Thursday 6th April 2017

Navy Admiral, Daniel Ikoli, Found Dead After Suspected Suicide Chiemelie Ezeobi Barely seven months after he was promoted from the rank of navy commodore to rear admiral, Daniel Teikumo Ikoli of the Nigerian Navy, was suspected to have taken

his life yesterday in his residence at No. 8B Roycroft Street, Apapa GRA, Lagos.

He was said to have shot himself in the chest after firing two previous shots that hit the wall and the television set in his house.

gunshot the way others did and took cover, prompting him to make phone calls to others to come to his aid.

When THISDAY visited his house in Apapa, it was as quiet as a grave yard, as no soul was found there,

After the incident, the steward who was living with him in the house when Ikoli took his life was invited for questioning by the police.

According to sources, the boy said he heard the first

although some neighbours living on the same street said his body had been removed and taken to the morgue.

Before his death, the late Ikoli had also been a member of the Presidential

Committee on Audit of Defense Equipment Procurement (CADEP), which he joined in 2015 after President Muhammadu Buhari assumed office.

Continued on page 10

Sultan, Emir of Kano Blast Northern Political and Religious Leaders… Page 50 Thursday 6 April, 2017 Vol 22. No 8022. Price: N250

www.thisdaylive.com TR

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Tinubu Denies Involvement in Negative Report on Any Senator… Page 10

Justice Ademola to Resume Sitting as Court Clears Him, Wife of Corruption Allegations Alex Enumah in Abuja An Abuja High Court yesterday cleared the path for Justice Adeniyi Ademola of the Federal High Court, Abuja, to resume sitting, when it dismissed the 18 criminal charges filed by the federal government against him, his wife, Olabowale, and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mr. Joe Agi. The trial judge, Justice Jude Okeke also discharged and acquitted the three defendants Continued on page 10

A NEW ECONOMIC PLAN… WHAT PROMISE DOES IT HOLD?

L-R: Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma; Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo; President Muhammadu Buhari; Senate President Bukola Saraki; and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, during the formal launch of the four-year Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) at the council chamber of the Presidential Villa, Abuja… yesterday godwin omoigui

Buhari: ERGP Will Grow Economy as We Fight Corruption, Insecurity Omololu Ogunmade in Abuja After months of waiting, President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday finally

launched the four-year Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) in Abuja, declaring that his administration would

henceforth drive aggressive economic growth with the same zeal it has deployed to fight corruption and insecurity.

The plan, spanning the years 2017-2020, was launched by the president in the council chamber of the Presidential Villa ahead of

the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting.

He was joined at the launch by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo; the Senate

President, Bukola Saraki; Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Continued on page 49

Stop Inflammatory Statements, APC Warns Sagay…

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THURSDAY, april 6, 2017 • T H I S D AY

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Tinubu Denies Involvement in Negative Report on Any Senator Blames unnamed mischief makers for THISDAY report A former governor of Lagos State and leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Bola Tinubu has denied that he had acted in concert with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to wage media attacks against the Peoples Democratic Party’s Senate caucus in order to undermine the integrity of the senators and the institution of the Senate.

Tinubu, in a statement issued by his media office yesterday in response to THISDAY’s story on Sunday titled, ‘PDP Caucus Accuses Tinubu, EFCC of Conspiracy to Destroy Senate’, said the story was “an outright fabrication”.

Tinubu, who is not a

member of the PDP, stated that the PDP senators did not hold a special meeting to discuss him, adding that the senators had claimed “no such meeting was ever held and that they hold no special animus” towards him.

According to the statement signed by his media aide Mr. Tunde Rahman, “We are usually not in the position of agreement with PDP members.

But on this rare occasion, we have no contention with them.

“Asiwaju Tinubu is a former Senator. He has a special affection for the Senate as an institution. It is not within him to belittle the institution or members of that institution who happen to be in the

opposing political party.

“Moreover, his brand of politics does not lend itself to engaging in wanton character and personal attacks. There is the significant policy difference between our progressive school of thought and the often reactionary ideas of the PDP. “There are more than enough serious issues over which to grapple the PDP,” the statement said.

It added that Tinubu’s politics are driven by his policy views.

“He will gladly wrestle against the PDP on substantive political differences. But engage in personal attacks, rumormongering and mudslinging?

Never.

“We leave that for others.

The gutter is no place to build a better nation. We seek higher grounds.

“So that there is no confusion on the core issue here, we categorically deny any hand in any negative personal report on any senator,” the statement said.

Tinubu’s media office said the THISDAY publication was “motivated by venal political objectives that dare not come out of the shadows”.

“Those behind the report know they cannot show themselves for what they truly are. Their tactics are underhanded because their objectives are equally so. They lie because the awful objective

they seek cannot be gained by telling the truth.

“Some malefactors want to use the name of Asiwaju Tinubu to stir opposition in the Senate to the confirmation of Magu as EFCC chairman.

“By trying to paint Magu as Tinubu’s partner in mudslinging, the false story seeks to induce senators to oppose Magu as a way of thwarting Asiwaju Tinubu.

“The authors of this screed thus revealed their moral barrenness. The fight against corruption is a cardinal battle this nation must win or forever forego its greater destiny.

“Despite the importance of this matter, someone is trying to exalt his narrow personal

interests above the long-term interests of the nation.

“Someone so brazen and self-absorbed is a dangerous instrumentality when placed in a position of power.

“That person will undermine the very institutions of democracy to get his way.

In this very story, they have tried to break down both the Senate and the press in one swoop,” the statement added.

• Editor’s Note: We stand by our story, which we know was factual and has not been denied by any PDP senator. The socalled “political objectives that dare not come out of the shadows”, which Tinubu said motivated our story, are unknown to THISDAY.

reporter who covers the military had expressed dismay at his appearance, he explained that he had been sick but was on the road to recovery.

THISDAY investigations showed that when he killed himself, his aide had dropped his service pistol at home as was the norm, before departing for his own house.

It was the same pistol that the deceased allegedly used to fire at his chest before dying in a pool of his own blood in his two-bedroom apartment.

However, on Monday, the late Ikoli was said to have gone to work and showed no signs that he was suicidal.

In fact, sources said he had gone about his work for the day before complaining that he was not feeling too well and had to go home to take his medication.

A navy captain who spoke on the condition anonymity, said: “We were all at work on Monday when he told us that he was not feeling well and that he needed to go home to take his medication.

“Since we had other functions, I suggested that he goes to the FOC (Flag Officer Commanding) to take permission, which he did and left for his house with his naval aide.”

15 sitting of the court, maintained that there was no evidence to further sustain the case.

On the count of acceptance of gratification, the counsel had argued that the evidence of prosecution witness 16, Babatunde Adepoju, who is an operative of the DSS, had adequately proved otherwise.

Ikpeazu noted that he was the witness that carried out the investigation on the defendants, and he had told the court that he could not link the alleged gratification with any case handled by Justice Ademola.

In his argument, counsel to Mrs. Ademola, Chief Robert Clerk (SAN), also argued that his client was charged with conspiracy, an offence that was not recognised under the Penal Code.

On the statement that she fraudulently enriched the first defendant, the counsel expressed surprise that the word “conspiracy” was attached to a man who was alleged to have committed an offence.

He had argued that the prosecution should establish the case or cases for which the money was allegedly paid as inducement.

According to him, no single witness had testified to have given the amount as bribe, neither did any of them point to any monetary transfer from the accounts of second or third defendants to that of the first defendant.

Counsel to the third defendant (Agi), Jeph Ejinkonye, had urged also the court to take another look at the account of prosecution witnesses to see if there was

any need for his client to enter a defence.

Adepoju then admitted that it would be mere speculation to say that the gift given to the first defendant by President Muhammadu Buhari’s lawyer was a bribe.

Based on the above statement by him, Ejinkonye had urged the court to uphold the no case submission and strike out the case.

But the prosecution counsel, Segun Jegede, had opposed the no case submission, insisting that the defendants had a case to answer.

The counsel believed that the witnesses actually established a prima facie case that money was paid by the third defendant into the account of the second defendant in March 2015.

NAVY ADMIRAL, DANIEL IKOLI, FOUND DEAD AFTER SUSPECTED SUICIDE Their brief of the 13-man committee when it was commissioned in August 2015 by the National Security Adviser, Maj.-Gen. Babagana Monguno (rtd.) was to investigate the procurement of hardware and munitions in the Armed Forces between 2007 and 2015.

After the committee had submitted its third interim report to the presidency, which had indicted several former service chiefs and other retired and serving senior armed forces personnel, he alongside other serving members of the committee were promoted.

Buhari had given special promotions to them in recognition

of their high level of dedication, immense commitment and honesty while serving on the committee.

After the committee was disbanded in 2016, the late Ikoli had reported to the naval headquarters in Abuja to be debriefed and was redeployed to Lagos.

Before his appointment to the committee, he was the Commander of Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) Beecroft under the Western Naval Command (WNC) in Apapa, Lagos. After his appointment in Abuja, he was redeployed to the WNC but this time as the Fleet Commander.

Although it was impossible to

reach his family for comments on what might have led to his suspected suicide, sources said he might have taken his life either due to illness, the alleged assassination threats during his membership of the arms deal committee, or depression.

After concluding his job on the committee, the once charming, sociable and outgoing officer, according to naval sources, became a shadow of his former self and it even showed in his physical appearance, as he was said to have lost a lot of weight.

According to one source who spoke off the record, he became “withdrawn” and “seemingly

Ikoli depressed”. Indeed, on one occasion when a THISDAY

Continued on page 9

JUSTICE ADEMOLA TO RESUME SITTING AS COURT CLEARS HIM, WIFE OF CORRUPTION ALLEGATIONS on the grounds that the prosecution failed to establish a prima facie case against them.

Justice Ademola was one of seven judges whose residences were raided by the Department of State Services (DSS) last October on allegations of corruption.

He was arrested and subsequently charged to court by the federal government, compelling the National Judicial Council (NJC) to direct him and other judges with similar allegations against them to stop presiding over cases at their courts until they were cleared of the corruption charges.

Justice Okeke, in a ruling which spanned over two hours on a no case submission filed by the defendants, described the charges brought against them by the federal government as highly speculative and without an iota of merit.

The judge, who reviewed the 18-counts one after the other, said the conspiracy charge in count one was not established against Justice Ademola, his wife and the senior lawyer, who was charged along with the couple.

Contrary to the provision of the law, Justice Okeke said that the prosecution did not in any way prove the ingredients of conspiracy against the defendants, as it failed to establish where they met and conspired to commit any crime.

On the alleged N30 million gratification found in the account of Mrs. Olabowale Ademola which was said to have been donated by a group of lawyers during her daughter’s wedding, the judge said that

the prosecution failed woefully to establish that the donations by the lawyers were meant to influence cases before Justice Ademola, if at all there was any.

The judge said that a witness of the prosecution made it clear to the court that there was no evidence linking the donation for the marriage ceremony to influence any matter before the first defendant, hence the judge dismissed the charge on the grounds that the prosecution failed to discharge the burden of proof on it.

“From the evidence of prosecution witnesses eight and nine, it was made categorically clear that the prosecution did not prove that the N30 million was not a donation to the first and second defendants in the charge, hence the charge cannot be sustained.

“This court has no choice than to agree with the 16th prosecution witness that it would be speculative to view the N30 million as gratification,” the judge held.

The judge therefore dismissed counts three, four and five, which bordered on the receipt of gratification in the charge.

On the BMW car said to have been delivered to Ademide Ademola, son of Justice Ademola, the judge said that from the beginning to the end of the transaction that led to the delivery of the car, the prosecution did not establish any link to prove that Ademide Ademola negotiated in any way on behalf of the first defendant.

Justice Okeke further held that count nine was bereft of evidence against Justice Ademola because

there was no iota of evidence, both oral and written, that the vehicle in question was meant for the judge as all documentary evidence, including the invoice pointed to the fact that Ademide negotiated for the car and it was even delivered to him in his house, a fact not disputed by the prosecution.

On the foreign currencies found in the residence of Justice Ademola, Justice Okeke held that the prosecution failed to establish against the first defendant that he acquired the money through unlawful acts and that none of the prosecution witnesses who testified on the charge was able to prove that the money was acquired through fraudulent means as required by law.

The judge said that the charge had to be resolved in favour of the first defendant in view of the glaring inability of the prosecution to prove a prima facie case against the defendant.

Justice Okeke also resolved the charge on unlawful possession of firearms in favor of Justice Ademola on the same grounds of the failure by the prosecution to maintain the charge with any reliable evidence.

The judge also said that he believed the evidence provided

by Justice Ademola that the two guns found in his house belonged to him and another judge of the Federal High Court, A. R. Mohammed, having tendered before the court and without contradiction from the prosecution, the letters approving and releasing the two guns to them on different dates by the appropriate authority.

The judge said that he

disbelieved the claim of the prosecution that the two judges had no requisite licences to operate the guns, adding that the prosecution who had initially stood its ground that there were no licences, suddenly somersaulted when the licences were tendered by the defendants, noting that the allegation of the prosecution was changed completely to the fact that the licences were not tendered on time.

The court held that there was no evidence that the prosecution ever demanded that the defendants produce the licences and that when provided and admitted by the court, the allegation of the prosecution became empty.

Apart from tendering the letters of authority releasing the gun to him, Justice Ademola went a step further to tender the operational licence for the gun, hence the charge on the unlawful possession of firearms crumbled like the previous ones.

In all, Justice Okeke held that the prosecution failed to establish a prima facie case against the three defendants by failing to provide evidence to link them with the alleged offences and consequently dismissed the 18-count charges against the defendants, discharged and acquitted them from the alleged offenses.

A no case submission was made by the defendants after the prosecution had closed its case against them on February 21, stressing that there was no need to enter a defence.

Counsel to Justice Ademola, Onyechi Ikpeazu, at the March

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COMMENT

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

CULTIVATING PEACE IN THE LAKE CHAD BASIN There is need to strengthen the response to the challenges in the Lake Chad Basin, argues José Graziano Da Silva

I

n the two decades before 2015, West Africa made notable strides in reducing hunger, reducing the number of hungry people by more than 60 per cent, well ahead of its Millennium Development Goal pledge. Yet today in Nigeria – one of the region’s star performers in that period – we now see severe hunger increasingly quickly and widely in northeastern regions where civil conflict is uprooting people and preventing farmers from growing crops.

There is a growing risk that the impressive gains made recently will be reversed. We cannot let so much effort turn out to have been in vain.

I am visiting the region of the Lake Chad Basin at this very particular moment to raise awareness of just how urgently we must strengthen our response to the challenges there. So far, the inadequate attention and inadequate responses have only made those challenges bigger.

The Lake Chad Basin crisis (encompassing parts of Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger) is currently one of the largest humanitarian crises in the world, with 11 million people in need of assistance. Among them 6.9 million people are severely food insecure, as well as 2.5 million displaced, which is second largest displacement crisis in the world.

It is important to keep in mind that this crisis, while catalysed by conflict, is multidimensional and encompasses the security, humanitarian, climate change and economic issues that local populations in the Sahel region have long been facing.

The first priority is to support the affected countries in consolidating peace processes and, at the same time, responding to the humanitarian emergency. In Nigeria’s Borno State alone, the number of people facing crisis is expected to rise to 3.6 million by August, almost twice the level of a year earlier. Around northeast Nigeria, more than 5.2 million people will be in need of food assistance during the lean season. On top of that, 2.4 million people have fled their homes due to insecurity. Damage to agriculture – ranging from farmers’ access to their fields to vital infrastructure such as irrigation schemes, storage facilities and extension services – has been extensive in the affected areas of Nigeria, northern Cameroon, southeastern Niger and western Chad.

Many of these people have already sold their belongings, including seeds, tools and animals, to survive.

Immediate livelihood support can ensure that critical hunger needs are met in the short-term. But this is only the initial step to reverse the current trend toward the depletion of livelihoods and consequent human suffering in affected areas. The vicious cycle of destitution must be broken, and to this end we must ensure vulnerable populations have an opportunity to reap a substantial harvest and replenish their food stocks this year. Failure to restore food production now will lead to the worsening of widespread and severe hunger, and prolonged dependency on external assistance

WE NEED TO PROTECT THE ASSETS AND LIVELIHOOD SYSTEMS OF FARMERS AND PASTORALISTS NOT ONLY FOR TODAY, BUT FOR TOMORROW AND THE YEARS TO COME. AND THIS CALLS FOR LONGER-TERM RESILIENCE BUILDING

further into the future.

The time to act is now. Farmers need seeds in addition to food. One month ago the humanitarian community met in Oslo to pledge funds for the Lake Chad Basin. The planting season there starts in less than one month. Agriculture cannot be an afterthought. More than 80 per cent of people rely on farming, fishing and herding for their livelihoods.

The impressive gains of the past were achieved thanks to years of step-by-step agricultural development initiatives. We must ensure these are not wiped out by the current crisis.

We need to protect the assets and livelihood systems of farmers and pastoralists not only for today, but for tomorrow and the years to come.

And this calls for longer-term resilience building.

A holistic approach is needed to address both the current main drivers of hunger, which include limited food production, high food prices and displacements, as well as the structural causes of vulnerability in the area, including demographic growth and competition over scarce natural resources. The lack of access to basic social services – health, water, education – and to social protection, will inevitably jeopardise the lives of millions in a region that is highly vulnerable to shocks. Climate change in particular poses a menacing risk to an area exposed to droughts and floods.

FAO is enacting a three-year response strategy (2017 – 2019) to mitigate the impact of the crisis and bolster the resilience and food security of Lake Chad Basin communities affected by conflict. FAO will continue to support countries in the region collaborate with regional institutes such as the Permanent Interstate Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel (CILSS – le Comité Permanent Inter-Etats de Lutte contre la Sécheresse dans le Sahel) and humanitarian and development partners.

FAO is combining its emergency response – including seed provision - with medium-term programmatic priorities aimed at promoting viable livelihoods and diversification while reducing vulnerability and risk and working to prevent conflict. The resilience of rural livelihoods is key to making sustainable development a reality by ensuring that agriculture and food systems are productive and risk sensitive.

United Nations agencies are also joining efforts to maximise the impact of their interventions. Synergies are being achieved between the World Food Programme’s in-kind food and cash-based transfers designed to allow households to protect their seeds and FAO’s fasttracking of smallholder agricultural production through the provision of tools and fertilisers – and more seeds.

Da Silva is the Director-General, Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations

LIVING WITH DEATH IN NIGERIA

M

y pastor, Evaristus Azodoh, is a retired army colonel and a medical doctor; in fact, one of Nigeria’s foremost consultant urologists. His experience and exposure, quite naturally, reflect in his exhortations. So, when last Sunday morning, he asked us at the Workers Meeting to pray what he prefaced as a “medical heresy” but spiritually important prayer, it was obvious he was concerned by the seeming hopelessness of the situation. His prayer point was for a divine intervention on the prevalence of all manner of cancers that is now ravaging the country.

Less than 24 hours after that prayer, Dr Chidi Amuta posted on a small group to which I belong a short story in The Economist titled “Fuming mad: the war on diesel”, which reveals why major towns across Europe are now charging diesel drivers 50 per cent more to park their vehicles in the bid to discourage its use. “What if your major urban centres depend on millions of diesel generators for power?

No wonder there is this epidemic of all manner of cancers”, Dr Amuta wrote in a pithy comment, “Diesel is in fact less toxic in cars than from our millions of generators. Cars move around over wide open spaces. But the generators are fixed in place and have all of us trapped and poisoned for hours daily; so, the longer the hours on diesel generators, the worse for the trapped victims.”

In June 2012, the International Agency for Research on Cancer classified diesel exhaust in Group one in its ranking of carcinogenic substances because it emits a lot of nitrogen dioxides into the atmosphere. Indeed, diesel exhaust fumes have been scientifically proven as a major contributor to asthma, lung disease and heart attacks. And in most countries where supply of electricity is not dependent on diesel like it is in Nigeria, there are increasing regulations to reduce, if not eliminate, the use of it to power vehicles.

However, in Nigeria, no house or company is complete without a diesel-powered electricity generator meaning that we have practically imported

Olusegun Adeniyi argues the need to pay more attention to the environment death into our households by virtue of our inability to organise ourselves. Since everything must flow from up to bottom, electricity, like most other public utilities, have to be supplied by the federal government which, even at the best of times, is notoriously inefficient. That way, everybody is now their own power supplier; just like everybody supplies their own water and run their own security outfits. Even with all the private schools around, there is hardly any family that does not engage some form of home lessons for their children which means we are also running our own schools. The way we are going, everybody will soon begin to run their own hospitals. Aside the waste associated with this situation of grand systemic failure, there are far reaching implications for a society where virtually everyone is running their own government. The sad part of our approach to the hopeless power supply situation and the mismanagement of our oil and gas sector is that hardly any administration has thought about their linkage to public health issues, forgetting that the driving force of any economy is the wellbeing of the people.

Even as European and American cities prepare to use taxation to outlaw diesel engine vehicles, there has been no response from the Nigerian authorities on what to do about diesel automotive and generator pollution any time soon. In fact, the ability to afford a diesel generator has become a status symbol that separates the urban ‘wealthy’ from the mass of ordinary ‘I-better-pass-my-neighbour’ petrol engine generator owners. But the rich are poisoning themselves and everyone else because there is no one to protect all of us.

What worries is that our problems seem to be mounting without anybody responding to them. Just last Sunday, the United Nations estimates put our population at 190,594,019. We are breeding like rabbits without much thought of how we would take care of the people we are bringing into the world.

With Nigeria now accounting for 2.55 per cent of the world’s total population, comprising largely young people with the median age at 18, what future do we prepare for them?

Climate change, environment, a growing unproductive population, etc., are some of the problems that should challenge those in authorities but these hardly attract any meaningful attention in a milieu where our lawmakers are no better than clowns churning out home videos. Yet the dangers are there for all to see. For instance, Abuja has practically been on the boil for many weeks as a result of heat that defies even the most powerful of air-conditioners. And within a matter of weeks, we have lost hundreds of our citizens to meningitis, resulting essentially from heat waves in some northern states.

On Monday, the coordinator of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu said the outbreak which started in second week of December in Zamfara State has spread to 16 states. While an official of the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHDA) has estimated that we would require $1.1bn that is not there to purchase vaccine for the immunisation of 22 million persons in five states ravaged by the disease, Ihekweazu painted a gloomy picture of the situation: “The budget we have is like sending soldiers to the Northeast without guns.”

Ordinarily, there should be money for this kind of health emergency that originates from the environment given the constitutional provision for ecological fund. For instance, between a period of four years when oil price was high between 2011 and 2104, the sum of N245.7 billion accrued into the account based on two per cent deduction from the Federation Account, on a first line charge. While the fund is meant to provide “handy resources for amelioration of ecological problems such as soil erosion, flood, drought, desertification, oil spillage, general environmental pollution, storm, tornadoes, bush fire, crop pest, landslide, earthquakes, etc.”, there is hardly any evidence of that.

In 2012, a senate committee uncovered a litany of unwholesome practices in the application of the fund over a period of 10 years. For instance, in 2006, the former Governor of Plateau State, Mr. Joshua Dariye, disclosed that he diverted his state’s

N1.6 billion share of the ecological fund to the 2003 general elections campaign of the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party. From road construction to fighting food shortages to “treasury management”, the ecological fund has been deployed as a slush fund by every administration in our country.

That Nigerians still treat the environment with indifference accounts for why money constitutionally provided for such emergencies would be so cynically mismanaged; just as our country has become a dumping site for all manner of toxic wastes. A House of Representatives committee is currently investigating one of such cases in Koko, Delta State.

While some unscrupulous community leaders are believed to be aiding and abetting the criminal dumping of highly toxic and carcinogenic wastes in their town for money, nobody should expect anything to come out of the House probe. It is a familiar story in Nigeria.

About three years ago, trucks loaded with waste allegedly from the then just reactivated Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company (KRPC) dumped their contents in an open field in the neighbouring Rido community. “It was when the air became hot like pepper as if tear gas was released that we became apprehensive”, said a representative of the community, Salihu Yahaya. Few days later, many of the residents who had been to the dumpsite to pick items, started falling sick and dying.

Notwithstanding all the noise at the time, the House investigation came to naught.

It is unfortunate that we find it so convenient to condemn our citizens to avoidable calamities that governments elsewhere strive to protect their peoples from. But now that the issue of diesel is in the front burner, I hope it would set the authorities thinking of the dangers staring us in the face. But it remains baffling that on the bigger picture of environmental common sense, the attitude of most Nigerians and those who decide for us is a strange combination of ignorance and crass insensitivity fuelled often by primitive greed and outright stupidity.

May God protect us from ourselves!

Adeniyi is Chairman, THISDAY Editorial Board

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EDITORIAL NIGERIA AND THE SPECTRE OF CULTISM

T

The authorities could do more to curb the menace of cultism

he rate at which cult-related violence is spreading across the country should indeed worry those in authorities. There is hardly a day when some young men and women would not fall victims to this goring spectre of criminal violence. Last week, what was described as a battle for turf between two rival cults in Calabar, Cross River State capital, turned ugly when no fewer than eight persons were reportedly killed with scores of others injured.

The Cross River State Police Public Relations Officer, Ms Irene Ugbo, who claimed that one of the cult boys “managed to escape with gunshot wounds and has gone into hiding”, said the police anti-riot squad has been dispatched round the city to ensure peace. But it is not reassuring to hear from her that no arrest had been made. Unfortunately, that has become the story of cultism in Nigeria.

A few weeks ago, a pregnant woman and a student of a polytechnic in Abeokuta were killed when some youths suspected WHILE NO PLAUSIBLE to be members of a EXPLANATIONS HAVE secret cult invaded BEEN PROVIDED, MOST the Onikolobo area of PEOPLE BELIEVE THAT THE the town. Wieldiing FACT THAT THERE ARE NO dangerous weapons, CONVICTIONS FOR SUCH which included guns, cutlasses and CRIMES ENCOURAGE broken bottles, they MANY YOUNG PEOPLE unleashed terror on INTO IT the residents before the eventual intervention of officials of the Vigilante Services of Ogun State.

That cult wars and gang violence have exacerbated the climate of lawlessness and fear in the polity is no longer in doubt. What is more worrying is that the menace has become so widespread that armed robbers, drug peddlers and other sundry miscreants are now being recruited into the fold. In many states of the federation today, cultists of various stripes act with impunity, killing, raping and maiming victims while

Letters to the Editor

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causing widespread destruction. Yet the authorities seemed helpless in dealing with this crime.

For sure, cultism is not new in Nigeria. For years, several people have identified with one form of cultism or another either for personal/family protection or for the promotion and safeguard of certain interests. But today, cultism has become almost like a status symbol, especially on our campuses while members kill sometimes for reasons as flimsy as being snubbed by a student of the opposite sex.

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T H I S DAY

EDITOR IJEOMA NWOGWUGWU DEPUTY EDITORS BOLAJI ADEBIYI, JOSEPH USHIGIALE 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 DIRECTOR, PRINTING PRODUCTION CHUkS ONWUDINJO TO SEND EMAIL: first name.surname@thisdaylive.com

rom our school campuses to the streets, these criminal gangs operate without restraints. Two years ago, some prominent people in the society were among 67 suspected cultists arrested and quizzed in Benin City, the Edo State capital, by men of the special squad deployed in the state by the Police Inspector General to curb the growing killings and cult activities. In the days preceding the deployment of the police team, some criminals said to be members of ‘Eiye’, ‘Black Axe’, ‘Buccaneers’, ‘Aiye’ and ‘Jurist’ confraternities had unleashed hell on the streets of Benin. The body count was 22 dead.

Among those arrested for their alleged involvement in the mayhem were 14 Junior Secondary School students between the ages of 12 and 15.

The death toll from cult wars over the past few years is high. In June 2013 about 20 persons were killed due to a confrontation between members of the ‘Eiye Confraternity’ and ‘Black Axe’ over some financial issues. Earlier in January 2011, residents of Benin City were under siege during a similar violent clash between the same rival cult groups in what was described as a battle for supremacy. Over 26 suspects were killed during the fracas.

What is particularly disturbing is that the authorities seemed bewildered in tackling the endemic problems of cult wars. While no plausible explanations have been provided, most people believe that the fact that there are no convictions for such crimes encourage many young people into it. And as long as this persists, Nigerians may have to brace up for more gang violence.

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

LGBT AND THE CONSPIRACY OF 2004

onservative Nigerians were outraged when the wedding pictures of Nigeria’s most prominent LGBT activist and his partner emerged online in November last year. They screamed blue murder that they were a brazen affront to public decency and had the potential to corrupt the callow minds of the young who were highly vulnerable and impressionable.

The origin of this rage can be traced to the year 2004 when former President Olusegun Obasanjo boldly declared that there were no gays in Nigeria. Bisi Alimi must have taken this personal and used the widely viewed platform of the then television rave of the moment, New Dawn on Ten to become Nigeria’s first openly gay man.

The authorities were visibly outraged and began to censor subsequent editions of the show before it went off air.

In 2005, Bisi Alimi, Olumide Femi Makanjuola and some other members of the local LGBT community formed The Initiative For Equal Rights (TIERS) which has gone on to become Nigeria’s largest LGBT organisation.

In 2011, the Nigerian Senate under the then leadership of Senator David Mark was considering the same-sex marriage bill.

Four prominent Nigerians virulently opposed the bill. Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka criticised it and questioned the intellectual capacity of the senators by opining that they should go back to school as they were attempting to legislate on what two consenting adults did within their confines of their bedrooms. Ms.

Ayo Obe, a popular human rights lawyer and a former President of the Civil Liberties Organisation bared her fangs against it citing human rights violation concerns. Professor Kole Shettima of the John & Catherine Mac Arthur Foundation blasted the members of the highest law making body of the National Assembly. Chude Jideonwo, cofounder of Red Media Africa, organisers of the most popular youth awards ‘The Future Awards” wrote an article which he captioned ‘Why the anti-gay bill sickens me’ and placed it strategically on the Cable News Network (CNN). It is common knowledge that the CNN is the world’s largest media organisation that backs liberal causes from abortion to gay rights.

The senate must be commended for adhering to the maxim that while the minority has a say, the majority should have their way. In the public hearing of the bill, it gave room for the members of the LGBT community both at home and in the diaspora to freely express their opposition to it in the hallowed red chambers. Based on natural justice and good conscience coupled with the popular aspirations of the people based on their culture, mores, religion and values, the Senate criminalised same-sex marriage relations in 2012.

In 2014, the then President Goodluck Jonathan sealed the ‘nail on the coffin’ by giving his presidential assent to the highly contentious bill. Having lost in the legislature and presidency, the powerful gay lobby is aggressively using the media to achieve its sinister purpose of the depopulation of the African continent.

Chude Jideonwo founded the Enough is Enough group and had earlier worked as a scheduler for the New Dawn show anchored by

Funmi Iyanda. The group which touts itself as an advocacy group for good governance is now being run by Yemi Adamolekun, an American, LSE and Oxford trained activist. They organised a show ‘New Media and governance show’ last year in which they invited Bashir Ahmad, the personal assistant on new media to President Muhammadu Buhari, Sola Plumptre, a topshot at the highly regarded Alder consulting and Idris Okuneye a.k.a Bobrisky who prides himself as Africa’s first male barbie and cross dresser. The idea – with the use of body language was to get the three of them to speak as panelists to communicate a message to the Nigerian youths that it was perfectly okay to cross dress and even be gay.

Y Naija which is owned by Chude Jideonwo and Debola Williams organised an event in collaboration with The Initiative For Equal Rights where former Presidential Spokesman, Dr. Reuben Abati was invited to speak as a guest where he spoke glowingly of the LGBT agenda and the plea for gay rights to be radically advanced in the country. Jideonwo’s pro- gay views are well known. In an interview which he granted to Kadaria Ahmed who anchors Straight Talk Africa, he was quoted to have said ‘My belief in gay rights is deeply rooted.’

The government should not rejoice with the criminalisation of same -sex relations as the war has only just begun. The media is now the fall guy for the propagation of these destructive, radical views. It is high time the government paid close attention to this havoc that is being ruthlessly unleashed on the naive Nigerian and African youths.

Anthony Ademiluyi, Lagos

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T H I S D AY THURSDAY APRIL 6, 2017

USAID/Nigeria State-to-State Local Governance Project

IBB INTERNATIONAL GOLF & COUNTRY CLUB, ABUJA.

Crown Agents USA Seeking Senior Staff, Technical and Administrative Specialists Crown Agents USA, the U.S. incorporated subsidiary of Crown Agents, is an international development company with a presence in 40+ countries. We provide technical assistance service and support to US Government agencies and international organizations such as US Agency for International Development (USAID). Crown Agents USA is recruiting for senior staff including Chief of Party, Deputy Chief of Party, Senior Technical Specialists, and Administrative and Financial Management Specialists for the anticipated fiveyear, $25-50M USAID/State-to-State Local Governance Project located in Nigeria. The overall aim of the project is to increase the effectiveness, accountability, and transparency of selected state and local governments in Nigeria. All positions subject to successful project award.

Anticipated Technical Specialist Positions and Qualifications: Chief of Party: Master’s degree or higher in business administration, public administration, public policy, law or related field required; Minimum 10 years of relevant experience leading complex, large-value projects of $25 million or more; USAID Chief of Party experience highly preferred; Experience in public financial management, economic growth initiatives, local governance, policy reform, decentralization, and/or public private dialogue in Nigeria or a similar economic/political environment preferred; Relevant work experience in Nigeria or similar country context required; Fluency in English required Deputy Chief of Party: Bachelor’s degree required in economics, public administration field, or other related area, Master’s preferred; Minimum 10 years of project management experience for large budget development assistance projects; USAID experience strongly preferred; Nigeria experience preferred; Fluency in English required Public Financial Management Advisor: Bachelor’s degree required in public policy, economics, and/or finance, Master’s degree preferred; Minimum 10 years of experience in public financial management including budget development, and monitoring and evaluation; USAID and/or World Bank experience preferred; experience providing capacity building to federal government and/or state governments in Nigeria; Fluency in English required Budget Analyst: Bachelor’s degree required in public policy, economics, and/or finance, Master’s degree preferred; Minimum 7 years of experience in budget development for government entities; USAID and/or World Bank experience preferred; experience providing capacity building to federal government and/or state governments in Nigeria; Fluency in English required Senior Tax Advisor: Bachelor’s degree required in finance, economics, public policy, or related field, Master’s degree

preferred;10 years of experience in government revenue mobilization and/or budget development for Nigerian federal and/or state governments; USAID and/or World Bank experience preferred; Fluency in English required Procurement Advisor: Bachelor’s degree required in related field; Minimum 10 years of procurement related experience for government entities; USAID, World Bank, or other donor funded experience; USAID experience preferred; Fluency in English required Political Economy Analyst: Bachelor’s degree required in political science, public policy, or other related field; Minimum 7 years of experience working on conflict resolution and mitigation issues; Experience working with counterparts at the state government level and understanding of local governance issues related to public financial management, budgeting, and resource allocation; USAID or other donor funded projects focused on conflict resolution and governance strongly preferred; Fluency in English required Knowledge Management Advisor: Bachelor’s degree required in social sciences, communications, or related degree; Minimum 10 years of related experience working on governance projects for USAID or other donors; Understanding of best practices in knowledge management required; ability to develop project-wide systems and knowledge sharing platforms strongly preferred; Fluency in English required Additional Specialist Positions: Gender and Youth Specialists Communications Specialists Monitoring and Evaluation Specialists Finance Managers Grants/Subcontracts Managers Operations Managers Qualifications for all specialist positions: At least 7 years of professional experience relevant to the desired position Minimum of a Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field required Previous USAID project experience preferred Excellent written and oral communication skills Professional-level fluency in English To apply please send your CV and application materials to careers@crownagents.com. In the subject line indicate the project name and position title. Visit our website at www.crownagentsusa.com for more information about our company. No phone calls or faxes please.

NOTICE NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT THE 19TH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF THE CLUB WILL BE HELD IN THE CLUB HOUSE, BY 1.00PM ON SATURDAY, 29TH APRIL, 2017, FOR THE TRANSACTION OF THE FOLLOWING BUSINESSES:1.

2 3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

Reading and adoption of the Minutes of the 18 AGM held on Saturday, 30th April, 2016.

Matters Arising.

Reading and Adoption of the Captain's Report for the year 2016/2017 Reading and Adoption of the Auditor's report.

Reading and Adoption of the Club Accounts for the year 2016.

Reading and Adoption of the Club Budget for the year 2017.

Authorisation of the Board of Trustees to x the Auditor's remuneration.

Consideration of Motions (if any).

Any Other Business.

Dissolution of the 2016 Executive Committee.

Election of the 2017 Executive Committee. th

By order of the Executive Committee.

OYETOLA M. ATOYEBI, Esq. HON. SECRETARY 15/03/2017

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T H I S D AY • THURSDAY, APRIL 6, 2017

POLITICS

Group Politics Editor Tobi Soniyi Email tobi.soniyi@thisdaylive.com 08033146139 SMS ONLY

PERSONALITY INTERVIEW

Abdullahi: Disrespecting the N’Assembly Undermines Democracy FollowingallegationthattheAllProgressivesCongressisshieldingpoliticalofficeholderswhodisrespect the National Assembly, the party’s spokesman, Bolaji Abdullahi in an interview with Onyebuchi Ezigbo, said such persons will no longer enjoy the party’s backing. Excerpts:

W

a minister and I know at many occasions, PDP at the time, would invite us to come and brief the party on one policy or another. Who would dare say that ‘he didn’t tell the president and president hasn’t told us to go’ because if we are truly committed to our principal, to the man that appointed us and we know this is the party that he leads, our responsibility to him is to make his life easier, make his job easier by helping him to build a cordial relationship with the National Assembly, with the political party, with the judiciary. And when we do that as an appointee, we are helping our principal to breathe easier and do his job more effectively because in a democracy every single policy is political and has political ramification and if we are not able to manage the policy, then you would continue to have trouble and challenges at different levels. I don’t think any minister would say that, any minister who understands the circumstance in which he is operating and what I know is that the meeting was put on hold because it clashed with another schedule.

e heard that the party leadership held a meeting with the National Assembly caucus over the frosty relationship between the executive and members of the National Assembly. What is the outcome of that meeting?

Yes, we had a meeting with the APC caucus in the House of Representatives. We wanted to see the Senate first but that wasn’t possible because of other commitments that clashed with the meeting at hand. Yes, we met with the House of Representatives and mainly it was meant to be a consultation meeting to talk about the coming convention and the processes that need to happen that would lead us to the congresses that would hold in some states and local governments to fill some vacant positions and of course the NEC meeting. Of course, we also discussed the issue of the financing of the party and the need for members to be more responsive in paying their membership dues in that way the party will be able to run smoothly. It was generally a family meeting, the chairman spoke, the House of Representatives members spoke very frankly and we left the place with a renew determination to recommit ourselves to the party.

It has been alleged that it is the party that is protecting party men and government appointees like the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and the Controller General (CG() of the Nigerian Customs Services from answering summons from the Senate. How true is this?

Yes you are right the issue came up at the meeting with the House of Representatives.

Concerns were raised. They actually said it in specific terms as you have just expressed it.

They believe that the party has been shielding some executives of government who are also members of the party and that is why they are able to, in their own words; “disrespect the National Assembly.” Don’t forget the meeting we had was with the House of Representative and not the Senate but I think they felt equally affected by what is going on with the individuals you have mentioned but the assurance that we gave them is that the party will not do that.

The party will not support any member of the party, any appointed official of government to disrespect the National Assembly because we recognise that the National Assembly is the very meaning of our democracy. The difference between dictatorship and democracy is that you have a National Assembly. In the military rule, you have executive, you have judiciary the only institution you don’t have under the military rule is the National Assembly as it were or the House of Assembly in the state. So that is the very foundation of our democracy and we believe as a party that every single citizen regardless of what we feel about some action or inaction of that institution or some individuals in that institution or perception we have about some people in that institution, the most important thing is that, it is the very institution at the heart of our democracy and any form of denigration of that institution is like flirting with suicide.

So, as a political party we are not going to do that, we are not going to support anybody to disrespect our National Assembly and I believe that some of these issues that are coming up will very soon be resolved and as you have learnt early this week, the party said we are going to intervene on some of these issues and try to resolve them. I don’t think trying to intervene in a way to resolve the issues could be interpreted to mean that we are protecting some of these individuals that are involved.

We are not protecting anyone to disrespect the National Assembly, our desire will be to see that there is stability in the system and the polity

Abdullahi......wants political office holders to respect National Assembly

is not unnecessarily overheated by issues that can be resolved amicably.

What measures will your party take to broker peace and understanding between the executive and the legislature?

You are right! I agree with you that there are probably some times that we ought to have acted quicker than we tend to do but you also have to understand one thing: this was an issue essentially between two arms of government; the legislature and the executive and it isn’t strictly a political party matter. Don’t forget

We, as a party, believe that anybody that has any question to answer on issues that relate to corruption should answer those questions. Nobody has been convicted and if it is at the level of investigation and the level of asking questions about how people are treated and how money is utilized, I think the National Assembly has the right to do that.

that the National Assembly isn’t populated by only members of our party, there are also other parties that are represented in the National Assembly but we are in the majority and we believe that if we intervene we would be able to bring amicable resolution to the matter. We had hoped that the matter would be resolved amicably and that on both sides, people would be able to exercise good judgment and allow the matter to be resolved but when we realized that it wasn’t going to happen and it was generating to issues that would create circumstances that are not desirable, the party then decided that we needed to weigh in.

The meeting scheduled with the ministers was postponed at the last minute why?

Well I think it was postponed because there were conflicting schedules. The ministers told us that they had another meeting with the Vice President and that was why we had to postpone it hoping we would be able to pick another date soon.

One of the government appointees was alleged to have said that he would honour only invitation sent through the President. What is the party’s reaction to that?

Well I don’t have that kind of information that you just narrated. What I know is that the meeting was called off because it clashed with another meeting because, look, I doubt if any minister that is appointed on the platform of a party by the president who we know is the leader of our party would turn around to say that the party can’t invite him or her. I doubt that would happen because many of the ministers we have, even those that would want to be seen as political, are very experienced people and they know the roles political party plays in the effective function of the president. That is a party that produced the president. That is the party that provided that platform by which the president contested election and won and it was because the president contested election and won on the bases of that party that whoever was appointed a minister was appointed so I don’t think that a minister would say that kind of thing. I was

Already you have met with those in the party caucus of the House of Representatives, when are you planning to sit down with the Senators especially with regard to the issue of the CG of Customs Services?

You see mediating on this issue isn’t something that would be done in an open meeting with the National Assembly. It is something that would be between the leadership of the National Assembly and the CG of customs and whoever is involved. So it is something that we believe has to be dealt with at that level. We can only try our best, we can’t force anybody. We can’t force the CG of customs to do what he doesn’t want to do, we can’t force the Senate to change its attitude and move in a different direction. We can’t do that. We can only say, in the interest of our party and the interest of our country this is the way we think parties to this situation should behave and this is the direction we think we should all go, but individuals still have the right to hold on to their position if they want to but of course that isn’t going to be good for the party and the party wouldn’t support anything that would portray us as lawless, that would portray us as not having respect for democratic institution and I don’t think this party would support anybody to behave that way but if anybody is a member of this party he is expected to behave in way that edifies democracy and edifies our party. Yes, the matter has been taken to court but you know whoever took the matter to court can also be persuaded to take it out of court. It isn’t a criminal matter, so it can be resolved. That is the direction we intend to move as a party and we still believe it isn’t too late to intervene. It would have been better for people not to resolve to unnecessary legalism over this but it isn’t too late for us to intervene if the parties involved are willing to submit themselves to amicable resolution but if they are not then the party has to sit down and review this situation and ask if there are further responsibilities that it has in this regard or there are other options that the party should explore in bringing this matter to an amicable conclusion. Like the party chairman said yesterday that there are so much we are doing that did not portray us in the right manner and it is like we enjoy entertaining the public in the wrong way, so that has to stop. Some of these things that we do don’t portray our party in a good light as a ruling party and these are some of the issues that we are concerned about and we believe that we have to begin to put our house together and move forward in a more organised manner.

Apart from trying to resolve the issue with CONTINUED ON PAGE 19

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INTERVIEW

BishopMohammed:ShettimaHasDoneMoreforChristiansinBorno Bishop Naga Williams Mohammed is the Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria in Borno State. He spoke to journalists on how Christians suffered in the hands of Boko Haram terrorists and the efforts of the state governor, Kashim Shettima to help them rebuild their lives. Michael Olugbode was there and presents the excerpts:

B

ishop, we are surprised that your surname is Mohammed, how did this come into being?

Yes, in Southern Borno generally, it is common to see a family mixed up with both Muslims and Christians. My father was a Muslim and my mother was a dedicated Christian. We lived in the same house, ate the same food and shared the same culture. When it was Christmas, my Mum would give money to my Dad to buy whatever animal for us to slaughter. The same thing when it was time for Eid El Kabir (Sallah) Celebration, my Dad would buy a Ram for us to slaughter without discrimination.

You talked about the religious harmony in your family, how will you compare that with instances of religious suspicion all over Nigeria?

Waoh! In the past there was absolute tolerance to the extent that you don’t know this man’s religion and the other one, we all trusted the other person’s religion. In fact, in my mother’s house, she had a kettle which is called ‘Buta’ in Hausa. Muslims used to performe ablution. While growing up, I was raised to see muslims from a positive light. All I knew was that muslims were doing what they were supposed to do, and we christians did what we were supposed to do in terms of worship and coexistence in our communities. In Southern Borno where most of the christians in Borno State hail from, most of our families are inter-faith based, mixture of muslims and christians. I used to know a family where the father and his six children were christians, while his three wives were muslims and they lived peacefully.

Bishop, the number of christians in Borno State is large, but they still constitute a minority in the state, what has been the response of successive governments to challenges of insurgency faced by christians in Borno.

If you go back to recent history, our first major problem was in February 2006, when a Danish man whom I learnt was not even a christian, portrayed a picture of the prophet of Islam in a bad light. Unfortunately, there was protest here in Maiduguri and christians were at the receiving end. If I can recall, in 2006, they described behind the protests as miscreants, arsonists, hooligans, and bastards. I pity those who call them these names, because, these bad guys when they see an opportunity, they will take advantage of it. A total of 56 churches were razed down in Borno, and so many shops belonging to christians were destroyed and there was no compensation from the State Government then.

Are you saying that the then Governor, Ali Modu Sheriff didn’t release any funds for rebuilding and compensation for christians who suffered the attacks and lost lives, assets and means of livelihood?

Absolutely not! There was no compensation.

And I repeat, no compensation, nothing was given to christians except promises made by Sheriff. He promised to compensate christians for all those properties destroyed but he did not keep the promise. I was in a member of the high powered administrative committee as a representative of the christian community constituted by Sheriff. I think only N150,000 was given to each pastor whose entire church was destroyed. At a point, we compiled all

Bishop Mohammed.......Borno Christians grateful to Shettima

the destroyed properties including churches and submitted the report to the Borno State Government.

Bishop, if christians didn’t receive compensation from the Borno Government after the 2006 Danish cartoon crisis, one is tempted to wonder what the situation is under a more vicious Boko Haram

After, the initial N100m, Shettima graciously approved another N105 million for the 2nd phase of rebuilding destroyed churches. This was made possible when CAN officials led by my humble self had a meeting with him on 30th March, 2016 at the Government House. So far, the governor has released N210 million for reconstruction of our burnt churches

that has caused more havoc on communities that include christians.

My brothers, those who are not from Borno State may not know, but you and I know better. In the history of Borno State, there is no governor that has been fair to the christians community in this state as much as Governor Kashim Shettima. I am saying this in the presence of God Almighty and this is nothing but the truth. Shettima, in the history of Borno, is the only governor that has sponsored the highest number of christian pilgrims every year since 2011. I am speaking boldly without fear or favour because as CAN Chairman, I do not receive salary or kobo from the government or any institution, but the facts need to be told. This governor has shown compassion to the christian community. For example, when Gwoza people were driven from their ancestral homes, they fled to Maiduguri, and the governor personally came to CAN Centre in Jerusalem ward two times in June and July 2014. He gave N10 million for their upkeep at first instance, by then the victims were not many. By the end of October 2014, the Internally Displaced Peoples (IDPs) from Gwoza increased to 42,000 in that camp alone. Shettima came again and gave another N10 million. He also gave additional N5 million for christians from Borno who fled to Cameroon to enable them return home. He gave another N5 million for non-indigenes who fled to Cameroon to come back to Nigeria. The governor even directed the Borno State Emergency Management Agency, SEMA to supply food directly to the IDPs in the camps under the christian leadership.

In fact, the governor insisted that he wanted christian IDPs to stay together with their muslim counterparts in various designated IDP camps here in Maiduguri but we the leaders felt it was wise to separate christian IDPs to avoid frictions between displaced persons dealing with trauma.

You said about 56 churches were destroyed in 2006, how many of them have been rebuilt?

On the churches that were razed down, we

had a meeting with Shettima on how his administration can come in to assist in rebuilding some of them. Last year, when the governor visited Gwoza, Askira -Uba and Chibok Local Government Areas for an on-the-spot assessment of the destructions, he saw how some of these churches had become dilapidated, some burnt to ashes, in fact, some churches were not only razed down but graders were used to pull the structures to ground zero as if that church never existed there. Like in Gwoza, the report we received was that after some of the churches were demolished, the terrorists packed the whole debris and threw it far away from the premises. When Shettima visited these areas, he released N100 million for the rebuilding of some of these churches. A committee was set up for that purpose, I am a member of the committee headed by a permanent Secretary, Mr. Justus Zare as chairman, and I am happy to inform you that presently we have used that money to rebuild 11 key churches which our people are now using for their worship services. I am surprised when some people were saying why not rebuild all the churches, we cannot do that because there were so many places that are still unsafe for people to return, and you cannot expect us to go to the communities on the fringes of Sambisa Forest to start rebuilding destroyed churches, when the security situation has not improved. After, the initial N100m, Shettima graciously approved another N105 million for the 2nd phase of rebuilding destroyed churches.

This was made possible when CAN officials led by my humble self had a meeting with him on 30th March, 2016 at the Government House. So far, the governor has released N210 million for reconstruction of our burnt churches. He also approved the sponsorship of all our local pastors to participate in the 2017 Jerusalem Pilgrimage.

During the meeting, Shettima allocated land and approved Certificates of Occupancy (C of O) for church buildings in the state. This has never happened in the history of Borno since 1979. We are very grateful indeed. In fact, one of my neighbour who was a journalist died last year. He was a christian.

When the governor heard of it, he delegated some of his aides and gave the family the sum of N1 million for the burial. So also, when Archbishop Emmanuel Kana Mani died, the governor visited the family residence in Maiduguri and gave N10 million to the family, I was among those who welcomed him at the Bishop’s Court. He gave N5 million for the upkeep of his family, while the other N5 million was for the preparation of his funeral.

There was a time we complained to him to give us additional christian permanent secretaries, initially we had only one in the state, and he immediately approved additional three. As it is now, we have five in Borno civil service and we have to appreciate him, yes.

His government has given us the opportunity to even run a collective programme on television and radio; we work with the Jama’atul Nasril Islam to sensitize our people on peaceful coexistence. They trust us, we trust them. In fact, it may interest you to know that there was a time I was asked to say a christian prayer at a gathering where we were only three christians in the midst of many muslims. The government under Shettima is bringing harmony among religious leaders.

ABDULLAHI: DISRESPECTING THE N’ASSEMBLY UNDERMINES DEMOCRACY the custom CG what other effort is the party making as regards the face-off between the SGF and the Senate?

You see the issue of what you call the SGF and the Senate face-off is an issue that has to do, I believe, with the North East and some contracts that were awarded. Let me say clearly that the National Assembly has an oversight role to play, a constitutional role to play in some of this. We as a party, as I said earlier, will not welcome a situation where a

government official will behave in a way that would show lack of respect for a major organ of our government. We will not do it and if we do that it is like we are encouraging that kind of behaviour that impairs us and impairs our democracy. We won’t do that. Secondly, if it is any issue that has to do with corruption, our president’s major commitment is to fight corruption. That is one of the major cardinal pillars of his administration and what that means therefore is that anyone associated with this

administration must not only be above board but be seen to be above board. If anybody is believed to have done certain things that they weren’t supposed to have done even at the level of suspicion, I think the National Assembly has the right to investigate. You can bring in other factors and say ‘oh some things are also happening in the National Assembly’ but that is a different argument. We, as a party, believe that anybody that has any question to answer on issues that relate to corruption should answer

those questions. Nobody has been convicted and if it is at the level of investigation and the level of asking questions about how people are treated and how money is utilized, I think the National Assembly has the right to do that.

So we are not going to shield anybody and protect anybody.

NOTE: Interested readers should continue in the online edition on www.thisdaylive.com

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THURSDAY, APRIL 6, 2017 • T H I S D AY

FEATURES

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

Abuja: Easing the Plight of Workers The Federal Capital Development Authority is fixing the hassles of commuting by donating 25 large capacity buses in support of the staff bus scheme on different routes in the nation’s capital.

Olawale Ajimotokan reports

FCT Minister, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello (middle), cutting the tape to inaugurate 25 large capacity buses for the FCTA Staff Transit Scheme...recently

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buja, the capital city of Nigeria is reputed as one of the fastest growing cities in the world. By 2016 the population of the metropolis, created in 1976, was estimated at six million.

All of Nigeria’s government administrative institutions are based in Abuja. However, a major drawback for the authority is the failure to address the mass transit deficit confronting the city’s dwellers with public workers bearing much of the impact on a daily basis.

It is common knowledge that inefficient transport system makes several public workers impunctual at work because they reside in places and neighbouring states that are far from the city centre. Again getting back to their destinations after the day’s task also becomes a tug of war.

The workers’ plight is set to be complicated with the seasonal rains projected to make the landfall in a couple of weeks.

But the launch of the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCTA) Staff Bus Scheme by the FCT Minister Muhammad Musa Bello is a palliative that will alleviate the workers’ hardship through vehicular transportation to and fro the office.

The minister described the launch of the refurbished buses as momentous in the history of the administration.

"This bus scheme is very important to this administration because the welfare of staff remains topmost for increased productivity and quality service delivery to the residents of the territory. This will ease the transport burden on the workers.

And to make it more vibrant, we intend to collaborate with development partners by getting more buses and expanding the

scope of operation to cover staff of other MDAs across the FCT, " he said.

The FCTA Staff Bus Scheme was recommended by the implementation committee headed by the Director of Establishment and Training, Salihu Anwar Mohammed.

The committee was established to work out

This bus scheme is very important to this administration because the welfare of staff remains topmost for increased productivity and quality service delivery to the residents of the territory. This will ease the transport burden on the workers. And to make it more vibrant, we intend to collaborate with development partners by getting more buses and expanding the scope of operation to cover staff of other MDAs across the FCT

modality for a short and long term strategy on the operation of staff bus scheme.

According to Bello, the monetary value of the buses will be deducted as part of liquidation of FCTA loans to the Abuja Urban Mass Transport Company (AUMTCO).

He also stressed that in order to make the scheme vibrant the administration was considering the option of working with development partners in making more buses available as part of corporate social responsibility.

Though FCTA already has many existing red buses plying several routes in the city for its mass transit scheme, the minister said that the staff bus scheme was realised through the refurbishing of some of the serviceable buses from the existing fleet.

“The green buses are beautiful and hopefully this year, when the rainy season starts, it will be kind so that every where will be clean and nice. As for if they are they part of the existing fleet of buses or they are newly and freshly procured, what we did was that we looked at the existing buses within our fleet and made sure that those that were repairable were fixed and these are the ones we repaired, and as a matter of fact, when you go inside you will be amazed at how beautiful they are and even the air conditioning system is working. My appeal to the FCTA workers is to join hands in ensuring the buses are kept in highest condition of maintenance,’’ Bello charged.

Anwar Mohammed lauded the scheme, describing it as a morale booster that will reduce the transport stress of staff to offices and back home.

He added that the buses expected to ply 11 routes within FCT and contiguous states will guarantee punctuality to work.

He said that to ensure accountability, a system will be put in place for staff to purchase their tickets at designated banks while AUMTCO which has maintenance agreement with the manufacturers of the buses is expected to handle their maintenance.

But a member of the staff bus scheme committee, Comrade Titus Okoro, described the scheme as an initiative that will raise workers’ productivity and reduce number of hours waiting at the bus stops.

Okoro, who is the Chairman of the Joint Union Action Committee– a combination of 10 affiliate unions of Nigerian Labour Congress, (NLC) Trade Union Congress (TUC) and trade union centres- said the committee has mapped out all the routes to be covered by the bus service.

He said the committee has classified the bus routes into four for operational convenience. The routes include, Keffi, Airport Road, Kubwa and Bwari.

The Keffi axis comprises settlements like Mararaba, Nyanya, Masaka, One Man Village, New Karu, New Nyanya, Auta Balefi, Gidan Zakara up to Keffi in Nasarawa State.

The Airport Road axis has Lugbe, Sauka, Jibi, and all the settlements along the western corridor, terminating at Gwagwalada, while the third axis goes through Kubwa, Gwarimpa, Madala, Dei-Dei, Suleija through Kaduna Road.

The last route comprises Bwari, Dutse Alhaji, Ushafa axis with Bwari as the terminal.

He explained that the effect of the high cost of transport on the workers will be minimised in the short and long term as the transport fares will be subsidised.

The cheapest ticket on a one-way ride

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• T H I S D AY THURSDAY, APRIL 6, 2017

FEATURES

Some of the inaugurated FCTA 25 staff buses on display

from Area 11 to Mararaba will cost N100, while passengers disembarking at Keffi should expect to part with N250.

Okoro said that the bus was subsidised to make it affordable for FCTA workers, saying that the fares on every route is reasonable given the prevailing realities.

“The fact that it is FCTA Staff Bus Scheme means the priority is the staff. But it is not free, just that it is subsidised so that workers can afford the cost of one way bus ride. It is a fact the cost of transport to Keffi from Area 1, Berger or AYA is in the region of N200-N250, whereas if you are plying a commercial vehicle you will pay as much as N400. The remaining subsidy has been transferred to FCTA,’’ he said.

He added that the buses will be maintained from collected fares, stressing further that management will have to intervene if there arises a major issue.

Though the scheme is set in motion with 25 buses, Okoro disclosed that for the programme to be successful, requests were made for procurement of 10 more coaster buses.

According to him the committee expected the medium capacity buses to be bought last year, but that could not be realised because of issues with the 2016 budget.

“Let us look at 2017 and see if those procurements will be made. That means we

I feel great and happy that the bus scheme has been realised. Now the issue of workers reporting late to office will be addressed.

Workers should no longer give excuses for late coming to office because they have now been provided with designated buses and the bus-stops where to board the bus

L-R: FCT Minister, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello and FCT Permanent Secretary, Dr. Babatope Ajakaiye, at the event

Some of the buses on display

are adding 10 more buses to the existing fleet to bring the number to 35. Later we can consider the necessity of increasing the number,” Okoro said.

Okoro’s enthusiasm was shared by another member of the implementation

committee, John Okooboh, who declared that with the delivery of the project, the perennial issue of workers’ lateness to office will be sufficiently addressed.

“I feel great and happy that the bus scheme has been realised. Now the issue

of workers reporting late to office will be addressed. Workers should no longer give excuses for late coming to office because they have now been provided with designated buses and the bus-stops where to board the bus,’’ Okooboh said.

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IMAGES

L-R: National Vice- Chairman, South-West, All Progresives Congress (APC), Dr. Pius Akintelure, representing APC Chieftain, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu Ahemed; , National Secretary, National Committee of Buhari,Support Group (NCBSG), Otunba Biodun Ajiboye; and Senator Ajayi Boroface, during the South west Zonal Meeting of the group in LagosÖ recently YOMI AKINYELE

T H I S D AY • THURSDAY, APRIL 6, 2017

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

L-R: Chairman, Spirits and Wines Association of Nigeria (SWAN), Mr Sesan Sobowale; . Assistant Comptroller General (ACG) Zonal Co-coordinator, Zone ëAí Lagos, Nigeria Customs Service, Abueh Monday; Secretary, SWAN, Ms Mojisola Akpata and , Vice Chairman of SWAN, Olivier Fages during a courtesy visit to the ACGís office in Lagos...recently.

L-R; Segment Manager, Diamond Women, Oluyemi Olusoga; Product officer, BETA Proposition, Diamond Bank, Onyinke Achigbu; Founder, Amazing Amazon Initiative , Mercy Makinde; Special Guest, Patience Ozokwor and Head BETA Proposition, Diamond Bank, Njideka Nwabueze, at BETA Women Conference Sponsored by Diamond Bank Plc in Lagos,..recently SUNDAY ADIGUN

L-R: Member Endometriosis Support Group of Nigeria, (ESGN) Ms Bunmi Adeleye; MD/CEO Nordica Fertility and Founder ( ESGN), Dr. Abayomi Ajayi; President Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Dr (Mrs) Nike Akande and a member, Mr Onuora Molokwu, during the investiture of Dr Akande as the Matron of Endometriosis Support Group(ESGN in Lagos... recently.

L-R. De?puty Corps Marshal, Finance and Accounts,Dauda Biu; Deputy Corps Marshal, Administration and Human Resources, Chidi Nwachukwu; Representative of Chairman, Nigerian Road Safety Partnership, Olanrewaju Osho; Deputy Corps Marshal, Operations, Ojeme Ewhrudjakpor and Deputy Corps Marshal, Motor Vehicle Administration, Charles Theophilus, during the official presentation of safety items in readiness for Easter Patrol Operations in Abuja...recently

L-R: Executive Director, Princeton Schools, Dr. Dolapo Bankole; Specialist Teen Segment, Etisalat Nigeria, Oyindamola Ademosu; winner, Etisalat Cliqlite Tablet, Opeoluwa Abudu; Etisalat Brand Ambassador, Simisola Ogunleye and Principal, Princeton College, Mr. Silvester Obiakor, during a visit by the Brand Ambassador to Princeton Schools, in Surulere,

L-R: Regional Manager, South-East; Stanbic IBTC Bank, Mr. Victor Ekeocha; Chief Executive, Stanbic IBTC Bank, Dr. Demola Sogunle; School Captain, Government College Umuahia, Master Emeku Iheanyi; and Principal, Government College Umuahia, High-Chief Jerry Onyemachi, during the Financial Literacy Day celebration in Umuahia, Abia state...recently

L-R: Gospel Musician, Mr. Sammie Okposo; Gospel Musician, Gloereeyah Braimah; Cheif Executive Officer, eTranzact, Mr. Valentine Obi; Gospel Musician, Mr. Joe Praize,and another Gospel Musician Mr. Nathaniel Bassey,during the official media Launch of the Minstrels Platform powered by eTranzact in Lagos.... recently

T H I S D AY • THURSDAY, APRIL 6, 2017

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Group Business Editor ChikaAmanze-Nwachuku Email: chika.amanzenwachukwu@thisdaylive.com 08033294157, 08057161321

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Quick Takes

Etisalat Gets ISO Certification

As a proof of its commitment to excellence and global best practices, Etisalat, has been awarded the ISO 14001:2004 EMS international standards certification. The certification makes Etisalat the first telecommunication company in Nigeria to successfully implement the ISO 14001:2004 standard.

The certification, which was awarded to Etisalat Nigeria by Bureau Veritas, a global leader in testing, inspection and certification, is conferred on organisations that establish and run an environmental management system of the highest standards.

Managing Director, Bureau Veritas Nigeria, Sebastiano Fruciano, while presenting the certificate to the Chief Executive Officer, Etisalat Nigeria, Matthew Willsher, in Lagos, commended the telecoms company for surpassing the set standards for the industry.

“We wish to congratulate Etisalat Nigeria on achieving this great feat. We commend you for establishing and operating one of the best environmental management systems in the country, at least the best among telecommunications operators”, Fruciano said.

Willsher thanked Bureau Veritas for recognising the commitment of Etisalat Nigeria to sustainable development, environmental protection and strict compliance with existing regulations.

A WELL DESERVED HONOUR

The Executive Vice-Chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, Professor Umar Garba Danbatta (R) receiving the Plaque for Platinum Performance Level from Director-General of the Bureau for Public Service Reforms (BPSR), Dr. Joe Abah after the presentation of the final report for institutional work processes for government agencies in Abuja…recently

NITDA Takes Imminent Steps to Curb Foreign Software Imports Stories by Emma Okonji The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), the federal government agency responsible for implementation of Information Technology (IT) policy in the country, will soon announce measures to check importation of foreign software into the country.

Director General of NITDA, Dr. Isa Pantami, who announced the plan during the 2017 President Dinner, organised by the Institute of Software Practitioners of Nigeria (ISPON), said the move became necessary, in order to put an end to capital flight.

According to him, the

ICT government spends about $1 billion out of the $2.8 billion it spends annually on importation of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) goods and services.

He said the move would also protect and promote local content policy in the country, and help government to save money that could be used for capital projects in the country.

The almost $1 billon, which is about 4 per cent of the proposed 2017 annual budget, spend annually on software imports, could have been saved and used to promote and enhance locally developed software that will produce the same result as the

foreign software.

“We are committed to reverse this trend of uncontrolled inflow of foreign software to the detriment of our own local software.

We seek to identify, strengthen and promote our indigenous software as an alternative to the foreign software that currently dominated out ICT sector,” Pantami said.

Pantami, who was represented at the forum by the Director of Strategies, NITDA, Dr. Vincent Olatunji, said determined to achieve this feat, the NITDA was already working on the appropriate mechanism to review the country’s software policy in line with global trend and current realities in the country.

When completed, the reviewed software policy would be fully backed by law to defend and promote local content development, especially in the area of local software. The reviewed software policy would also empower the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP), to ensure that approvals would only be given for the importation of foreign software for which there are no viable local software alternatives, Pantami said.

The NITDA boss therefore challenged ISPON and all other stakeholders to join efforts with NITDA in playing active roles Continued on page 24

Report Reveals Biggest Online Threat to Financial Institutions Kaspersky Lab, a global cybersecurity company with intelligence and security expertise to detect online financial fraud, has published the results of its more than a year-long investigation into the activity of the latest virus called Lazarus, that caused the biggest financial fraud ever.

The report linked Lazarus to a notorious hacking group allegedly responsible for the theft of $81 million from the Central Bank of Bangladesh in 2016.

During the forensic analysis of artifacts left by the group in South-east Asia and European banks, Kaspersky Lab said it reached a deep understanding of what malicious tools the group uses and how it operates while attacking financial institutions, casinos, software

IT developers for investment companies and crypto-currency businesses around the world.

This knowledge has helped to interrupt at least two other operations which had one goal - to steal a large amount of money from financial institutions.

In Nigeria, there has been heavy financial theft amounting to billions of naira and the Central Bank of Nigeria, in collaboration with financial technology solution providers, has come up with new measures to address the ugly trend.

According to Kaspersky report, in February 2016, a group of hackers, unidentified at that time, attempted to steal $851 million, and managed to transfer $81 million from the Central Bank of Bangladesh.

This is considered to be one of the largest, most successful cyber hit ever.

Further investigation conducted by researchers from different information technology (IT) security companies including Kaspersky Lab revealed a high chance that the attacks were conducted by Lazarus – a notorious cyber espionage and sabotage group responsible for a series of regular and devastating attacks, and known for attacking manufacturing companies, media and financial institutions in at least 18 countries around the world since 2009.

Although several months of silence followed the Bangladesh attack, the Lazarus group was still active. They had been preparing for a new operation to steal money from other banks and, by the time

they were ready, they already had their foot in a financial institution in South East Asia.

After being interrupted by Kaspersky Lab products and the following investigation, they were set back for another few months, and later decided to change their operation by moving to Europe. But Europre, their attempts were interrupted

by Kaspersky Lab’s security software detections, as well as the quick incident response, forensic analysis, and reverse engineering with support from company’s top researchers, the report said.

Based on the results of the forensic analysis of these attacks, Kaspersky Lab researchers were able to reconstruct the modus operandi of the group, Continued on page 24

NGEX to Revive Local Languages

The concerns bordering on Nigerian languages dying have spurred the conception of NigeriaDictionary.Com, a social media network dedicated to promoting the usage of Nigerian languages, culture and nuances.

The new platform provides an interactive and easy-to-use platform where users can learn Nigerian Languages, culture and nuances in a fun and comfortable manner.

The promoters of the platform, NGEX, disclosed that the platform has kicked off with Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba and Pidgin English and will add other Nigerian languages in a few months time when experts at the languages have been brought on board.

Speaking during the launch in Lagos, Chief Executive Officer of NGEX, Obinna Amusiem disclosed that observed that as Nollywood and Nigerian music continue to expand beyond the borders of Nigeria they showcase Nigerian culture and languages worldwide, and this in turn drives more awareness and a growing interest from people around the world who want to understand more about Nigerian languages and culture thus the need for a platform like NigerianDictionary.Com. “The continued decline in usage of Nigerian Languages, by Nigerians at home and in the Diaspora, NGEX is maximising the opportunity to introduce a platform where people from around the world can interact with each other and in turn learn more about Nigeria and its culture.

China to Address Future Tech

China is launching an exceptional keynote program, where the Senior Vice President for Marketing, BSH Region Greater China, Christof Jaeger, will speak at the CE China conference slated for May 4, 2017 in China. He will be talking on the importance of innovation and the future of technology for Bosch and Siemens.

Christof Jaeger has been the Senior Vice President for Marketing, BSH Region Greater China since November 2016. He is responsible for the brand activities for Bosch HA, Siemens HA and Gaggenau, as well as the product strategy and digital business in Greater China. Jaeger joined BSH Home Appliances Group as a product manager in 1994. Since then, he has held various management positions in different countries, including South Africa and Turkey.

In 2006 he was appointed as BSH Managing Director for the sales region South East Asia and Pacific located in Singapore.

Bosch, Siemens, Huawei, HTC, Midea, and Gree are just a few of the international brands that take the opportunity to present their products and innovations at CE China. Even China’s largest retailers Suning, Alibaba, and Gome are among the official partners for 2017.

As an additional IFA event, CE China supplements and strengthens Berlin’s international portfolio with the Chinese market. In 2016, 150 exhibitors presented their newest products, innovations, and services on 15,000 square meters to 11,500 visitors from 43 countries. 450 journalists from more than 50 countries were welcomed at the premiere.

“In 2015 Rack Centre was the first African-based Data Centre to win in the Data Centre Dynamics, EMEA Awards and finalist in four different categories over three consecutive years”

Managing Director, Rack Centre Mr. Tunde Coker

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BUSINESSWORLD

NEWS

NITDA TAKES IMMINENT STEPS TO CURB FOREIGN SOFTWARE IMPORTS

Zinox Boss Backs Plan to Legalise E-Voting

in positioning the software policy as a major component for economic diversification.

President of ISPON, Mr. Olorogun James Emadoye, said; “Nigeria is ripe for a strategic legislation on software if we must change the tide that has turned us to a digital colony of the 21st century.” He said he was moved to meet with federal government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) to discuss the need for patronage of local software, when he saw the 2016 budget that had well over N15 billion provision for the acquisition of computer software. ISPON, according to him, believed that the enforcement on the use of locally developed software would create millions of jobs for Nigeria and set the county on the path of self-sufficiency in software.

Stories by Emma Okonji

REPORT REVEALS BIGGEST ONLINE THREAT TO FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS the report further said.

Analysing the initial compromise, the report revealed that a single system inside a bank was breached either with remotely accessible vulnerable code on a webserver or through a watering hole attack through an exploit planted on a benign website. Once such a site is visited, the victim’s (bank employee) computer gets malware, which brings additional components.

Subsequently the group spends days and weeks learning the network, and identifying valuable resources.

One such resource may be a backup server, where authentication information is stored, a mail server or the whole domain controller with keys to every “door” in the company, as well as servers storing or processing records of financial transactions.

Finally, they deploy special malware capable of bypassing the internal security features of financial software and issuing rogue transactions on behalf of the bank, the Kaspersky report revealed.

Group Business Editor

Chika Amanze-Nwachuku AgriBusiness/Industry Editor

Crusoe Osagie

Comms/e-Business Editor

Emma Okonji

Capital Market Editor

Goddy Egene

Senior Correspondent

Raheem Akingbolu (Advertising) Correspondents

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

Nume Ekeghe (Money Market) Nosa Alekhuogie (Maritme)

Last week’s amendment of the Electoral Act of 2010 by the Senate, to pave way to Legalise the use of smart card readers for electronic voting (e-voting), has received huge commendation from the Chairman of Zinox Group, Leo Stan Ekeh and other technology industry stakeholders.

Pleased with the amendment, Ekeh said it was apparently a justification of his position on the use of smart card readers for subsequent elections, which he made known to the lower chamber of the National Assembly members, few months ago.

Ekeh said his position was made known at a retreat organised by the House of Representatives Committee on Electoral and Political Parties Matter held on Friday, May 27th 2016 at the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja where he disclosed that with the rapid pace of technological advancements, “Nigeria stands to reap a lot of benefits from the deployment of e-voting, whose initiative will go a long way in reducing litigations and strengthening the faith of Nigerians in the electoral process.”

Ekeh said the success recorded with the use of smart card readers for the authentication of accredited voters in the 2015 general elections, was massive, hence he suggested in his paper that the law makers should Legalise e-voting, through the use of smart cards in subsequent elections.

President, Nigeria Computer Society (NCS), Prof. Adesola Aderounmu, also commended the Senate for the move, which he said was best for the Nigerian politics and

elections in the digital age.

The Senate also empowered the presiding officer at polling units to, in addition to the smart card reader, use any other technological device that may be prescribed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from time to time for the accreditation of voters to verify, confirm or authenticate the genuineness or otherwise of voters’ card.

The passage of the Bill for an Act to Amend the Electoral Act 2010 and for other related matters followed the consideration and adoption of the report of the Senate Committee on INEC. The bill, which passed its third reading, also stipulates that votes and recorded results must be transmitted electronically

directly from polling units in an encrypted and secured form. The amendment is also offering a solution to the ambiguity that may occur in the event a candidate dies after the commencement of elections and before the declaration of a winner by INEC, as was the case during the Kogi gubernatorial election.

According to Ekeh, he had as far back as May 2016, declared through a paper presentation that the time was ripe for Nigeria to deepen its democratic culture through the full deployment of electronic voting during elections.

In the paper titled - New thoughts, ideas and innovations on use of ICT in elections - Ekeh said “the gains recorded with the use

of the card readers in the 2015 general elections goes a long way to show that with the adoption of e-voting, the country will take a huge leap towards sound democratic governance.”

A country cannot move forward where the elected leaders who take decisions are not the choice of the people.

It’s like running a company and you are a shareholder in that company. If your son is not qualified to lead, you will be destroying that company by manipulating the system to favour that son. So, this was the essence of our submission to INEC on the adoption of electronic voting – that things should be done professionally, Ekeh said.

According to him, “Today,

there are about 774 local governments in the country and each one with about 10, 800 polling units, some of which are in the riverine areas. Even if INEC purchases 1000 vehicles, it will still find it difficult, logistics-wise to cover all the areas and this leaves the process open to manipulation by emergency contractors as INEC lacks the requisite man-power.”

With the card technology in place, voters will no longer have to travel back to their wards to cast their votes.

INEC can also monitor the entire process easily as each electronic voting device is equipped with a tracker and can be configured to shut down immediately voting ends, Ekeh said.

COURTESY CALL

L-R: Director General, Portharcourt Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture, Mr. Erasmus Chukunda; Director, External Affairs, ntel, Osondu Nwokoro; President of the Chambers, Dr. Emi Membere Otaji and Regional Head Sales, ntel, Blaise Okwara, when the telecoms company paid a courtesy call on the chamber in Port Harcourt...recently

‘Nigeria Needs Awareness, Commitment to PayPorte Suspends Payment Achieve Cashless Initiative’ On Delivery Intermarc Consulting, organisers of CardExpo, which has been at the forefront of driving financial inclusion in line with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) cashless initiative, has said that Nigeria needs greater awareness and commitment to fully achieve the cashless initiative.

The consulting firm noted that although cashless is gradually picking up across the country, Nigerians still need greater awareness drive and commitment of purpose to archive a great deal of cashless.

Project Manager at Intermarc Consulting, Davida ChibuikeAhuama, who assessed the growth rate of cashless policy in Nigeria since it was introduced by CBN in 2012, told THISDAY that the growth rate has been encouraging, as more people were beginning to adopt the cashless initiative.

She however said majority of Nigerians were still skeptical about cashless because of its associated risk of online theft and unauthorised transfer, but explained that the CBN needs to raise the awareness level and commitment of Nigerians to cashless, in order to bring on board, all Nigerians, including those in rural communities.

According to her, Intermarc Consulting has been creating

awareness for cashless initiative, through its CardExpo platform that has been ongoing, but have decided to extend the expo to cover all forms of digital payment systems, hence it is organising the DigitalPay Expo at the Eko Hotel and Suites from June 13 -15, designed to further raise the awareness of Nigerians on cashless, and to expose them to various digital payment systems that are currently making financial transactions a lot easier.

“We realised that people are moving from card to other electronic payment channels, occasioned by the cashless initiative of the CBN, and we felt there was need to highlight the importance of other electronic payment channels, other than the card, through the DigitalPay Expo,” Chibuike-Ahuama said.

We are expanding our exposition from just card to other electronic payment systems and we are targeting the digital natives, who are the millennials as well as the digital migrants, she said.

According to her, “the transition from cash to cashless is a gradual process and Nigeria is making significant progress in this whole idea of cashless policy.”

For several years, Nigeria

has remained a cash based economy that is dependent on physical cash for every financial transaction, but since the cashless policy was introduced, the mindset of Nigerians started changing from cash to cashless.

With more awareness creation, Nigerians will begin to see the need for cashless, since it comes with ease of transaction and reduces the risk of carrying cash, she said.

At the DigitalPay Expo, we will be educating Nigerians on cashless, through several financial technology experts that will be delivering papers at the conference.

We will also use the avenue to showcase the several digital payment channel options available and these solutions will be on display all through the duration of the DigitalPay Expo, she added.

The truth is that cashless has come to stay, despite its teething challenges in the areas of infrastructure and connectivity. Yes there are connectivity issues for now, but the financial technology experts and the technology solution providers are also working round the clock to ensure that they mitigate the challenges, Chibuike-Ahuama assured Nigerians.

Payporte.com, an online store and sponsor of the ongoing Big Brother Naija reality show, has announced the suspension of “Payment On Delivery”, as part of its payment options.

According to the online store, only online secured payments and bank transfers would be accepted as means of payment, going forward.

The online store said the decision was taken in a bid to serve customers better and to re-position its business for profitability. It said the company would refund any payment made within 48 hours of delivery of the purchased items, it the customer is unsatisfactory with the delivery.

The MD/CEO, PayPorte, Mr. Eyo Bassey said, the decision was in line with the new CBN cashless policy, increasing security challenges posed by Payment on Delivery option and improved customers satisfaction.

“We have suspended the Payment On Delivery option on our website with effect from today, April 3, 2017.

Our decision was necessitated by the increasing risk and security challenges posed by this payment option. Also, to reduce the amount of cash carried from one location to

another by our delivery staff” Bassey said “We encourage our customers to make use of our other secured electronic payment options such as online payment or bank transfer for payments. We believe this will also play an active role in the growth of e-commerce business in Nigeria, as well as give a new dimension to the business,” he added.

In line with the suspension, refunds for unsatisfied customers would now be processed within a maximum of 48 hours while only customers who have shopped on PayPorte for five times or more will be able access the POD option from the 10th April pending its total discontinuation.

Head of Operations, PayPorte, Boma Igah, said; “We understand the likely challenges which our customers may face as a result of the new policy. We have therefore put in place systems to handle refunds faster within a maximum of 48hours.

Customers who have shopped on PayPorte for five times or more will enjoy the Pay On Delivery Option from April 10, 2017, pending on its removal from our payment options.”

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BUSINESSWORLD

ANALYSIS

Raising Technology Convergence Platforms Emma Okonji examines the importance of technology convergence in the digital era

L-R: Senior Development Manager, Internet Society, Michuki Mwangi; CEO, Venture Garden Group, Bunmi Akinyemiju; CEO, MainOne, Funke Opeke, and Principal Group Manager, Microsoft Corporation, Robert Di Benedetto, during the Nerds Unite 2017, organised by MainOne in Lagos

As new technology solutions are emerging in a digitised global economy, the end users of the solutions are seeking new ways on how best these technologies could be converged on a single platform and still achieve the same results, instead of working in silos and attracting additional cost of deployment.

It was for this reason that MainOne Cable and Broadband Company, recently organised the Nerds Unite IT conference, regarded as Nigeria’s biggest customer event for networking and data centre professionals.

The 2017 edition witnessed a convergence of IT professionals in Lagos, from the United States of America, South Korea, Israel, South Africa and Kenya, to network and share ideas on the latest technology trends. The event also provided a platform for the company’s leading original equipment manufacturers (OEM) partners such as Microsoft, Cisco and SAP to showcase their futuristic innovations and solutions.

They all displayed how the technology solutions could be converged on a single platform in line with global technology evolution of the 21st century.

Focus on latest tech trends The one-day programme delivered a wealth of content on best practices in connectivity, cloud, managed security, and small and medium enterprise solutions. The programme also had leading experts from MainOne and its partners including Microsoft, Cisco, Radware, Signal Alliance, SAP, Huawei, and Samsung facilitate sessions to further enlighten the audience on these latest developments and technology trends.

Delivering the keynote address on the future of content in Africa, and the need

for convergence, the Regional Development Manager at the Internet Society (ISOC), Michuki Mwangi, emphasised the role of locally relevant content as the key to disruption and stimulating the demand for online services.

Mwangi shared ISOC’s 80/20 vision for the

The event also provided a platform for the company’s leading original equipment manufacturers (OEM) partners such as Microsoft, Cisco and SAP to showcase their futuristic innovations and solutions. They all displayed how the technology solutions could be converged on a single platform in line with global technology evolution in the 21st century

internet in Africa, stressing that by 2020, 80 per cent of the African Internet traffic must be locally accessible, while 20 per cent is international traffic.

According to him, this would significantly increase participation of local operators, improve local content, increase value for Africa, and expedite internet penetration on the continent.

Principal Group Manager at Microsoft, Roberto Di Bennedetto shared the company’s vision for a fully connected world enabled via cloud technology, describing it as a big shift from the traditional infrastructure-dependent IT approach.

He demonstrated Microsoft’s Hololens and Internet of Things (IoTs) with different examples of how such technologies could be applied in a mobile-first cloud world, in industries as varied as healthcare, technology, oil and gas, among others.

Disruptive technology Other highlights were the executive panel session where leading technology executives from Nigeria discussed how their companies were adopting disruptive solutions to grow their business. Speaking on disruption for customer businesses, Vice President at Konga, Adeyinka Aderombi said businesses need solutions to be optimised for mobile phones and highlighted his company’s use of progressive web apps which has improved the performance of their web site across devices and enables customer’s access content on the Konga marketplace without incurring heavy data costs.

According to him, mobile-first technologies are driven by cost-effective cloud and reliable connectivity, and these have enabled Konga’s work in app development and ePayment deployment in Nigeria.

Participants’ views Drawn from MainOne’s customer base, Nerds Unite participants were visibly excited to try out various product demos and engage the experts from MainOne and its partner companies on how they could apply these solutions to their business, in a converged platform.The Managing Developer Ecosystem, sub-Sahara Africa, Google, Aniedi Udobong, said the programme has remained West Africa’s flagship IT conference given its rich and stimulating content. On his part, Mwangi said he had been to many IT events across the continent and observed that Nerds Unite was easily the biggest IT event he had seen, sponsored by a single company. He remarked that the Nigerian Internet ecosystem was proving stronger than most on the continent and he was impressed with MainOne’s ability to gather such momentum in only a few years of existence MainOne’s initiative MainOne has continued to push the boundaries for IT professionals in Nigeria from its inception with a 7000km private submarine cable, which changed the face of the Internet in West Africa, to the opening of a Tier III data centre in 2015. The leadership the company provides in changing the technology landscape is providing the fuel for digital disruption in Nigeria. The Chief Executive Officer of MainOne, Ms. Funke Opeke, said the company would continue to build an arsenal of solutions to address the needs of business customers including internet connectivity, private line connectivity, data centre collocation services, cloud computing and managed security services.

“During the past year, the company turned its focus to the small business segment as well with its SME-in a-Box solution,” Opeke said.

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Kazaure: Our Passion is to Drive e-Governance Managing Director/Chief Executive, Galaxy Backbone, Mr. Yusuf Kazaure, spoke with Emma Okonji on how its recently acquired ISO 20000 certification would reposition the government agency to further deepen e-governance among MDAs. Excerpts: Galaxy Backbone has been at the forefront driving connectivity among Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of government.

How has this drive enhanced e-government strategy?

Yes, we are passionate about driving internet connectivity within government agencies and this has helped in enhancing e-government strategy of the federal government. When I became managing director of Galaxy Backbone in 2014, there was a lot of pressure on us to deliver the best of services to our customers and at that time, e-government penetration was low, but there was a growing awareness for e-governance. Then several government agencies were in need to upload their services online and interface with the public sector in such a way that the people could access their services online-realtime. At that time, a lot of government payment systems were moved online, including job recruitment among other services. There was also transition to Treasure Single Account (TSA) by the federal government within that period, precisely in 2015. So all these put a lot of pressure on Galaxy Backbone as a government agency that provides connectivity solutions to all government agencies.

Despite the growing demand as at that time, there was limited financial resources from government to drive the whole process as a result of the sharp drop in oil prices at the international market. The situation compelled Galaxy Backbone to revisit its service delivery system, and in the process, we realised that we needed to do things differently and we came up with an idea called Galaxy 2.0 strategy.

How has the Galaxy 2.0 strategy helped in achieving the goals of Galaxy Backbone?

The key elements of the strategy was to enable us create a resilience organisation that could address the wind of change. We wanted to create agility, innovation and entrenched cultural change within Galaxy Backbone, using the Galaxy 2.0 strategy. At the end of it we were able to adopt Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL), which is a standard for deploying information technology (IT) services in organisations.

The strategy, which we deployed, brought about tremendous change and growth in customer satisfaction and we decided to evaluate ourselves to measure our performances by undergoing the processes of the ISO 20000 certification, which is a service management system that enhances quality of service delivery.

So we benchmarked our performances with the ISO 20000 certification.

Galaxy Backbone, last week, was issued the ISO 20000 certificate it obtained from the British Standard Institute (BSI). What impact will the certification have on e-governance?

When I took over as managing director of Galaxy Backbone in 2014, the awareness and penetration levels of e-governance were low, the challenge then was lack of infrastructure.

So what we did was to first put the right infrastructure in place and ensured that the infrastructure delivered the right and quality service it was designed to deliver.

Having achieved the two steps, we went further to address the issue of the type of apps that will run on the infrastructure to drive e-governance, which is about digitising government data and processes and making them available to the public across the country, and we will continue to do that. So we built the data centre, the connectivity and the cloud that will allow all government agencies to host their data with the government cloud that is seated with GalaxyBackbone. So the issue of creating connectivity by government agencies does not arise any longer. The infrastructure is available for agencies to plug in. This was done to enable all government agencies achieve e-government strategy in a collaborative manner, as against working in silos.

How will you rate customer satisfaction

Kazaure

before the certification and what impact will the certification have on customers going forward?

Customer satisfaction as at 2014, when I became managing director of GalaxyBackbone, was not so high. But as the years run by, customer satisfaction started improving, based on the infrastructure we had already but in place. Last year, we decided to measure customer satisfaction and discovered that there was a six per cent increase in customer satisfaction, over what it used to be in 2014. What that means is that, there is improvement in customer satisfaction, based on what we were able to implement. So I will say that the ISO 20000 certification that we just received speaks volume of our readiness to improve further on customer satisfaction.

Customer satisfaction with government organisation is a complex one because we have to contend with different kinds of people that use our solution.

But customers are the ultimate winners in all instance and I say so because the service provider like Galaxy Backbone, has an obligation to provide services that will enhance customer satisfaction. So the ISO 20000 certification will spur us into doing more for the customers and the certification is a pointer to the fact that we are capable of delivering world standard technology services to our customers and our customers will in turn, enjoy the benefits of world-class services and solutions from us.

The Minister of Youth and Sports, Solomon Dalong, at the presentation of the ISO certificate, challenged IT solution providers to develop solution that will fully engage the Nigerian youths and make them self-reliant. What is your take on this?

The challenge thrown by the minister was apt and necessary because rapid development of a nation is hinged on the volume of technology solutions being utilised by the citizens, especially the youths. We need to deploy IT for national and international competitiveness. IT has caused a lot of disruptions and innovation that is driving economies and Nigeria should be able to encourage its youths and engage them with IT solutions. When the youths are fully engaged in IT through several training, they will maximise the power and tools of IT to develop themselves and the nation. The

youths need to be educated, especially in IT, and this can be done perfectly through e-learning.

ISO certifications are not new to GalaxyBackbone because it has attained several of such certifications in the past. Could you tell us what propelled GalaxyBackbone to seek ISO 20000 certification as additional certification?

Yes, ISO certifications are not new to us. Six years ago, GalaxyBackbone obtained the ISO 27001 certification, which is an information security management system certification. We had to enroll for that certification because of the role of GalaxyBackbone in servicing government agencies, using IT solutions. Three years later, we got recertification on the ISO 27001 and we are getting ready for another certification this quarter. After that, we have had other ISO certifications, but we needed to get the ISO 20000 certification as additional certification, because it deals with service management system, which the company was positioned for. It is about delivering service to customers in a sustained and world-class manner.

One thing is to get ISO certifications and another thing is to maintain the standard.

What are your plans to implement and sustain the standard of ISO 20000 in your business?

Like I said, we had other ISO certifications and we were able to earn recertification on them.

The way we had, over the years, consistently maintained the standard of such certifications, is the same way that we are promising Nigerians about the sustainability of the ISO 20000 certification standard.

What we do with certifications as soon as we earn them, is to entrench the values into the staff of GalaxyBackbone as our culture, and we back it up with frequent training.

What is the role of Digital Jewels Consulting in the ISO 20000 certification attained by Galaxy Backbone?

Digital Jewels is a consulting firm that specialises in delivering training for organisations. They also consult for companies in attaining ISO certifications. So we engaged their services in most of the training we had and we also used them to do mock audit before the actual audit by the British Standard Institute that offers the

ISO certifications.

The Deputy British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Harriet Thompson, who presented the ISO certificate to Galaxy Backbone, encouraged organisations to do more with technology certifications. What is your take on this?

Thompson was right on point because the demand for technology services is on the increase and as such, service delivery by government and organisations must change to conform with the high and sophisticated demands. Certain government departments may go into extinction if they do not adopt technology processes. So also, government agencies must use technology to deliver services, and enhance transparency.

Most businesses are now online and government is beginning to put out all its services online and interact with the public online, thereby reducing stress on the part of the people and making government digitally complaint.

ISO certifications are rigorous. So how long did it take Galaxy Backbone to achieve the ISO 20000 certification?

The most important thing about certification is that it is focused around the people. We need a cultural change in our organisation and we had to benchmark our services with ISO 20000 certification for validation, despite the rigorous training involved with ISO certification. So all the staff members of Galaxy Backbone were subjected to the rigorous training and it took us approximately 18 months to complete the entire processes, before sitting for the final examinations.

What will you say is your passion in driving the entire change in Galaxy Backbone?

My passion is about excellence. I have a passion for excellence and I am driving it with technology. I can be very patient to get the best done, but I can also be impatient when I see things deviating from the part of excellence. So my ultimate passion is to see Galaxy Backbone at the centre, in creating efficiency in governance among MDAs. I want to see Galaxy Backbone renewing government promises to its citizens and been able to deliver on its promises, using technology solutions.

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CBN, E-PPAN Step Up Cashless Awareness Campaign in Ondo Stories by Emma Okonji The Electronic Payment Providers Association of Nigeria (E-PPAN), in collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has commenced the new sensitisation initiative of the CBN to further deepen cashless initiative across the country.

The E-PPAN team recently took the cashless campaign to Ikare Akoko and Ode-Irele kingdom in Ondo State, where the team met with the royal persons as well as market women, businessmen and women as well as other people cutting across transporters, apprentices, students, among others.

The team engaged the rulers of the different communities, market leaders, traders, consumers’ trade association and influencers, among others, the sensitisation exercise on the cashless initiative, designed to create further awareness far and wide.

There was excitement and expression of relief by the traders at the grassroots, as they were reassured that

going cashless and reducing the heavy dependence on cash in their day-to-day business transactions would reduce the risks they have encountered in their businesses in the past.

Explaining the team’s sensitisation experiences in Ondo State, the Chief Executive Officer of E-PPAN, Mrs. Onajite Regha said the team commenced the grassroots sensitisation in the three senatorial districts of the state with an official visit to the CBN, Akure branch.

According to her, the purpose of the visit was to have an inhouse interaction with the local CBN branch in Akure while paying a courtesy visit to the branch controller.

She said the E-PPAN team in the company of the Shared Services Department of the CBN, Abuja, engaged the CBN Akure in an interactive dialogue session to intimate them on the activities of the cashless awareness campaign in Ondo and the ambassadorial role they will play after the team departs state.

Apart from the face-to-face interactions with the indigenes and residents of the state, the

E-PPAN team also deployed broadcast media in form of call-in programme to reach out to many people, educating them on the cashless policy.

“The E-PPAN team moved on to Ondo Garage in Akure,

which was a major motor park and one of the busiest motor parks in Akure to meet with the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) members,” Regha said.

She said the sensitisation

was successful, as the NURTW members expressed delight in the new system of payments.

“After the sensitisation at the NURTW, the team then had a road show from the garage through to the various markets

in Akure town. The road show terminated at Oja Oba market, the biggest market in Akure land. The market leaders and traders came out in mass to listen to the news on the cashless policy,” Regha said.

Firm Develops Business Accounting Software for MSME ProbityBooks.com has developed a business accounting software that will further improve efficiency and drive growth within the micro, medium, and small enterprises (MSME) business in Nigeria.

The co-founder of ProbityBooks.com, Mr. Olushola Ogunniyi, assured Nigerians that the company’s software would boost the business growth of MSMEs in Nigeria, since it a software as a service platform, ‘’SaaS’’, which a user can register for a 15-day trial account on ProbityBooks.com or can request a complementary demo presentation to be done on their premises.

The software is an all-in-one accounting solution designed to manage book keeping, invoicing and inventory for business owners that cannot afford hiring full-time accountants or as a complement to the roles of accountants and book keepers.

In a recent interview with the media in Lagos, Ogunniyi said that the biggest users of Probitybooks were business owners, who want an easyto-use tool to generate and send invoices, keep track of their business performance, update prices remotely and monitor their sales.

He assured Nigerians that business owners that use Probitybooks could enjoy a real-time, bird-eye view of their business metrics from a single dashboard as the software is a cloud-based solution. Ogunniyi noted that while ProbityBooks is designed as a cloud-based solution, the developers understand the possibilities of internet downtime at the locations of users.

To accommodate this peculiar challenge, ProbityBooks software is available as both cloud-based and self-hosted

solutions, he said, while advising that accountants and book keepers that work as consultants to MSMEs should encourage their clients to adopt ProbityBooks instead of paper-based solutions. He noted that this will enable organisations to automate their accounting and book keeping processes, thereby saving the company on endless manual tasks.

Speaking on the features of ProbityBooks, the Chief Technology Officer of the company, Adimula Tayo noted that the accounting solution was best suited for the need of most Nigerian businesses as it is built 100 per cent in Nigeria to solve local challenges.

One of such use cases is that business can run self-hosted and online versions of the software simultaneously and easily synchronise the data to the web real time as soon as internet access is restored.

He also added that the software was customised such that accountants and auditors could easily work with the exportable data to automate their job functions.

According to global trends, most businesses fail because of poor accounting or poor record keeping. Solutions like Probitybooks can be seen as a way for these businesses to overcome this challenge.

The business development manager of ProbityBooks, Ope Adelaja, said his experience with business accounting has helped to develop a truly innovative accounting solution for the market.

He recommended the software as the best tool for financial institutions like Bank of Industry (BoI) or any organisations that give out loans to use to monitor performance of their loans.

ISPON PRESIDENT DINNER

L-R: Managing Director, FinTrack, Bimbo Abioye; Director General, Delta State Innovative Hub, Chris Uwaje; President, Institute of Software Practitioners of Nigeria (ISPON), Olorogun James Emadoye and 2nd Vice President, ISPON, Chinenye Mba-Uzoukwu, during the 2017 ISPON President Dinner held in Lagos...recently

Group Launches Gospel Music App

Moov.com.ng, Cargo Bidding Platform Enters Nigeria

Ugo Aliogo

Moov.com.ng, a technology disruptive and pioneer online delivery service marketplace for cargo bidding, has launched in Nigeria.

The cargo bidding platform seeks to positively impact thousands of individual and corporate transportation organisations in the country and Africa as a whole.

The technology platform, which was launched by MoovNigeria, will simplify the tedious freight brokerage activities, bringing in the dynamic aspect of ‘freight bidding software’, sometimes referred to as ‘online truck load boards’ or ‘freight load boards and help customers or cargo owners to select choice delivery company from a pool of professionals that the platform will provide.

Aside instituting sanity in the industry, the solution will also assist users, especially operators solve ‘Origin and Destination (O&D) complexities, as cargo shipments are usually one-way, with operators losing revenue along the line.

Before now, O&D results in doubling the workload for cargo revenue management, since there is no return trip to count on, however, Moov. com.ng will ensure the synchronisation of multiple touch points, including flights, trucks, regulatory/security checks, varying loading and

ETranzact group has launched a gospel music application known as the Minstrel with a focus to improve the gospel industry in Nigeria and make the content exclusively available to all and sundry.

Disclosing this in Lagos at a media briefing, the Chief Executive Officer of ETranzact, Mr. Valentine Obi, said the application would be a worship lounge where subscribers would have access to exclusive music content and worshippers, adding that it is a platform that provides access to one-stop shop for all gospel music.

He also stated that the content and sales of music on the application is within the control of the Minstrels (artists), adding that this empowers the artists to determine the pricing and the distribution of their work and also curb the issue of piracy.

Obi stated that when a user subscribes to the application, it provides opportunity for the user to choose the minstrel he/she likes and download the ministrel’s songs, adding that it is criminal to download music without paying for it and the application provides a portal for the minstrels and the subscribers.

He added that the application would eliminate the use of conventional means

of music distribution, help to keep the music bought by any subscriber until when needed, stating that a subscriber can either buy a single or an album by paying through the subscriber’s bank account.

According to Obi, “The pricing of each song is dependent on each minstrel.

You can buy a single or an album. We have plans to do advertising. But we don’t want to clutter the application with advertisement.

The platform is available to all minstrels. As time goes on there will be events and plans to assist up and coming artists.

You cannot play the song without the application and for a subscriber to play the music, the subscriber needs to buy the song using his bank account and submitting of personal needs such as name, email address and others details in order to create a profile for the individual. The application provides opportunity for the subscriber to chat their favourite minstrel, share songs amongst friends and family members, and create a playlist.”

One of the gospel artists present at the event, Nathaniel Bassey, commended the group for introducing the application, adding that it will promote innovation, growth of the industry and improve the gospel music video content in the country.

handling requirements, and special services which must all be factored into cargo management to make correct decisions, meet customer agreements, and generate profits.

The Founder and Country Manager, Moov Nigeria, Mr. Larry Chinekezi, said: “We are excited to announce the launch of MoovNigeria, a purely Internet logistics service organisation to the general public.

The www.moov.com.ng online platform, connects shipping users to carefully verified vehicle owner-drivers or delivery companies who have the expertise and capability to pick up and deliver securely any parcel or cargo from the home or office to desired destinations throughout the 36 states of Nigeria.”

Chinekezi noted that the innovative platform tends to entrench the era of reliable delivery service, adding that lack of trust has been the bane of courier/logistics industry in the country.

“Today, most customers seem to have lost confidence in the delivery service, because whether you choose to use the transporters, courier company or person-to-person delivery, they all have issues and limitations, particularly with pilfering, dumping of mails or damages,” he said.

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ANALYSIS

As Sarah Alade Bows Out The Deputy Govenor, Economic Policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Dr. Sarah Alade recently retired from the bank, after 23 years of service. Ndubuisi Francis profiles her sojourn at the central bank It was the legendary writer, William Shakespeare who wrote in that classic, Julius Caesar that “When beggars die, there are no comets seen. But the heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes.”

The inference to be drawn from Shakespeare’s words here is not about death, but celebration of performance.

Many retire from their callings on daily basis, after decades of meritorious service, both in the private and public sectors but not many get celebrated. Not even a whimper is heard about their service. Not many are drums rolled out for.

But for Dr. Sarah Omotunde Alade, the immediate-past Deputy Governor, Economic Policy, Central Bank of Nigeria, who retired on Wednesday, March 22, 2017, even the comets blazed forth for her in retirement.

The banquet hall of the Sheraton Hotel and Towers, Abuja witnessed a rare throng of personages. No fewer than three cabinet ministers; the CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele; eggheads of multilateral financial institutions, including the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), and African Development Bank (AfDB), among others were there on their numbers. The West African Institute for Financial and Economic Management (WAIFEM) was also not left out just as Alade’s immediate constituency--the CBN made a strong statement with their intimidating presence from every strata.

The send-forth party was held on the night of the same day CBN’s Monetary Committee (MPC) unveiled the latest policy rates. Alade Alade had actively partcipated in the two-day MPC meetings, which turned out to be her last Alade, who once served as the acting before retirement.

Governor of the bank following the suspension The valedictory event took place on the of the former CBN Governor and the current eve of her retirement, which was March 22. Emir of Kano, said she had one regret.

The well-decorated hall of the hotel was “Throughout my period at the bank, I have filled to the brim with Alade’s professional one slight regret and that’s during the period colleagues, friends, well-wishers, relatives I was acting governor. It was the time that the and acquaintances.

CBN was being investigated. It never happened Also in attendance were no fewer than before that the activity of the CBN is under three ministers, including the Minister of investigation. “We went for the IMF meetings Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun; Minister of and when we met with investors, they asked Budget and National Planning, Senator Udoma us `what is happening? We understand that Udo Udoma and the Minister of Trade and there was some financial mismanagement in Investment, Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah the CBN’. It was humiliating.

Sumptuous meals and good drinks were “I think for me, that was a low point. The there to the bargain. Cultural dancers were credibility of this institution was eroded. “For also on hand to spice up the event. an institution this important to be subjected to The entire package was put together and that, is bad. At the end of the day, it was not funded by Alade’s colleagues in the bank, just CBN that suffered for it but the economy specifically the Economic Policy Directorate, as a whole did suffer. “So I want to encourage as a parting token to someone who impacted us that whatever we need to do, let us do it not only individuals, but the corporate milieu right. We must not subject this institution to for over two decades. that type of incident again,’’ she said.

It was a night of accolades; a harvest of Sanusi was on February 20, 2014 suspended speeches. Not a few paid glowing tributes to her professionalism, intellect and humanness.

The CBN Governor, Emefiele, in his tribute, congratulated Alade, noting that although the occasion was one that should elicit joy, it was not an entirely happy one for the CBN family because her presence would be missed.

He described Alade as “a friend, colleague and a woman of extreme virtue” who has done very well not only in her professional but private life.

Emefiele said Alade represented a good advertisement copy for the female gender and did a good job giving the womenfolk an excellent representation at the CBN. He affirmed that he had an excellent working relationship with Alade, and applauded her for 23 years of meritorious service.

According to Emefiele, she was retiring from the bank in tandem with the enabling law of the CBN which pegs the tenure of the governor and deputy governors at two terms of five years each.

Also in her remarks, the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, described her as a quintessential professional, a consummate banker and one of the brilliant and inspiring Nigerian women in the finance sector.

In her remarks, Alade urged Governor of the apex bank to uphold its credibility.

But for Dr. Sarah Omotunde Alade, the immediate-past Deputy Governor, Economic Policy, Central Bank of Nigeria, who retired on Wednesday, March 22, 2017, even the comets blazed forth for her in retirement.

The banquet hall of the Sheraton Hotel and Towers, Abuja witnessed a rare throng of personages

by former President Goodluck Jonathan over allegations bordering on financial recklessness and official misconduct.

The suspension came on the heels after of Sanusi’s claimed that over $49 billion and later $20 billion was missing from Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, as oil revenue.

Relating her experience then as acting governor of the apex bank, Alade explained that the investigation paralysed activities at the bank. “I remember that during that period, I was reminded every morning that we have four governors-- the suspended governor, the governor in waiting, the acting governor and the investigating governor. “I remember that the investigating governor told us that there should be no initiative, no payments, no decision-making, nothing. The only thing we could do was to just maintain the bank.

“So, the bank was sort of paralysed. We could not do anything. For me, it was a humiliating experience, but we did the best we could,’’ she said. The icing on the cake of her illustrious career came on February 20, 2014 when she was appointed Acting CBN Governor, following the suspension of the former CBN Governor, Lamido Sanusi, who is now the Emir of Kano.

She also served as Deputy Governor, Economic Policy, from March 26, 2007. Alade also served on the teams on major economic policy studies and was involved in the preparation of CBN’s Monetary and Credit Policy Proposals over the years. She was actively involved in the drafting of the Medium Term Economic Programme for Nigeria and the IMF Staff Monitored Programme/Standby Arrangement. She was also member of the Technical Committee of the Vision 2010 and currently a member of the Technical Committee of Vision 2020 and the National Economic Management Team. As Deputy Governor, Economic Policy, Alade superintended over the Economic Policy Directorate, comprising the Research, Monetary Policy, Trade and Exchange, Statistics Departments and Financial Markets Department.

As Chair of the Monetary Policy Implementation Committee, she interfaced with operational departments and coordinated technical inputs for the Monetary Policy Committee.

Sarah Omotunde Alade attended the University of Ife, Ile-Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) where she bagged a

B.Sc (Hons) degree in Economics in 1976.

She also obtained an M.Comm degree at the University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia in 1983 and a Ph.D Management Science (Operations Research), from the University of Ilorin in 1991.

Alade commenced her working career in 1977 with the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, Ilorin, Kwara State.

In 1991, she joined the University of Ilorin as a lecturer in the Department of Accounting and Finance. She joined the Central Bank of Nigeria in 1993 as an Assistant Director in the Research Department where she served as Head, State Government Finance Office (1993-1996); Head, Federal Government Finance Office (1996-2000) and Head, Fiscal Analysis Division (2000-2004).

Alade also served on the teams on major economic policy studies, and has been involved in the preparation of CBN’s Monetary and Credit Policy Proposals over the years.

She was actively involved in the drafting of the Medium Term Economic Programme (MTP) for Nigeria and the IMF staff Monitored Programme/Standby Arrangement.

Alade was appointed Director, Banking Operations Department in May 2004. In that capacity, she served as Chairman Board of Directors, Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) as well as Secretary, National Payments System Committee (NPSC).

She was a member of the Technical committee of the Vision 2010 and a member of the Technical Committee of Vision 2020 and member of the National Economic Management Team (EMT). As Deputy Governor, Economic Policy, she superintended over the Economic Policy Directorate, comprising the Research, Monetary Policy, Trade and Exchange, Statistics Departments and Financial Markets Department.

As Chair of the Monetary Policy Implementation Committee (MPIC), she interfaced with operational departments and coordinated technical inputs for the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC).

Alade, who is a member of the Nigerian Economic Society (NES), has several publications to her credit and is currently carrying out research into Interest Rate Policy and Monetary Policy Implementation in Nigeria.

Alade is a Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Operational Research. She is married with children.

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PERSPECTIVE

Oilserv Group: Restructuring in the evolving Oil & Gas sector

In this article, Sunday Ikwuagwu posits that the engineering, procurement and construction industry has played a major role in the development and advancement of the oil and gas sector in Nigeria

Installation of heating ring in readiness for thermal activation of the pipe end prior to butt welding operation

The introduction of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development policy by the Federal Government of Nigeria was aimed at encouraging the participation of indigenous companies in the industry, which will not only generate an increase in oil and gas production and contribute to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product, but will also lead to the engagement and employment of Nigerians, who may have been hitherto, unemployed.

Since its inception in 1992, leading Nigerian EPCIC (Pipeline and Facilities) company, Oilserv Group, which commenced its operations in 1995, has been in the fore-front of promoting and developing local content and human capacity in the Nigerian Oil and Gas sector thereby, contributing to the development of the Nigerian economy.

The company whose operations span through Swamp, Land and Offshore locations has earned a reputation for quality, safety and on-time delivery of all its projects.

It has up-to-date Pipeline and Facility Repair and Rehabilitation techniques and more effective contingency plans to react to major and minor pipeline damages, including the associated metering facility.

Oilserve Group has executed and completed major projects in Nigeria including the National Integrated Power Project (LOT 1 & 2), Construction, Installation and Commissioning of 51.4km X 12-inch Oil Pipeline System for Umugini Asset Company, Oron Gas Transmission Pipeline System, Akute Independent Power Project for OANDO Gas and Power (GASLINK), Upgrade of Ikeja Gas Metering Station for Nigeria Gas Company (NGC) and Pipeline and Facility rehabilitation services for Shell Development Company.

Other projects are 128km x 18-inch SouthSouth Gas Transmission Pipeline System for Oando Gas and Power (East Horizon Gas Limited), 27km x 12 inch Gas Transmission Pipeline System for Geometric Power Limited, just to mention a few.

The company’s determination to give new definition to the Nigerian Content Law and

expansion into other African countries has not only helped in placing it ahead of its contemporaries, but has also provided reasons for it to enhance its resource base in order to compete positively with the multinationals.

With state-of-the-art equipment and facilities, Oilserv Group provides the most reliable, sound and adequately engineered solutions to technical problems.

Okwuosa

Since its inception in 1992, leading Nigerian EPCIC (Pipeline and Facilities) company, Oilserv Group, which commenced its operations in 1995, has been in the forefront of promoting and developing local content and human capacity in the Nigerian Oil and Gas sector thereby, contributing to the development of the Nigerian economy

In order to align with the ever evolving and challenging oil and gas sector, Oilserv has commenced a restructuring of its entire business operations to enable it deliver more optimal and effective services in the Oil and Gas (Pipelines and Facility) sector.

Under the new restructuring programme, Oilserv merges all its subsidiaries including Frazimex Engineering Limited, FrazPower Limited, FrazOil Limited, Ekcel Farms Limited and Crown Energy Limited to form the Oilserv Group.

The company has also appointed Adegbite Falade as its Group Chief Operating Officer (GCOO), who oversees the day-to-day running of the Group.

Prior to joining the Oilserv Group, Adegbite had worked for both Shell and Oando companies in various management roles across the Energy value chain.

He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical & Electronic Engineering from the University of Ibadan, and a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Warwick Business School.

A spate of other appointments within the Group included that of Chris Okonkwo, formerly Chief Operating Officer for Oilserv

Ltd, who has assumed the role of Group Chief Finance Officer (GCFO), Chigozie Obi as Group Head - Technical Services, Cheta Okwuosa as Group Head - Operations Support, Richie Nwobike as Head, Commercial and Business Development and Sunday Ikwuagwu, as the Public and External Relations Coordinator.

The Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO), Engr. Emeka Okwuosa said the restructuring programme was necessitated by the need to re-position the company for superior quality and optimal service in the face of the evolving Oil and Gas sector.

“Oilserv has evolved into a formidable EPCIC company in the oil and gas EPC industry.

The company has continued to optimize its growth using its resources as well as through alliances and joint ventures with International companies in specific areas of the industry”, he said.

“We are able to offer our services beyond Nigeria, especially in the Republic of Benin, Uganda, Tanzania and Togo”, Okwuosa enthused.

He added that “Oilserv is undergoing a restructuring programme to enable it provide more optimum service delivery in the EPC business in Nigeria. Now we have a team of extremely experienced professionals with proven technical ability to drive the Oilserv business operations”.

Oilserv has contributed immensely to the development and advancement of pipelines and facility management in Nigeria, having executed various long and short term projects within and outside the country.

The company which is currently working on the biggest pipeline in Nigeria, a 136km X 48 inch gas transmission pipeline from Delta to Edo State has performed various turnkey projects relating to Platforms, Production facilities and the installation of Bulklines.

Oilserv is ISO 9001:2008 certified, fully compliant to the Nigerian Content Policies and Directives and also compliant to OHSAS 18001, ISO 14001 and ISO 260000 (Corporate Social Responsibility).

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DEVELOPMENT

Kaduna: Linking Investment Drive to Devt John Shiklam writes on the second edition of the Kaduna Investment and Economic Submit which kicked off on April 5, noting that it is the pathway that can lift the state to a higher economic pedestal

B

etween April 5 and April 6, the Kaduna state government, in a summit, is billed to showcase investment and business opportunities that abound in the state to both local and foreign investors.

The occasion is the second edition of the Kaduna Economic and Investment summit, tagged KADINVEST 2.0.

The maiden edition of the summit which was co-hosted by the Nigerian Investment Promotion Council (NIPC) and the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) held in April, 2016.

Focal Point The summit, which was conceived in 2016, according to the Executive Secretary of Kaduna Investment Promotion Agency (KADIPA), Alhaji Gambo Hamza, is to open Kaduna for business and investment by bringing together the world’s savviest investors to explore the great potentials that abound in the state.

In particular, the summit seeks to broadcast the State’s investment promotion messages to potential investors; to lift the profile of Kaduna State’s economy within the international community; to highlight opportunities for investment, joint ventures and trade in the state; to target investors both locally and globally and engage them for short term, medium term and long term investment partnerships with priority in different investment sectors.

These include transportation, housing, power (renewable energy) Information and Communication Technology (ICT), hospitality and tourism, agriculture, agro-allied, Waste to Wealth, manufacturing and solid minerals/mining.

Pioneer Edition The 2016 maiden edition was attended by prominent personalities within and outside the corporate world, foreign and local investors, among them Chairman, Flour Mills of Nigeria, John Coumantaros; Country Head of Olam Nigeria, Mukul Makur; Opeyemi Awoyemi of Jobberman; Audu Maikori of Chocolate City; Uche Orji of the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) and Eme Essien of the International Finance Corporation (IFC).

Others were the High Commissioner of the United Kingdom, Paul Arkwright; Rachid Benmassaoud of the World Bank; United States Deputy Economic Counsellor, Joel Kopp; Filippo Amato, EU Trade and Economics Department; Country Head, General Electric, Lazarus Angbazo, Ibrahim Boyi of Peugeot Automobile Nigeria (PAN), Charles Ojei of Samsung; Harprite Singh of Reliance Rice Mills; Maryam Uwais, Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to the President on Social Investments, Toro Orero, Draper Dark Flow, Yusuf Bashir of Coders4 Africa and Seun Onigbinde of BudgIT. Apt Theme With the theme ‘Making Kaduna a destination of choice’ Hamza said the 2017 edition is expected to be very robust, with the presence of the European Union, the British Government through DfID, the US government, corporate organisations, donor agencies and captains of industry from around the globe.

According to him, Kaduna has demonstrated firm commitment to achieving sustainable economic growth by legislating to make it easier to do business and aligning its budget to capital expenditure to build human capital and infrastructure.

While expressing delight that Kaduna was recently chosen as the best state in terms of ease of doing business by BusinessDay Magazine, Hamza explained that the purpose of KADINVEST 2.0 “is to ensure that we move to the world by the commitment we signed last year”.

“We want to prove to the world that we truly have what it takes to attract investments, based on our areas of comparative advantage. We hope that at the end of the day Kaduna state would be able to achieve its developmental goals as clearly enunciated in the state’s development programme 2016 to 2020.

“We have very significant and important guests

Zaria water project; taking local investment to a higher level to grace this occasion; from foreign dignitaries to local investors that we believe will have a role to play in investing in the state,” the KADIPA boss said.

Consolidation Strategy Also speaking on the event, a member of the Planning Committee and Commissioner for Commerce, Industry and Tourism, Dr. Daniel Manzo explained that KADINVEST 2.0 is aimed at consolidating on the gains of the 2016 edition.

“As we all know, last year, we made some gains (following the summit) that are very visible on the ground and we will like to showcase those gains. We have the Olam group investing $150 million in the establishment of the largest poultry farm with integrated feed mill in sub-Saharan Africa in Kaduna.

“We also have Vicampo Potato Farm (located in southern part of Kaduna state). These are the gains we made during the last edition of the summit. We hope to have more investments in the state by consolidating on those ones,” Manzo said.

He said state government was doing everything to attract businesses to the state, Kaduna has a population of about eight million people and now the estimated population of the state is about 10 million people; at the growth rate of 3.3 per cent.

“We have to create jobs; we have to create 200,000 jobs annually between now and 2030. If we fail to do that, definitely, population explosion will catch up with us and therefore, we are looking at various sectors of investments.

We are looking at agriculture, we are looking at services, and we are looking at e-business.

These are areas that we are working seriously to bring our youths and develop their skills to favourably compete.

“We have a lot of initiatives such as Kaduna Start Up and Entrepreneurship Programme (KADSTEP) and others aimed at improving the skills of our youths and sharpen their entrepreneur acumens” he said.

According to the commissioner, one of the new things the government is bringing into its investment portfolio of the state is tourism.

“We have quite a number of interesting tourism sites across the state. For example the Emir’s palace, the second oldest church in Northern Nigeria is in Wusasa, Zaria.

We have a castle in Kajuru, the place of abode and retirement of the famous Queen Amina is in Igabi local government with all the materials that she used.

“There is the Nok civilisation, one of the oldest civilisations known to mankind. We have the Gurara dam, the largest man-made water body in Nigeria. These are some of the things that we

hope to highlight at the summit,” Manzo said.

Novel Charter Other events that are expected to feature during the summit include the unveiling of a charter of ease of business in the state by Governor Nasir El-Rufai. The charter, according to Hamza, is to explain to the world the commitment of various ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) in the state how they would interact with any business entity operating in Kaduna or anyone starting a business in the state. Also, the state’s infrastructure master plan on how the state wants to deliver on its infrastructure requirements and expectations would be launched. Furthermore, El-Rufai is expected to launch the Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) scheme by unveiling the Kawo-Lugard Hall road which was expanded to ensure that bus services are introduced into Kaduna to make transportation very easy. Similarly, the ICT Centres on Hospital Road and Independence Way, Kaduna which are Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) projects

by Zenith Bank would be unveiled as well as the signing of a donor coordination framework with various donor partners.

NOTE: Interested readers should continue in the online edition on www.thisdaylive.com

RANDOM THOTS Nigerian Factor The law of gravity, which states that what goes up must come down, surely does not apply to food prices in Nigeria.

About nine weeks after the federal government set up a task force on reduction of food prices on February 1 this year, and eight weeks after the committee submitted a report with tips on the price reduction strategy, prices of basic food items like beef, poultry products and staple cereals are still out of the reach of the common man in the market, and a let-up appears unlikely in the short term despite official efforts.

The federal task force members made up of ministers and high-ranking gov-

ernment officials were told that the major identified challenge was high cost of transportation of food products from farms to the markets and government has moved to ease this challenge by reportedly moving cattle from the North to the southern markets by rail and granting special status to the heavy trucks ferrying food products across the country.

Now in another dimension, the value of the naira against the dollar, which has been blamed for every imaginable evil in the prices of local food products, has dropped from N520 to around N360 to a dollar due to an intervention of the

Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). It means roasted plantain (boli) sellers and others have no more excuses to retain their current exorbitant prices. If government ensures improved transport for food products and incentives for farmers, then sellers (both wholesale and retail) must also play their own part to restore sanity to the prices of food items.

The Nigerian factor, which focuses on selfish self-preservation first, must not be applied here for the common good; not now, not ever.....

-Abimbola Akosile

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BUSINESSWORLD

DEvELOPmENT/ISSUESINBOx

Naira notes, the national currency

How Best Can a Stronger Naira Boost the Economy?

Apart from the patriotic pride of seeing an increase in the value of the naira against the dollar, some analysts believe the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s move to shore up the naira may have a counterproductive impact on the overall economy, and that a stronger naira will not check influx of goods’ imports or help the ailing manufacturing sector of the economy as much as a weaker currency would.

In your own view, in what ways can Nigeria take advantage of the stronger naira to boost the local economy?

Abimbola Akosile

THE FEEDBACK

* The best way a stronger naira can boost the economy is when craze for loving everything foreign by the well-to-do citizens is reduced and they start showing interest in Made-in-Nigeria products. The foreign exchange interest would be drastically reduced as we have now understood that our products are far better than the ones we were dying for. We thank God for the Governor of the Central Bank. With the steps he is taking we shall soon see an exchange of N75 to a dollar by God’s grace.

- Hon. Babale Maiungwa, U/Romi, Kaduna

Top tip:

Greater patronage of local goods

Second:

Improved manufacturing sector

Third:

Reduction in imports

Radical tip:

Enforced price reduction!

Total no of respondents:

10

Male:

9

* That can only be feasible if the commercial banks and the Bureau de Change operators desist from sabotaging the efforts aimed at making life easier for foreign exchange end users and the general public, with cooperation not to accept to buy forex from any bank or bureau de change above the prescribed rate. With fixed rate, people can plan, and it is a way of controlling the exchange rate not differentials. My belief is fair and appreciative in order to support the naira and boost the economy.

- Mr. Dogo Stephen, Kaduna

Female:

1

Highest location:

Lagos (3)

* I think a strong naira is what we need considering our economy is for the most part import-oriented. If the naira yo-yos until it arrives at a thousand naira to a dollar for instance, it will be doom for this economy all round. Prof.

Osinbajo understood this as head of the economic team. The government in response should do all in its power to get our manufacturing sector back on track and get serious about industrialising.

If this happens, then a weak naira will boost our exports abroad.

- Mr. E. Iheanyi Chukwudi, Brainchild Academic Resources, Trademore Estate, Apo, Abuja * For a stronger naira economy, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) must continue to shore up the naira aggressively to increase its desired value against the dollar. Banned items being smuggled into Nigeria implies subverted border laws causing dumping and poverty.

Electricity, agriculture and manufacturing are inter-related and must get priority attention through regionalised alternative sources of power, streamlined agriculture to certain crops

and animals of comparative advantage. Illegal minting houses must be identified and checked.

Avarice, greed, bigotry, forex activities and glut in the agricultural sector must be checked to promote food security also.

- Miss Apeji Patience Eneyeme, Badagry, Lagos State * As the naira is getting stronger every day, it means our economy is bouncing back gradually to put smile on the faces of Nigerians. To sustain this naira growth, we must engage in locally made production and patronise the products.

Very soon, the issue of recession will end as the government focuses on agriculture and mineral resources to boost our economy. Our problem is that we have no patience that the economy will bounce back for the better.

- Mr. Gordon Chika Nnorom, Public Commentator, Umukabia, Abia State * To me, a stronger naira both increases our purchasing power and can allow manufacturers bring in more inputs to revitalise the industry.

The usual complaint has always been that our naira is worthless outside the shores of this country. But a stronger naira will help us import necessary components at a cheaper cost to help kick-start some vital sector of the overall economy. Conversely, a weaker naira will only benefit looters, or those multi-nationals who are repatriating their profits to their parent organisations. A stronger naira will also

discourage smuggling because the local currency will be useful in buying locally-made products at competitive prices.

- Mr. Olumuyiwa Olorunsomo, Lagos State * A stronger naira can only be achieved if they the politicians buy made-in-Nigeria, spend naira, stop medical tourism, ensure their children school here and stop spreading falsehood as it is the case today. However, they should do what they preach. Until they do that, naira will continue to go down in a free fall.

- Mr. Mark Ushie, Transcorp Hilton, Abuja * I believe government needs to intervene and prevail on our importers, traders and business people to lower the prices of their goods to be commensurate with the strengthening naira.

The oil industry has PPPRA to regulate and control the prices of petroleum products; such an agency to ensure that Nigerians are not unduly exploited by selfish traders and business people.

When the dollar gains value, some traders or importers will just sit in Lagos and decide this is the new price of a particular item; regardless of whether the price drops back the very next day. That same day, those in the other states will call their suppliers in Lagos and adjust their prices to reflect the sudden change. Should an increase in the price of goods not only take effect after the importer has bought forex, gone overseas, have the goods shipped to Nigeria before the new price reflect even before the importer buys the dollar? Is this not a form of economic sabotage? Unless something is done about this ugly trend, even if the naira stands at par with the dollar, the prices of goods and services are not likely to come down in any significant way.

- Mr. Buga Dunj, Jos, Plateau State * There have been calls from different quarters to strengthen the naira. Reports have shown that our country is an import economy which if the naira is strong our manufacturers and importers will purchase their raw materials and goods at a favourable rate which will make our goods affordable and affect our local economy positively.

- Comrade Frederick Ekekwe, CEO Seasoniss Eve Nig. Ltd, Trans Ekulu, Enugu, Enugu State

* A strong naira base will of course boost our ailing economy. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s move to shore up the naira is a perfect economic reasoning for the moment. We must also consider tax repositioning, agricultural transformation and food security, macro-economy stabilisation, energy sufficiency, increased private investment, customs leakages, budget reforms, industrialisation, transport and security issues e.t.c. We need a true political will to deliver all these than mere wishes. The Presidency must insist on patriotic consistency to get there. God bless Nigeria.

- Mr. Apeji Onesi, Lagos State

Next Week: Should the Local Govts be Scrapped?

There is an underlying tone among many Nigerians that the local government, which is the third arm of government, should be scrapped entirely, with larger and stronger wards adopted as replacements. This is against the background that the local councils, which are the closest governance structure to the people, are totally disconnected from the populace especially at the grassroots in their impact on development. To you, should these councils be scrapped as suggested, or simply rejigged for better performance? Please make your response direct, short and simple, and state your full name, title, organisation, and location. Responses should be sent between today (April 6 & monday, April 10) to abimbolayi@yahoo.com, greatbimbo@ gmail.com, AND abimbola.akosile@ thisdaylive.com. Respondents can also send a short text message to 08023117639 and/ or 08188361766 and/or 08114495306.

Collated responses will be published on Thursday, April 13

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BUSINESSWORLD

DEVELOPMENT

Boosting food security; Olam Nigeria rice processing mill in Rukubi, Nasarawa State

ABIMBOLA AKOSILE

FAO Supports Farmers to Ensure Good Harvest in North-east Nigeria As Director-General visits hunger crisis areas of Nigeria, Chad Abimbola Akosile Farmers supported by United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) in North-east Nigeria are looking forward to a very good harvest, going by the amount and quality of crops some of them have so far gathered from their fields, THISDAY has learnt.

A Monitoring and Evaluation Officer at CBARDP (Community Based Agricultural and Rural Development Programme), FAO implementing partner in Borno State, Salisu Bukar Mohammed Ngulde, says: “Most of the crops are grown by women who make up 40 per cent of the project.

They have already started harvesting their crops from the dry season interventions and have food for their families for some time to come while they sell part of their produce to make some money.

“They are now able to get income, save feeding costs and have surplus in the home to take care of other

basic needs for a few months.

FAO is collaborating with the governments of Belgium, Ireland and Japan to support these farmers.”

He described the intervention as very successful, hoping that more funds would be made available to take care of the larger number of internally displaced persons (IDPs), returnees, female-headed households, youths and the host community who are in dire need of support, according to a release by the agency.

One of the beneficiaries of the interventions, Abba Mursi, recounts how he fled his community in Bama after an attack two and half years ago and then took refuge in Gongulong Bulamari village in the outskirts of Maiduguri, the Borno State capital in Jere Local Government Area, some 75 kilometres away from Bama. “I fled from Bama on foot and left everything behind, everything.”

Mursi’s desire of returning to productive life was nurtured

by FAO. His carrot plot is

doing well, less than three months after he received seedlings and fertilisers support from FAO. He is also grateful to the Gongulong Bulamari people for accepting him and giving him access to a farmland where he hopes to eke out a living.

As part of its dry season interventions in support to IDPs, returnees and vulnerable host families in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states, FAO provided farmers with capacity-building and skills, vegetable seeds, fertilisers and irrigation support for the dry season.

Mursi and another beneficiary Muktar are some of the farmers who embraced the project with great enthusiasm and less than two months into the programme, the enthusiasm has started paying off.

The farmers, mostly youths and women, are already looking to a good harvest. The early signs of a potentially good harvest are evident by the crisps and fresh carrots, huge cabbages and other

vegetables being gathered from the fields.

Vegetable seedlings covering carrot, okra, amaranths, sorrel/ roselle, onions, tomatoes, pepper, watermelon and cabbage were given to each farmer in a master kit for food security, nutrition and livelihoods as well incomes.

“FAO with partners’ support will provide the greatly desired livelihoods to IDPs, returnees and host communities where men, and especially women and youth, will be provided with food security, nutrition and livelihoods for both the dry and rainy seasons in the northeastern states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe on a sustainable basis to recovery from many years of hardship.

We must all find durable and sustainable solutions and tackle the root courses of the crisis situation, especially that which affects livelihoods and incomes of the populations,” said Bukar Tijani, FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Africa.

The acting FAO Representative to Nigeria, Nourou Macki Tall, said: “Supporting vulnerable host communities, displaced populations and returnees in northeast Nigeria to resume their agriculture activities pave the way to durable solutions. Agriculture cannot be an afterthought. This is the starting point for the implementation of longer-term activities that contribute to strengthening the population’s resilience.”

Meanwhile, FAO DirectorGeneral José Graziano da Silva will visit communities in Northeastern Nigeria and the Lake Chad Basin to highlight the need to support local efforts to increase the resilience of people in rural areas whose agriculture-based livelihoods have been hit hard by recurrent crises in the region.

Graziano da Silva is also scheduled to meet farmers at several FAO-supported farms at Gongulong and Old Maiduguri, near Maiduguri, northeast Nigeria. On April

6, in Ndjamena, the FAO Director-general will meet the President of Chad, Idriss Deby.

On April 7, in Maiduguri, Graziano da Silva will meet Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State, as well as the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Audu Ogbeh He will be accompanied Bukar Tijani, FAO Assistant Director-General /Regional Representative for Africa, and Dominique Burgeon, Strategic Programme Leader-Resilience/ Director, Emergencies and Rehabilitation Division.

In Northeastern Nigeria and the Lake Chad Basin, violence has driven millions from their homes and hampered access to agricultural lands and assets, creating massive humanitarian needs in an area already struggling with food insecurity, poverty and environmental degradation. Host communities, in particular, have been struggling for several years now to feed the displaced as well as their own.

437 Unemployed Youths in Kogi Benefit from W’Bank Training Scheme Yekini Jimoh in Lokoja No fewer than 437 unemployed youths in Kogi State are currently being trained under the Skills Acquisition programme of the World Bank in collaboration with the federal government to make them self-reliant and marketable for job creation.

Speaking at a two-day orientation programme for the beneficiaries in Lokoja, the Director-General of the

National Directorate of Employment, Mr. Kunle Obayan who was represented by the team leader of the Youth Employment and Social Support Operation (YESSO), Mrs. Olaomi Sylvia, said the training programme is aimed at imparting skills on unemployed youths to enable them create jobs and contribute their quota to the nation’s economy.

The Director-General explained that the focus of the

federal government in providing employment opportunities for unskilled and semi-skilled youths had become necessary as there are no longer white collar jobs in the labour market.

He said the 437 benefiting youths in the on-going ninemonths training under the first phase were from Lokoja Local Government Area of Kogi State, stressing that upon completion of the training, beneficiaries would be deployed to com-

petent private sector operators for a six-month internship / apprenticeship.

Obayan said during the training period, the federal government through the World Bank support would ensure prompt payment of monthly stipend to beneficiaries who will in turn receive skills acquisition free of charge.

The Director-General however, commended the Kogi State governor, Alhaji Yahaya

Bello and the State Chamber of Commerce and Industries for their support in kick starting the programme.

He also solicited the support of the governor in making adequate arrangement for the provision of basic working tools and equipment as starter packs to the beneficiaries who would opt for self-employment at the end of the scheme.

In his speech, the Kogi State Coordinator of the state opera-

tion coordinating unit, Mr. Noah Aliu praised the World Bank and the Federal Government for the laudable initiative in the implementation of the skill acquisition programme to the benefit of humanity.

Speaking on behalf of the World Bank Team, Mrs. Nnenna Oshagbemi expressed the readiness of the apex bank to reduce poverty and unemployment through various intervention policies.

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BUSINESSWORLD

DEVELOPMENT QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“Under our micro-enterprise start-up scheme, youth who have received certified vocational training can get a loan of up to N250,000 to start their own business.

This is also at just five per cent interest rate. Under our employability programme, we train youths between the ages of 18-35 and also help them get job placement within various organisations we partner” - THE EXECUTIVE SECRETARY, LAGOS STATE EMPLOYMENT TRUST FUND (LSETF) MR. AKIN OYEBODE, SPEAKING IN LAGOS

Food Security: Bauchi Cultivates 4,000 Hectares of Rice Segun Awofadeji in Bauchi

Japan Donates $3.5m to WFP for Emergency Needs in Northeast Nigeria Abimbola Akosile The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has welcomed a $3.5 million contribution from the Government of Japan to provide desperately needed food assistance to tens of thousands of internally displaced people in Northeast Nigeria.

The funding allows WFP to deliver food to more than 160,000 people in Borno and Yobe States, where the Boko Haram insurgency has left many people severely food insecure, and experts warn of a credible risk of famine in some places, according to a release issued in Abuja by the UN agency.

“We commend the Government and people of Japan for their continued contributions to WFP’s operations in Northeast Nigeria,” said the WFP Country Director and Representative ad interim in Nigeria, Ronald Sibanda.

“This generous contribution from Japan will help WFP continue scaling up its response to reach more families in the region with food and nutrition support.”

Currently, some 4.7 million people are in dire need of food assistance in the three most conflict-affected states - Borno, Yobe and Adamawa - a figure that is expected to rise to 5.1 million by June.

“This new assistance is part of Japan’s pledge made at the Oslo Humanitarian Conference on Northeast Nigeria and Lake Chad Region held between 23 and 24 February 2017 for humanitarian assistance in the region, and newly additional funding from the Emergency Grant Aid as a swift response to United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’s call for emergency humanitarian support,” said the Ambassador of Japan to Nigeria, Sadanobu Kusaoke.

“The government of Japan is committed to ensure that millions of people in dire need of food in Northeast Nigeria do not go hungry,” he added.

“It is expected that this funding will, in the

Food for all, still an unfulfilled goal in Nigeria interim, assuage the suffering of people in the affected states who are in a near-famine situation.”

For four consecutive months, WFP has reached more one million vulnerable in northeastern Nigeria with cash-based transfers, food distributions and nutritional assistance targeting children under five, along with pregnant and nursing women.

Indeed, the agency’s assistance increased in

March to reach nearly 1.2 million beneficiaries, with plans to gradually scale up to reach 1.8 million people monthly during the coming lean season.

WFP is the world’s largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide, delivering food assistance in emergencies and working with communities to improve nutrition and build resilience. Each year, WFP assists some 80 million people in around 80 countries.

Bauchi State government will support rice farmers in the 20 local government areas of the state to cultivate at least 4,000 hectares of land in this year’s dry season.

The State Governor, Mohammed Abubakar, who disclosed this recently while launching the 2017 Fadama III additional financing for dry season rice farming at Konkiyel village in Darazo local government, disclosed that the state had cultivated 2,500 hectares last year.

Represented by his commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Yakubu Kirfi, the governor said Bauchi was privileged to be the only state in the North-east that has the mandate of the national Fadama development project to produce rice and sorghum, adding that the state government has approved the payment of its counterpart contribution of N35 million annually.

According to him, “The World Bank through the National Fadama Development Project provided the sum of $200 million for the implementation of the Fadama III additional financing in some selected states, Bauchi state inclusive. The objective of the additional financing is to boost dry season farming as well as increase the income of land users on a sustainable manner.”

Abubakar further explained that the government has also paid the sum of N20 million as counterpart fund for the national food security and livelihood emergency support under the same Fadama III project for the benefit of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) that have chosen the state as their new home.

In an overview of the Fadama III Additional Financing, the National Project Coordinator, Mr. Tayo Adewumi commended the Bauchi state government that “within your less than two years support to the project, about N230m was already drawn while additional N680m is being drawn by Bauchi State from the project to support over 9,000 hectares and 10,000 beneficiaries (including youth and women beneficiaries in processing) for rice and sorghum production and assets in the State.

Adewumi noted that “at an average of 5 tonnes per hectares for rice, we can conveniently say over 200,000MT have been added into the food basket of our nation with current importation figure of 2.3 million tonnes.”

According to him, “This output can be increased if only we are able to produce 2 to 3 times in a year, and increase our productivity per hectare to seven tonnes per hectare; in addition to increasing the number of project beneficiaries which today stands at about 10,000 farmers in Bauchi State.”

Also speaking the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Chief Audu Ogbeh, represented by a director in the ministry, Muhammed Yusuf said the programme is a collaborative effort of the federal government and the World Bank to scale up food production and generate employment to youths. He added that special attention is being given to four staple crops such as rice, sorghum, cassava and tomatoes.

“Bauchi state was identified to have a great potential for the production of two of these crops; rice and sorghum. This is when some states have been considered for only one crop.

Let the state therefore justify the confidence reposed in it by excelling in the production of these crops”, the minister appealed.

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HEALTH & LIFESTYLE

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

Meningitis: The Killer Disease Ravaging Nigerians With 16 states and the FCT said to be affected by the recent outbreak of meningitis in Nigeria, and 340 persons reported to have lost their lives, Martins Ifijeh writes on role of the government, stakeholders and the citizens in eradicating the killer disease

W

hen two weeks ago the report of cerebrospinal meningitis outbreak hit Nigerians, not many believed it will linger on and take the lives of hundreds of people the way it did. But as the day went by, the deadly and viral nature of the killer disease became obvious, claiming almost 350 persons, which were majorly children.

The disease has also spread to 16 states, the Federal Capital Territory and 90 local government areas in the country. States affected so far are Zamfara, Katsina, Sokoto, Kebbi, Niger, Nassarawa, Jigawa, Gombe, Taraba , Yobe, Kano, Osun, Cross Rivers, Lagos, Plateau and FCT. The Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) and the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) say the disease has reached an epidemic status in five of such states, and that five neighbouring countries within the Meningitis belt – Niger, Chad, Cameroon, Togo, and Burkina Faso – were facing similar outbreaks at the moment.

While about 350 people have lost their lives already in one of the most devastating meningitis outbreak in Nigeria, over 2524 persons, according to the FMOH and NCDC were currently being affected, with majority of the 131 samples collected already confirmed in the laboratory to be Neisseria Meningitides type C. The Director, Media and Public Relations, FMOH, Mrs. Boade Akinola says although this was 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’s own was recording Neisseria Meningitides type C in epidemic proportion for the first time.

“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 Organisation (WHO) and many development partners to roll out a strategic intervention for the effective prevention of such epidemics. This gave birth to 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 per cent incidence of the disease in most countries, thus significantly reducing the risk of type A,” she said.

Akinola noted that some key lessons learnt from the MenAfriVac-A mass vaccination campaign and the recent happenings across the sub-region, were 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 prevent a potential replacement by all other strains.

But with the viral spread of the disease in several states, with high number of casualty, what is the likely cause and what can the public do to prevent themselves? The Ministry of Health provides a guide.

It says the disease spreads from person to person through contact with discharges or droplets from nose and throat of an infected person, adding that it can also be transmitted through kissing, sneezing and coughing especially amongst people living in close quarters, hotels, refugee camps, barracks, public transportation and areas with poor ventilation or overcrowded places.

According to Akinola, Nigerians should avoid

Nigerians should take precautions against meningitis

overcrowded places, sleep in well ventilated places, avoid close and prolonged contact with a case/s, properly dispose off respiratory and throat secretions, strictly observe 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 should be used and self-medication should be avoided.

While noting that self-medication should be avoided, she said Nigerians should acquaint themselves with at least the basic knowledge and understanding of CSM and how it was transmitted and prevented. “Nigerians should strictly adhere to the advice of health workers on how to protect themselves. There should be prompt seeking of medical care as soon as CSM or CSM-like Illness is suspected,” Akinola noted.

She said the ministry has directed all hospitals to ensure appropriate diagnoses were made including laboratory confirmation and immediate reporting through the surveillance system.

“Hospitals should commence early treatment as soon as the diagnoses of CSM is made, and there should be restriction of interaction with other people once one is diagnosed as a case of CSM.” Adding, she said all secondary and tertiary public health facilities should provide free treatment to all CSM patients.

On the actions taken so far by the Health Ministry since the recent outbreak, Akinola said a CSM outbreak control team has been constituted to coordinate all responses aimed at controlling the outbreak (although a recent information from the NCDC twitter handle says the control team has now been transitioned into an Incident Management System). Adding that membership include FMOH, NCDC, National Primary health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), the World Health Organisation (WHO) and other partners (MSF, UNICEF, CDC and EHealth Africa).

She said all initial five states have commenced Emergency Operation Centre EOC/EPR meetings and mapping of resources at state level to identify ongoing activities.

“Functional Isolation Centres/Units have

been identified in all states and efforts are on to strengthen them. Antibiotics and management supplies are 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,” she added. On surveillance, the Ministry of Health Director said active case searches in the affected LGAs and register review were ongoing ongoing. “Also, clinician sensitisation and training have been proposed in selected areas, while CSM guidelines, including laboratory protocol were under review.”

Akinola said that the ministry has embarked on communication and social mobilisation 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. “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,” she said.

Meanwhile, Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris, in a statement made available to THISDAY said though, seasonal meningitis outbreak usually affects the mainly Northern states that fall within the meningitis belt of the country, it was not impossible that outbreaks can occur in any part of the country, Lagos inclusive, in view of the phenomenal climatic change as well as the high human migration.

He added that no case of CSM has been recorded in Lagos State contrary to what has been published. “However as a responsive government, we deem it fit to alert the public.”

Idris explained that the disease usually presents with high body temperature, pain and stiffness of the neck, headache, vomiting, fear of light, restlessness and confusion stressed that death may occur if not promptly and properly managed.

He therefore emphasised the need for the observance of high standards of personal and environmental hygiene as a preventive measure against the disease. Adding that such measures should include washing of hands with soap and water frequently; avoiding direct contact with the discharges from an infected person and covering of the mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing.

Idris noted that health workers in the state, especially those in the hospitals, the State Epidemiology Team and the Disease Surveillance and Notification Officers (DSNOs) in all the 57 Local Governments and Local Council Development Areas have been placed on high alert and therefore the disease surveillance and monitoring activities have since been intensified.

“Health workers are also advised to avoid close contact with suspected and probable cases of CSM based on the case definition distributed, ensure proper disposal of respiratory and throat secretion of cases, report suspected or probable cases, observe universal safety precautionary measures and make use of personal protective equipment when in contact with such cases as highlighted in the Fact-Sheets earlier forwarded to them,” he noted.

While urging residents to take responsibility for their health and report persons with the above symptoms to the nearest public health facility or the Ministry of Health, Idris said the government had put in place all the above measures towards avoidance and prevention of outbreak of CSM in Lagos State.

He advised the general public to remain calm and report suspected cases to the nearest public health facility or contact Disease Surveillance Officers of the Ministry of Heath on the following GSM numbers 08037170614, 09087106072, 08023169485, 08052817243, 08026441681.

37

T H I S D AY THURSDAY, APRIL 6, 2017

NEWS

Kaduna Adopts Measures against Outbreak of Meningitis John Shiklam in Kaduna The Kaduna State government has directed Disease Surveillance and Notification Officers (DSNOs) in the 23 local government areas in the state to be on the alert for effective surveillance of any case of cerebrospinal meningitis.

A statement by the Commissioner for Health and Human

Services, Dr. Paul Manya Dogo also disclosed that Medical Directors of General Hospitals across the state had been directed to promptly treat and report any case of the disease.

Over 300 people have been reported dead following recorded cases of the disease in about 15 states.

According to the commissioner, the state Drugs

Management Agency has been directed to procure ceftriaxone, the parenteral antibiotic of choice, and intravenous fluids to be pre-positioned in all public general hospitals.

He said jingles were being aired on radio stations in the state to create awareness among members of the public on preventive steps against meningitis.

Dogo disclosed further

that the World Health Organisation (WHO) has agreed to provide Kaduna with specimen containers, lumbar puncture sets, rapid diagnostic test kits and to transport positive samples to the reference laboratory in Lagos.

He said symptoms of the disease depends on the age of the patient but generally, children above one year

and adults will have severe headache, stiff neck, fever, nausea and vomiting, adding that in its severe form, there may be altered sensorium, seizures and coma.

He urged members of the public to go to the nearest hospital without delay, avoid self medication whenever such symptoms manifest.

He further urged the people to ensure proper ventilation

of their homes and proper respiratory sanitation as well as avoid overcrowding in poorly ventilated places.

He added that proper respiratory sanitation, especially, proper disposal of respiratory secretions (cover mouth, nose when coughing and sneezing respectively) must be taken seriously while hand washing hands must be washed regularly.

Govt Urged to Make Special Provision for Children with Cerebral Palsy Peter Uzoho The Founder of Cerebral Palsy Centre, Surulere, Lagos, Mrs. NonyeNweke, has called on the government to make special provisions to cater for children living with cerebral palsy, a psycho-physical deformity caused by damage in the brain.

Speaking in Lagos recently, during a walk tagged ‘Living BeyondLimitation’ which was intended to help create more awareness on the sickness, Nweke said the Nigerian government had not done anything to help in managing cases of CP in the country, pointing that a lot of parents have their children diagnosed with CP but don’t know where to go to for information and counseling.

She said government should have a provision for not just children with disabilities but for organisations such as Cerebral Palsy Centres that are managing children with the ailment.

“Right now we are looking at having our permanent site. We are praying for the government to give us land so we can build a place that the children can have enough

space,” she noted.

She enjoined parents, neighbours, religious bodies and the larger society to stop all forms of discrimination against children and adults having cerebral palsy, noting that they should understand that having a child with such disability did not mean that they were hated by God for giving them such children.

Nweke revealed that she established the centre about seven years ago because of her daughter who has cerebral palsy, having gone to severalplaces looking for where to manage the health of her child. “With me in that condition of not finding what I was looking for, I decided to use my effort to create one,” she said.

On his part, President, Association for Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities of Nigeria, Mr. Segun Joseph, while lamenting government’s non seriousness towards the issue, noted that “It’s very surprising that when government is talking about people with disability they only talk about children with physical disability; the blind and the deaf.”

FOR HEALTHY LIVING

L≠ R: Managing Director, Jonaco Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Mr. Chizoba Okeke; General Manager, Sales & Marketing, Mrs. Pat Iloba; Managing Director, Mr. Okey Akpa; and Marketing Manager, Victoria Okon, all of SKG Pharma Limited during the launch of Rulox Antacid Tablet at the just concluded SKG Pharma Trade Partners Conference in Lagos ...recently

NIFST Aligns with FG, DHA Partners Nigeria Says Benzoate is Safe as Military, Police Hospitals on Preservatives Specialised Healthcare Men Face Sexual Assault than Martins 250mg/kg as its level for these I jeh additives for the category of Surgeons will come from Dubai Women, Says Survey Rebecca Ejifoma to do charity operation and The Nigerian Institute of Food products. This level was an Omolabake Fashogbon A recent wellness survey carried out by JAMA,a data gathering platform, has revealed that men are more likely to face sexual assault than women in Nigeria.

The survey which captured almost 1000 samples of matured male and female between the age bracket of 16 - 70 across 32 states in Nigeria.

According to the result, 59 per cent of males have had parts of their bodies touched without permission or received inappropriate sexual messages or images electronically, versus 51 per cent of women.

It stated further that the likelihood of sexual assault taking place in private residences and public premises (e.g. offices, schools etc) is 19 per cent higher than at nightclubs and other social venues, where it is generally perceived to be more prevalent.

The research also discovered that 20 per cent of males have faced sexual assault from other

males in comparison to five per cent of females who faced sexual assault from other women.

However, the likelihood of being sexually assaulted is nine per cent higher for females living on the island than on the mainland, but for males, the likelihood of being sexually assaulted is nine per cent higher on the mainland as compared to the island .

Speaking at the official launch of the JAMA mobile platform, where the survey result was announced in Lagos, Project Lead, JAMA wellness survey and Business Manager, GETJAMA, Ugochukwu Nwosu, pointed out that the wellness survey focused on sexual health and leveraged the power of JAMA mobile platform to engage Nigerians both male and female on a very difficult and often polarising topic with the results delivered being enlightening, powerful and provided interesting actionable insights

Science and Technology (NIFST) has corroborated the federal Ministry of Health’s early stand that benzoate was a safe preservative for foods and drinks in the country.

Speaking with the media recently in Lagos, the 1st Vice National President, NIFST, Dr. Oluwole Toye said the use of benzoate which includes benzoic acid, sodium benzoate, potassium benzoate and calcium benzoate as food and beverage additives is internationally acceptable. He said Codex Committee on Food Activities in 2004 adopted the maximum use level for sodium, potassium, calcium benzoates and benzoic acid at the level of 600ppm for food category which comprises water based drinks, adding that this was the acceptable regulatory standard and serves as a global baseline.

He said it was within the specification level from Codex that Nigeria (National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON), industry and other relevant stakeholders) adopted

action to cope with our environmental situation, since these products were not thermally treated, hence requires a level of acidity to keep them safe. “So Nigeria’s approval of 250mg/ kg of these additives is within the internationally permitted maximum of 600mg/kg and it is reasonable within our climatic conditions. Therefore the products are considered to be safe for consumption within Nigerian population.

“In 2014, the 48th session of the Codex Committee on Food Additives lowered the maximum level for these additives in the stated food category from 600mg/kg to 250mg/kg as a result of an exposure estimate on benzoate conducted by Joint Export Committee on Food Additives (JECFA),” he noted.

According to him, this level can in no way cause harm to Nigerians who take foods and drinks with such additives.

The nutritionist therefore commended NAFDAC for its proactive measure in ensuring that all guidelines for production of foods and drugs in the

In line with its commitment to help strengthen Nigeria’s healthcare system, the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) has resolved to partner Nigeria military and police hospitals in expertise and information sharing for the advancement of quality healthcare delivery.

The Director, Medical Tourism Council, Dr. Layla Mohamed Al Marzouqi, who disclosed this in Lagos during a road show tagged, ‘Dubai-Africa Partnership for Better Health’ said they intend to partner these government hospitals in delivery of a specialised care to the patients.

She, however, noted that the unique aspect of the collaboration was that their medical experts would carry out the specialised operation here in Nigeria while only the critical cases would be referral.

“We have already discussed with the military and the police hospitals here in Nigeria on how Dubai can contribute to quality healthcare delivery through exchange of expertise in which the hospitals will arrange the patients then our

any complicated cases canbe referral if need be.”

Speaking still, Al Marzouqi noted that for those that may require abroad treatment, the Government of Dubai has put in place a very good visa scheme for medical tourism in which medical report three months visa can be issued within 48 hours. “It is renewable.”

According to her, DHA is not competing with any country. Its focus is to complement other countries. “Dubai is always unique in every service they provided. With a globally strategic location served by two international airports and an expanding healthcare sector equipped with state-of-the-art equipment and direct flight from Nigeria to Dubai makes it better destination for medical tourism.”

From her words: “We are relying on Dubai’s strengths by building a health system that supports excellence in healthcare with a focus on healthcare professionals, health investment and excellence in services across a diversified range of medical specialities.”

37

T H I S D AY THURSDAY, APRIL 6, 2017

NEWS

Kaduna Adopts Measures against Outbreak of Meningitis John Shiklam in Kaduna The Kaduna State government has directed Disease Surveillance and Notification Officers (DSNOs) in the 23 local government areas in the state to be on the alert for effective surveillance of any case of cerebrospinal meningitis.

A statement by the Commissioner for Health and Human

Services, Dr. Paul Manya Dogo also disclosed that Medical Directors of General Hospitals across the state had been directed to promptly treat and report any case of the disease.

Over 300 people have been reported dead following recorded cases of the disease in about 15 states.

According to the commissioner, the state Drugs

Management Agency has been directed to procure ceftriaxone, the parenteral antibiotic of choice, and intravenous fluids to be pre-positioned in all public general hospitals.

He said jingles were being aired on radio stations in the state to create awareness among members of the public on preventive steps against meningitis.

Dogo disclosed further

that the World Health Organisation (WHO) has agreed to provide Kaduna with specimen containers, lumbar puncture sets, rapid diagnostic test kits and to transport positive samples to the reference laboratory in Lagos.

He said symptoms of the disease depends on the age of the patient but generally, children above one year

and adults will have severe headache, stiff neck, fever, nausea and vomiting, adding that in its severe form, there may be altered sensorium, seizures and coma.

He urged members of the public to go to the nearest hospital without delay, avoid self medication whenever such symptoms manifest.

He further urged the people to ensure proper ventilation

of their homes and proper respiratory sanitation as well as avoid overcrowding in poorly ventilated places.

He added that proper respiratory sanitation, especially, proper disposal of respiratory secretions (cover mouth, nose when coughing and sneezing respectively) must be taken seriously while hand washing hands must be washed regularly.

Govt Urged to Make Special Provision for Children with Cerebral Palsy Peter Uzoho The Founder of Cerebral Palsy Centre, Surulere, Lagos, Mrs. NonyeNweke, has called on the government to make special provisions to cater for children living with cerebral palsy, a psycho-physical deformity caused by damage in the brain.

Speaking in Lagos recently, during a walk tagged ‘Living BeyondLimitation’ which was intended to help create more awareness on the sickness, Nweke said the Nigerian government had not done anything to help in managing cases of CP in the country, pointing that a lot of parents have their children diagnosed with CP but don’t know where to go to for information and counseling.

She said government should have a provision for not just children with disabilities but for organisations such as Cerebral Palsy Centres that are managing children with the ailment.

“Right now we are looking at having our permanent site. We are praying for the government to give us land so we can build a place that the children can have enough

space,” she noted.

She enjoined parents, neighbours, religious bodies and the larger society to stop all forms of discrimination against children and adults having cerebral palsy, noting that they should understand that having a child with such disability did not mean that they were hated by God for giving them such children.

Nweke revealed that she established the centre about seven years ago because of her daughter who has cerebral palsy, having gone to severalplaces looking for where to manage the health of her child. “With me in that condition of not finding what I was looking for, I decided to use my effort to create one,” she said.

On his part, President, Association for Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities of Nigeria, Mr. Segun Joseph, while lamenting government’s non seriousness towards the issue, noted that “It’s very surprising that when government is talking about people with disability they only talk about children with physical disability; the blind and the deaf.”

FOR HEALTHY LIVING

L-R: Managing Director, Jonaco Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Mr. Chizoba Okeke; General Manager, Sales & Marketing, Mrs. Pat Iloba; Managing Director, Mr. Okey Akpa; and Marketing Manager, Victoria Okon, all of SKG Pharma Limited during the launch of Rulox Antacid Tablet at the just concluded SKG Pharma Trade Partners Conference in Lagos ...recently

NIFST Aligns with FG, DHA Partners Nigeria Says Benzoate is Safe as Military, Police Hospitals on Preservatives Specialised Healthcare Men Face Sexual Assault than Martins 250mg/kg as its level for these Ifijeh additives for the category of Surgeons will come from Dubai Women, Says Survey Rebecca Ejifoma to do charity operation and The Nigerian Institute of Food products. This level was an Omolabake Fashogbon A recent wellness survey carried out by JAMA,a data gathering platform, has revealed that men are more likely to face sexual assault than women in Nigeria.

The survey which captured almost 1000 samples of matured male and female between the age bracket of 16 - 70 across 32 states in Nigeria.

According to the result, 59 per cent of males have had parts of their bodies touched without permission or received inappropriate sexual messages or images electronically, versus 51 per cent of women.

It stated further that the likelihood of sexual assault taking place in private residences and public premises (e.g. offices, schools etc) is 19 per cent higher than at nightclubs and other social venues, where it is generally perceived to be more prevalent.

The research also discovered that 20 per cent of males have faced sexual assault from other

males in comparison to five per cent of females who faced sexual assault from other women.

However, the likelihood of being sexually assaulted is nine per cent higher for females living on the island than on the mainland, but for males, the likelihood of being sexually assaulted is nine per cent higher on the mainland as compared to the island .

Speaking at the official launch of the JAMA mobile platform, where the survey result was announced in Lagos, Project Lead, JAMA wellness survey and Business Manager, GETJAMA, Ugochukwu Nwosu, pointed out that the wellness survey focused on sexual health and leveraged the power of JAMA mobile platform to engage Nigerians both male and female on a very difficult and often polarising topic with the results delivered being enlightening, powerful and provided interesting actionable insights

Science and Technology (NIFST) has corroborated the federal Ministry of Health’s early stand that benzoate was a safe preservative for foods and drinks in the country.

Speaking with the media recently in Lagos, the 1st Vice National President, NIFST, Dr. Oluwole Toye said the use of benzoate which includes benzoic acid, sodium benzoate, potassium benzoate and calcium benzoate as food and beverage additives is internationally acceptable. He said Codex Committee on Food Activities in 2004 adopted the maximum use level for sodium, potassium, calcium benzoates and benzoic acid at the level of 600ppm for food category which comprises water based drinks, adding that this was the acceptable regulatory standard and serves as a global baseline.

He said it was within the specification level from Codex that Nigeria (National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON), industry and other relevant stakeholders) adopted

action to cope with our environmental situation, since these products were not thermally treated, hence requires a level of acidity to keep them safe. “So Nigeria’s approval of 250mg/ kg of these additives is within the internationally permitted maximum of 600mg/kg and it is reasonable within our climatic conditions. Therefore the products are considered to be safe for consumption within Nigerian population.

“In 2014, the 48th session of the Codex Committee on Food Additives lowered the maximum level for these additives in the stated food category from 600mg/kg to 250mg/kg as a result of an exposure estimate on benzoate conducted by Joint Export Committee on Food Additives (JECFA),” he noted.

According to him, this level can in no way cause harm to Nigerians who take foods and drinks with such additives.

The nutritionist therefore commended NAFDAC for its proactive measure in ensuring that all guidelines for production of foods and drugs in the

In line with its commitment to help strengthen Nigeria’s healthcare system, the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) has resolved to partner Nigeria military and police hospitals in expertise and information sharing for the advancement of quality healthcare delivery.

The Director, Medical Tourism Council, Dr. Layla Mohamed Al Marzouqi, who disclosed this in Lagos during a road show tagged, ‘Dubai-Africa Partnership for Better Health’ said they intend to partner these government hospitals in delivery of a specialised care to the patients.

She, however, noted that the unique aspect of the collaboration was that their medical experts would carry out the specialised operation here in Nigeria while only the critical cases would be referral.

“We have already discussed with the military and the police hospitals here in Nigeria on how Dubai can contribute to quality healthcare delivery through exchange of expertise in which the hospitals will arrange the patients then our

any complicated cases canbe referral if need be.”

Speaking still, Al Marzouqi noted that for those that may require abroad treatment, the Government of Dubai has put in place a very good visa scheme for medical tourism in which medical report three months visa can be issued within 48 hours. “It is renewable.”

According to her, DHA is not competing with any country. Its focus is to complement other countries. “Dubai is always unique in every service they provided. With a globally strategic location served by two international airports and an expanding healthcare sector equipped with state-of-the-art equipment and direct flight from Nigeria to Dubai makes it better destination for medical tourism.”

From her words: “We are relying on Dubai’s strengths by building a health system that supports excellence in healthcare with a focus on healthcare professionals, health investment and excellence in services across a diversified range of medical specialities.”

38

T H I S D AY THURSDAY, APRIL 6, 2017

HEALTH MATTERS

goketakinrogunde@gmail.com

T

HEALTH

By Goke T. Akinrogunde 07036777348; 07029126776

Abortion Reality Talk

his piece heralds a serial discussion on elective abortion and the effect, or otherwise, of criminalising the act of choosing to terminate a pregnancy earlier post-conception.

In this, and subsequent editions, I will narrate real life experiences of fatalities and morbidities associated with the present status quo of criminalising elective abortion in our setting and beyond.

First, a peep into the world statistics on pregnancies and abortion:380 women become pregnant per minute. 180 – 200 million pregnancies occur globally per year. 75 million of these are noted as unwanted pregnancies. 50 million ended up with induced abortions. 20 million of these are tagged as unsafe abortions. 600,000 maternal deaths ( 1 per minute ).190 women face unplanned or unwanted pregnancy per minute. 110 women experience a pregnancy related complications per minute. 40 women have an unsafe abortion per minute. 1 woman dies from a pregnancy related complications per minute The above highlights are indeed very appalling and taking control of the situation definitely go beyond mere rhetoric and hypocritical talks on morality under whatever guise.

My narration below brings home real life issues associated with criminalisation abortion. In came this patient for an ultrasound scan examination, a young lady in her early-twenties; she came to ascertain the state of her womb. According to her, she last saw her menses two months ago, a pregnancy blood test she did two days ago came positive - it confirmed that she was pregnant; she became worried and naturally scared for her future having recently got an admission into one of the federal universities in south west Nigeria. It is not difficult to come to the conclusion that this development will lead to a great disappointment from her parents and expectedly put a break to her academic pursuit; hence, she made her enquiries as to where she can procure an abortion.

In her investigations, to get it done in a decent ‘hospital’ would cost N50,000 minimum; she didn’t have this, ditto for her university undergraduate boy friend. However, there was an offer by a quark ‘doctor’ to get the evacuation

Pregnant women

done at a cost of N2,500. She consented and the procedure was carried out in the house of the quark. All seemed well for some days after the evacuation until she started feeling some tell-tale symptoms of pregnancy; she was advised to repeat the pregnancy test, which came out positive again; then she started bleeding.

After this discovery she went back to the nurse who did the evacuation; without any ancillary investigation, she repeated the evacuation on the last day of the December 2010. In spite of this repeat evacuation, she did not feel better; hence her referral from the family hospital for a scan investigation, again she tested positive for pregnancy. The ultrasound scan report revealed that in spite of the repeated evacuations the pregnancy still persist in her body but not in the womb but in one of her uterine tubes! She had an ectopic pregnancy of eight week maturation in one of her fallopian tubes and it is now slowly leaking blood. This is a medical emergency that requires an immediate surgical operation. She

later had the surgery but did not leave to tell her story – She died. The above story simply showed that the question of unsafe abortion is real in Nigeria and it is not just a question of concocted statistics as some people usually resonate, it is a very serious matter. Check these deductions: there are a number of centers where concerned women can get abortion on demand in Nigeria but most of these centers are mostly unsafe for such high profile surgical procedure, which abortion is. The concerned practitioners cared less about making the procedure a sterile one or getting it done in a hygienic environment.

Unfortunately, the more unsafe the procedure’s environment is and the lesser the practitioner’s skill the cheaper it comes. Invariably, poverty drives many to such places where death is so cheap to come by.

Talking about skill, the aforementioned example shows how important this is when it comes to medically attending to abortion cases. For one, as a rule, it is not advisable these days to enter the

womb ‘blindly’ when an ultrasound scan can be obtained before the procedure is carried out; this is the rule in all places in developed countries where this procedure is procured without legal complications. If an ultrasound has been done in the case at hand, it would have revealed that there is no pregnancy in the womb but in the tube! Hence a potential danger would have been handled in a more professionalised setting, where appropriate surgical intervention that will avert the complications of a tubal ectopic pregnancy can be done, instead of the senseless and inappropriate repeated blind evacuations.

The funny thing in Nigeria is that it is hypocrisy galore when it comes to defending the criminal codes per abortion. Here, abortion is said to be illegal, nevertheless Nigeria has one of the highest rate of abortion cases in the world, in fact the highest in Africa, and much more than in those countries where abortion is legalised. The reason for this is obvious; even though people may frown generally against unwanted pregnancy, there are enough and countless reasons why it is socially permissible for abortion to occur in the face of certain social realities.

Moreover, notwithstanding the religious and other moral colorations, the underlying philosophy for criminalisation of abortion is the societal subjugation of the woman’s right to solely determine what happened to her body; it flows from the fact in the male-dominated society, it is impermissible for this right to be ceded to the women, the perpetually oppressed gender. As a matter of fact, it amounts to double oppression for the working class women among whom poverty reigns supreme.

The call for legalisation of abortion is however not the same as a campaign for abortion; hence, for those in league with the campaign to assert the right of a woman to determine what happen to her body, this comes as an empty and irresponsible phrase-mongering if the campaign for non-criminalisation of abortion is not linked to the rights to provide apt sexual education, free access to contraception options under experts’ guide and ultimately the need to have a just system in place where universal access to public health to those in need is obtained at no cost whatsoever

Inside the Hospital Baton Exchange of Epidemics: From Cholera to Meningitis The poor health indices reeled out on this page repeatedly are pointers to the fact that much more is still being expected from the Nigerian government to turn around the health system to save the needs of the majority poor souls residing in Nigeria.

Discerning observers have wondered why year in year out we kept recycling the same old epidemics that occur about the same time each year. Repeatedly we have cholera epidemics around the country on a yearly basis; similarly, you can always tell when the next epidemic of cerebrospinal meningitis, Lassa fever etc will occur, including the likely places of ‘attack’.

And yet it remained shameful that no scientific approaches are put in place to curtail these retrogressive trends. Those The recent example of Cholera-CSM mass infection is even more embarrassing with regards to the recent epidemic of cholera reported in a number of states across the country, which has now passed the baton of mass infection to cerebrospinal meningitis. Between the two of them, tens of thousands cases are known to be affected and hundred deaths recorded and still counting. One recurring offensive development here is that the recurring decimal for outbreak and quick spread of the epidemics is lack of preparation and effective policy control In the same vein, malaria remain the leading killer disease (particularly in young children)

and the cause of most morbidities, man-hours loss and a leading reason for school absenteeism and workplace presenteeism in Nigeria, yet we are far from reducing or stopping this predictable but largely preventable disasters and scandalous reoccurrences.

In the tradition of this page, it is relevant here to take the discussion further by proposing certain concrete interventions that will make the essence of governance meaningful to our health needs.

In respect of the aforementioned, one area where a direct impact on the health plights of most Nigerians is to make Malaria Control and Treatment freely accessible at no cost at all levels of healthcare. This super-endemic disease in Nigeria is noted to be responsible for between 50% - 70% of the daily health challenges of our people across the all regions in Nigeria. To this extent, a centrally-focused programme of free universal access to malaria treatment and prevention will definitely go a long way to resolve this recurrent health challenge of our people. On paper, and quite apparent, the figures for the cost of execution of the proposed free universal access to malaria treatment are clearly within the capacity of the government.

Beyond the proposition on free malaria treatment is to search through the apparatus on ground in our hospitals, including the

tertiary centers under the direct purview of the federal government. Just as I had noted elsewhere, the salary packages of the government-employed health practitioners and others outside government employment are forever chasing inflationary upward trend of the macro-economy and certainly need urgent review. Of course, this alone will not make real health readily available or avert the collateral trend towards brain drain outside the country if the appropriate tools to function effectively are not put in place.

In respect of the above, one is prompted to ask: of what essence is a tertiary/secondary health institution that has non-functional or is lacking in modern diagnostic tools like the CT scans and MRI gadgets or has no effective facility to handle emergency cases in an Intensive Care Unit among others? In some cases, ordinary inexpensive diagnostic kits and monitoring apparatus like the sphygmomanometer and glucometer, for blood pressure and blood sugar checks respectively, are scarce to come by in the in-patients’ wards of many of our tertiary centers. Hence, it is important that the government provide the light at instituting truly functioning healthcare delivery system by appropriately equipping these institutions.

And what manner of health insurance?

Another important area of the health assessment

of the citizens is to really measure the impact of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) which has been in place since its enactment for more than 12 years now. To date, less than 10% of the populace have been keyed into the scheme, this is made up of mainly federal government employees, few state governments’ workers and some organized private companies’ employees. The rest of the populace is not involved and there are no signs in view that this will change dramatically.

As I had argued in the past, for the health insurance scheme, the aforementioned balance sheet scream failure and not a crawling success as the operators of the scheme and those who profiteers from it want us to believe. It should be appropriate to see to it that a major review of this scheme is done immediately.

Free health is possible From the point of view of a medical practitioner who have had the unfortunate experiences of seeing a number of patients dying and electing to die, simply because they cannot afford the cost of investigations and treatment in hospitals (public and private), it is necessary to have a look at what is operating elsewhere with respect to the citizens’ right to appropriate healthcare delivery. The Venezuela’s model, under President Hugo Chavez, which sees and marshaled “Health as a fundamental human

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T H I S D AY THURSDAY, APRIL 6, 2017

NEWS The HealthZone: The Best 30 Minutes of Television

Japan Donates US$3.5m to Tackle Food Crisis in N’East Nigeria

Dr. Toju Chike-Obi and Ronke Ekwensi

Martins Ifijeh

On any given day, when you sit in front of your television, you are presented with a variety of choices. You may choose to court misery by watching depressing local and international news or check in with reality television and reassure yourself that other people’s lives are more of a train wreck than yours. Or you may choose to escape into the world of Africa Magic for a dose of Nollywood’s rendering of intrigue and betrayal at the heart of every African village. Why not choose something more valuable? Invest 30 minutes and educate yourself on health.

Watch The HealthZone, the best 30 minutes on television.

Debuting it’s new season on Channels TV in April 2015, The HealthZone is a stimulating health television programme that delivers health education on the most common ailments affecting Nigerians, in simple terms that everyone can understand. Its entertaining format features street interviews on a specific health topic, doctors providing valuable health information, correcting the myths and untruths and providing you with facts that could possibly save your life.

The HealthZone is edutainment at its best – valuable health educational content, yet entertaining enough that you don’t realize you’re learning.

The HealthZoneis the brainchild of HealthCore Ltd, a partnership of three business and health industry experts with decades of relevant expertise acquired from leading international institutions. The HealthCore team recognises that poor health literacy among the populations of sub-Saharan Africa magnifies the already grim outcomes that are the result of the continent’s weak health systems.

The creators of the show believe that when people become ill, it is important that they understand symptoms, are knowledgeable about disease transmission, are aware of basic self-care measures and know when to seek appropriate care.

A well-informed public will

be better positioned to take preventive care actions that can significantly improve health outcomes and reduce the burden on weak health systems. Unfortunately, there are very few resources that methodically educate the public on relevant health topics and actions they can take to manage health better.

This is where the HealthCore team comes in, systematically disseminating health information to the Nigerian public in a consistent effort to bridge this gap. The show’s focus on empowering the public to adopt preventive health care and health promotion principles is central to the team’s aspiration to move the outcomes needle positively.

The HealthZone television programme is one of the several platforms the group is using to accomplish their goal. Their other platforms include a weekly HealthZone blog and short 2-minute videos, The HealthZone Med Minutes.

The HealthZone deals with important contemporary health topics that can positively impact health outcomes. It takes into account cultural issues, beliefs and human behaviour as it educates the public. The programme has an impressive roster of carefully selected, knowledgeable, highly skilled doctors and health professionals who are experts in their respective fields of specialty.

Taking their time, they break down complex medical facts into easily understood cohesive health information.

In its first season, an episode on Fibroids, a benign tumour of the womb, begins as all the episodes do, with the “Man on the Street” segment, which samples the public’s perspective on the topic of the day.

The responses of a random selection of men and women on the street to questions about Fibroids are hilarious.

One man has no clue what fibroids are, another who clearly had no idea, stated that he found fibroids delicious to eat! Funny, but poignantly telling of the public’s lack of knowledge regarding common health problems.

DexaMedica Holds Pain Free Day Campaign in Ogun State Major pain killer company, DexaMedica, makers of Boska recently, conducted another wave of its Pain Free Day initiative at Ogijo area of Ogun State to help consumers stay fit during hard times.

The Pain Free Day initiative was aimed at improving consumers’ health and raise awareness on the risks associated with inadequate care of oneself. From qualitative findings, we observed that consumers need to be aware of how to take care of themselves, and to know that Boska brand is available to help them stay fit during this harsh economic period.

Boska team gave the opportunity for consumers to see health experts who provided

full range of health services for free. They provided free eye glasses for those in need as well as prescribed drugs to treat eye, ear and nose defects.

Besides rendering free health services, Boska team also leveraged the opportunity to educate consumers on how to live stress-free while at their various duties.

“This Pain Free Day edition is specially designed to keep consumers fit as they go about their domestic and work activities,” said the Senior Brand Executive,DexaMedica,Tunde Ojedokun. ‘’I am confident that DexaMedica will continue to improve the delivery of quality healthcare for consumers in the months ahead.”

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) earlier in the week welcomed a US $3.5 million contribution from the Government of Japan to provide desperately needed food assistance to tens of thousands of internally displaced people in North-east Nigeria.

The funding allows WFP to deliver food to more than 160,000 people in Borno and Yobe states, where the Boko Haram insurgency has left many people severely food insecure, and experts warn of a credible risk of famine in some places.

“We commend the Government and people of Japan for their continued contributions to WFP’s operations in North-east Nigeria,” said WFP Country Director and Representative ad interim in Nigeria, Ronald Sibanda. “This generous contribution from Japan will help WFP continue scaling up its response to reach more families in the region with food and nutrition support.”

Currently, some 4.7 million people are in dire need of food assistance in the three most conflict-affected states – Borno, Yobe and Adamawa – a figure that is expected to rise to 5.1 million by June.

“This new assistance is part of Japan’s pledge made at the Oslo Humanitarian Conference on North-east Nigeria and Lake Chad Region held between 23-24 February 2017 for humanitarian assistance in the region, and newly additional funding from the Emergency Grant Aid as a swift response to United Nations SecretaryGeneral Antonio Guterres’s call for emergency humanitarian support,” said Ambassador of Japan to Nigeria, Sadanobu Kusaoke. “The government of Japan is committed to ensure that millions of people in dire need of food in North-east Nigeria do not go hungry,” he

added. “It is expected that this funding will, in the interim, assuage the suffering of people in the affected states who are in a near-famine situation.”

For four consecutive months, WFP has reached more one million vulnerable in northeastern Nigeria with cash-based transfers, food distributions and nutritional assistance targeting children under five, along with pregnant and nursing women.

Indeed, WFP’s assistance increased in March to reach nearly 1.2 million beneficiaries, with plans to gradually scale up to reach 1.8 million people monthly during the coming lean season.

Dexa Medica team administering free medical services and distribution of eye glasses to residents of Ogijo in Ogun State ...recently

Organisation Raises Awareness on Cancer, Obesity Rebecca Ejifoma Harmony Life Family Foundation has organised a ‘Health and Fitness Walk’ in the Ikeja axis of Lagos State to mark World Awareness Month for Colon Cancer.

The aim was to sensitise the general public on the need for a healthier lifestyle against the risks posed by obesity and other Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) such as colon and breast cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, hypertension and stroke among others.

The Ikeja Health and Fitness Walk which was endorsed by the Lagos State Ministry of Health, started from Haven Event Centre, Isaac Ogunjobi Way Street, GRA, Ikeja, Lagos, where over 200 participants proceeded to Lagos State Ministry of Health, Alausa, a distance of about four kilometres.

Information flyers and placards on Key Facts/Preventive Measures for NCD were distributed and displayed to members of the public during

the walk.

According to the Executive Director of Harmony Life Family Foundation, Mrs. Mercy Ighofose, the Health and Fitness Walk aims to raise awareness in communities on the scourge of NCD and also to reduce the health risks posed

by NCD to Nigerians due to an influx of unhealthy diet.

“More Nigerians have embraced foreign diets and chosen to bulk on fast foods on a regular basis, when our country is so blessed with healthier, plant-based locally grown foods.”

Ighofose noted that many people were spending more time in front of their computers, phones and televisions which are basically sedentary activities of zero - physical exercise bringing on the problem of over-weight and obesity. The event was supported by Just Water-Smoody Fruit Company, Veleta Fruit Wine, Nutravit Multi-Grain Cereal, 3 Crowns Milk, P.B. Djebah Co. Ltd. and ARCO Group Plc.

Obaseki Inaugurates Dialysis Centre in Benin Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City The health centre named ‘St Vincent De Paul Mercy Medical Centre’, has 14 rooms and is an initiative of the St. Vincent De Paul Society of St. Paul Parish in Benin City. Obaseki who was accompanied by his wife, Betsy, expressed satisfaction for the completion of the project, noting that it would not only benefit the poor or citizens of the state but of the world at large. He commended the vision of the society for the success of the project, adding that he was ready to continue to support the centre.

“I met the group when I was campaigning to be the governor of Edo State. Discussing with the group, I realised this was beyond politics, I promised God that if I became governor of the state I would inaugurate the centre. That promise has been fulfilled today.”

Earlier, Archbishop of the Metropolitan Sea of Benin City Most Rev. Dr. Augustine Akubeze who thanked the state governor, also appreciated the society for their initiative to

undertake the project.

On his part, the parish Priest of St. Paul Catholic Church, Rev. Fr. Paul Enow appreciated the governor of the state and thanked the society for starting and completing the medical centre.

However, Mrs. Betsy Onojah, president of the society noted that the initiative was in response to the health challenges facing the poor who could die miserably without proper and affordable dialysis centre for them. She said that kidney problem was common in the world and the death rate in this part of the world was alarming, stressing that this was partly due to late dialysis and treatment.

“We intend to take a holistic care of the kidney. We shall ensure treatment is within the reach of the poor. The centre is part of our service to humanity,” she said.

Onojah revealed that the mission of the centre and the group was to save lives with the project, not to make huge profits, promising that the poor would no longer die because of kidney related issues.

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T H I S D AY •THURSDAY, APRIL 6, 2017

BUSINESS/MONEYGUIDE

CBN, Access Bank Partner on Cashless Policy Awareness Obinna Chima As part of efforts to promote awareness on the cashless policy, which was extended to the 30 remaining states of the federation recently, Access Bank Plc with the support of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) recently sensitised some business operators on the benefits of the scheme.

The cashless policy engagement session was organised by Access Bank. Speaking at the event, a Deputy Director in the Governor’s Office, CBN, Mr. Babatunde Ajiboye, described the cashless policy as a journey, saying that the policy was introduced in a bid to transform the payment system. Ajiboye emphasised that handling cash is expensive and constitute quite a significant percentage of the cost that banks carry.

“And of course, that cost is passed on to customers in order for them to make profit. Of course, we need efficiency within our payment system. Of course, there is high security and safety risks, which we can’t elaborate too much on that.

“We know the level of insecurity we face in Nigeria today.

And most of the insecurity that we face can be tied directly to cash. One of the the social crimes that we face is kidnapping, for instance. Once we bring in transparency into our payment system, it will also bring down the social evil that we face,” Ajiboye emphasised.

According to him, only about 10 per cent of Nigerian bank customers do cash transactions above N150,000 daily. He stressed that the aim of the cashless policy is certainly not

to eliminate cash completel, but to reduce the amount of cash in the system. On his part, the Executive Director, Commercial Banking, Access Bank, Mr. Roosevelt Ogbonna said the CBN and banks had put in a lot of resources towards making the cashless policy a success.

“For states where this has been entrenched over the last couple of years, we have seen the significant benefits and advantages it has brought to economic participants in those markets. I think what is clear is that this is a policy that has come to stay.

“So, as against fighting it, it is about learning what it means for our businesses and what we can do differently to take advantage of the opportunities it offers,” Ogbonna added.

‘Organisations Lose $6.3bn to Fraud Annually’ About five per cent of losses incured by organisations annually is traceable to fraudulent acts, with an estimated figure of $6.3 billion forfeited to fraud on an annual basis while only 12 percent of victim organisations are fortunate to have recovered all losses.

This was disclosed by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiner (ACFE) Lagos chapter at a seminar recently.

The association reckoned that as much as fraud exists, it will continue to threaten the lifespan of a businesses as well as the stability of country’s economy, hence, the need to attend to it holistically. In his remark, forensic expert , Beulah Adeoye

while treating the theme of the seminar: “Anatomy of Fraud: Understanding and Preventing Bribery and Corruption,” submitted that a deep knowledge of fraud, which is carried out deliberately ,was needed to effectively tackle the scourge.

He added also that bribery and corruption which had become pervasive in the country was ripping off massive investment in the private and public sectors,thus denying the nation of necessary development .

Quoting the World Bank, an expert, Don Ogbonnaya, said: “The World Bank Group considers corruption a major challenge to its institutional goals of ending extreme poverty by 2030 and

boosting shared prosperity for the poorest 40 percent in developing countries. “About $1 trillion is paid each year in bribes around the world, and the total economic loss from corruption is estimated to be many times that number.

This figure dwarfs the value of all development assistance. The harm that corruption causes to development is, in fact, a multiple of the estimated volume, given the negative impact of corruption on the poor and on economic growth” Adeoye agreed that bribery and corruption can be prevented by following certain principles he listed as:due diligence, risk assessment, proportionate procedure and top level committment.

Sterling Bank Trains 17,000 on Financial Management In line with its enriching lives proposition and renewed commitment to promoting financial literacy among students, Sterling Bank Plc recently trained over 17,000 secondary school students across the country on the key fundamentals of financial literacy and re-enforcing the need to encourage savings culture among the youth.

The exercise, which was in commemoration of the 2017 Financial Literacy Day was aimed at promoting financial literacy in Nigeria.

The bank’s Managing Director and Chief Executive, Mr. Yemi Adeola, led the senior

management team of the bank that took part in the exercise as he taught students of United Community School, Ilorin.

He also gave out various gift items including IPads and other branded items to outstanding students who took part in the exercise.

Other locations where the bank was adequately represented included Kwara State, Taraba State, Zamfara State, Abia State, and Ondo State. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had mandated each bank to teach in five schools per state selected from each of the six geo-political zones, making a total of 30 schools per bank.

The bank however took a step further in line with its purpose of enriching lives by extending the programme to schools in Lagos, Osun, Oyo, Kogi, Benue, and Kaduna. Others are Niger, Enugu, Anambra, Edo, Jos and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja ahead of competition.

Copies of the revised edition of its two books on financial literacy; ‘My Little Money Book’ and ‘FUND$’ and other corporate gift items such as school bags and other writing materials were distributed free to students. Students with exceptional performance during the exercise went home with iPads.

House Intervenes in Diamond Bank Staff Retrenchment Dispute The House of Representatives Committee on Public Petition yesterday summoned Diamond Bank Plc over the sacking of 300 staff.

It followed a petition by the aggrieved staff, which was earlier submitted by their Counsel, Stephen Ofagbor to the House.

The lawmakers had summoned the bank to appear before it to provide explanation on the matter. The bank didn’t however turn up at the meeting yesterday.

Essentially, the petition alleged that the “retrenchment was unconstitutional, unlawful, illegal, unwarranted, null and

void” and called on the bank to reverse its decision.

Ofagbor said the affected staff have taken several steps towards their reinstatement or payment of their terminal benefits, including a demand letter from their solicitor, but all to no avail as the bank rebuffed all overtures. He added that the affected persons were not given the opportunity to repay the loan as scheduled and are being charged interest on the unpaid balance, which they would not be in a position to pay except they are recalled or paid their redundancy benefits.

He said: “Each of the retrenched staff entitlement is based on rank and number of years served and they have been seized of all the particulars of each of them for purposes of computing their individual entitlement. “The action of Diamond bank has caused the affected persons enormous hardship, psychological trauma, great embarrassment and above all stigmatisation.”

He added that unless adequately redressed, the situation portends great risk to the bank employees and the industry in general.

Nnanna

MARKET INDICATORS MONEY AND CREDIT STATISTICS

(MILLION NAIRA)

DECEMBER 2016 Broad Money (M2)

23,840,392.42

-- Narrow Money (M1)

11,520,166.67

---- Currency Outside Banks

1,820,415.90

---- Demand Deposits

9,699,750.76

-- Quasi Money

12,320,225.75

Net Foreign Assets (NFA)

9,353,504.03

Net Domestic Assets(NDA)

14,486,888.39

-- Net Domestic Credit (NDC)

26,774,684.47

---- Credit to Government (Net)

4,595,579.89

---- Memo: Credit to Govt. (Net) less FMA

7,436,917.79

---- Memo: Fed. and Mirror Accounts (FMA)

-2,841,337.90

---- Credit to Private Sector (CPS)

22,374,718.08

--Other Assets Net

-12,483,409.58

Reserve Money (Base Money)

5,837,322.41

--Currency in Circulation

2,179,174.28

--Banks Reserves

3,318,344.71 • Source - CBN

MONEY MARKET INDICATORS (%) December 2016 Inter-Bank Call Rate

10.39

Monetary Policy Rate (MPR

14.00

Treasury Bill Rate

13.96

Savings Deposit Rate

4.18

1 Month Deposit Rate

8.53

3 Months Deposit Rate

8.80

6 Months Deposit Rate

10.23

12 Months Deposit Rate

10.76

Prime Lending rate

17.09

Maximum Lending Rate

28.55

• Monetary Policy Rate - 14%

OPEC DAILY BASKET PRICE AS AT TUESDAY 4, APRIL 2017

The price of OPEC basket of thirteen crudes stood at $50.59 a barrel on Tuesday, compared with $50.68 the previous day, according to OPEC Secretariat calculations. The OPEC Reference Basket of Crudes (ORB) is made up of the following: Saharan Blend (Algeria), Girassol (Angola), Oriente (Ecuador), Rabi Light (Gabon), Iran Heavy (Islamic Republic of Iran), Basra Light (Iraq), Kuwait Export (Kuwait), Es Sider (Libya), Bonny Light (Nigeria), Qatar Marine (Qatar), Arab Light (Saudi Arabia), Murban (UAE) and Merey (Venezuela).

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T H I S D AY •THURSDAY, APRIL 6, 2017

MARKET NEWS

Unity Bank’s Profit After Tax Falls by 53% to N2.2bn Goddy Egene and Nosa Alekhuogie Unity Bank Plc yesterday announced its audited financial results for the year ended December 31, 2016, showing a drop in profit after tax (PAT) by 53 per cent to N2.184 billion from N4.689 billion in 2015.

However, the bank recorded gross earnings of N84 billion, seven per cent higher than N78

billion recorded in 2015. The gross earnings were driven largely by growth in transactionbased income.

Despite the high inflation in 2016, the bank reduced its operating expenses by three per cent from N29 billion to N26 billion, reflecting a significant step by the bank in maximising derived benefits through the efficient allocation of resources and cost containment initiatives

embarked upon by the new management.

The bank attributed the lower bottom-line partly to high impairment charge of N35 billion in 2016, compared with N27 billion charged in December 2015.

The bank grew its deposit liabilities by 14 per cent from N231billion recorded in December 2015 to N264 billion in December 2016, indicating

effect of increased customer confidence, renewed customer care and the emerging innovative products rolled out during the year. Commenting on the result, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Unity Bank, Tomi Somefun said: “The key performance indicators point to increasing resilience in the face of challenging economic headwinds that characterised the operating environment in 2016.

“Despite the harsh operating environment, the bank remains stable having driven strategic choices to inspire greater market confidence and leveraging cost optimisation strategies, presence in the Northern markets which served as a bulwark, just as the deepening of our presence in Lagos /Southwest also balanced its outlook in the Southern markets. The proactive steps and efficiency gains arising

from major business decisions produced encouraging results that elicited double digit growth in deposit portfolio of the bank during the year.

“The direction for the bank in the coming years is to diversify the earnings base and target growth in double digit territory by aggressive pursuit of new business opportunities in the retail & Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) businesses.

DAILY STOCK MARKET REPORT T H E

N I G E R I A N

S T O C K

E X C H A N G E

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T H I S D AY THURSDAY APRIL 6, 2017

28th

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T H I S D AY • THURSDAY, APRIL 6, 2017

MARKET NEWS

FMDQ, NASD Join SEC to Educate Investors in South-South/East Goddy Egene The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), apex regulator of the Nigerian capital market, is strengthening investor education efforts in the South – East and South – South geopolitical zones of the country in order to give full view of the opportunities in the financial markets to existing and potential investors within the zones.

To this end, the regulator has enlisted the competencies of the FMDQ OTC Securities

Exchange and the NASD OTC Securities Exchange so as to bridge the existing knowledge gap in that the region on the unique roles which the two exchanges are playing in the financial market ecosystem.

At the First Quarter 2017 Stakeholders Market Review and Strategy Meeting held in SEC’s Port Harcourt Zonal Office recently, Jane Ijegbulem of the Legal and Compliance Department of NASD and Ebenezer Nwoji, Head, Examination at FMDQ gave insights on

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

the opportunities provided by the two exchanges.

For instance, Ijegbulem said NASD facilitates trading in unlisted securities, that is securities issued by those issuers who, for any reason, are reluctant, unwilling or unable to undertake the full rigours of complying with the listing requirements of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

She informed that the NASD OTC offers a deep and liquid market in which participants in capital can execute transactions on

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 4-Apr-2017, unless otherwise stated.

unlisted securities and bonds.

On his part, Nwoji remarked that the FMDQ offers great prospects in capital formation and intermediation for governments, business units and individuals in the South – East and South – South market segment.

He disclosed that the exchange offers a competitive bonds listing process through which businesses and governments may raise debt capital. The exchange also operates a competitive commercial paper listing

process from which companies and individuals may benefit, in addition to short – term bonds registration and listing rules that enable medium to large credit- worthy issuers raise capital.

According to Head of the SEC’s Port Harcourt Zonal Office, which oversees development of the capital market in the South – East and South – South zones, Obi Adindu, “the product and service bouquets of the exchanges speak to a lot of the peculiar needs of

our MSMEs dominant market segment. It is important to engender increased interaction between the exchanges and market actors in the zones in order to improve the issuer’s access to capital and catalyze economic growth and development in the area. Representatives of the exchanges have been invited to join the Investor Education Faculty (IEF) which is the think – tank set up by the SEC and market stakeholders to carry out investor education across the zones.”

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 129.30 129.84 1.82% Nigeria International Debt Fund 218.45 219.22 1.51% 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 0.72 0.73 3.35% 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 17.27% 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 12.47 12.85 1.01% ARM Discovery Fund 293.07 301.90 2.05% ARM Ethical Fund 22.51 23.18 0.74% ARM Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 16.11% 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 106.47 107.22 1.23% AXA Mansard Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 16.43% CHAPELHILL DENHAM MANAGEMENT LTD investmentmanagement@chapelhilldenham.com Web: www.chapelhilldenham.com, Tel: +234 461 0691 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Chapelhill Denham Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 10.00% Paramount Equity Fund 9.56 9.80 2.11% Women's Investment Fund 87.69 89.94 3.66% 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 18.07% 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 1,140.11 1,141.30 4.56% FBN Heritage Fund 109.56 110.30 -1.81% FBN Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 17.13% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Institutional $107.39 $108.08 3.20% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Retail $107.09 $107.78 3.62% FBN Nigeria Smart Beta Equity Fund 116.56 118.06 3.44% 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 0.98 3.19% Legacy Short Maturity (NGN) Fund 2.68 2.68 4.16% 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 2,238.61 2,265.71 1.35% Coral Income Fund 2,203.62 2,203.62 4.72% 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 17.05% Vantage Balanced Fund 1.72 1.73 2.11% Vantage Guaranteed Income Fund 1.00 1.00 15.84%

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 3.17% Lotus Halal Fixed Income Fund 1,031.29 1,031.29 2.83% 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 9.79 9.88 1.38% Meristem Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 16.53% 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 1.09 1.11 3.33% PACAM Fixed Income Fund 10.47 10.52 0.70% PACAM Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 16.42% 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 110.81 111.71 8.83% 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 1.16 1.16 2.48% 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 1,855.98 1,865.14 1.32% Stanbic IBTC Bond Fund 156.63 156.63 1.73% Stanbic IBTC Ethical Fund 0.76 0.77 -0.65% Stanbic IBTC Guaranteed Investment Fund 193.65 193.65 3.62% Stanbic IBTC Iman Fund 132.35 134.17 1.98% Stanbic IBTC Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 17.60% Stanbic IBTC Nigerian Equity Fund 7,384.19 7,471.07 -2.62% 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 1.11 1.16 7.55% United Capital Bond Fund 1.28 1.28 15.60% United Capital Equity Fund 0.65 0.66 0.96% 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 10.03 10.21 4.10% Zenith Ethical Fund 11.36 11.47 4.10% Zenith Income Fund 17.44 17.44 5.55%

REITS

NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

11.41 118.15

1.01% 1.99%

Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

8.16 71.88

8.26 73.22

-7.02% -5.15%

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

2.65 6.23 11.21 15.84 129.08

2.69 6.31 11.31 16.04 131.08

-3.57% -11.32% -6.48% -0.69% -0.61%

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.

44

T H I S D AY THURSDAY APRIL 6, 2017

RC 31126

The Board of Directors of LASACO ASSURANCE PLC announces the

AUDITED FINANCIAL STATEMENT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2016

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT To the shareholders of LASACO Assurance Plc Report on the Audit of the Financial statements Opinion We have audited the accompanying financial statements of LASACO Assurance Plc. which comprise the statement of financial posi on as 31st December 2016, the statement of profit or loss and other comprehensive income, statement of changes in equity, statement of cash flow for the year then ended, and the notes to the financial statements including a summary of significant accounn ng policies.

In our opinion, the financial statements give a true and fair view of the financial posi on of LASACO Assurance Plc as at 31 December, 2016 and the financial performance and cash flows for the year then ended in accordance with the Interna onal Financial Repor ng standards, the Companies and Allied Ma ers Act Cap C20 LFN 2004, Insurance Act 117 LFN 2004 and Finncial Repor ng Council of Nigeria Act, 2011.

Basis of Opinion We conducted our audit in accordance with Interna onal Standards on Audi ng (As). Our r responsibili es under those standards are further described in the Auditor's Responsibili es or the Audit of the Financial Statements sec on of our report. We are independent of the Company in accordance with the Ins tutee of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) Professional Code of Conduct and Guide for Accountants and other independence requirements applicable to performing audits of financial statements in Nigeria. We have fulfilled our other ethical responsibili es in accordance with the ICAN Code and in accordance with other ethical requirements applicable to performing audits in Nigeria. The ICAN Code is consistent with the Interna onal ethics Standards Board for Accountants Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants (Parts A and B). We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Responsibili es of the diectors for the Financial Statements The directors are responsible for the prepara on and presenta on of the financial statements in accordance with Interna onal Financial Repor ng standards and requirements of the Companies and Allied Ma ers Act CAP C20 LFN 2004, Insurance Act 117 2004 and Financial Repor ng Act, 2011 and or such internal control as the directors determine what is necessary to enable the prepara on of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the financial statements, the directors are responsible for assessing the Company's ability to con nue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, ma ers related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accoun ng unless the directors either intend to liquidate the Company or to cease opera ons, orhave no realis c alterna ve to do so.

Auditor's Responsibili es or the Audit of the Financial Statements Our objec ves are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor's report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error that are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

Report on other Legal and Regulatory Requirements In accordance with the Sixth Schedule of the Companies and Allied Matters Act CAP C20 LFN 2004 we expressly state that: i) We have obtained all the information and explanation which to the best of our knowledge and belief were necessary for the purpose of our audit. ii) The Company has kept proper books of account, so far as appears from our examination of those books. iii) The Company's statement of financial position and its statement of profit or loss and other comprehensive income are in agreement with the books of account.

FRC/2013/ICAN/00000000101 For: Doyin Owolabi & Co. (Chartered Accountants)

Lagos, Nigeria 9 March, 2017

T H I S D AY THURSDAY APRIL 6, 2017

45

The phase 2 comprises the following four components, viz: 1. Identification and utilisation of Private Sector's Technical Training Schools.

THRUST OF PHASE 2 OF THE PROJECT

In the last seven (7) years, the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) and Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) have been collaborating, through a uniquely defined Technical and Vocational Skills Development Programme, to take Nigerian youths off the streets and straight into employment. We want to thank our partner organisations such as Nigerian Breweries Plc, Lafarge Africa, Peugeot Automobile Nigeria, Nigerdock Plc FZE, Truckmasters, Ruff ‘n’ Tumble, just to mention a few, for the role they have played by making their facilities available to empower our youths and also providing employment for these youths after finishing their training.

This model has indeed been an intervention programme we are all proud of in view of its guaranteed outcome of job creation either through employment or entrepreneurship.

We equally want to express appreciation to our various Masters Trainers and trainers who have done an excellent job of integrating and implementing the ILO 5-day Entrepreneurship Development Training Module on the Start and Improve Your Business (SIYB) Module as part of the Technical and Vocational Skills Development Programme.

In effect, all trainees that go through any of the skills areas are equipped with vocational and wealth creation skills, which empower them to choose wage employment or entrepreneurship.

In the light of the roaring success of this intervention programme, ITF and NECA have agreed to commence a second phase of the programme by signing on 1st March 2017, a new Memorandum of Understanding which seeks to consolidate and expand the outcome from the 1st Phase.

PREAMBLE

The Project will identify those with Technical Training Schools and empower them to train Nigerians to acquire required skills for the growth of the economy. The following companies have been identified and enlisted as training institutions: Ÿ Peugeot Automobile Nigeria Ltd (PAN Learning Centre), Kaduna Ÿ Nigerdock Nigeria PLC-FZE, Snake Island, Lagos Ÿ Nigerian Breweries PLC, Ibadan Ÿ Nigerian Bottling Company Limited, Lagos Ÿ Truckmasters Nigeria Limited, Ikeja, Lagos Ÿ Lafarge Africa PLC, Ewekoro Ÿ Kamjay Farms, Ibeju – Lekki Ÿ Ruff ‘n’Tumble, Ikeja, Lagos Ÿ Style House, Apapa, Lagos Ÿ Hasting Business Training, Abuja Ÿ Ashaka Cement, Gombe 2. Expansion and inclusion of additional ITF Industrial Skills Training Centers. The following Centers have been identified for this purpose: Ÿ ITF Industrial Skills Training Centre (ISTC), Ikeja Lagos Ÿ ITF Industrial Skills Training Centre (ISTC), Kano Ÿ ITF Industrial Skills Training Centre (ISTC), Lokoja Ÿ ITF Centre of Excellence, Jos Any moment from now, the companies and Centres listed in (1) and (2) above would be advertising in the National Dailies for interested youths to apply for places in their technical schools. Students will be provided with free training in technical skills of their choices and a stipend to cover daily running expenses.

3. Enhancement of vocational and training infrastructure in Formal Technical Colleges: The following colleges will benefit from the Project: Ÿ Government Technical College, Bukuru, Plateau State Ÿ Benin Technical College, Edo State Ÿ Government Technical College, Sokoto State Ÿ Federal Science and Technical College, Awka, Anambra State 4. Internship in Companies for students in non-company based training institutions: NECA and ITF would provide opportunities for the trainees

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We envisage the following outcomes in the next 4 years of the Project: Ÿ Over 25,000 technically and vocationally empowered youths with practical hands-on skills and technical know-how in trade areas listed above, with capacity to build our economy. Ÿ Thousands of skilled Youths who are either jobready or capable of job/wealth creation.

EXPECTED OUTCOMES

to acquire practical experience and create a data bank link for Industries to easily source technically and vocationally skilled graduates in varied trade areas: The programme will focus on skill empowerment in the following areas: Ÿ Electrical / Electronic Maintenance Ÿ Mechanical Machinery & Maintenance Ÿ Welding and Fabrication Works Ÿ Plumbing and Pipefitting Maintenance Ÿ Mechatronics/ Autotronics Ÿ Instrumentation/Process Control Ÿ Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Maintenance Ÿ Beverage Bottle Operation Ÿ Information and Communication Technology Ÿ Building Construction Ÿ Carpentry and Joinery Ÿ Agriculture and Agro-Allied Ÿ Animal Husbandry Ÿ Aqua Culture and Breeding & Rearing Hatchery Ÿ Livestock and Aqua Culture Feeds Ÿ Fashion Design and Tailoring Ÿ Any other skill area to be identified from time to time

middle-level technical skills gap in the economy.

..the voice of business since 1957

If Nigeria is to fully reap the employment spin-off of the massive spending on infrastructure development that will underpin the implementation of the Economic Growth and Recovery Plan, it will be imperative for the government to encourage and support this type of initiative through appropriate policy articulation and funding as our experience has shown that there are numerous technical and vocational institutions, both private and public, that are lying idle all over the country (what we have chosen to call "brown fields"), which could be "cultivated" for the purpose of reducing the incidence of high unemployment. We, therefore, welcome partners to join ITF and NECA in this national priority of job creation through skill empowerment for the Nigerian youths.

Further enquiries on this programme should be directed to the following: ITF: Director Research and Curriculum Development Industrial Training Fund (ITF) Miango Road, Jos NECA: Director Projects, Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) Plot A2 Hakeem Balogun Street CBD Alausa, Ikeja Lagos

CONCLUSION

in Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in Nigeria.

Ÿ A sustainable Public-Private-Partnership Model

the socio-economic development of the country.

Ÿ 20,000 gainfully employed youths contributing to

Ÿ Skilled youths in over 25 trade areas filling up

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ÿ

Launch of the 2nd Phase of the Joint Intervention Initiative of the Industrial Training Fund and Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association

Fast-Track to Employment through Technical and Vocational Skills Acquisition:

46 T H I S D AY THURSDAY APRIL 6, 2017

47

THURSDAY APRIL 6, 2017 • T H I S D AY

INTERNATIONAL

email:foreigndesk@thisdaylive.com

Death Toll from Syria Chemical Attack Rises to 75 The death toll from a suspected chemical attack on a northern Syrian town rose to 75 on Wednesday as activists and rescue workers found more terrified survivors hiding in shelters near the site of the assault, one of the deadliest in Syria’s civil war.

A Syrian opposition group said renewed airstrikes hit the town of Khan Sheikhoun a day after the attack, which the Trump administration and others have blamed on the government of President Bashar Assad, as well as his main patrons, Russia and Iran.

Damascus and Moscow have denied they were behind the attack. Russia’s Defence Ministry said the toxic agents were released when a Syrian airstrike hit a rebel arsenal, an account Britain dismissed at an emergency U.N. session called in response to the attack.

British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft said the U.K. had seen nothing that would suggest rebels “have the sort of chemical weapons that are consistent with the symptoms that we saw yesterday.”

Russia said it would submit information from its Defense

Ministry to the Security Council debate.

A resolution drafted by Britain, France, and the U.S. stresses the Syrian government’s obligation to provide information about its air operations, including the names of those in command of any helicopter squadrons on the day of the attack.

Diplomats were also meeting in Brussels for a major donors’ conference on the future of Syria and t h e r e g i o n .

Representatives from 7 0 c o u n t r i e s were present.

Nigeria, Israel to Strengthen Bilateral Trade Relationship Crusoe Osagie Worried about the low volume of trade between Nigeria and Israel, the Bank of Industry (BoI) and the Israeli government have entered into a partnership agreement to seek ways to deepen and strengthen the bilateral trade relationship between both economies.

The acting Managing Director, BoI, Mr. Waheed Olagunju, during a courtesy visit by Israel’s ambassador to BoI, said the partnership is apt coming at a time when Nigeria is trying to improve and increase its agro processing capacity, urging domestic and foreign investors to take advantage of the opportunity to invest in the nation’s vast agricultural sector.

According to the acting Managing Director, BoI boss, the partnership would also areas of possible collaboration in the recently launched Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) of the federal government, maintaining that there is a lot of money to be made by Israeli investors in Nigeria.

In his words, “Most foreign companies that have invested in Nigeria have reaped profitably. We believe if the Israeli business model is right, they can reap much more in the Nigerian economy because our vast natural and resource endowments. There is no country

as blessed as Nigeria in the world.

The BoI will be on ground to work with Israeli investors who wants to do business in Nigeria. Whoever wants to do business in Nigeria can always work with BoI and we will give them all our hands.

We are on ground in Nigeria to hold the hands of both domestic and foreign investors who wants to do business in the country.”

He said the Development Finance Institution (DFI) is looking forward to a very good time with its foreign and domestic development partners with Israeli investors being one of the most outstanding. ”You are coming at the right time when the country is trying to improve and increase its agro processing capacity because we have had bumper harvest last year and we are still going to have more in the coming years and if steps are not taken urgently to improve the agro processing industry, there could be post harvest losses and this will serve as a disincentive to farmers. So we are stepping up our agro processing capacity in the country to ensure that we preserve and add value to our agricultural produce while also preparing them for the export market as well,” he said.

In his response, the Israel Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Guy Feldman, said the Israeli

government believes that there is much more both economies can do in terms of trade, stating that the partnership would identify areas on how to improve and strengthen bilateral trade agreements between Nigeria and Israel. ”Israel has ideas and innovations where Nigeria can tap from to drive any sector of the economy. The trade between the two countries is something which we have more with the smallest countries in Europe and other places and this shows that something is definitely wrong somewhere, because we believe Nigeria is a huge economy and we believe we can a whole lot more,” he said.

“I believe we do not do what we should do to make the trade bigger than what it presently is.

In the middle of this century, Nigeria will be compatible like China because the growth in any aspect of Africa is the biggest in the world. Nigeria is a huge market where the possibilities are incredible. We can support the Nigerian economy with communication, cyber security intelligence, agricultural and small business support. We share lots of things we can do together, but we need to find the mechanism to strengthen our partnership. Nigeria is blessed with everything it needs,” he added.

US Says North Korean Missile Test Ended in Fiery Crash A North Korean missile test ended in failure Wednesday when the rocket spun out of control and plunged into the ocean in a fiery crash, a senior U.S. defense official said.

The launch came shortly before U.S. President Donald Trump’s first meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping later this week, raising speculation that it might have been timed to get their attention.

The extended-range Scud missile suffered an in-flight failure and fell into the sea off North Korea’s east coast, according to

U.S. imagery and assessments, the official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the launch publicly.

Initial U.S. and South Korean assessments had indicated it was an advanced KN-15 mediumrange missile, whose first known test by North Korea was in February. But unlike the KN-15, which uses solid fuel, the missile fired Wednesday used liquid fuel and was fired from a fixed location, rather than a mobile launcher, the official said.

The South Korean military said the missile was fired from land near the east coast city of Sinpo and flew only about 60 kilometres (40 miles).

North Korea is pushing hard to upgrade its weapons systems to cope with what it calls U.S. hostility. Many weapons experts say the North could have a functioning nuclear-tipped missile capable of reaching the continental U.S. within a few years. North Korea carried out two nuclear tests last year.

48

T H I S D AY THURSDAY APRIL 6, 2017

Offer for Subscription

DEBT MANAGEMENT OFFICE NIGERIA

Pursuant to the Debt Management Office (Establishment) Act 2003 and the Local Loans (Registered Stock and Securities) Act, CAP. L17, LFN 2004

DEBT MANAGEMENT OFFICE on behalf of the

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OF NIGERIA Offers for Subscription and is authorized to receive applications for the

Federal Government of Nigeria

Savings Bond

at the following interest rates

2-Year FGN Savings Bond due April 12, 2019: 12.794% 3-Year FGN Savings Bond due April 12, 2020: 13.794% Opening Date: Closing Date: Settlement Date:

April 3, 2017 April 7, 2017 April 12, 2017

SUMMARY OF THE OFFER

ISSUER: Federal Government of Nigeria (“FGN”) UNITS OF SALE: N1,000 per unit subject to a minimum Subscription of N5,000 and in multiples of N1,000 thereafter, subject to a maximum subscription of N50,000,000.

INTEREST PAYMENT: Payable Quarterly REDEMPTION: Bullet repayment on the maturity date

STATUS: 1.

Qualifies as securities in which trustees can invest under the Trustee Investment Act. 2.

Qualifies as Government securities within the meaning of Company Income Tax Act (“CITA”) and Personal Income Tax Act (“PITA”) for Tax Exemption for Pension Funds, amongst other investors.

3.

Listed on The Nigerian Stock Exchange.

4.

Qualifies as a liquid asset for liquidity ratio calculation for banks.

SECURITY: Backed by the full faith and credit of the Federal Government of Nigeria and charged upon the general assets of Nigeria.

INTERESTED INVESTORS SHOULD CONTACT THE STOCKBROKING FIRMS APPOINTED AS DISTRIBUTION AGENTS BY THE DEBT MANAGEMENT OFFICE. PLEASE VISIT www.dmo.gov.ng FOR THE LIST OF DISTRIBUTION AGENTS.

49

T H I S D AY • THURSDAY, APRIL 6, 2017

PAGE FORTY-NINE

Eight Ivy Schools Offer Nigerian Teenager Admission Ifeoma White-Thorpe, a New Jersey high school student, born

by Nigerian parents, has done a clean sweep of her college applications, racking up acceptances from all eight Ivy League schools in the United States as well as Stanford, just for good measure.

She got offers for admission to Harvard, Yale, Columbia, UPenn, Brown, Cornell, Dartmouth, Princeton and Stanford.

Ifeoma who attends Morris Hills High School in Denville, is now dealing with a happier problem—figuring out which of the prestigious schools she’d

Ifeoma White-Thorpe like to go to in order to further her education, which she thinks will be focused on global health.

According to CNN, her proud parents, Andre and Patricia White-Thorpe, said they would leave the final decision up to the brilliant teen, granted with the letters she has in front of her, there’s really not a bad choice she can make.

Patricia, nee Eluemunor, is a pharmacist, according to her records, while the husband is a computer expert.

“I want to go into global health and study biology, and so many of them have great research facilities, so I was like, I might as well just shoot my shot and apply,” Ifeoma told

WABC. “I got into Harvard earlyaction, so I figured I’ll just go there, so then I got into all the others and I was like, ‘Wait, now I don’t know where I want to go’,” Ifeoma added.

When she got her acceptance letters, she almost couldn’t believe it.

“I was shaking, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, like this might be eight out of eight,’ and I clicked it and it said ‘Congratulations,’ and I was like, ‘Oh my goodness,’ and then I was like, ‘What did I say?’” she recalled. “I think my love for poetry and writing

just really stood out.”

“At this point, none of the schools I’ve applied to said they give merit scholarships, so I’m praying that they give me some more financial aid or some money. Shout out to all of those schools, please give me something,” Ifeoma said with a laugh.

The Ivy League is made of up Brown University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University and Yale University.

The top 10 ranked schools for biology in the country

are as follows, according to U.S. News and World Report: Harvard (1), the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1), Stanford (1), the University of California – Berkeley (4), and the California Institute of Technology (5).

Students getting into all of the Ivies is a monumental feat, but it’s happened to a handful of teens over the past couple of years — Kwasi Enin in 2014, Harold Ekeh in 2015 and Augusta Uwamanzu-Nna and Kelly Hyles last year.

Two of the four students mentioned above, are of Nigerian parentage.

African Pentecostalism Has Given Birth to a New Breed of Mentally Lazy Christians Africa is currently experiencing another form of slavery through Pentecostalism. We are now mentally lazy and our ability to reason scientifically has been incapacitated.

The African pastor won’t talk about Usain Bolt or Serena Williams. The African Pastor won’t talk about Steve Jobs or the young people in Silicon Valley reshaping our world.

They won’t talk about young American scientists spending endless hours in search of a cure to a disease that’s predominantly in the Tropical African Region.

The African pastor won’t

VIEW FROM ABROAD talk about Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie or Ben Okri.

In every corner of the world, there exist young men and women who have defied all odds and become successful through hard work, creativity and dedication….

The African pastor won’t talk about them, neither will he ask his members to emulate the spirit of these individuals.

He would rather talk about Sister Agatha who got a job she was not the most qualified

for because she prayed and fasted in line with their church programme, or Brother John a millionaire because he used all his salary as a seed in the church, or Papa Miracle who he laid his hands on and three of his children got admission in the university, or Mama Esther paid her tithe and her business started growing everywhere across the nation with no business plan, just boom, everywhere.

This has led to a new breed of mentally lazy young

people who now see God as a rewarder of mediocrity.

To the African pastor, the only way to prosper is by paying your tithe and seeds in the church. So they will never talk about those, who have through hard work and dedication placed themselves on the world map. No… the African God only blesses the first 30 people that rush to the alter to drop $100 as seed.

The African God abhors hard work and creative thinking, he only gives to those who sow seeds and offerings… and those who shout: “I am a millionaire” every morning and do nothing

the rest of the day.

You want the Almighty to come down and help you use the talent He gave you and bless you because you are going to church to shout: “Daddy I receive it,” these are all jokers.

Can someone tell these jokers that irrespective of your creed, faith or religion, blessings and favours follow you once you start using your talent and become useful to your society?

The Bible tells the story of the Talents.

Use it. Blessing is already bestowed upon us. When we

use it positively, we ask the Lord to bless it. The Bible says His Grace is sufficient for us.

The Western world and Asians are excelling and dominating the world. Let no Imam or Pastor manipulate our minds while they themselves drown in amassing wealth and luxurious splendour, while our people are living in abject poverty.

Be Wise. Worship of God is from the heart. But study, work hard and always watch and pray! May God Almighty bless us all, in Jesus' name!!

• Culled from modernghana.com

in the vicinity where Rear Admiral Teikumo Daniel Ikoli resides in Apapa.

“When his room was opened, he was found dead. The police were invited. The investigation is ongoing. When the situation is clearer, an update will be given.”

Born on October 2, 1965, the 52-year-old was a football fan and an avid supporter of Arsenal Football Club. He was also a dog lover.

He was admitted into Course 33 Class of the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) with service number NN1144 and enlisted in the Nigerian Navy on January

4, 1983. He was commissioned on January 4, 1986.

The father of four was made a midshipman on June 25, 1985 and became a sub-lieutenant on January 4, 1987. He later rose to the rank of lieutenant on January 4, 1991.

On January 4, 1996, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant commander and on January 4, 2001, he became a commander. On January 4, 2006, he was promoted to captain.

On January 4, 2011, he rose to the rank of a commodore where he headed NNS Beecroft and on January 4, 2015, he made

the rank of rear admiral.

When the Bayelsa indigene joined the navy, he specialised as an Above Weapons Warfare (AWW) officer.

At NNS Beecroft, where he left for the arms deal probe, he will be remembered for the computerised state-of-theart edifice he set up at the gate, the construction of the modern officers mess and senior ratings mess, as well as the refurbishment of buildings under his base.

Among his colleagues and junior officers, he was regarded as an officer and gentleman.

to foreign countries.

Udoma also said the plan consisted of 60 interventions which he said would touch various spheres of the nation, make the market function better and promote discipline, integrity, social justice, national cohesion and inclusion.

Other features of the plan as listed by Udoma included stabilising the economy, expanding the economy, improving energy consumption, transportation and driving industrialisation.

He said in the bid to ensure effective implementation, a special delivery unit would be established in the presidency to monitor the implementation process with a view to ensuring that the objectives are implemented “with vigour, focus and success”.

Yari, in his remarks, described the plan as a significant

landmark which provides the basis for inclusive growth and development.

He assured that state governments would co-operate with the federal government to achieve the objectives of the plan.

Also speaking, Hon. Dogara said such an event usually gladdens the hearts of students of development economics, pointing out that the plan has set out to address all aspects of development in Nigeria.

Recalling that the plan drew inputs from relevant stakeholders across the country, he said the National Assembly was not left out of the consultations.

However, Dogara recalled that at various times in the nation’s history, good and strategic development agendas had been developed but failed at the point of implementation.

He said he was glad that a unit meant to monitor the ERGP’s implementation had been proposed to forestall failure and pledged the cooperation of the House of Representatives to ensure it is well implemented.

In the same vein, Saraki described yesterday as a day of restoration of hope as he echoed Dogara that the proposal for the establishment of implementation unit was cheery, in view of several unimplemented goals in the past.

He also said besides the unit, everyone has a responsibility to ensure that the plan is well implemented.

He disclosed that some bills that are currently before the Senate including the bill on ease of doing business and Made-in-Nigeria goods were initiated to serve as impetus for the plan’s success.

NAVY ADMIRAL, DANIEL IKOLI, FOUND DEAD AFTER SUSPECTED SUICIDE When news got to the WNC of his death, the navy initially suspected that Ikoli had been assassinated on the basis of the alleged assassination threats during his tenure as a member of the arms deal probe.

However, after the police were invited and they did a sweep of the apartment and the death scene, preliminary investigations revealed that he shot himself.

Speaking on the tragic incident, the general suspicion among his colleagues was that he was depressed and had lost the will to live.

A senior officer, who preferred

not to be named, said the depression could have stemmed from his ordeal on the arms probe panel.

He said the deceased should have undergone therapy for PostTraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) after his new assignment, given the tension and turmoil he must have experienced while working on the committee.

He said: “Perhaps, if he had gone through therapy for PTSD, he might still be alive. It’s not only those that go to warfronts that should be taken through PTSD therapy.

“Officers who are deployed

to specialised committees and task forces should, as a matter of necessity, be de-stressed immediately.”

Speaking on the incident, the Flag Officer Commanding, WNC, Rear Admiral Fergusson Bobai (WNC), said when Ikoli’s room was opened, he was already dead.

A statement by the command’s Information Officer (CINFO), Lieutenant Commander Chinwe Umar, quoted the FOC as stating that Ikoli’s lifeless body was discovered after gunshots were heard in the vicinity.

He said: “In the early hours of Wednesday, gunshots were heard

BUHARI: ERGP WILL GROW ECONOMY AS WE FIGHT CORRUPTION, INSECURITY Dogara; Chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) and Zamfara State governor, Abdulaziz Yari; Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma; the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun; and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Govermor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, among other members of the Economic Management Team.

The president, who said he was glad to launch the plan, added that the government would deploy the same commitment it had employed to fight corruption and insecurity to improve local content and transform Nigeria from an import-dependent nation to a producing economy where the country would consume what it produces.

He also said the plan would serve as a veritable platform

for the economy to thrive.

Buhari said his administration would remain committed to his electoral promise to change the way of doing things in Nigeria and consequently change Nigeria for good.

He challenged the state governors to draw inspiration from the plan to articulate economic programmes for their respective states. He also appealed to Nigerians to co-operate with the government in its drive to achieve the objectives of the plan.

He equally called on the National Assembly, the business community and the civil society organisations to embrace the plan.

Buhari, who commended the economic team under the leadership of the vice-president for developing the plan, further explained that it would improve security, tackle corruption and

grow the economy.

He also listed other objectives of the plan to include agricultural revolution, infrastructure development and social interventions, stressing that the ERGP would provide the roadmap for Nigeria’s economic breakthrough.

While introducing the plan earlier, Senator Udoma said it had three cardinal objectives, namely: to restore security, fight corruption and guarantee economic recovery.

Furthermore, Udoma who described the plan as the fulfilment of Buhari’s electoral campaign promise to promote and reinvigorate the economy, added that the plan would restore economic growth, invest in Nigerians, boost a competitive economy, and build a self-reliant economy where Nigeria will consume what it produces and also export same

THURSDAY, APRIL 6, 2017• T H I S D AY

50

NEWS

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

Sultan, Emir of Kano Blast Northern Political and Religious Leaders

Sanusi describes Yari’s claim on meningitis as horrendous, unislamic FG dismisses governor’s assertion

John Shiklam in Kaduna The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Mohammed Sa’ad Abubakar III, has called on political leaders to focus on programmes that would better the lives of ordinary Nigerians and not just programmes that benefit the elite.

Also, former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, said cultural and religious dogmas that are not in tune with the realities in the rest of the Muslim world have contributed to the backwardness of the North.

Both traditional rulers spoke yesterday at the second edition of the Kaduna Investment Forum in Kaduna.

In his goodwill message at the occasion, the Sultan urged political leaders to keep politics aside and focus more on development issues that would improve the living condition of the masses.

He regretted that in spite of the poor condition of roads and lack of basic infrastructure, some governors were constructing airports and other white elephant projects that have no bearing to the

generality of the people.

According to the Sultan, “I have always talked about programmes that will touch the lives of the common man in the villages, on the streets pushing trucks, carrying water to sell to survive.

“We want programmes that will touch the lives of these people, not programmes that will touch lives of the elites alone.

“There are governors building airports worth billions of naira while our roads are a death trap. Governors who building airports when we don’t have functional clinics.

Governors are building airports just for their private jets.

“I want to assure our political leaders that when we advised them, we do so with the fear of Almighty Allah, because if we don’t advise them, we will account for our own actions.

“So let’s put the building of airports and other white elephant projects aside and face issues that will bring water, food, good health, peace, security and make people go about freely without molestation.

“Therefore, let’s do politics of development, because I know

very soon, we would be in 2019,” the traditional ruler said.

He said further: “We will use our votes to vote out those governors who refused to work for us. If you think 2019 is far, it is not far, it is very much around the corner.

“Therefore, my fellow citizens of the world, for those governors are work for us, we will vote them back, for those that have not work for us, we will tell them to go back home and learn how to govern us better and try their luck next time,” the traditional ruler said.

He, however, commended the Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, for initiating such programme, stressing that once Kaduna is developed, it is going to impact positively on the North.

He declared that the project must succeed, emphasising

that “we don’t have any other option than to make sure that this project being put together by the Kaduna State governor succeed and for this to succeed, there must be peace. Nobody will invest in a place where there is instability.”

On his part, the Emir of Kano, Sanusi, in keynote address, lamented that culture and dogmatic religious practices were stunting the development of the North.

In his address with the theme: ‘Promoting investments in the midst of economic challenges’, the emir said the North needs to understand the root cause of its problems.

He advised the North to invest more in education and healthcare, noting: “We are in denial, the North-west and North-east demographically constitute the bulk of Nigeria’s

population.

“But look at the human development indices, look at the number of children out of school, look at adult literacy, look at maternal mobility, look at infant mobility, look at per capita income, the North-east and the North-west of Nigeria are among the poorest parts of the world, not just Nigeria.”

Sanusi recalled that “As far back as 2000, I looked at the UNDP figures on human development indices, Borno and Yobe State, if they were a country on their own, they would have been poorer than Cameroon, Niger and Chad.

“Nobody saw this because we see Nigeria as a country that leverages on oil rich Niger Delta, the industrial and commercial reach Lagos, the commercially vibrant Southeast and you have an average.”

According to him, if Nigeria were to be broken into its component parts and “this part of the country would be among the poorest, if it were a country, it would be the poorest; nation in the world and we do not realise that we are in trouble.

“We need to understand the root of the problems of Northern Nigeria, because we have adopted an interpretation of our culture and religion rooted in the 13th century, that refuses to recognise that the rest of the Muslim world has moved on.

“Other Muslim nations have pushed forward girl-child education, they have pushed forward science and technology.

They have pushed forward the arts. We have this myth

Cont’d on Pg 53

CBN Holds Special Intervention for BDCs Today to Meet Spiking Parallel Market Demand Obinna Chima As part of efforts to sustain dollar liquidity in the foreign exchange (FX) market, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday disclosed plans to hold a special intervention in the Bureau de Change (BDC) segment of the market today.

This is just as findings showed that the country’s external reserves increased by $21 million to $30.318 billion as of April 4, compared to $30.297 billion on March 31.

Disclosing this in Abuja, yesterday CBN spokesman, Isaac Okorafor, said the special intervention of $10,000 for BDCs was meant to meet the upsurge in forex requests of low-end customers, which has been on the rise in recent days.

According to him, the special intervention did not in any way contradict the CBN’s newly amended sale policy of selling not more than $10,000 only to BDCs once a week.

He further explained that the intervention arose due to the increasing demand for forex

by Nigerians to address other legitimate needs.

The CBN spokesman also disclosed to journalists that the CBN was collating retail requests from authorised dealers upon which sales would be finalised.

The move by the central bank is expected to tame the rising demand for FX on the parallel market which led to the depreciation of the naira yesterday.

The nation’s currency fell to N397 to the dollar yesterday, as against N390 the previous day.

The CBN on Tuesday fulfilled its commitment to sell $10,000 to BDCs in line with its new policy.

In addition, auhorised FX dealers fully subscribed to the $150 million offered by the CBN at its auction on the interbank wholesale window on Tuesday.

Also, the central bank revealed Tuesday that it will offer dollar forwards to be delivered within two months to offset a backlog of matured foreign exchange obligations to manufacturers, airlines, fuel importers and agriculture businesses.

The bank had last Monday offered $150 million wholesale forwards to banks and said it also released $90 million for invisible transactions to ensure liquidity in the forex market.

The CBN, since February 21, has made over 10 offers in the interbank wholesale market ranging from $100 million to $500million per auction. The last three auctions ranging from $100million to $150 million were fully subscribed.

INVESTMENT DRIVE IN KADUNA

L-R: Emir of Kano, Alhaji Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai; and former Governor of Cross River State, Donald Duke, at KADINVEST 2.0, an event organised by the Kaduna State Government in Kaduna....yesterday

Stop Inflammatory Statements, APC Warns Sagay Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja The All Progressives Congress (APC) has cautioned the Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee against Corruption (PACA), Prof.

Itse Sagay, to desist from making utterances that may be misconstrued as an attack on the institution of the National Assembly.

The party also restated it position urging all government appointees to stop making statements that may further worsen the relationship between the two arms of government and derail the party’s effort to make peace.

In a statement issued yesterday by the National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the party described

the statement credited to Sagay as regrettable and uncalled for.

The party frowned at Sagay’s call on the Senate to withdraw invitation extended to him, adding that “as someone appointed by our government, we find this kind of posturing unacceptable and potentially injurious to the peace efforts by the party.

“Specifically, the party urges Sagay to exercise restraint and desist from making utterances that may be misconstrued as an attack on the institution of the National Assembly,” it said.

The leadership of the ruling party however said it acknowledges the fatherly role being played by President Muhammadu Buhari to resolve outstanding issues with the National Assembly, by setting

up a high-level committee led by Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo.

“We believe the comments attributed to Sagay are uncalled for, regrettable and could further complicate the relationship between these vital arms of government.

“Our expectation would be that as a Law Professor of repute, Sagay would appreciate the need to not denigrate the institutions of democracy, be it the executive, legislature or judiciary.

“Moreover, as an appointee of the president, we should expect the learned professor to key into his principal’s temper and help him to make friends that would make his job easier and not make enemies of people who, by virtue of the position they occupy under our law,

are critical to the running of government and the nurturing of our democracy,” APC said.

“The party wishes to reiterate its earlier position admonishing all elected or appointed officials of our government to desist from utterances that may endanger efforts to build harmonious relationship between the two arms of government. Sagay should not operate outside this admonition.”

APC said it was impressed with the meeting it had with the Senate caucus last Tuesday and was confident that all the issues raised would be addressed.

It also urged the National Assembly to further intensify its efforts to ensure timely passage of the 2017 National Budget.

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NEWSXTRA

FEC Approves $1.3bn Loan to DBN for Funding SMEs FG orders two million vaccines from Europe to combat meningitis Omololu Ogunmade in Abuja Twenty-four hours after the federal government announced the $4.5 billion loan deal with China to fund agriculture, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) yesterday approved another $1.3 billion loan to support the Development Bank of Nigeria’s funding for small scale businesses.

Making this disclosure while briefing journalists after the FEC meeting in the Presidential Villa, the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, said the loan would enable the bank to fund small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

According to her, the loan proposal which she said would be subject to National Assembly’s approval, consists of $500 million World

Bank loan and $450 million to be obtained from the African Development Bank (ADB), among others.

“The other memo was an approval for credit facilities totaling $1.3billion to support the Development Bank of Nigeria. As you know the Development Bank of Nigeria recently received its licence and is being funded by some long term loans from some of our development partners. So, the World Bank had given us $500million, repayable over 21 years and all of this is at concessional rate.

“The African Development Bank is giving us $450million and KFW is giving us $200 million and the French Development Agency is giving us $130million. To access this money, we are ready to disburse

EFCC Quizzes Ex-Niger Gov, Babangida Aliyu, over Alleged Misappropriation of Funds Paul Obi in Abuja The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) yesterday quizzed former Governor of Niger State, Dr. Babangida Aliyu, over alleged misappropriation of public funds during his tenure as the chief executive officer of the state.

EFCC Head of Media and Information, Wilson Uwujaren, confirmed that “Aliyu was invited by the anti-graft agency over alleged misappropriation of public funds during the period he was governor.”

According to Uwujaren, the former Niger State governor

was still being interrogated by the EFCC in Abuja late last night.

It was not certain when the EFCC would conclude its interrogation and investigation before a possible arraignment of the former governor in court.

Attempt by THISDAY to get more clarifications last night on the investigation proved abortive.

Aliyu joined several other former governors, particularly those of the opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who have either been arrested or interrogated over allegations of corruption during their tenure in office.

but there are two requirements that we need to make and one of them is the legal opinion by the Attorney General of the Federation and the other is the National Assembly approval.

“Before it goes to the National Assembly, it needs to be approved by FEC and the FEC simply approved it today that these loan requests should go to the National Assembly for approval so that we can access this money and the Development Bank of Nigeria can take off fully as it is expected to transform financing to our Micro and Small Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) sector.

“The council enthusiastically approved these facilities which are long tenured, meaning that the DBN will be able to lend to our SMEs over much longer periods and at much lower rates.

So, the impact on the SMEs will be quiet considerable. She disclosed the World Bank loan has 21 years of repayment plan.

Adeosun also disclosed that FEC approved the procurement of project managers and verification consultants to bring 200,000 of the Nigerian military personnel aboard the interpreted

personnel payroll information strategy (IPPIS) platform.

“We are hoping to bring in all the military by quarter three of 2017. We have assurances about the savings that we typically generate when we bring agencies on IPPIS. Generally, when we bring agencies onto IPPIS, the payroll goes down.

Efforts to sanitise our payroll and make sure that the money we are spending on salaries is very accurate. So, bringing the military on board is a big step in that area,” she added.

Also briefing the press, Minister of State for Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, disclosed that the federal government had ordered 2 million units of vaccines from Europe to fight meningitis that is currently ravaging 16 states of the federation. The minister said the units were besides the 826,000 units that are currently being shipped to Nigeria from Europe besides the 500,000 units currently being distributed across the country through the help World Health Organisation (WHO).

He said Centre for Disease Control, Nigeria Primary

Health Care Development Agency, World Health Organisation (WHO), United Nations International Children Education Fund (UNICEF) and other parties had proactively been involved in the move to avert the epidemic.

According to him, there are currently 296 cases of meningitis in 16 states of the federation and 54 local governments with 336 fatalities out of which he said 141 have been confirmed by laboratory tests. He also said efforts being made to combat the disease include an ongoing social mobilisation against it, creation of two treatment centres in each local government as well as the deployment of field epidemiologists to carry out research on the disease.

The minister further explained that the outbreak of the disease was severe this year because Type A of the meningitis which used to be common had been eliminated while Type C of the disease which broke out this year had hitherto been rare.

Asked if the outbreak of the disease was not a mark of carelessness on the part of the government in view of

earlier warning by the Nigeria Metrological Agency that heat would be severe this year, the minister said the rarity of the Type C over the years was the reason it took the government unaware and not a mark of failure on the part of the government.

“Yes, it is true there was a signal that this thing had started in Niger and was going to enter the country. Like I said before, it was the Type A that we have known that had worried us in the last years but the Type C came this time as a bit of a surprise because that wasn’t the pattern in the past.

“So, the preparedness for treatment was very much on ground but the preparedness for vaccines could not have been predicted until we begin to diagnose and do tests and discover that this is a different strand from what we had before and that the immunity you had before against Type A will not work against Type C. There is largely immunity against Type A in the country at the moment. If it had been Type A, we would not have seen an epidemic of this nature,” he said.

House Member Beaten to Stupor in Minna Laleye Dipo in Minna

from the clutches of his attackers.

Trouble was said to have A serving member of the started for the lawmaker when House of Representatives, he drove into one of the villages Hon. Salihu Shadafu Adamu, in his constituencies to attend representing the Bosso/Paiko a political meeting.

But the youths who were federal constituency in Niger State narrowly escaped death said to have been angry with last Monday when aggrieved the politician, took exception youths in his constituency beat to his presence at the meeting, because he had failed to visit him to a point of coma.

THISDAY learnt from a them since he was elected almost reliable source that following two years ago.

It was gathered that the assault on the federal lawmaker, during which he immediately he arrived for the sustained serious injuries, he meeting, the youths advised him was first admitted at a private to leave in his own interest but medical hospital in the Tunga the lawmaker ignored the threat.

“One of the youths first area of the state capital before being withdrawn and taken slapped him, another hit him in for further medical attention the stomach making him to fall to the ground,” an eyewitness in Kaduna.

According to THISDAY said.

“It then became a free for findings, the vehicle in which the lawmaker was travelling all as every youth there tried was also damaged by the angry to take their pound of flesh from the politician,” the source youths.

It took the intervention of added.

When contacted the state men of the Niger State Police Command which was invited by Police Public Relations Officer, some good Samaritans several Bala Elkana, confirmed the minutes to save the lawmaker story.

COURTESY VISIT

L-R: CEO, AXA Mansard Insurance Plc, Mrs. Yetunde Ilori; Chairman, AXA Group, Mr. Denis Duverne; Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode; and, Chairman, AXA Mansard Insurance Plc, Mr. Sola Adeeyo, during a courtesy visit to the governor in Lagos .... yesterday

Court Refuses to Order AGF to Investigate Past and Present EFCC Chairmen A Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Jabi, has struck out an application seeking an order to compel the AttorneyGeneral of the Federation (AGF) to investigate former Chairmen of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Justice Abba-Bello Muhammad, struck out the application after listening to the submission of the applicants’ counsel, Frank Tietie.

Plaintiffs in the matter with suit number M/4853/17 were George Uboh and George Uboh Whistleblower Network.

Justice Muhammad struck out the suit on the grounds

that the applicants lacked the locus standi to compel the AGF to investigate past chairmen of the EFCC. According to the judge, the applicants have no power under the provisions of the law to decide for the AGF who to prosecute.

“I have examined the application of the applicants seeking an order of the court to commence an action of mandamus on the respondents.

“Applicant must have a locus standi before such an application can be granted,’’ the judge said.

According to Muhammad, a private legal practitioner has no

locus standi to compel the AGF to prosecute a person.

The judge added that Section 383 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) was specific on when a private legal practitioner could compel the AGF to investigate an individual.

The applicants, according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), had prayed the court, to exercise its powers under Section 174 of the 1999 Constitution and order the AGF to investigate and prosecute former and present EFCC chairmen.

Those listed for investigation were pioneer chairman of EFCC, Nuhu Ribadu; his successor,

Farida Waziri, Ibrahim Lamorde, current acting Chairman, Ibrahim Magu; and Access Bank Plc. The plaintiffs claimed that the past EFCC heads were fraudulent, and refused to account for recovered money in accordance with Section 15, 16, and 17 of the EFCC Act. They said that the respondent owed them a duty to prosecute the EFCC chairmen.

They said available evidence showed that Ribadu, Waziri, Lamorde, Magu and Access Bank had committed “serious acts of fraud and corruption.”

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NEWSXTRA

Alleged N23bn Bribe: INEC Staff Pleads Guilty, Two Others to Face Trial Paul Obi in Abuja A staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Christian Nwosu, has pleaded guilty to receiving N30 million as bribe from the N23billion slush funds allegedly linked to the former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, meant to compromise electoral officers before the 2015 general election.

The Head of Media and Information of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission

(EFCC), Wilson Uwujaren, explained that “Nwosu was among three INEC officials that were yesterday arraigned docked by the EFCC before Justice M. B. Idris of the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos on a seven-count charge bordering on receiving gratification to the tune of N264,880,000.

“Nwosu and the other accused persons-Yisa Olanrewaju Adedoyin and Tijani Bashir had, on March 27, 2015, allegedly received bribes from a former Minister of Petroleum

House Rejects Bill Seeking to Empower N’Assembly to Remove Governors

Resources, Diezani AllisonMadueke, ahead of the 2015 general election.

Uwujaren stated that “both the second and third defendants, Adedoyin and Bashir, pleaded not guilty to the charges.

However, the first defendant, Nwosu, pleaded guilty to the charge preferred against him.

“Counsel to the first defendant, Adaku Ngbangba, pleaded with the court to grant her client bail on self-recognizance, adding that “he is a first-time offender.

He has put in over 20 years in service. Given his honesty, I urge you, my Lord, to grant him bail on liberal terms.’’

Counsel to the second

defendant, Ngbangba, as well as counsel to the third defendant, Nelson Imoh, also pleaded with the court to grant their clients bail on self-recognizance.

In his address, the prosecution counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo, told the court that the first defendant had entered a plea bargain agreement with the commission.

He said: “We received the sum of $115 million kept in the custody of Fidelity Bank Plc, which was subsequently converted to N23billion.

“Of this amount of money, it was alleged that the first defendant received a cash payment of N30,000,000 as Director and Administrative

Secretary, INEC, Kwara State.

“The first defendant went to Fidelity Bank and signed for N264,880,000. This was left in the bank in the custody of the third defendant who carried it in a Hilux bus and was making cash payment/withdrawals without going through any financial institutions.

“In the course of making the cash payments, the third defendant paid the first defendant the total sum of N30, 000,000.00 cash.”

Oyedepo further told the court that the first defendant was invited to the commission’s office, where he made his statement under words of

caution.

He stated that the receipt of payment of the money signed for by the first defendant was also retrieved by the commission.

Both the statement and the receipt were tendered and admitted as exhibits A-A6 by the court.

Oyedepo also told the court that the first defendant had admitted essentially to the ingredients of the alleged offence in his statement to the commission on December 12, 2016.

The first defendant in his statement, according to Oyedepo, admitted to have benefitted N30,000,000.

James Emejo in Abuja

empowered the National Assembly to intervene in any A bill seeking to amend the state of the federation whenever 1999 Constitution to enable the appropriate.

House Majority Leader, Hon. National Assembly remove a governor or deputy governor Femi Gbajabiamila (Lagos, of a state suffered a setback APC), said the bill was vague yesterday as it was not only and defective as the constitution opposed but stepped down has already established that a by the sponsors amid a heated federal system of government is in practice and National debate.

Specifically, the bill, Assembly enactment is bound sponsored by Hon. Edward to cover the federation.

Hon. Nicholas Ossai (Delta, Gyang Pwajok (Plateau, PDP) and Hon. Ali Isa (Gombe, PDP), PDP) said the constitution has was moved and read for the already cured concerns raised in the rejected bill. second time.

Hon. Nkeiruka Onyejeocha It seeks “to delete the proviso to Section 11(4) of opposed the bill, adding that the constitution to enable the whosoever has personal scores to National Assembly to remove settle in his or her state should a governor or deputy governor go there and resolve it.

Others said allowing the bill of a state in appropriate circumstances and for other to scale through could signal a dangerous precedent. related matters.”

Also, Deputy Speaker of the In clear terms, the bill was seeking to delete the existing House, Hon. Yusuf Sulaiman powers which the constitution Lasun, who chaired the plenary, confers on the National wondered why the bill was Assembly to take over state listed in the Order Paper in Houses of Assembly in times of the first place.

He added that it shouldn’t crisis and replace same with the powers to remove the governor have been debated at all.

At that point, a subdued or deputy governor of a state.

But House members who Edward Pwajok, in a face saving vehemently expressed their effort, thanked his colleagues opposition to the bill, argued for the resourcefulness in that it was unnecessary because analysing the bill and stepped the constitution has already it down.

PDP Senate Caucus Endorses Political Solution to Party’s Leadership Crisis Damilola Oyedele in Abuja

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) caucus in the Senate has endorsed exploring a political solution to the leadership crisis plaguing the party.

The endorsement is however without prejudice to the ongoing litigation at the Supreme Court, the caucus said.

These were part of the decisions reached at the meeting of the caucus late Tuesday night, where the caucus also appointed Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe (Abia South) as its spokesperson.

The PDP has been engrossed in leadership crisis since 2015 with Senator Ali Modu Sheriff and Senator Ahmed Makarfi laying claims to its leadership.

The position of the Senate caucus echoes that of the PDP caucus in the House of Representatives which has also expressed support for a political solution to the crises.

In a statement issued by Abaribe, the caucus said a political solution would provide an enduring resolution to the crises.

The caucus also said Abaribe would henceforth present every of its decisions to the public.

“Every statement emanating from Abaribe represents the official position of the PDP Senate caucus and every information purporting to come from the caucus should be cross checked with the spokesman,” the statement read.

58 HEARTY CHEERS

L R: Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi; Oyo State Governor,Abiola Ajimobi; his wife and celebrant.Florence, at the inauguration of Florence Ajimobi Information Technology building donated to the Ajayi Crowther University to mark her 58th birthday held at the university ....yesterday FELIX ADEMOLA

Ibori Visits Alamieyeseigha’s Graveside Dickson: Late ex-governor, Ibori victims of N’Delta struggle Emmanuel Addeh in Yenagoa Former Governor of Delta State, Chief James Ibori, yesterday visited the graveside of his late political ally and former Governor of Bayelsa State, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, in Amassoma, Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, describing him as a martyr of the Niger Delta struggle.

Accompanied by a retinue of his political ‘sons’, including the Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly, Mr. Monday Igbuya, Senator Ighoyota Amori, former commissioners, Solomon Funkekeme and Frank Omare, as well as several other lawmakers and politicians, Ibori said the late governor died for what he stood for.

Ibori, who declined to make any comments on his political future and that of the Niger Delta, explained that he had taken time off politics, stressing that he would speak at the right time.

He said he was shocked when the news of Alamieyeseigha’s death got to him in the United Kingdom, noting that his relationship with the late Bayelsa State governor went

beyond politics and promised to stand with the family of his late ally.

“Today is a solemn day. I have come to say to you and the Government of Bayelsa State, the people of the state that indeed when I heard that my dear friend, brother, comrade and soulmate passed, I was devastated.

“Most would see us as brothers, but the bond I shared with our fallen hero was beyond brotherhood. It was spiritual, it was deep because we shared the same passion. Unfortunately, I was away when he passed.

“For us Christians, we believe in the supremacy of God. He left bold footprints on the sands of time. As two governors of two states, we worked together and faced the same challenges.

“We took over when my state, especially, was in turmoil. If not for my dear brother and friend, the crisis I had in Delta State would have engulfed the entire Niger Delta region.

“He stood by me, worked with me day and night. Spoke to people.

Held several meetings with me even in Bayelsa government house on how to find solutions to what I was facing at the time. So you

will understand when I say the bond was deep,” he said.

The former Delta State governor insisted that late Alamieyeseigha’s resolve to stand against the “forces of oppression,” was what got him in trouble with the authorities.

“It doesn’t need mentioning.

We all, including the governor know the role he played because of what he believed in. He fought the forces of oppression and evil which ultimately led to his death.

“For me, DSP is a hero, a martyr and he died for what he believed in. I take solace in the fact that though he’s gone, in terms of ideas and courage and boldness, he has left you (Governor Seriake Dickson) behind.

“I will take solace that even though he’s no more, what he believed in will not die. Having met you, I am encouraged that indeed, the flag only flew half mast for a while.

“There’s nowhere in the world where people like him don’t suffer for their people. History is replete with such people. I tried looking out the window when I was driving down, and I saw the foundation he laid in Bayelsa

State,” Ibori said.

He added: “It has taken this long for me, because it is difficult for me to face the life, the struggle without the input from my dear brother. It’s an emotional issue for me. We will remember him for the good he did.

“The way I heard him present our case in council, public and private, he never let us down.

We will not let his soul down.

He spoke against oppression in any part of the country.”

While sympathising with the family of the departed ‘GovernorGeneral’ of the Ijaw nation, Ibori urged them to take solace in the fact that he was a good man who will forever be remembered by his legacies.

The Bayelsa State Governor, Saraki Dickson, in his remarks, insisted that Alamieyeseigha was hounded to his early death because he stood against oppression.

“Both of you are victims of the Niger Delta struggle; pure and simple. You rallied our people together on fiscal federalism, resource control, and all those issues, you did very well. You have kept faith .You personally wrote a tribute to him.”

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THURSDAY, APRIL 6, 2017• T H I S D AY

NEWSXTRA

PDP Lambasts APC over 336 Deaths from Meningitis Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has accused the All Progressives Congressled government of being

insensitive, careless and adamant to the plight of Nigerians over the outbreak of the cerebrospinal meningitis in the country.

The party which described

SULTAN, EMIR OF KANO BLAST NORTHERN POLITICAL, RELIGIOUS LEADERS in Northern Nigeria, where we try to create an Islamic society that never existed.”

Speaking further, the emir declared: “We must make an intellectual world because Islam is not univocal, there are many voices and interpretations, many view points and we have for too long allowed the most conservative view points to be in ascendance.

“The consequences of that is that there are certain social problems....To have three million children out of school begging on the streets, I can’t think of any conceivable means of coping with them.

“There has been a complete failure of social policies in northern Nigeria. For us to address social issues, we have to look at what our religion says as opposed to what culture says.

“We have to have the courage to go throw the path that all societies go through by standing up and challenge intellectually, world views….

“The number of wives people marry when they cannot maintain them and their children. These subjects have been tabooed, but we cannot fix the north and get investments into the north until we confront these subjects.

“What is our attitude towards educating our girls? What is our attitude child spacing, so that we can financially maintain and educate and bring up children? What is the purpose of a large population that is not educated, that is jobless, that is unemployed.”

Sanusi used the opportunity to debunk the statements credited to the Zamfara State Governor, Abdulaziz Yari, on meningitis, saying they were horrendous and “Islamically incorrect.”

Yari in an interview he granted in Hausa language in the Villa on Tuesday, was said to have submitted that the illness was severe in his state because many of them engaged in immoral sin of fornication and hence, the disease was God’s way of punishing them.

But while debunking the assertion, Sanusi said as a man who is well read in Islamic law, he knows that Yari’s statements are incorrect.

“For us to address social policy, we have to reclaim our religion, we have to know what our religion actually says, as opposed to what culture says, and we have to have the courage to go through the path that all societies went through, which is to stand and challenge intellectually,

world views,” the emir said.

“Some of the examples are horrendous. I’m sorry about a current issue yesterday. 200 people died of meningitis in a state, the governor was asked and he said it is God’s curse on us for the sin of fornication, which apparently does not happen in America, which is why they don’t have meningitis.”

The monarch, according to TheCable, went on to say that 90 per cent of the problems around the North are self-inflicted and can be solved.

“How have we reduced ourselves, what have we done as a people, that we have placed ourselves in a situation where simple things, a medical issue… you don’t have vaccines, say you don’t have vaccines.

“Treat those who have contracted it, don’t give these kinds of explanations. But this the mindset. I have a degree in Islamic law, and I can tell you that is not an Islamically correct statement to make.

“These are the kinds of things that we have; and when we talk about a difficult environment, we realise that 90 per cent of that difficulty, we can address, because it is self-inflicted.”

Speaking earlier, the Kaduna State Governor, El-Rufai, said the state is the place to do business.

He said stories that the state is unsafe are exaggerated, adding that the state’s ‘Ease of Doing Business Committee’ headed by his deputy, Barnabas Bala Bantex, has delivered.

According to him, the African Finance Corporation (AFC) recently ranked Kaduna as the fastest growing state in Nigeria, adding that Kaduna is the first state to state implementing its budget which was passed by the state assembly in December 2016.

Meanwhile, the Minister of State for Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, has also dismissed the claim by Governor Yari.

Reacting to the submission while answering questions from journalists, Ehanire said the federal government differed from that opinion and believed that the governor would not hold that opinion any further.

“The federal government does not have views of that nature and I am not sure the state government can really continue to make that statement. When things happen, yes you can begin to look this way and that way for the cause of it but like I said, nature played us unfortunate stroke but that is not to say we committed sin or anything.

It does happens that things occur out of the blues.”

Zamfara State Governor, Abdulazizi Yari’s attitude towards the disease scourge as “apathetic” asked him to resign from office forthwith.

In a statement issued by the spokesman of the PDP National Caretaker Committee, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, the party asked the APC to try and do something urgently to end the menace rather than playing politics with the disease outbreak.

According to PDP, the apparent inability of the APCled administration to curtail the scourge is disheartening and preposterous, adding that Yari’s statement attributing the outbreak of meningitis to God’s punishment on the people, is most insensitive and careless.

“For the record, the primary responsibility of

any government is to protect the lives and property of its citizens, and the APC-led government has remain insensitive, careless and adamant to the plight of Nigerians in all ramification,” it said.

PDP accused President Muhammadu Buhari-led government of wasting so much funds on the State House Clinic with no tangible result while neglecting other health centers and clinics across the country that have capacities to manage the health challenges of other Nigerians.

The opposition party said: “As of April 4, 2017, about 336 Nigerians have lost their lives due to the outbreak of type C cerebrospinal meningitis and the Federal Ministry of Health has not

taken any concrete step to contend with the spread. It is on record that the PDP government in 16 years did not allow such mindless display of insensitivity as seen by this APC administration.

“More worrisome is the statement credited to the Governor Yari in which he attributed the outbreak of meningitis to God’s making.

This is shameful and very unfortunate as the APC has run out of reasons to blame previous PDP administration but it’s now blaming God for its failures,” it said.

While reacting to the statements credited to Yari, PDP said rather than blame God for his failures and that of his party, the APC should avoid incurring God’s anger on their crass ineptitude in governance.

“We wish to advise him to resign immediately for making such statement as a state governor and the Chairman of Governors’ Forum who is supposed to bring hope to the people and not despair.

“Finally, we call on the Federal Government of Nigeria to stop playing politics with this outbreak and do everything within its power to end the menace.

As a party, our heart goes to the families of all those who lost their lives to the scourge within this period.

“We urge all Nigerians to drink more water, sleep in a ventilated environment and report symptoms to the nearest health center within their areas for quick medical attention,” said PDP.

NTEL NOW IN PORT HARCOURT

L-R: Director, External Affairs, ntel, Osondu Nwokoro; Managing Consultant, Idems Ultimate Ltd, Mr. Ignatius Aboneni; CEO, ntel, Kamar Abass; MD/CEO Houston Tech Limited, Sir. Ted Eneh, and Chief Financial Officer, ntel, Abhulime Ehiagwina, when the company hosted its distribution partners to breakfast in Port Harcourt....yesterday

250 IDPs Sit for WASC Exams in Maiduguri Following Governor Kashim Shettima’s directive, 250 internally displaced persons (IDP) have began writing this year’s West African School Certificate Examination (WASC) conducted by the West African Examination Council (WAEC) for secondary school students in preparation for entry into universities and other tertiary schools.

It is the first time the IDPs are writing the WAEC since they were forced out of their homes

by Boko Haram insurgents at different times in 2014.

The IDPs, made up of 94 female and 156 male students, are among hundreds of students whose schools and communities were attacked by Boko Haram resulting in their displacement.

The 250 IDPs are mostly from Kukawa, Gwoza, Ngala, Bama, Monguno, Guzamala and Nganzai Local Government Areas.

The students wrote their

practicals yesterday at three WAEC centres: Government College, Government Girls’ College and Mustapha Umar Elkanemi Arabic Teachers College all in Maiduguri.

The Chairman of the state Emergency Management Agency, Mr. Ahmed Satomi, who monitored the IDPs’ participation at three centres in Maiduguri yesterday, disclosed that they were those who passed a special mock exam conducted for about 1,000 IDPs who were in final year at secondary schools before they were displaced.

The Chairman said the mock exam was meant to evaluate the IDPs that were able to catch up after undergoing classes and comprehensive tutorials organised for them in camps on the orders of Governor Shettima.

Volunteer tutors including some local non-governmental organisations, some aides of the governor and some graduates

associated with the governor took part in guiding all SS 3 IDPs through the syllabus.

He explained that the IDPs were first evaluated and enrolled into four senior secondary schools: Government Secondary School, Jajeri, Govt Girls’ Secondary School, Yerwa, Govt College, Maiduguri and Government Girls’ College, Maiduguri and provided with free uniforms, sandals, bags and books in addition to special tutorials after school hours to enable them catch up after missing school due to displacement.

“Governor Shettima released funds to the Borno State Emergency Management Agency which we used to pay the WAEC fees of all the students. As you know, in Borno, the state government pays for WAEC but parents pay a counterpart of N6,500 as show of commitment. So, what SEMA paid was the counterpart since

the government already paid for all WAEC students across Borno State. mock exam was organised for over 1,000 IDPs but out of them, 250 did well and were believed to be emotionally and academically set for this year’s WAEC. The governor also asked us to secure JAMB forms for all of them which is being done, we hope that all of them will do well to become eligible for university admission by end of the year,” Satomi explained.

The Chairman added that Governor Shettima had authorised the purchase of JAMB forms for the 250 students, while some of the 1,000 IDPs who showed some good signs after the mock exams are likely to sit for exams to gain entry into other tertiary schools even though they will undergo more tutorials to prepare them for next WAEC examinations in their communities since government doesn’t hope that they remain IDPs by next year.

54

thurSDAY, April 6, 2017 • T H I S D AY

THURSDAYSPORTS

Group Sports Editor Duro Ikhazuagbe Email duro.ikhazuagbe@thisdaylive.com

NPFL: Rivers Utd Aiming to Return to Winning Ways against ABS FC Femi Solaja with agency report

to get these three points to start moving up.

“I know ABS is a very strong, RESULTS Rivers United will face ABS FC in a rescheduled Nigeria Professional young and energetic team; they Football League (NPFL) game have a lot of youthful players and Arsenal 3-0 West Ham this afternoon in Port Harcourt. can cause an upset on Thursday.

Hull 4-2 M’Boro “We have to work very hard United have underwhelmed S’thampton 3-1 C’Palace this season and need a win against and not take them for granted.

Swansea 1-3 Tottenham “We have to work hard, put the newly-promoted side to get Chelsea 2-1 Man City our acts together and secure all their campaign back on track.

Liverpool 2-2 Bour’mouth ABS FC come into the game three points against ABS; that’s on the back of a 0-2 reverse to our mission now,” Eguma said.

Meanwhile, there is happier Abia Warriors in Umuahia last Sunday and will be looking to news from the infirmary for bounce back with a positive result Rivers United as right back Chigozie Ihunda is nearing in Port Harcourt.

Technical Adviser of ABS, a return to action following a Henry Makinwa knows there long-term injury.

Ihunda injured his left knee is a need to produce a positive response particularly as ABS in United’s 1-0 win over Warri have yet to win in their last Wolves in an NPFL game decided at the Warri City Stadium on May five NPFL matches.

“My expectations are that we 8, 2016.

The versatile footballer are going to win; we want to win.

“Our ambition is to win all subsequently underwent keyhole and open surgeries in Delhi, India, games if it’s possible.

“Tomorrow (Thursday) is on December 26, 2016 to repair one of the games and we are the damage.

He was given a timeline of going to give our best to win the game,” he told the club’s official six months for return to active website, www.riversunitedfc. competition and his recovery Chelsea players celebrating last night’s Premiership victory over Manchester City at Stamford Bridge. The Blues won 2-1 to stay photo: bbc sports is already ahead of schedule, clear on seven points atop the EPL log com.ng.

United are also desperate for according to Head of the Rivers a win and Technical Manager, United FC medical unit, Dr Stanley Eguma, is eager to see Chukwuemeka Agi. “Ihunda has been undergoing his side return to winning ways physiotherapy and is already against plucky opposition.

“We are really preparing for the walking without the aid of game (against ABS because) at crutches.

“We expect him to be back this stage we need good results.

“We need to win, especially in action by June this year but at home; our position on the it could be earlier depending on “The Masters lives on for “If I want to win here then log is low and we really need how things progress,” he said. Augusta National.

The peak physically and mentally, everything is going to have to a year. It brings a non-golf Green Jacket. Amen Corner. and cannot stop winning. audience into golf. And it The American, 32, has been go well for me.

The manicured fairways.

“I’ve got a lot of confidence will be nice once this year The blooming azaleas. head and shoulders above his rivals over the past nine in my game now with how has finished to be brutally Unmistakably, the Masters.

Golf’s first major of the year months, winning his third I’ve been playing over the past honest.”

Spieth has dropped to sixth is upon us, with the world’s successive tournament when he few weeks.”

Jordan Spieth is expected to in the world rankings since his finest players making their beat exciting Spanish prospect annual pilgrimage to one of Jon Rahm in the World Match be among Johnson’s main rivals Masters meltdown, but did as he looks to banish memories claim his first PGA Tour title sport’s most iconic venues, Play final in late March.

No less than 46 African football That means he has won of last year’s spectacular final- since May when he won the Augusta National Golf Club. legends have confirmed their According to BBC Sport, the seven of the 17 tournaments day collapse by winning his AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am participation in the clash of last month. first tee shot will be hit at 13:00 he has played since claiming second Masters. legends - a charity /peace World number three Jason The American, 23, led by BST this afternoon with a field his first major at the US Open football match being organised of 94 men aiming to sink the at Oakmont in June, racking up five shots as he approached Day will play at Augusta

by Kanu Heart Foundation and another seven top-10 finishes the 10th at Augusta on the after pulling out of a recent winning putt come Sunday.

Nelson Mandela Foundation for Sunday, only to dramatically tournament to spend time World number one Dustin in the process. charitable initiatives.

However, Johnson remains drop six shots in three holes with his mother, who has Johnson and Northern Ireland’s The match will hold in Lagos four-time major winner Rory cautious - perhaps wise and allow England’s Danny been treated for lung cancer. on April 29 at the Teslim Balogun The Australian, 29, McIlroy head the field in the when the man considered Willett to take advantage.

Stadium.

“No matter what happens broke down in tears after the favourite has not won year’s first major.

According to a press statement Plenty of people are the Green Jacket since Tiger at this year’s Masters, whether withdrawing from the WGC by the General Secretary of the I can grab the jacket back Match Play a fortnight ago. backing Dustin Johnson to win Woods in 2005.

Local Organising Committee of “There’s been a lot of things “Golf is a funny game, it or I miss the cut or I finish his first Green Jacket - and it is the event, Onyebuchi Abia, the clear why he is the favourite. doesn’t matter how good you 30th, it will be nice having go on this year that have been match will feature the greatest He is the current world are playing you can still not this Masters go by,” he said somewhat distracting to my gathering of the continental Kanu golf,” he said. earlier this month. number one, seems to be at his win,” he said. bests.

Among the galaxy of stars of Ghana and the legendary will be two former world Roger Milla of Cameroon.

They will be joined by their footballer of the year and European Award winner Nigerian counterparts like George Weah of Liberia and Kanu Nwankwo, Austin Jay Abedi ‘Pele’ Ayew of Ghana. Jay Okocha, Daniel Amokachi, This Saturday’s Bundesliga El- accompanied with quality which will make every minute 1998 when Dortmund won two Other expected legends include: Celestine Babayaro, Garba Clasico between Bayern Munich analysis by knowledgeable of Saturday’s viewing well spent. Bundesliga titles and the UEFA The rivalry between the two Champions League at rivals Patrick Mboma of Cameroon, Lawal, Victor Ikpeba, Taribo and Borussia Dortmund – the Nigerians.

On Saturday, the selected Bundesliga giants is something Bayern’s home ground.

Benny McCarthy (South Africa), West, Uche Okechukwu, Peter two superpowers of German Ige stressed that the idea of Anthony Baffoe (Ghana), Kalusha Rufai, Emmanuel Amuneke and football promises to be full of audience, according to Taye Ige, comparable only to that of Real the CEO of HS Media Group, will Madrid and Barcelona. Der bringing these shakers and movers surprises.

Bwalya (Zambia), Lucas Radebe Samson Siasia.

Already, StarTimes/HS Media watch the game live on the Klassiker was indeed derived in the marketing communications Meanwhile corporate and Mark Fish (South Africa) industry to the HotSports theatre bodies such as MTN, Nigeria has selected industry topnotch biggest screen available and in from the Spanish El Classico. among others.

The German rivalry expanded is to bring home to them the Also expected are Didier Breweries, the South African to view the game live at its ultra the very cosy ambience of the Drogba (Cote d’Ivoire), Samuel Embassy VFS Global have modern studios in Oregun, newly completed studio no. 2 in the 1990s. Since 1994, only four potential of the Bundesliga to help inside the sprawling HS Media clubs other than Bayern and them reach their various audience Eto’o (Cameroon), El-hadji Diouf indicated their preparedness Lagos.

Dortmund have won the German in an experiential way and to Since January 20 the German Group headquarters.

(Senegal), Benjani Mwaruwari to be part of this event which Bayern have won more league with Bayern having won give them a closer view of what (Zimbabwe), Frédéric Kanouté the Legends of African are Bundesliga, Italian Serie A Nigerian fans have experienced (Mali), Phil Masinga (South using to make a statement matches and the European honours but few sides in Europe 12 titles and Dortmund five.

The Der Klissiker was superbly in the comfort of their homes Africa), Peter Ndlovu against xenophobic attacks qualifiers to the 2018 World can match their rivals, Dortmund Cup have been broadcast live for thrilling, effective football heightened between 1994 and over the months.

(Zimbabwe), Samuel Kuffour in the African continent.

T H E M A ST E R S , A U G U STA A P R I L 6 - 9 , 2 0 1 7

McIlroy, Dustin, Spieth among Favourites to Win 2017 Golf’s First Major

Milla, Weah, Other Legends to Storm Lagos for Kanu

Bundesliga’s Der Klassiker Live on StarTimes/HS Media Theatre

T H I S D AY THURSDAY APRIL 6, 2017

55

Thursday, April 6, 2017

TR

UT H

& RE A S O

Price: N250

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MISSILE Aliko Dangote to Governors

“I don’t believe the Federal Government should continue to bail out the states.

The states have to sit down and plan to cut costs instead of looking for bailout and being lazy. They can create jobs and give incentives to people to come and invest and they should assure (those) people that they are not going to be slammed with various taxes which is what some of them do” Industrialist, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, on how states can generate revenues

OLUSEGUNADENIYI THE VERDICT

olusegun.adeniyi@thisdaylive.com

The Essential Aliko Dangote @ 60 D uring the Christmas holiday in December 2010, I was with Alhaji Aliko Dangote in his Lagos office one afternoon when his phone rang.

Given the way he was saying “Yes Sir, Okay Sir”, I knew the person at the other end of the line must be someone very important to him. The moment the conversation ended, Dangote said he needed to travel immediately to a particular state where a friend of his was governor. It was the father of the governor that he had just finished speaking to.

What was the issue? He said his friend, a second term governor at the time, and his father (now of blessed memory) were having a disagreement over the candidate to endorse as successor for the 2011 gubernatorial election in the state. Because it was an issue on which I had a fair knowledge, I tried to convince Dangote, who had apparently taken sides with the father, that the position of his friend made more sense, given the then prevailing political dynamics in the state concerned. But Dangote refused to buy my explanation because, as he argued, “this is not about who is right or who is wrong; we are talking about his father.”

Given the vehemence with which he spoke, I saw no point in any further argument.

But just as I wanted to change the topic, Dangote held my hand and said something I will never forget: “Look Segun, let me tell you something today. All this wealth that I have, if it would cause a rift between me and my mother, let God take everything away.”

I was startled by the declaration and the solemnity with which he made it. And to the extent that the way we view the world and those around us says so much not only about who we are but also what we stand for, that episode made me to appreciate Dangote as a man who places family and human relationships above every other consideration. While he is not known for being very generous with his money, for which he has worked very hard, Dangote has enriched several lives with his uncommon commitment to friendship and enduring relationships.

As busy as he must be, given his enormous commitments, Dangote has not allowed his schedules to interrupt his relationships with those he considers as friends regardless of the standing of those people in the society.

Whether it is in carving out time for catchup calls or sending/replying text messages or visiting to attend important occasions, Dangote creates the time. I am sure there are hundreds of people in all strata of the Nigerian society who will readily attest to that.

For a man like Dangote, time is a precious commodity. Yet, he understands that his presence at important functions would mean more to the celebrants than his money. I am a beneficiary of this generousity of spirit as he has always identified with me whether in times of joy (like when he came to my Ajah, Lagos bungalow to attend the baby dedication ceremony of my son more than

Togo thus totalling 365,747 million metric tonnes of cement exported out of Nigeria by the company. That is aside the cement factories in 17 other African countries and the coming one in Nepal.

Where most people see problems, Dangote sees opportunities and that is the difference between him and many other business people in our country. Having consolidated his business, Dangote’s current efforts are targeted at two areas: job creation and being a net importer of foreign exchange. In January this year, Dangote Group floated a $100 million truck assembly plant in Lagos in partnership with SINOTRUK, a Chinese firm, ahead of a $17 billion refinery, petrochemical and fertiliser plants also located in Lagos that would, when fully operational by 2019, have the capacity to refine 650,000 barrels per day. For rice, Dangote started the out-grower scheme three years ago and will go into milling by 2019.

I also understand that he will soon venture Dangote into dairy farming in a big way.

13 years ago in October 2003) or in times I have heard about the ruthlessness of of sorrow (like when I buried my parents Dangote when it comes to dealing with in 2006 and 2011). I can also recall several competitors so I am sure there are many other occasional visits to my house and I people out there who have a contrary view am aware he does that with several other about him. But I am also certain that even people, regardless of whether they are rich his most implacable foes would agree that or poor.

Dangote has added considerable value to Mr Robert Ade Odiachi, who has known our national economy. By dint of hard work the man they call “Ali-Cash” since 1973, said and personal sacrifice, he has successfully what amazes him is the numbers of days turned a Nigerian name into a global brand.

Dangote spends in a year to fast and how In a piece I wrote three years ago, I alluded he observes his prayers at every opportunity to the common narrative, especially by critics, and with anyone and anywhere. “He stops that Dangote is a creation of the Nigerian the car at roadsides and prays with drivers State. But I also highlighted the simplistic and mechanics, looks for an open space in nature of such assumption as I explained the middle of nowhere during trips and the Dangote story within the context of the all incognito. For a man of his means, his Biblical parable of talents as told by our humility can only be a gift from God”, said Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 25: 14-30 which Odiachi. centred on a certain rich man who, before However, what stands Dangote out in embarking on a journey, entrusted his assets the national and international arena is his to three of his servants. To one servant was business acumen. For a man who started given five talents; another two talents; and out as a trader in commodities in 1978, he the last servant was given one talent. The has really done good. From sugar to salt to master in this parable obviously knew that flour to fertilizer to frozen fish to baby food his servants did not have equal abilities but to poly bag to cement, Dangote was a major the way each deployed the asset and the importer and trader of these commodities eventual outcome is a study in faithfulness less than three decades ago. Today, he is and industry. a producer of those same commodities not The lesson of the parable, as I explained only for our country but for the African it, based on the thesis of one commentator, market. What his story teaches is that there is that while we all begin from different are enormous potentials in our country and starting points in life, it is not always what that, even as tough as the business climate we are given that determines our success or may seem, those who dare could still win. failure but rather how we deploy such talents.

Two weeks ago, the Minister of Solid That point was eloquently underscored by Minerals Development, Dr Kayode Fayemi, on the late global icon, Mr Nelson Mandela of behalf of the Federal Government, commended Dangote for making the country self-sufficient in cement production. Against the background that just six years ago, Nigeria was one of the world’s largest importers of cement, buying 5.1 million metric tonnes annually, one can only n the issue of environmental imagine the implications of what Dangote has common sense, the attitude done in terms of foreign exchange savings. of most Nigerians and those Besides, in year 2016, Dangote Cement exported who decide for us is a strange 208,720 metric tonnes to Ghana; 104,907 metric combination of ignorance and crass tonnes to Niger and 52,120 metric tonnes to insensitivity fuelled often by primitive

South Africa, who said most memorably to Vyonne Chaka Chaka, “It is what we make of what we have, not what we are given, that separates one person from another.”

Therefore, if we take the Nigerian state as the distributor of patronage which we can then describe as “talents”, and we agree that Dangote started off with five, the fact also remains that there are several others who received one “talent” each and I am not even talking of those who (by virtue of holding public offices), gave themselves multiple ill-gotten “talents”. Now, the question then is: What have the others done with all that they were also given?

Former Cross River State Governor, Mr Donald Duke, who said he first met Dangote in 1978 (the year he started his trading in commodities), told me on Tuesday that he could still remember many young men who were Dangote’s business contemporaries at the time in Lagos, including those who had better prospects by virtue of their family connections. After reeling out a few names that I was hearing for the first time, Duke muttered: “only God knows where those guys are today so that tells you something about Dangote’s resilience”.

What that suggests is that majority of the people to whom the Nigerian state had bestowed “talents” at different times “buried” theirs, probably in pursuit of personal pleasure without adding any value to themselves or our society. By investing his own “talents” very wisely and taking calculated risks along the way, it is no surprise that Dangote succeeded where others failed. Today, the symbolism of Dangote as Africa’s response to the rise of wealth ambassadors in different regions of the world is a testimony to what can be accomplished by those who dare to dream big.

As Dangote therefore attains age 60, he deserves all the accolades that will come his way. To my recollection, the last birthday Dangote celebrated was on 10th April 2005, when he turned 48. Perhaps because the day fell on a Sunday, there was a birthday picnic at Alpha beach in Lagos that was organised by his staff (to which his friends were invited) where the poor and the rich mixed, played football and generally had a nice time together. I was there that day.

As it happens, Dangote would be 60 this year on a Monday, so I doubt if there would be any such indulgence of a beach party.

But wherever (and howsoever) he chooses to mark the day, he knows he has my best wishes. Always!

Living With Death

O

greed and outright stupidity. Find out why in my piece on page 14. Meanwhile, I have also uploaded on my web portal, olusegunadeniyi.com, fresh materials from the 2004 series of The Verdict for the pleasure of readers.

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