Sunday 2nd April 2017

Meningitis Death Toll Rises to 328 in 16 States, 90 LGAs FG sets up isolation centres, issues medical advisory 2,524 cases recorded so far 5 neighbouring countries affected

Senator Iroegbu and Kuni Tyessi, in Abuja

The Federal Government yesterday said that 328 persons had died from the outbreak of Cerebrospinal

Meningitis (CSM) that has affected 16 states and 90 Local Government Areas (LGAs).

The affected states are Zamfara, Katsina, Sokoto, Kebbi, Niger, Nassarawa, Jigawa, FCT, Gombe, Taraba

, Yobe, Kano, Osun, Cross Rivers, Lagos and Plateau.

Government also said about five neighbouring countries within the Meningitis belt – Niger, Chad, Cameroun, Togo, and Burkina

Faso - were facing similar outbreaks at the moment.

A statement signed by the Director Media and Public Relations, Ministry of Health, Mrs. Boade Akinola, noted that to contain and effectively

tackle the outbreak, functional Isolation centers/units had been identified in all states and efforts were on to strengthen them.

The ministry puts the total number of people affected

across the 16 states at 2,524 with the majority of about 131 samples confirmed in the laboratory to be Neisseria Meningitides type C. Continued on page 6

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Bamaiyi: How NADECO Leaders Betrayed Abiola Omololu Ogunmade in Abuja Former Chief of Army Staff, Gen. Ishaya Bamaiyi, has alleged that the betrayal of the acclaimed winner of

June 12, 1993 presidential election, Chief MKO Abiola, by members of the defunct National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) resulted in his continuous detention and

eventual death.

Bamaiyi, in his 243-page autobiography titled: ‘Vindication of a General’ launched last Thursday in Abuja, said the advice of

NADECO to Abiola that he should not accept his conditional release was the reason he was kept in detention indefinitely by the former dictator, General Sani

Abacha, until he passed on.

Bamaiyi, who was Chief of Army Staff between March 1996 and May 1999, and one of the powerful men in that regime until he fell out of

favour with the late dictator, so accused NADECO leaders of pushing the late Abiola to declare himself as president in Continued on page 6

PDPCaucusAccusesTinubu,EFCC of Conspiracy to Destroy Senate Olawale Olaleye The Senate caucus of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has accused one of the national leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, of working in cahoots with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to destroy the senate by impugning the integrity of members of the upper chamber of the National Assembly.

The PDP Senate caucus, which has indicated its readiness for a showdown with Tinubu, also alleged that the former governor of Lagos State was behind the series of media attacks against members of the caucus.

This was part of the outcome of their meeting in Abuja, convened by the leadership of the PDP caucus last weekend to review what they regarded as "onslaught” by the EFCC against members of the group.

At the meeting, members of the caucus were said to have come to a conclusion that the anti-corruption agency was acting in concert with Tinubu,

who they alleged was bent on destroying some key elements in the National Assembly in order to clear the way for his 2019 ambition.

The former governor had recently said he would not rule out his presidential bid should President Muhammadu Buhari decide not to run.

A source at the caucus meeting said the senators noted the "constant bashing and campaign of calumny" launched against the Senate by a prominent national daily and a frontline television station, believed to be owned by the former governor, as an example of the on-going underground war being waged against the Senate as an institution.

The senators at the meeting were also said to have cited the attack on the Senate leadership and other members in recent time by the same media outfits as examples of how, "it is obvious that Tinubu just wanted to destroy us."

Continued on page 6

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L-R: MD/CEO, Sterling Bank Plc, Yemi Adeola; Kwara State Governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed, and Business Executive, South West, Sterling Bank Plc, Ademola Adeyemi, during a courtesy visit by Sterling Bank's management to the governor in Ilorin ....recently

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T H I S DAY, T H E S U N DAY N E W S PA P E R • APRIL 2, 2017

PAGE SIX MENINGITIS DEATH TOLL RISES TO 328 IN 16 STATES, 90 LGAS Meningitis, an inflammation (swelling) of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord known as the meninges, is usually caused by an infection of the fluid surrounding the brain and spinal cord. It is usually caused by bacteria or viruses, but could also be a result of injury, cancer, or certain drugs. Knowing the specific cause is however important because the treatment differs depending on the cause.

While assuring that government was taking appropriate measures to address the situation, Akinola noted that "although this is not the first time or the worst epidemic ever faced

by Nigeria, this round of the epidemic has come with a difference, as all previous epidemics were caused

by Neisseria Meningitides type ‘A’ but this year we are recording Neisseria Meningitides type C in epidemic proportion for the first time."

According to the health ministry, the current outbreak started in Zamfara State on November 2016.

The ministry spokesperson said: "Nigeria is currently experiencing an outbreak of Cerebrospinal Meningitis (CSM) that has spread across the country and mostly affecting states in the upper parts of the country which fall

within the African Meningitis Belt. Other Countries that are facing similar outbreaks at the moment include our West-African Neighbours like Niger, Chad, Cameroun, Togo, and Burkina Faso. The larger African Meningitis Belt consists of 26 Countries that stretch from Senegal, Gambia and Guinea Bissau in the west coast to eastern countries of Eritrea and Ethiopia "Historically, the worst CSM epidemics experienced in Nigeria occurred in 1996 when about 109,580 cases and 11,717 deaths were recorded, followed by the one in 2003 (4,130 cases and 401 deaths) then in 2008 (9,086 cases and 562 deaths) and in 2009, when 9086 cases and 562 deaths were recorded."

"These historical records and past experiences influenced Health Authorities in Africa (especially countries within the African Meningitis Belt), the World health Organization and Many Development Partners to roll out a strategic intervention for the effective prevention of such epidemics. This gave birth the mass vaccination campaign using a new conjugate vaccine the MenAfriVac-A in about 16 out of the 26 Vulnerable countries (including Nigeria).

It resulted in a reduction of over 94% incidence of the disease in most countries, thus significantly reducing

the risk of type A. "Some key lessons learnt from the MenAfriVac-A mass vaccination campaign and the recent happenings across the sub-region, are that, although type A was successfully displaced, other strains which were hitherto less significant can actually assume epidemic proportions.

Thus efforts must continue towards preventing a rebound of the type-A and also preventing a potential replacement by all other strains."

Akinola listed other actions taken so far, especially in response coordination noting that CSM outbreak control team had been constituted to coordinate all responses aimed at controlling the outbreak with membership from FMOH, NCDC, NPHCDA, WHO and other partners (MSF, UNICEF, CDC and EHealth Africa) She said that coordination meetings were being held regularly and all initial five states had commenced Emergency Operation Center EOC/EPR meetings and mapping of resources at state level to identify ongoing activities.

Listing other measures, she said there had also been Case Management and Infection Prevention & Control (IPC).

“Antibiotics and management supplies available and being used as per protocol

in all states for treatment; number of cases currently on admission or treated since the onset of the outbreak are being collated across LGAs and states; and micro plan concluded in Zamfara for possible vaccination in week 14.”

In addition, she said surveillance with active case searches in the affected LGAs and register review were ongoing, including outbreak/ rumour investigations, and clinician sensitization and training proposed in selected areas. She also listed some CSM guidelines including laboratory protocol under review.

Akinola said that the ministry had embarked on communication and social mobilization through community health education as part of state team responses with support from UNICEF, while most states (especially Katsina and Zamfara) are doing radio jingles with support from UNICEF, while IEC materials were being developed by NCDC, NPHCDA and UNICEF. As a prevention mechanism, Akinola urged members of the public to avoid overcrowding, sleep in well ventilated places, avoid close and prolonged contact with a case, proper disposal of respiratory and throat secretions, strict observance

of hand hygiene and sneezing into elbow joint/sleeves.

The members of the public were also advised to reduce handshake, kissing, sharing utensils or medical interventions such as mouth resuscitation, and vaccination with relevant sero-type of the meningococcal vaccine and elf-medication should be avoided Akinola called for early diagnosis, treatment and isolation, saying that it’s "very important that all individuals should acquaint themselves with at least the basic knowledge/ understanding of CSM and how it is transmitted and prevented; strictly adhere to the advice of Health workers on how to protect oneself as enumerated above; and prompt seeking for medical/health care as soon as CSM or CSM-Like Illness is suspected".

"All Hospitals to ensure that appropriate Diagnoses are made including laboratory confirmation and immediate reporting through the surveillance system; commence early treatment as soon as the diagnoses of CSM is made; restrict mingling with other people once one is diagnosed as a case of CSM; and all Secondary and Tertiary Public Health Facilities should provide free treatment to all CSM Patients," she

stated.

Calling on the general public to remain calm as Meningitis is both preventable and curable, she noted that even though the cumulative number of people and locations affected may continue to increase, the actual rate of increase had begun to decline in some states indicating that the end of the epidemic is in sight.

Akinola further stated that all public sector hospitals (secondary and tertiary hospitals) had been directed to provide free treatment for all cases of Cerebrospinal Meningitis.

She commended national and international development partners (multilateral and bilateral) who supported the ministry in accessing the relevant CSM vaccines which had already been deployed to Zamfara, Sokoto, Katsina and FCT. "We are equally reassured that more doses are expected and all necessary documentation for the new vaccines arrivals have been concluded," she stated.

She also assured that the Federal Ministry of Health would continue to provide regular feedback to the general public on the necessary steps to take, urging people to "remain calm and continue to abide by the health advisory being issued periodically".

$10m was said to have found its way into the military already. A member observed that, of recent, money had been changing hands in the military...

"The member then alluded to the recent deployment of troops of the 223 Tk Bn in Zuru by COAS in which the CO, Maj. Dogara was made to arrest and humiliate the NDLEA Chairman, MajorGeneral MM Bamaiyi, on an issue that had no bearing on national or military security.

The fact that the troops were called out by COAS without the knowledge of the GOC was considered worrisome to a member who felt the action should be weighed against recent developments

affecting COAS Vis-a-Vis national security.

"At the end of the meeting, it was recommended that a joint PRC/Council of States meeting be held to include all military ministers at which the issue of the consensus adoption of the (Commander-in-Chief) C in C was to be tabled. I was to be spokesperson to the press to get me committed.

Interestingly, the meeting was chaired by Idi Musa, a close friend of mine. I never had anything to do with NADECO. I only read about them in newspapers and knew some of them only by name.

"The question of having anything to do with the

US Embassy was most embarrassing....The Abacha project was unknown to me. I believe it was an invention of the writers. They wrote that the Abacha Project was said to be a US-sponsored plot with a budget of $50m which they claimed was passed through me to the military.

"I believe these people deceived Abacha till he died.

To the best of my knowledge, there was never anything between the Nigerian Army and the United States of America to destabilise the Abacha government. The officers who attended this meeting must have been Abacha's greatest enemies and made Abacha ineffective toward his end."

BAMAIYI: HOW NADECO LEADERS BETRAYED ABIOLA 1994 without being committed to such move.

Bamaiyi’s claim is however at variance with historical facts which show that NADECO leaders staked their lives for the actualisation of Abiola's June 12 mandate, resulting in the deaths of some of them including Chief Alfred Rewane, who was murdered in cold blood. Chief Abraham Adesanya, escaped assassin’s bullets by the whiskers while a host of others went on exile.

In his book, Bamaiyi claimed that the NADECO leaders only impelled Abiola to declare himself as president but failed to accompany him to the declaration ground, an indication of their insincere support for the late politician.

He also claimed that even in death, NADECO leaders still betrayed Abiola.

"A lot has been said about late Chief Abiola's arrest and efforts toward his release. The fact remains that NADECO members paid only lip service to Abiola's release after deceiving him into declaring himself President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. If they were sincere and actually supported him, they would have accompanied him to where he declared himself President.

"It is also obvious that Abiola was abandoned after his death, which some people suspected that it had the support of some NADECO members. After Abiola's death, one would have expected some reactions at least from Lagos, but there was no reaction anywhere," he claimed.

The former army chief also claimed that following

the failure of NADECO to lead the way for the release of Abiola, he (Bamaiyi) and former President of Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Pascal Bafyau, along with Chief of Defence Intelligence (CDI), General Ibrahim Gumel, met and resolved to make case for Abiola's release.

"There are some Nigerians who made efforts to get Abiola released. After Abiola's arrest, the late General Ibrahim Gumel - then the Chief of Defence Intelligence (CDI), the late Mr. Pascal Bafyau - then the President of NLC and I met at Headquaters Lagos Garrison Command on Kofo Abayomi Street. We discussed the implications of Abiola's arrest.

"After reviewing the situation, we decided to meet Gen. Abacha. Gumel and I went to Gen. Abacha and pleaded for Abiola's release. We convinced Abacha that Abiola was not going to be a threat and could be handled. Abacha agreed to release Abiola with some conditions.

"We conveyed Abacha's agreement to release Abiola to Bafyau who briefed some NADECO members on Abacha's readiness to release Abiola with some conditions. These NADECO members advised Abiola not to accept release with conditions and kept him in detention. Initially, Abiola accepted the conditional release and a judge was brought to Abuja to perfect it. The release documents were ready and Abiola was to go and sign them but some NADECO members advised

him against doing so, and he remained in detention until Abacha's death," Bamaiyi said.

The retired general also addressed allegations that the United States budgeted $50 million for "Abacha Project" with the intention to destabilise Nigeria.

Whereas the $50 million was said to have passed through Bamaiyi, he denied knowledge of the plot, saying it was an allegation cooked up by some enemies of the late Abacha.

According excerpts from the book, Bamaiyi claimed: "The Abacha project (AP) was said to be a US-sponsored plot with a budget of US$50m meant to destabilise Nigeria.

Of this amount, the sum of

PDP CAUCUS ACCUSES TINUBU, EFCC OF CONSPIRACY TO DESTROY SENATE The source said the caucus also noted “the savage” attack on Sen. Peter Nwaboshi, because he moved a motion on the refusal of the executive to respect Senate resolutions, and drew a parallel between the recent travail of Sen. Dino Melaye and some of their other colleagues."

While Nwaboshi was recently reported to have been under the investigation of the EFCC over contract allegedly awarded to him in his home State, Delta, Melaye was accused of not being a Geography graduate of Ahmadu Bello University, though he has now been exonerated by a Senate panel. Also recently, there were reports of a leaked EFCC letter to the President linking the Senate President to alleged diversion of London-Paris

Club refund.

The PDP caucus meeting, THISDAY learnt, also reviewed a statement credited to the Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akiolu, believed to be a close ally of Tinubu, who recently at a meeting in Lagos allegedly threatened that the "Senators will see hell in the coming weeks as fresh attacks will be launched against their integrity".

It is therefore the belief of the PDP Senators that supporters of the former governor are behind the planned protest against the Senate.

The protest being orchestrated by certain groups in Abuja and Lagos is scheduled to hold on Wednesday.

"We will expose them.

They were not happy that

Senators supported President Muhammadu Buhari, when he was away. They thought we will help them bring down the government because of their ambition.

"Now they are deploying the EFCC and their media against us. Ibrahim Magu is a creation of Tinubu and Oba Akiolu. They want to use him to protect themselves while also using him and the antigraft agency as attack dogs against people, who are not in their camp.

"That is why when EFCC received petitions against the head of a federal revenue generation agency into whose personal account some money due to government was paid, the anti-graft agency refused to act. The head of the agency concerned had held similar position he is holding now in

Lagos. It was the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related Offences Commission (ICPC) that is eventually pursuing the case now,” the PDP caucus member said.

Other revelations at the meeting include the allegation that the chief of staff of the acting EFCC boss was nominated by a popular lawyer who they described as the former governor’s alter ego and effectively the arrow-head of the Tinubu legal group.

Another source at the meeting hinted THISDAY that the lawmakers were bent on going public with their allegations soon and openly fight back by confronting the APC chieftain. PDP senators have equally fixed another meeting for next Tuesday, the source added.

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SUNDAY COMMENT

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

A VOTE FOR ELECTRONIC VOTING

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The endorsement of electronic voting by the Senate is good for our democracy

ollowing a successful consideration of the report of its committee on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) matters, the Senate has amended the Electoral Act of 2010 to legalise the use of card readers for authenticating the identity of voters in subsequent elections. By the same token, this legislation paves the way for the introduction of electronic voting and also empowers INEC to transmit election results electronically from polling stations to collation centres.

In many ways, this is a landmark development as the legislation recognises a long standing public clamour for an electoral system that would reduce and in fact eliminate the endless Nigeria cannot afford to disputations that usually lag behind in adopting e-voting, especially when follow elections in Nigeria. As we many of our citizens have seen over the have lost confidence years, a democin the extant electoral racy in which electoral voting method because outcomes have neither credibility nor integrity of its susceptibility to can only degenerate manipulation. Without into the anarchy of any doubt, a reliable swaggering victors and e-voting system will insurgent vanquished. help eliminate disputes The Nigerian exover electoral fraud and perience with democthereby obviate the need racy has for long been for long-drawn litigations marred by a fraudulent electoral system. Ballot stuffing, manipulation of results, snatching of ballot boxes and compromise of election officials to falsify results had more or less become the norm. Consequently, there is little public confidence in the integrity of our elections and the results they produce. Arguably, these tainted elections have, in most cases, ended up enthroning candidates other than those chosen by the electorate.

More embarrassingly, the crisis of confidence and lack of trust in the Nigerian electoral system has virtually transferred the onus of determining outcomes to the judiciary rather than the voters. Endless post election litigations and protracted court processes, appeals and conflicting judgments on election-related matters have infected the judiciary with the massive corruption that has become part of the brand identity of Nigerian politics.

Letters to the Editor

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These indeterminacies have remained because of the manual nature of voter identification, balloting and result collation in our electoral system.

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S U N DAY N E W S PA P E R EDITOR TOKUNBO ADEDOJA DEPUTY EDITORS VINCENT OBIA, OLAWALE OLALEYE 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, IJEOMA NWOGWUGWU GROUP FINANCE DIRECTOR OLUFEMI ABOROWA DIVISIONAL DIRECTORS PETER IWEGBU, FIDELIS ELEMA, ANTHONY OGEDENGBE DEPUTY DIVISIONAL DIRECTOR OJOGUN VICTOR DANBOYI SNR. ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR ERIC OJEH ASSOCIATE DIRECTORS HENRY NWACHOKOR, SAHEED ADEYEMO CONTROLLERS ABIMBOLA TAIWO, UCHENNA DIBIAGWU, NDUKA MOSERI GENERAL MANAGER PATRICK EIMIUHI GROUP HEAD FEMI TOLUFASHE ART DIRECTOR OCHI OGBUAKU II DIRECTOR, PRINTING PRODUCTION CHUKS ONWUDINJO TO SEND EMAIL: first name.surname@thisdaylive.com

he precedent of the electoral system of various advanced democracies shows clearly that credible elections are made possible by the adoption of the best technologies. Yet by remaining with the manual electoral system, Nigeria is not being faithful to its rush for modernisation in other spheres of life. In a country whose banking system is easily one of the most technologically savvy in the world, it is anachronistic that the electoral system that empowers the ruling class should remain mired in antiquity.

Given our sad experiences since independence with the existing method of voting, this newspaper has for long advocated the need to experiment with e-voting. We are of course not oblivious of some possible problems it could encounter. The unreliable public power supply is one major hindrance.

Training the needed manpower is another. And we recognise the fact of illiteracy.

However, we believe that Nigeria cannot afford to lag behind in adopting e-voting, especially when many of our citizens have lost confidence in the extant electoral voting method because of its susceptibility to manipulation. Without any doubt, a reliable e-voting system will help eliminate disputes over electoral fraud and thereby obviate the need for long-drawn litigations.

In the context of these considerations, the Senate deserves commendation for the amendment to the 2010 Electoral Act. We urge the House of Representatives to speed up their own amendment process so that it can be sent to President Muhammadu Buhari for assent. The challenge would then be for INEC to open itself up to the best technologies and allow enough time to test run the devices it may decide to use.

However, the choice of an appropriate technology for voter authentication, balloting and result collation and transmission is a national security issue. Decisions about its acquisition and deployment should therefore be subjected to the most rigorous due process in order to ascertain what is best for the nation and its citizens. In adopting any of the available technological options in the market, INEC must publicly show where such devices have worked in existing democracies. With e-voting, the genuine votes of the electorate will not only be counted under a transparent process, they would also begin to count.

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.

WANTED: CHIEF IMAM FOR NATIONAL MOSQUE, ABUJA

he delay from controversies over the appointment of a Chief Imam for the National Mosque, Abuja has become a matter of concern to the Muslim Ummah. It is evident that the politics which has marred the selection process has nothing to do with Islam. In Islam, there is no vacuum in leadership. It is over two years that the Chief Imam of the Mosque, Ustaz Musa Muhammad died, aged 68.

Since then, it is very worrisome that the leadership of the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) in consultation with the Muslim elite in Nigeria has been unable to appoint a Chief Imam to replace him. How much more of time is required to fill this very sensitive position for the benefit of the Muslim Ummah of Nigeria? However, it is discouraging that Muslims have been at loggerhead over the

selection basically on personal interests, whims and caprices.

The National Mosque even before the demise of Ustaz Muhammad, who was the pioneer Chief Imam, had three deputies who conscientiously appointed to strike a balance. They are all PhD holders, appointed in July 2012 after thorough screening.

They are Dr. Sheikh Ibrahim Ahmad Maqari, Sheikh Ahmad Onilewura and Dr. Muhammad Adam Muhammad. The three have been leading the Friday prayers in turn for such a long time that the need for the appointment of one of them is ripe.

However, it was Sheikh Maqari who led the first Jum’at service after the death of the Chief Imam.

He also conducted the wedding of the daughter of President Muhammad Buhari, Zahra.

Sheikh Muhammad, from Jos, capital of Plateau State, had spent over 30 years as the Chief Imam

having been appointed in 1985 when the Mosque was ready for use. The then President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari described him as an inspirational leader who preached love among men and women and fought hard to diminish cleavages and divisive tendencies in Nigeria. “I am proud to remember a great son of Nigeria. May Allah repose his soul and grant his family and the nation the fortitude to bear his loss,” Buhari said.

Since 2015, there had been reports that a new Chief Imam would be appointed. There was a time the news flickered that an Imam has been appointed which the Secretary General of NSCIA, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede denied, saying that the three deputy Imams would be acting on rotational basis till when the Abuja National Mosque management committee headed by Etsu Nupe, Alhaji Yahaya Ibrahim, would meet and

make recommendations to the NSCIA before a new and substantive one would be appointed. It is believed that politics has taken over the process. It is quite possible that the Sultan of Sokoto and President-General of the NSCIA, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar had received the report from the Abuja National Mosque management committee.

It is worrisome why the controversies have persisted while the method of choosing an Imam or leader in Islam is stated in the Qur’an, clearly exemplified by noble Prophet Muhammad (SAW) and adhered to by the companions and the guided salaf. The Imam can be chosen by consensus (ijma’), by consultation and the exchange of views among the prominent members of the Muslim community or by the Imam nominating his own successor as it happened in the case of Umar who was appointed by Abu Bakr without

any objection being raised by the Muslims.

In Fiqh as-Sunnah volume 2, page 56, the one who should be Imam is the one who is the most versed in the Qur’an. If two or more people are equal in this regard, then it is the one who has the most knowledge of the sunnah. If they are equal in that, then it is the one who performed the migration first. If they are equal in that, then it should be the eldest.

The Imam must possess all the qualities required of a believing Muslim. Apart from the moral and physical requirements, the Imam must be the most knowledgeable, most wise, most courageous, most generous, and most God-fearing. Having a PhD is not the issue. The three deputy Imams should undergo series of screenings to get one Chief Imam for the Nigerian Muslim Ummah.

Muhammad Ajah, Abuja

T H I S D AY SUNDAY APRIL 2, 2017

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SUNDAYNEWS

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

NNPC Moves to Avert Petrol Tanker Drivers’ Strike

• Baru meets union leaders in peace move Ejiofor Alike

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has intervened to avert the strike action being planned by the Petroleum Tankers Drivers (PTD) section of the Nigerian Union of Petroleum

and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG).

AttheendofitsCentralWorking Committee(CWC)meetingheld attheunion’ssecretariatinLagos onFriday,PTDhadissuedanotice to commence strike on Monday, April 3.

NUPENG’snationalPresident, Mr. Igwe Achese, who released the communiqué, said the strike would draw the attention of the federal government and other stakeholderstosomeunresolved issuesborderingonthewelfareof workers, such as bad roads, poor

remuneration,insecurityandthe allegedexcessesofsomesecurity agencies.

ButtheGroupGeneralManager inchargeofGroupPublicAffairs Division of the NNPC, Mr. Ndu Ughamadu told THISDAY yesterdaythattheGroupManaging Director of the corporation, Dr. Maikanti Baru had engaged the

BUZZING FORUM L-R: Ace comedian and Globacom brand Ambassador, Bovi; President, Faculty of Law, UNILAG, Supreme Unukegwo; Glo Ambassador, Olamide;

Head, Marketing and Globacom’s Regional Director, Marketing Communications (W/A), Mr. Charles Jenarius, and Zonal Business Coordinator (Lagos), Mr. Adebola Omoboya, at the Lagos edition of the #Stay Buzzin party organised by Globacom at House of Haze, Lagos...weekend

To Sustain Liquidity, CBN Set for More Forex Injection into Market Kunle Aderinokun Indications emerged yesterday that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) would inject additional foreign exchange into the market with a view to ensuring liquidity in the interbank market. This latest effort is coming on the heels of further increase in the sale of dollars to the bureaux de change (BDC) operators from $8,000 to $10,000 per week. The expected fund injection is coming as the forex market awaits a lower exchange rate, which will be advised latest Monday morning.

The CBN’s anticipated action seems to have calmed the earlier apprehension over the ability of themonetaryauthoritytosustain the intervention.

The acting Director, Corporate Communications of the CBN, Mr. Isaac Okorafor, while confirming the intention of the apex bank to inject additional forex into the system yesterday, saidtheCBNwasdeterminedto sustain the provision of liquidity in the foreign exchange market in order to enhance accessibility and affordability for genuine end-users.

The CBN had on Friday disclosed that it had received reports that some customers seeking to buy forex for business travel allowance (BTA), personal travel allowance (PTA), medical and school fees were being frustrated by some banks with the false claim that the CBN was not allocating enough forex for such invisible items.

Upon the hint that the CBN dropped that a lower exchange rate would be advised latest Monday morning, a uthoritative sources at the apex bank haveindicatedthatthebankwas

consideringatleastaN5reduction for PTA/BTA and medical and school fees at both the bank and BDC segments.

Also,theCBNhadissuedstern warning to deposit money bank compellingthemthatitwasonly the prerogative of the customer to decide the mode of payment, either as dollar cash or card.

Thebank furtherwarnedthatit preferredthemodeofdispensing PTA/BTAthroughcashpayment andhasthreatenedtoimposestiff sanctionnotonlyonthebankbut also the CEO that failed to obey this directive.

Fresh Communal Clash in Osun Injures 10, Market Destroyed Yinka Kolawole in Osogbo and Mohammed Aminu in Sokoto Less than three weeks after a communal clash that claimed many lives and destroyed buildings numbering about 30 in Ile-Ife, Osun State, a fresh communal clash, again broke out Thursday in Ife North Local Government Area of the state, with no fewer than ten persons injured and a popular market, Akinola, razed.

This, however, came at a time a former Governor of Sokoto State, Alhaji Attahiru Bafarawa donated the sum of N10 million totheHausacommunityaffected intheMarch8Ile-Ifecrisisaspart of supports to ameliorate their losses.

But the fresh clash which was betweenthepeopleofIpetumodu and Asipa in Ife north area of the state, was said to have started on Wednesday evening, shortly after a misunderstanding that

broke out in the aftermath of an inter-house sports football competition in Community High School, Ipetumodu, not far away from Asipa.

The melee, THISDAY learnt, involved youths from both communities. It was further gatheredthatsomeunidentified youths also came and set ablaze the popular Akinola Market in Asipa, a development that escalated the crisis between the two communities.

The establishment of the Akinola Market on a disputed portionofland,itwillberecalled, had sparked off crisis last year in the area.

Several gun shots, it was gathered,werefiredintotheairinthe heat of the clash, thus heightening tension in the area. Though somepolicemenhavesincebeen drafted to the area to maintain law and order, nevertheless, no fewer than ten people sustained injuries of different degrees.

leadershipoftheuniontoavertthe impending crisis.

Ughamadudisclosedthatwith Baru’s personal intervention, the issueswouldberesolvedamicably.

“We are engaging them. Few days ago, the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Dr. Maikanti Baruwasintouchwiththeleadershipoftheunion.Hopefully,with hisintervention,itwillberesolved,” Ughamadu explained.

InitialeffortstoreachAcheseand theSouthWestZonalChairmanof NUPENG,AlhajiTokunboKorodo toconfirmthedevelopmentwere abortive as their mobile phones were switched off.

Intheircommuniqué,NUPENG said:“TheCWC-in-Sessionconsiders inhumane, the refusal of the NationalAssociationofTransport Owners(NARTO)tocommence negotiationwiththeunionforthe renewaloftheexpiredCollective BargainingAgreement(CBA)on the working conditions of our Tanker Driver members in the PTDbranch,afterseveralappeals and even an ultimatum”.

“TheCWC-in-Session,therefore, resolvestogivefullbackingtoany industrial action the members in thissectormightdecidetotakewith effectfromMonday,April3,2017.

Toavertthepainsanddiscomfort theactionmightcause,theCWCin-Session calls on the Federal Governmenttourgentlyintervene and apprehend the unfortunate situation,toenableNARTOmeet its obligations to tanker drivers,’’ the communique added.

Thecommuniquealsocalledon theNationalAssemblytourgently

pass the Petroleum Industry Bill, in order to tackle all the issues of corruptionplaguingtheoilsector.

It also called for the commercialisationoftheoperationsofthe NNPC,aswellastheturn-aroundmaintenancefortherefineries,to increaselocalproductionandreducetheimportationofpetroleum products.

Thecommuniquecommended the efforts of the federal government to encourage operators of illegal refineries to be integrated intotheestablishmentofmodular refineries.

Theunionalsovowedtoresist anyattempttoincreasethepump priceofpetrol.Italsocommended effortsofthegovernmenttoshore uptheNairaagainsttheDollarand thedeclineintheinflationaryrate to 17.5 per cent.

However, South West Zonal Chairman of NUPENG, Alhaji TokunboKorodotoldTHISDAY yesterday that he was not aware ofany“meaningfulreachout”by the NNPC to the union.

“Ihavenotreceivedanysignal from my superiors that there has been any meaningful reach out to us,” he said.

Korododisclosedthattheunion had mobilised tanker drivers for Monday’s action, stressing that allfueldepotswillbeshutdown.

“Wehavemobilisedourmembers because this thing has to do with their welfare,” he added.

He also stated that the union wants the federal government to interveneinthedisputebetween theNNPCandCapitalOilandGas Limited.

2 BornoVillagesClaimBokoHaram Attacks,AbductionofWomen,Children • Military denies claim •Wanted terrorist kingpin surrenders Michael Olugbode in Maiduguri, Paul Obi in Abuja, and Segun Awofadeji in Bauchi

Gunmen suspected to be members of the Boko Haram terrorist group laid siege to two villages in Borno State between Thursday and Friday and kidnapped many women, boys, and girls, eye witnesses and multiple local sources said at the weekend. The assailants were said to have caused massive destruction of property in the communities and taken 22 persons hostage at the boundary community of Pulka.

But the Nigerian Defence Headquartersdeniedthekidnap while responding to an enquiry byTHISDAY.DirectorofDefence Information,MajorGeneralJohn Enenche, told THISDAY, “The report has not been confirmed.”

Similarly,DirectorofArmyPublic Relations, Brig Gen Sani Usman, saidyesterday,“Theattentionofthe NigerianArmyhasbeendrawnto anewsstorycirculatingonsocial mediaandsomemainstreammedia that suspected Boko Haram terroristshaveallegedlyattacked Pulka and abducted 22 women.

“We wish state that the report iscompletelyfalseandshouldbe

ignored.Fortheavoidanceofdoubt, Pulkaanditsenvironsareheavily fortifiedandtherehasnotbeenany security breach in the area.”

In a related development, the Nigerian Army said yesterday that two suspected Boko Haram terroristsonsurveillancemissionat KaretoandDangaltivillageswere apprehended by troops of 158 Task Force Battalion of 5 Brigade, Nigerian Army about 10am on Tuesday. Usman, who disclosed this in a statement, also said one Bulama Kailani Mohammed Metele, the number 253 on the Nigerian Army’s Wanted Boko Haramterroristsposterproduced recently,hadsurrenderedhimself totroopsof145TaskForceBattalion, 5 Brigade, at Damasak.

Meanwhile, Boko Haram insurgents were alleged to have destroyedmorethan1,500schools intheNorth-eastsincethestartof theterroristcampaignin2009.They alsodeniedover400,000children access to education. The founding director, Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre,DrAbiolaAkiyodeAfolabi, disclosedthisyesterdayinBauchiat atownhallmeetingonthepromotion of security of schools.

T H I S D AY SUNDAY APRIL 2, 2017

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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 • APRIL 2, 2017

SUNDAYNEWS Folarin-Coker Now DG NTDC Demola Ojo

REWARDING SERVICE L-R: Olam Nigeria country head Mukul Mathur presenting an award to a staff member for 10 years of meritorious service to the company at the long service award ceremony, which took place in Lagos...recently

Herdsmen Kill 10 in C’River, 3,500 Now Homeless, Says Village Head • Police: Only one person killed

Bassey Inyang in Calabar

No fewer than ten people have been allegedly killed by Fulani herdsmen in Obio Usiere in Eniong Abatim, Odukpani Local Government Area of Cross River State.

The Village Head of Obio Usiere, Apostle Iya Effiong Orok, who raised the alarm yesterday said although it was initially reported that two members of the community were killed last week in an attack by the herdsmen, the community discovered that eight more persons were killed.

Orok said the two people earlier reported were just people whose bodies were recovered immediately as at the time of the first attack.

“We have lost nothing less than 10 people in this attack by Fulani herdsmen. They normally come during the dry season to feed their cattle in our area. The same incident occurred two years ago when two people were shot dead, now it’s 10 people” “As I speak with you, Obio Usiere has been deserted, our women are afraid to go their farms because they rape them

in the bush and no one can help them. These people are heavily armed and we are just helpless.

“We have reported to both Police, DSS and other security agencies and we are using this opportunity to call on Governor Ben Ayade to help us because about 3,500 people are now homeless, we have become refugees in our own land.

“It’s about a week this incident took place; it is true that some police men were sent here but the shortfall in logistics is a big challenge. We are afraid to go back to our ancestral home because we know what is happening

in Enugu, Delta, Benue and we don’t like shedding blood on our land, it is a taboo for an Efik man to take up arms,” Orok said.

However, the Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Irene Ugbo, who confirmed the attack, said only one person was killed. Ugbo said normalcy had long returned to the community as policemen have been drafted to the area.

“Our men are on ground 24 hours and we are not aware of any other killing, the rise in the death toll has not been reported to us as I speak with you, and we are not leaving the place,” Ugbo said.

Edevbie: Delta State Judiciously Utilised Paris-London Club Refund James Emejo in Abuja

Delta State Commissioner for Finance, Mr. David Edevbie yesterday said monies released to states by the Federal Government as part of the Paris Club refund had been judiciously utilised by the state government.

He also said he believed the rest of the money owed the states would be released when ongoing verification exercise is concluded.

Speaking when he appeared on Arise Television, a sister organisation to THISDAY Newspapers, he added that details of how the money was expended by the state could be found on the state’s website.

His explanation came against the backdrop of allegations that the $2 billion Paris Club refund which was recently approved by President Muhammadu Buhari and released to states to boost their fiscal positions had been diverted by the governors into their private pockets.

The Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) has denied the allegation but investigation has been launched. He said: “As far as Delta State is concerned, the monies we received have been judiciously spent and if you go

to our website you’ll see how we spent it to the last kobo.

“First of all, it’s our money, and so it’s like any normal FAAC receipt and that’s exactly how we imputed it. It goes on budgeted items and it’s on our website. I think it’s (alleged diversion by states) been investigated. Let’s await the outcome of the investigations. Nigerian Governors Forum has come out strongly and said no such thing happened.

Let’s wait and see.”

He also said there has been increased agitation by states for greater resource control in recent times.

Edevbie, however berated the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) for failing to review the sharing formula for over a decade despite being mandated by law to do.

He said: “I think once the reconciliation exercise is over, I think they’ll make the payment.

The question is, how would they do it? They’ve mentioned the fact that they’re considering floating some bonds and making the payment over five to ten years.

That would seem fair because they drew the money over a period of time but I think most governors want the money right

now.”

He said: “To be honest with you, this is an issue. It’s quite funny that there’s so many issues not being dealt with and we focus on things not just important.

For example, the constitution is very clear: there’s supposed to be a review of the revenue formula every ten years but the last time the formula was reviewed in this country was 1992 and actually it’s supposed to be reviewed every five years.

“And everyone is keeping quiet and what happens is that the federal government is taking about 58 per cent; the states 24 per cent and the local governments 20 per cent, for a formula that has been in place for over 35 years if not more and no one is saying any about it.”

Continuing, he said: “We have the revenue mobilisation, allocation and fiscal commission in place; I really wonder want they’re doing. Its mandate is to come out with new revenue formula and it hasn’t done that in decades.

On resource control, he said: “Certainly in the Niger Delta States, we’ve been agitating here, that’s obvious but I also think what happened more recently in the northern states, they also are

agitating.

“They realise they have a lot of minerals they control and within their borders and nothing is being done by the central government to extract those minerals from their borders.

“So they want more control but unfortunately the sort of system we run in the country at the moment which is very federal with everything centralised, there’s not enough incentive and in fact were not even protected by law to have accessed these revenue.”

Asked if he’s sure the states will get the remaining refund from the Federal government, he said: “We will get the money back. It was taken from the states during the period in question between 1995 and 2006, it actually goes back further.

“We are dealing with the first part of it which is actually $6.9 billion. And we’re asking for a refund and the gold thing about it is the Federal Government accepts that they did over deduct and that’s why I find it quite amusing when people refer to it as Paris Club Refund. That’s not correct. It’s actually a refund on foreign loans inclusive of the Paris Club: it covers a wide-range of loans.”

Barely twenty-four hours after being named Director-General of the National Film and Video Censors Board, the Federal Government yesterday moved and appointed Mr. Folorunsho Folarin-Coker as the new Director-General of the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC).

Folarin-Coker, a former Commissioner for Tourism and Culture, Lagos State, replaces Paul Adalikwu who was recently appointed NTDC DG in acting capacity.

Initially, he was named Director-General of the National Film and Video Censors Board as part of a wave of new appointments under the Ministry of Information and Culture.

However a statement issued by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the President, Femi Adesina revealed the new move.

The statement reads: “As part of new appointments approved for government agencies and parastatals by President Muhammadu Buhari on March

31, 2017, Mr. Folorunsho Coker is the new Director-General for Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC), while Mr. Adedayo Thomas is the Executive Director of the National Film and Video Censors Board, (NFVCB). This corrects the earlier announcement that Mr. Coker is of the National Film and Video Censors Board.”

The NTDC is an agency under the Ministry of Information and Culture and the apex tourism agency in Nigeria.

Established in 1992 with the promulgation of Decree 81, which is now an act of the National Assembly, the corporation is charged with marketing and promoting Nigeria’s tourism assets with a view to making Nigeria the foremost tourist destination in Africa. Part of its mandate is to make tourism a major pillar of the economy and help reduce dependence on oil as a source of foreign exchange earnings.

Folarin-Coker is renowned for spearheading a vibrant tourism drive in Lagos State under the One Lagos brand during his stint as Commissioner.

Oshodi Group Appoints Leader

The Banjoko Memorial Plaza Oshodi has appointed Prince Hyacinth Okolie as its new leader, after the second tenure of the past leader Mr. Abel Ezema, ended as stipulated by the constitution. A statement issued by the group said the administration of Ezema brought relative peace and structural development in the hub of Oshodi business axis, adding that the street urchins were diplomatically shown their limitations and boundaries regarding business operations. In his acceptance speech, the new chairman promised to move the association from the current position to an enviable height, adding that though there might be challenges, but the focus should be hinged on achieving the needed results.

The group in the statement also adjudged the election as peaceful and transparent noting that as the business melting pot in Oshodi, the plaza is positioned as a decision making unit to all business and owners of business in the environment.

TNCBC Prays for Peace

The New Covenant Baptist Church (TNCBC), Agege, a member of the Nigerian Baptist Convention, is inviting members of the public to its 2017 Crusade, tagged, ‘Peace Be Still’. The crusade commences at 4pm on Friday, April 7 until 10am on Sunday, April 9 at the Basketball Court opposite the church’s auditorium in Garden Close, Ijaiye, Housing Estate, near Pen Cinema, Agege, Lagos. The crusade will feature spiritual activities such as Praises, Free Medical Care for the Community, Deliverance, Healing and Salvation. The Pastor of the church, Rev Emmanuel Iyanda, said, “The crusade promises to cause a positive turn-around in the lives of many who are looking up to God for specific interventions.”

NBA Ikorodu Holds Law Week

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Ikorodu Branch has begun its Annual Law Week. This is usually a week set aside by the branches of the NBA in Nigeria to celebrate the Legal Profession. The Law Week commenced last Friday, April 30, with a press briefing addressed by the branch Chairman, Mr. Levi Adikwaone and other executives of the branch and a Jumat prayer. The Branch will hold the Asiwaju Babatunde Olusola Benson, SAN Annual Lecture tagged ‘Combating Corruption in a Recession: The Transformative Role of the Bar and the Bench today April 4, at the Ikorodu Town Hall by 10am. According to the branch Chairman, Adikwaone, the Vice Chancellor of Lagos State University, Prof. Olanrewaju Fagbohun, a professor of Law will do justice to the Lecture as the Guest Lecturer while retired Supreme Court Justice Adesola Oguntade will chair the occasion.

Sir Igboanugo for Burial April 27

Sir Joseph Ikechukwu Igboanugo will be laid to rest on April 27, at his country home in Umuike, Umuofa-Ezumeri Oraifite in Ekwusigu Local Government Area of Anambra State. According to a statement issued by the Igboanugo family, the event will kick off on Wednesday April 26, with service of songs at his compound in Umuike, Umuofia Ezumeri Oraifite by 5pm. Other activities to follow are lying in state by 7am, Glorious service at St. Jude Anglican Church, Oraifite by 10 am, after which internment and other funeral rites follow thereafter at his compound. The burial rites will however, continue 9am on Friday 28, April, at late Sir Igboanugo’s compound followed by Outing Service at St. Jude Anglican Church, Oraifite on Sunday April 30. Personalities expected at the funeral of the father of the CEO of Waterstones Property Construction are prominent Igbo leaders, members of the Igbo club in Nigeria F15, members of Umu Aba Connect, traditional rulers, and members of NALT International among other respected Nigerians.

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APRIL 2, 2017 • THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER

OPINION

Nigeria And The Culture of Impunity

T

Ayo Oyoze Baje argues that until corruption is tamed, Nigeria can only make little progress

he primary purpose of government is to ensure the security of lives and guarantee the welfare of the citizenry. So states Section 14 (2), (b) of the 1999 Constitution as amended. The unfortunate scenario however, is that sundry heinous crimes such as the killing spree by Fulani herdsmen, armed robbery, kidnapping for ransom, ritual murders and the Boko-Haram insurgency take place here on daily basis, as if they are the rule rather than the exception. Yet some otherwise respected citizens are wondering why government should clamp down on these misguided, blood-letting thirsty vampires in human skin, masquerading as religious fundamentalists. Others even ask that the perpetrators of pure evil be granted amnesty!

Are their own lives more valuable than that of their helpless victims? Of course, not. It is despicable that while we are not in the brutish, animal kingdom some citizens have turned themselves into predators unleashing terror on their hapless preys. These are fellow Nigerians who have been left naked to the elements by successive governments that have said more than they have done in reining in this culture of crass impunity.

Similarly, Nigerians are regaled every blessed day with news reports of sundry acts of brazen fraud, steamy financial scams and abuse of the exalted offices as perpetrated by elected and appointed politicians. But years later they still walk our streets as free men. For instance, all the hue and cry that trailed the probe into the $10 billion (or is it $16 billion) sleaze in the power sector a few years back has long died a Nigerian “natural death”. “But that was not the first time and it may not likely be the last unless government musters the much needed political will to bring the perpetrators to book.” That was my warning a few years back.

These days we read about the humungous amounts, even in dollars found stashed in the private vaults of some former heads of the NNPC or security force and they don the toga of ‘gifts”.

But some hungry and disenfranchised poor citizens caught for stealing fowls and goats are either sent behind bars or hounded to hell!

It speaks volume about how those in government interpret words such as accountability, probity and transparency. It demeans us all as a people that those vested with the scared trust of holding the destiny of men and materials of a country as vast as Nigeria are allowed to go scot-free after committing various heinous crimes against the state. No one talks about the $12 billion Gulf War windfall again because some people are above the law. Not a few former state governors were once

paraded by the EFCC as suspected to have siphoned state funds for self-aggrandisement. But years later some of them have the audacity to want to go back to their former offices, or find their ways to the hallowed red chamber to make laws for you and yours truly. All these because of the insidious culture of impunity Once upon a time, we were told that there were underhand practices with regard to the disbursement of PTDF funds. But someone found it politically expedient to turn it into a weapon of witch-hunting or a tool of treachery. Yet, that fund was meant to enhance capacity building for young Nigerians wishing to go into oil-related fields such as petro-chemical engineering, geology and petroleum technology.

Sad to note, that after the official rigmarole and horse-trading some vested interests were given a slap on the wrist and told to “go and sin no more.” It is not much different when one remembers that a former CBN Governor once accused of unhealthy financial transactions was similarly let off the hook because he has since belonged to the class of Nigeria’s untouchables. One is not surprised therefore, that some corrupt politicians who defected from the PDP to the ruling APC are surreptitiously enjoying some ignoble immunity. It has happened before. That was when Nigerians were treated to a comedy of unpardonable errors as some former bank

When those who have short -changed the system are not brought to speedy justice it emboldens others with similar criminal inclinations to commit worse crimes.

It is responsible, as in the Nigerian politico-economic situation for the countless pothole-riddled roads, the epileptic power supply, pervasive preventable diseases and mass youth employment that have turned into daylight monsters haunting us all

executives were paraded from one court to the other, after which they feigned sickness and otherwise serious crimes were reduced to weeks in a hospital bed, prelude to another controversial freedom. Meanwhile, depositors are allowed to have a taste of hell while trying to get their hard-earned money back.

All of these make a mockery of our judiciary process. Many of the proceeding are centuries away from the Information Technology and Communication (ICT) age as obsolete type writers are still used for recording purpose. Series of laughable injunctions take over the well scripted drama of the absurd, characterised by the shameless display of former politicians suspected of grievous financial crimes, raising their hands in bravado as their paid praise worshippers fan their battered and bruised ego.

It is little of a surprise therefore that virtually all notable institutions of government from ministries to departments and agencies have in the past 18 years of our democratic experience been probed for one fraud or the other. But after years of turning their searchlight to unveil the rattling skeletons in their cupboards nothing meaningful comes out of it.

That explains the position of friends of the embattled former Speaker of the House of Representatives, who vowed that at the end of the day nothing incriminating may be brought to nail him. To several of those accused of such financial misdemeanour Nigeria is one big, slumbering elephant to be milked dry. And the easiest way to have a piece of the national cake is to get elected or appointed into any plum political post. But for how long can we go on this way? Not much longer, I dare say. The facts are there for those who care to look deeper.

Corruption which is a debasement of a set of moral values and a violation of standard professional ethics is like a two- edged sword that cuts both the victim and the misguided beneficiary.

When those who have short -changed the system are not brought to speedy justice it emboldens others with similar criminal inclinations to commit worse crimes. It is responsible, as in the Nigerian politico-economic situation for the countless pothole-riddled roads, the epileptic power supply, pervasive preventable diseases and mass youth employment that have turned into daylight monsters haunting us all.

The President Muhammadu Buhari- led administration must therefore shame all critics and muster the political will, backed with the enabling laws by the National Assembly to transform both the EFCC and the ICPC into toothed bulldogs that bark and bite. And no one, no matter his political persuasion, must be above the rule of law.

Buhari and The Survival of APC

ThedeterminantfactorthatwillshapethefutureoftheAPCin2019andbeyondisPresidentBuhari,argues Michael West

S

ince the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC) announced the 2019 timetable for elections, political activities are gradually gathering momentum, quietly though. There has been increased communication among top political gladiators across the geo-political zones as well as the political parties. Nocturnal meetings are already returning. Reconciliation of sworn enemies in the political arena is on-going, too. Possible alignment and realignment of political interests and forces are being discussed.

Apparently, the early announcement of the election timetable may be a strategy to divert attention of politics-inclined critics from the daily lampooning of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration.

The increasing trend of carpet-crossing into the ruling All Progressives Party (APC) from other parties is, however, worrisome. Reason: it further reaffirms that our politicians lack the rudiments of political party culture, loyalty, and discipline. Internal wrangling and conflict of interests are parts of politicking. Jumping the ship into another, except for reasons very fundamental and genuinely in the overall interest of the people, is an act of political harlotry. It amazes me when, on flimsy excuses, a man voted into political office on trust by his people cheaply abandons the platform for selfish purposes without recourse to the feelings and opinions of his people back home. Some are of the opinion, though, that this is part of the realignment process.

During the electioneering campaign in the United States last year, prominent figures in the Republican Party openly disclaimed Donald J. Trump over his divisive and hate speeches at campaign grounds.

Even McCain, a major sponsor and former Presidential hopeful of the Republican, rejected Trump over same reason. Yet, none of them decamped to the Democratic Party. It is a case of you don’t have to cut your nose to spite your face. Today in America, the Republican Party is busy strategising beyond the tenure of Trump. Had it been it happened in our clime, by now, despite the protests and outcry that welcomed Trump’s administration, Democratic Party leaders at various levels would have flooded the Republican Party, calling their original platform all sorts of despicable names. We can see this happening on a daily basis here now.

The manner and approach to fighting corruption by this administration seems to further encourage this trend. Democratic nuances and processes are deepened with strong opposition in place. This is necessary for checks and balances as well as offering the electorate an alternative platform for good governance. But since the anti-graft

and security agencies were let loose on the suspects of sleazy funds, the suspects’ public images have been vilified, privacy encroached upon, bank accounts interdicted at will and suspects or targets are incarcerated in prison custody while investigations that ought to have preceded their arrest or detention would then continue, if not begin afresh.

To avoid this hellish experience, the smart ones begin to throw off their ‘umbrella’ or chase away the ‘rooster’ or whatever it is that is the symbol of their original party, to gleefully embrace the ‘broom.’

This inexpedient anti-party activity continues to thrive because the searchlight keeps beaming only on those on the other side: the opposition party. Some folks have argued that the ‘persecution’ (or prosecution) of the likes of the Senate President Bukola Saraki is also in line with the “no sacred cow” cliché in the assumed fight against corruption. Like Dele Momodu rightly observed when Saraki’s trial began, had Saraki not circumvented the party arrangement for the National Assembly leadership structure, will he be standing trial in the court of law over alleged discrepancies in his asset declaration form? The answer, of course, is NO! Eight to nine out of 10 former public office holders in the Senate have similar issues with their respective assets declaration. So, it is not right to say Saraki’s case is in the league of Olisa Metuh, Sambo Dasuki, or Alex Badeh, etc. He’s being punished for his political ‘offence’; therefore, it has nothing to do with the war against corruption.

In order to avoid public ignominy through media trial and sentencing on the pages of newspapers, some politicians think it is safer to join the protective camp of the ruling party than risk the harassment. The torrential manner in which politicians in the South East are crossing over to the ruling party speaks volume of the political despondency ravaging the psyche of these Nigerians. I am sure most of them did not have the support of their people in their political (mis)adventure. South-easterners are lauded for being resolute as expressed in their voting pattern in the last general election.

Without rooting for any particular party here, I am just concerned that the beauty of our democracy like having a strong opposition platform and regional political integration are being frittered, prostituted, and abused.

It is open secret that all is not well with the rank and file of the ruling APC as political activities towards the 2019 general elections are gradually taking shape. The determinant factor that will shape the future or survival of the APC in 2019 and beyond is President

Muhammadu Buhari. If Buhari ventures to run, then, the game is over for the party! I doubt if the party will retain up to 10 governorship seats at the end of the day. If you ask me, I think Buhari should not run, at least, in the interest of his party. Let me acknowledge here that Buhari is not a typical Nigerian politician. He is too straight to bend for anybody and for any reason; not even his alliance with Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu that facilitated his victory was strong enough to make him shift ground. Like he would always say, “there could be contact without contamination”, and that is how he had smartly played the game with Asiwaju. The rest, as they say, is history.

One of the three major reasons I think will work against Buhari is age. He will, God willing, be 77 years old in 2019. If he should present himself for presidential contest again, he will not be doing himself, family, and party in particular any good. Baba should not dare the move. The second reason is his health condition. Mr. President does not need his doctors’ counsel to know that he should not run. Forty-nine days out of power is not a joke in the life of a country. Thank God for an able Vice-President who managed the situation well. The third reason is his lack-luster performance in office so far. Between now and 2019, I don’t know the magic that this administration would perform to placate and convince Nigerians that it could do better if granted another four years of opportunity in power.

This administration would readily come to mind as the first in history to spare just three slots for the entire Southern part of the country in the top security positions while the North comfortably cornered 14 out of 17. Like no other before it, lopsided political appointments were brazenly done! Even those who invested their resources into electioneering campaigns that brought this party to power are now in penury; many of them were hoping that board appointments would be a compensation for their loyalty but almost two years after, like the masked singer, Lagbaja, would sing, “Nothing for you”. Blurred economic vision for the country has earned the people hunger. The naira’s steady decline, until the Central Bank of Nigeria’s recent intervention, was appalling. These, to mention but a few among the several shortcomings of this administration, will not help the APC should Buhari run again.

–– West, a Media Consultant, wrote via mikeawe@ yahoo.co.uk (See concluding part 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 • APRIL 2, 2017

LETTERS

F

Florence Seriki: A Life Well Lived

lorence, rather than mourn when I heard the news of your death, what immediately came to my mind was ‘She did it her way’. You lived a full life!

The Recording Academy gave Frank Sinatra a Grammy and a place in their Hall of Fame for a song with the first and second stanza describing your life’s journey: “And now, the end is near And so I face the final curtain My friend, I’ll say it clear I’ll state my case, of which I’m certain

I’ve lived a life that’s full I’ve travelled each and every highway But more, much more than this I did it my way” You did the very best possible within your circumstances where others would have given excuses. You chose your path where others would have depended solely and wholly on others. You did it your way. What a joy to live your own way than live a life of obscurity in the shadow of others. Worthy life lived, Florence!

Our paths crossed twice when we both served on the board of OAU TECHExcel and Nigeria Computer Society (NCS). At OAU TECHExcel, we were trying to build a

Seriki

technology park at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife. You served as the treasurer.

You were your own person with very strong opinions and you were very energetic.

You did not suffer fools gladly.

You gave a good account of yourself. Most times, we were on different sides of issues. We did not agree on a lot of issues, but I respected your positions that were backed with strong logic and passion. I salute your courage and unyielding spirit.

Wish we could have more people who stand on principles and defend their territories instead of the yes-men and women we have in abundance.

We met again when I became the President of NCS. You were on my council as President of ITAN (Information Technology Association of Nigeria). You came to wish me well and advise on ways to run the Society. That Saturday morning is etched on my mind. Your views, stories, the challenges you listed unfortunately scared me. They seriously put me on the alert. I chose to focus on a few issues that did not entirely tally with yours. I blanked my mind and ran the NCS the way I thought it best. Again, though I did not agree with you, I respected your positions and

views. RESPECT. You were amongst the very few people I respected professionally, even in the industry despite the fact that we did not always agree.

That bundle of energy called Florence. The dynamite packed in your frame was scary to confront. Though I confronted you on issues with a straight face, it was good you did not notice the sweats.

You further earned that respect by your stamina and staying power in the corporate world. Having listed our companies on the Nigerian Stock Exchange at almost the same time, I knew of the struggle you must have been going through as I was going through mine. With all the issues confronting us all, you held on tight. I marvelled at your prowess of taking challenges as jokes, struggles as walks in the park and survival as a must. You thrived where a lot of men failed. You held on where mere mortals would have thrown in the towel. You challenged entire systems, societies and governments. You stood your ground. Under your guidance, Omatek survived the issues. If you went down health-wise, it was not from giving up. I am sure you must have battled death to a standstill. I can imagine death breathing laboriously to take you down. I can imagine death saying, “Hmmm, she was one of the toughest to take down”. I

GULEN, US AND TURKEY RELATIONS

T

he US Congress has taken a position through its intelligence committee on the ongoing attacks on Fethulah Gulen, an Islamic scholar by Turkish authorities.

Devin Nunes, chairman, Intelligence Committee of the US congress said investigations and intelligence reports before the congress absolved Gulen of any complicity in the trouble in Turkey and the attempted military coup of July last year.

In his interview with FOXTV, he said some of the news from Turkey suggests that President Donald Trump is going to extradite Fethullah Gulen to Turkey, and when asked whether he knows anything about the extradition order, Nunes said, “I haven’t seen evidence that Gulen was involved (in the failed coup).” This response would surely anger Turkish President Erdogan but Nunes did not stop there, he slammed Erdogan’s government.

Nune said: “The Erdogan government has become very authoritarian,” adding, “our relationship with Turkey is strained” and “going to become even more complicated as we begin to try to get ISIS out of Iraq and Syria.”

Nune finds it hard to believe that US President Donald Trump will succumb to any form of pressure from Turkish authorities to extradite Gulen, looking deep into all investigations in the last eight months.

No particular outcome has indicted the preacher as part

of or the mastermind of the political impasse in Turkey.

The intelligence committee chairman declared that Erdogan’s government has become authoritarian, saying the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) has been a strong ally of the US for a very long time.

“We are becoming more and more worrisome in terms of actually considering Turkey a reliable ally and I don’t know if the US will extradite Gulen who is not found guilty of any crime alleged to have been committed”, he said.

The congress is affirming the position of the Department of Justice and the US courts which have at separate statements challenged the government of Turkey to provide convincing evidence against the Islamic scholar, if the process of extradition must commence.

The relevant institutions charged with the responsibility of carrying out the extradition process have their hands tied due to lack of evidence and merit in the huge and wild allegations of treason against Gulen.

The Turkey/US trade ties and diplomatic relations had since been strained even before the assumption of office by President Trump.

Earlier on, President Erdogan had boasted that Turkey will ruin relations with the US if Gulen is not sent out of the country to face trial in Ankara, where the government of Turkey has concluded plans to rope him in through the courts and the justice system.

International conventions on human rights and the constitutions of most countries globally guarantee the rights and liberties of citizens, including political asylum seekers and those on self-imposed exiles.

Turkey has no respect for the rule of law, but it has great honour for the violation of rights and freedom through clamp down on its innocent citizens alleged to be followers of the Hizmet. The rising political profile of Fethulah Gulen in Turkey has constituted an impediment to the government of Turkey arising from the fact that the Turks have viewed sincerity and trust in the activities of the Hizmet movement.

The organisation has grown so large with its membership drawn from across major sectors of the economy like the education sector, health, judiciary, the media and civil society groups across the globe.

We have many Nigerians who believe in the teachings of Fethulah Gulen which includes peace, conflict resolution and inter-faith dialogue; the sincerity of purpose endeared a large proportion of Africans to declare membership for Hizmet which simply means service.

The attacks on members

by Turkish authorities will not stop service, speaking to the fact that the word service is generic enough to be applied in all spheres of life, creates difficulty if not impossible for any intelligence reports to determine the culpability of

members alleged to have been involved in illicit affairs.

The Turkish Ambassador to Nigeria Mr. Hakan Cakil had at several forum branded the Hizmet members terrorists and money launderers, and the question we ask is for the ambassador to go into the history of the formation of the Nigeria Tulip International Colleges (NTIC) established in Nigeria in 1998 with only about 14 pupils in a rented apartment in Wuse 11, Abuja.

But today through hard work the colleges are situated in about nine states across Nigeria with a renowned university and a hospital that will serve as medical college to the university in the nearest future.

Nigerians should not allow themselves to be used by external forces against their well-wishers and development partners who have contributed in no small measure in enhancing quality in the education system, health as well as foundations and charity organisations.

However, the government of Nigeria is solidly behind peace return to Turkey as a state especially when the wall came crumbling at a time when its entry into the European Union was receiving utmost priority.

It is therefore important for the parliament and the executive in Turkey, including opposition parties to consider the interest of the country first if progress in its political and economic life must be achieved.

Ofem Uket, Abuja.

can almost imagine you asking for a rematch. That was you Florence. Even death, along with the rest of us, respected your zest for life, your desire to achieve, your patriotism to our country Nigeria, your passion to make a positive difference to your profession and humanity.

Dear Florence, rather than mourn your death, I celebrate a life well lived. I celebrate a woman of substance. A woman who survived where several strong men and women failed. I celebrate a woman who stood her ground

and made an impact in our ICT profession and nation. You will be remembered in words.

You will be remembered in deeds. When the roll call of real men and women who lived is called, you will be there, right up front where you fought to be. You fought it your way. You did it your way. Better to live a short life of purpose than one without impact and usefulness.

Florence, yours was a life well lived!

–– Demola Aladekomo, Lagos.

UNILORIN AND ASUU’S SANCTIONS

I

n another desperate attempt to truncate the steady academic progress being recorded at the University of Ilorin, the National Secretariat of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has unilaterally imposed what could simply be described as ill-advised, mischievous and vexatious sanctions on this flagship of the nation’s education sector.

Following a meeting of its National Executive Council (NEC) at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, mid-January, the union sought to ostracise the University of Ilorin from the nation’s academic community, citing flimsy and baseless “acts of lawlessness, arbitrariness, violation of human and trade union rights, and persecution of loyal members”.

The union alleged that “contrary to the law and despite the ruling of the National Industrial Court, the university has continued to prevent the union from functioning on its campus”. It stated further that Unilorin “has also continued to forcefully collect check-off money from academics of the university in the name of the union without remitting it to the union”.

Having charged the university with these offences and convicted it on all counts, the union went ahead to impose the sanctions on the university administration. According to it, “For the duration of the sanctions, academic staff of the university of Ilorin will no longer enjoy the cooperation, collaboration or participation of academics of other Nigerian public universities, in (sundry) areas of academic and related activities”. These include teaching, research and supervision of students; setting, moderating or assessment of examinations; external assessment for professional cadre appointments or promotions; sabbatical, visiting, part-time and adjunct appointments; accreditation of institutions, colleges, programmes and courses; collaborative research; attendance of learned conferences, society workshops, seminars and other related activities; peer review of journal articles and patronage of journals; and so forth.

As if the union is not contented with being the accuser, the prosecutor and the judge in its own case, it has also

arrogated to itself the power of enforcer of these laughable sanctions while also spelling out ill-conceived penalties for violators of the sanctions.

From the tone and intent of its unilateral ‘sanctions’, it is clear that the National ASUU is deliberately pursuing a belligerent agenda, having failed serially in its bid to hijack the Unilorin Branch of the union for its anointed gangs, who constitute less than one per cent of the academic staff of the university. And this type of attitude is a clear threat to the ideals, which the University of Ilorin has built over the years.

Unilorin’s credibility, as the bastion of academic stability in the country, is thereby being assaulted.

Since the ASUU-orchestrated crisis erupted in 2001, the union has consistently put up a belligerent posture, spurning all forms of reconciliatory moves. Its intention, since then, has been to destabilise the University of Ilorin.

The union unwittingly exposed its main motive with its complaint that the university has “continued to forcefully collect check-off money from academics of the university … without remitting it to the union”. It is becoming obvious that members’ check-off dues are the main grouse. For, in one breath, you claim you have suspended the Unilorin Branch of the union and in another you still expect check-off due remittance from the same suspended branch?

In any case, it is on record that at the outset of the crisis, more than 95 per cent of the academic staff of the university resolved to discontinue the payment of check-off dues to ASUU national and decided, instead, to pay a percentage of their salaries as administrative charge to the local branch. This decision was duly communicated to the university management for the purpose of deducting this from source.

And from this administrative charge, the ASUU leadership in the university has been able to build a befitting secretariat for the union, a feat which was never on the agenda of the previous executive committees headed by the lackies of these anarchists.

––Kunle Akogun, Head of Corporate Affairs Unit, University of Ilorin

16

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER • APRIL 2, 2017

INTERNATIONAL Why China is Able to Develop and Nigeria Cannot: Some Lessons from China’s Soft Power Approach

T

he People’s Republic of China, depending on what criteria are considered, can be rightly described as a developing or developed country, a great or a super power in waiting. In classical international relations, the fundamental difference between a great power in the 19th Century and 20th Century and a super power in the post-World War II era, is the capacity and capability to project one-self economically, politically, militarily, technologically, and culturally worldwide.

Only the United States and the former Soviet Union met the criteria at the end of World War II, and by force of necessity, the two of them emerged and imposed themselves on the international community and the whole world had to acquiesce to the development. As a result of perestroika and glasnost (openness and reconstruction), the Soviet Union destroyed itself through strategic miscalculation. The Soviet Union was disintegrated, thus leaving the US as the only existing super power. Russia, which succeeded the Soviet Union appears to be struggling to occupy the vacuum created.

The minor and medium powers also exist. Aminor power is one that is fairly able to satisfy its obligations in the conduct and management of international relations, as well as still provide the basic needs of the people. As regards the medium powers, they are essentially regional ‘influentials’, that is, the African conception of a ‘region’ as defined in Article 1, paragraphs (d) and (e) of the 1991 Abuja Treaty Establishing The African Economic Community’, which has been integrated as part of the AU Act. In fact, Professor Akinwande Bolaji Akinyemi came up with the need for Nigeria to seek to establish and coordinate the Concert of Medium Powers (later Lagos Forum) in order to make Nigeria more relevant in the management of global affairs.

The point being made here is that China is a quiet master planner, a developed and developing nation which often presents itself ordinarily as a developing country and therefore as a Third World country. Vie Internationale argues that China is a developing nation not in the general conception of a Third World country but one still making efforts to improve on its developed status. Vie internationale argues that Nigeria is neither under-developed nor developing. The notion of an under-development necessarily implies that the efforts at development are inadequate or that the stage attained, going by other standards, is below. We contend here that, when compared with China considered as a developing country, Nigeria is, at best, a non-starter and therefore a non-developing country.

Without doubt, Western countries hide under the cover of macroeconomic and militaro-industrialist factors to relegate China to the Third World or the group of truly poor and non-developing nations of the world. For any country of Africa to put itself as a Third World country at the same level with China is simply to engage in serious strategic miscalculation.

As noted in this column last week, a delegation of the Developing Countries Think Tanks, comprising delegates from Nigeria, Ethiopia, Senegal, South Africa, Lebanon, Cambodia, etc, was invited by the International Department of the CPC. The recently established Bolytag Centre for International Diplomacy and Strategic Studies (BOCIDASS) and the Society for International Relations Awareness, represented by Bola A. Akinterinwa and Owei Lakemfa respectively, represented Nigeria on the delegation.

The delegation continued with its tour of different institutions and regions that play critical roles in the growth and development of China. Many observations came to my mind during the tour: emphasis on self-identity, Chinese mania of doing things, emphasis on self-reliance, friendship and hospitality of people at all levels. There is nothing like weekend of no work. The delegation was received on Saturdays and on Sundays by public officials i their offices. There is no European or African time. Any time fixed is time adhered to. The approach to all meetings was to present China, the province or the county to the delegation, with emphasis on achievements, readiness to relate with all the peoples of the world on the basis of win-win policy.

Perhaps more interestingly I began to understand gradually why China is able to develop on the basis of self-reliance and why Nigeria is not even on the path of qualifying to begin to develop. In other words, Nigeria is not really developing and does not even qualify to be called underdeveloped. As noted above, a developing nation is already positively engaged in efforts at improvement. An underdeveloped nation simply refers to a country whose service delivery to the people is below universally acceptable average, especially

VIE INTERNATIONALE with

Bola A. Akinterinwa Telephone : 0807-688-2846

e-mail: bolyttag@yahoo.com

Chinese ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Gu Xiaojie

in terms of security of the stomach, safety of life and property, and protection of fundamental human rights. What describes Nigeria of today more appropriately is ‘non-developing’ or ‘under-developing,’ especially when compared with the state of development of various provinces and local government areas in China.

First, the different places the delegation was taken to clearly show that the Government of China has a well-defined focus and the necessary commitment required for its execution. I discovered that there is nothing that made China great or that can make it a superpower that does not exist in Nigeria except. If it were not for governmental clairvoyance and political chicanery, there is no reason why Nigeria should not be great as a people and nation-state.

Without scintilla of gainsaying, most leaders in Nigeria are money-seeking and self-seeking essentially, especially those of them that are appointed into the membership of Governing Boards or Councils of government agencies and parastatals . Many of them cannot guide as required but are very good and quick in tainting existing achievements they meet on ground if not in completely destroying them. This observation is largely based on the experience from the General Ike Omar Nwachukwu-led Governing Council of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs.

When I took a look at what had been done and still being done in China to make the country great, and compared them with what I had tried to do for the NIIA, I simply had much pity for the people of Nigeria, and particularly for my generation, even though my generation cannot be said to be a wasted generation.

What I tried to do was simply to go beyond what Professor Bolaji Akinyemi did in terms of infrastructural development of the NIIA by building a new international conference centre. It will be good for patriotic Nigerians to ask questions about the institute, about the international conference centre, about the raising of its standard in all ramifications.

Questions should be asked because what makes China a model of self-reliance and enduring growth and development is precisely the philosophy of not accepting to operate below international

Without scintilla of gainsaying, most leaders in Nigeria are money-seeking and self-seeking essentially, especially those of them that are appointed into the membership of Governing Boards or Councils of government agencies and parastatals . Many of them cannot guide as required but are very good and quick in tainting existing achievements they meet on ground if not in completely destroying them.This observation is largely based on the experience from the General Ike Omar Nwachukwu-led Governing Council of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs

standard in whatever is to be done officially. I decided to raise the bar by first of all applying the rules and regulations to the letter.

Non-PhD holders were not only reminded that they would not be able to go beyond the grade level of a Senior Research Fellow. In other words, they would not qualify to be assessed for promotion to the professorial cadre. This policy was already put in place in the institute since the 1980s, In fact some Research Fellows were compelled to go to University of Lagos for doctoral education. Some academic members of the Governing Council who knew much about this fact opted to say nothing about the truth. The Council was interested in documentary evidence to justify my decision. This looks good but what is behind six is more than seven. Time will tell what exactly is after six. Meanwhile, no country can develop on the basis of the attitudinal disposition of the Ike Nwachukwu-led Governing Council.

What is happening to the international conference centre and the new Office of the Director General that I newly put in place? What about the new Office for the Chairman of the Governing Council?

What about the Founders of the NIIA, as well as former Directors General who were honoured with the naming of halls, committee rooms after them? Signage that were paid for and installed and which all visitors to the institute commended, were removed by Mrs. Stella Abimbola Dada during her one month tenure as Director General, in the wrong belief that the legacy left by Bola A. Akinterinwa would be removed? The names of people like that of the first Director General of the NIIA, late Ambassador Lawrence Fabunmi, former Foreign Minister, Professor Akinwande Bolaji Akinyemi and Director General of NIIA, and those of founders of the institute were removed. Does the removal of any signage diminish the integrity of a founding father? Whenever I take a look at the video recording of the destruction of my photograph, I simply pray for the destroyer in sympathy, because the destruction or removal of whatever had been done in any public institution is at best pettiness, myopia, and of course, waste of public resources.

In China, heroic people are respected and remembered. Their efforts are sustained with new and additional efforts. In Nigeria, they are defamed as a result of ignorance and weakness of mind.

Even when people want to destroy anything, it should still be done with a bit of common sense. In the same vein, in worshiping God, it should still be done with common sense. God wants everyone to behave rationally. If destruction is done with the application of a little common sense, there will not be any need for wastages. Sooner or later, and under the Freedom of Information Act, the Institute will be called to explain by all the stakeholders. How the modern-day civil and public servants behave at the NIIAcannot help national development.

There is no policy of impunity in China. Nobody condones any act of serious indiscipline in China as it was easily done with the protection of the Governing Council at the NIIA. The people of China do not do that. They build and consolidate. They do not destroy. If Nigeria is to make progress, the attitudinal disposition towards objectivity of purpose must first be encouraged. Patriotism should be a desideratum. Nigeria and altruism must be the first priority in all undertakings of the citizens.` Explained differently, development should not simply be seen as the provision of infrastructure. It is essentially about the extent of integrity of the people. It is about the extent of capacity to defend the national interest. It is only in Nigeria that a Minister will go into the open to condemn Nigerians abroad in the belief that they had done something wrong, or if they had not done anything wrong, they would not have been mistreated. Most unfortunate, many Nigerians had been mistreated without just cause.

Last week Tuesday, a French policeman killed one Chinese national in Paris. Within 24 hours following the incident, the Chinese living in Paris and environs not only demonstrated against what they called ‘cold murder’ of their compatriots, the Chinese Foreign Ministry also summoned the French ambassador in Beijing for explanation. The Chinese government did not wait to find out what offence he might have been committed to have warranted his being shot dead. The belief of the Chinese is that all Chinese residing in France are entitled to national protection of the host state and the national protection of China under both private and public international law.

In Nigeria, diplomatic protection under the Vienna Conventions (Public International Law) and under Private International Law, particularly in terms of denial of justice, does not mean much. As a result, there is no strong umbilical cord tying the state and the people of Nigeria together. Patriotism therefore suffers. Anti-Nigeria sentiments then have more room to grow.

More disturbing is the issue of a 21-storey building, ‘Beijing House’, being planned to be built at the NIIAby the Chinese. For the purposes of greater cooperation in the area of research and development and with the ultimate objective of promoting better understanding between the NIIAand Chinese international relations research institutions, I made the need for a Beijing House at the NIIAknown to the Chinese Consul General in Nigeria when he paid me a courtesy visit as NIIADirector General.

The suggestion had earlier been raised with our Chinese partners during our various joint seminars in both Nigeria and China. This matter was discussed to the most important level, making the request official and transferring all documents to the Government of Nigeria for ownership.

(See concluding part on www.thisdaylive.com)

17

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R • APRIL 2, 2017

BUSINESS

Editor Vincent Obia Email vincent.obia@thisdaylive.com (08054681757) ºº

LAST WEEK WEEK

NewFXPolicy

The Central Bank of Nigeria on Monday introduced new Forex ratesandsaiditwouldnolonger tradethenairaatN375perdollar forinvisibles,suchasschoolfees, medicalbillsandtravelallowances.

TheregulatorsaidNigerianscould nowgetthedollaratN360across allcommercialbankswithinthe country.“TheCBN[is]tosellforex tobanksatN357/$1,whilebanks will sell to their customers at N360/$1 for invisibles (BTA, medicals, fees, etc),” the apex banksaidonMonday.

DevelopmentBank

CBN head office, Abuja

Analysts Hail IMF Assessment of Nigeria’s Economic Recovery Plan Kunle Aderinokun

Reactions have continued to trail the International Monetary Fund (IMF) report of the Article IV Consultation on Nigeria, with analysts agreeing with the Bretton Woods institution’s commendation for the recently launched Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP). The ERGP focuses on economic diversification driven by the private sector, and government initiatives to strengthen infrastructure—including the recently adopted power sector recovery plan.

The Bretton Woods institution, which released its report last Thursday at the conclusion of the 2017 Article IV Consultation with Nigeria, however, pointed out that, without stronger policies these objectives might not be achieved.

IMF said its directors stressed the need for a front-loaded, revenue-based fiscal consolidation starting in 2017, to reduce the federal government interest payments-to-revenue ratio to sustainable levels.

“They underscored that priority should be given to increasing non-oil revenue, including through raising VAT and excise rates, strengthening compliance, and closing loopholes and exemptions.

Administering an independent fuel price-setting mechanism to eliminate fuel subsidies, strengthening public financial management, and developing a well-targeted social safety net would also support the adjustment. Directors stressed the need to contain the fiscal deficit of state and local governments, including through improved transparency and monitoring,” it highlighted.

Similarly, IMF welcomed the policy measures adopted by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to ease the pressures in the foreign exchange market and significantly

ECONOMY improve the value of the naira.

The fund, in hailing CBN’s efforts at easing some of the restrictions in the market, however, requested the monetary authority to remove the remaining restrictions and stop multiple currency practices with a view to unifying the FX market.

According to the multilateral development finance institution, “Directors emphasised that these policies should be supported by tighter monetary policy and fiscal consolidation to anchor inflation expectations and to limit the risk of exchange rate overshooting, as well as structural reforms to improve competitiveness.”

The fund’s directors recognised that the Nigerian economy had been negatively impacted by low oil prices and production and commended efforts already made by the government to reduce vulnerabilities and enhance resilience, including by increasing fuel prices, raising the monetary policy rate, and allowing the exchange rate to depreciate.

“Under unchanged policies, the outlook remains challenging. Growth would pick up only slightly to 0.8 per cent in 2017, mostly reflecting some recovery in oil production and a continuing strong performance in agriculture,”the fund stated.

The IMF assessment immediately attracted the attention of economic analysts and market watchers, who agreed with its observations while also expressing their reservations in some areas.

In his analysis, the Chief Executive Officer, The CFG Advisory, Adetilewa Adebajo, who noted that the IMF Article IV is a serious independent assessment

of the state of the economy and a report global investors and rating agencies take serious about the state of the economy, believed, “ The CBN is best served to build confidence in the flexible exchange rate system with a transparent bid and offer rate that can ensure a market driven system.”

Adebajo stated that, “The government policy to drive the economy out of recession is in alignment and now faced with the challenge of implementation and driving the policies through.”

Besides, the Chief Executive Officer, Global Analytics Consulting Ltd, Tope Directors recognised that Nigerian economy had been negatively impacted by low oil prices and production and commended efforts already made by the government to reduce vulnerabilities and enhance resilience

Fasua, posited that, the CBN did well by ensuring the critical segment of the market benefit, rather than allowing their demands to fuel the black market.

“For me the real news is that the CBN, rather than excluding a critical segment of the market from having access to foreign exchange for legitimate uses (travels, school fees, medicals etc.), has done the right thing by providing a solution that will not have this critical segment fuelling the black market.

Their demands may be relatively small, but very important for ‘price discovery’ in the market. And so, even manufacturers suffered when there was a premium of N200 between the official rates and the ‘real’ rates - the rates from the parallel market,” he noted.

Stating that, the IMF was right in its

observations, Fasua advised“the CBN to harmonise these rates, and to reduce to a bare minimum the number of goods that cannot access official funds (I cannot propose a laissez faire regime because we have-not arrived yet).”

“The IMF has also been pushing for increase in VAT for years and there is a limit to which we can resist. The ERGP proposes VAT increases on luxury goods anyway. I am not sure it is right to increase Excise duties on exports for now. Everything is not about taxes, or money. If we could reorganise this economy from a multi-disciplinary way, we could generate a much higher growth rate than what the IMF thinks should be the case for us,” he added.

For the Director, Union Capital Markets Ltd, Egie Akpata, “I am not sure that there has been any material change in the CBN policies regarding FX.” According to him, “ They have just made some administrative changes and supplied more FX into various markets (interbank, for personal use (PTA, school fees, foreign medical expenses), forward market etc.).

However, pointing out that,“Most of what the IMF would like to see is in line with what most local market participants have been asking for”, Akpata argued that,“It is unlikely that the CBN would make any radical shift in FX policy on the near term.”

“But it will be helpful if they came up with a new policy or administrative procedure that could give priority to foreign portfolio investors so they know that there will be liquidity for them to exit the market in the future. This would result in significant FX inflows that can help reduce the pressure on CBN reserves on the short term.”

TheDevelopmentBankofNigeria, owned by the Federal Ministry of Finance, has been licensed bytheCentralBankofNigerian.

Theministryannouncedthison Tuesday. DBN was conceived in 2014, but its take-off had been delayed. It is a wholesale financial institution that aims to increase access to finance for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) through eligible financial intermediaries, which are the participating financialinstitutions.

RailConcession

A consortium led by General Electric (GE) on Wednesday emerged as the sole bidder for a Nigerian railway concession project worth about $2 billion for two lines connecting some northern cities to cities in the South. GE was the only bidder when the bid officially closed onWednesday. Nigeriahasbeen lookingforpartnerstooverhaul its ageing railway system, built mainlybytheBritishcolonialrulers beforeindependencein1960.

IMF

TheInternationalMonetaryFund hascommendedtherecent“easingofsomeexchangerestrictions” inNigeria.ButIMFurgedtheCentralBankofNigeriato“removethe remainingrestrictionsandmultiplecurrencypractices”tounify theforeignexchangemarket.The fundstatedthisThursdayinthe 2017ArticleIVConsultationwith Nigeria.Itaddedthatitwouldhelp inregaininginvestorconfidence intheNigerianeconomy.

Ministry of Finance

TheFederalMinistryofFinance onFridayannouncedthemembers of the board and management of the newly licensed Development Bank of Nigeria.

The management team is led

by Tony Okpanachi, a banker anderstwhileDeputyManaging Director/DeputyChiefExecutive Officer,EcobankNigeriaLimited.

Okpanachiwillbesupportedby theChiefFinancialOfficer,Ijeoma Ozulumba,andChiefRiskOfficer, Olu Adegbola.

Foreign Reserve

Nigeria’sforexreserves,Friday, felltoatwo-weeklowasthenaira eased on the black market. Reutersnewsagencyreportsthat thedevelopmentcameafterthe centralbankpledgedtostepup dollarsalesbutalsosaiditwould announceanewcurrencyratefor retail exchange bureaus next week. The central bank had on Tuesday set a rate of 362 naira forexchangebureaustosellthe U.S.currencytoconsumers,an11 percentriseinthelocalcurrency fromthelastsettinginJanuary.

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R • APRIL 1, 2017

18

BUSINESS/MONEY

As New Owners Acquire Keystone Bank...

With the acquisition of Keystone Bank Limited by Sigma Golf-Riverbank consortium, the new owners are tasked with the responsibility to inject fresh capital, rebuild trust and attract patronage among others, writes Olaseni Durojaiye

Modibbo

T

he eventual takeover of Keystone Bank Limited by the new owners, the Sigma Golf-Riverbank consortium, brings to an end a long-drawn rescue mission embarked upon by the Asset Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON) when it took over the bank in 2011, and marked the beginning of a new chapter in the bank’s history.

AMCON had earlier announced Sigma Golf Nigeria Limited and Riverbank Investment Resources Limited as the new owners of the bank thus paving the way for the processes of actual takeover.

As part of the takeover process, a completion takeover meeting between the representatives of Sigma Golf-Riverbank consortium, AMCON management, board and management of Keystone Bank; the advisers to the buyer (KPMG Professional Services, Boston Advisory Services, Giwa Osagie & Co., and Pan-African Capital Limited), as well as those of the seller (FBN Capital Limited, Citibank Nigeria Limited, Banwo & Ighodalo, and CrosswrockLaw) held last week.

The completion meeting signified the effective handover of the bank to the buyer and the commencement of a transition process that will culminate in the reconstitution of the board and management of the bank to reflect the new ownership.

Underscoring its determination to hit the ground running, the new owners almost immediately commenced the process of transition governance and announced key appointments which take effect by April 1, 2017. Before then, the bank has been run by an AMCON-appointed board headed

by Mr. Philip Ikeazor as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the bank.

Keystone Bank was taken over by AMCON in 2011 alongside Afribank Plc and Spring Bank

Bakare

Plc. The two banks were renamed Mainstreet Bank and Enterprise Bank respectively while an AMCON-appointed management was put in place to stabilise the bank and prepare it for sale to new investors.

Issues before the Sale The sale and acquisition process may have been completed, it was however, not bereft of controversy.

Sign that all was not well first emerged last year when some senior officials of AMCON alleged that the Managing Director of AMCON, Ahmed Kuru, had concluded plans to sell the bank to a coalition of influential Nigerians of northern extraction and insisted that it contravene extant takeover provisions of AMCON in the process.Even then, the sale process went ahead.

The controversy may have become history as the new owners have taken control and now saddled with the challenges of delivering quality financial service and setting Keystone Bank on the path to competitiveness. AMCON reiterated that much last week when the new owners were announced.

While announcing the new investors, AMCON had said that the Sigma Golf-Riverbank consortium emerged the preferred bidders after a very transparent and competitive bidding process.

“The emergence of the Sigma Golf-Riverbank consortium will bring a new lease of life with the expected injection of fresh capital that would position the bank to play competitively in the banking space and actualise its full potential,” it said.

“In moving the bank forward as a major player in the industry, the new investors will be backed up by a pool of reputable professionals both currently within the bank and across the industry.

“Keystone Bank therefore assures all its stakeholders that the transition process will

reposition the bank to serve its customers better, creating enhanced value for all stakeholders,” it added.

Taking the Bull by the Horn In line with standard practice and a demonstration of it resolve to reposition the bank for the task ahead, the bank last week announced the appointment of Umaru Modibbo as Chairman of the new Board and Hafiz Bakare as the acting Managing Director.

The announcement which was contained in a statement signed by the bank’s Head of Corporate Communications, Omobolanle Osotule, added that the appointment takes effect on April 1 2017.

The statement read in part: “The successful conclusion of the divestment of Keystone Bank Limited by the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), which culminated in the Completion Meeting of 23 March 2017 and the formal handover of the bank to the Sigma Golf-Riverbank Consortium (the Consortium).”

“The transitional governance arrangement, which will take effect from the 1st of April 2017, is subject to approval by the Central Bank of Nigeria,” the statement said.

Challenges Ahead When Modibbo and Bakare assume their new positions this week, they will be faced with few challenges. As one financial services insider noted last week, It is now time to face the challenges ahead.”

Industry insiders, who spoke with THISDAY were in agreement that the challenges to surmount will include building trust all over again and inject fresh capital to carry out activities that will make the bank become attractive to the banking public and thus attract. Two of the respondents to THISDAY enquiries, however disagreed on the need to increase branch network.

“Two of the immediate challenge will be to bring in fresh capital and build trust to attract the interest and confidence of the banking public. As we speak we’re not aware of the bank’s capital base as they have not released their financial report in a while, but what we know is that the acquisition capital was N25 billion; we don’t know about the shareholders’ fund. If it is too small, they may need to inject fresh funds to carry out some activities including creating new products that will make the bank attractive again,” Executive Director, Corporate Finance, BGL Capital Ltd, Femi Ademola, stated.

Continuing, he added that “The new owners will also need to build trust in the bank.

They will also need to address perception issue. May be through a total rebrand but they have to disabuse the misgivings that it was a bank that was almost dead and inspire confidence that it is not in any way endangered.”

A banker with a third generation bank who prefer not to be identified agreed with Ademola but added that the bank also need to increase its branch network adding to be more visible for patronage.

“According to him, “The new owners will need to inject huge funds into the bank if they really want to play big and be competitive. The bank needs to increase its branch network to become more visible and attract business,” he stated.

Ademola, however, differ on the need for more branches. He argued that increasing branch networks is not crucial and drew an analogy between First Bank and GTBank.

“Increasing numbers of branches has nothing to do with it. How many branches does GTBank has yet they are posting great results whereas First Bank has more branches and we can all see their performances; so it’s not about increasing branches,” he added.

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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 • APRIL 2, 2017

BUSINESS/MONEY

The Journey towards Exchange Rate Convergence

Recent policy actions by the Central Bank of Nigeria on the foreign exchange market have helped to drastically discourage arbitrage in the foreign exchange market and thrust the exchange rates in the interbank and parallel windows closer to convergence, writes Obinna Chima

F

or years, narrowing the wide gap between the various rates on the foreign exchange (FX) market has been a source of concern to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

In fact, the yawning gap between the various FX market segments created an arbitrage window for a lot of individuals as well as Nigerian banks to speculate on FX and round-trip in order to boost their earnings.

Previously, findings had shown that one of the most attractive businesses among some Nigerians was to get FX for personal travel allowance (PTA) from the interbank market and sell same on the parallel market, thereby taking advantage of the wide margin. Foreign exchange round-tripping or arbitrage refers to a process whereby funds are obtained from the official forex market (at lower rates) and diverted to other markets and sold at a higher rate by forex dealing banks and users.

However, recent measures by the central bank have made such rent-seeking opportunities unattractive. It has also helped to strengthen the naira.

It has also helped in unifying the FX rates for Bureau De Change (BDC), rate for retail invisibles as well as the parallel market rate.

The naira however traded within a band of N375 -N390 to the dollar throughout last week.

Masterstroke In line with its desire to alleviate the pains of retail FX end-users, the CBN, last week directed all banks to immediately begin the sale of FX for BTA, PTA, tuition and medical fees to customers at not more than N360 per dollar. The CBN explained that it will sell to banks at N357 per dollar, adding that banks are expected to post the new rates in the banking halls of their branches immediately.

In line with the new directive, the acting Director, Corporate Communications, CBN, Mr. Isaac Okorafor, said the bank would send examiners to banks to ensure the new rates are implemented.

“Banks are prohibited from selling FX funds meant for invisibles to BDCs,” he added Also, barely 24 hours after the policy was announced, the CBN lowered the rate at which dollar inflows from International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs) are sold to Bureau to Change (BDC) operators to N360/$1, from the N381/$1 it stood previously. With this directive, the BDCs were expected to sell the greenback to retail endusers at not more than N362/$1, lower than the N400/$1 it used to be sold at this segment of the market.

Similarly, in continuation of its determination to sustain liquidity in the market, the CBN last Thursday increased the amount of dollars to be sold to BDC operators to $10,000 weekly, up from the $8,000 per week it was previously. This meant that the operators would be entitled to $5,000 per bid, at a new rate to be announced on Monday.

Okorafor also revealed that the central bank will commence twice weekly forex sales to BDCs from April 3, 2017.

“Licensed BDC operators are therefore required to fund their accounts with the CBN on Mondays and Wednesdays, while they receive their purchases on Tuesdays and Thursdays respectively.

“The sale amount to BDCs is hereby increased to $10,000 weekly ($5,000 per bid) and a new rate will be announced on Monday, April 3, 2017,” he added.

Furthermore, Okorafor said the objective of the new forex sale policy was to ensure a convergence of the rates in the interbank and BDC markets, stressing that the CBN remained committed to ensuring transparency in the market as well as fairness to end-users, many of whom, hitherto experienced challenges in accessing foreign exchange.

He, therefore, urged licensed BDCs to play by the rule, cautioning that the CBN would not hesitate in sanctioning any erring dealer.

Okorafor also reiterated his call to all stakeholders

Dollars notes

to play their respective roles in ensuring a smooth running of the foreign exchange market for the benefit of the Nigerian economy.

The Journey Okorafor said before the CBN decided to fight the current battle against FX speculators, it understudied the situation in the market for several months.

“We have always told Nigerians that what was going in the black market was just a bubble. So, we studied it and found out that if we meet the demand for PTA, BTA and medicals, that, that market would crash.

“We studied it with time and when we were satisfied and with the help of the improvement in the reserves, we felt that it was the right time to strike,” he said while speaking on a programme monitored on Raypower FM. The CBN spokesman said the relative peace in the Niger Delta, the stability in crude oil prices, as well as the removal of the 41 items from the market, helped in bolstering the bank’s ability to fight the war.

“The journey to our current situation started many years ago when successive governments failed to diversify the Nigerian economy. So, we depended on the oil economy until when the price of oil collapsed.

“That is what we are trying to change. As a central bank, we are insisting that this time, we should not spend our scarce FX on things that we can manufacture in Nigeria. We can support Nigerians to produce locally, whether in agriculture or in manufacturing. With that, we conserve our scarce FX. “One policy that the central bank has brought out which successive government had found difficult to implement is the import substitution strategy. Now, things are changing and Nigerians are consuming rice.

“We went ahead to give credit to Nigerian

farmers to acquire land, increase their acreage.

We supplied them seedlings, gave them fertilisers and the farmers came out with resounding success,” he added.

Right Steps Some financial market analysts commended the move by the central bank, describing it as a show of strength by the bank.

Also, President, Association of Bureau De Change of Nigeria (ABCON), Mr. Aminu Gwadabe, expressed satisfaction with the directive.

“We are happy about it because it is right step to harmonise the various rates in the market that have been affecting our operation. Now that the harmonisation has been achieved, we are sure that the naira will gain strength. We expect that the parallel rate will appreciate to about N370 to a dollar in the coming days,” Gwadabe said.

Reacting to the development, an analyst at Ecobank Nigeria Limited, Mr. Kunle Ezun, described it as a show of strength by the CBN. “It also shows that they are winning the battle.

I now think when the CBN talked about creating an exchange rate convergence; they were actually referring to the rate for invisibles.

“So, what the CBN has done is to show its capacity to defend the naira. But we expect the CBN to now push through with liquidity,” he added.

But Ezun expressed reservations about how much support the CBN would be able to give the naira, saying “when the external reserves begin to drop, it would raise a red flag.”

On his part, the Chief Executive Officer, Cowry Asset Management Limited, Mr. Johnson Chukwu, who also welcomed the move, noted that, it was a demonstration of the CBN’s capacity to defend the naira.

“I think before the CBN came out with this, it must have measured its capacity to support the naira. Luckily for the CBN, there is tight naira liquidity in the market and that does not

encourage speculative activities.

“People do not have cash to buy dollars to hold anymore and that has supported the naira.

The key thing is that as the CBN continues to pump dollar liquidity, it would force more people holding dollar position to sell and that would definitely help the market.

“For now, a lot of people holding dollars are looking for ways to exit,” Chukwu added.

Tread Softly Nevertheless, the Chief Executive Officer, Financial Derivatives Limited, Mr. Bismarck Rewane, who welcomed the move by the CBN, warned that the maturing FX forwards should be a concern to the regulator.

“We must remember that the FX forwards contracts started maturing as from the end of March. Forward contracts are posted-dated cheques and when they start maturing is when we would start seeing the effects of the intervention on the reserves.

“I think if for anything, we should be using this opportunity to find a fair value for the naira because oil prices have come down and forward contracts are maturing,” Rewane said.

According to him, by adjusting the rate for such invisibles, “the CBN is just subsidising Nigerians.”

“This could lead to crisis of false expectation.

Rather than move the rate up, what I expected the CBN to do was to open up the market, remove all the restrictions and you will see that the currency will find its real value.

“So, first of all, it is a good move, but it is better to be cautiously optimistic rather than being carried away,” Rewane stated.

On his part, the Acting Managing Director, Afrinvest Securities Limited, Mr. Ayodeji Ebo, said lowering the rate for BDCs showed that the intervention by the CBN was yielding the desired results.

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R • APRIL 2, 2017

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BUSINESS/TELECOMS

Mobile devices

Developing Skills with Technology

Emma Okonji writes that most apps released by telecoms operators for value added services do not only boost market strategies, but also develop the innate abilities of subscribers

S

ince the inception of Global System for Mobile communications in 2001, telecoms operators have been passionate about releasing various applications and solutions, geared towards enhancing customer experience. Some of the apps and solutions have actually helped customers expand their businesses, while others have helped customers to develop their innate skills and make them more technology savvy in today’s world that is virtually driven by technology.

Addressing the issue of skills development, using available apps, at the MTN Foundation Scholarship Alumni conference, held recently in Imo, Abuja and Lagos, most of the guest speakers and beneficiaries of the conference, explained how they had over the years developed themselves, using available apps released by telecoms operators and other technology developers.

The 2017 MTN Foundation Scholarship Alumni conference, which was held in three locations across the country, saw a cross section of beneficiaries from the foundation’s scholarship scheme that were enlightened and inspired by young and enterprising Nigerians.

The issues The founder and CEO of Slot Systems Limited, who doubles as the co-founder of Tecno Mobile, Mr. Nnamdi Ezeigbo, who was one of the special guest at the MTN Foundation Scholarship Alumni conference, narrated how most Nigerians had developed themselves over time, using available apps and solutions provided by telecoms operators.

Using himself as an example, Ezeigbo said he studied electrical electronics engineering in his first degree, and because he could not find the kind of job he wanted, he decided to create one for himself.“So what I did was to look inward to see my strength and capacity. My capacity is in engineering. I had to do something within the context of engineering. I decided to go for training to acquire the competence of becoming a computer engineer. I could have tried something else, maybe fashion design, but of

course I had no passion for fashion design. It was easier for me to look at my strength. That strength was acquired from my undergraduate days in the university. I became an engineer by virtue of going to school,”he said.

According to him,“People today lack competence that could actually make them employable, even though they have the required certifications. This is the reason why so many youths are jobless. People need to understand that you need to spend more time and money to acquire the right training in other to have your desired work. You have to become a solution provider for you to create wealth and also survive in an unpredictable environment like Nigeria.

The solution can never get attractive.

“When I started 18 years ago, the environment was volatile, very tough. There was nothing that could attract anyone. There was nothing to show that this is the best time,”Ezeigbo.

Giving the full meaning of the acronym SLOT and what inspired the business name, Ezeigbo said ‘S’ stood for solution provision,‘L’ stood for leadership, ‘O’ for opportunity and ‘T’ for technology.

He said solution provision remained the most effective way to create wealth for the society. “One of the things I have done is the introduction of the Tecno brand to the Nigerian market. Today Tecno has over 1,000 people surviving under the brand. I introduced Tecno in 2006, because I noticed that there was a problem of poor service. In Nigeria, people carry phones and multiple sim cards just to have access to good network. I started thinking that couldn’t they have been a phone with two or three sims.

So I had to introduce Tecno to the environment,” Ezeigbo said.

According to him, it took about three years for him to grow the brand in Nigeria and today Tecno is not just for the lower income earners/mass market, even the middle class has to accept it.“Tecno has been the right point of my career as a business man, because when you identify need, you create a hitch and you equally create blue ocean, which of course does not last because soon, it will become red ocean. But before it becomes red ocean, you

must have created wealth and economic gain for yourself and that was what I did,”he stated.

Speaking on leadership, he said leadership remained key to any entrepreneur who wanted to be successful.

He advised aspiring entrepreneurs to adopt good leadership style, using available technology, in order to grow their business.

He said,“One of the things about leadership training is that you need to understand technology.You need to understand your business.You need self-awareness skills. You need to know your strength, Elaborating more on technology skills, he said,“This is a wonderful platform for people to do business, to compete and to make more money at a much reduced cost. Technology makes you smarter, and this is a time for smart people. As scholars you need to use your brains to make money. Think of a smarter way to solve problems; do not use complex solutions to solve complex problems. Be dynamic. Look for opportunities around you and convert them to naira.”

Another guest speaker, and proponent of Madein-Aba initiative, Mr. Sam Hart, who is a legal practitioner and currently the senior special adviser to the governor of Abia State on public communications, told his story of how he used apps and available technology tools to better his lot. He said he had worked with three different governors of the state for over 14 years.“I do believe that perhaps there is something I am doing right that makes every governor of Abia State to always invite me to work with them, and this is technology.

“I am the initiator and the lead driver of the project Made in Aba. Over time, Made-in-Aba used to be synonymous to inferior product. My remit is to change that narrative and we need to start looking at stuff that comes from Aba as something of quality.”

Expatiating on what makes a winning idea, Hart said: “It has to be out of the ordinary. Everybody tells you to think outside the box, but I say to you, think like there is no box. Think like no box exists and go out and create your own thing; that is being distinctive. If you do the same thing that everyone keeps doing all the time, then you cannot

be extraordinary, and you cannot be different from others.”

Beneficiaries Some of the participants, who were beneficiaries, narrated how the MTN foundation Science and Technology Scheme helped them in overcoming their challenges, with the help of technology apps and tools.

Inuka Chiamake, a graduate of Petroleum Engineering from the Federal University of Technology, Owerri, said: “I am a beneficiary and alumni of the MTN foundation Science and Technology Scheme. My parent appreciated this kind gesture the most. They were astonished at the fact that gestures like this still exist in the country. The workshop is more like an exposure to me. It opened my eyes to certain things. I always have this fear in me that my background had not exposed me to see the real world. I am happy to be part of the alumni. It is a very nice platform to bring people that MTN foundation has helped together. It will go a long way towards networking and sharing knowledge.”

Another beneficiary of the MTN Foundation Scholarship Scheme, Damilare Ishola, a 400 level Guidance and Counselling student of Lagos State University, also lauded the scheme and the impact it had made in their lives. He revealed that life after he lost his sight was difficult until MTN Foundation came to his rescue. Ishola said,“I lost my sight due to some unforeseen circumstances beyond human control. Life was very tough as I felt rejected and abused. I waited at home for years not knowing what to do next. When I heard about MTN foundation I had to put more effort on my academics. My name was listed among the qualified candidates and since then my condition has changed for the better. I thank the MTN foundation for coming to my rescue.”

Executive Secretary, MTN Foundation, Nonny Ugboma, charged the alumni to work with the right people as they journey through life. “Make sure you select the right person to go ahead with you in your journey,”she said.

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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 • APRIL 2, 2017

BUSINESS/TELECOMS

Dealing with Perennial Poor Quality of Service The issue of poor service quality reared up its ugly head for the first time in 2006, after the expiration of the five-year exclusivity period granted the first set of licensed telecoms operators that rolled out in 2001, and since then it has been a recurrent issue, writes Emma Okonji

W

hen Econet Wireless Nigeria (now Airtel Nigeria) first rolled out its telecommunication commercial services on August 8, 2001, followed

by MTN Nigeria, a week after, the quality of service was awesome and without hitches.

The quality was maintained even after Globacom rolled out in 2003, and Nigerians were pleased with the service, which was mainly dominated by voice calls. At that time a caller will generate a call at one dial and will connect easily to the call recipient and discussions done in several minutes without each party experiencing drop calls. There was no network congestion then that would warrant drop calls and subscribers were happy with network operators. Within this period, subscriber number was not much, compared to what it is today. Total subscribers’ number was less than 5 million at that time, but today there are over 150 million connected lines.

But shortly after the expiration of the five-year exclusivity period, precisely in 2006, telecoms subscribers started experiencing poor service quality, ranging from drop calls, inability to recharge, call diversion, poor voice clarity, to inability to make successful calls.

The situation continued and degenerated as more subscribers were registered, and subscribers complained.

When Etisalat was eventually registered in 2008, and it rolled out its services in 2008, its network appeared better than that of existing operators, but Etisalat started suffering the same poor quality, few years after, when its subscribers’ number increased rapidly.

Telecoms experts have blamed network congestion on the inability of operators to expand their networks, commensurate with the number of subscribers they register on their networks, while others have blamed the situation on obsolete telecoms facilities that do not have the capacity to accommodate the expanded subscribers’ number.

Disturbed by the situation, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) came up with all manners of measures to address the issue, including sanctions, but the issue of poor service quality persisted across networks.

NCC’s Recent Measures Worried by the degenerating quality of service (QoS) provided by Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) and other service providers, the NCC, recently came up with new measures to address the ugly trend, which appears endless.

As part of new measures to cushion the situation and ameliorate the recurrent inaccessibility to foreign exchange (forex) by operators, the Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta, told the operators that the commission had written to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, and he was favourably disposed to addressing the forex needs of the operators.

Specifically, as a follow-up to the letter, the Executive Commissioner, Stakeholders Management at NCC, Mr. Sunday Dare, had a meeting with CBN Governor and extracted a commitment from him on how he hoped to address the forex needs of the operators.

Danbatta, who spoke with the operators in Abuja during an interactive session on service quality delivery which NCC management had with operators, said since the NCC had declared 2017 as the year of the consumer, all hands should be on deck for telecom consumers to have a fresh lease to high quality of service. “The consumer

A telecoms masts

has to be treated with dignity,” Danbatta added, saying the “8-point agenda drives this point home.”

The NCC, he explained, has put measures in place to check and monitor QoS on various networks “and we have sent this report to our task force on QoS and have been interacting with governments at different levels as part of the measures to deal with the poor QoS”.

Danbatta admonished the operators and colocation service operators to provide suggestions on how to address the situation.

Earlier, NCC’s Executive Commissioner, Technical Services, Mr. Ubale Maska said, QoS has been a great concern as consumers inundate the commission with complaints.

“It requires everybody’s input if the situation has to be redressed, hence 2017 has been declared the year of the Consumer,” Maska said.

NCC Director, Technical Standards and Network Integrity (DTSNI), Dr. Fidelis Ona, explained that the commission was aware of some of the challenges which include Right of Way (RoW), difficulty in acquiring new cell sites, multiple taxation and regulation, vandalism, power supply among others.

“We are engaging stakeholders, including Industry Working Group on Quality of Service, special committee on Counter Harmonization to address this,” Ona said.

NCC’s Head, Quality of Service Unit, Edoyemi Ogoh, in his presentation traced poor quality of service to fibre cuts, community issues, among others.

He said in October 2016, operators experienced 175 cuts across the nation while they recorded 180 cuts in November and 103 in December, 2016.

There were 113 community issues in October 2016, 74 in November and 133 in December, adding that fibre cuts and community issues

remain major drawbacks for QoS. Chief Technical Officer (CTO) at MTN Nigeria, Mr. Hassan Jamil, expressed happiness with the interactive session, and said it would help the regulator to know the situation on a one-on-one basis.

Subscribers’ Pains The issue of poor service quality has caused a great deal of pains to subscribers. At every consumer parliament organised by NCC, consumer complaints on poor service quality always take the centre stage. Most subscribers at some point in time will remain incommunicado, especially at festive periods like Yuletide, because they could not make calls as a result of network congestion.

Some text messages were delivered days after the messages were sent, and at the time the message would be received, the essence of sending the message which had been billed, would have been defeated.

In order to address the challenges, the Chief Executive Officer of Teledom Group, Dr. Emmanuel Ekuwem, called for increased access to ubiquitous broadband across the country. In a similar vein, the President of National Association of Telecoms Subscribers (NATCOM), Chief Deolu Ogunbanjo, also called for increase in the number of Base Transceiver Stations (BTS), otherwise known as base stations. Ogunbanjo said Britain with a population of less than Nigeria’s 180 million people, has over 65,000 base stations, while Nigeria is still struggling to maintain about 20, 000 base stations across the country.

Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Gbenga Adebayo, however called for growth in local content development in the telecoms sector, which he said would boost telecoms growth among small

indigenous players. He said Nigeria should be able to address its collective challenges, to enable telecoms subscribers enjoy the achievements of the sector, since the rollout of GSM services in the country in 2001.

Economic Loss Both the operators and subscribers suffer economic loss, once there is network congestion that affects successful calls. According to the operators, they are never happy when there is network congestion because what that means is loss of revenue for the operators since people will not be able to make calls and browse the internet.

In the same manner, subscribers who have business calls to make that could fetch them good money, will end up losing funds in the process.

Operators’ Position Telecoms operators who attended the recent meeting with the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, listed some of their challenges as it relates to poor service quality, and made some suggestions on how to address the issue. They were of the view that scarcity of dollar has worsened the situation, and has resulted to their inability to import equipment to boost network expansion.

According to them, we can’t transmit forex to vendors, we have issues with incessant fibre cuts, community related challenges, scarcity of diesel to power base stations, Right of Way issues with different layers of government in the regions, as well as sabotage at different levels. “We planned to install 100 sites for Abuja this year, but after a very long time, we were only able to build six because of the bottlenecks of getting approvals and until we resolve these, quality of service will be a mirage,” the operators told Danbatta at the recent meeting.

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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 • APRIL 2, 2017

INTERVIEW Liser: CCA Will Help Trump Re-shape Africa Agenda

Ms. Florie Liser resumed work in Washington DC. January 23 as the first female and third President/CEO of the Corporate Council on Africa (CCA). Liser had earlier shared her vision for Africa as the new pilot in the cockpit with members of the CCA in what she called a new conversation about how America does business with Africa. In this interview with Nduka Nwosu, the former US Trade Representative to 49 African countries restates her already stated convictions on why it is exciting and challenging to work in Africa, her lifelong interest

C

an we get to know you more as well as your job profile at the Office of USTR?

Absolutely. Good morning and thank you for the congratulations and for the opportunity to interview with THISDAY. For those who do not know me, my name is Florie Liser and I have spent the majority of my career working to grow and improve the US-Africa trade and investment relationship. I was unanimously appointed President and CEO of the Corporate Council on Africa, CCA, by our Board of Directors and I officially began my new role on January 23. CCA is the leading US business association focused solely on connecting business interests in Africa. I joined CCA from the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR), where I served as the Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Africa since 2003. At USTR, I spearheaded trade and investment policy towards 49 sub-Saharan African nations and oversaw implementation of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).

Before I became the Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Africa, I worked as the Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Industry, Market Access, and Telecommunications from 2000-2003; served as the Senior Trade Policy Advisor in the Office of International Transportation and Trade at the Department of Transportation from 1987-2000; worked as a Director in USTR’s Office of GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) Affairs, and served as an Associate Fellow at the Overseas Development Council (ODC) from 1975-1980.

What is the significance of this appointment about this time especially in corporate America and the global stage where there is an on-going advocacy to see more women occupy vital positions such as the CCA portfolio provides?

I think we are living in an interesting time in history. There are important conversations taking place all over the world right now about globalisation and how we do business internationally. It is a period of change and a time of uncertainty as the new U.S. Administration begins to shape a range of policies that will, no doubt, impact the U.S.-Africa relationship broadly, and U.S.-Africa business engagement specifically. There is also a lot of change happening on the continent as well. There are new presidents in Ghana and the Gambia, and we’ll be watching elections in Kenya, Liberia, Rwanda, and Angola very closely.

There are many challenges and opportunities that U.S. policy should address because we cannot afford to ignore the second fastest growing market in the world. Now, more than ever, is the time for a call to action by the U.S. and African private sector to help shape the Trump Administration’s Africa agenda and policies. CCA, and I as its president, have a vital role to play.

It will be more appropriate to follow this up by asking what are the aims and objectives of the Corporate

Liser

Council on Africa?

CCA hosted its Annual Membership Meeting earlier this month, and I told our members that my goal for the organization is for CCA to be the most valuable resource for companies and organisations doing business in Africa. It’s a simple, but ambitious goal I have set outfor me and my staff.

Coming from government where you were the US trade representative what synergy will the Council stand to benefit by way of your experience?

There is actually not too much work for me to do in terms of building synergies between CCA and U.S. government agencies. The organization already enjoyed very strong relationships with the U.S. government before I took office, and has a strong reputation for bipartisanship and

working with whichever administration is in office. We have hosted former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama and have worked with U.S. agencies relevant to our member companies. I plan to continue this strong tradition and build upon CCA’s work to date.

Since you had earlier keyed in the issue of your vision, will you like to elaborate on this even if informally?

As I previously mentioned, I want this organization to be the most valuable resource for companies doing business in Africa. To accomplish this goal, I plan to focus on four key things at the moment: reorienting the organization to provide more services beyond our events; expanding our footprint on the continent and our reach outside the Washington, DC metro area; growing our membership; and

maintaining our critical role as a convener of business stakeholders in Africa and in the United States. In my first 50 days in office, we launched a series of policy workshops called the U.S.-Africa Business Dialogue. These meetings will convene business leaders to make policy recommendations to the new administration for their specific sectors.

I also just returned from my first trip to the continent as President and CEO of CCA, where I met with CCA members and other businesses in South Africa and Kenya.

When do you intend to visit Nigeria?

Don’t worry; I intend to visit Nigeria soon. Finally, we will be hosting our flagship conference, the 11th Biennial U.S.-Africa Business Summit on June 13-16, 2016 in Washington, DC. The

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R • APRIL 2, 2017

23

INTERVIEW

Liser: CCA Will Help Trump Re-shape Africa Agenda

Cont’d from Pg. 22

summit will convene over 1,000 business and government leaders focused on doing business in Africa.

How many Nigerian businessmen and interests are active participants of the CCA?

We have 26 member companies in Nigeria – indigenous and multinationals including leading businesses like Dangote Group, Microsoft, Zenith Bank, ExxonMobil, Heirs Holdings, Procter and Gamble, Adepetun Caxton-Martins Agbor & Segun (ACAS-LAW), Caterpillar and Afro Tourism.

About 15% of our member companies are African and it’s our fastest growing demographic within membership. Nigerian companies make up almost 50% of that number.

We are fortunate to have Mr. Aliko Dangote and Mr. Jim Ovia on our Board of Directors and we also have a satellite office in Abuja. Mr. Ekenem Isichei, our Director for West Africa, heads that office.

Can you espouse on your earlier statement that there are many challenges and opportunities that U.S. policy should address because we cannot afford to ignore the second fastest growing market in the world?

Certainly. When CCA was founded in 1993 with a few, passionate members, Africa was in fact largely ignored as a market and viable business opportunity for Americans. Today, Africa is undergoing the most rapid urbanization rate of any region - 1 billion people with 50% under the age of 20; and despite recent changes in the African market, spending by Africa’s consumers and businesses already totals $4 trillion. Africa is also more connected now than ever before as its internet usage has grown at a pace seven times faster than the global average. In addition to having 60% of the world’s uncultivated arable land, the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) projects that Africa could double its manufacturing output and we have already begun seeing more value-added agricultural and non-oil products entering global markets, including the United States.

What this means for U.S. and African business is that there are incredible opportunities for greater and more diversified trade and investment. We must also acknowledge though, that along with these great opportunities, there remain some troubling problems. There are pockets of high unemployment and poverty, and it is still unnecessarily cumbersome to do business in many countries.

How does the CCA intend to help the Trump Administration in shaping its Africa agenda and policies?

To be frank, there have been a lot of think pieces and talking heads speculating on what the Trump Administration’s policies towards Africa will be, but there have been no official announcements yet. I think there is a link between the administration’s priorities in Africa (such as peace and security) and the continent’s economic development.

CCA is uniquely positioned to “connect the dots” between what is important to the new U.S. Administration and what’s important to U.S. and African businesses – including greater trade, investment, and job creation; and lead a dialogue on the U.S. stake in greater U.S.-Africa economic engagement.

Would you like to talk more on the U.S.-Africa Business Dialogue?

As I mentioned earlier, it will be an on-going series of policy workshops that will bring business leaders and stakeholders together to make recommendations for specific industries. Our first workshops focused on energy and power, agribusiness, technology and infrastructure. These recommendations will be shared with the Trump White House, as well as relevant U.S. government agencies working in those sectors and on those issues.

What is the CCA’s trade policy, and the expectations under your administration?

Liser

CCA does not develop trade policies for governments. We do, however, advocate for policies both in the U.S. and on the continent that facilitate U.S.-Africa trade and investment, many of which have an impact on our members’ business and investments. As a convener, we do leverage our connections with regional bodies and governments to ensure the private sector has a voice in policy discussions which are key to building enabling business environments.

a massive constraint on business growth.

In 2011, former President of AfDB announced that it would cost approximately US$90b every year for the next decade to address Africa’s infrastructure deficit.

Our infrastructure program at CCA is one of our most active and our members are constantly involved in new deals and projects on the continent. In fact, CCA member, Acrow Bridge, won the U.S. ExIm Deal of the Year award last year for their project supplying bridges to Cameroon.

How is the CCA helping African countries maximise their energy resources including the ability to supply regular electricity to every household and industry?

President Trump has said one of his major emphases would be security, fighting terrorism globally. How is the CCA leveraging into this to benefit members fighting one form of insurgency or the other in the continent?

CCA primarily works for the private sector, but we recognize that the power deficit on the continent is one of the largest constraints to business. Power and electrification will require an incredible amount of investments over the next few years and I think it will be accomplished through innovative public-private partnerships. In fact, we will be discussing how these partnerships are put together at the CCA Africa Finance Forum on April 20, which is taking place on the sidelines of the World Bank Spring Meeting. CCA has a number of member companies, such as Symbion Power, that are active partners in Power Africa projects. Power Africa, an initiative of the U.S. government, is bringing together technical and legal experts, the private sector, and governments from around the world to work in partnership to increase the production of electricity in Africa and the number of Africans with access to electricity. Beyond Power Africa, several CCA members are engaged in various power generation initiatives across the continent.

One of your key areas of emphasis is infrastructure development. Would you like once more to get into this conversation?

Similar to energy, infrastructure is also

As I stated, I think there is a link between the administration’s priorities in Africa and the continent’s economic development. A lot of insurgency, especially on

About 15% of our member companies are African and it’s our fastest growing demographic within membership.

Nigerian companies make up almost 50% of that number

the continent, can be linked to poverty and unemployment and the private sector remains the best driver of economic growth and development.

Security is also a sector focus at CCA because it affects every facet of business.

We are not only interested in supporting CCA member companies that provide security-related equipment, services and training, we are also interested in how security affects business outcomes in other key sectors such as tourism and infrastructure.

How is the CCA working to increase and enhance the value of agricultural products coming from Nigeria and other African countries especially as primary export items?

Once again, it is important to note that CCA does not itself invest in agricultural production, but rather is working closely with member companies to support investments in African agriculture and agribusiness. CCA has a number of member companies in the agribusiness sector working to modernize African agriculture and boost the sector’s profile so governments recognize that agriculture is in fact, big business.

Developing the agricultural value chain and processing and producing more than just raw materials would also enable Nigeria and other African nations to take advantage of duty free access to the U.S. market for those products under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).

Would you like to elaborate on your finance programme for African countries and how it has fared till date?

We do not have a finance program for African countries, like the World Bank or IMF; rather, we have a strong finance working group program comprised of CCA member company banks, private equity, investors and business leaders focused on issues relating to raising capital and facilitating business transactions in Africa.

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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 • APRIL 2, 2017

INTERVIEW

Akinsanya: SMEs Face Myriad Challenges Impeding their Growth

Aramide Akinsanya is an organisational development expert and Executive Director of LEAP Africa, a premium resource centre devoted to developing dynamic, innovative and principled leaders who will drive Africa’s realisation of its full potential. With a personal passion for driving change and providing solutions to issues that impact the larger society, in this interview with Olaseni Durojaiye, Akinsanya discusses entrepreneurial pursuits, SMEs and how to grow SMEs into large corporates

W

hat are the founding vision of LEAP Africa?

is affecting organisations with the key-man factor; of course it can be avoided when you have a strong management board in place and since at LEAP issues of corporate governance is taken seriously, we expect that those that don’t have a board will put one in place.

In terms of financial management for instance; if an SME owner is at the point where there is no separation between personal finances and business finances, we expect that after the forum and the learning that they would have acquired they will clearly separate the two. If they didn’t have audited accounts before, we expect that they will start to have their accounts audited. After attending the seminars, we expect that going forward they would have their accounts audited regularly.

This is so because the seminars that we have lined up in the CEOs Forum will make them realise the need to have audited accounts and to take their civic responsibilities, as well as paying their taxes serious; and, ensuring that they run their businesses ethically.

We also expect that both the well-established business and the not-so-well-established ones will come to realise the importance of applying innovative methods into their daily operations, including leadership styles and how the work place should be in terms of culture.

The vision for LEAP Africa, which is what attracted me to the organisation was to be recognised as the premium resource centre for developing dynamic, innovative and principled leaders who will drive Africa’s realisation of its full potential.

How well placed is the Nigerian entrepreneur to complete in terms of global competitiveness?

I would say not yet, and that’s on a large scale. On smaller scale, there’re a few that are doing great stuffs, but may be having the visibility of big companies like a Glo and Dangote that are doing well even in other Africa countries; these are not SMEs we know, but we want our SMEs to get to that level and this is why we have this kind of programmes.

So I will say a large number of them are not yet in that stage where they can compete effectively in the African space. I think there are three African countries that are doing very well, that I could say are more prominent now within that space and that is Ghana, Kenya and of course South Africa.

How could they compete? They are still battling with financing, innovation, unethical behaviours on the part of employees, culture, structure, a governance committee, financial planning and management.

What is the forum offering?

LEAP Africa is offering international standard training delivered by resource persons, who are experts, successful entrepreneurs and executives in well-structured organisations like large corporate and multinationals. We will be bringing in speakers who we know understand the issues that we know are lacking in a lot of SMEs. I think sometimes we take things for granted in our environment and so it’s an avenue for LEAP to contribute to sustainable growth of these businesses by saying that, you know what, you really cannot afford to take some things for granted anymore and this is an avenue where you can learn and engage with experts from not just within Nigeria, and learn. Starting from this year we will also be having post forum engagement, so the learning will be continuous.

Can you expatiate on the challenges impeding the Nigerian entrepreneurs and SME owners from being able to compete on the continental stage?

It brings us back to the ease of doing business in Nigeria. Every time I see a major business being established in a place like Ghana, I ask myself: what is Ghana doing right that Nigeria is not doing well? Why are so many Nigerian companies also taking off to Ghana to establish companies there? There are a lot happening in countries like Ghana, even Kenya in terms of innovation, in terms of financial inclusion, in terms of the use of technology, and of course South Africa; it means that we have a lot to learn from these African countries.

The SMEs face a lot of challenges in this part and I think a lot of them don’t even think about the things that can help them compete properly within Africa and globally because a lot of them are still battling with a lot of issues like power, access to foreign exchange and restrictions on certain raw materials; there is also the issue of ethical behaviour among staff.

There are also the issues of power restriction and dealing with unethical staff that has also become a pervasive mindset among the average Nigerian employee, who works for an SME and thinking of how he could copy the idea of the SME or probably snatch the company’s business, then go on to start his own business or he is using the company resources to his personal use.

What is the thinking behind LEAP Africa’s CEOs Forum and why is it focusing on SMEs?

Globally, SMEs are major employers of labour. They contribute significantly to the development of any nation by creating platforms whereby wealth can be created, due to the critical role that SMEs play in any nation or economy. But our focus is to help SMEs to position properly, to help them embrace organisational structure and attract funding so that they can also grow from SMEs into large corporates.

However, we have plans to expand our target to include Small Growth Businesses (SGB) and why I say that is because the LEAP focus in the SMEs is about helping organisations grow and become sustainable by embracing systems and structures; that being the case, I felt why not extend the benefits to SBGs since they are also strategic to the growth of any economy.

Akinsanya

What does participants stands to gain from the CEOs?

There are so many benefits. Take for instance, the issue of innovation and technology which is one of the sub themes, you will agree with me that there is a lot going on out there that we cannot avoid the need to innovate.

Technology is changing the way business is being done; it is changing the way everything is being done, and even in education people are doing phenomenal stuffs to demonstrate innovation. So as an organisation, whether you are business or as not-for-profit, if you are not able to adapt to the dynamism of your environment, you may become irrelevant or less relevant within your space and so you find out that you cannot ignore the need to be innovative.

For example, in our environment, we are very familiar with the authoritarian style of workplace leadership, but a lot of research that has broken down a lot of barriers in people management and emotional intelligence shows that there are ways of leading that create potential for direct report.

There has been an upswing of activities around entrepreneurship recently. Why is this so?

The SMEs face a lot of challenges in this part and I think a lot of them don’t even think about the things that can help them compete properly within Africa and globally because a lot of them are still battling with a lot of issues like power, access to foreign exchange and restrictions on certain raw materials; there is also the issue of ethical behaviour among staff

What are the benchmark expectations from the attendees after the forum?

If I may take you back to our mission which is to inspire, empower and to equip a new cadre of African leaders with the skills and tools for personal organisational and community transformation; so, we expect that as a result of being exposed to the international standard learning at the CEOs Forum, and the follow-up engagements afterwards, starting this year, we expect that: for those SMEs that have a strong key-man factor they’ll begin to ensure

that processes are put in place so that people are empowered such that the reliance on the founder is reduced because we found out that for many organisations that have moved from being founder run to being run by management board are the better for it.

In LEAP, we talk a lot about corporate governance, it is part of the sub themes and we believe that is one of the challenges that

This is a given because there are enormous data that shows that we do not have enough work spaces to take up the number of graduates that are being churned out by the tertiary institutions, and apart from the graduates, there are those, who are products of technical institutions as well; and so you ask yourself, what else will these young people do if they cannot get jobs.

Going into entrepreneurship seems to be the only alternative because you have to be able to create something that is marketable in products or service that will generate income for yourself and then income for others. I’m one of those people, who believe that every human being has immense creative potential, the major challenge that we face here is that we do not have an environment that really support creativity; that notwithstanding, we still have a lot of creative ideas.

Entrepreneurial development represents the way to actually execute one’s purpose, even though we have two kinds of entrepreneur: the dream chaser entrepreneur and the necessity entrepreneur.

The necessity entrepreneur is just out to make money, he’ll do anything just to make money, and he could be into buying and selling. But the dream chaser has passion for something, he believes in a particular purpose; for him it is like a calling.

Another reason for the upsurge is that given the right support in terms of relevant international standard training, in terms of networking and the enabling environment, we can actually scale up and continually recruit more people and provide solutions that address problems that we face here.

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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 • APRIL 2, 2017

WOMEN IN MEDIA

Egbemode: We Need a Scheme that Would Help Editors Plan for Life After the Newsroom At a time her mates were still grappling with simple words and meanings, she was already competing for novels with her seniors at the college library. No wonder, before she left primary school, she had read almost all the D.O Fagunwa books. By the time she would write her West African School Certificate Examination, she had read many James Hadley Chase and Charles Dickens novels. Welcome to the world of Funke Egbemode, the President of Nigerian Guild of Editors and Managing Director, The New Telegraph. A graduate of English Language from the University of Ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University, Egbemode’s determination to write had taken her first to Prime People in 1989 and she has not looked back since then. Twenty-eight years after, the Osun State-born journalist has surpassed many of her expectations in journalism, and she has been highly favoured by God. Raheem Akingbolu spoke to Egbemode in Lagos

M

rs. Funke Egbemode had gone into the labour market in 1989 with the determination to conquer the world with her pen. Though not sure of the platform, young Funke had her mind fixed on writing. She says, “I wouldn’t say I started out to be a journalist; I just wanted to write. I am a daughter of two teachers and I was exposed to books very early in life; from lady bird books, to the simplified editions of Charles Dickens and Shakespeare.

“By the age of 11, I had read almost all the simplified editions of Shakespeare and Charles Dickens. My father had that kind of library. He was a teacher, an examiner, a WAEC maker and Yoruba author. He’s retired now, and I had the opportunity of reading both in English and Yoruba.

So I had the opportunity of reading wide. By age 12, I had read all of D.O Fagunwa books. I was an avid reader. By the time I finished secondary school, I had read all James Hardly Chase books I could lay my hands on. I read plenty of fiction, so I knew that I wanted to write. Journalism for me was something that offered a platform for my passion. I wanted to write like the writers I read.”

Journalism Egbemode’s journey to the newsroom began during her National Youth Service Corps programme. She had gone to see a cousin who was a production manager with the old Prime People magazine. He cousin introduced her to the general manager who asked if she wanted to work or just visited. The production manager directed her to see the editor, Felix Akagbo, a Sierra Leonean.

“The editor gave me a research assignment and I went to the National Library and researched. They later gave me an assignment and I started freelancing from there. That was the beginning of it,” she says.

Girl Child Education Many would wonders how her parents believed so much in the girl child education at a time when some parents had aversion to it. But to Mr. and Mrs. Egbemode what mattered was the seriousness of the child, not the sex.

Egbemode says, “I think it’s because he was a teacher and my mother was also a teacher. My maternal grandfather was a distributor with John Holt. My father didn’t marry from a family where education wasn’t priced. So he wanted all his children – four of us girls – to be graduates. In investing in us, he didn’t separate the boys from the girls; he invested in all of us.”

Looking back, Egbemode believes she has surpassed many of her expectations. “I didn’t really make any plan. I just wanted to do the best I could at every level. Some people said I must have mapped out what I wanted to do. I did not map out what I wanted to do.”

Advice Egbemode has a word of advice for women planning to go into journalism.

“For a lady or anybody coming into journalism, you must have a passion for it because it’s not about money. I went to do counselling in Vivian Fowler sometime ago and I told them, the money will eventually come, but you must come with

Egbemode your passion. It is your passion that will open the doors. However, two things are important if you plan to grow in the industry: hard work and focus.”

To her, female journalists cannot marry just anybody.

They should marry mature men who can cope with the demands of the profession. She describes men who marry female journalists as special men, men who want to support their wives.

Marriage Egbemode says her late husband was a special man. He accepted and supported her. She says, “My late husband was a good man. He wanted to own what is good. My success didn’t intimidate him. He believed he owned me because I was his wife. He was not somebody who had issues with me taking photographs with governors. Not a person who thought your taking photographs with the president means you knew the president.

To him, it was my job.

“You can take photographs with seven governors one day, and then they don’t pick your calls in the evening. You’ve finished your work, you’ve gone, and they’ve also gone their way. You have to marry a man who understands the dynamics of the profession.”

How does Egbemode balance her roles as a journalist, wife, and mother?

“It’s a struggle, but it’s a struggle that has paid off,” she says. “You have to juggle the balls and make sure none falls. I won’t tell you that it’s easy.

And any female journalist, editor or not, will tell you that. When I’m going home these days and I

see my female colleagues in the newsroom, I feel for them being at work at 9pm. You just need an understanding family and even an understanding mother-in-law. You need everybody to support you because everybody who supports you is sowing.

And everybody who supports a female journalist eventually reaps because when she becomes something, you are all there to share the limelight.”

She continues, “For me, it was tough because I married at an early stage and I had all my children in journalism, juggling with difficult pregnancies and raising children. I was still breastfeeding when I became an editor for the first time. I became an editor when my last child was 11 months old. I’ll work all week and I would cook on Sundays for the week because I love to cook my own food and I love my late husband to eat my food. If I had to give instruction for anybody in the house to cook for him, it would be to make his rice or amala; I would cook the soup.”

Finest Moments Egbemode talks about some of her columns, which brought her into the limelight. “The name of the column then was Single Girls before it became Intimate Affairs and Adam’s Apple. Because I wasn’t married then so it was Single Girls. I would say exposure for me happened early. But then, when I moved to Punch, the door opened wider. And since then, it has been opening wider.”

She says, “I started with Prime People, which is not like today’s soft sell titles. It was a human interest publication; plenty of investigation went into

it. Moving around looking for the odd, uncommon and stories that touched the heart. But I would say the columns in Punch made more people know me.

And being a columnist, I produced other pages. I covered entertainment; I was a bit all over the place even during my child bearing days.”

A woman with a strong personality, Egbemode says she cannot be intimidated. “Intimidation by men in the industry, no!” she says. “I am an Aderanti, raised by a very strong man and a very determined woman. It’s difficult to intimidate me. In the news room, it’s about what you are doing. No editor is really interested in whether you are wearing skirt or trouser; it’s about what you can do. I had strong editors from the beginning, like Gboyega Okegbenro who would make me do what everyone else was doing. I did production nights where you wear overall and go from Lithography to press at 2am. I never felt intimidated by the fact that I was surrounded by men. And I even tell people that once in a while, I forget that I’m a woman because I have been working with men and comfortable wearing my trousers. I do whatever they are doing.

“We go to ‘parish’ together and I tell them that I’m a non-communicant of the Parrish of ‘Saint Bottles Cathedral’. So I fit in with my folks and that has helped me a lot. For instance, they call me the president of the Guild, I’m sure they no longer see me as a woman. They see me as one of them because I’ve been part of the business for a while.

The only time I practised journalism outside the newsroom was when I went to be Special Adviser on Media to the first female Speaker of the House of Representative, Patricia Eteh, and the little time I spent at the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation. Before I joined The Sun and later Daily Telegraph. I have worked in Prime People, Punch, Post Express and THISDAY, where I was once an Associate Editor.”

The Guild Egbemode speaks on her headship of the Nigerian Guild of Editors. ‘’I’m first among equals because everybody that I’m leading is qualified to lead,” she says. “The pressure is there not to drop the ball and disappoint them. The way I became president of the Guild was like by voice vote. That has its own pressure. I must not do anything that would disappoint them and then, I want to leave behind a Guild that is better than the one that I found. That’s a lot of work. The guild had been led consistently by great people, from the late Mrs. Remi Oyo, Onyema Okechukwu, Baba Dantiye, Garba Muhammed, Garba Shehu, and Gbenga Adefaye to our own Femi Adeshina. These are people that have done great work. So the pressure is there.”

As she prepares to finish Adeshina’s tenure and contest in the next one month for her own full tenure, Egbemode says she is already getting plenty of support. One thing is paramount on her mind: she wants to put together a scheme that would allow editors to plan for life after the chair.

“All what editors do is work; they give their passion. Even when their health fails, they continue to work. And then, suddenly, they are removed, they find out they have nowhere else to go. They are used to working 18 hours, and they now have 18 hours on their hands with nothing to do with it,” she says, adding, “So I’m working on a scheme with the present executive and I will continue with the new team come April 29, by the grace of God.”

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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 • APRIL 2, 2017

BUSINESS/AVIATION

Helicopter operations set to boom on Lagos, Kaduna, Abuja routes

As Abuja Airport Reopens in 3 Weeks, Helicopter Operators Race to Recover Losses

While the one-week suspension of helicopter shuttle services from Abuja to Kaduna and Minna lasted, operators incurred huge losses, which they are now hopeful to recover as operations resumed penultimate Monday, writes Chinedu Eze

A

s helicopter companies count their losses after one-week suspension of shuttle services to Abuja airport, which was closed on March 8 for the rehabilitation of its runway, shuttle operations started penultimate Monday at the instance of the National Security Adviser (NSA), who lifted the ban.

One of the major helicopter operators, Bristow had made plans for the shuttle services over a month ago, by providing facilities at the Minna Airport in Niger State, deploying personnel and equipment.

Another that set its location at designated alternative airport, which is Kaduna International Airport, had started airlifting corporate passengers to Abuja VIP tarmac.

THISDAY gathered that, helicopter companies lost several millions of naira, but officials of the companies kept mum on the cost.

Official of one of the companies however said it was partnering another firm and the official decision was not to make any information public.

The image maker of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Mrs. Henrietta Yakubu, told THISDAY that there had been helicopter shuttle from the Kaduna airport, as high networth passengers could not afford road movement to Abuja, which takes about three hours, while train movement takes about two and half hours.

It could be recalled that 24 hours after the Kaduna Airport commenced operation as alternative to Abuja airport, there was a circular issued by the NSA that helicopter shuttle to the airport of the Federal Capital

Territory had been banned.

Before the Abuja airport was closed, Bristow had made elaborate plan to use Minna airport instead of Kaduna to operate special fixed wing services and airlift its passengers by helicopter from Minna to Abuja. Although high net worth individuals were targeted for the shuttle and it notified its customers, who are mainly oil and gas personnel, the company expended funds on the development of Minna airport for its operations.

Spokesman of Bristow, Mayowa Babatunde, told THISDAY that since the company started the helicopter shuttle from Minna airport to Abuja VIP tarmac, there had been a good turnout of passengers.

The choice of operating its special flight to Minna and airlift passengers with its chopper, Bristow said, was to save time and also provide seamless travel for its clients.

The company operates Embraer 135 special fixed wing flights from Lagos to Abuja and planned to start Minna- Abuja flight from March 8, 2017, but this was disrupted by the NSA ban on chopper services to Abuja airport.

THISDAY enquired from Bristow the cost of airlifting passengers from Minna to Abuja airport tarmac, but the company said it could not publish the fares because it would be against the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) regulation, noting that it was not a scheduled airline operator. However, THISDAY learnt that passengers were charged about N150, 000 per drop.

A helicopter operator told THISDAY that the companies may not be making much profit from the shuttle operation because one hour operation in a Sikorsky helicopter

of that type is $7,000.

“How much are you going to charge each passenger to justify that operation and ensure you don’t record losses?,” the operator asked.

Some industry observers said government should have made provision for the helicopter shuttle instead of banning it for a number of days as they did because such service was very necessary.

They also noted that the security issue was important because in the past “you airlift oil and gas workers, but in this case different people will patronise you and you don’t have their profile.”

However, Genesis Global Aviation, which recently obtained Air Operator Certificate (AON) from the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), said it would extend its service to the shuttle operation in the remaining weeks before Abuja airport is reopened.

The Chairman of the airline, Captain Emmanuel Ihenacho, said his company on demand could deploy his helicopters to Kaduna and operate the service, noting that there was always market for everyone.

“It is indeed true that a lot of players in the industry are falling out but that has not changed the situation that would require helicopter services. It can be in respect of offshore service delivery or for emergency medical evacuation or for general logistics of moving people and personnel from one point to the other. So, if the economy is bad and the helicopter service providers are falling, it does not mean that other people cannot be entering the market and going in the opposite direction. We are not quitting because we believe in the resilience of the

Nigerian economy,” he said.

But despite the chopper service, many Nigerians had decided they would not travel to Abuja through Kaduna and would wait until the Abuja airport is re-opened.

Former Minister of Aviation, Babatunde Omotoba, had projected that Nigeria would lose about N400 billion due to the closure of Abuja airport.

“This movement is costing us so much.

Foreign airline have cancelled their flights to Abuja during the period. Many businesses have also shut down. Like me now, I have come down to Lagos and I want to stay here for two weeks, at least. When I am going I will go by road. A lot of people have put off their trips this period and that will have an impact on the economy.

He projected that the economy would lose over $1 billion (about N400 billion) with the shutdown of the airport.

“An economist will look at what Abuja contributes to the GDP in a year and look at what one and half months will contribute, because many economic activities will be paralysed during this time. Nigerian airlines are going to count their losses. The number of travellers will reduce. This will have negative impact on our economy. Many, who are in Abuja will be there for those six weeks, so the number of travellers will reduce. This will cost the economy hundreds of billions because a section of the economy will be shut down during this period,” he said.

The hope of helicopter operators to make huge profits from the closure of Abuja airport may have dimmed, but they could still generate revenue from their services in the remaining weeks.

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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 • APRIL 2, 2017

TRAVEL Resorts and Corporate Retreats: The Lansdown Model Edited by Demola Ojo Email demola.ojo@thisdaylive.com

Demola Ojo

“T

he major thing that makes Lansdown Aburi stand out from any other resort is that it is totally exclusive.

When you are here, you are away from the world, the hustle and bustle of the city. You are totally relaxed here; everything that we create is all tuned to making sure that you are not disturbed. The serenity of the place literally relaxes you throughout your stay,”Queen Yurglee-Kpodo, the head of sales, marketing and business development at Landsdown Resort in Aburi, says during an interview at the resort’s clubhouse.

The hilltop property - less than an hour’s drive from Ghana’s capital Accra - offers luxury within a scenic and serene environment, ensuring exclusivity for its guests which range from corporate organisations on retreats, to couples seeking a romantic getaway.

Lansdown has eight villas, each with three rooms a living area and a patio. There are single rooms too and a one-storey mansion for executives.

“We do conferencing, retreats, private parties and destination weddings. We do a lot of things and it depends on who the client is. We can always tailor something to meet your need,”Yurglee-Kpodo adds.

Corporate groups are a main income stream at the Lansdown. While the topography will certainly attract nature lovers, backpackers and fitness enthusiasts, special attention has been paid to facilities like the conference room, with modern, state-of-the-art conferencing facilities which include video conferencing via a large HD screen, or through multiple individual devices.

Free Wi-Fi is also available, while solar power backup ensures there is uninterrupted electricity.

Conference room (left) and clubhouse with views of the infinity pool overlooking hills and valleys Aburi at the moment.

“The beauty about Lansdown is the landscaping, the huge vast land carved out of the mountain and turned into an exquisite place for relaxation, without having to touch the natural green vegetation around it. So we are surrounded by trees and the mountains and we are just in the middle of it. Honestly, I stand to be corrected, I don’t think that there is actually any resort in Africa that has the topography that we have in Aburi.”

Corporate Comeback Corporate group travel has made a comeback worldwide. It took a while for corporate travel to rebound after the effects of the global recession, as companies slashed business trips and conferences from their budgets.

Companies hitherto wary about the stigma known as the “AIG effect” have now resumed retreats and conventions in luxury resort locations. The market for upscale working retreats had been frozen for years, following public outcry about American International Group’s half-million dollar retreat in 2008—taken just days after the insurance giant accepted $85 billion in federal bailouts.

Priorities for Execs There are a few things business managers and event planners consider when deciding on the venue for a retreat. According to a Destination Hotels & Resorts survey, venue rates are no longer the clear-cut feature in determining which hotel or resort to pick for a meeting. Instead, location has become a top priority.

Speaking with THISDAY a few days ago in Lagos, Bakare Abiola, sales manager for Kenya Airways (Nigeria), shares the view that location is paramount.“It has to be a serene environment. Remember, you’re taking them away from their offices to a place where they can brainstorm, so the environment is very important.”

A close second for him is security. “Don’t forget, when it comes to retreats, you have top executives in attendance, so security is a key factor. The facilities at the venue are also as important. Apart from brainstorming, you also want your executives to relax. So facilities like a spa, a gym and the like are very important.”

Other factors business managers consider before choosing a venue for a retreat include highly effective WiFi , as business travellers want to stay connected.

Many attend conferences with multiple wireless devices.

Flexible meeting spaces are also top of the list with the best venues offering conveniences such as moveable partitions and furniture that make spaces more useful and attractive to aid impromptu brainstorming sessions outside of a session room.

Also very important are distinctive food and beverage choices. The Destination Hotels & Resorts Report states that the food and beverages served throughout a meeting is instrumental to its success. In fact, 74% of the 200 meeting planners surveyed said diverse culinary offerings are important when selecting a meeting venue.

One of the conference room configurations It’s not just having a variety of meal options that keeps attendees happy; an assortment of healthy choices (using locally-sourced ingredients) as well as selections for those with dietary restrictions (such as gluten-free and vegan) are also essential for meals and refreshment breaks.

The Lansdown ticks the above boxes. The food is tasty and made to individual guests’ requirements.

A few days before this writer (as part of a group) embarked on a trip to Lansdown, the resort sent a mail to clarify any dietary restrictions and preferences.

Healthy menu selections are important for retreats, but attendees also want to (or should) get moving.

Some conference centres offer creative exercise breaks like a 15-minute “boost your spirit” yoga session or Zumba class within the day’s schedule.

“We try to create a lot of activities tailored to the clients we have on ground. If it is a corporate client, we speak to them and know what their expectations are and we build something for them,”Yurglee-Kpodo explains.

“If it is a holiday where a lot of families will come up, then we put up things for the kids to be able enjoy themselves, fun games for parents, challenges between families. This keeps them engaged and by the time the day is over they are really, really tired and all they want to do is sleep.

“The distinct thing about us is that as much as we have a range of things we do, we like to make sure that it is well tailored to the kind of people we have

on ground just so we make sure that we are satisfying the needs of the people and not just shoving what we have in their faces.”

For those who don’t want to over-exert themselves, the undulating terrain at the Lansdown means taking a walk takes on a different meaning, ensuring guests get their fitness fix by default.

Chiamaka Obuekwe is CEO of Social Prefect, a company that publishes a travel blog and offers services like group tours, vacation packages and corporate retreats. She shares what clients who need her to organize getaways ask for.

“They want a very calm, serene environment,, maybe somewhere with a beach, a lake or somewhere very close to nature. Somewhere to take them out of the work environment.” In her interactions with clients, she has found out that conferencing space and a swimming pool are top of the list of requirements.

The infinity pool at the Lansdown overlooks a valley populated by trees, all the way to the top of the hill.

Other facilities to keep guests engaged include a tennis court and a variety of board games. There is a golf course too, and Jacuzzis in each villa.

“I think Lansdown is actually an epitome of the word resort,”Yurglee-Kpodo suggests. “I know you mentioned that there are others resorts around but I don’t think they are resorts, I think they are hotels around who probably think they are a resort. But if you do understand the concept of a resort, then you would understand that this is the only resort in

The Extra Mile The phrase “Off the beaten path” comes to mind when describing Lansdown’s location. Apart from traversing a twisting, winding road up the hills into Aburi, there is a point where you veer off and hit an untarred track. In many cases, guests don’t see reason to leave until…well, they are about to leave.

“We organize tours for our guests. We present it to them but most times people who drive all the way out here don’t want to go anywhere,”Yurglee-Kpodo reveals.

“Most of the activities would mostly be headed towards Accra because Aburi is a very serene place, there are not too many things going on. Knowing that, what we also try to do is to come up with activities on ground so that guests don’t have a need to go out,” she says.

“We also do airport pick up for our guests and do airport drop offs. And it is incorporated, it is actually one of the benefits you get for staying here.”

Going the extra mile to by including complimentary airport pickups and drop-offs are a smart move, saving guests the hassle of finding the hidden gem in the hills of Aburi. Especially because the resort is looking outside Ghana for prospective clients.

“We are hoping for a lot more customers especially from West African countries to come over and see the beauty that we have. One thing I have experienced a couple of times is that, when you send pictures of Lansdown to people they actually say ‘No, that is not Africa’ or ‘That is Photoshop.’ So I tell them to come and see if it is actually Photoshop and then they come and they are like ‘Wow, this place is actually more beautiful than the pictures.’

“So it will be really great that we have a lot of people coming from other West African countries, because I think we are pretty much covered in Ghana but having people from Gambia, Nigeria, Senegal, Liberia, Sierra Lone… all of them just coming to Ghana and the first thing on their mind is they want to see the resort.

That is something that we definitely look forward to in the future.”

28

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R • APRIL 2, 2017

NIGERIA’S TOP 50 STOCKS BASED ON MARKET FUNDAMENTALS

UNILEVER NIGERIA PLC – Food product business remains the Company’s cash cow

U

nilever Nigeria Plc (The Company) was established in 1923 as a soap manufacturing company – West Africa Soap Company – by Lord Leverhulme.

It later became known as Lever Brothers Nigeria. Today, it is the longest serving manufacturing organization in Nigeria.

After a series of mergers and acquisitions, the Company diversified into manufacturing and marketing of foods and personal care products.

These mergers and acquisitions brought in Lipton Nigeria Limited in 1985, Cheesebrough Industries Limited in 1988 and Unilever Nigeria Limited in 1996. The Company changed its name to Unilever Nigeria Plc in 2001 in line with the global strategic direction of the business.

Unilever Nigeria’s confidence in the Nigerian economy is unwavering.

The Company was quoted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange in 1973 and is a truly Multi-local Multinational organization with very outstanding international and local brands in her portfolio. The international brands include Close-Up toothpaste, Pepsodent toothpaste, LUX beauty soap, Lifebuoy soap, Rexona, Vaseline lotion and Vaseline Petroleum Jelly in the Personal Care Unit of the business; BlueBand Margarine, Lipton Yellow Label Tea and Knorr bouillon cubes in the Foods Unit; and OMO Multi-Active Detergent, Sunlight washing powder and Sunlight Dish washing liquid in the Home Care Unit. Other Regional and local jewels include the Pears Baby Products range and Royco bouillon cubes.

Recently, Unilever Nig. Plc released its audited financial statement for full year 2016 showing an impressive performance. Growth was recorded in revenue and profitability. Remarkable growth in profitability markers above revenue growth is largely driven by management success in reducing operating expenses and substantial increase in finance income. The Company maintained its regular dividend payment, and has recommended a total dividend payment of N378m (on the basis of N0.10 per share) for every 50 kobo share payable on Friday, 12th May, 2017.

INCREASED COST OF OPERATION ERODES TOP-LINE EARNINGS For the twelve-month period ended, December 2016, Unilever Nigeria Plc grew turnover by 17.82% to N69.78 billion from N59.22 billion recorded in December 2015. The Company’s performance shows steady growth

IN THE LONG-TERM, WE LOOK FORWARD TO SUSTAINED GROWTH IN PROFITABILITY FOR UNILEVER NIGERIA PLC WHICH WOULD DEPEND LARGELY ON THE RESULTANT IMPACTS OF INNOVATIVE ADVERTISEMENT, EXPANSION AND INCREASED EFFICIENCY IN OPERATING COST REDUCTION.

of 31.59% and 21.68% in revenue generated by personal care and food products respectively, while home care recorded marginal rise of 1.62%. Further insight reveals that the Company’s core business of food products production continues to account for the largest percentage of 52.16% of 2016 earnings and 50.51% in 2015.

However, cost of operation grew notably to N49.48 billion from N38.17 billion over the period; representing a growth of 29.62%. The increment rose from the combined effect of rises in various components of operational expenditures especially: raw materials, assets, depreciation, IT cost and utilities expenses which increased by 24.59%, 105.97%, 21.34%, 57.29% and 30.99% respectively, which we believe was caused by inflation and prevailing macro-economic headwind in the economy.

Expectedly, due to the higher growth in cost of operation over generated revenue, gross profit dropped by 3.57% to N20.3 billion in the full year 2016 from N21.05 billion reported for the full year 2015.

REDUCTION IN ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES POSITIVELY IMPACT PROFITABILITY The Company’s management increased activities towards curtailing

expenditures which yielded positive result as it was able to reduce administrative expenses notably by 15.96% to N11.46 billion in December 2016 compared to December 2015 figure of N13.64 billion. This was in spite of an increase in utilities.

However, selling and distribution expenses requires specific strategic plan as it rose by 10.79% to N3.15 billion from N2.84 billion year on year.

Hence, operating profit grew notably by 25.12% to N5.81 billion from N4.64 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2015.

Net financial cost records a considerable decline of 40.79% to N1.7 billion from N2.87 billion over the period under review. This was driven by an impressive rise in finance income of 240.40% over finance cost significant reduction of 14.01%.

As a result of the diminished operating expenses and higher growth in finance income, the Company recorded an enormous growth of 131.86% in profit before tax to N4.12 billion in the full year ended, December 2016 over N1.77 billion reported in the corresponding period of 2015. Income tax expense grew by a 78.77% to N1.03 billion from 2015 figure of N578.7m.

Consequently, profitability preserves massive growth of 157.63% in Unilever Nigeria Plc’s profit after tax, which rose to N3.07 billion in December 2016 from N1.19 billion reported in December 2015.

ASSET QUALITY The Company’s key performance metrics remains strong as current ratio rose to 0.79 as at December 2016 from 0.61 as at December 2015. Return on average equity (ROAE) currently stands 31.20% and return on average asset (ROAA) at 5.01%. It is noteworthy that as at 31st December, 2016 the Company long term borrowings increased to N20.50 billion from N7.43 billion a year ago, indicating a massive rise of 176.05%. Further insight into the financial statement shows that a 6.45% interest rate plus 3 months US Libor unsecured loan facility of $59.7 million (N18.8billion) was obtained during the year from Unilever Finance International AG for the purpose of clearing backlog of unpaid obligations to suppliers. The loan is repayable within one year.

WE UPGRADE OUR RECOMMENDATION TO A HOLD In the long-term, we look forward to sustained growth in profitability for Unilever Nigeria Plc which would depend largely on the resultant impacts of innovative advertisement,

Valuation Metrics 30-Mar-17 Recommendation

HOLD

Target Price (N)

33.82

Current Price (N)

33.00

Market Cap (N'm)

124,849

Outstanding Shares (m)

3,783

EPS (N)

0.81

PE Ratio

40.64x

Forward EPS (N)

0.85

Forward PE

38.72x Source: BGL Research, NSE Data

Full Year December 2016 Audited Turnover (N'm)

69,777

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

4,106 3,072 5.89

Source: Company Data 2017, BGL Research

Full Year December 2015 Audited Results Turnover (N'm)

59,222

Profit Before Tax (N'm)

1,771

Profit After Tax (N'm)

1,192

Pre-tax Margin (%)

2.99

Source: Company Data 2015, BGL Research

Shareholding Information Shareholders

% Holding

Unilever Overseas Holdings B.V. Holland

50.04%

Unilever Overseas Holdings BV

10.02%

Stanbic Nominees Nigeria Ltd

10.43%

Others

29.51%

Outstanding Shares (m)

1,624

Source: Company Data 2017, BGL Research

expansion and increased efficiency in operating cost reduction. While consumer spending declines as inflation increases, we expect the potential of increased economic activities in the coming year to result in growth of its core business activities, revenue and profitability.

Considering the above, we cautiously make our projections for gross earnings of N72.98 billion for the 12-months financial year end, December 2017 and a net income of N3.91 billion for December 2017, leading to a forward EPS of N0.85.

With a company Price to Earnings (PE) multiple of 38.72x, we arrived at a 6-month target price of N33.82 for Unilever Nigeria Plc which leads to a potential upside of 2.48%. We therefore recommend a HOLD recommendation.

29

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R • APRIL 2, 2017

NIGERIA’S TOP 50 STOCKS BASED ON MARKET FUNDAMENTALS

FCMB Group PLC: Remarkable performance brightens record despite harsh operating terrain

F

irst City Monument Bank Plc (FCMB) in its reported full year, 31st December, 2016 financial result indicate a substantial growth of 15.63% in topline earnings to N176.35 billion and bottom-line earnings growth of 201.19% on the back of considerable increase in other income.

The Bank which listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange in 2004 and issued her first public offering (IPO) in 2005 now has a record of 2 million customer base, over 270 branches in Nigeria and a licensed banking subsidiary in the United Kingdom (FCMB UK). First City Monument Bank Limited has continued its strive towards enhanced customer experience through innovation acceleration, enhancement of performance and security boosting.

TRADING INCOME DRIVES GROWTH IN TOP-LINE EARNINGS Gross earnings for the 12 month period ended, 31st December 2016 grew by 15.63% to N176.35 billion from N152.51 billion reported in the same period 2015. Gross earnings growth was impacted by a 77.16% upsurge in non-interest income on the back of an extra-ordinary 504.82% increase in net trading income largely driven foreign exchange income to N5.69 billion from N940m during the period under review. Interest income on the other hand, rose by a modest 1.23% to N125.11 billion from N123.58 recorded at the corresponding period end of 2015. This stemmed from decline in customers deposit by 6.08% which impacts on advances.

Interest expense for the period declined by 6.83% to N55.58 billion from N59.65 billion reported in December 2015. Hence, an 8.75% rise in net interest income to N69.53 billion from N63.94 billion over the period under review.

Fees and commission income declined by 6.92% to N17.68 billion in December 2016 from N19 billion a year ago, while fees and commission expense increased notably by 10.66% to N3.51 billion from N3.16 billion over the same period. Due to decline in fees and commission income and rise in its expense, net fee and commission income decreased to N14.18 billion in December 2016 from N15.83 billion in December 2015; reflecting a change of 10.44%.

OPERATING INCOME AND TAXATION POSITIVELY IMPACTS PROFITABILITY Total operating expenses increased by 23.51% to N101.30 billion in December 2016 from N82.01 billion in December

BASED UPON THE BANK’S FLEXIBILITY TO THE CURRENT REGULATORY POLICIES AND THE MACROECONOMIC HEADWIND, WE BELIEVE THAT THE BANK’S MANAGEMENT ADJUSTMENT PLANS THAT FOCUS ITS EFFORT TOWARDS AN EFFICIENT PERFORMANCE WHICH STRENGTHENS EARNINGS, INCOME GENERATION CAPACITY AND GROWTH IN LIQUIDITY BASE

2015 primarily due to a massive growth of 136.29% in net impairment loss on financial assets to N35.52 billion from N15.03 billion recorded in December 2015.

Therefore, operating profit increased significantly by 107.94% to N15.98 billion in December from N7.68 billion a year ago. Pre-tax profit for the period grew massively by 109.19% to N16.25 billion from N7.68 billion year on year attributable to a considerable rise of 222.53% in income from investment in associates to N272m from N85m in the corresponding period of 2015.

Expectedly, profit after tax followed suit with a remarkable 201.19% increment to N14.34 billion in full year ended, 31st December, 2016 from N4.76 billion reported in the 12-month period of 2015. Also, the Bank’s impressive performance in the bottom line can be connected to substantial decline in income ASSET QUALITY REMAINS RELATIVELY FLAT The Bank’s balance sheet reflects steady progress in performance over the period. The Group’s total asset grew by modestly by 1.14% to N1.17 trillion as at December 2016 from N1.16 trillion as at December 2015. Notable changes in total assets includes: 359.01% in non-pledged trading assets to N9.15 billion from N1.99 billion, 5.08% negative change in investment securities to N128.44 billion from

N135.31 billion, 22.69% decline in other assets to N16.78 billion from N21.70 billion and advances to customers rose by 11.30% as at 31st December, 2016.

On the other hand, total liabilities decline by a negligible 0.32% to N993.91 billion as at December 2016 from N997.14 billion as at December 2015. Bank total deposits from customers and other banks shrank by 3.30% to N682.41 billion as at December 2016 from N705.68 billion as at December 2015; borrowings grew by 16.18% to N132.09 billion from N113.70 billion year on year.

However, shareholder’s equity increased by 10.15% to N178.87 billion as at December 2016 from N162.39 billion as at 31st December 2015 due to retained earnings growth of 88.91%.

CAPITAL AND LIQUIDITY RATIOS ABOVE REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS FCMB’s liquidity ratio stood at 31.2% as at December 31st, 2016 which is well above the minimum regulatory requirement of 30%. The Group’s Return on Average Equity (ROAE) stood at 8.40% as at December 2016 while Return on Average Assets (ROAA) stood at 1.23% over the same period.

The Group’s cost-to-income ratio at 56.1% while Net interest margin (NIM) grew settles at 8.4% in December 2016 from 8.1% in December 2015 while pre-tax profit margin and net income margin notably to 9.22% from 5.09% and to 8.13% from 3.12% respectively.

WE RECOMMEND A BUY The macro-economic headwinds of 2016 saw inflation grow steadily to a peak 18.6% in December, MPR at 14% and CRR maintained on all public sector deposits to 22.50% in November 2016. Nevertheless, FCMB delivered an impressive performance despite these harsh business environment and unstable monetary policies caused by the impact of naira devaluation, foreign exchange scarcity, rising commodity prices and the fuel price hike.

Based upon the Bank’s flexibility to the current regulatory policies and the macro-economic headwind, we believe that the Bank’s management adjustment plans that focus its effort towards an efficient performance which strengthens earnings, income generation capacity and growth in liquidity base. With strategic innovation and execution the bank will enhance its deposit balance and advances leading to an better improved interest income and income from fees and commission.

Furthermore, in line with its on-going

Valuation Metrics 31-Mar-17 Recommendation

BUY

Target Price (N)

1.67

Current Price (N)

1.17

Market Cap (N'm)

23,169

Outstanding Shares (m)

19,803

EPS (N)

0.72

PE Ratio

1.62x

Forward EPS (N)

1.03

Forward PE

1.13x Source: NSE Data, BGL Research

Full Year 2016 Audited Results Gross Earnings (N'm) Profit Before Tax (N'm) Profit After Tax (N'm) Pre-tax Margin (%)

176,352 16,251 14,339 9.22

Source: Company Report 2016, BGL Research

Full Year 2015 Audited Results Gross Earnings (N'm) Profit Before Tax (N'm) Profit After Tax (N'm) Pre-tax Margin (%)

152,507 7,768 4,760 5.09

Source: Annual Report 2015, BGL Research

Shareholding Information Capital IRG Trustees Ltd. Stanbic Nominees Ltd. AMCON Public Float

8.27 21.05 6.73 63.95

Source: Annual Report 2015, BGL Research

target to translate foreign exchange differentials to bear positively on the Bank’s business, maintaining its current level of NII and NIR despite a challenging macro-economic environment that is easing up as well as a good record of expenses management.

Based on the company’s performance, we cautiously make full year, December 2017 projection of N209.37 billion for gross earnings and N20.46 billion for net income. Using the Price to Earnings (PE) multiple of 1.13x, our valuation leads to a forward EPS of N1.03, and a 9-month average target price of N1.67. Since this represents an upside potential of 42.66% on the current stock price of N1.17, we therefore recommend a BUY.

30

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R • april 2, 2017

MARKET NEWS

Financial Literacy Committee Celebrates Global Money Week Goddy Egene The Technical Committee on Financial Literacy (TCFL) has joined others to celebrate the Global Money Week (GMW), a global money awareness celebration that takes place in March every year.

GMW is coordinated by the Child and Youth Finance International (CYFI) Secretariat to raise awareness on economic citizenship and directly engage children and youth worldwide on the issue.

The 2017 celebration is between March 27 and April 2, 2017.

And in Nigeria, the TCFL joined key institutions across the world to celebrate the GMW that is being marked by various awareness and mentoring activities across the world.

The Chairperson of TCFL, Mrs. Toyin Sanni said that in commemoration of the week, the committee would announce a university students’ essay competition which will shortly be rolled out.

A Mutual fund (Unit Trust) is an investment vehicle managed by a SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) registered Fund Manager.

Investors with similar objectives buy units of the Fund so that the Fund Manager can buy securities that willl generate their desired return.

An ETF (Exchange Traded Fund) is a type of fund which owns the assets (shares of stock, bonds, oil futures, gold bars, foreign currency, etc.) and divides ownership of those assets into shares. Investors can buy these ‘shares’ on the

According to her, successful participants will win rewards such as internship opportunity with FLTC member institutions and business school sponsorship.

Sanni explained that as part of the Nigerian Capital Market 10 Year Master Plan, stakeholders in the market under the leadership of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) are determined to close the financial literacy gap in the nation and to deepen the

floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

A REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) is an investment vehicle that allows both small and large investors to part-own real estate ventures (eg.

Offices, Houses, Hospitals) in proportion to their investments. The assets are divided into shares that are traded on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

GUIDE TO DATA: Date: All fund prices are quoted in Naira as at 30-Mar-2017, unless otherwise stated.

level of awareness about the financial industry in general and the capital market in particular.

“This is being done through the TCFL, comprising representatives from regulatory bodies, capital market operators and the media. Last year, the committee hosted an awareness campaign for the world savings day through quizzes and debates in three geopolitical zones in the country, Kano, Rivers and

Ogun States respectively.

These events were an avenue to educate secondary school and university students on the capital market, financial literacy and to encourage them to imbibe a savings and Investment culture from a tender age.

Sanni, had said the literacy drive is very necessary, considering the generally low level of financial literacy and capital market awareness across the country.

“The public is largely

unfamiliar with the workings and benefits of the capital market. The loss of investor confidence in the market due to crisis that hit the banking industry and capital market some years back, partly resulted from lack of financial knowledge. This is why the Master Plan mapped strategies to raise literacy level and awareness about the market.

What the Committee is doing is to begin to implement some of those strategies,” Sanni said.

Offer price: The price at which units of a trust or ETF are bought by investors.

Bid Price: The price at which Investors redeem (sell) units of a trust or ETF. Yield/Total Return: Denotes the total return an investor would have earned on his investment. Money Market Funds report Yield while others report Year- to-date Total Return.

NAV: Is value per share of the real estate assets held by a REIT on a specific date.

DAILY PRICE LIST FOR MUTUAL FUNDS, REITS and ETFS MUTUAL FUNDS / UNIT TRUSTS AFRINVEST ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD aaml@afrinvest.com Web: www.afrinvest.com; Tel: +234 1 270 1680 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Afrinvest Equity Fund 130.62 131.14 2.85% Nigeria International Debt Fund 218.11 218.86 1.34% ALTERNATIVE CAPITAL PARTNERS LTD info@acapng.com Web: www.acapng.com, Tel: +234 1 291 2406, +234 1 291 2868 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn ACAP Canary Growth Fund 0.70 0.70 -0.55% AIICO CAPITAL LTD ammf@aiicocapital.com Web: www.aiicocapital.com, Tel: +234-1-2792974 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AIICO Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 18.24% ARM INVESTMENT MANAGERS LTD enquiries@arminvestmentcenter.com Web: www.arm.com.ng; Tel: 0700 CALLARM (0700 225 5276) Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn ARM Aggressive Growth Fund 12.39 12.76 0.36% ARM Discovery Fund 291.90 300.70 1.65% ARM Ethical Fund 22.22 22.89 -0.55% ARM Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 15.95% AXA MANSARD INVESTMENTS LIMITED investmentcare@axamansard.com Web: www.axamansard.com; Tel: +2341-4488482 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AXA Mansard Equity Income Fund 106.94 107.69 1.67% AXA Mansard Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 16.58% CHAPELHILL DENHAM MANAGEMENT LTD investmentmanagement@chapelhilldenham.com Web: www.chapelhilldenham.com, Tel: +234 461 0691 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Nigeria Global Investment Fund 2.15 2.21 -0.91% Paramount Equity Fund 9.50 9.74 1.48% Women's Investment Fund 87.44 89.64 3.34% CORDROS ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmgtteam@cordros.com Web: www.cordros.com, Tel: 019036947 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Cordros Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 18.78% FBN CAPITAL ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD invest@fbnquest.com Web: www.fbnquest.com; Tel: +234-81 0082 0082 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn FBN Fixed Income Fund 1,137.02 1,138.21 4.28% FBN Heritage Fund 109.51 110.25 -1.86% FBN Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 18.18% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Institutional $107.38 $108.08 3.20% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Retail $107.09 $107.78 3.62% FBN Nigeria Smart Beta Equity Fund 114.35 115.82 1.48% FIRST CITY ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD fcamhelpdesk@fcmb.com Web: www.fcamltd.com; Tel: +234 1 462 2596 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Legacy Equity Fund 0.96 0.97 2.66% Legacy Short Maturity (NGN) Fund 2.66 2.66 3.65% FSDH ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD coralfunds@fsdhgroup.com Web: www.fsdhaml.com; Tel: 01-270 4884-5; 01-280 9740-1 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Coral Growth Fund 2,207.52 2,233.92 -0.06% Coral Income Fund 2,198.93 2,198.93 4.50% GREENWICH ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmanagement@gtlgroup.com Web: www.gtlgroup.com ; Tel: +234 1 4619261-2 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Greenwich Plus Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 17.20% INVESTMENT ONE FUNDS MANAGEMENT LTD enquiries@investment-one.com Web: www.investment-one.com; Tel: +234 812 992 1045,+234 1 448 8888 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Abacus Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 16.84% Vantage Balanced Fund 1.72 1.73 2.09% Vantage Guaranteed Income Fund 1.00 1.00 15.87%

LOTUS CAPITAL LTD fincon@lotuscapitallimited.com Web: www.lotuscapitallimited.com; Tel: +234 1-291 4626 / +234 1-291 4624 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Lotus Halal Investment Fund 1.02 1.04 3.00% Lotus Halal Fixed Income Fund 1,029.31 1,029.31 2.63% MERISTEM WEALTH MANAGEMENT LTD info@meristemwealth.com Web: http://www.meristemwealth.com/funds/ ; Tel: +234 1-4488260 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Meristem Equity Market Fund 9.61 9.70 -0.50% Meristem Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 16.56% PAC ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD info@pacassetmanagement.com Web: www.pacassetmanagement.com/mutualfunds; Tel: +234 1 271 8632 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn PACAM Balanced Fund 1.08 1.10 2.97% PACAM Fixed Income Fund 10.44 10.48 0.32% PACAM Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 13.14% SCM CAPITAL LIMITED info@scmcapitalng.com Web: www.scmcapitalng.com; Tel: +234 1-280 2226,+234 1- 280 2227 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn SCM Capital Frontier Fund 111.29 112.12 9.27% SFS CAPITAL NIGERIA LTD investments@sfsnigeria.com Web: www.sfsnigeria.com, Tel: +234 (01) 2801400 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn SFS Fixed Income Fund 1.28 1.28 2.51% STANBIC IBTC ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD assetmanagement@stanbicibtc.com Web: www.stanbicibtcassetmanagement.com; Tel: +234 1 280 1266; 0700 MUTUALFUNDS Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Stanbic IBTC Balanced Fund 1,849.87 1,858.99 0.99% Stanbic IBTC Bond Fund 156.28 156.28 1.51% Stanbic IBTC Ethical Fund 0.76 0.77 -0.65% Stanbic IBTC Guaranteed Investment Fund 193.20 193.20 3.38% Stanbic IBTC Iman Fund 129.03 130.69 -0.62% Stanbic IBTC Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 17.58% Stanbic IBTC Nigerian Equity Fund 7,384.66 7,471.69 -2.61% UNITED CAPITAL ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD unitedcapitalplcgroup.com Web: www.unitedcapitalplcgroup.com; Tel: +234 803 306 2887 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn United Capital Balanced Fund 1.14 1.15 8.14% United Capital Bond Fund 1.28 1.28 16.01% United Capital Equity Fund 0.65 0.66 -0.50% United Capital Money Market Fund 1.15 1.15 11.35% ZENITH ASSETS MANAGEMENT LTD info@zenith-funds.com Web: www.zenith-funds.com; Tel: +234 1-2784219 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Zenith Equity Fund 9.96 10.14 3.41% Zenith Ethical Fund 11.22 11.32 2.77% Zenith Income Fund 17.40 17.40 5.31%

REITS

NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

11.41 125.38

1.01% 1.14%

Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

8.06 72.57

8.16 73.92

-8.15% -4.24%

Fund Name FSDH UPDC Real Estate Investment Fund SFS Skye Shelter Fund

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS

Fund Name Lotus Halal Equity Exchange Traded Fund Stanbic IBTC ETF 30 Fund

VETIVA FUND MANAGERS LTD Web: www.vetiva.com; Tel: +234 1 453 0697

Fund Name Vetiva Banking Exchange Traded Fund Vetiva Consumer Goods Exchange Traded Fund Vetiva Griffin 30 Exchange Traded Fund Vetiva Industrial Goods Exchange Traded Fund Vetiva S&P Nigeria Sovereign Bond Exchange Traded Fund

funds@vetiva.com Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

2.70 6.25 11.70 15.04 128.77

2.74 6.33 11.80 15.24 130.77

-1.79% -11.03% -2.46% -5.67% -0.85%

The value of investments and the income from them may fall as well as rise. Past performance is a guide and not an indication of future returns. Fund prices published in this edition are also available on each fund manager’s website and FMAN’s website at www.fman.com.ng. Fund prices are supplied by the operator of the relevant fund and are published for information purposes only.

A

WEEKLY PULL-OUT

ELVIRA SALLERAS A CROSSROADS OF LAW AND CHARITY

02.04.2017

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T H I S D AY SUNDAY APRIL 2, 2017

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T H I S DAY, T H E S U N DAY N E W S PA P E R • April 2, 2017

COVER

ELVIRA SALLERAS

A CROSSROADS OF LAW AND CHARITY A chance encounter with a group of women ignited the flagging fire of philanthropy that has since shot Lagosbased lawyer, Elvira Salleras, into the realm of a miracle worker who gives hope to children living under difficult circumstances. Vanessa Obioha reports

E

lvira Salleras had no clue of what her family, friends and employees planned on her birthday. She was so preoccupied with work the previous night that she didn’t smell a rat when her sister urged her to retire early. She agreed it was a good idea and obeyed. But she didn’t sleep. Instead she stayed up till 2.30 in the wee hours of the morning, writing a legal opinion.

When she was finally done, she gave herself a pat on the back. It was a brilliant piece and would no doubt receive positive reviews. With that lingering satisfaction, she went to bed. She woke up the next day, still reveling in the feat she accomplished the previous night. Then it struck her she just turned 50!

She embraced the day as another good day to be grateful for, went downstairs, only to be serenaded with screams and shouts of ‘Happy Birthday’, from her family and friends. She was speechless. The living room was decorated and champagnes were popped. How come she didn’t notice a thing, she wondered. She was more shocked when she got to her office. Her staff had decorated her office with balloons and a huge golden inscription of ‘50’ hung on her window, of course with the help of her younger sister, the founder of the Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF), Chioma Ude, everything went smoothly. She was still reveling in all the beautiful surprises when she met this reporter. A brief introduction was done in her office. Then her mother called, singing a ‘Happy Birthday’ song to her. She listened patiently and expressed surprise that her mother remembered her birthday this year. It would be difficult to convince anyone meeting Salleras for the first time that she just turned 50. It is even more difficult to believe she is the mother of six children. Tall, brown-skinned, with a lithe body, Salleras could pass for a lady in her 40s or less.

Her hair is trimmed short in an afro-style. She used to have spectacularly long hair but always pictured herself in a low hair-cut at age 50. She revealed the playful part of her when we paid her a compliment on her enviable figure. She stood up gracefully, even unbuttoned her black suit to show the flatness of her stomach which was hidden under a white lace blouse. In all modesty, she claimed she inherited her graceful physique from her parents, particularly her late father.

Born in Freetown, Sierra Leone on March 13, 1967 to the late diplomat, Frank Joe-Adigwe, and his wife Bernadette, Salleras is the first

daughter of her parents. Her birth coincided with the Nigerian Civil War, also known as the Biafran War, that led to the massive exit of the Ibos from major Nigerian cities to their homestead. Her father was forced to relinquish his diplomatic role in Sierra Leone, but he stayed back in Freetown. Salleras’ recollection of the civil war were in fragments, but she recalled a plaintive procession where everyone was dressed in black and singing ‘We shall Overcome’. Another image from that past was the news of her maternal uncle’s death in the war. She remembered her parents waiting at the table for the telegram in their sitting room. The moment the news was broken to her mother, she gave out a loud wail. The news visibly shattered her. Poor Salleras and her brother unable to comprehend their mother’s sorrow or console her, watched her sing ‘We Shall Overcome’ repeatedly in the doorway. Till date, Salleras still marvels at her memory of that tragic past for she was barely two yearsold when it happened.

Ten years later, the JoeAdigwes returned to Nigeria.

They stayed in Enugu where Salleras was enrolled in Ekulu Primary school, where she got her first culture shock. “One thing that struck me was how cruel children were to fellow children. Because I fell down, and instead of people coming to help me up, they were laughing and saying weird things. I thought how mean could

MY PARENTS WERE VERY CHARITABLE. I REMEMBER WHEN MY FATHER DIED 21 YEARS AGO. AND ONE OF THE AUNTIES THAT LIVED WITH US IN SIERRA LEONE CAME AND I ASKED MY MOTHER HOW WE WERE RELATED TO HER, SHE SAID MY DADDY MET THEM AT THE AIRPORT, PERHAPS THEY WERE ON A SCHOLARSHIP OR SOMETHING, BUT THEY HAD NOWHERE TO GO AND NO MONEY. SO HE BROUGHT THEM HOME TO LIVE WITH US THROUGHOUT. MUMMY ALSO TOOK IN A LIBERIAN REFUGEE, A MAN AND HIS FAMILY

Salleras

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COVER

Salleras at Makoko

people be. Again, I grew up in a diplomatic community, even though my father was no longer in service, my parents tried to put me through schools we would not ordinarily have attended. So maybe we have a different set of people, probably in Sierra Leone. But I noticed that people were a bit too hard on children and children on each other.” Then, she was mocked for her inability to speak the Igbo language. “I couldn’t speak Igbo at the time and they used to laugh at me. I remember when I got up in class to read and the whole class was laughing at me.”

That humiliation inspired her to teach her children Igbo language. On her part, she speaks French, Igbo and English very fluently and has good appreciation of German and Italian languages. Today, Salleras is mostly known in the legal profession. She is the founder and managing partner of Elvira Salleras and Associates, a legal firm that specialises in investment, company and labour laws. She was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1989 and has acquired huge experience in mergers and acquisitions, international joint ventures, contract negotiations, debt recoveries, real estate brokerage, international adoption and family law. She is a member of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria . Salleras is also the legal adviser to the Consulate Generals of Italy and France. She represents several foreign and local clients in diverse matters touching on various aspects of the law including, joint ventures, technology transfer and distribution and representative agreements. She is also particularly involved in establishing legal structures and providing legal advice on establishment and regulatory compliance for multinational companies operating in various sectors of the Nigerian economy. However, beyond the courtroom lies a beautiful soul whose multi-layered humanity is worthy of emulation. An encounter with a woman in the line of duty changed her perspective to life. “Twenty years ago, I was investigating a group of women on behalf of the French Embassy. I found out that what they had done was in accordance to the law. They were processing the adoption of an eight year-old boy.

In those days, Motherless Babies Home would only take a child from age 0-4. After that, the child was sent to Children’s Centre at Idi-Araba from age 4-8. And after age 8, the child goes to a remand home or something, a place where you mix with criminals. These women have been following that boy. This group of women were married to expatriates, in their pastimes, they visited children in orphanages and they saw this boy and saw where he was headed. They were concerned that he should not go to a remand home because he didn’t commit any crime apart from being abandoned. So they decided to help him find a family in France. They had actually done it when I was invited to check if it was legal. The leader of the group, Rebecca, told me they needed a lawyer, and tried to persuade me to join them. I remember telling them that I would never have time for this. I was too busy. She said they only met once and won’t require much of my time. What I didn’t know at the time was that she was planning to leave

Salleras with one of the children at Makoko

that group and establish another organisation and she needed someone to assist her. I was completely sold on their objectives and ideals on helping a child who had no family find one in a society where people understand how to deal with such cases. The truth is that a child who has lived a certain number of years in an orphanage, definitely has some emotional scars, that needs special training and understanding to help him or her through life. “ On July 28, 2006, Salleras founded the Literacy, Integration and Formal Education (LIFE), a non-governmental, non-profit organization to promote formal education and social integration among orphans and vulnerable children. This goal is achieved by employing various measures including education sponsorships and support programmes, advocacy and coordination of inter-country adoptions. Through LIFE, Salleras and her team were able to save the life of a young girl who was left to die due to a huge tumour that covered the better part of her face.

“My very good friend, Nnenna Obiejesi, of Nestoil does so much for charity, very discreetly.

We help children with profound medical issues living in institutions and orphanages to get medical care abroad. So Nnenna told me about a child she found in an orphanage where she is a patron. This little child was born with a deformity, like a tumour growing out of her head and the worst ever palate you have ever saw. She was literarily left to die. What they told us in that orphanage was that they give her water from time-to-time. She was starved and given barely minimum so that she could die a peaceful death. So Nnenna said to herself, if that was her child, would she have left her to die.

Because she had recently lost a child and she knew how much she fought to keep that child alive. So she told me about her, they had taken the child to a teaching hospital but nothing was happening. She felt they were using the child for some experiment.

“I contacted one of our partner agents in Spain. She is an atheist but I have never seen such a wonderful soul. I told her about the child and she immediately started making all forms of arrangements. We sent her the pictures and flew over to Spain with that little baby. And we were received at Clinica Diagonal, it was one of the poshest clinics I have ever been to, like a five-star hotel. They received us as if we were VIPs. Ushers lined up for this little girl who had been abandoned to die. At the end of the day, she took responsibility of the child because everyone was staring. People don’t usually stare abroad but they did at the airport when we carried that child. She said to me later that I should look at the side of the child’s face, that she is pretty. The doctors said that she would not be able to work, she got lesions on her brain and some of it had gone into her tumour that was removed, that she will not be able to have reactions of a child beyond nine months old.

But this family believed in her. When she was doing the fourth operation, I flew to Spain, the daughter who was staying in the university also came. They stayed all through in the hospital.

They did not eat. Even when I went to eat, they stood right outside the operating room, waiting for four hours. In a matter of four days, this girl was running. Peti can run; because of her left palate, she can’t really talk but she can make sounds. If she had her palate, she would be talking. She is now in school, dancing. This is

the miracle of love. There is no way such a child would have been anything but what they call a mentally and physically challenged individual living in an institution in Nigeria.”

There are many families in France, Denmark and Italy adopting these children.

Unfortunately, Nigeria does not rank high on the list. According to Salleras, there are many factors responsible for this.

“There is a lot of superstitions surrounding children that have been abandoned. Moreover, we don’t know their roots, maybe the child is from one evil person. Some say they are like that because they are possessed with snake spirit, and so on. The second factor is that we don’t have the financial resources to take care of these children. There’s a baby who was adopted recently, she has hepatitis-C. I was told it cost about €40,000 for the treatment. And Nigerian families don’t have the love to care for a child, whatever the condition. They will adopt and return if he or she is ill, claiming they didn’t ask for a sick baby. Lack of information also contributes. If people understood, they will do better. My friend Nnenna just adopted a child, a paraplegic-very malformed physically. They love that child so much so Nigerians can do it, if they knew better.”

Out of Salleras’ six children only four are her biological children. Her husband, a French, is the Chairman of the organisation and ensures that the families adopting these children are also capable of taking care of them. Salleras is currently embarking on a community project where 1000 sandals will be provided for 1000 children in Makoko. It is not her first philanthropic work in the impoverished community. Not too long ago, Salleras and her LIFE team built a school for the children. The legal practitioner is well celebrated for her charity works. In her hometown, Umuduru, Iheala in Anambra State, she was given a chieftaincy title ‘Adapuruife’ (an exceptional daughter) in 2011. Other notable recognitions include L’Ordre National du Merit, given to her by the French government in 1999 and the Rotary Club of New Haven, Community Service Award in recognition of outstanding services to the community. But if you ask the cheerful woman with an infectious aura how she garnered all these accolades, she will tell you she has no idea. To her, the feathers in her cap came in the course of living her life. Her employees say otherwise. Bernadette, her oldest staff at the legal firm described her as a mother, friend and sister, while Chinasa Aroh, who joined the LIFE project at inception described her as a woman with a large heart. Salleras, however, attributed her philanthropic nature to her parents.

“My parents were very charitable. I remember when my father died 21 years ago.

And one of the aunties that lived with us in Sierra Leone came and I asked my mother how we were related to her, she said my daddy met them at the airport, perhaps they were on a scholarship or something, but they had nowhere to go and no money. So he brought them home to live with us throughout.

Mummy also took in a Liberian refugee, a man and his family.”

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entertAinment

with nseobong okon-ekong 08114495324, nseobong.okonekong@thisdaylive.com

Performers at the event

A Starry Fusion of Music and Football Nseobong Okon-Ekong

F

ew weeks ago, Star Lager Beer created a mystery over a ‘certain announcement’. Nobody was spilling the juice but it was going to be big, novel and exceptional; so the campaign promised. The teaser continued with an invitation to the event, that was the only way to hear the big announcement.

So on Tuesday evening, guests thronged the Grand Ballroom of the Eko Hotels and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos. Filled with expectations, they waited with bated breath as celebrities stormed the venue. Not a few guessed it was another music initiative as music artistes like 2Baba, Yemi Alade, Timi Dakolo, Falz, filled the room, but as celebrity football legends like Victor Ikpeba, Jay Jay Okocha, filed in, they wondered what exactly the foremost beer brand had in store for the night.

They didn’t wait for two long before the announcement was finally made. In what can best be described as a ground-breaking move, Star Lager Beer unveiled a new platform called ‘Star Music The Fusion’ which aims to bring together a synergy between Music and Football in Nigeria.

The iconic platform was born out of Star Lager Beer recognising and celebrating the

intensely passionate fan base which football enjoys in Nigeria and also its uniqueness of bringing together avid music fans and Nigerian music artistes.

Speaking at the press conference, Marketing Director, Nigerian Breweries, Franco Maria-Maggi described the platform as an unprecedented one, which gives Star “an avenue to give the ultimate football and music experience to consumers so they truly understand what we stand for and seek to achieve with our European club partnerships.”

Star Music The Fusion is the first event to combine music and football on a large-scale platform and it is an off shoot of Star’s popular football and music platforms, Star Super fans and Star Music the Trek which are aimed at celebrating consumers. It will entail a series of activations, which will take place in three major cities in Nigeria and will see a mix of football and music legends give consumers a chance to win the ultimate prize of seeing a live match at one of Star’s partner European club stadium.

These activations will involve a concert wherein six teams of football legends, artistes and DJs will compete to win the title.

The six teams will be named after the brand’s partnered football clubs; Arsenal, Manchester City, Real Madrid, PSG, Juventus and Barcelona.

L-R~Marketing Director, Nigerian Breweries, Franco Maria-Maggi, Jay Jay Okocha, 2Baba, and a guest

2Baba, Kelly Handsome, TEE-A Headline Campari Distributor Awards

Falz and Yemi alade

More than twelve million naira in cash and prizes were handed out as Brian Munro Limited, Nigeria’s foremost beverage alcohol wholesaler and sole distributor of Campari in the country held its Annual Distributors Award honouring key distributors for 2016 over the weekend.

Staged at the Renaissance Hotel GRA, Ikeja, the invite-only event was headlined

by Campari Ambassador 2Baba, who thrilled the audience with an electrifying performance of non-stop hits, alongside equally scintillating sets by Kelly Handsome and TEE-A who left the crowd in stitches with a smorgasbord of rib-cracking jokes.

Over fifteen distributors were recognised and rewarded at the ceremony, with Mr Chigozie Anagwu emerging Distributor of the Year, and carting the star prize of Five million naira.

“I have no regrets working with Brian Munro all these years. This prize means a lot to me because it shows the company is aware of our efforts and loyalty towards Campari. I will definitely work harder so that next year I can be here again to celebrate with my fellow distributors, Brian Munro and Campari,” Mr Anagwu said.

Fusing contemporary and classic tastes for over 150 years, Campari is an infusion of selected herbs and fruits in alcohol and water, which has morphed into arguably the world’s most indispensable cocktail base.

The smoothly blended liqueur is frequently served in juice, beer and soda cocktails.

In Nigeria, the Campari brand is fast becoming a fixture in bars, homes and restaurants as drinkers across Africa’s most populous nation adapt it to their unique tastes. In particular, this year’s ceremony paid homage to the renowned Campari Senator cocktail mix – a blend of the signature Campari liqueur and beer. Select guests also turned out in resplendent variations of the cultural “Senator” outfit, in line with the designated theme and dress code.

Paul Wilson, Managing Director, Brian Munro Limited said: “These awards are a testament to the growing sophistication in Nigerian tastes and palates. In what is undoubtedly a highly competitive marketplace, Campari Nigeria continues to record outstanding sales in the sector, buoyed by the hard work and dedication of our distributors. Therefore, tonight we will spare no effort or expense in recognising and honouring their tenacity.”

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ENTERTAINMENT INTRODUCING THE NEW QUEEN OF HUSTLE If there is one thing that is constant in Toyin Lawani’s life, it is hustle. The serial entrepreneur is very vast in the fashion and entertainment world due to her vivacity and passion. Be it a runway project or choreography, Lawani is all geared to do the work.

Popularly known as Tiannah, her business name which is named after her daughter, the celebrity stylist recently premiered a new TV series that mirrors her daily life at home and work.

Produced and directed by Pris Nzimiro-Nwanah, the 13 part series titled ‘Tiannah’s Empire’ follows closely the provocative and exciting life of the celebrity stylist, socialite and self-made serial entrepreneur as she juggles the many roles she has to play - mother, stylist, designer, friend, music and business executive.

Viewers will be entertained by Lawani’s risqué personality, her drama filled life and the chaotic but fun daily routines at Tiannah’s Empire.

Some of the guests who made appearances at the premiere include Tiwa Savage, Mo Abudu, Iyabo Ojo, Denrele Edun, Sasha P and Stephanie Coker.

Tiannah’s Empire will start airing on April 18, 2017 on EbonyLife TV.

ADEWALE AYUBA, SIR SHINA PETERS, AND DADDY SHOWKEY TO SPEAK AT NECLIVE the trio of Adewale Ayuba, Sir Shina Peters, and Daddy Showkey have been confirmed to lead musicians of different generations to this year’s conference holding at Landmark Events Centre, in Lagos, on Wednesday April 26, 2017.

All three music icons will make their debut at the conference, to join other participants in discussing the past, present and future of Nigerian music and how Africa, indeed, can use the opportunity the recent interest in Nigerian sound presents.

Raised in Ajegunle, a notorious Lagos ghetto, Daddy Showkey fought poverty and misdemeanour to emerge a national music star, and inspiration to millions of young people across the country. Starting off as a boxer and acrobat, after he had enjoyed brief fame as a kid star, featuring in FESTAC 77, Showkey formed different groups with neighbourhood friends, before settling for a solo career in 1995. His deep, screaming dancehall voice, his acrobatic dance routines and ghetto stories soon won him millions of fans everywhere, changing his life for good and focusing the nation’s attention on talents from hitherto ignored areas.

Showkey now devotes his time mentoring ghettos kids, supporting upcoming musicians, and encouraging successful Nigerians to share their stories and hold the ladder for otherwise hopeless kids.

Shina Peters, a multi-instrumentalist, singer, bandleader and performer, took Juju music from Ebenezer Obey and King Sunny Ade, and gave it a complete overhaul, introducing what he termed ‘Afro Juju’. Using unusually fast tempo, excess percussions, electric drums, and new languages, he sold an art form hitherto reserved for the mature and the old, to younger audiences; he lured young boys and girls to a genre that was mostly patronized by older men only.

Sir Shina Peters built his entire career on doing new things. From being a band member with Prince Adekunle, to being the musician while Segun Adewale sang, in their band ‘Sir Shina Adewale, SSP worked his way up rising to new challenges and happening to do what was deemed impossible.

Many years after he’s talked about his platinum records, big money hits, career setbacks, industry politics, and many more in his music and interviews, he will now take the stage at NECLive on April 26, 2017, to share his story with the world, in what will be first-of-its-kind for a musician in his category.

Ayuba and Shina Peters released their career-defining albums around the same

time, in 1989. While Shina’s ‘Ace’ took over homes and parties, Ayuba was grabbing everyone’s attention with a new twist to Fuji music, called ‘Bonsue. It was KWAM 1, the former Ayinde Barrister band boy that began leading the genre to new audiences in the early 80s. But Ayuba, good-looking, soft-spoken, yet philosophical and bold, that recruited a new kind of elite to the music: the working class young men and women usually reluctant to identify with a music form that came from the streets.

All three musicians created new markets for their genres, opened new opportunities, and built brands that have stood the test of time, in spite of many documented set backs.

How did they do it? What lessons are inherent? And now that the world is opening up to our music and musicians again, what do we need to learn from them?

Showkey, Ayuba and Shina will be joined by other music experts at NECLive, including hit-maker ID Cabasa, super producer Cobhams Asuquo, Uk-based promoter Corey Johnson, Nigerian promoter Cecil Hammond, band leader Akin Shuga, former talent manager, Lolu Durojaiye, and many others.

The theme for this year’s conference is ‘It’s Time for Africa’.

Polo Unveils Rolex Espace Boutique in Abuja Connoisseurs of luxury items are in for a whole new retail experience as Polo Limited, Nigeria’s foremost one-stop luxury company is set to unveil a new flagship boutique that would elevate the luxury experience for shoppers in West Africa. Situated at the Hilton Hotel Abuja, the new Rolex Espace is the first of its kind in Nigeria and offers a warm ambience and premium aesthetics that is at par with world class luxury boutique standards.

The look and feel of the new Rolex Espace redefines beauty, class and style.

Each section of the new retail experience centre is designed to speak to the look, feel, and class of the specific luxury brand item it showcases. The use of light effects also illuminates the boutique’s ambience and projects the beauty from the outside.

The new Rolex Espace luxury boutique would offer much more than prestige, status and style but would also enhance customer experience through superior service delivery.

Speaking on the new flagship boutique, Polo Limited Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. John Obayuwana stated that, “the new Rolex Espace retail experience store which is the first of its kind in West Africa is a statement of how we intend to not just provide luxury items to our valuable clients but also ensure that they enjoy world class shopping experience in Nigeria. The planned luxury store unveil marks a new direction for the Polo brand which continually and consistently sets the tone in Africa for personalized luxury shopping experience and an environment matching global standards”.

Renowned for its unflinching commitment to beauty, integrity, attention to detail, impeccable customer service, Polo Limited is set to redefine the luxury industry in Africa with its planned opening of the Rolex Espace luxury Store in Abuja.

Polo Limited is the official retailer of traditional and contemporary luxury brands such as Rolex, Cartier, Mont Blanc, Piaget and Roger Dubuis among many others particularly in Nigeria and Africa.

Polo Rolex Espace Boutique

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ENTERTAINMENT NEWS

Two Years Later, Ex-Power Rangers Actor Gets Convicted of Manslaughter Vanessa Obioha On Jan 31, 2015, Joshua Sutter, roommate to former Power Rangers star, Ricardo Medina died from a sword stabbing inflicted by the latter. Medina was arrested but later released due to a court rejection.

A year later, Medina was arrested again while investigation continued. The actor who played Cole Evans in ‘Power Rangers Wild Force’ in 2002 and voiced ‘Deker’ on ‘Power Rangers Samurai’ in 2011, was initially charged with first degree murder but later pleaded guilty of manslaughter in March.

It was reported that Medina stabbed Sutter with a Samurai sword during a heated argument over Medina’s girlfriend. His

attorney, Stanley Friedman told the court that the argument started in the kitchen and led to the bedroom where Medina stabbed Sutter The actor claimed he acted in selfdefence. However, the father of the victim defended his son’s honour by telling the court that his son never had any violent or aggressive streak. He also told the judge that he hoped Medina will be stripped of his celebrity status.

The Superior Court Judge Deviann L. Mitchell after hearing emotional testimony from Sutter’s family sentenced Medina to six years in prison. He was convicted of manslaughter rather than a murder conviction which would have fetched him a possible life sentence.

Ricardo Medina

PHARRELL WILLIAMS IS GOING TO THE BIG SCREEN A new musical ‘Atlantis’ inspired by the childhood of hip-hop mogul Pharrell Williams will be adapted to a movie.

The Hollywood Reporter revealed that Fox has signed to produce the movie musical while the Tony Award-winning film and stage director Michael Mayer will direct.

‘Atlantis’ will capture elements of Pharrell’s childhood in Virginia Beach with a twist of Romeo and Juliet-style story.

The artiste will also co-produce the movie musical.

ROBIN THICKE INCHES CLOSER TO A CUSTODY AGREEMENT WITH WIFE, PAULA PATTON A new report on TMZ suggests that the ‘Blurred Lines’ singer may soon reach a custody agreement with his wife, actress Paula Patton.

The couple’s relationship has been shaky since Patton filed for divorce in 2014, but got worse when their son, Julian accused Thicke of excessively spanking him earlier this year.

Thicke at that time had just lost his father, Alan Thicke.

Patton was able to get a restraining order while Thicke was cleared of any wrongdoing.

Thicke could only see their son on supervised visits.

However, the new report on the entertainment site reported that Julian is finally at ease with his father after spending more time with him while Patton was away for a movie shoot.

ACADEMY AWARDS PRESIDENTTAKES A SHOT AT DIVERSITY Cheryl Boone Isaacs, President of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, was recently rewarded with a Pioneer Award at the CinemaCon’s Will Rogers Motion Picture Foundation Dinner. While accepting the award, she called for more inclusion and diversity in Hollywood. She emphasised that the responsibility of reflecting a complete mosaic and diversity of the world lies largely on Hollywood.

Since the #OscarsSoWhite controversy, Boone Isaacs made a commitment to double the number of women and minorities in the academy by 2020, although her tenure ends this summer.

Meanwhile, the Academy has decided to still retain the services of the audit firm PwC which two accountants blunder nearly marred the reputation of the Oscars 2017.

Goldberg and Brock Lesnar

MOHAMMED ALI IS THE SUBJECT OF A NEW DOCUMENTARY The life and times of the legendary boxer, Mohammed Ali is inspiring a new documentary.

The documentary will be a two-part, four hour expository on the very complex and dynamic character.

According to one of the producers, prolific filmmaker Ken Burns, Ali’s story is worth telling because it deserves a comprehensive treatment.

Burns and his daughter and son-in-law started working on the project early last year. The documentary is scheduled to air in 2021 on PBS. WARNER BROS OPENS NEW OFFICE IN CHINA After 10 decades it opened his first regional office in China, the production company recently launched a new office in Beijing. The new office will house the company’s film, television, home entertainment, games and corporate teams in the country.

China is the world’s second-largest box office and the company is hoping to tap into the vast potentials available as well as scout for new talents.

WHOSE TITLE WILL IT BE AT WRESTLEMANIA 33?

Today’s event is certainly a culmination of storylines that WWE denizens are eager to see the end. In recent times, there have been betrayals and rivalries going on WWE ring. From Brock Lesnar and Goldberg to Roman Reigns and The Undertaker. Fans are keen on which of these athletes will the ring favour today. Here are 10 matches to watch out for: Brock Lesnar vs Goldberg: It’s all about the F5 and the spear. Will the Beast Incarnate make good promise of his word by claiming the Universal Champion title from Goldberg?

Roman Reigns vs The Undertaker: Whose yard is it anyway? Roman Reigns or The Undertakers? Will there be more hoes than spears on today’s match?

Braun Strowman vs The Big Show: It will be a battle of brawn and reputation. Who leaves the ring with an ego?

Chris Jericho vs Kevin Owens: Now, this is one match everyone is very interested in. Both wrestlers have allies who may serve the role of distraction with relish. However, it will be better if the two men are left in the ring to really test their skills and strengths.

Seth Rollins vs Triple H: This match has the markings of a handicap match owing to Seth Rollins knee injury. But Seth has a statement to make and no one needs to understand it better than Triple H. The Raw Women’s Championship: How equipped is Bayley in retaining the Women’s Championship title in a match that has Charlotte, Nia Jax, and others?

AJ Styles vs Shane McMahon: Will this a remake of the Undertaker’s match vs Shane McMahon? We hope not. At least, someone needs to humble AJ Styles.

Bray Wyatt vs Randy Orton: One of the latest betrayal to have rocked the WWE, it will be fascinating to see if Wyatt will reign supreme at today’s event or will the scriptwriters give the Viper a venomous victory?

Dean Ambrose vs Baron Corbin: Both athletes are very talented and ruthless. But only one can leave the ring as the Intercontinental champion. The Lunatic Fringe or the Lone Wolf?

Smackdown Women’s Championship: Naomi is back, and the plot thickens. Alexa Bliss will have to face the Naomi again to win the title and other challengers like Becky Lynch, Natalya, and Mickie James.

Paula Patton and Robin Thicke

Pharrell Williams

Cheryl Boone Isaacs

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02.04.2017

LOOK FOR THE ART IN THE EXPRESSION

One of the pen and ink on canvas works by Tyna Adebowale

EDITOR OKECHUKWU UWAEZUOKE/ okechukwu.uwaezuoke@thisdaylive.com

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ARTS & REVIEW\\VISUAL ARTS

LOOK FOR THE A IN THE EXPRESS

A quartet of conceptual artists feasts on the corruption-ridden Nigerian political landscape in an exhibition t exhibition offers no glimmer of hope at the end of the tunnel, Okechukwu Uwaezuoke discovers

O

dd title, At Work. This could be a ploy to stimulate reflection. Isn’t that, after all, the whole point of conceptual art? May be not entirely. For the less scholarly exhibition habitués would rather be on the look out for Wow! Moments.

Alas, not many of such moments are evident in this four-man exhibition – still ongoing at Kia Showroom along Akin Adesola Street in Victoria Island, Lagos.

Besides Olumide Onadipe’s mixed-media installation “Conversation with Self”, there is hardly any other flicker of novelty in the hall.

Close-up on Onadipe. Experimentation, by the way, is the theme song of his studio practice. The University of Nigeria, Nsukkatrained sculptor apparently has a predilection for manipulating tactile materials.

This is how come such found objects as polythene bags, metal, wood, jute bags and glass seem pivotal in the creation of his recent works. In a bid to repurpose these objects, he gives them new forms through a process that involves melting and twisting.

Thus, the artist – as part of his residency project with the Arthouse Foundation (the organisers of the exhibition) – examines how individuals interact with their environments.

Among his offerings at this exhibition, which opened on March 18, the mixedmedia works “Road Map to New Lagos”, “Wheel In, Wheel Out” and “World Apart” proudly stand out. They indeed proclaim his artistic credo.

Move over to Tyna Adebowale’s acrylic, pen and ink on canvas portraits of black African women. Obviously, this Auchi Polytechnic graduate is fixated on gender issues. Of course, these complemented by tangential issues like sexuality and identity.

Take the images of her women – as in “Bodii”, “Mystyk” and “Tom” series. They are densely-patterned by traditional design motifs. Before them, the viewer needs to linger a little longer. Defiantly, they seem to inveigle their way into the viewers’ consciousness from their section of the exhibition hall. Ditto her 10-panel acrylic, pen and ink on canvas graffiti-like work “Here, Here and Now”.

What else are they there for, but to do the bidding of their creator? Through them, Adebowale stridently rails against the marginalisation of her gender. It is understandable, therefore, that they are part of her residency project with the Arthouse Foundation. Talking about residencies, the artist, who is currently an artist-in-residence at the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, had previously completed residency programmes at the Instituto de Arte e Cultura Yoruba in Brazil and Asiko Art School in Ghana.

The other artist, Dipo Doherty, seems more at home with colourful stylised grotesque depictions of human forms.

These forms, which seem largely inspired by the African traditional art, also hint at some Western and modernist influences.

His residency project indeed orbits around his contrasting colour scheme in which a

Conversation with Self by Olumide Onadipe viewer easily spots vestiges of his monochromatic expression.

Yet, what would his paintings be without these contrasting hues and patterns? Thanks to them, a viewer discerns a hint of emotional intensity or restlessness in the paintings. Take the acrylic on canvas works like “Eden”, “Woman Bathing at Night”, “Woman Bathing on a Beach”, “Abstract Figure” and “General on a Horse”, for instance. The fragmented, distorted parts of the figures create an illusion of movement. The dispersed facial features, hair and limbs suggest the still images in the various stages of an activity. It is as though the artist is hurriedly documenting these activities.

Naturally, he would have to jettison the traditional canons of aesthetics to be able to achieve this. Besides, to be visually intelligible to many aficionados, he would first have to claw his way from out of the gloominess of his ethereal environment. Truth be told, the grotesqueness of these forms are consistent with the contemporary Zeitgeist.

But this is not all the University of Virginia graduate offers. If there are figures or forms in his patterned and somewhat blurry “Ecstasy” series, they are hardly noticeable. Indeed, there are forms lurking in the midst of the somewhat subdued acrylic and oil colours.

In his “Covalence” series fragments of photographic prints pasted on board peer at the viewer from beneath a slapdash arrangement of burnt rulers. Here too, the artist’s conceptual whims overrule the viewers’ clamour for some form of coherence. Doherty, a finalist for the a prize at the inaugural ArtX Lagos held late last year, is not entirely unknown in the Lagos scene. For he had recently held solo exhibitions at the Victoria Island-based Red Door Gallery and the Lekki-based Nike Art Centre.

Finally, there is Jelili Atiku. This 2015 Prince Claus Award recipient is best known for his performance art, though he is basically a multimedia artist. His fixation on the somewhat tumultuous political environment provides the fodder for his drawings, instal-

lations, sculpture, photography, video and performance art.

For his residency project, he deploys performances in public spaces for his exploration of the Nigerian socio-political experiences from 1914. To this end, he conceives a fictional political party he calls the People’s Welfare Party (P. W. P.) through which he plunges headlong into the shark infested waters of Nigerian politics. The party’s manifestos, printed beside a portrait of the artist smiling for the camera, suggest that it is a messianic platform for the liberation of the suffering masses from their kleptocratic leaders.

A highly committed artist, he takes a swipe at the decadent political environment and dysfunctional government policies. His oil on paper drawings, which are conceptualisation of the performance “Recession No Be Mistake” (Manifesto III) , seethe with so much anger and cynicism. They complement the actual performances depicting a black-clad, cape-draped figure, whose head seems encased in what could pass for a stash of

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ART SION

taking place in Lagos. But this

antlers or antennae. This Satan-like figure, also holding a white miniature cow in his hand, could be the artist’s perception of the ethereal form of recession.

If his other performances “Senate, Are You a Rotten Head?” (Manifesto IV) and “HUNHUN-UN-UN” (Manifesto V) seem more synergistic than the former, it is because they involve a handful of collaborators. Nonetheless, they are only a foretaste of what should be expected from this graduate of the University of Lagos and Ahmadu Bello University at the official Nigerian exhibition of the 2017 Venice Biennale.

Meanwhile, At Work, which is on until Friday, April 7, leaves a trail of sordid tales across the exhibition hall. The exhibiting artists, who are so caught up in the web of Nigeria’s self-created entanglements, offer the audience little hope for the future.

Surely, their depictions of the contemporary realities is no ashen heap from which one expects Phoenix to rise.

ARTS & REVIEW\\VISUAL ARTS The Inverted Pyramid; Adapted from a novel by Emeka Dike

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ARTS & REVIEW\\LITERARY CAFÉ

SO YOU THINK YOU CAN WRITE...

Yinka Olatunbosun

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owadays, book launches are commonplace. The irony is that just a few writers are born or made, as the case maybe.

Compelling writers with high quality writing are diminishing in figures while many writing contests have emerged to strengthen young African writers. In Nigeria, young writers often fall short of several international writing competitions that require their works to be published outside the shores. Whatever the case, history shows that the stake has been so high for budding writers in Nigeria.

Hence, to sustain the literary habits in Nigerian youths, a feature story writing contest by OVH Energy Marketing tagged “So You Think You Can Write” has been initiated. The first edition in this Prodigy Series was won by Dr. Rachel Adeyeye Adetola, a young female medical doctor in 2016. The Prodigy series is a project designed to support arts in Nigeria and this contest is just a fraction of the whole.

If the title reminds you of a popular television series, then you’re thinking right. It is selected to challenge ambitious writers who are willing to submit their works for close examination by a team of six internal judges and an external judge. This year, the external judge for the writing competition is renowned writer, journalist and former Presidential Adviser on Research and Documentation, Mrs. Molara Wood.

The writing challenge has the theme, “Corporate Social Responsibility” which should inspire contestants to suggest how corporate organisations can fulfill this role; impacting positively on social welfare while serving economic benefits. This is quite different from the “We will always be passionate about environmental safety and sustainance but we are also aware that other areas of CSR apart from environmental sustainability can also make a difference,” said Mr. Seun Adeosun, the Head, Corporate Communications, OVH Energy

Wood Marketing, while explaining the rationale behind this edition’s theme.

To qualify to compete, you must be a Nigerian living in Nigeria. So, if you’re one of those who live in one of Nigeria border towns, you may want to relocate so that you won’t miss this fine opportunity. Naturally, in this contest, the winner gets it all- that is a sum of N500,000 and need we add, a year long boasting right?

According to Mr. Seun Adeosun, every entry will be subjected to rigorous and unbiased examination for organisation of thoughts, grammatical structure, depth of research and originality of ideas. Also, a previous winner is eligible to contest again in this edition. Although there are no consolatory prizes for this writing contest, the competition will challenge other budding writers to develop cutting-edge writing skills.

To develop competitive writing skills, the trick lies in reading. One of the pieces of advice that a copywriter gets at the start of a writing career is to read wide and be absorbed in a wide-range of subjects. As a writer, you may not love wild parties but if you have to create a scenerio like that in your fictional writing, your imagination must be fuelled. From March 20 till April 21, budding writers can fuel their creativity with national developments to create a brilliant piece that will possibly be a judge’s pick.

Undoubtedly, this initiative is part of the 17 of the 2023 Developmental goals to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. Though it is targeted at youths, there are no age restrictions in this competition and as they say- it is for both the young and the young at heart. Only one entry is allowed by each contestant, which must be written in English language, with not more than 1500 words. Though a lot of research work had been done by joint writers, in this competition, only solo effort will be allowed.

Before the winner of the competition is declared, a shortlist will be announced in May. Entries that make the shortlist must have been found to be strong in structure and coherence, quality of argument and analysis, mechanical accuracy and other benchmarks. The selection usually takes place in four stages. The internal judges handle the first two stages while the long list is sent to the external judge who makes the final three selections before the winner is declared. The number of entries received each year may determine the time for the announcement of the overall winner.

The competition is solely sponsored by OVH Energy Marketing, a licensee of the OANDO Plc.

THEATRE

Thespian Family Theatre Marks World Theatre Day March 27 is globally observed as World Theatre Day and thrill seekers in Nigeria are all for it. This year, the repertory theatre company, Thespian Family Theatre (TFT) performed the play, “Beyond the Garb” at the National Theatre, Iganmu in commemoration of the special day.

Prior to this memorable day, the CEO, TFT, Ayodele Jaiyesinmi has rolled up her sleeves, neck-deep in work for the production of the play she wrote. Being a Change Management Expert, the production seemed like a project into which she devoted time and energy.

Working with a professional like Abel Otuedor, the masterly choreography intertwined with the storyline which was punctuated with

A scene from the play

dance, drums and music.

At a preview of the play, this reporter took the pleasure of savouring the stage design which has become a relic of the old theatre tradition. With technology overtaking traditional stage designs, most flats have been abandoned by many technical directors.

Thankfully, the set relives the near-truth portrayal of the play’s locale, while the wooden stairway details, placed along wild grasses on stage created a vision of a village setting.

Satisfied by the details in the set design, this reporter settled into a chair, watching the strokes of the brush against the flats as the cast and crew of “Beyond The Garb” got set for their first dress and tech rehearsal. During

this kind of rehearsals, mistakes are pardonable. This is because the actors are placed in their element for the very first time. For some, it would be the first time of working with lighting cues, costumes and props. But for some directors, some of these theatrical elements are introduced early in the rehearsals.

The 70-minute play is a total theatre piece, although the economy of the storyline was threatened with later characters whose roles pointed out the propaganda nature of the play. Essentially, the subject matter of the drama rests on the need for Nigerians to do self-examination while clamouring for change in public service.

The plot tells of a village Orurimeto, a

fictitious village in Nigeria where the villagers are preparing for the coronation ceremony.

Unfortunately, the heir apparent is from the city and by the villagers’ judgement, he is clearly unfit to govern the villagers. Ayan, a very vocal and polygamous man, said people from the city have not laid good examples in governance and must be rejected by the locals. That was the ground for the conflict of the drama which was expressed in bitter dialogue, battle of wits and finally, a sovereign village meeting.

The playwright, Jaiyesinmi, explained the meaning for the title of the play and why it is important for the audience.

“It means what lies under the garment.

Our plays usually key into a theme and it is about change initiative. The play is our way of looking at the situation that we have right now in Nigeria. We’re talking about corruption and change. Everybody is blaming the other person for how our country is. We don’t look at ourselves and our role in the change.

“We have a storyteller in the lawyer who points out other corrupt practices. For instance, the garri tin is bashed in at the local market. The fabric for sewing is short by three if not six inches. The policeman is seen as very corrupt. It is not about the profession. It is what affects all of us,’’ she explained.

In the character of the policeman, the playwright establishes the truth about how many professionals have engaged in corrupt practices for the sake of survival. Deprived of salaries for several months and in some cases years, some have sought quick measures of making money to meet daily basic needs.

While igniting the theme of survival and societal change, Jaiyesinmi thought it would be too grim to stage the play without attempting to entertain the audience with other theatrical spectacle. The only challenge in this is that members of the audience typically expect to hear songs that are original soundtracks to the play; that underscore the subject matters just as the narrator does. This is one art that has been perfected in many works of Femi Osofisan.

TFT had the opportunity of staging the production in collaboration with the National Theatre to reawaken the consciousness in theatre artists of the need to use the theatre as a tool for social change and national reorientation.

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CICERO

Editor Olawale Olaleye Email wale.olaleye@thisdaylive.com, SMS: 08116759819

IN THE ARENA

A Growing Culture of Intolerance The recent ethnic clash in Ile-Ife, Osun State is against the spirit of Nigeria’s diversity in unity and it is condemnable. Olawale Olaleye writes

I

le-Ife, the cradle of the Yoruba civilisation in Osun State relapsed into a needless and avoidable violent clash, days ago, when the Yoruba and the Hausa communities engaged in a free-for-all that left many dead and houses numbering about 30 destroyed.

This is quoting different media reports.

And as you read, the exact cause of the crisis has not been established, even though a panel of inquiry has been put in place by the state government. But there are two versions of what may have happened.

It all started on Wednesday, March 8. The disagreement, the two versions claimed, followed an altercation between a man and a woman and consequently degenerated into a major clash that claimed lives and about 30 houses destroyed.

Here is the first account. That trouble started following a misunderstanding a man allegedly had with a certain woman, identified as Kubura – wife of a member of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW). The man, believed to be Hausa, was said to have sat in front of Kubura’s shop, where she sold sachet water in the Sabo area of the ancient town.

Kubura, this account claimed, asked the man to leave (for whatever reasons) but he refused (since he could not relate with why she wanted him to leave) and this led to a quarrel between them, propelling the man, according to this account, to slap her. From there, all hell was let loose.

The second version claimed that a certain man ate at a woman’s canteen and did not make full payment for the food served him. This, it was said, ignited an argument between them, forcing the man to slap the woman. This then attracted others to take sides with either the man (Hausa) or the woman (Yoruba).

The development immediately compelled the Osun State government to impose a two-day curfew from 6am to 7pm in order to forestall possible spread of the crisis. Acting Commissioner of Police in the state, Mohammed Abubakar Koji, said mobile policemen were immediately deployed in to restore peace and order. Also, soldiers from the Nigerian Army Engineering Construction Regiments (ECR) were sent in to enhance the police effort.

Unfortunately, the police intervention, which allegedly saw to the arrest of mainly the Yoruba people, soon exacerbated tension as the Yoruba alluded to ethnic agenda by the police.

They contended that nothing could explain the one-sided arrest made. This therefore spurred indigenes, lawyers and prominent Yoruba leaders to ask the police to be just and fair in handling the crisis, otherwise, their intervention could stoke further crisis.

The state Governor, Rauf Aregbesola, while inaugurating the five-man judicial commission of inquiry on the crisis appeared to still be in shock, because according to him, “The report that small arms and light weapons were deployed freely during the crisis was disturbing and frightening. It has implication for security of lives and property and the potential

P O L I T I CA L N OT E S

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Buhari

for more conflicts beyond the immediate theatre of war, if not nipped in the bud.

“I want you to look into this. The sources and the current location of these arms and their custodians should be investigated and determined. They should all be recovered. There were also reports that cultists, who have no regard for human lives, were recruited into the mayhem for a fee. This is most disheartening. Please investigate this and unearth the roles they played and let the law be applied without fear or favour.

“I charge this commission to be courageous and fearless.

Undertake this assignment with all seriousness and the fear of God. You should pursue the truth and not fear where it will lead to.”

But at this point, it does not matter what led to the crisis or who started the fight, the focus should be on how a minor dispute between two people of the same country but different ethnic backgrounds could degenerate into such a blaze with wanton loss of lives and property. This, more than anything else, has exposed the growing culture of intolerance amongst the different ethnic nationalities in the country even as the nation advances in age.

Particularly disturbing is that it has revealed the existential strains and the often embarrassing indiscretion amongst some

Nigerians of different creed. The dispute was by all standards baseless and could have been resolved peacefully without as much getting to a police station. A simple intervention by passers-by could have done it…It is a small community after all.

It is in view of this that last Wednesday’s clash between the people of Ipetumodu and Asipa in Ife north area of Osun State, three weeks after the March 8 Ile-Ife crisis, is also blameworthy. The clash occasioned by a mere misunderstanding at an inter-house sports completion would later claim 10 casualties and a major market burnt down. That too was needless and avoidable Regrettably, this is not about Ile-Ife, but a fast growing culture – one of gross intolerance amongst a people once bonded by love. It stands to reason therefore that it could not have degenerated to this level of madness were it a quarrel between two people of same ethnic nationality. But because of the penchant of some Nigerians for wanting to take laws into their hands, the community would have to deal with these huge losses for a long time to come, some of them irreplaceable.

This is why an inquiry into this insensate, needles and avoidable violent crisis must be thorough and conclusive and those found culpable sanctioned.

The Executive-Legislative Face-off

he faceoff between the Senate and certain agencies of the federal government mirrors an utterly defective system. The only way to describe the new relationship between the executive and the legislature is vendetta. It is evidently a turf war.

First the senate wanted the ComptrollerGeneral of the Nigerian Customs, Col. Hameed Ali, to appear before it and respond to some allegations, however, in full uniform of the agency he leads. What started like a child’s play soon exposed the underbelly of the animosity they both nursed against each other, as Ali declined appearing in uniform. The senate conse-

quently passed a resolution that Ali is unfit to hold office and the battle rages on.

Then came allegations that Ali’s travail was caused by the Nigeria Customs Service’ seizure of a vehicle imported for the Senate president for which appropriate duty was not paid.

Saraki has already faced a Senate committee on the allegation and had since exonerated himself.

Second, the Senate declined to confirm the nomination of Mr. Ibrahim Magu as the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for a record second time based on Department of State Security (DSS) report which claimed Magu lacks the integrity to lead the nation’s anti-graft campaign. What

more, the senate left the executive with a caveat: it would not reconsider Magu if re-presented.

Magu too hit back at the senate in a report to the President, linking Senate President Bukola Saraki to alleged diversion of the Paris and London Club refund, to the tune of N3.5billion.

As it is, what the executive and the legislature share in terms of relationship is not good enough and the Nigerian people, ultimately, are the loser. This is sheer vendetta on both sides and cannot be located within the collective interest of growth and development. The earlier they realise this and make amends, the better, otherwise they might be putting the nation’s democracy at great risk.

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BRIEFINGNOTES

What’s in a Memo?

It’s not so much about the content of the controversial memo by Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State to President Muhammadu Buhari or that it was written at all; the debate is on how such a confidential letter was leaked and for what purpose, writes Olawale Olaleye

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erhaps, the 29-page letter (excluding the annexure) by Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State to President Muhammadu Buhari could not have come at a better. It not only sits well with the mood of the nation at this time, its contents are particularly spot-on. But not everyone sees it as such. Some are quick to locate the politics of the letter, albeit through their own lenses. Nevertheless, it has scored big – stoked an endless debate, chief of which is located in high wire political colouration. It is all about the 2019 elections.

The 2019 presidential race is therefore on and with all the trappings of a power game. Much of the frenzy it would garner had the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared the space open already dots the turf. This is why the El-Rufai memo, however sincere, cannot be completely absolved of the political connotations currently being adduced to it. Besides, it could send unsavoury signals should anyone feign to be unaware of some of the political happenings at this material time.

To think that El-Rufai has also come out to stand by his letter and maintained that he was ready to face the consequences (if there would be any) is an indication that the die, ahead of next elections, may have been cast. With the plots, settings and storyline gradually being situated in their apt contexts, it would go down in history, as it was in 2015, that the El-Rufai letter was one of the issues that defined the 2019 elections.

As it has come to be known, the one thing the health challenges of President Buhari has done is to expand the frontiers of the prevalent political extrapolations and by extension, its nuances, with each still in its raw state. And as part of the new thinking, there is a growing belief that the president is likely not going to seek re-election in 2019. In fact, it is almost a consensus now even amongst the president’s strongest allies.

Not one of them is ready to gamble with his health in 2019.

Thus, whilst they all pray and look forward to the president serving out this present term of four years, almost half of which is already gone, to prevent possible succession crisis, the possibilities of the emerging equation is evidently not clear to anyone yet, hence the potpourri of calculations that now strewn the polity, with ongoing alliances, albeit quietly and from the fringes.

It is to this end that many see the El-Rufai letter as an early but smart move by one man, who could see ahead, the denouement of the present equation (and which may likely be unpleasant) to want to extricate himself from any shared blame by the time the performance sheet of the Buhari administration is being evaluated.

This is the political interpretation and possibly, the deliberate colouration of the El-Rufai letter by other stakeholders, believed to have leaked it. It is also being argued that the letter, although written since last year, is a product of the analysis of a man, who might have come to terms with the fact and reality of having lost out in the current power game. Some even contend that the man might have begun to garner materials for his next book.

However that sounds, it has not failed to be a factor either.

El-Rufai is generally believed to be ambitious and had hitherto kept a close relationship with the president till when

There is no doubting the fact that those, who leaked El-Rufai’s letter haven’t done so in nation’s interest, ultimately. It is a clear cut political agenda that may have suited their current thinking and of course, helped to goad their strategy of elimination in spite of the fluidity of the time

el-Rufai and Buhari...in national or personal interest?

the alleged cabals in the system are seen to have not only seized power, but also alienated certain persons considered as threat to their power and influence. El-Rufai might have been identified as one.

Taken together, there is certainly not much to a memo, by a concerned Nigerian of El-Rufai’s standing, to the president on issues of governance, especially that a majority of the Nigerian people can relate to those issues. It does not matter, to many, where the letter came from for as long as it addresses the core of the issues and which the El-Rufai letter is believed to have so done, poignantly. What is however curious and should be interrogated for posterity’s sake is how a letter of such magnitude was leaked?

For some, who were privy to the genesis of the letter, it is claimed that the Kaduna governor had gone to see the president one-on-one to update him on some of the growing concerns in the country, especially the disapproval by a majority of the people of some of his actions, dispositions, policies and initiatives.

After a few minutes of allegedly identifying and discussing what he reckoned were the issues, the president was said to have asked him to go and put his concerns in writing, thus prompting the now controversial letter.

This notwithstanding, inside sources claimed that El-Rufai shared the draft of the letter with a few people, including many of Buhari’s cabinet members to sample their takes on what he was about to share with the president on the state of the country.

Indeed, a majority of the people, some of them ministers, were said to have given their approval for the letter. Some were even said to have had input in certain areas to give it more weights.

When El-Rufai was eventually done with the letter, he was said to have again informed the president that he had finished itemizing his concerns as discussed and consequently sent it through one of his (president’s) personal aides, Tunde, who in turn, passed it on to him.

As it is, the leakage can be traced to three sources: the presidency, those that El-Rufai shared it with and himself. While the allusion to the presidency is understandable if it was true, that of the people he also shared it with can also not be dismissed because of the possible political undertone that is tied to it. That he too could have leaked it is also a great possibility.

In the presidency, for example, El-Rufai is believed to have fallen out of favour with those seen as running the show now and they are said to have done so much to get him far away from the president, in addition to allegedly creating a gulf between them. He was said to be one of those prevented from seeing the president in London, while Buhari was on medical vacation. Those who acted on behalf of the president were said to have read political meanings to his proposed visit and therefore did not approve it.

Coming back to those he allegedly shared the letter with, much as they saw the “passive patriotism” in his intention, some of them have always had scores to settle with him and might have found such an appropriate opportunity to fight back. There is a swirling belief that whilst the going was good with the president, he somewhat overreached his influence and stepped on a few toes.

Therefore, the shocking leak of the letter could also have come from such individuals, who considered his influencepeddling some sorts of threat. Again, the third theory is that he too could have leaked it for the simple reason of getting the message out, clandestinely. But in the final analysis, they all remain in the realm of speculations as the authentic source of the leakage is unknown.

Interestingly, this situation hasn’t offered a refreshingly different scenario from the days of former President Goodluck Jonathan, when the letter written to him by the present Emir of Kano and former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, alleging some missing $20billion was reportedly leaked by the incumbent Minister of Transportation, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi.

Although the story of the leakage did not come until a little over a year after Jonathan had left power, the letter formed part of the issues that shaped the 2015 elections. It rubbed off on the corruption tag of the administration, exposed the assumed weaknesses of the then president and ultimately, undid the government in a historic election.

There is no doubting the fact that those, who leaked ElRufai’s letter haven’t done so in nation’s interest, ultimately.

It is a clear cut political agenda that may have suited their current thinking and of course, helped to goad their strategy of elimination in spite of the fluidity of the time. The race is on!

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER • APRIL 2, 2017

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SUNDAYINTERVIEW Dakuku Peterside

Dakuku Peterside

Photos: Sunday Adigun

We Inherited a Primitive NIMASA Dr. Dakuku Peterside, a former House of Representatives member and immediate past governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress in Rivers State, is currently the Director-General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), a job he took up precisely a year ago, when he was appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari. Although an agency believed to be riddled with corruption , Peterside has since assuming office, proven to be different with his many out-of-the box initiatives in redirecting the focus of the agency and reclaiming its place in the maritime sector, both as a regulatory and revenue-generating bureau of government. In this interview with Olawale Olaleye, Peterside, who claimed to have inherited a grossly unsophisticated agency with its headship often stifled from taking initiatives as a result of suffocating procedures, even when such is meant to drive the growth of the organisation, reckoned that it has not been easy in the last 12 months repositioning NIMASA. He too has not relented in his effort to not only change the modus operandi at NIMASA, but of course, the way of thinking of its members of staff. He said this much and addressed other ranging issues believed to be inhibiting the effectiveness of the agency. Excerpts:

A

s the DG of NIMASA, how have you fared?

It’s been both challenging and interesting. It’s been a very rewarding experience. I have been involved in the executive arm of government as well as in the legislative arm of government.

But this is my first involvement in a regulatory agency. An interesting thing is that this place is peculiar. It is a place, where you have no friend because your duty is to force others by the authority of the law to comply and people ordinarily do not like to comply.

Aside the issue of compliance in the course of the enforcement of the law, you will definitely hurt a number of persons. And so, it is a unique area. It is the only place, where nobody tells you ‘thank you’ because you are compelling people to obey the law or rules.

It is also one place, where people rarely appreciate what you are because your own function is to reduce the negative impact of

some peoples’ activities on the economy, the environment and on the people of Nigeria.

And so, it is not easily tangible for people to pick what you are doing. You are constantly under-appreciated even when you do so much. But on the whole, I have seen that the Nigerian people appreciate what we are doing. I have seen that people are good to understand better the role of the maritime regulator. And so, it is inspiring. It has boosted our confidence that what we are doing is in the right direction and that we are in the pursuit of a greater Nigeria. So, it’s been a wonderful experience.

On assumption of office, what were the initial challenges you had to deal with?

The challenges that confronted us are the same that confront anyone, who takes charge of regulatory agencies. They are underresourced even when you have a lot of pressures. My observation

is that you have a lot of knowledgeable persons at NIMASA but that does not mean we have the right competences to deliver on our mandate. And so, we needed to touch our architecture here and there to get the right competences to deliver on our mandate.

The other challenge we have is the issue of not having enough infrastructure to do our work, especially this issue of maritime platform or what they call fast intervention vessels. At the time we got there, the federal government, through some other regulatory agencies, had rounded the vessels acquired through a PPP arrangement with Global West, so we did not even have a vessel to enforce our mandate. Now, the work force was very demoralised because of the events of a very recent past – they have been accused of corruption; they have been denied of promotion at their place of work.

Continued on Pg. 70

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SUNDAYINTERVIEW • WE INHERITED A PRIMITIVE NIMASA • Continued from Pg. 69 Many of them have not had training for a very long time, a good number of them stagnated, others not doing jobs that is best fit – that means they could have competences for marine environment but were brought to go and do finance and some have competences for finance but were brought to go and do maritime safety. So, that was an issue. So the workers were highly demoralised. We needed to change their perspective, energize them again and of course give them a boost to do their jobs.

Make them believe that we have and are truly adding value to what we are doing.

Those were some of the challenges. We also noticed that virtually all the processes in NIMASA are manually driven in a 21 country world, where the rest of the world does things through the platform of technology. That became a bit of challenge, integrating with others, who work in our sector. Those were some of the challenges. Indeed, there were so many challenges.

The most important challenge we face is the expectation of the Nigerian people. Many people do not know that NIMASA is simply a regulatory agency; it is not a contact awarding agency.

At the time we got here, several persons were coming to us: “award a contract to us”. It is distracting! It makes it impossible to concentrate on your core mandate, which is to regulate shipping in Nigeria and promote indigenous shipping. In the recent past, somehow NIMASA reared off its core mandate and went to award contracts, so people thought it is the standard. NIMASA’s functions do not include contract award at all.

We have absolutely no business awarding contracts, and so, it becomes a bit of challenge managing peoples’ expectations. And we are always inundated with all sorts of proposals. The one that relates to us and the one that are not related to what we are doing.

Many persons will underrate the impact of that on what we are doing. Most of the time, we are dealing with what has no bearing with what we are doing.

How would you rate your intervention in some of those challenges?

I think we have done excellently well since we joined the NIMASA team. If you ask me to roll out the statistics you will also agree with me.

Look at the issue of piracy, before now, if you look at the statistics from the International Maritime Bureau (IMB), which is the statistical monitor of maritime agencies around the world, Nigeria was known as the hotbed of piracy and maritime crime.

We still have a bit of it with us but in the past twelve months, it has dropped significantly.

What did we do differently? We simply strengthened our collaboration with the Navy of our country, with the Navy of neighboring countries, built regional alliances and enhanced our surveillance of the waterways. And we enhanced communication too. So, we speak to our neighbours, we speak to our partners and we maintained a regular communication with the shipping firms. We understand them better and all of us are on the same page. You know synergy can unleash energy in a system. And that is all.

The second issue, in terms of maritime safety and inspections of vessels, our number has increased perceptivity. We boarded more vessels and made five more vessels comply with safety regulation. And so, we exceeded the IMO – we far exceeded their 15 per cent boarding last year despite the peculiar challenges we had. In terms of marine environment, we reduced major shipping spills to three and this is a drop from 15 cases in the three previous years.

That is because of extra vigilance. We raised awareness of the shipping industry of their obligation to maintain clean ocean and seas in the course of doing our shipping. The other area that is important is the human capacity development under the Nigeria seafarers’ intervention. We just had 130 persons graduate from Maritime University in Egypt; we also have some other persons, who graduated from Philippines, Romania and the South Shield Marine Institute in the UK. All of these were accomplished in the last one year, because of our determination and commitment because we are focused on the things that matter most. We realised that we have virtually no ocean going vessels; you have more than half a million in the Philippines. There are more than 140, 000 officers for China and we have absolutely no officer on ocean going vessels. But with the Nigerian shippers intervention, we are likely to have more than 100 ocean going seafarers in the next one year. That is a significant achievement.

We have also done a lot to improve our ship registry. We are not where we are supposed to be but a lot has happened. Those who relate with us will tell you that there has been significant improvement in the way we conduct our business in NIMASA. We are proceeding at pace in the areas of automation of our processes. We have gotten approvals of the bureau for public procurements and other relevant departments that need to give us approval. What we are waiting for is the approval from the Federal Ministry of Transportation and other processes will also be automated.

We are also waiting for the approval of the board of directors to erect magnificent edifices in our eastern zonal offices in Port Harcourt and Western zonal office in Warri as well as Onne.

We have put that process in motion. We are also delivering brand new offices in the zones. Like I said to you, we have also done well in the area of marine environment, especially in the enforcement of international conventions and regulations to which Nigeria is a party. There is no one we have neglected in the past one year. We have done extremely well and we are even upping our game.

In terms of revenue, there is a significant drop in the revenue.

This is not due to any failure of NIMASA or NPA but because of interfering variables, which have to do with the fiscal regime in our country and the state of the economy in the world. I am sure that you know the world economy is going through very difficult times.

Forex is an issue in Nigeria. So, very few persons have money to import. Then, there has been a drop in crude oil production.

So, in terms of oil and gas, we export less than we used to export. Yes, there has been an improvement but it is not significant enough to support the data that support our making money. Before now, NMIASA owed years of tax arrears but right now, we have cleared our tax and VAT commitments. And so, we are making progress in every direction. A lot of progress!

We also have a presidential approval to set up new security architecture for four maritime domains. That is one area we have done well. In the areas of cabotage law enforcement, there has been a lot of improvement. We have more Nigerians on board cabotage vessel than we had one year ago. We have more cabbotage vessels than we had one year ago. One year ago we hand less than 300, now we have more than 300 cabbotage vessels on our register. Now that we have a downturn in oil and gas, most cabotage vessels support oil and gas activities and so, if you ask me, vertically and horizontally, we have made a lot of progress. Nigeria is becoming a stronger voice globally in the area of maritime.

Mind you, we are hosting the Association of Maritime Administrators in the 32 member maritime association in Nigeria in April.

We are also bidding to return to IMO council. Something we lost many years ago. Smaller nations are in the council. Liberia is in the council. We are not supposed not to be there. We drew attention to the fact that of all cargos headed to Africa, minimum of 60 per cent will end up in Nigeria and it means we have significant interest in the maritime industry. So, we are being acknowledged as the real voice of Africa in the industry.

In ISPS compliance, you saw that the Americans were here recently. Before now, we had achieved less than 12 per cent compliance with the ISPS code but in the past two years, they have rated us above 75 per cent compliance. The ISPS code is a very important instruction in the international shipping industry. We have been

We also noticed that virtually all the processes in NIMASA are manually driven in a 21 country world, where the rest of the world does things through the platform of technology. That became a bit of challenge, integrating with others, who work in our sector. Those were some of the challenges.

Indeed, there were so many challenges

rated very highly by the US coast Guard.

Finally, we subjected ourselves to what is called International Maritime Auditing scheme and the IMO auditing scheme had had rated us highly. So, in every aspect, we are recording great successes that are undeniable. I think we have done well.

Is there a target in terms of revenue generation?

Oh yes! In terms of revenue generation, we are working very hard; we are self-funding – we don’t get grants from the federal government. It is from the percentage of what we generate that we also fund our activities. So, it is in our best interest that we generate more money. But we don’t want to push our people to a point where they will compromise on the things that matter most – safety of vessels coming or leaving our ports in favour of money.

So, for us, fine is only a tool to get compliance. It shouldn’t be the basis for us to raise money. But we have made significant contributions to the consolidated revenue fund. We intend to double it in the year under review. We are working very hard.

Last year, we contributed significant amount. We intend to double it simply by looking at more revenue streams and ensuring that we tighten loose ends in the current revenue steam, ensure total compliance and get all funds into the kitty, so that we can support the economic development of our country.

You are obviously getting on well with this job, was there anything that prepared you for it?

What prepared me for this job is the fact that my parents taught me that no knowledge is a waste. That knowledge itself is power and that wherever you find yourself, you must be willing to learn and apply yourself to knowledge. I owe them so much for that rudimentary lesson. In the course of growing up, I had mentors, who challenged me to be the best of who I can be wherever I find myself.

And so, wherever I find myself in terms of assignment, I go the extra mile to acquire knowledge, to discipline myself to learn from my juniors, those above me as well as my peers. It has helped me thus far. And I am ordinarily inquisitive by nature. I like to find out why things happen the way they do.

When I got to the industry, people were generous enough to come to my assistance. Professionals who are not in NIMASA, as well as professionals in NIMASA, everybody enthusiastically were ready to give us one advice or the other and we took the advices and applied the ones that made sense to us. The ones we don’t understand, we ask more questions and it has really helped us and I recommend to everybody, the collaborative style of learning, not just learning for learning sake but willing to share knowledge with others, share experience with others, tap experience from other people and you can never get it wrong asking the right questions.

By the time you are done at NIMASA, what signature would you have left behind?

I want to leave a better agency than I met it. That is the most important legacy I like to leave. I like to leave an agency that is institutionalised; an institution with the right structure, with the right work ethics; an institution that Nigerians can be proud of. For me, when I leave I want to be seen as having turned around that institution 360 degrees.

I want to leave a model regulatory agency that will be a model of reference on the continent of Africa, an agency that understands that it is set up to serve the Nigerian people. If I accomplished that – an institution that understands that the force of authority that we have is the force of the Nigerian people – not for fun, not for show – that we have the force of authority of the Nigerian people

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• APRIL 2, 2017

SUNDAYINTERVIEW • WE INHERITED A PRIMITIVE NIMASA • Continued from Pg. 70 his own ego. I don’t have to be a governor for my ego. I believe I have attained a status that I deserve the kind of respect a governor gets, and so, I am not driven by ego; I am not driven by self-interest. You get to a time in life that you make up your mind to sacrifice your comfort for the good of the people and posterity. I am not in a hurry. God’s time is the best and He will always order our steps.

to do good to the majority of our people. If I left an agency that is a reference model, I will be pleased that I have accomplished much.

Let’s get a bit political. Your party lost elections in River State in 2015 and you were its governorship candidate. Can you tell, what were the factors responsible for your defeat? Was it that the candidate was not good enough or that Rivers, as they say, is traditionally a PDP state?

It is absolutely wrong to say we lost an election. Perhaps, a better way to say it is that you guys were rigged out in the process of the 2015 elections. We went to court, Nigerians followed the entire legal process and there is no Nigerian, who is in doubt that there was no election so properly called in Rivers. And so, we were rigged out by the forces of darkness, using the instrument of the state that is supposed to be a force for good – they used it to their own advantage and installed the kind of government that we have in Rivers today – that nobody is proud to associate with.

So, we didn’t get there not because we didn’t have the requisite strength or not because the candidate was not acceptable to the people or that we did not do the right thing, we simply lost to the combination of a president, who was determined to stop those he perceived as his enemies at all costs, even without following any rules. We lost to a system that was heavily compromised.

But a lot has changed. The scenario that led to that unfortunate incident is no longer there. It is now a different scenario, so now, the fortune of the party will totally be different from what it was pre-2015 or during the 2015 elections.

Given the outcome of some of the recent rerun polls you had in the state, do you see your party making greater impact in 2019?

One thing that people don’t understand is that the elections that were conducted after the 2015 election were mostly completion elections, that means there were standing results which were not in our favour, the most recent being Etche.

The party had been assigned votes before. Then our own party was lagging behind by over 7000 and so, we went for another election which significantly represented a shift in the election.

But a free and fair election will not produce the same result as one that is handwritten. They assigned number to a result. The number assigned was different from the vote cast. So what happened in Etche was that they conducted an election, which the APC won a majority, added them to the number assigned in an earlier election for which we hand an outside result. I cancelled that out and it appeared that we lost.

We’ve already questioned those easier results, which they assigned to themselves and right now, it is a subject at the tribunal. We believe that whenever the tribunal is done with its work, Nigerian will know the true situation. The other election in Ogoni area and my own River South senatorial district, we had already won the elections in Ogbogbo Ikoroma, my own local government. We had won elections in Oyigbo and Tai and that was why it was easy for us to compete because we already had a fair playing ground. That was why we won in the senatorial district.

I can tell you in all honesty, I fear God. Rivers is a solid APC state. All we need to do is to have a free and fair election – a level playing field and it would show clearly and glaringly that Rivers is an APC state. I am optimistic that in 2019, if there is one statement that will be made in Nigeria, it is the fact that APC is firmly rooted in Rivers State and River people deserve change. They yearn for change and River people can pay any price to get a change.

The government we have in place today does not know the aggregate of what a Rivers man wants or what he yearns for. It is actually everything against what a River man yearns for. Killing is alien to us. Today, more persons are killed in Rivers than any other part of the country. It’s a fact and I ask anybody to challenge that data. Today, more Rivers children are out of school in terms of percentage than any other states in the whole country. Public and private schools are being shut down. I have never seen a government so hostile to education.

The immediate past administration of right Honourable Rotimi Chibuke Amaechi was building model secondary schools, but this government came and abandoned those schools.

This government came, shut down primary schools that were functioning optimally – schools that were reference points in this country. This

Looking at the state of the nation now, especially the economy, do you think your party stands a good chance, both in your state and the country at large?

What my party has been doing in the past one year and ten months is to re-engineer the direction of our country. We were already in a ditch before the APC came to power and what the APC is doing is to pull the vehicle of our economy out of the ditch and when you pull it out, you get it moving. We are already out of the ditch. Look at the statistics – look at the data, things were really bad – the economy was already comatose before we came. We were being deceived by flowery language.

We knew things were bad, we didn’t know it was this bad. And so in the past 18 to 22 months, what the government of President Buhari is doing is to even bring us back from the brink of disaster and as God would have it, we will accomplish that. Nigerians are already beginning to feel the changes we talked about – they are beginning to happen. We have a more disciplined fiscal regime. We have a clear road map of where we are headed and there is no one who is in doubt that Nigeria is on the right course. It will only take some time for results to manifest. Nobody who will do a re-engineering of an economy will expect it to manifest in 12 months. Then that person doesn’t understand how the world economy works.

government is so hostile to teachers, that they are denied their basic wages. Pensioners are treated with levity. This government is so hostile to security agencies that it is ready to compromise the security of Rivers people for political interest.

Rivers people never had it this bad before.

It has never happened in our history and I don’t believe Rivers State deserves this kind of treatment and so, the only instrument at their disposal is their votes and they are waiting for the appropriate time to use it to change this government to the kind of government that they want and the kind of government they deserve and I have absolutely no doubt that in 2019, that change will come.

If you had been elected governor, what would you have been doing differently?

I would have done everything differently. First, is the issue of security: three things – and I have always said this consistently, that the body language of a governor does 50 per cent of the job!

If a governor shows by his body language that he is tolerant of crime, then, crime will flourish. If a governor, by his body language, speeches and predisposition shows that he has zero tolerance for crime, crime will drop immediately.

The second thing is that the governor must be the leader of a strategic section in the designing of the security architecture of a state. If you leave security and be running around everywhere, what is the security strategy of Rivers State?

What are we doing in terms of intelligence?

What are we doing in the area of security of infrastructure? What are we doing in getting the communities involved in policing their environment? What are we doing to interface with security agencies? What are we doing to maximize our relationship with security agencies?

I clearly do not see any strategy in place on how to tackle security issues. The only thing they have done is to pardon well-known criminals in the name of amnesty for them to do more crimes. We have not begun to reap any benefit from the so-called amnesty, even when they have absolutely no power to grant amnesty – absolutely no power!

For those who severed peoples’ heads and displayed them on the road? They are wellknown. The whole of the orashi area – it has never happened in our state before – where they severed 21 heads and displayed them on the road! That level of bestiality has never happened in our state before but it is happening every day! They go to their houses, drag them out in

broad day light. We have more crime – more bank robbery in Rivers State then any state in the country and I stand to be challenged.

And a governor raises no finger, no voice and you are governor? If I were governor of Rivers State, the first priority for me is security. To tackle the issue of security and in 30 days I will stamp out insecurity in Rivers State with the cooperation of other stakeholders simply by identifying the right intelligence, devising a strategy that will prioritise crime and take them one after the other and in 30 days, we will be able to take out all these criminal elements and get a sanitised system and get a state that is working and flourishing.

In the area of education, what we would have done differently is that I would not have brought back Rivers students, who are in various universities abroad in their final years. Over 1000 students were brought back in their final years to rot. I would not do that. And the funds required were not much. I would have priortised education. Aside security, the only thing I would have priortise is education.

I would have sustained those young boys and girls abroad to ensure that they graduate. I would rather send more persons to join them.

I would fix public schools because I know many persons in our state cannot afford private schools. Primary and secondary schools would have been working. At worst, I would do a PPP arrangement to get the secondary schools to work. I would have revolutionalised the public primary and secondary schools.

Does it mean you still have your eyes on the seat?

That will be determined by my party and the Rivers people. Three things will determine whether I have my eyes on the seat or not. First is the Almighty God. Second is my political party and third, the people of Rivers State. If God says run, I will put myself forward and I have a relationship with the Almighty God. The second thing is if the party says we won’t give you our ticket, I wouldn’t bother myself one day, despite the passion I have for Rivers State. I have totally subjected myself to group dynamics.

Finally, even when the party says run, I have to see that Rivers people are really ready for change and if they are ready for change, then I will partner them to bring about that change for the good of the majority of our people.

What should matter to us is the interest of our people. Nobody should want to be governor for the pomp and pageantry of the office – for

So, if it is taking APC two years to get the ‘vehicle’ out of the ‘ditch’, when are you going to get it started?

We have pulled it out of the ditch already and we are beginning to start the vehicle. Look around, a lot is beginning to change. Corruption is no longer the order of the day. It used to be that bad – that corruption was free for all. Right now, things are picking up. Investors are beginning to pick interest in our country. Look at the ease of doing business rating. Things are beginning to change and it is the government that is responsible. Is there room for improvement? Absolutely true, there is a lot of room for improvement. Are we where we intended to go? The answer is no!

Nigeria is work-in-progress.

Finally, where do you see the country under APC in the foreseeable future, given the many challenges?

I am optimistic that in the next 18 months, APC will put its house in order, fix the economy and Nigeria will know prosperity again. What Nigerians want are the fundamentals. Let’s have our educational system working, health care system working; let’s have infrastructure, let’s have institutions that are working; institutions that do not treat people based on their tongue or their place of birth or their religion or the language they speak – institutions that will work for all Nigerians.

If we get our infrastructure right, get our institution right and get the economy working again for all our people, Nigerians will definitely ask that APC stays a few more years so that this country does not go back to the hands of those criminals; those cabals that ran the country aground. So, I see a prosperous Nigeria. I see a peaceful and united Nigeria. I see a Nigeria that is in tune or in alignment with other countries in the 21 century, where things work. That is the Nigeria I see and I believe many others who see beyond the challenges we are currently facing can see a bright future ahead of us. Nigeria that is truly the giant of Africa, not giant of Africa by mouth, it is easy to say giant of Africa without supporting data.

I want to see a giant of Africa that truly has the biggest economy in Africa, where our people are doing great exploits in all parts of the continent, where good stories are coming out of Nigeria everyday, not negative stories of corruption, not negative story of mismanagement and misgovernance. That is the Nigeria of our dream.

We want Nigeria of our dream. We want where there is hope for our children, where the future of our children is secure and guaranteed by the quality of governance they enjoy. That is the kind of Nigeria I see.

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Yakubu Dogara

Dogara...Anti-graft war yielding results

We Can’t Completely Eradicate Corruption Since his emergence as Speaker of House of Representatives on June 9, 2015 after a keenly contested election that initially polarised the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) caucus, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, has been piloting the affairs of the lower chamber of the National Assembly. The 49-year-old lawmaker, who is the 14th speaker of the House of Representatives, was first elected into the House in 2007 to represent the Bogoro/Dass/Tafawa-Balewa federal constituency of Bauchi State, and has secured the nod of his constituents in two other consecutive elections. Recently, Dogara spoke with some senior journalists on many national issues ranging from the relationship between the executive and the legislature, the fight against corruption, the call on the National Assembly to make its budget public, the feud between him and his state governor, to the on going face off between the Senate and the Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service. Iyobosa Uwugiaren was there

M

r. Speaker, the perception out there is that the executive and the legislative arms of government are not on the same page. What is your disposition on this?

As politicians, sometimes we don’t attack the issues frontally. Well, let me say from the foundation of the principle of separation of powers, it was never anticipated that the legislature and the executive would work harmoniously on a continuous basis.

There would always be frictions. Where you have human and individual factors, even in a family, there is bound to be conflicts.

In the relationship between the executive and the legislature, there will be conflicts; the only problem is that sometimes we cast conflicts as intricately bad. Conflicts may not be bad, as a matter of fact, sometimes conflicts are necessary for progress to be made.

If you have a collection of conformists, chances are that they will never make progress. Even if they do; it will always relate to an existing order that is sustained over time. For you to have

innovation and progress, people must be free to disagree, and it is only in disagreeing that progress is made. When the legislature disagrees with the executive it is viewed as conflict, in most cases that is the interpretation. Conflict, however, can be a source of expression or release of energy that can lead to transformation.

In the 8th Assembly we have had issues, certain issues that have pitched the executive against the legislature, and we will continue to have them. But the point is that as leaders, how do we interpret these issues? How do we overcome these issues in such a way that they lead to progress and advancement instead of retrogression? My own take even as I’ve said that these conflicts will continue is that the man who propounded the doctrine of separation of powers saw clearly through the lenses of time that these kinds of interface would take place. He invented another mechanism of checks and balances and he knew that if these departments of government, the executive, the legislature and the judiciary are separated in a water-tight fashion whereby they don’t relate, they don’t check each other, then the entire architecture of that system of government is bound to be static and there

wouldn’t be progress. So, he invented the mechanism of checks and balances. For instance, if parliament conceives a measure, the Judiciary has no powers to stop it from exercising its functions. It’s only when they have exercised that the judiciary can now seize jurisdiction over whatever decision the Parliament has taken and pronounce it either illegal, unconstitutional or thereabout. At the same time too, the executive cannot adopt a measure that entails that the parliament shouldn’t do its work. In the same vein; if the judiciary is about to deliver on its job; the parliament cannot sit and say they are passing a legislation that alters the status quo or seeks to arrest the judgement. Our only interpretation of this separation of powers is that we should cooperate more as arms of government in the national interest, so that specifically we can deliver on the promises we made during the elections. Nigerians sacrificed a lot; it’s not been part of our history that the opposition defeats the party with the benefit of incumbency, the party that is in government; but it happened, so imagine the kind of sacrifices people made.

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CICERO/INTERVIEW • DOGARA: WE CAN’T COMPLETELY ELIMINATE CORRUPTION • Continued from Pg. 72 Taking your position as No. 4 in the hierarchy of national leaders, and you are one of the leaders in the APC government, by May 29, you’ll be two years in power, and by next year we will be approaching election year. Will you say that your party has not disappointed Nigerians?

I wouldn’t say that we have disappointed Nigerians. For you to come to that kind of conclusion, you’d have to take certain factors into consideration. Now what was it that we met on ground?

What is it that we have improved upon as a government? And what is it that we are seeking to do? I guess it is after looking at the whole gamut of these issues that you’ll be able to arrive at the decision whether we have disappointed Nigerians or not. You can’t talk of disappointment in nature, that is a value judgement because it depends on the expectation; it’s only having an expectation that you can be disappointed. For me I can say that a lot has been achieved, even though unsung in most cases. In the context of our society, people want to see first-class roads and hospitals; they want to see the tangibles; but nobody places value on the intangibles. For us, that come from the Northeast, even some of us that live and work in Abuja, remember how dire this issue of terrorism was, we were all living on the throes of violence. The Nigeria Police Force headquarters here was bombed; U.N Mission here in Abuja was bombed; bombs exploded in Kaduna, Kano, Jos, in Nyanya as well and there was even threat of this mayhem being exported to the Southwest and other regions of this country. If you look at it we have exited from that. The biggest problem of democracy is that with violence you cannot take the benefits of democracy. Democracy as we practice: presidential democracy has three promises - life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The number one responsibility of government is the security and welfare of the citizens. That was what our democracy was failing to do, the basic and constitutional guarantee of governance, and we couldn’t provide security. We have gone very far in trying to tackle this issue of insurgency. As a matter of fact, all hostile spots have been liberated. This government through various interventions has been able to ensure that the terrorists are not holding unto any spot of land. I believe this is one major thing that has given some hope to Nigerians, for the very first time that we are in a position to overcome this problem, and it is critical. Even if it’s for nothing else that our citizens in the Northeast zone down to Abuja can move around more freely than before, that is something. You can go to work and leave your family at home without exercising any fear that something may happen while you are at work or that your family is afraid that you could be bombed while you are at work, at least that is progress. Now if you look at the battle against corruption, some may say it is one-sided, but the good thing is that let’s start! And we have started, we are beginning to have results, and for the very first time public officials who even have the opportunity or window to misappropriate funds, the question that comes to their mind is: by the time I have taken this money, where am I going to take it to first, because anything could happen? So that to some extent has prevented people from engaging in the kind of looting of resources that we experienced in the past, at least sanity is returning. The economy was at a level whereby anything could have happened; it was heading south, no doubt about that. The only thing was that the signs were beginning to be apparent even though the conditions that later became the result of what happened were not there then; dollar wasn’t exchanging for N400; prices of commodities haven’t skyrocketed; but they were just waiting for things to happen based on the fact that the price of the mainstay of our economy was going down and the fact that there was no savings and there was nothing we could do as a nation to earn forex, apart from just selling crude; virtually nothing we were exporting. So, the crisis was just waiting to happen, and we went into this crisis because there were no known preventive policies to apply, it was just the result of the choice we had made in the past, and no one could run away from them. So, I think progress is being made on several fronts.

Of course there are issues we have not totally eliminated or dealt with - issues of kidnapping, sundry criminalities. Niger-Delta, thank God, through some mechanism of intervention we can begin to see peace, I think as at today, we are doing 2.1 million barrels a day, which is in line with our economic goals, so at least we are making progress. Progress is being made; a lot of people may not appreciate them, but the intangibles are really there; the

fundamentals are very strong, very strong and robust foundation has been laid and I believe all that is left is to raise the structure and complete them, and I believe by the Grace of God, by the time we are done with the execution of this year’s budget, every Nigerian will now see the clear direction that we are heading to.

You talked about government having done well in exterminating terrorists, while government has done that, on the other hand, we have herdsmen ravaging almost every part of the country. I want your reaction to that. Again, some Nigerians think that there is corruption in the parliament; is there corruption in the House of Representatives? And the notion that the parliament cannot fight corruption without opening itself to public scrutiny by making public its budget and running costs. I remember there was a time you spoke of opening up the parliamentary budget. How soon can we expect this open parliament?

I know we have promised to open the books, and we will definitely open the books, certainly. I, however, don’t know in what form the corruption is said to be, but let me first say that parliament is not something that exists outside of Nigeria, and the issue of corruption itself is not something that can be eliminated completely out of any community, just like prostitution and other vices. But, what you can do is to reduce it to the barest minimum, to a level that is almost seen as non-existent. The advanced countries that we try so much to copy or speak so glowingly of what they have been able to achieve, it’s not that corruption has been eliminated 100%. We have seen this hydra-headed monster called corruption rearing its head even in elections of certain jurisdictions, clearly the signs are there, but our collective effort is that we reduce it to the barest minimum; anyone who thinks that he will eliminate corruption, I lack the English word to describe such a person. To eliminate it totally will amount to eliminating the totality of the human race. Because no human being is clothed in perfection, all we can do is to reduce it to the barest minimum.

You can imagine a situation where we have the death penalty against vices like armed robbery, as you are shooting them somebody is busy robbing somewhere. So sometimes you can’t phantom the nature of the human mind, because you think that by the time you apply the maximum punishment, people will run

Now if you look at the battle against corruption, some may say it is one-sided, but the good thing is that let’s start. And we have started, we are beginning to have results, and for the very first time public officials who even have the opportunity or window to misappropriate funds, the question that comes to their mind is: by the time I have taken this money, where am I going to take it to first, because anything could happen?

So that to some extent has prevented people from engaging in the kind of looting of resources that we experienced in the past. At least sanity is returning.

away screaming if they catch you they are going to kill you. But as they are executing armed robbers, some people continue without care. Even when they are executing drug traffickers in some countries, more people are still doing it. So you see it’s a battle that we’ll continue to fight, there won’t come a day when Nigeria will sit and say: we have eliminated corruption, this is a perfect society, let’s work on. That is one notion we must discard. If we are ever going to achieve that, then there won’t be need for institutions like EFCC, ICPC, even the Police. They have been fighting crime since the age of Nigeria, but there are still crimes; so the National Assembly is not an institution that exists on its own, it’s part of the society and I cannot say you cannot trace any iota of corruption into the affairs of the National Assembly. Honestly speaking, there could be cases; but the point is when we discover them, they should be properly apportioned punishments not just to express dissent but apportion punishment that is appropriate, punishment capable of deterring that. And for us as per the issue of budget, we all know that the National Assembly does not command more than 2per cent of the national budget, budget for infrastructure, whether they are for bridges or building of hospitals, whatever it is, is not embedded in National Assembly budget. The entire 98% of our nation’s resources are not spent by the National Assembly, but by other arms of government. But sometimes our citizens focus on that less than 2% as if that is the bane of our progress in this country; as if, if we use the money for National Assembly Nigeria would just become an advanced nation. It bothers me a lot; where you have 98% resources, nobody bothers about it, or maybe we have grown used to it, that as a matter of fact, monies meant for housing, bridges, hospitals and agriculture can be misappropriated; but it’s just that 2% they give to the National Assembly that nothing must happen to it. I’m not defending the legislature; I’ve said if we detect corruption, we try as much as possible to apportion the kind of punishment that is capable of speaking loudly that we detest it and that we don’t want it to happen. For us, since we represent the people, we get their opinion and represent them here. The people have said they want to know what we do with the entire budget that comes to the National Assembly, it’s not a problem; we have directed the management, and hopefully with the 2017 budget, this issue will come to a rest. Each agency that draws from the money appropriated for the National Assembly has been mandated to bring its budget and at the end of the day, when we are done, everything will be published, I can guarantee that 100%.

So we can end this discussion when people see it, even if we are getting it wrong in any section, we will not run away from wise counsel. This is how best to do it; because we want to improve on standards and improve on the image of the National Assembly.

Some people even claim that the entire money, like now what we get is N115 billion, hopefully it will go up this year, I’m not too sure, but it’s N115 billion now that is given to the entire National Assembly and National Assembly is an arm of government.

Some aggregate this N115 billion and divide it by the number of Senators and members of House Representatives and say that is what we take home as our allowances, they call it jumbo! Is that the case? They fail to look at the bureaucracy; we have over 3,000 people working within this bureaucracy who are paid salaries, claims and entitlements all from this N115 billion; the Senate President or Speaker doesn’t know what goes to them. Apart from that, we have the aides, each sitting member has five aides each, Senators have seven each; so multiply five by 360 and see the number of aides, then seven by 109. They draw their salaries, their trips and others from the budget. The last count made, when

Continued on Pg. 74

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CICERO/INTERVIEW • ‘HOW NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FUNDS ARE SPENT’ • Continued from Pg. 73 scale through. It will take a general resolve from Nigerians, from media, journalists, civil society organizations, civil based organizations, from the Local Government staff themselves to insist on their state assemblies that when this Bill is submitted to them, that they must pass it. If that doesn’t happen, I’m telling you just forget about the three-tier of government, because we don’t have anything at that tier and nothing good will come out of it, because it has failed. And when we do this we will be able to free members of the State Assembly from the near stranglehold control of the governors.

I was Chairman, House Services, we were budgeting N12 billion for legislatives aides a year.

Then we have the National Assembly Service Commission, it’s an agency not even here, they have their offices outside, unfortunately they don’t even have permanent structures, they are paying rent where they are; I don’t know the number of staff they have, but they also take rent and all from the N115 billion; we have like 500 staff, we have commissioners representing the six geo-political zones, plus the Chairman - all of them draw funds from here. Then we have National Institute for Legislative Studies (NILS), I’ll employ you to go to where NILS is building their headquarters, with a facility that will also serve as a university, go and see what they have been able to achieve; you’ll be shocked.

The headquarters is being built by Julius Berger.

NILS draws funds from this N115 billion and they will account for it as well. We are going to put it there in the press, what do they do with the money given to them? Then we have the Public Complaints Commission, they don’t have any provision in the budget except from the funds they draw from us; so they will account for themselves. Then we have the National Assembly Budget and Research Office just like you have the Congressional Budget Office in the US. Our goal is that they will be non-partisan in the analysis of annual budgets and they provide members with timely tools for debate and engagement across board with the executive when it comes to budgetary matters. Then we didn’t have them, but now we have them and they also draw funds from this N115 billion; so they will bring their budget and tell the world what they do with their money. At the end of the day when we publish these details a lot of people will be shocked, but it will be published.

And I hope that will put paid to the perceived corruption in the National Assembly.

What about the issue of herdsmen?

For the herdsmen we have made it very clear and I think the President made it very clear that whether kidnappers, herdsmen or whoever is in the act of terrorism, they should be grouped as one; anyone wagging war against innocent citizens of the country must be dealt with squarely as if he is a terrorist, even if he is not one. I don’t see the distinction between whomever that is waging war against Nigerians or unleashing terror on innocent Nigerians, it doesn’t matter their description. Unfortunately what has not helped this issue is the fact that we have an extensive border. If you look at it, how many Customs and Immigration officers do we have? If they were able to join hands and line up across our borders, they wouldn’t even cover a quarter of our borders. And most of these people coming to unleash terror on Nigerians aren’t Nigerians themselves. So these are serious security challenges that would be met with the same kind of force shown against Boko Haram and other terrorists.

The Senate resolved that the Comptroller General (CG) of the Nigeria Customs Services was not fit to be in office and came out with an interesting phrase to write the House of Reps to make it binding, what is your take on this? How comfortable is the National Assembly with the level of compliance with their resolutions by the Executive?

On the resolution concerning the CG of Customs, whether the House is on the same page with the Senate or the Executive, I can’t speak for the House. The House will have to speak for itself through a resolution of the House, but one thing I have to say is that we walk closely with the Senate and if we don’t do that, we won’t achieve any progress as an arm of government.

The reason being that in a Bi-cameral legislature an issue that dies in one Chamber is almost automatically dead in the other Chamber. And if we do not find a common ground to work with the Senate it means so many measures will either stagnate or die at the level of the National Assembly. I believe that the matter relating to the circumstances that led to the Senate’s decision may come up on the floor of the House and I cannot pre-judge what the outcome of the debate will be, if I do that, it wouldn’t even be fair and it won’t be right for me to preside over it.

Could it be that the Senate is misinterpreting the law? You can speak to some lawyers or some Judges on the matter and then render your own opinion. Now, the whole issue that gave rise to this conflict was that the CG should appear before the Senate in uniform, to talk about issues

What is the current status of the PIB? What informed your recent push for the reduction of prices of petrol and kerosene?

The PIB has gone through first reading; we’ve had to segment the Bill because we used to lump them together, but in most cases, some issues are pulling against each other and so much interest; so we want to deal with the regulatory sector of the entire sector first of all, we believe that we can get this one done because there are no much controversies. After we are done with the regulatory aspect of the sector, we can now move to the operational aspect and to a reasonable extent, I am convinced that we’ll be able to get the job done before the tenure of this present National Assembly lapses. On pushing for the reduction of prices of petrol and kerosene, well we all know the importance of these products to our people, when prices of petroleum products go up; prices of virtually everything go up. And kerosene you know is the major fuel in most families, so we cannot over emphasise the importance of these two key products. There was a motion on the floor of the House and we set up an Ad-Hoc Committee to look at all those issues.

surrounding the policy of collecting duties on cars purchased even long ago. The only thing was that he should appear in uniform and then the CG said no. I need legal advice as to whether I must wear the uniform or not. Now can I ask you what the view of your paper on this is? Not what the Senate is saying, but what the law says about the CG wearing the uniform or not? If we continue to have these kinds of debates, we may not even have to engage in the kind of fights we have in parliament because by the time all the newspapers come up with their opinion, a lot of people will now know and be educated and know the position and it saves this institution from clashing. So you have to look at all these issues before you come to a conclusion. As far as I am concerned these are mere distractions; they are not supposed to be; the main issue is delivery, what is it that we are delivering? That is it. But for a decision to be made in line with what the Senate proposed to the House, you can only wait till the matter comes before the House and that decision will be taken and Nigerians will know.

On whether we are satisfied with the level of compliance with our resolutions, the answer is no, and that is why in the last House we established a committee known as the Committee on Legislative Compliance. The essence of that committee is to seek to compel compliance with resolutions of the legislature and the committee is working; it has a record of the resolutions that have been complied with and resolutions that have not been complied with. And for those that have not complied with the resolutions of the National Assembly what we are trying to do is to give the committee more bite. They will move a motion on the floor of the House specifically that will indicate that these are the numbers of the resolutions we have passed, these are the ones that have been complied with, these are the defaulting agencies. Through the mechanism that is in Section 88 of the Constitution, the parliament as a whole can then empower the Committee on Legislative Compliance to then summon all those agencies that have not complied with the resolutions and ask them why, and as to whether sanctions cannot be applied provided for under the Legislative Powers and Privileges Act. So it’s something we are aware of and doing everything possible to ensure that there is more compliance with the resolutions of the National Assembly through the instrumentality of that Committee.

Mr. Speaker one of the issues that

continue to worry Nigerians is the issue of local government autonomy, with NULGE insisting that as far as they are concerned there should be autonomy for the local governments, a situation that has completely eroded development at the third-tier of government. Is it possible that under your leadership, there could be an amendment of the Local Government Law to ensure this autonomy is attained?

The current system is not working, and if we keep sticking to it and expecting it to work someday, I don’t know who termed it as the very definition of foolishness, for you to keep doing the same thing and expect different outcomes. It has become a system whereby some have constituted themselves into middle men along the lines; they grab the resources meant for the development at the grass root and appropriate it the way they deem fit. And there is a twin evil, that of state independent electoral commissions that gave birth to this; it is a total mockery of democracy for elections to hold even in the local government and you say one political party won all the seats. I have never seen where democracy is mocked like in Nigerian local government elections. So, I don’t know how we can continue to mock ourselves, that we are practicing democracy at the third-tier of government. We all know the reason for the insistence that one political party will win all councillor and local government chairmen seats, so that at the level where the middle-men are hijacking, not all the middle-men though, there would be no single voice of descent, they are all my boys. We know why this system will not work as long as it provides the resources at some level and these resources are being misappropriated, then it won’t work. And this is the bane of development in Nigeria, if we have more money, assuming we are able to clothe local government with autonomy, it will improve the pool of quality leadership at that level, and when you have quality leadership at the local level, the resources going there can better be managed.

And at the end of the day we can have an oasis of prosperity in the desert of nothingness instead of all our people migrating to the cities; they will be able to find some kind of prosperity at the local level that can sustain them. Sadly in the Constitutional review, because the whole problem is in the provision of the Constitution, to reflect this in the Constitution, we did that in the last House; unfortunately it didn’t scale through and we all know the reasons it didn’t scale through. If care is not taken it will still not

There’s the assumption that you can’t visit your state, Bauchi, as you are on exile; that the relationship between you and your governor is not cordial because you are eyeing 2019. It’s not out of place, what is really the crux of the matter? Why are you not working in harmony with your governor?

On this matter I can give you a straight answer that I am not on political exile anywhere; I can go home any day, anytime that I like. I went home in December and very soon I am going home; so I want to use this medium to announce to everybody that I am going home, for those who think I am already on political exile that is not the case at all. As a Speaker, you know that virtually every week, members are having functions, and I have to be there every week; so it’s not easy to escape from those schedules. You need to fulfil your obligations to members and work closely with your constituency; but it’s something that is always in my mind, my constituents are very close to me and I am close to them even though I can’t be there every day, otherwise I won’t be the Speaker; the Speaker has so many other responsibilities.

On my relationship with the governor, I don’t think anything has prevented me from working harmoniously with him, maybe he should be asked the questions. For me, he is someone I supported. Everyone in the state knows, if it was not for very few of us, with all modesty I can say this, God uses people and God used us to put him where he is and we will be fools if we use the same hands we used in building him to this position to destroy him. Having said that, it doesn’t mean we will agree to work where we have no agenda. What bothers me is the people that we sold this agenda to, and I know how politically sophisticated Bauchi State is, it is one of the most politically sophisticated states in Nigeria. Since 2007 you can hardly rig elections in Bauchi, if you win elections in Bauchi, you have won it. So, you can imagine the sitting 2007 governor wanted to be a Senator and he didn’t win. He won in only one local government out of seven. The immediate past governor, having governed for eight years wanted to run for Senate and won only one local government. So for us who are members of the political class, that is like a red flag warning, that you must perform. Even though I will never engage in confrontation with the governor, I will never support a situation where we are not delivering the goods. That is just where the problem is, it doesn’t matter. Anybody who is delivering, who is fulfilling is my wonderful person; but if you are not doing that, I cannot be party to it, so that when the destruction comes as it is certain to come, I will be excluded.

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CICERO/ONTHEWATCH

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike exchanges banter with Sheriff, while the Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose tags along with them during a convention of the party...last year

PDP: When Political Solution Proves Impossible With the fragile peace recorded a few weeks ago already threatened, a truly lasting ceasefire in the Peoples Democratic Party may be long in coming, writes Onyebuchi Ezigbo

L

ast week was not quite heartwarming for stakeholders in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The opposition party saw itself almost relapsing into turbulence after warring factions had earlier embraced a peace initiative brokered by the reconciliation committee headed by the Bayelsa State Governor, Hon. Seriake Dickson.

The contentious reconciliation process had shown signs of progress penultimate week, when both sides led by Senator Ali Modu Sheriff and Senator Ahmed Makarfi signed a ceasefire agreement on the verbal attacks against each other. The factions not only accepted to end altercations but agreed that they would work together with the committee to engender peace and genuine reconciliation in the party.

The agreement, to this effect, was signed by Hon. Ahmed Gulak and Hon. Bernard Mikko on behalf of the Sheriff-led leadership, while Dayo Adeyeye and Hon. Dave Iorhemba, did on behalf of the Makarfi faction. Governor Dickson and his deputy, a former Deputy Senate President, Senator Ibrahim Mantu, also signed the agreement.

In the undertaking, the two factions agreed that all actors in the party crisis should desist from making derogatory, inflammatory and divisive statements against party officials, stakeholders and members and “that the party should not dissipate her energy amongst itself but focus on how to unite and be a formidable opposition capable of taking over power from the APC-led government.

It also read that all key actors in the peace process should henceforth desist from making public press statements attacking each other as well as statements insinuating negative acts capable of dragging the party to the mud. In conclusion, that all key actors in the PDP conflict agreed to work together with the National Reconciliation Committee in order to engender lasting peace and genuine reconciliation.

But barely four days after the ceasefire was signed, Senator Sheriff’s deputy, Dr. Cairo Ojougboh, made an outburst considered to be in breach of the peace agreement, in which he described the Senator Makarfi-led National

Caretaker Committee as an illegal body.

In a statement he issued, Ojougboh threatened to sue Makarfi for operating in contempt of the pronouncement of the Court of Appeal that gave judgment in Port Harcourt in favour of Sheriff. He also warned Makarfi and his group to stop interfering in the affairs of the party, adding that Sheriff has a right to declare job vacancies in the party, as the old staff have decided to abandon their work even when he appealed to them to come back.

He said: “Makarfi should behave himself. He should not interfere in our business, because we are not interested in his private business.

Any further careless statement from him will force us to reconsider our earlier peace agreement. We have already employed members of staff that are running the bureaucracy efficiently.

“If Makarfi so desire, he should keep the old staff, just as he is doing now. We have had enough and enough is enough of this,” Ojougboh said, insisting that as chairman of the party, Sheriff has the right to employ staff. “We are preparing to complete state congresses, where necessary and working hard planning our national convention. We will not be distracted from our set objectives to return the party to the grassroots by inconsequential issues.

“We must prevent anybody with the agenda of killing the party, especially those, who were brought to the party by those, who have already decamped to other parties. We are giving seven days to these old staff, who still have the property of our party in their possession to return them immediately, or we will be left with no other option than to hand them over to the police”.

Ojougboh’s harsh words immediately provoked an equally stinging reaction from Adeyeye, who accused the Senator Sheriff leadership of violating a ceasefire agreement reached between the two warring parties.

While reacting to the latest verbal assault from Sheriff’s man, Adeyeye described the action of Sheriff and his men as unbecoming of men of honour.

In his own statement, Adeyeye urged party faithful to ignore them. “We have always known that Sheriff and his co travelers especially, Cairo Ojuogbo, were never men

of honour with whom one can reach any agreement. But we tagged along to avoid being accused of unnecessary intransigence. Since the leopard cannot change its spot, it is now very clear that no agreement or political solution can be reached with this bunch of people with huge integrity deficit.”

Adeyeye however added that: “Cairo is an impostor and a rabble rouser in a non-existent National Working Committee (NWC). Sheriff has no men to constitute an NWC with the required constitutional quorum,” noting that Sheriff had only surrounded himself with the likes of Cairo, who was neither elected nor appointed to the position.

“Cairo’s shameless public parade as Deputy National Chairman is the worst case of impunity in the history of our great party. His threat against our hardworking staff should therefore be ignored and treated with utmost contempt coming from a lawless impostor. For the education of Sheriff and his cohorts, our Appeal at the Supreme Court is already on.

“To that extent, the position and status of the National Caretaker Committee remains completely unaltered. Since they cannot comprehend even very simple matters, we will

But barely four days after the ceasefire was signed, Senator Sheriff’s deputy, Dr. Cairo Ojougboh, made an outburst considered to be in breach of the peace agreement, in which he described the Senator Makarfi-led National Caretaker Committee as an illegal body

use a simple analogy. If a governor loses at the election petitions tribunal and at the Court of Appeal, does he cease to be a governor even when his appeal is pending before the Supreme Court? And would the civil servants then refuse to serve him?”

Adeyeye said the position of the law is that the National Caretaker Committee is still in charge of the affairs of the PDP and as well the employees until otherwise determined by the Supreme Court.

“In the light of the above, we urge our loyal party members and staff to ignore this latest ranting of the APC lackeys. We went out of our way few days ago to reach accommodation with them even when some of our top leaders had serious misgivings about any type of talk with them given their unreliability. We are happy that we have shown our goodwill and they too have demonstrated their bad faith”.

But determined not to let their efforts fail, Governor Dickson and his committee have quickly intervened and urged all the parties to stop the verbal war. Dickson’s aide, who confirmed the latest development, said the governor called the factions on telephone by himself to plead with them to stop further exchanges in the media.

He also explained that one of the new steps being considered by the peace committee is to work out measures that would see to the withdrawal of multiple court cases involving the party. By that, all the parties would submit to the conditions provided in the peace template which includes resigning their positions and signing an undertaking supporting the proposed national convention.

As good as that sounds, it may appear the PDP crisis has crossed the red line and internal interventions may not achieve much except the Supreme Court adjudicates in the matter.

Already, there is problem of ego, accentuated by sheer mistrust.

Thus, moving forward, neither of the parties is ready to give up its position, since on a balance of scale, they are almost equal with the staggering uncertainty that typifies their plight.

Perhaps, it would be nice that they forgo the possibilities of a political solution and focus on the outcome of the Supreme Court suit, for now.

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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• APRIL 2, 2017

CICERO/ISSUES

When Principle of Separation of Powers is Miscontrued The ongoing debate about the current face-off between the Senate and some agencies of the executive arm of government is leaving out something crucial – the importance of the principle of separation of powers.

Olawale Olaleye writes

I

t is unfortunate that the Senate and some agencies of the federal government have had to slug it out over basic issues of constitutionality. Although the development has come to somewhat redefine before the observing public, what is now known as a deteriorating relationship between the executive and the legislature, it is pertinent to state that the current standoff has not in any way enlisted the presidency as an entity.

This is why the recent intervention by President Muhammadu Buhari to resolve the impasse has been deemed timely and instructive.

In many ways than one, the current debate has called to question some of the fundamental responsibilities of the Senate, beyond the rudimentary lawmaking. It has also queried, albeit inadvertently, the interventions of the eighth senate in the Nigerian project and this is quite significant because power is now with a coalition of opposition elements, who sold change as alternative to PDP’s alleged misrule and got away with their mind-bending narratives.

The world over, the legislature and the executive have always had a testy cat and mouse kind of relationship, because there are always issues to cause disagreement and muscle-flexing. But the concept of separation of powers was designed to achieve that.

Baron de Montesquieu, who articulated the need for the three arms of government to be separated with distinct functions, only envisaged that their works could be complementary, not for them to be in a chummy, buddy relationship.

That, perhaps, explains why the corollary to the principle of Separation of Powers is the concept of checks and balances – that each organ or arms government should checkmate the other. They should check the excesses of one another. Thus, when one makes laws, the other one executes them and the third interprets the laws. There is a clear division of functions and that is why each of them jealously guides its own turf and ensures no one encroaches thereof.

In actual fact, when these arms of government become too close and constantly in agreement, it becomes a cause for worry for any ideal democrat, because a gang-up against the people might have been forged for secluded and parochial interests. Yet, their distinguishing functions and responsibilities do not call for needless hostility or disagreement at collective expense.

It is against this backdrop that any objective observer should interpret or view the recent disagreement between these agencies of government and the National Assembly, the Senate to be precise. It is also in the interest of democracy that such disagreement, for as long as it is not consciously coloured, should be encouraged. It is good to test the development of the nation’s critical institutions and help to entrench the laws, conventions and ethos. Therefore, nothing appears bad or unusual about the current disagreement.

Suffice it to say that the present crisis emanated from the perception by the legislature that some members of the executive were deliberately treating the actions, laws and pronouncements of the National Assembly as jokes that could either be obeyed or ignored at the discretion of the executive.

Unfortunately, while the disagreement has been made worse by the actions and utterances of some presidential appointees, who publicly pour invectives on the legislature without as much analysing the weight of their utterances, the issue of ego and protection of territory is daily generating heat in an environment, where the people are not used to that kind of exchange and in a society already laid prostate by economic recession.

For the record, this current face-off started with the decision by the Senate not to confirm the nominee for the chairmanship of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Ibrahim Magu. The Magu nomination has not only divided the presidency itself, it has equally

Saraki

caused division among members of the public.

So, while some upbraid the Senate for rejecting Magu as EFCC chair, others praised it for being thorough with the process.

In the presidency, for example, Magu is seen as the candidate of a group led by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo and it is believed there may be some future political calculation linked to a popular political figure in South-west by that simple stroke. If you recall, the two times that the name of Magu was sent to the Senate for confirmation was during the time that Osinbajo served as acting president. The question is: why hasn’t Buhari sent it himself?

Yet, there is another camp in the presidency that believes Magu’s nomination should be shot down because those promoting it have their own agenda, which may be political. That is why the Department of State Security (DSS), which is another agency in the presidency, wrote a damaging report supported by valid documents to further disqualify Magu’s nomination as lacking the requisite credibility to lead the fight against graft.

Unfortunately, the Senate is caught in this power game between the two camps in the presidency, because the pro-Magu elements are interpreting his rejection as a declaration of war by the Senate against the executive, a far cry from the truth and reality of the politics that dogs the scenario.

However, while Magu’s issue was still pending, the Comptroller-General of the Customs, Col. Hameed Ali, came in with the policy to start stopping motorists on the road and asking them to produce genuine import duty payment documents. This is without doubt, an anti-people

policy, which to an extent exposes the inefficiency of the agency.

When the Senate got wind of this, it invited him to come and explain the rationale behind that policy. But Ali treated the invitation with disdain by going to the media to announce that he would not honour the invitation and that there was no going back on the policy. He later wrote the Senate to say he had a management meeting on the day he was scheduled to appear. That infuriated the legislators, who then added that he should appear in uniform.

When President Buhari interfered and warned Ali and other aides to stop creating unnecessary tension, Ali allegedly reached out to the Senate leader, Ahmed Lawan, who allegedly took him to Saraki to apologise. The two agreed that Senate should give him a new date and that he would issue a press statement to suspend the car import duty policy.

After the Senate kept their own side of the agreement, Ali grudgingly issued a statement the following day, stating that “following unnecessary tension generated by....” and that even though the Customs had the right under the law to initiate such policy, he was suspending the implementation to enable him properly engage the Senate on the issue. The lawmakers saw the statement as no less insulting, especially after peace had been brokered at that level. They then insisted that Ali must appear before it and must stop the policy totally.

In the heat of this, a case was filed at a court by a lawyer challenging the Senate’s request that Ali appears before it in uniform. Though the case has not been assigned to any judge, the Attorney General later wrote to the Senate to advise it to

hold all actions on the invitation. The implication of the AG’s letter is that the government would not comply with any action recommended against Ali by the Senate. Today, there is a resolution of the highest legislative body in the country that Ali is not fit to occupy any public office in the land.

Two days after that exchange, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr. Babachir Lawal, who had been invited by the Senate over the indiscriminate, fraudulent and illegal award of contracts by the Presidential Initiative on North East (PINE) also went to court and used the mere serving of court processes to evade appearance.

The decision by the presidency to continue to retain Magu as EFCC chair, even though his nomination had been rejected, is being viewed as an illegality and the fact that the executive is treating the legislative decision with contempt, which further exacerbated the crisis. Worse still, there were presidential appointees like Itse Sagay and Buhari’s PA on New Media, Bashir Ahmad, who have continued to verbally assault the legislature.

The presidency, however, got a joker, when the Senate decided to stand down the screening of Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) nominated by the president until it starts respecting legislative decisions, resolutions and invitations.

Expectedly, that decision was a rude awakening for the presidency. It forced it to set-up a committee under the headship of Osinbajo to look into how to improve executive-legislature rapport. The committee includes all members of the Federal Executive Council (FEC), who have had a stint in the legislature. The Senate has also described the initiative as a welcome development and promised to co-operate with the committee to clear all grey areas. And with this, it looks like there is already a way out of the crisis, moving forward.

Interestingly, for the Senate, the disagreement has not slowed it down in any way. On Thursday, for instance, it passed a new INEC bill with several new initiatives like the electronic voting and the use of the card reader. It also passed the Diaspora Commission Establishment law.

The joint leadership of the two bodies also met on Wednesday night to finalise the strategy for expediting the pace of work on the 2017 budget.

As a result, all committees were given till last Friday to submit their reports to the appropriation committee in both chambers otherwise the proposals from the executive would be adopted as sent.

Also, the Senate has set April 25 as the date for submission of reports on the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill. What this means is that the allimportant bill may be passed before the second anniversary of the present administration.

It is also to the credit of the Senate that DSS arrested the owner of Capital Oil, Mr. Ifeanyi Ubah, after raising the alarm over alleged stealing of oil belonging to the NNPC. The same Senate intervened over the hike in electricity tariffs on behalf of the people sometime ago, the same way it shot down the proposed hike in communication tariffs.

A time was when the executive requested for $30 billion loan to help keep the economy running but after the Senate interrogated the request, all that was needed was just $1.5 billion, which was then granted. That’s a commendable check for balancing sake. It is not a perfect senate, no doubt, it is definitely not the devil that it is being painted to be.

In the final analysis, the import of all these is that the Senate has refused to be distracted by the avoidable and needless confrontations and moving on to delivering on its basic assignments.

As it is, this Senate is poised to live above the distractions occasioned by those who think the principle of separation of powers is a joke or at the behest of the executive.

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PERSPECTIVE

Demolition at Midnight Raheem Akingbolu

F

or an entrepreneur, his joy knows no bounds when he secures land and capital, two very important requirements needed in setting up a business venture. These two components, when obtained, set the wheel in motion for other essential factors

of production.

Setting up a business enterprise in a state should, normally, be a laudable achievement for a businessperson and more importantly, a source of pride to the state where the venture is domiciled.

After all, governments all over the world are in business to protect lives and properties and improve the welfare of their citizens. It is also the government’s responsibility to encourage investment in their territory and protect already established businesses, by ensuring there is a considerable ease of doing business.

However, despite embarking on an aggressive campaign to position itself as the leading state for investment in the country backed by its old famed description as the commercial nerve centre of Nigeria, the Lagos state government is treading a different path in recent weeks.

Recently, it embarked on a demolition spree of citizens’ places of business, in areas such as Isolo, Mile 2, and Iponri, all in the name of restoring sanity to the state’s physical environment and securing the lives of Lagosians. While the state might justify its actions with cogent reasons, carrying out such activity with dreadful impunity, destroying people’s livelihood without recourse to the plight of the victims, especially during this period of economic recession, depicts how the state government indeed caters for the wellbeing of its citizens, the same people who elected them into power.

The Lagos state government bulldozer was, unfortunately, in action yet again on Friday, February 3, 2017, as it demolished a gas station, Olupese Oil, situated in the Oshodi area of the state.

Like a thief in the middle of the night, the government’s demolition machine moved to the petrol station just after 11 pm on that fateful day, flattening the entire place to rubbles. Properties destroyed include five dispensing pumps, four generating sets, and the freshly installed canopies.

Aside the destruction, the station’s supermarket was looted by touts, its underground safe was broken and emptied, while its fifth generator, which could not be moved, was completely stripped.

In addition, all major documents, computers, and other electronic devices belonging to the oil company were buried in the debris.

Speaking on the incident, Administrator, Olupese Oil, Chief Abdul Abayomi, questioned how the government could embark on such a disastrous exercise, despite a court order restraining the state government from conducting any demolition activity.

A visibly distraught Chief Abayomi said the land had been in existence since 1979 and was allocated to Meshack Babatunde Adeyemi, a retired personnel of the Nigerian Army by the Federal Military government at that time.

According to Abayomi, the initial titleholder of the land got the relevant approval from the Ministry of Works to build a petrol station on that land in 1992, which was in existence even before the construction of the Agege Motor Road, and also got a Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) licence.

After the death of Adeyemi five years ago, the children of the late soldier leased the land to Abayomi to ensure continuity of the business.

Upon completing all agreement formalities, Abayomi subsequently refurbished the station and remodeled it to a modern gas station.

However, despite the petrol station being in existence for over three decades, the Akinwumni Ambode-led government since its inception in 2015, had insisted that the petrol station must give way for unspecified reasons. Empowered by the Land Use Act of 1978 (as amended), which vested ownership of all lands in a state in the state governor (except lands already occupied and reserved for the federal government), and the Urban and Regional Planning and Develop-

Debris of the demolished structure ment Law of Lagos state, which was enacted in 2010, the state government ordered management of the petrol station and occupants of other buildings on the land to vacate the area and threatened to demolish the buildings.

Other occupants of the land, including a bank, had a nasty experience last year, when they received a seven-day notice from the state government to vacate the land. The state government consequently demolished the structure on a particular night without prior warning.

The petrol station, perhaps, thought that they had finally been spared with their structure still standing. But alas, they got a notice from the government informing them that they were coming back for the station’s demolition.

Aware of the imminent danger posed by the demolition threat, Abayomi, through his lawyers, M.O. Obiora and Associates, had approached the State High Court seeking an injunction to halt the planned demolition by the state government.

Fortunately for him, his prayer was granted by the court, who issued an order restraining the state government and their agencies from carrying out any demolition activity on the station.

Nevertheless, despite the case filed (including a suit filed by the lawyer of the Adeyemi family in another court) and a court injunction issued, the Lagos state government decided to go on with the demolition.

Narrating the circumstance of the demolition, Abayomi said; “They were there after 11 pm in the night, the people had closed and the information we got was that after they got there, they broke the door and allowed touts to go in. They looted everything there, including the supermarket, they broke the underground safe and carried all the money.

“So, when we got there, all the pumps; about five service pumps that we used for dispensing, the generators; two of them being used by the supermarket, two being used for the station, four of them were carted away, the fifth one which they couldn’t carry, they stripped it down. That is how to tell you how wicked these people can be.”

Stating that the state government was aware of the litigation, Chief Abayomi wondered why a lawfully elected government would flout court orders and act with such impunity, despite being custodians of the law. He also questioned whether a law can retroactively decide a case that has been on for over three decades before its enactment.

“They said there was a suit whereby the Lagos state government sued the Federal government that any unused land from what they gave to them from the federal roads should be reverted to them. They won that case in 2010. Meanwhile,

don’t forget that this one has been on since 1979, 1992, 1998, long before the current dispensation.

Do you make a law retroactive?”, he queried.

“We appealed so that they won’t take advantage and go and demolished. They were served the papers by our lawyers and it was not only given to the ministry of justice, it was served to the Commissioner of Physical Planning, Abiola Anifowoshe. He was served and a copy was given to us and they said they should not do anything to jeopardise the process. But what did we see?”

Quantifying the economic impact of the station’s demolition, Chief Abayomi disclosed that the equipment destroyed were worth several millions of naira and that it would be extremely difficult to purchase such items back, considering the volatile foreign exchange rate as all the products were imported.

In his words; “TheTo erect the destroyed canopies, you will probably need about N6million, because it is very expensive. Now, look at the pumps; they are double-sized pumps, they are about N3.5-N4 million each. Look at the generators. So, you know how everything has skyrocketed in terms of prices. The asset loss in total is about N100 million, in addition to the supermarket there, even the buildings and other facilities and equipment, it would be hard to quantify them. I am not even talking about business, what we have lost in terms of revenue.

It’s so expensive to set up a station now. That place, we set it up almost anew over four years ago.”

He also wondered how the employees of the station, over a dozen plus people, will fare, especially in this period of recession, taking into consideration that their livelihood had been snatched from them in a heart-wrenching manner.

Chief Abayomi berated the Lagos State Commissioner of Physical Planning, Abiola Anifowoshe, over the demolition of the station, claiming that he ignored relevant documents backing up the establishment of the station on the land. He also questioned the motives of the commissioner and the state government for the destruction of a property that was approved over 30 years ago.

“Even if you have anything to do, all you need to tell is ‘okay, come and update certain documents.’ I carried all the relevant documents to the Commissioner of Physical Planning, he said he’s not interested, we are demolishing. We now went to court, knowing fully well that they would do everything with impunity”, he said.

Probing further, Abayomi asked; “Can you see

it disturbing anything? That land was up to the middle of the road. It was the road that came to meet the land in development, it was the road that shoved part of the land. The question here is; did this station constitute a danger to the public? And the federal government had done something in the past years, must you now destroy it for a law that you enacted in 2010? Does it mean that every building that was in place before that time must be demolished because the Lagos State government has now been given the right over the land?”

Efforts to get the commissioners response to the issue were not successful. But giiving his views on the issue, a lawyer, Barrister Kabiru Akingbolu, said the state government can take possession of any land in the state, regardless of the time-frame of the enactment of a law. He, however, stated that if a property was demolished without prior notice from the state government and a subsisting court order issued by a competent court of jurisdiction, halting the demolition process is in place and served on the respondents (state government), then such action is “illegal.”

“Government can take over a land at any time, it does not matter when the law comes into enforcement”, he said. “The law can take its course at any given time and the matter in question, if it has to do with road expansion, a market, or a school, the government can repossess a land, so far it would be used for public good and not for a private venture.

“But if there is a subsisting court order, then it is illegal what the government has done and the court will declare it as so. If the victims challenge the action of the state government in court, the court will issue a contempt of court order to the Lagos sSate government and the particular ministry involved. The court can also issue an order to restrain the government from taking further action on the property until the case is concluded.”

Barrister Akingbolu also stated that the state government could have lots of questions to answer if the victims have not been adequately compensated. He said; “In terms of reclaiming the land, the government has done nothing wrong, but the question is: has the government compensated the people whom they have asked to vacate the land or demolished their property. And if they were compensated, were they adequately compensated? Those are some of the questions the government will need to provide answer to.”

For now, the legal battle continues in the courts, while the livelihood of several persons and the prosperity and legacy of a business from which the state government received taxes from had been severely affected.

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THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER • APRIL 2, 2017

INFOGRAPHIC

The

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GAVEL TO GAVEL

Edited by Olawale Olaleye Email: wale.olaleye@thisdaylive.com, SMS: 08116759819

President Buhari and Saraki...it is time to work as a team

A Waning Relationship Events of the last few days have exposed a failing executive, legislative relationship and the signs are foreboding for the ruling All Progressives Congress. Damilola Oyedele writes

L

ast week was particularly an interesting one in the Senate.

From the appearance of the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, before the internal ethics committee, to the refusal by the lawmakers to screen and confirm 27 persons nominated as Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), with a similar delay likely to be extended to the two ministerial nominees to fill the Kogi and Gombe slots in the cabinet, and the suspension of the former Majority Senate Leader, Senator Ali Ndume, for six months, the senate was definitely a beehive of activities.

But how much impact this is set to have on the polity, institutions of government and the social democratic agenda of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is yet to be seen as events continue to unfold in the days ahead.

A Failing Partnership In the last three weeks, the relationship between the Executive and Senate has degenerated to a new low, worsened by the new disposition of the legislature to many of President Muhammadu Buhari’s appointees.

First, it was the aloof-looking Comptroller

General of the Nigerian Customs Service, Col. Hameed Ali (rtd) and his retrospective and rather oppressive vehicle customs duty verification policy, which generated public opprobrium. In a dismissive approach, the agency had issued deadlines and guidelines for the policy, following the directive by the Senate that it be suspended for consultations.

This led the Senate to summon Ali to appear in the agency uniform, and the drama that followed compelled the Attorney General of the Federation, Mr. Abubakar Malami, to advise the Senate to stay action on the issue, as the matter had been taken to Court. The Senate accused the AGF of interference, citing the doctrine of separation of powers, which forbids an arm of government from interfering in the works of another.

It is worthy of mention that while the policy has been suspended by the service, it is yet to be cancelled, outright.

Next was the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. Babachir David Lawal, who also preferred to go to Court, rather than honour an invitation extended to him by the ad hoc committee investigating the mounting humanitarian crises in the North East, for fair hearing over his management of the funds of the Presidential Initiative on North East (PINE).

Curiously though, Lawal and the committee have chosen to remain mum on the court process, when he sent another letter requesting for a new date to appear before the committee.

The news that the president had set up a committee to mediate and resolve the faceoff between the two arms of government is generally seen as a step in the right direction, especially when the import of such a hostile rivalry is not lost on anyone

Following this was the rejection of the nomination of Magu by the Senate, for a record second time based on his indictment by a report from the Department of State Services (DSS) for alleged criminal and unprofessional conduct.

This, of course, had led to allegations by the Senate of a push back by Magu. The lawmakers believed Magu may have been emboldened

by President Buhari’s seeming indifference on the matter.

Another presidential appointee, Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Anti-Corruption (PACAC), Prof. Itse Sagay, joined the fray, when he said Magu could continue in acting capacity, as the Senate ‘merely’ confirms. The senate has since asked him to appear before it, an order Sagay has vowed not to honour, forgetting that he is no longer a private citizen but an agent of the state, answerable to institutions of the state.

Politics of the RECs Confirmation The lawmakers, on Tuesday, banking on the no interference demeanor of Buhari, especially on the issue of Magu and Sagay, voted to defer the commencement of the processes for the consideration and confirmation of the 27 nominees for Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) of the Independent National

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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 • APRIL 2, 2017

GAVEL TO GAVEL/ BILLS, MOTIONS, ET AL. A Waning Relationship Electoral Commission (INEC), forwarded by the president.

The presidency, in a letter to Senate President Saraki, dated February 27, 2017 and signed by then Acting President Yemi Osinbajo, requested for the screening and subsequent confirmation of the RECs, eight of whom are for reappointments.

But this has been deferred for two weeks to allow the Senate President convey the feelings of the lawmakers to the president. Their grouse was that since the rejection of executive nominees by the Senate did not appear to stop them from continuing in acting capacity, there may be no point screening any nominees, going forward.

Senator Peter Nwaoboshi (Delta North) set the pace for the debate, when he recalled that the Senate recently dealt with the issue of confirmation, but the rejection of the nominee was dismissed by Sagay, who said the Senate merely confirms. He lamented that such misleading statements implying that the legislature had no powers came from a Professor of Law, who had lectured constitutional law at the university, Senior Advocate of Nigeria and Chairman of such an important body.

“Here are we again today, now being given a list to confirm and we merely confirm. Eight of them, out of 27 are for reappointment which means they are acting already; they are already working and they are still in position. Prof. Sagay will start again citing Section 171, subsection d of the constitution even if we do not confirm them, he would say continue to fight.

“But when you denigrate such an institution that has the power to confirm, and used the word ‘merely’, we could have ignored it but for somebody of that status. My position on this matter is that since our confirmation is ‘merely’, let us suspend it until we now know whether we have the power, as given to us by the constitution, to look into confirmation matters or any other status,” Nwaoboshi argued.

Senator Francis Alimikhena (Edo North) accused the acting EFCC boss of being behind the negative reports against the Senate in the media, as payback for his non-confirmation.

“Among the reports that are agog in the papers, he is behind it. Magu is terrorising us because we disqualified him and we cannot hide it. We disqualified Magu and he is terrorising our people because we disqualified him, and he is still acting and they are still bringing in nominees for us to confirm. If they know they can do it alone, let them do it,” Alimikhen said.

Most of the lawmakers argued and insisted that the consideration be adjourned sine die.

But Saraki, the Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu and Deputy Senate Leader, Ibn Bala N’Allah persuaded their colleagues and reached a consensus for two weeks suspension.

Before plenary on Tuesday, the lawmakers, at a closed door session had deliberated on the matter, which they considered a slight, and had resolved to take action. Saraki too said they have resolved to defend the integrity of the legislature, against ‘attacks’ and would do nothing to the contrary.

“The Senate in a closed session reflected on the various attacks on the National Assembly, especially on the Senate, for performing its constitutional duties. And the Senate resolved to defend the integrity of the Senate against such attacks and will not be intimidated from carrying out our constitutional duties at all times,” he said.

Extending the Sanctions Less than 24 hours after the Senate deferred the screening processes of the 27 RECs, the president sent in the names of two nominees to replace the slots for Kogi and Gombe States in the cabinet.

Prof. Steven Ikani Ocheni from Kogi State is intended to replace Mr. James Ocholi, who died in a car accident with his wife and son in March, 2016, on the Abuja-Kaduna expressway, while Mr. Suleiman Zarma Hassan from Gombe State, would replace Mrs. Amina Mohammed, who resigned from the cabinet in January this year, to take up an appointment as the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations.

By Thursday, the president again sent in three nominations to replace some of the initial nominees rejected to serve on the board of the NigerDeltaDevelopmentCommission(NDDC).

The nominees are Mr. Lucky Orimiso (Ondo), Mr. Chuka Anwawa (Imo) and Mr. Nwogu Nwogu (Abia). THISDAY however has it on good authority that the consideration of all executive requests would be suspended just as the RECs until the matter of Magu is sorted out.

Wielding the Big Stick Irked by some of the unsavoury developments, the Senate during the week, further wielded

Cont’d from Pg. 81

Senate in session

Ndume had prevailed on the lawmakers to send Magu ‘back to the president’ after the report of the Department of State Services was read, without screening.

“I want to make this point that Senator Ndume is not just a first offender, we took a decision on the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), but he went outside and maligned the Senate. We took the first decision on Magu, when we came here in our executive session and I want the records to be put straight. When the report of the DSS was read, he rose here and started begging all of us, that please we should send Magu back to the president for the president to take a decision on him.

“He was begging everybody here and out of respect for him as a leader at that time, this Senate obliged him. After that, he went out to malign the Senate, but he did not tell the public that he was the person, who begged us, and he even went further and said we should invite him (Magu) and tell him why we could not.

He is moving as a saint,” Nwaoboshi added.

Melaye contributing to a debate on the floor of the Senate

the big stick and suspended its former Majority Leader, Senator Ali Mohammed Ndume, from Borno South, for a period of six months, for his failure to conduct due diligence before filing what it described as a frivolous petition against Senate President Saraki and Senator Dino Melaye (Kogi West), thus dragging the institution of the Senate into disrepute. This was after it adopted the recommendations of the report of the Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions.

Ndume had last week raised a point of order, noting that the integrity of the Senate was being questioned following reports that the lawmakers were on a vengeance mission against Ali due to the seizure of a bullet proof Range Rover Sport Utility Vehicle ( SUV) allegedly owned

by Saraki.

Ndume also cited reports which claimed that Senator Dino Melaye (Kogi West) does not have a first degree from the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), and urged the Senate to investigate the allegations.

To prove his innocence, the Senate President appeared before the committee to defend himself.

The car importer, Mr. Tokunbo Akindele, and the dealer, Mr. Olanrewaju Shittu, had explained the circumstances of how the car was imported by Oando Nigeria PLC, and later sold to the National Assembly, absolving Saraki of any involvement.

The Vice Chancellor of ABU, Prof. Ibrahim Garba, also appeared before the committee and confirmed that Melaye graduated from the institution with a third class degree from the Department of Geography, in the third semester of 1998/99 session.

Ndume, however, emphasised that he did not petition the committee, but had simply raised an order of privilege, which is normal in the circumstances, to draw attention to the allegations in order to ensure that the integrity of the Senate is protected.

“I did not know the issue would generate interest like this. They said Dino does not have a certificate, he should show the certificate, simple. It is not personal. As a leader, if there is anything that affects the Senate, we should raise it. The whole public is saying Dino does not have certificate, and now it clears public perception,” he said.

His defence did not stifle the committee from recommending his suspension, for 181 legislative days, until it was reduced after intervention by some senators. It was gathered that while the new senators wanted a one-year suspension, the old senators pleaded on his behalf before it was brought down to six months.

“That having failed to cross-check facts before presentation at plenary he could not be said to be a patriotic representative of the Senate, and should be penalised to serve as deterrent to others.

That the Senate do suspend Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume for bringing Senator Dino Melaye, his colleague, and the institution of the Senate to unbearable disrepute at this time of our national life when caution, patriotism, careful consideration and due diligence should be our watchwords,” the committee said.

Senator Nwaoboshi proffered more explanations into why such a severe sanction was meted out to the former leader, whom he accused of impinging the Senate on several occasions. He disclosed that as Senate Leader,

Going Forward The news that the president had set up a committee to mediate and resolve the faceoff between the two arms of government is generally seen as a step in the right direction, especially when the import of such a hostile rivalry is not lost on anyone.

Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Senator Ita Enang, has also assured that the impasse would be resolved.

“We appreciate the Senate; we do not quarrel with them. We have listened to them, we have taken the points they have made and we will always listen to them and work with them because they are an arm of government. They are an institution, they are not a parastatal; we respect that. So, I will be communicating that.

“The REC nominees reported for normal documentation and we are glad that the Senate did not reject that. They simply deferred it and we respect them, we appreciate them because this is the best thing they can do. This is good for us because they did not reject, they simply said ‘we are deferring the consideration’.

We will not allow anything that causes heat between the executive and the legislature,” Enang added.

While some conflicts between the two arms of government can help to provide checks and balances to a certain degree, a sustained and reoccurring one would only be to the detriment of national development.

The impression that the senate is the problem must be jettisoned because the institution is a critical one and must not be denigrated on the altar of politics or a platform to settle personal scores. It is therefore hoped that the impasse would be resolved soon and allowed to pave the way for the kind of synergy needed for sustainable growth and development.

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SUNDAYSPORTS Pressure on Wenger as City Visit Arsenal

Edited by Demola Ojo Email demola.ojo@thisdaylive.com

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anCitybossPepGuardiolaisoutto pilemorepressureonbeleaguered Arsenal managerArsene Wenger when the two sides meet at the Emirates this afternoon. However, the Spaniard is also wary of a backlash from the Gunners in their Super Sunday clash in north London.

“When you lose a lot of games it is a dangerous moment. I would prefer to take Arsenal after a lot of wins,” he said. “Everybody knows them - good quality in the middle, good quality in the sides with Alexis [Sanchez] going inside, runs in behind with [Theo] Walcott, [Alex] Oxlade-Chamberlain. Good quality. Arsenal is a top team.”

Guardiola will be without long-term casualties Ilkay Gundogan and Gabriel Jesus for the trip to the capital, but expects both Kevin De Bruyne and Pablo Zabaleta to be involved.

“They are not top, perfect (fitness), but yes,” he said when asked if De Bruyne and Zabaleta would feature.

As a further boost, Jesus is also expected to return to the squad before the end of the season. “The crutches are gone. He has started to walk and hopefully he can come back to the pitches and start to run and make some exercises,” he said. “Hopefully he can help us in the last games of the season and come back for us in the pre-season.”

Wenger, meanwhile, has refuted suggestions that doubts over his future were impacting on the team’s performance. Arun of six defeats in their last nine matches has seen Arsenal eliminated from the Champions League and facing a battle to finish in the top four of the Premier League, sparking renewed protests from fans against the manager.

“I believe the priority in life is to focus on what is important,” said the Frenchman in his pre-match press conference. “Not to look for excuses. “The results aren’t going as we want. The priority is on the pitch. The big professional is to perform on the football pitch.”

Arsenal will be withoutfirst-choicegoalkeeperPetr Cech after the former Czech Republic international was forced off with a calf injury during the 3-1 loss at West Brom before the international break and has

Miami Open: Federer, Nadal for Final Roger Federer won a thrilling three-hour contest againstNickKyrgiosyesterdaytosetupafinalagainst Rafael Nadal at the Miami Open. The Swiss, 35, won 7-6 (11-9) 6-7 (9-11) 7-6 (7-5) to take his 2017 record to 18 wins and one defeat. Federer will take on Nadal for the 37th time today, and the second final this year after beating the Spaniard at January’s Australian Open. Nadal, 30, beat Italy’s Fabio Fognini 6-1 7-5 in the first semi-final. Fognini, 29, had become the first unseeded player in 10 years to make the last four but was no match for Nadal, who will try to win a first Miami title in his fifth final.

“It’sgreattobeinthefinalforme,”saidNadalafter winning the first of the semi-finals. “I am excited to play another final of an important event. If it’s Roger, it’s going to be another one for both of us, and that’s it. Just another one.”

Federer made sure that there will be another episode to his rivalry with Nadal, which began in Miami 13 years ago. The 18-time Grand Slam champion maintained his spectacular run of results with victory over the in-form Kyrgios.

“It felt very good,” said the Swiss, who last won the Miami title in 2006. “You don’t very often play threebreakersinamatch.Winningbreakersisalways such a thrill. I tried to really fight for it. I can’t always showmyfightingskills,itisgreatwinningthisway.”

Despite playing in front of a heavily pro-Federer crowd,Kyrgiosextendedtheformerchampionover three hours and 10 minutes, with the 21-year-old Australian showing his frustration by smashing his racquet after losing match point.

“Ihadsomeupsanddowns,bitofarollercoaster,” said Kyrgios. “Ultimately I think I put in a good performance.Ithoughtthecrowdwould’veenjoyed watching it, people at home would’ve enjoyed watching it. But I wouldn’t be surprised if they found something bad, though.”

Guardiola (right) will be looking for an away win with City thus piling more pressure on Wenger (left) not recovered in time to face City so David Ospina will deputise.

Forward Lucas Perez (thigh) has also been ruled out but both Mesut Ozil andAlexis Sanchez should start having represented their countries in the past week, while Santi Cazorla (Achilles) will not play again this season.

City forwards De Bruyne (groin) and Raheem Sterling (back) are both in contention to faceArsenal.

The pair were doubtful after picking up injuries on international duty but, while not 100 per cent fit, are hopeful of featuring. Defender Zabaleta has also overcome a knock suffered while with Argentina.

Arsenal have lost just one of 19 previous home Premier League matches against Manchester City (W12 D6 L1). City are looking to do the double over

Arsenal in a league season for the first time since 1975/76.

The last seven Premier League meetings between these two sides have produced 27 goals - 3.86 per game, on average. Wenger has won just two of his previous nine competitive meetings with Guardiola (W2 D2 L5), both in the Champions League.

This is only the second time that Arsenal have found themselves outside the top five in the Premier League as late asApril in a season under Wenger - the other occasion was in April 2006.

On the day of this game, Arsenal will have spent 1209 days behind City in the Premier League table since the start of 2011/12. In the six Premier League seasons prior to this (2005/06 to 2010/11) they spent just 246 days behind City in the Premier League table.

Theo Walcott has scored four goals in his last four Premier League games versus City, but he hasn’t scored in the league since December (against City).

Only Thierry Henry (0.73) has a better goals per game record against Premier League sides from London than Sergio Aguero (0.70) - min. 15 games.

TheArgentine striker has 37 goals in 53 apps against teams from the capital.

Thesetwosideshavescoredthemostgoalsthrough substitutesinthePremierLeaguethisseason-Arsenal (8) and City (7).

Guardiola has suffered five league defeats as City boss this season - he’s never lost six in a single league campaign as a manager. City have won just four of their last 15 Premier League matches played on a Sunday (W4 D6 L5).

Chelsea Stunned, Tottenham Close Gap, Ndidi Nets Stunner

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remier League leaders Chelsea fell to a shock defeat as rejuvenated Crystal Palace struck twice in two minutes to win 2-1 at Stamford Bridge yesterday.

Chelsea led after five minutes as Cesc Fabregas swept a long pass out to Eden Hazard, who took on his defenders and then waited for support -- and it came from Fabregas, who finished off the Belgian’s cross.

But Palace levelled within four minutes when Wilfried Zaha received the ball with his back to go andturnedawayfromhisdefendersbeforesmashing home -- and they were in front when Zaha’s fine run saw him feed Christian Benteke, who scooped a brilliant finish over Thibaut Courtois.

Fabregas and Hazard linked up again to set up Diego Costa, but Wayne Hennessey produced a good save to prevent an equaliser.

The home side were dominating possession but could have found themselves further adrift when James Tomkins headed narrowly over from a corner.

Palace had another chance to make it 3-1 when Zaha was put through but Courtois got a foot to his shot to divert it away -- and although Chelsea laid siege to the Palace goal they were unable to find a leveller despite seven minutes of added time.

Tottenham took advantage and cut the gap to seven points with a clinical 2-0 win at Burnley.

Chances were at a premium early on, with neither goalkeeper being tested in a game in which the home side failed to fluster the Tottenham defence with a direct approach.

The Londoners had the first good opportunity when Dele Alli fired over the bar after Burnley

Ndidi is ecstatic after scoring for Leicester yesterday goalkeeper Tom Heaton had saved but not held a shot from Christian Eriksen. But they broke through when Burnley failed to clear a cross and Eric Dier produced a cool finish after 66 minutes. And they were two clear after 77 minutes when Alli played the ball across and Son Heung-Min struck from close range.

Leicester City continued their superb recent form as they beat Stoke City 2-0 at the King Power Stadium to move further away from danger.

After a slow start, the Premier League champions took the lead in spectacular fashion after 25 minutes when Wilfred Ndidi fired into the top corner from around 30 yards out, giving Lee Grant no chance.

Grant made a fine save to prevent the revitalised

champions from doubling their advantage, pushing away a fierce Riyad Mahrez attempt.

PREMIER LEAGUE RESULTS & FIXTURES Liverpool Burnley Chelsea Hull City Leicester Man United Watford Swansea

3–1 Everton 0–2 Tottenham 1–2 Crystal Palace 2–1 West Ham 2–0 Stoke 0–0 West Brom 1–0 Sunderland v Middlesbrough 1:30pm

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R • APRIL 2, 2017

High Life

85 wIth LANRE ALFRED 08076885752

...Amazing lifestyles of Nigeria’s rich and famous

Big Trouble in Obasanjo’s Paradise...as Wife Seeks Court Injunction to Stop Son’s Wedding to Lotto Boss, Adebutu’s Daughter •Why the brewing war may linger on

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s the wedding bells toll in the household of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, sour music steals into the lives of the newest groom in his clan, Olujonwo, and his heartthrob, Tope Adebutu. Harsh notes intrude his joy leaving him a mess of a man.

This is because mother of the groom, Taiwo Obasanjo, on Monday filed a suit at an Ikeja High Court, seeking to stop the wedding of her son, Olujonwo, scheduled for May 11. ExPresident Obasanjo and the father of the bride, Kessington Adebutu, promoter of Premier Lotto known as ‘Baba Ijebu’ are respondents to the suit. The woman, who is the twin sister of Kenny Martins, former coordinator of the Police Equipment Fund, is seeking a postponement of the wedding of her

son. She wants the wedding to be fixed for a date after June 1.

Olujonwo and Tope had an elaborate introduction on December 17, 2016 with the social media awash with photographs of the event. Obasanjo, among others, is seeking a court declaration that as the mother of the groom, she had the rights to take part in the deliberations, decisions and activities leading to the forthcoming ceremony.

According to her, wedding invitations have been sent out and she has been excluded from the preparations for the ceremonies. She said she also received prophesies and warnings from men of God to the effect that Olujonwo, her son who turns 34 on June 1, should not do or be involved in any elaborate celebration before his birthday.

Lateefa Okunnu, a justice, has fixed April 10.

Prisca Ndu

THE SPARK THAT WINS ACCLAIM...AMCON TOP SHOT, PRISCA NDU, MAKES LIST OF AFRICA’S 100 MOST INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE OF AFRICAN DESCENT The dullard’s envy of brilliant men is always assuaged by the hope that they will one day, come to a bad end. When brilliance radiates from a woman, its refulgent rays blinds the sight and workings of the cynical mind like the comet’s flare through tangles of shrubs

and scavenger nests. For being brilliant, Prisca Ndu, a very top shot in AMCON, was recently honoured by MIPAD. As one of 2017 Most Influential People of African Descent (MIPAD) 100 list.

Like bloomed fables and flowers on furze, the honour excites an inestimable joy in the life of Prisca Ndu. Every shade of Prisca’s persona, from her enchanting felinity to her subtle assertiveness, conveys an inscrutable allure.

The woman is a fire starter; a glamorous equivalent of a modern heroine: posh, seductive and intelligent.

An eminent icon of female power on the corporate realm, Ndu is a star, a pioneer, a workhorse with monumental focus. It was a star-studded event at the prestigious Eko Hotel, Lagos, penultimate Saturday. However, the centre of attraction that night was no other person than Prisca who bowled everyone over at the event with her infectious candor and charisma. People who know her well never got tired of purring odes about her. She made new friends that day and converted new disciples. Her oratorical prowess and her well groomed intelligence was overwhelming enough to elicit never-ending admiration from everyone.

Olusegun Obasanjo

THE LION OF AFIA-NSIT… ON SCOTT TOMMEY’S WHEREABOUTS That Scot Tommey, multibillionaire businessman, has been keeping a low profile should give no one any cause for concern. The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Osmoserve Global Limited has simply been doing what he knows to do best: making a decent living.

Rumour mongers will do well to know that Scott Tommey had never been one given to noise making and playing to the gallery; thus his seeming disappearance from the social circuit.

He is however, planning his re-entry into the social milieu with something unique. An astute manager of both human and material resources, Tommey cuts the picture of a man immensely endowed with towering intelligence, depth of character and charitable authority in the marine and engineering services. He has been working round the clock and entering strategic partnerships with international experts to see through his new business plan, which he prefers to keep under wrap for now.

The benevolent billionaire has built a world class multibillion business enterprise in Osmoserve, whose specialty has brought physical

infrastructural transformation to the region and given jobs to countless of the region’s hitherto unemployed youths. Osmoserve Global is an indigenous company that provides marine and engineering services to the oil and gas industry, States and Federal Government parastatals in Nigeria with its operational base in Port Harcourt. By the time Scott Tommey returns to the happening seen, it would dawn on all and sundry that

Scott Tommey

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R • APRIL 2, 2017

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HIGHLIFE

Champagne Fountain…Ambode Hosts Tinubu to a High-Octane 65th Birthday Party

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ike whirlwinds writing on the grass, former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu’s astounding records manifest as inscriptions teaching all and sundry the requirements of veteran politician. It’s simply awe-inspiring the way in which his records speak for him. Thus no amount of celebration would be too much or too grand to appreciate the eminence of Asiwaju, a man of remarkable renown.

Even Tinubu understands this much. The towering political titan, who clocked 65 on March 29, is notable for his ingenious way of doing things. Little wonder, Governor of Lagos State, Akinwunmi Ambode, organized a wondrous birthday party for him last Wednesday at Lagos House. Expectedly, the guests - top politicians, businessmen and high net-worth dignitaries thronged the venue in a circus of conformity.

The event was indeed a memorable one; political associates, friends and family members of Asiwaju deserted the humdrum of their daily lives to his brief absence was truly worth it.

TRAGIC! DEATH STRIKES LAGOS COMMISSIONER, UZAMAT YUSUF, CLOSE TO HER HEART •HOW SHE LOST HER FIRST HUSBAND

News of her first husband’s death fills the night and every daybreak, like an unwelcome song of doom. It stabs Uzamat Akinbile -Yusuf in the heart, reminding her of grief she would rather undo. The Lagos state Commissioner for Youth and Social Welfare,

celebrate with one of their own. The celebrant’s heart of course was full of enchanting song. It pulsated pleasantly at the outward show of care and zealous love encountered by the people. He could not help but lose the breath in his lungs momentarily. As the night fell, the fireflies danced and twinkled with grace above the crew cut hedges of colourful flowers, yet nature stymied in shame and jealousy at the marvelous beauty of the love and loyalty shown to Tinubu by his loved ones, especially the governor.

Guests at the party were treated to the choicest liquor and sumptuous meals made by the finest caterers. They made sure guests were pampered, treating them to numerous bottles of the choicest champagne, from Ace of Spades, Don-Perignon, Crystal to Moet & Chandon and exotic wine of all hue. It no doubt warmed the cockles of the host, Governor Ambode’s heart to see dignitaries at the event smack their lips in pleasure as they devoured the sumptuous meals and drinks offered to them at the high-octane party. is bereaved. She lost her first husband Akinbile to the cold hands of death on Friday, March 24, 2017. The latter died after a protracted battle with kidney related ailment. He died in a hospital in Akure, Ondo State and was brought back to Lagos on Saturday, March 25, 2017 for burial. He was buried on Saturday at Ipaja burial ground. Though she was divorced from him, she was said to have played a major role in his treatment in the last two years. Akinbile was an accountant with West African Examination Council from where he retired. He is the father of all the four boys (two of whom are in Canada studying) of the commissioner. We gathered that the commissioner was not around to attend the burial.

She is said to be abroad on official assignment.

MADE FOR ‘THEIR EXCELLENCIES’...AMAZING STORY OF THE YAR’ADUA SIBLINGS

•HOW LATE PRESIDENT’S THREE DAUGHTERS MARRIED INTO POWER

Uzamat Yusuf

It is the wisdom of the crocodiles to shed tears when they would devour. But unlike the amphibious beast, the daughters of late Nigerian President, Umaru Musa Yar ’Adua, flash toothy smiles in similar circumstance; the late President’s daughters

Bola Tinubu

betray no bloody appetite like the crocodile rather they sport insatiable craving for the love and attention of leaders of men. Maryam, Nafisat and Zainab got married to sitting state governors. They are still married to them even after they quit power. From the day he got married to Nafisa, Yuguda, who had three wives before adding Nafisa, officially becomes a privileged member of the President’s household. In 2007, Alhaji Saidu Dakingari, former governor of Kebbi State, added Zainab Yar ’Adua to the list of his wives and set tongues wagging uncontrollably. If Zainab, second daughter of the President, is heartwarmingly beautiful, Nafisa, her teenage sister, is drop-dead gorgeous.

So why choose their father ’s contemporaries as hubbies?

That was the question on the lips of everyone then.

Questions, and many questions way back then. And just recently, they stepped out in an event. Until they stepped out, many people did not know that Maryam is married to former governor of Katsina State, Ibrahim Shehu Shema. Nafisat got married to former Bauchi governor, Isa Yuguda, while Zainab is the wife of former governor of Kebbi State, Usman Saidu Nasamu Dakingari. Some would say

that they love power and all the appurtenances that come with, other simply admire them for their exquisite planning.

BILLIONAIRE ON A ROLL...AT 50, JIMOH IBRAHIM ACQUIRES SECOND ROLLS ROYCE, A BANK IN HONG KONG AND NEW OFFICE IN DUBAI •THE AMAZING EXPLOITS OF THE NEWSPAPER PUBLISHER AND OIL MAGNATE

Jimoh Ibrahim is on a roll.

The billionaire magnate floats on an epic blaze of glory even as you read, like the fabled titan whose exploits dwarfs the attainments of peers. Jimoh Ibrahim, who has just completed two masters degrees from Oxford and Cambridge Universities has decided to globalize his business. To this end, he established an investment bank in Hong Kong to open up business opportunities in the Asian market. He paid about $47 million to acquire the bank license to operate it. That brings the number of banks in the group to three with one in Ghana and another in Sao Tome. Jimoh has also opened a new corporate office in Dubai to oversee his overseas operations. With his level of investment in Dubai he has been given the status of an Investor. In Dubai, he owns a five-star hotel and a few

T H I S D AY, T H e S u n D AY n e w S pA p e r • APRIL 2, 2017

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HIGHLIFE

Erelu Abiola Dosunmu at 70

•High society salivates for Lagos socialite’s forthcoming birthday celebration

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ike the fabled goddess of the Verges, Erelu Abiola Dosunmu ages with elegance and grace.

Dosunmu, the former wife of late Chief Dehinde Fernandez will be 70 in a few months time and she is showing no telltale of age. Dosunmu still looks refreshingly young, with a glowing natural ebony complexion that is the envy of a lot of other women. At the backdrop of unpalatable rumours of Erelu Abiola’s alleged insolvency, the princess of Nigeria’s coastal ‘City of Excellence,’ Lagos, is hardly broke. It would be recalled that, to put paid to malicious gossip being peddled about her last year, Erelu Abiola decided to celebrate her 69th birthday in a grand way last year in the city of Rome. It was indeed grand. Now the question is: ‘Where

is she going this year for her 70th birthday?

According to some of her friends, Erelu is planning something big in Nigeria or London. And she doesn’t do things in half measures, so it’s going to be grand as usual. As preparation hots up for her forthcoming birthday, few people will forget in a hurry how 2015 became Erelu Dosunmu’s most horrendous year. In that year, she was afflicted by deaths of the three men she cherished most in her life. She lost her confidant and soul mate, Chief Molade OkoyaThomas, the business titan and society patriarch. She also lost the late Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade and her estranged husband, late Chief Deinde Fernandez.

Erelu Dosunmu was undoubtedly devastated by the deaths of the three men.

Abiola Dosunmu

with the sad, bitter truth of his unattractiveness to President Muhammadu Buhari as a candidate to replace the late minister James Enojo Ocholi.

He has lost the position to Stephen Ocheni. This is indeed, a sad stroke of reality for James who had until his replacement been courted and feted by the creme of Nigeria’s high society in frantic bid to curry his favour prior to his pronouncement and emergence as the nation’s new minister. Suddenly, James’s coterie of friends increased and he became a darling to every notable politician, technocrat and entrepreneur seeking desperately to

befriend him. To caress his ego, they called him ‘Distinguished’ and all other manners of adoring titles.

Now that he has been dropped from the list of ministerial nominees, James has to deal with the sad, bitter reality of defeat; his coterie of so-called friends and well-wishers in Kogi state, has diminished as the latter retrace their steps to flock around the man to whom he lost the seat, Stephen.

The move to use James to replace the late Ocholi believed to be hinged on compensating the House of Representatives member for losing out in his calculated bid to become Kogi governor.

Jimoh Ibrahim

commercial properties. He is also big in the real estate business of Dubai and owns a lovely mansion in an exclusive area where all their super rich citizens live. He will be travelling with about 200 friends and family members in mid May for his graduation at Oxford, and after spending three days they will proceed to Dubai for his office opening.

Though he turned 50 about four weeks ago, he could not celebrate it because that was the period he was writing his final papers at Oxford University. He plans to celebrate it big in April.

To mark his golden age, he ordered for a N300 million

Rolls Royce Phantom from Coscharis Motors with personalized number plate JI CFR. That is his 2nd Roll Royce. His first Rolls Royce is in his house in London.

JAMES’ CROSS! SO SAD… HOW JAMES FALEKE WON’T BE MINISTER TO REPLACE OCHOLI He is too old to cry and definitely too hurt to laugh.

Again, when the possibility of becoming Nigeria’s minister slipped from his hands, like a dog-eared rainbow fading from the skies, James Faleke was forced to quietly accept the fact that some dreams are far more charming and enjoyable in the realms of desire. James now has to deal

James Faleke

Sunday, April 2, 2017

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Price: N400

MISSILE SERAP to Senate

“The framers of the Constitution of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) would never have contemplated a legislative power without responsibility, and the Senate can’t continue to carry on in a manner that implies its law-making and oversight powers are not open to question.”

– The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) berating the Senate for summoning Prof Itse Sagay, Chair, of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption to appear before the Senate committee on ethics, privileges and public petitions.

SIMONKOLAWOLE SIMONKOLAWOLELIVE!

simon.kolawole@thisdaylive.com, sms: 0805 500 1961

Fiddling While Rome Burns And Four

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y wife lost her cousin last week.

She suddenly started gasping for breath, so it was a clear case of medical emergency. The family rushed her to a private hospital. Unable to handle the emergency, the hospital referred her to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH). At LASUTH, they were told there was “no bed space” and advised to proceed to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH). Getting to LUTH, they were also told there was “no bed space”. Frustrated and traumatised, they headed back home waiting for the worst to happen. That, after all, is the fate of millions of Nigerians out there who are not lucky enough to be in government.

Somehow, somebody who knew somebody who knew somebody at LASUTH finally helped her secure a bed space and she was returned to the hospital. Unfortunately, she did not make it. I do not suggest, even slightly, that she would not have died if there was bed space in the first instance. I cannot prove that scientifically. Patients still die at hospitals that have bed space. In fact, people die at world’s best and most sophisticated hospitals. We have to get that clearly. What I am unable to absorb is the fact that emergency patients are being turned back at general hospitals for lack of “bed space”. I’m not even talking about the more complicated task of emergency care.

My driver had a similar experience years ago.

His father was seriously ill. As his condition did not get better, I asked him to seek care at a general hospital. There was “no bed space” at Gbagada so they headed for LUTH, where they were also told there was “no bed space”.

He started pleading with them to save his father’s life, and one of the nurses shouted at him: “Will I turn myself to bed?!” While they were at it, one woman rushed in her dying father. As the nurses started yelling “no bed space” at her, the man breathed his last. Nobody advised my driver to ferry his father elsewhere; this time we chose a very expensive private hospital. Unfortunately, the man still died.

“No bed space” is the story of healthcare in our dearly beloved country. A country that once sold crude oil for $147 per barrel. A country that once had $23 billion in “excess” revenue from crude oil sales. A country that buys convoys of armoured cars for public officers with billions of naira every year. A country that burns billions of naira on buying kola nuts and toothpicks for government houses.

A country that pours billions of naira into the pockets of legislators — at federal and state levels — for “constituency projects”. A country that finances the libidos and egos of public officers with hundreds of billions every year. And a country that has “no bed space” in public hospitals.

“No bed space”, as far as I am concerned, is just a metaphor. It means more than it says. The healthcare system is terminally sick.

It has been sick for decades, and getting sicker by the day. Even if there is no bed space, what about providing basic emergency care — a little oxygen, for instance — to save a life, even if on a bare floor? You need to see how poor people are treated like goats at our hospitals. What has overcome us in this country that we have been so drained of compassion? All over the world, health workers are care givers: they are the most compassionate people. In Nigeria, they

Melaye

rank among the most sadistic. The system is upside down.

There was “no bed space” during the military era. There is still “no bed space” in the democratic dispensation. From 1999 till today, we have had Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, Goodluck Jonathan and now Muhammadu Buhari — and there is still “no bed space”. We have had PDP and APC in power at different levels, national and sub-national, and there is still “no bed space”. We have spent billions on the health sector and there is still “no bed space”. But you know what? We have space for presidential jets and governors’ convoys.

We have space for air ambulances for the rich and the powerful. But there is “no bed space” for the people.

The “space” problem is not limited to hospital beds. Do you know how many Nigerian students want to study medicine? Many start dreaming of it from their primary school days. They want to give care to people. They want to save lives. They meet all the basic requirements — credit pass in this subject, in that subject. They do very well in university entry exams. But you know the drill: there is “no space” in the public universities, clearly the better equipped institutions to train them.

Some universities even boast about how they turn back “thousands” of applicants every year because there is no “space”. They force students to study something else.

You would be forgiven for thinking that aspiring medical students are being denied admission because Nigeria already has enough doctors. Well, you are wrong. Nigeria posts a doctor-patient ratio of 1:3500. This is way below the WHO-recommended 1:600. To put that in perspective, a doctor in a country that meets the WHO ratio will have attended to six patients before a Nigerian doctor attends to one. The Cuban ratio — reputed as the world’s best — is 1:250. To see a doctor, a Cuban has 14 times more chances than a Nigerian; that could mean a Nigerian patient waiting for two weeks longer than a Cuban.

But we don’t have “space” to train more doctors.

Countries that lack enough medical doctors usually adopt emergency measures to address the problem. For instance, decades ago, the UK allowed in doctors from Pakistan, India and Nigeria — and at the same time revved its production line of British doctors. Today, they have produced well enough of their own doctors and have stopped renewing the contracts of foreign doctors. That is strategic planning. In my own country, we are discouraging people from studying medicine because there is no “space” — as if space would create itself without strategic thinking. Yet we are battling all kinds of treatable diseases as our population continues to explode. Where is common sense?

I am sorry to bore you this morning over the state of medical infrastructure in Nigeria. I know that is not what many Nigerians really want to read. The hottest topic in town is Senator Dino Melaye’s monster hit, “Ajekun Iya”. Pardon the distraction. Unfortunately, I am more passionate about the plight of hapless Nigerians than the politics of 2019 that is currently playing out in Abuja. Things are not exactly what you are watching on the TV screen. Forget the drama: the real game is not televised. It is 2019. Nigeria is one amazing country where intrigues and politicking for the next election always take priority over the welfare of the citizens.

When war broke out in the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) under President Goodluck Jonathan, I wrote “Fellow Nigerians, It Is All Politics!” (June 2, 2013), warning us that it was all about the 2015 elections and had nothing to do with healthcare, education, power and roads. I was thoroughly abused by those who said I was “sitting on the fence” rather than supporting one faction or the other. I stand by my story. And I say this again: all the huffing and puffing going on in Abuja is not about healthcare, education, power and roads. It is all proxy wars ahead of 2019. I stand to be abused again — and I will still stand by my story. My interest is governance, not politics.

But this party called APC is nothing but a disaster. The 2019 intrigues started even before Buhari was inaugurated as president in 2015. I have never seen anything like this in my life. It was not as if the PDP was any better, but at least it managed to pretend to be working for at least two years before an outbreak of full-blown war over the next election. Meanwhile, APC is the only ruling party I have seen that does not exist at the national level. It is only the state chapters that can lay some claim to relevance. I have lost count of the number of factions in APC, all of them jostling and positioning for 2019 — while there is no “space” at the hospitals and medical colleges.

I conclude. My WhatsApp chat-of-the-week was the one on the fighting going on in government. I don’t know the author but I love it to bits. It says: “Presidency (DSS) fighting Presidency (EFCC), Customs (Ali) fighting Senate, Senate fighting Customs, EFCC fighting Senate, Senate fighting EFCC, Sahara Reporters fighting Dino Melaye, Dino Melaye fighting Sahara Reporters, Aisha Buhari fighting Presidency Cabal, Presidency Cabal fighting Aisha Buhari, El-Rufai Cabal fighting Presidency Cabal, Presidency Cabal fighting El-Rufai. And the fighting and counter fighting go on... But who is fighting HUNGER and SUFFERING that is fighting Nigerians?”

Fiddling.

Other Things...

IFE FIRE Everything I have read so far about the Ife crisis indicates that the killings could have been avoided if Nigeria were a sane, orderly country. The Southern Kaduna killings could have been averted if Nigeria were a country where there is value for human life. The killings by herders could have been stopped if there was anything called justice in Nigeria.

Sadly, we have a security ecosystem that is so partisan, so laidback, so weak and so incompetent that the ordinary Nigerian does not have faith in it. A simple early warning system, a strict enforcement of law and a strategic revamp of logistics would save us unnecessary bloodshed in this country. But who cares? Tragic.

TINUBU THE TITAN If there is one Nigerian politician that has played the game very well in this dispensation, it has to be Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Surviving the ruthless onslaught of the desperate PDP on Lagos — Nigeria’s prized jewel — since 1999 is by no means a little feat. But as the ex-governor of Lagos state clocks 65, his biggest achievement, to my mind, is the way he has helped to keep Lagos on the path of meaningful, purposeful leadership consistently since 1999. You can see a method. You can see a direction.

His handpicked successors, Mr. Babatunde Fashola to Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, did not drop the ball. It says a lot about visioning.

Felicitations.

JIBRIN ON FIRE Abdulmumin Jibrin, the suspended member of the house of representatives, has become one hell of an activist since his colleagues sent him packing for divulging the secrets of the confraternity. President Buhari refused to grant him audience when he wanted to spill the beans on the padding of budget by the powers that be. Jibrin has now asked Buhari to step down on “health grounds” — which I think reflects the opinion of many Nigerians. As sweeteners, he said Buhari should nominate a VP, while Aisha Buhari should be appointed minister. I don’t know if I agree with him, but it’s always interesting when a member of the power class rebels. Fascinating.

HAIL HAMILTON One national football hero died at 75, virtually unnoticed, on Thursday: Paul Hamilton. The ex-international represented Nigeria at the 1968 Olympics. He went on to coach the Flying Eagles, Super Eagles and Super Falcons at various times in his career.

He coached the Flying Eagles to the third place at the 1985 U-20 World Cup — our first medal at that level. He believed he was a victim of “injustice”, having led Nigeria to qualify for Maroc ‘88 only to be relegated for the German, Manfred Hoener, for the tournament. When Hoener left Nigeria unceremoniously in 1989, Hamilton led the team to qualify for Algiers 90 but was again relegated for Clemens Westerhof. Hard.

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