her training, discipline, dexterity, tenacity and sheer ruggedness to bear on the Campaign Office of President Muhammadu Buhari, who was then the candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC). She was the Administrative Secretary of the Presidential Campaign Organization and worked very closely with the Director-General of the campaign, former Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi, who is now the minister of Transportation.

Hadiza’s administrative acumen helped the campaign office to achieve a seamless liaison with all other campaign and electioneering organs of the APC during the hard-fought 2015 presidential election. Party leaders have not stopped lauding the efforts of the APC Presidential Campaign Office.

Since the appointment of Hadiza as the Managing Director of the NPA, I have had series of discussions with el Rufai on this matter. Of course the Kaduna State governor, like a good father or teacher is extremely proud of her and he is also proud of the leadership recruitment prowess of President Buhari. It is the view of el Rufai that Hadiza’s appointment would help unlock the huge potentials in the nation’s maritime sector at a time the diversification of our economy has become compellingly inevitable.

But from our discussions, I gleaned very unmistakably that the governor might find it extremely difficult finding a suitable replacement for Hadiza at the Kaduna State Government House.

––Uba Sani is the Special Adviser, Political Matters to Governor Nasir El Rufai of Kaduna State.

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GAVEL TO GAVEL

Edited by Vincent Obia Email vincent.obia@thisdaylive.com

House of Representatives in session

House on Collision Course over Immunity Bill

The House of Representatives was recently embroiled in a rowdy session over a bill seeking to amend Section 308 of the 1999 Constitution to include presiding officers of the Senate, House of Representatives, and the Houses of Assembly. Damilola Oyedele reports

T

he first plenary of the lower chamber after resumption from the Sallah recess was marred by tension and rowdiness that stalled proceedings for about 25 minutes. The brouhaha was over a controversial immunity

bill.

Speaker of the House of Representatives Yakubu Dogara had at a recent interview in Lagos made efforts to justify immunity from civil or criminal proceedings for presiding officers of the National Assembly and state Houses of Assembly while in office. A bill to that effect is already before the Senate, and it has resulted in controversy due to the on-going trial of Senate President Bukola Saraki and Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu.

Contentious Trial Saraki is facing trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal following allegations of false declaration of assets. He has also been charged to court, alongside Ekweremadu, for allegedly forging the senate rules to pave way for their emergence as presiding officers.

Several Nigerians have, however, argued that the two trials are part of a political vendetta for emerging principal officer against the wish of the ruling party, the All Progressives Congress. Perhaps, worried by these cases, which many of them consider a distraction to the legislature, the legislators are canvassing the inclusion of the legislative arm of government in the immunity clause.

The bill seeking an alteration to Section 308 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, provides for immunity for the Senate President, Deputy Senate President, Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, as well as presiding officers of the Houses of Assembly.

Rowdy Session During the consideration of the immunity bill in the lower chamber, the Minority Leader,

Hon. Leo Ogor, in his lead debate, hinged his argument in support of the bill on the need to establish the independence of the legislative arm of government. He added that immunity would protect the presiding officers from unnecessary distraction.

Ogor made reference to the travails of Saraki and Ekweremadu, adding that if both men have to appear in court on the same day, proceedings at the Senate may have to be suspended.

His argument was supported by Hon. Ossai Nicholas Ossai, who noted that the current constitution was a produced by the military governments and, therefore, only took the interest of the executive into account.

“It behoves on us, National Assembly members, to protect the institution,” Ossai said “When you protect the legislature, you protect the people, and it is the people who mandated the executive to implement laws.”

The Majority Leader, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila however, held a contrary view. He opposed the amendment on the grounds that the timing was faulty for the same reason Ogor cited: Saraki and Ekwemadu’s trial.

Gbajabiamila maintained that the wrong timing of the bill was a serious blemish capable of conveying a dangerous impression to Nigerians about the legislature. This is given the situation in the Senate, where the senate president and his deputy are being tried for criminal offences.

“We are here to legislate at the behest of the people. We must feel the pulse of the people we represent,” Gbajabiamila stated. He added, “We don’t want to send the wrong message or signal. Yes, there are issues concerning the Senate, there is no way we can convince the people that we are not doing this because of the Senate.”

Gbajabiamila also argued that there was no country where the head of the legislature enjoyed immunity while in office.

As Dogara made to rule, to refer the bill to the

Special Ad hoc Committee on Constitutional Amendment, since it was a matter of constitution alteration, several lawmakers began to voice their opposition without prompting.

They insisted that the bill be killed at plenary and not referred to the committee.

Hon. Aliyu Madaki, speaking into the microphone while the rowdiness continued, said it was a matter of integrity for the lawmakers.

Proceedings were stalled, as lawmakers left their seats to confer with others, while some stood in clusters holding intense arguments.

The lawmakers ignored the Deputy Chief Whip, Hon. Pally Iriase’s repeated call for order.

However, overruling the protests, Dogara cited the Order 8, Rule 98, sub rule 3 of the House Rules, which states that such bills (on constitution alteration) “shall be committed to the Special Committee on Constitution Amendment, upon second reading.”

Already, there are calls that the immunity being enjoyed by the executive should be removed. So how can we start to say we want immunity for our presiding officers?

What argument would you present to convince Nigerians

He thereafter made the reference to the committee, eliciting applause from pro-immunity lawmakers.

More Anti-immunity Arguments Surprisingly, many of the Speaker’s allies were also chanting “No Immunity” at the session. Chairman of the Committee on Appropriation, Hon. Jibrin Abdulmumim, said there was no justification for the demand for immunity for presiding officers of the legislature.

Abdulmumim had during the rowdy session displayed a makeshift placard, which read “No Immunity”. He later told THISDAY, “In my five years here, I have realised that what we actually need as a legislature to be independent is not immunity, but introspect.”

Other allies of the Speaker who spoke with THISDAY off record expressed their opposition to the amendment to the immunity clause.

“Already, there are calls that the immunity being enjoyed by the executive should be removed. So how can we start to say we want immunity for our presiding officers?

What argument would you present to convince Nigerians that we are doing this in the interest of Nigerians, and not for Saraki?” a lawmaker asked.

Caution Just like the bid to amend the CCB Act, and vest the powers to oversight it in the National Assembly, rather than the presidency, the current move to amend the immunity clause is one that would always be dogged by suspicion. It would be faulted very step of the way.

Many believe to proceed with the amendment to the immunity clause at this time would surely tend to strengthen the widespread view that the legislators are a group of people out to serve their personal interests. And this may have an adverse effect on the Saraki and Ekweremadu case, and erode whatever public sympathy they may have.

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R • JULY 17, 2016

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GAVEL TO GAVEL/INTERVIEW

Dickson: Ranching Will Eliminate Conflict between Farmers and Herdsmen Hon. Tarkighir Dickson represents Makurdi/Guma federal constituency of Benue State in the House of Representatives. He is sponsor of the Bill on Ranching, which has passed through first reading. In this interview with Damilola Oyedele, Dickson discusses his motivation for proposing the bill and other national issues. Excerpts

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HISDAY recently rated your state governor, Dr. Samuel Ortom, low, saying he needs to go back to the drawing board. Do you agree with the rating?

It was not realistic and I don’t know how the paper got the assessment. But I am not sure the person who did that analysis came to Benue State at all, or saw what is happening on ground. For starters, in handling the problem of insecurity, he introduced and prosecuted an amnesty programme, which led to the recovery of over 600 arms, light weapons, and thousands of ammunition. Seven hundred youths embraced the programme. He has also sustained efforts to promote peace between farmers and herdsmen. This is necessary because you cannot develop a state without peace and security in place.

Infrastructure wise, the state raised N7.6 billion for the construction and rehabilitation of 700 primary schools in the 23 local government areas, approved geophysical survey and drilling of 100 boreholes in some of the schools, and plans have been concluded to supply the 700 schools with furniture. In the last one year, the governor commenced payment of salaries of Benue State University Technical School staff, after five years of non-payment of salaries, and he has completed the retraining of 10,000 primary school teachers and 6, 000 secondary school teachers.

The government has secured the accreditation of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria for relevant programmes in the state university, and there is on-going rehabilitation of the School of Nursing and Midwifery as well as the College of Health Technology, Agasha, for re-accreditation. The government has also released N80 million out of the N114 million required for the completion of the Cancer Screening Centre in Markurdi.

Benue State under Governor Ortom has made history as the first state in Nigeria to meet the requirements for accessing the 2015 Round of MDG/SGD conditional grants in the country.

The state obtained a N10 billion facility and has embarked on completion of 11 abandoned road projects, and awarded two new ones. The governor also ensured the release of N300 million for the completion of the new House of Assembly Complex.

Cost-saving measures have been introduced through trimming of the number of commissioners from 17 to 13, and advisers from 28 to 20, and the reduction of local and international travel.

I could go on and on, but the fact remains that the assessment of the governor by THISDAY is incorrect.

There has been a ranching versus grazing discourse in the polity lately, which was the background to the bill on ranching that you sponsored. What are some of your motivations for proposing the bill?

I am a victim of herdsmen attack in Benue State. As far back as 2014 herdsmen invaded my community and burnt down my house, killed a whole lot of my folks in the village. In the same year, herdsmen rendered the residents of about six local government areas in Benue State refugees, and two of my local government areas, Makurdi and Goma, were affected. The attacks were heavy; in fact, it was a huge crisis then under President Jonathan. Later troops were deployed to these areas. So I have tasted a very bitter pill in the hands of herdsmen. My house is still destroyed because anytime I think of fixing it, herdsmen attack a community very close to mine. Also, just a few weeks ago, my mother went to the farm and was uprooting cassava, when some herdsmen came into the farmland and the cattle started eating the cassava she had uprooted. She called me and I told her to leave the cassava and go home. When she returned the next day, the herdsmen had also uprooted her cassava and fed their cattle with it. That is the problem we are facing in Benue State. Farmers do not have access to their farmlands and this government is talking about diversification into agriculture.

Something needs to be done.

Have you had a first-hand experience of how ranching is done in societies where it is common?

When I came into the House of Representatives in 2015, I decided that my main focus, which was the thrust of my campaign, was to sponsor a bill on ranching, as is done in other climes. I travelled to two countries – Bulgaria and Brazil – where they have good ranching systems, on my own account, before the inauguration of the House, to get first-hand information on their regulations and the kind of facilities they provide for cattle rearers.

Incidentally, in Brazil, cattle rearing is in the North, in the Para region, but the amazon forest goes right through that. Individuals acquire lands and provide their facilities for ranches. Brazil is one of the biggest beef exporters in the world and their foreign exchange earnings on beef are huge. It contributes so much to their GDP. So I have had a first-hand experience in what they do in terms of ranching and it’s the same thing in Bulgaria.

Cattle rearing is a private business, just like the person who is farming rice, and so government has no business at all providing land for somebody who is doing a private business. Which is why

way to go.

In any case, the Igbo are into building shopping complexes, there is no way the federal government can go and take lands in Sokoto State and give it to an Igbo man to build a shopping complex to do his business. The same way the people who raise pigs, who are into livestock business, who are into poultry; government cannot go and take land in Kano and Zamfara and give it to people who are doing these simply because they are doing an economic activity.

And I must add that the destruction that is going on in the North Central region, particularly, Benue, Taraba, and Nasarawa states is huge. Those who are causing the crisis should be punished and be regarded as criminals and economic saboteurs, just like the Niger Delta Avengers, because they are committing the same crime. Government should not regard them as herdsmen or as some special people, as they are destroying the Nigerian economy, they are denying farmers access to their land.

What is your take on the invasion of communities by herdsmen, especially, as it relates to the spate of insecurity in the country?

Dickson

in my bill, I suggested that a department on ranches should be created under the Ministry ofAgriculture with a director to sanction the sale or lease of land to those who are willing to raise cattle.

Cattle rearing is a huge business, but the way it is done in Nigeria, they do not even make the kind of money that beef exporters make in advanced countries. It is not just about the beef, there is cheese and milk.

What can be done to make cattle breeding more profitable in Nigeria?

The money potential in milk is more than beef, because a single cattle can produce up to 40 gallons of milk a day, but the breed here can barely produce five gallons daily. So our suggestion is that there should be a moratorium on when the species here can be changed or there should be cross-breeding. Government can intervene so that we get a better breed of cattle in Nigeria and there would be huge benefits. The multiplier effect of people creating ranches is that there will be people who would sell hay, which is the grass cattle feed on. There would be employment generation.

These will stop the farmers/herdsmen clashes, as a cattle rearer has to approach a community to buy land. He would create his ranch and settle in the community peacefully without conflict with the farmers.

That is the difference between a ranching bill and a grazing bill.

The proponents of grazing suggest that government can come into a state or in a community and appropriate land and create a grazing reserve for people who are doing a private business.

Don’t you think government can assist with funding for the setting up of ranches?

If it is the issue of funding, government can do the same thing they are doing for those who are cultivating rice, by creating incentives through the Central Bank of Nigeria where those who want to rear cattle have access to loans, even free interest loans.

Secondly, the administration of land is domiciled in the hands of state governments. So to pass a grazing bill, which would give the federal government right to appropriate land, there would be a need to amend the constitution.

What would you say about the grazing laws that have existed since independence?

The proponents of grazing talk about the law on grazing reserves, which was in effect in the 1960s. The population of this country then was 36 million and now we are close to 200 million. While the population is growing, the land is not growing. So there is no way you can suggest that government is going to retrieve the lands that were appropriated or the grazing reserves that we created at that time. For instance, Abuja was a grazing reserve, a grazing route, how do you recover Abuja? Ahmadu Bello University was a grazing route, it is a university right now, there is no way you can take away that and create a grazing reserve for anybody.

We should think like advanced societies and ranching is the best

The herdsmen crisis is causing a lot of security issues and I am very disappointed at the response of the federal government to this issue, and I will provide reasons. The federal government has provided security by deploying troops to Zamfara, Katsina and Kano to protect cattle from rustlers, but the same government has refused to provide security in the areas where farmers are under constant attack by cattle herders. Human beings are being killed, cattle are being protected. What do you expect an average farmer to do? He is going to arm himself, so in the end we have arms everywhere in the society. There is proliferation of arms in the society and that is what is causing this insecurity.

When people have guns they can use it for anything – robbery, kidnapping and all sorts of things. So what government needs to do is to ensure that it nips the issue of herdsmen in the bud, because people are arming themselves to defend their communities. If government does not protect you, what do you do? Do you run away from your ancestral home and abandon your property for herders? No way, you are going to defend yourself and how do you defend yourself? You procure arms. In the end, we have a whole lot of arms – small, light or huge arms – in communities.

What would some of the youths in those communities who are unemployed but holding those arms do? Some would go into crime, which is what is happening.

So government needs to look at the issue of insecurity holistically.

Herders constitute one of the biggest threats, even more than Boko Haram because they travel with cattle and arms. They arrive communities, armed, and then they attack those communities.

There has been no time where herdsmen in this country have been so emboldened to threaten communities like under this administration, and that is quite sad.

The rate of insecurity is closely linked to rising unemployment, which is indicative of the state of the economy, and a stark contradiction of the change promised by your party, All Progressives Congress. Do you think there is still a basis for hope regarding the promised change?

Yes, there is hope; the APC government inherited a very terrible economy. Oil prices went down and for the past 16 years that the PDPwas in power, oil sold above $100 per barrel. But when we came in, oil went down to $27 per barrel and oil is the mainstay of our revenue in this country. Government is trying to diversify to other sectors, like agriculture, mining, and industry, but diversification takes time. It is going to take time for somebody to set up a factory, for instance, to start production and start creating employment.

Nigerians need to be very patient with this government.

The government is fighting corruption, it is doing quite well in that angle and we are hoping that with the level and zeal with which the federal government is fighting corruption, things will stabilise.

But there is a growing feeling that the anticorruption war of the federal government is basically targeted at opposition elements.

I do not agree with that; if you are pursuing a thief you are looking at who stole, who stole what you are looking for. Now in the last 16 years the PDP has basically been the custodian of the Nigerian economy, the resources and all that. When you look at the people that are being chased around in terms of corruption, you look at the people who were in the PDP, who were in the government that just left. The APC people are just coming in.

I know you are trying to tell me that there are some members of the APC who were in the last government. Of course, the EFCC boss said he is sparing nobody. In fact, you can see that on the issue of corruption, the APC members are being probed, including our own Senate President, the chairman of the National Assembly, who is before the CCB and a court of law on the case of corruption. That is the number three person in government.

It does not get higher than that. So I don’t think that the PDP people should cry wolf.

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R • JULY 17,2016

SUNDAYSPORTS

Edited by Demola Ojo Email demola.ojo@thisdaylive.com

Kante Completes Switch from Leicester to Chelsea

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helsea have signed N’Golo Kante from Leicester City on a five-year deal reported to be worth around £30 million, both clubs have announced. Kante, 25, becomes Chelsea’s second signing of the summer following the arrival of Michy Batshuayi from Marseille and arrives at Stamford Bridge just 12 months after joining Leicester from Caen.

Chelsea saw off reported competition from Juventus, Arsenal and Shanghai SIPG to make Kante second signing of the summer transfer window, after the acquisition of Belgium international striker Michy Batshuayi for a fee of £33m at the start of JulyKante established a reputation as one of the most coveted midfielders in Europe after playing a key role in Leicester’s stunning Premier League title triumph last season, and breaking into Didier Deschamps’ France squad for Euro 2016 in the process.

“I am so happy to have signed for one of the biggest clubs in Europe. It’s a dream come true for me,” Kante told the official site.”The opportunity to work with Antonio Conte, a brilliant coach, and some of the best players in the world was simply too good to turn down.

“My first season in English football was very

special and now I hope to go on to achieve even more during my time as a Chelsea player.

I am looking forward to meeting up with my new teammates and helping the club achieve a lot of success.” Conte prioritised the signing of a high-energy midfielder this summer, and Chelsea stepped up their interest in Kante after their pursuit of Radja Nainggolan was ended by the Belgian’s reluctance to leave Roma.

The France international is unlikely to be the Blues’ final signing of the summer, with Antonio Conte saying during the week that he is hoping to sign “one, two or three players.”

The Italian said: “We are talking with the club and we know that this team needs to reinforce.

I am sure that in the coming days we can reach our target to reinforce the team, to go closer to the other teams.

“In the coming days we can buy one, two or three players, I don’t know. But players who can reinforce us for the season. It will be very tough.”

Kante was a revelation during his maiden season in the Premier League as his energetic, combative performances in the middle of the park were key to Leicester’s surprise title success.

He was named on the six-man shortlist for the PFA Players’ Player of the Year award won by Foxes teammate Riyad Mahrez.

Former Leicester player Kante (right) has switched sides to joine Eden Hazard at Chelsea

NPFL: Enugu Rangers go Three Points Clear Enugu Rangers have gone three points clear at the top of the Nigeria Professional Foootball League (NPFL) standings after they recorded a 3-2 victory over Akwa United in Uyo, yesterday.

Harrison Ibukun’s own goal in the third

minute put the Flying Antelopes in front as the defender failed to communicate effectively with goalkeeper, Kayode Olufemi. Akwa United had several chances to get back on level terms in the first half but profligacy and uncompromising

goalkeeping by Nana Bonsu kept the Promise Keepers at bay.

The home side had a great chance to get back on level terms in the 26th minute when Fortune Omoniwari fired in a free kick from 25 odd yards.

Rangers goalkeeper, Nana Bonsu parried the effort towards the path of Cyril Olisema who somehow found a way to fire the rebound over the bar from three yards out.

Akwa United eventually got due reward for consistent pressure on the stroke of half time after Fortune Omoniwari’s fearsome header off a Friday Ubong cross left Bonsu with no chance.

Mohammed Ali: A Sharp Mind in a Quick Body Prof. Herbert Orji

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t is my pleasure to be among practitioners of the Sweet Science, as Bert Sugar, the foremost American boxing historian named and wrote about boxing. Here, I will discuss the ultimate combination in boxing and other sports: A Sound Mind in a Quick Body.

I started boxing in 1962 at age 10½ years, my first year in secondary school, then called college. My main attraction was Cassius Marcellus Clay, who eventually achieved global boxing and socio-political fame as Mohammed Ali, ruling the heavy weight Boxing world for two decades. He was one of the first Boxing Champions in the 60s & 70s to obtain a high school diploma (WAEC equivalent) before turning professional. He is a good example of a Sound Mind in a Quick Body.

I participated in championship 440 yards; 120 yards high hurdles, Discus and High Jump while Ali taking particular interest in boxing and soccer (goal-keeping) at Ngwa High School, Aba. The both of our faces, lips and ear lobes. There were Principal and Games Master will cut your events no mouth-guards and head gears in those days but and training time, if your academic performance we fought smartly with a lot of youthful exuberdeclined significantly for two consecutive terms. ance. I retained the championship, crossing over The lesson is simple. That is, the primary objective from lightweight to welterweight in 1966 (in class of sports is to produce men and women with five) and 1967 (in lower sixth) at Government Colleges Owerri. sharp minds and quick bodies.

With determination, three of our top boxers In 1965 in Enugu, capital of former Eastern Nigeria, I reached the finals of the Steve Jaffra passed the Cambridge School Certificate in grade Cup Boxing Competition in the Welter weight one, including yours truly, while the other five top class, having defeated eight boxers who repre- boxers passed in grade two. There were no grade sented schools including Government Colleges threes, no referrals and no failures. One of us, Col Umuahia, Owerri, Afigbo; Holy Ghost College, Emeka Okai, became a military governor after Owerri, Stella Maris College P.H, Hope Weddle serving the Nigerian Army as a field engineering Institute Calabar, DMGS Onitsha, Holy Family commander for many years. He was a first class CollegeAbak, CIC Enugu and C.K.C Onitsha over graduate engineer and a champion boxer, a good four months of Competition organised by Jerry example of a sound mind in a quick body.

Every sport, be it softball, baseball, track & Enyeazu, Director of Sports in Eastern Nigeria.

My opponent was in upper 6th and I was in field, throws and puts, soccer, rugby, swimming, class four; two years his junior in class and four marathon and decathlon all require a sharp mind years junior in age, He looked stronger with better in a quick body to excel.

You must therefore, be prepared to train your formed muscles and had more experience.

To cut a long story short, I won each of the mind and body. In boxing, the critical areas of three rounds/no knock downs, no head butts general training are similar to those of other sports. and no bleeding of any type but swellings on These include training for endurance, stamina,

Orji

strength, speed and the psychological ability to conquer and eliminate irrational fear of defeat or injury. As a full contact sport, there are some additional specific expert tips for training. These include proper stance, proper breathing, skipping of rope, staying fit with regular exercise and eating right with little or no alcohol and avoiding excessive sexual activity.

Mohammed Ali blamed his 1959 loss in the Golden Gloves Amateur Championship Boxing Finals in Chicago to such an act two days before his bout. He never made that mistake ever again!

Trent Singleton, a top heavyweight boxer is a University graduate. Many boxing champions passed their high school diploma either in regular schools or in the armed forces, like Ken Norton in the U.S Marines, and George Forman in the U.S Job Corps. Nearer home, Hogan Kid Bassey, first Nigerian World Champion in the Featherweight class and Dick Tiger, the second Nigerian World Champion in the middleweight class all completed their WABC equivalency certificates in New York City.

I met Dick Tiger in action during the civil war and he was a Major in the Training Command.

He spoke, led and gave his training command as if he was a University graduate. Hogan Bassey became the national boxing coach and produced very remarkable results nationwide. These are good examples of sound minds in quick bodies.

I watched a CNN interview of the General Overseer of the RCCG, Pastor Enoch Adeboye.

I always knew that he was an accomplished mathematician (a sharp mind) and a good boxer (a quick body). He typifies one of the best and brightest in that category. If we dig deeper, more names like Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, U.S President Theodore Roosevelt and Max Schemelling, the multi-millionaire German industrialist who in his youngest days fought two very historical bouts with the Brown Bomber, Joe Louis, the longest reigning heavy weight boxing champion ever.

Schemelling went on to become the Coca-Cola franchisee in Germany, built an industrial empire and become Joe Louis’ closest friend until Joe Louis died in his early seventies and Max died in his early eighties. These were strong and brilliant people; high achievers of no mean streak. Sugar Ray Robinson and Sugar Ray Leonard fit into this category also, The Sweet Science, boxing, is perhaps the only well-regulated full contact sport that makes a young boy grow up quickly and become his own defensive expert. This is why it is popular in institutions like the Armed Forces, Police, YMCA, Boys Clubs, some Girls Clubs and many community centres. In each case, the sharp mind in a quick body always prevails.

To be a recipient of the pre-eminent programme tenable only in Oxford University, Rhodes Scholar/ Rhodes Scholarship you must be a very mind in a very quick body. Thank you for your attention.

– Prof. Orji OFR, Chairman, National Broadcasting Commission, former Welter Weight Champion, All Eastern Nigeria Colleges (1965), Global Investment Banker, and Award-winning author wrote this paper from Cula, Los Angeles California and presented it at the Boxing-Sports Conference in the RCCG Sports Centre, Lagos, recently

Sunday July 17, 2016

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MISSILE

Lagos Senators to Melaye

“We dissociate ourselves from the comments and behaviour of Senator Dino Melaye (APC, Kogi West) at the executive session of July 12, 2016, as we represent people known for finer character and nobler culture of social interaction.”

– Senators Solomon Adeola (APC, Lagos West) and Senator Bariu Ashafa (APC, Lagos East) chiding Senator Dino Melaye (APC, Kogi West) over Melaye’s conduct and outbursts during a row with Senator Oluremi Tinubu at an executive session of the Senate.

SIMONKOLAWOLE SIMONKOLAWOLELIVE!

simon.kolawole@thisdaylive.com, sms: 0805 500 1961

Taxation without Tears...

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ou must have seen the pictures before.

Heavily armed policemen — showing off their latest AK47s — surround the premises of a company, as if they just spotted Abubakar Shekau in the building. Actually, the police officers, in full combat regalia, are only providing security for tax enforcement officials to seal off the company’s premises. The excited tax officials put up an extraordinary show in front of TV cameras. The police officers, in bullet-proof vests, with guns corked, bravely position themselves in case of a bomb attack by the offending company. After the invasion, our gallant national heroes march on to launch another ground assault on another defaulting company.

Wait a minute. Why should tax collection be like fighting a civil war? Let me guess why. The authorities think if you don’t use heavy artillery, many Nigerian companies will not pay tax. Some deduct VAT, WHT and personal income tax and criminally fail to remit to government. Many habitually fail to pay company income tax, thereby depriving the government of valuable revenue.

This is disgusting. Hence the resort to firearms by tax authorities. No doubt, tax is the livewire of many governments. Benjamin Franklin, one of the founding fathers of America, famously said: “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.”

At the 8th Wole Soyinka Media Lectures Series organised by the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) in Lagos on Wednesday, July 13, taxation was the topic of discussion. The theme was: “Tax education, national development and the seminal role of the media”. After the keynote by Mrs Adebimpe Balogun, the first-ever female president of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN), there was an outpour of frustration and anger at the tax authorities by participants. The biggest issues that I went home with had to do with tax administration and public accountability. I saw raw rage. I saw bitterness.

Complaints about the attitude of tax officials topped the chart. If you voluntarily walk into a tax office to register, the officials will stare at you as if you are on the wanted list of Interpol.

They interrogate you in such a condescending manner, like you are at a police station. Tax officials these days think they are omnipotent.

Contempt is in their genetic code. You read instructions on their websites but when you get to the tax stations, the officials tell you something else. Dissonance. Getting credit notes for WHT is like prospecting for oil in the Chad Basin.

These were some of the complaints I heard, and there were quite a lot.

Interestingly, although I write a lot about nation building, conflict and development, my real academic interest in the field of development studies is “fiscal sociology” — that is, how the fiscal relationship between a state and its citizens impacts the quality of governance. The broad theory is that a state that depends principally on the taxes paid by its citizens tends to be more accountable, responsive and democratic than a state that relies extensively on natural resource rents and aid. In Nigeria, oil typically accounts for 80-90 per cent of forex earnings and 60-70 per cent of public revenues. Petroleum profit tax is one of the biggest contributors to tax revenue.

Fowler Inevitably, the government is more likely to devote its love and affection to the crude cash cow. Oil boom naturally shifts government’s focus to the easy way out: the big taxpayers and the ones they can grab at source — from the civil servants and contractors. It takes too much effort to chase small businesses and individuals.

This means most citizens are out of the tax net, leading to a tacit “devil’s deal”: do whatever you like, just don’t ask how we are spending the money. In comes the rentier state, largely independent of the citizens. The results? Lack of accountability, intense competition for power, armed conflicts, skewed resource allocation and, ultimately, underdevelopment.

However, falling oil revenue means Nigeria is now shifting focus to direct taxation. Government is hammering on tax like never before. But the tax drive is, as it is typical of us in Nigeria, fraught with a lot of missteps. Nigerians are already under extreme economic turbulence, so this is a bad time to introduce new taxes (like the Benue ozone layer tax) or resort to highhandedness in tax administration. In advanced societies, most of them tax states, the key focus is how to encourage voluntary compliance, not how to use grenades and newspaper pages to terrorise defaulters. Enforcement is costly: excessive use of force tends to drive businesses underground.

I’m quite happy that Mr. Tunde Fowler is breathing new life into the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) by strengthening its human and technical capacities of the service, and I would suggest that focus should be more on promoting voluntary compliance

The most efficient form of tax administration is built on “consensual taxation”. Historically, tax states in Europe were built around “I pay my tax, you provide service” — in that order. There was negotiation and stakeholder engagement.

You make the rules and the processes simple and understandable. And dynamic. You make compliance as convenient as it can be. You make tax refunds and credits easily redeemable. You make good use of technology to reduce the incentives for extortion. You create respected processes for arbitration in case of disputes. And there must be better ways of tackling default — like the courts and tribunals, not AK47s.

Historically, what we have always had in Nigeria is “coercive taxation” — the use of sledge hammer to extract taxes from the citizens.

We inherited this tradition from the colonial masters. It created tension between the state and the society. And several generations after, people remain rebellious and defensive when it comes to paying taxes. The average citizen sees tax collectors as roaring lions looking for whom to devour. The councils are particularly notorious for hiring hemp smokers, dressing them up in reflective jackets and empowering them to molest okada operators and petty traders in the name of collecting levies. The result is a resentful and bitter citizenry.

Meanwhile, I hear people ask, angrily: “Why should I pay tax? What do I benefit from the government? The roads are bad, there is no electricity and I provide my own water, so why should I pay tax?” The basic answer is that you have to pay tax because that is the law. As to why you should pay when you are not enjoying service, maybe the chicken should come before the egg. When you pay your tax, there will be money to provide amenities. I hear you say: “They will only loot the tax. What have they been doing with our oil money?” Now, that is the point: we should pay our tax and then stand the moral ground to demand accountability.

If taxes from citizens provide the bulk of government revenue and the taxpayer feels the “pain”, there is a natural incentive to begin to demand for accountability and good governance.

It won’t happen automatically: taxpayers still need to be enlightened and mobilised to demand accountability, perhaps by the civil society and the media. More so, government knows it has to work for the prosperity of its citizens so that more tax revenue will flow. We won’t have to beg government to provide infrastructure, because without roads, electricity, water and hospitals, productivity will be low and tax revenue will not improve.

I conclude. I’m quite happy that Mr. Tunde Fowler is breathing new life into the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS). He has been strengthening its human and technical capacities.

Going forward, I would suggest that tax administrators across the country should focus more on promoting voluntary compliance. We need to simplify the tax codes, streamline tax regimes, reduce tax rates and expand the tax base, sensitise and incentivise tax payers, make examples of tax evaders and justify taxation.

Let people believe that they don’t have to pay their taxes with bitter tears drawing lines on their cheeks. Also, it makes life easier for tax collectors and taxpayers.

And Four Other Things...

WOMEN WINNING So, Theresa May is the new UK prime minister. If the US elects Hillary Clinton as president, three of the world’s five biggest economies would be led by women — the third being German Chancellor Angela Merkel. What a glorious landmark that would be. This should be a further push for Nigerian women, who have not been considered good enough to be elected governor, much less senate president, vicepresident or president. In fact, only Plateau state has ever had a female deputy governor in northern Nigeria. We can progress by giving women increased roles as ministers and heads of agencies. Change.

SENSELESS SLAUGHTER On Saturday, July 9, Mrs. Eunice Mojisola Olawale, a deaconess of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, was gruesomely slaughtered by suspected religious fanatics in Kubwa, FCT. I know that the next thing we would be told is that her husband committed “blasphemy” — that nebulous accusation that turns the mobster into accuser, prosecutor, jury and executioner, all within one minute. I think the federal government has, for ages, failed to send enough signals that jungle justice is absolutely unacceptable. You would normally think that FCT is a neutral-enough ground for Nigerians of all persuasion to feel safe and secure. Horrifying.

KACHIKWU’S CALL Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, the minister of state for petroleum resources, has been relieved of the burden of doubling as the NNPC group managing director. In all probability, the new GMD, Dr. Maikanti Baru, will report directly to the minister of petroleum resources. Who’s that? President Muhammadu Buhari himself. But Kachikwu should not despair. He can turn lemon to lemonade by doing everything possible to see to the total economic and structural reform of the oil industry. He possesses persuasive powers, and his articulation is superb, meaning he can use his skills to the maximum by pursuing a policy revolution.

Legacy.

TROLLING TALK In my July 3 article, I proposed a decent debate on national issues, lamenting the increasingly worrisome quality of comments on social media and websites. Not surprisingly, I got calls and messages from many Nigerians who said I was speaking their minds. They are really, really worried about the merchants of hate and mischief polluting the internet. However, I don’t think anyone should be discouraged by the trolling. Those who enjoy posting lowlevel, inflammatory and abusive comments should continue. Those who have intelligent things to say should also continue.

With time, the wheat will be separated from the chaff. Differentiation.

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