Friday 14th April 2017

On Third Anniversary, Buhari Restates Pledge to Rescue Chibok Girls Consoles parents, says FG has reached out to captors for their release

Omololu Ogunmade in Abuja President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday encouraged the parents of the remaining female pupils of Government

Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State who were abducted on April 14, 2014

by Boko Haram insurgents not to lose hope, saying as a parent, “I feel what you feel”.

Buhari in a message he personally signed in commemoration of the third year anniversary of the abduction of the schoolgirls today, further encouraged the

parents to keep faith with the federal government in its continuous negotiations for their release, pointing out that the government was “willing to bend over backwards” to

secure their freedom.

He disclosed that the government had reached out to the girls’ captors through local and international intermediaries, adding that

the government was ready to do everything within its power to secure the release of the girls.

Continued on page 9

PDP Crisis: Sheriff Accuses Wike of Bankrolling S'Court Case with $6m… Page 12 Friday 14 April, 2017 Vol 22. No 8030. Price: N250

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President Removes Heads of PENCOM, BPE, PPPRA, Other Agencies… Page 9

EFCC Gets Court Order to Seize $43.6m Belonging to Sister Security Agency How funds for covert operation were recovered from safe house EFCC raids Nnamdi-Ogbue’s Abuja home, quizzes her over expropriated petrol Lawyer, family deny she owns funds and apartment NNPC confirms sack of officials over missing products Tobi Soniyi, Davidson Iriekpen in Lagos and Chineme Okafor in Abuja In a bizarre twist that got many in government circles expressing shock at the reckless breach of security protocol, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) yesterday got a Federal High Court in Lagos to grant a

temporary forfeiture of the sums of $43,449,947, £27,800 and N23,218,000 (totalling $43.6 million or N13.3 billion) belonging to the National Intelligence Agency (NIA).

NIA, a highly secretive organisation in Nigeria’s security circles, is the government agency that Continued on page 9

Again, Inflation Rate Drops, Now 17.26% Ndubuisi Francis in Abuja For the second consecutive month, the inflation rate maintained its decline, falling by 0.52 per cent to 17.26 in March from 17.78 per cent in February, having peaked at 18.72 per cent in January.

Although on a headline basis, the Consumer Price

Index (CPI), which measures inflation increased by 17.26 per cent (year-on-year), it happened at a slower pace in March, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said yesterday in its CPI report for the month under review.

Continued on page 9

WITH YEMI OGUNBIYI AT 70…

Eni Paid No Intermediary Bribe to Acquire FELICITATING R-L: Chairman, Tanus Communications, Dr. Yemi Ogunbiyi; his wife, Wunmi; Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun; of Remoland, Folasade Ogunbiyi; and Afenifere chieftain, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, at the 70th birthday Holy Communion OPL 245, Oil Major Insists… Page 50 Iyalode thanksgiving service held for Dr. Ogunbiyi at his residence in Ipara-Remo, Ogun State… yesterday dan ukana

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T H I S D AY • FRIDAY, APRIL 14, 2017

PAGE NINE

President Removes Heads of PENCOM, BPE, PPPRA, Other Agencies Appoints replacements

Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday approved the removal of the heads of 23 federal government agencies and announced their replacements.

Key agencies of government affected by the shake up included the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), Consumer Protection Council (CPC), National Pension Commission (Pencom), Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) and Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), among others.

A statement issued in Abuja by the Director, Press and Public Affairs in the

Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Bolaji Adebiyi, said all the new appointments would take immediate effect.

Notably, the CPC which now has an Executive Secretary rather than a Director General, will be headed by Mr. Babatunde Irukera.

Irukera was a governorship aspirant of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2015 gubernatorial election in Kogi State.

The statement equally named Ms. Julie OkahDonli as Director-General, National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP); Mary Ikpere-Eta, Director-General,

National Centre for Women Development (NCWD); and Bayo Somefun as Managing Director, NSITF. Tijani Suleiman, Jasper Azuatalam and Kemi Nelson were also named Executive Directors of the NSITF. Ahmed Dangiwa was appointed Managing Director of the Federal Mortgage Bank (FMB) while Melvin Eboh, Hajiya Rahimatu Aliyu and Umaru Abdullahi Dankane were named Executive Directors of FMB. Alex Okoh was named the new Director General of BPE; Abdulkadir Saidu Umar as Executive Secretary of PPPRA; Ibrahim Musa Goni as Conservator-General/

Chief Executive Officer of the National Park Service (NPS), and Nnenna A. Akajemeli as National Coordinator/CEO of Service Compact (SERVICOM).

Other appointees include National Directorate of Employment (NDE), Dr. Nasiru Mohammed Ladan as Director General; Michael Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies (MINILS), Saliu Dada Alabi as Director General; National Research Institute for Chemical Technology, Prof. Jef. T. Barminas as Director General, as well as the Nigeria Institute for Social and Economic Research (NISER), which has Dr. Haruna Yerima, as Director General.

The Nigeria Insurance

Commission (NAICOM) has Sunday Thomas as Deputy Commissioner while Federal Character Commission has Mohammed Bello Tukur as Secretary.

Pencoms will now be headed

by Dikko Aliyu Abdulrahman as Director General, though subject to Senate confirmation, while Funso Doherty was named the commission’s chairman.

Also, Akin Akinwale, Abubakar Zaki Magawata, Ben Oviosun and Nyerere Ayim were named executive commissioners of Pencom.

Umar Gambo Jibrin was named Executive Secretary of the Federal Capital Development Authority

(FCDA); Mrs. Folashade Joseph, Managing Director, Nigeria Agriculture Insurance Corporation (NAICOM); Cecilia Umaru Gaya, Director General of the Administrative Staff College of Nigeria (ASCON); and Mrs. Luci Ajayi as Executive Secretary, Lagos International Trade Fair Management Board.

Others are Emmanuel Jimme, Managing Director, Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA); Lanre Gbajabiamila, Director General, Nigeria Lottery Regulatory Commission; and automobile designer, Jelani Aliyu as Director General of the Nigeria Automotive Design and Development Council.

not provide the anti-graft agency with information on the possible owner of the money.

He urged the judge to exercise the power conferred on him

by Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offence Act to order the interim forfeiture of the money to the federal government.

“We received an intelligence report that No.16, Osborne Road, Osborne Towers, Flat 7B had in it various sums of money that we are seeking to forfeit.

“The intelligence was acted upon and on getting there, we executed Exhibited EFCC1, which is a search warrant. As God would have it sir, we were able to recover $43,449,947; still in the same flat we also recovered £27,800. That was not all, we were

also able to recover N23,218,000.

“For security reasons and because of the volume, we did not want to bring the money before my lord but we have registered it as an exhibit with the exhibit keeper and the evidence is contained in Exhibit EFCC 04.

“Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act empowers my lord that, where a property is found to be an unclaimed property or where a property is found to be the proceeds of an unlawful activity, to forfeit such property in the interim,” Oyedepo said.

He pointed the judge’s attention to a portion of the court papers where the commission had stated under oath that

EFCC GETS COURT ORDER TO SEIZE $43.6M BELONGING TO SISTER SECURITY AGENCY oversees foreign intelligence and counterintelligence operations in the country.

With the forfeiture order on the cash recovered by the commission from an apartment in the Ikoyi area of Lagos State on Wednesday, EFCC got the court to temporarily seize monies that were meant for an ongoing covert operation and had been hidden in a safe house back to the government coffers.

The court order also came on the heels of the raid by EFCC operatives of the Abuja residence of the former Managing Director of NNPC Retail, Mrs. Esther Ogbue, and her invitation to the commission’s office for interrogation over the expropriation of NNPC’s petroleum products stored in Capital Oil and Gas Limited and MRS Oil Plc’s facilities in Lagos.

As of press time, it was uncertain if Nnamdi-Ogbue who went to the commission in the company of her lawyer, Mr. Emeka Etiaba (SAN), had been released.

Yesterday, it was erroneously reported that the cash haul discovered in Apartment 7B,

No. 16 Osborne Road, Ikoyi, belonged to her.

However, her lawyer and a member of her family who spoke to THISDAY strenuously denied that she owns the apartment and cash found in it, disclosing that she and her family reside in Apartment 2B in the same luxury sky-rise complex, known as Osborne Towers, where the cash was discovered.

THISDAY learnt that cash had been stashed away in the apartment by NIA for a covert operations but was shocked on Wednesday when news broke that its operation had been compromised by the acting Chairman of the EFCC Ibrahim Magu and his personnel.

Opening up on how the raid of the apartment occurred and what transpired subsequently, a security official revealed that when the EFCC officials got to Osborne Towers, they were confronted by three or four NIA operatives who showed them their ID cards and confirmed that “property” in the said apartment belonged to the NIA. “However, they were ignored and excitable Magu and his operatives went ahead to move

the cash found in the apartment and made a great show of the discovery of another cash haul.

“When the Director General of the NIA, Ambassador Ayodele Oke got wind of what had happened, he immediately got in touch with Magu and informed him that the money belonged to his agency and their cover had been blown by the action of the EFCC. “All Magu said to him was ‘okay I have heard’, and took no action to correct his mistake.

“When Magu remained unyielding, the DG asked him to inform Mr. President that the funds belong to the NIA and were meant for an ongoing covert operation.

“We don’t know if Magu eventually reported the incident to the president, but we know that Mr. President has instructed that the funds should be returned to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN),” the security source revealed.

He said that President Muhammadu Buhari also instructed that the NIA should reapply for the funds, which shall now have to go through appropriation at the

National Assembly.

“Right now, the intelligence community is shocked at Magu’s blunder, which he made worse by trying to ascribe the funds to that NNPC woman who knew nothing about it,” the source added.

Court Orders Forfeiture The court, in its ruling yesterday by Justice Muslim Hassan, had ordered that the funds be temporary forfeited to the federal government.

The judge also adjourned till May 5, 2017 for anyone interested in the funds to show up before him to show cause why the money should not be permanently forfeited to the government.

The judge made the forfeiture order shortly after entertaining an ex parte application by the counsel for the EFCC, Mr. Rotimi Oyedepo.

Moving the application, Oyedepo told the court that no one had come forward to claim it, adding that the staff of one AM Facilities managing the apartment building, where the huge sums were found could

ON THIRD ANNIVERSARY, BUHARI RESTATES PLEDGE TO RESCUE CHIBOK GIRLS He also said he had faith in God that in the no distant time, the current efforts of the government for the girls’ release would yield the desired results and appealed to well-meaning Nigerians, organisations and the international community to bear in mind that “as a government, we are unrelenting

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on the issue of the safe return of our children”.

Buhari who recalled the release of 21 of the 276 girls abducted last year through negotiations, added that the government was doing everything within its powers to integrate the released girls into the society while it is also “in constant touch through negotiations, through local intelligence to secure the release of the remaining girls and other abducted persons unharmed”.

He said having demonstrated their competence in the war against terrorism, he was sure that the intelligence and security forces were not only capable but also committed to the task of finding and bringing back the Chibok girls and other victims of Boko Haram insurgents.

“On the Chibok girls, we have had reason to celebrate the return of twenty-four of them and thousands of other Nigerians who were forcibly abducted by the terrorists.

“As a parent, I am eternally grateful to God that some of the girls were found alive

and have been reunited with their families. Government is doing all within its powers to reintegrate the freed girls to normal life.

“Furthermore, Government is in constant touch through negotiations, through local intelligence to secure the release of the remaining girls and other abducted persons unharmed.

“My special appreciation goes to the parents and families that have endured three years of agony and waiting for the return of their children. I feel what you feel. Your children are my children.

“On this solemn occasion, my appeal is that we must not lose hope on the return of our remaining schoolgirls. Our intelligence and security forces, who have aptly demonstrated their competence are very much equal to the task and absolutely committed to the efforts to find and return the schoolgirls and others abducted

by Boko Haram.

“I also thank Lake Chad Basin countries, friendly nations and international partners who

at various points in the last three years have offered their support for Nigeria.

“Like I have repeatedly said, the federal government is willing to bend over backwards to secure the release of the remaining Chibok girls.

“We have reached out to their captors, through local and international intermediaries, and we are ever ready to do everything within our means to ensure the safe release of all the girls,” Buhari said.

Two hundred and seventy six girls were abducted from their secondary school in Chibok, Borno State, by Boko Haram on April 14, 2014, leading to global outrage over their kidnapping.

Within days, 57 were able to escape captivity while two more who had become mothers, escaped separately last year. The federal government was also able to secure the release of 21 other girls in 2016 with the assistance of the Swiss government and the International Red Cross.

One hundred and ninety six girls remain in captivity.

Continued on page 10

AGAIN, INFLATION RATE DROPS, NOW 17.26% According to the NBS, the decline was indicative of the effects of stabilising prices in an already high food and non-food prices environment, as well as favourable base effects over 2016 prices.

“It is also indicative of early effects of a strengthened naira in the foreign exchange market.

“Price increases were recorded in all COICOP divisions that yield the headline index.

“However, the major divisions responsible for accelerating the pace of the increase in the headline index were housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuel, education, food and alcoholic beverages, clothing and footware, and transportation services,” the NBS said.

On a month-on-month basis, the headline index increased by 1.72 per cent in March 2017, 0.23 percentage points higher than the rate recorded in February.

The food index increased by 18.44 per cent (year-onyear) in March, slightly down by 0.09 percentage points from 18.52 per cent recorded in February.

This was driven by increases in the prices of bread, cereals, meat, fish, potatoes, yams and other tubers and wine, while the slowest increase in food prices year-on-year were

recorded by soft drinks, fruits, coffee, tea and cocoa.

The headline index is made up of the core index and farm produce items.

Processed foods are included in both the core and food sub-indices. This implies that these sub-indices are not mutually exclusive, the NBS emphasised.

However, price movements recorded by all items less farm produce or core subindex rose by 15.40 per cent (year-on-year) in March, down by 0.60 percentage points from 16 per cent in February.

During the month under review, the highest increases were seen in miscellaneous services relating to dwelling, electricity, solid fuels, clothing materials and other articles of clothing, liquid fuel, spirits as well as fuels and lubricants for personal transport equipment.

NBS said the urban index rose by 18.27 percent (yearon-year) in March from 18.57 per cent recorded in February while the rural index increased by 16.47 per cent in March from 16.98 per cent in February.

On a month-on-month basis, the urban index rose by 1.76 percent in March from 1.52 per cent recorded in February, while the rural index rose by 1.69 per cent in March from 1.47 per cent in February.

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PAGE TEN

Again, Court Insists EFCC Must Retract False Statement on Dasuki’s Aide Declines to resume trial

Alex Enumah in Abuja Justice Gabriel Kolawole of the Federal High Court in Abuja has insisted that the trial of Colonel Nicholas Ashinze, a former aide to the ex-National Security Adviser, Colonel Sambo Dasuki (rtd.), along with seven others in the alleged N1.5 billion corruption case, would not resume until the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) retracts the misrepresentation of the court’s proceedings that the defendants are being tried for N36.8 billion fraud.

The EFCC also wrongly referred to the aide as a retired military officer, whereas Nicholas Ashinze is currently a serving army colonel.

The judge dismissed the oral claim by the counsel to EFCC, Mr. Ofem Uket that the antigraft agency had retracted the offending publication because the lawyer failed to produce any document or evidence before the court to verify its claim.

Justice Kolawole had on March 21 warned EFCC to stop

the media trial of Nigerians under prosecution for any offence and ordered that the alleged N36 billion fraud trial contained in the EFCC press statement issued by the commission’s spokesman, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, must be retracted.

The judge also ordered the news media that reported the offending publication to appear before it and show cause why they should not be disciplined for misrepresenting the court’s proceedings by dishing out falsehood to the general public through the EFCC press statement.

When the matter was to resume yesterday, counsel to EFCC informed Justice EFCC Chairman, Ibrahim Kolawole that his client had Magu already retracted the offending press statement as contained in EFFC had fully been complied some national dailies of April with.

However, Mr. Ernest Nwoye, 12, but failed to present a copy of the retraction to the court counsel to Ashinze held that the EFCC had not in any way as required by law.

Uket, on this basis, urged the obeyed and respected the court to resume the trial of the court order, arguing that the defendant on the grounds that commission had not shown the court order issued against any evidence or placed any

document before the court as proof of compliance.

The counsel contended that since the court order on the retraction was in writing and duly served on the EFCC, the anti-graft agency must show respect to the court by filing the necessary papers and attaching the necessary document to show compliance with the order of the court.

In the absence of any documentary evidence, Nwoye urged the court not to attach any seriousness to the oral evidence of the prosecution counsel.

Counsel to other defendants in the matter, including the Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr. Paul Erokoro, aligned themselves with the submissions of Nwoye and urged Justice Kolawole to sustain the order for the retraction until the evidence of compliance with the order has been shown.

In his ruling Justice Kolowale disagreed with the oral evidence of the EFCC counsel, lamenting that the counsel as a minister in the temple of justice had neither

shown any seriousness, nor had it done enough to protect the integrity of the judiciary from being unjustly rubbished.

The judge said: “No responsible judge will sit down and allow his court to be rubbished with falsehood as in the case of the EFCC that has been engaging in feeding the general public with falsehood.

“It is a fact that the defendants in a criminal matter will be prejudiced when they are unjustly subjected to media trial through the publication of falsehood and misrepresentation of the court’s proceeding.

“Since the court cannot act in vain, it is hereby ordered that the EFCC must show compliance in the appropriate way with the retraction of the offending press statement it issued in respect of the proceedings of this court.

“It is hereby also ordered that the Deputy Registrar, Litigation, must liaise with Deputy Sheriff and ensure that the order of March 21, 2017 is served on the Editor-in-Chief or the appropriate person in

the Vanguard Newspaper to ensure that the Editor and his correspondent in Abuja responsible for the publication (of March 8, 2017) to appear before this court on May 4, 2017, to show cause where they got their story on the N36.8 billion fraud published.

“Let it be understood that the press as the Fourth Estate of the Realm has the responsibility of holding all arms of government accountable to the general public.

“The press has no business misrepresenting the court so that the defendant in criminal matters would not be prejudiced and would not be found guilty through false media trials before the real court trial.”

Justice Kolawole held that his order of March 21 shall remain in force until it has been fully complied with.

Following the complaints by Ashinze and others’ counsel, the judge stopped their trial over the alleged diversion of N1.5 billion brought against them by the federal government.

but later sold to Chobe Ventures Limited, the current owner of the flat. At the time the cash discovery was made, the flat was unoccupied, THISDAY confirmed.

Another source close to Mu’azu further confirmed that about 90 per cent of the apartments have long been sold, while the former PDP chieftain retains the penthouse on the 12th floor in the building.

The latest cash haul is reminiscent of a similar discovery, last February, of $9.7 million in the Kaduna home of the former GMD of NNPC, Dr. Andrew Yakubu.

Retail, Executive Director, Operations NNPC Retail, and Executive Director, Services NNPC Retail, respectively.

Also appointed was Mr. Agwandas Andrawus to head the distribution department of NNPC Retail.

Ughamadu stated that the sacks and appointments would take immediate effect.

He said until his new assignment as the MD of NNPC Retail, Adetunji was the General Manager, Strategy and Planning, Gas and Power and also former General Manager, Transformation Office in the corporation.

He quoted the GMD of NNPC to have charged the deployed staff to remain committed to their duties in line with the transformation aspirations of NNPC. NNPC recently uncovered a breach in its throughput transactions with MRS and Capital Oil. It disclosed that it lost about 130 million litres of petrol it kept in the storage facilities of the firms as strategic reserves, adding that they sold the products without its approval.

While it launched an investigation into the development, NNPC subsequently announced that MRS had returned the products it sold from its stock, but Capital Oil was yet to refund its 82 million litres of petrol valued at N11 billion.

Insisting that it would recover the products despite counter claims by Capital Oil that the corporation owed it for past business transactions, Baru had pledged that NNPC would in addition to investigating the breach, set up new modalities to guide its engagement of throughput partners, as well as take punitive actions against parties involved in the anomaly.

EFCC GETS COURT ORDER TO SEIZE $43.6M BELONGING TO SISTER SECURITY AGENCY “no one had approached the commission to claim the said money with reasonable evidence confirming the authenticity of the origin of the money that we are seeking to forfeit in the interim”.

“I, therefore, humbly and most respectfully urge my lord to forfeit this money to the federal government, pending when anyone who has the mind to come and claim the money,” the lawyer added.

After listening to him, Justice Hassan, in a short ruling, said in view of the facts placed before him he was “mindful of granting the interim reliefs sought by the EFCC”.

He also granted the anti-graft agency’s prayer to advertise or publish the interim forfeiture order in any national newspaper for any concerned party to see it.

He adjourned till May 5 for such a person to come before him to give reasons why the money should not be permanently forfeited to the federal government.

EFCC Raids NnamdiOgbue’s House But before the judge granted the interim forfeiture order, officials of the EFFC at about noon yesterday raided the Abuja residence of Nnamdi-Ogbue who was retired last week.

According to THISDAY sources, when the operatives arrived her home with a cameraman who filmed the entire exercise, she was at home and co-operated with the commission’s officials some of whom were armed.

They were said to have searched her home thoroughly and found no cash or incriminating documents.

A source, however, revealed that they carted away her computer hard drive and copies

of all official memos relating to the lifting of petroleum products stored in the depots of Capital Oil and MRS. After the search, which lasted for hours, she was invited to the commission for interrogation.

The source expressed confidence that she would be released yesterday, but it was impossible to ascertain if she went home last night.

Also, when THISDAY contacted a member of her family yesterday, he vehemently denied that Nnamdi-Ogbue owns the Ikoyi apartment and cash found in it.

The family member, who preferred not to be named, told THISDAY that Nnamdi-Ogbue and her family occupy Flat 2B in the building and that her husband and son were in the apartment complex at the time of the EFCC raid on Wednesday.

“They were actually at home yesterday (Wednesday), when they heard that EFCC officials were in the building. Tony, her husband, had a slight fever and was at home with his son.

“No one ever came to their apartment at the time of the raid and I can confirm that Esther is in Abuja as we speak,” the family source said.

Another source close to her linked her travails to the fact that she had reported the unathorised sale of petroleum products belonging to NNPC

by Capital Oil and MRS, to the EFCC and Department of State Services (DSS).

The source said she had obviously stepped on some “very big toes”, hence the attempt to “deal with her”.

Nnamdi-Ogbue was appointed MD of the Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC) in September 2015 and was redeployed a year later to head NNPC Retail by the Minister of

State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu when he was still the Group Managing Director (GMD) of the state-run oil firm.

THISDAY had reported on Tuesday that she and three other officials of NNPC Retail had been recommended for retirement by a committee set up by the current GMD of NNPC, Dr. Maikanti Baru, to investigate the expropriation of NNPC’s products.

In line with the recommendation, she was given her letter of compulsory retirement on Tuesday.

Similarly, her lawyer, in a statement yesterday denied the allegations that the huge cash found in Ikoyi and the apartment belonged to her, saying that she was just as shocked as the rest of the public when news broke on the cash haul.

Etiaba said: “The attention of our client, Mrs. Esther NnamdiOgbue has been drawn to the news making the rounds in the news media to the effect that the large sums of money to wit: $38,000,000 (sic), N23,000,000 and £27,000 uncovered by the Economic and Financial Crimes from an apartment in Osborne Towers, Osborne Road, Ikoyi Lagos, Lagos State belong to her.

“By this press release, we inform the public (especially the news media) that the said sums of money and/or the apartment where the sums of money were found do not belong to our client.

“Our client is as shocked as many other Nigerians at the uncovering and recovery of the said sums of money and wishes to salute the courage and efforts of the EFCC in the war against corruption.

“She also wishes to commend the whistle blowing policy introduced by the federal

government in the fight against corruption which policy has resulted in large scale uncovering and recovery of monies and assets.

“It is our client’s belief that the source and ownership of the said uncovered sums of money are known or eventually will be known by the EFCC in due course. There is therefore no need for conjecture or speculation.

“May we finally implore the news media to be more circumspect in their publications.”

Who Owns What in Osborne Towers Meanwhile, Osborne Towers which was developed by the former governor of Bauchi State and ex-National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu, is known to have high profile occupants, including two other former governors of South-east and South-south states, who bought the flats from Mu’azu and the developer off-plan when it was still under construction.

Other high profile occupants of the building include Mr. Damien Dodo (SAN), a former presidential aide in the Goodluck Jonathan administration, a media owner, and the son of a technology business mogul.

During the construction of the 12-storey building by the construction firm Cappa D’Alberto a few years ago, the apartments were marketed by Mrs. Udo Maryanne Okonjo, the Chief Executive of Fine & Country West Africa, a real estate firm that specialises in the sale and lease of high-end properties in Lagos and Abuja.

A source with knowledge of the ownership of Apartment 7B, in which the money was kept, said it was initially bought by Bishop Dale Investment Limited,

NNPC Confirms Sack of Officials In a related development, NNPC yesterday confirmed the sack and deployment of its officials over the unauthorised sale of 82 million litres of petrol valued at N11 billion by Capital Oil. The corporation said in a statement from its spokesman, Mr. Ndu Ughamadu that the sack and deployment were in line with the ongoing reforms it initiated to cleanse it of corruption.

Ughamadu explained that those affected included Nnamdi-Ogbue, who was the Managing Director of NNPC Retail before her dismissal from the corporation’s services; Mr. Alpha Mamza, who was Executive Director, Operations of NNPC Retail; and Mr. Oluwa Kayode Erinoso, who was Manager, Distribution of NNPC Retail.

He said the trio of Mr. Adeyemi Adetunji, Mr. Lawal Bello and Mrs. Affiong Akpasubi had also been appointed to replace the sacked staff as Managing Director of NNPC

T H I S D AY FRIDAY APRIL 14, 2017

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FRIDAY, APRIL 14, 2017• T H I S D AY

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NEWS

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

PDP Crisis: Sheriff Accuses Wike of Bankrolling S’Court Case with $6m

Attacks Jonathan, Rivers gov over failed PDP peace parley In defiance sets ball rolling for convention National chairman is an APC mole, gov insists

Ernest Chinwo in Port Harcourt , Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja and Bassey Inyang in Calabar The Senator Ali Modu Sheriffled faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has accused the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, and his Ekiti State counterpart, Ayodele Fayose, of recruiting former President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, into a ‘fake” peace effort predetermined to scuttle Governor Seriaka Dickson’s peace committee plan.

The faction also accused Wike of funding the botched peace meeting with N50 million while at the same time bankrolling the appeal being pursued by the National Caretaker Committee at the Supreme Court at the cost $6 million.

Addressing journalists yesterday in Abuja on the latest position of the Sheriff-led National Working Committee (NWC) on the crisis, his deputy, Cairo Ojougboh, said they have decided to go ahead with the plans to hold a national convention notwithstanding the pending suit at the Supreme Court.

Against the background of the renewed face-off between the Sheriff leadership and the National Caretaker Committee headed by Senator Ahmed Makarfi, the former National Vice Chairman said all the PDP governors with the exception of Wike and Fayose were behind Sheriff.

Ojougboh said having made extensive consultations with the party stakeholders, the Sheriff leadership was poised to hold the national convention beginning with the meeting of the National Executive Committee (NEC) on May 3.

He said all the state chapters of the party had been instructed to send the list of delegates to the convention to the national headquarters of the party to facilitate the plans for the convention.

Regarding the failed effort by President Jonathan to reconcile the warring factions, Ojougboh said there was an allegation that Wike spent N50 million to host the meeting with President Jonathan which is neither palatable nor acceptable to the Sheriff-led party’s leadership.

Ojougboh said: “It is said that Wike paid $1million for legal fees to Makarfi’s attorneys in the ongoing Supreme Court matter and has disbursed $5million to unknown persons in relation to the Supreme Court (case).”

He said the party was embarrassed by the mass murder perpetrated under Wike’s watch as governor, as well as the issues of massive allegations of bribery levelled against him.

“It is also important to state that the unlawful actions of Wike are not a representation of what we stand for as a party in the PDP. The monies being frittered away on bribery belong to the people and are thus meant for the development of Rivers State.

“The party is reiterating its call on Nigerians and government officials to forthwith desist from accepting money belonging to the good people and government of Rivers State,” he said.

However, President Jonathan’s media aide, Ikechukwu Eze, has reacted to the Ojougboh’s allegations, describing them as untrue.

In a statement issued yesterday afternoon in Abuja, Eze said Jonathan never collected money from anybody to organise

Gunmen Kill Four in Abaji Market in Benue George Okoh in Makurdi Some yet-to-be identified gunmen yesterday attacked Abaji Market in Katsina-Ala Local Government Area of Benue State, killing four persons, with several others sustaining severe injuries The attack is coming a few weeks after the bloody attack on Zaki Biam market that claimed several lives.

It also happened after some special forces from the Force Headquarters were deployed to the area to stem the wanton killings in the Benue North East senatorial district.

According to an eyewitness, the gunmen came in at about noon in a Toyota Corolla popularly known as ‘dog yash.’

“Nobody expected what actually happened given the level of security in Sankera, but the fearless armed men drove

straight into the centre of the market and started shooting sporadically.

“About two persons died on the spot while two others died while being conveyed to the hospital for medical attention.

Many others also sustained serious injuries.”

When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, Moses Yamu, who confirmed the attack, however, said only one person was killed while three others sustained bullet wounds.

Yamu explained that the home of Tor Abaji, the paramount ruler of the area, was attacked and set ablaze, adding that the incident was more of a reprisal attack.

The PPRO said normalcy had returned to the community, promising that steps were on to apprehend the masterminds of the attack.

the stakeholders’ conference but that his intervention was borne out of genuine commitment to bring about peace in the party.

“It is not true. The former president intervened in the crisis because of his genuine commitment to bring about peace in the party that made him president. I don’t think anybody will believe that he collected money from anybody

to organise the meeting.

“It is out of his genuine concern to bring peace in the party. He has been meeting with members of the party; he met with Sheriff severally, he also met with Makarfi severally. He met with the governors. I don’t see any reason for anybody to say that Jonathan collected money from anybody to organise the stakeholders’ conference,” Eze

said.

However, Wike has accused the federal government of sponsoring Sheriff to cause crisis in the PDP. The governor described the PDP national chairman as a mole in the PDP He said it was because of the destructive crisis that has engulfed the APC at the national level that the federal

government decided to sponsor Sheriff to destabilise the PDP. The governor, who spoke at the Sharks Stadium in Port Harcourt yesterday after receiving 7,800 APC defectors who joined the PDP, noted that the machinations of the federal government against the PDP would fail.

Cont’d on Pg 51

RESOURCE PERSONS

L-R: Country Human Resources Manager, Stanbic IBTC, Funke Amobi; Partner, Consulting, Deloitte, Mr. Joseph Olofinsola; Director, Human Resources, Airtel Nigeria, Mr. Gbenga Awolabi; Head, Corporate Services, AIICO, Mrs. Phil Maduagwu; and Executive Director/ Country Human Resources Manager, Mobil Producing, Mr. Udom Inoyo, at the launch of Deloitte 2017 global capital trend report in Lagos...yesterday ETOP UKUTT

CBN Raises Banks’ FX Loan Limits to Resolve Breaches Interbank rates rise on tight naira liquidity Obinna Chima with agency report The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has increased the limit on banks’ foreign currency borrowings to 125 per cent of shareholders’ fund after some lenders breached its regulatory limit due to the recent fall in the naira, according to a document seen by Reuters.

The new regulation replaces a 2014 rule capping foreign borrowings, including Eurobonds, at 75 per cent of shareholders’ funds as Nigeria tries to manage widespread capital shortfalls at lenders due to a currency crisis and bad loans.

“A major consequence of this development was the inadvertent breach of the regulatory limit for foreign currency borrowings by some banks.”

“To address this development ... the aggregate foreign currency borrowing of a bank borrowing should not exceed 125 per cent of shareholders’ funds,” CBN

said in a circular.

The new rules also prescribes that all foreign borrowing should be hedged through the financial markets and debt should have a minimum of five year maturity except for trade lines.

It directed lenders to report on their utilisation of foreign currency borrowings on a monthly basis.

Oil-producing Nigeria has been gripped by a shortage of dollars since crude prices plunged, triggering a currency crisis that left lenders and other companies struggling to purchase hard currency and battered investor confidence.

The naira lost around a third of its official value last year after the central bank lifted its dollar peg to float the currency on the interbank market. It later re-imposed a quasi-peg to avoid further currency loss.

Following the drop in the value of the currency, lenders have seen their dollar loan books swell in naira terms, the central bank said. This

implied that they have to hold more capital in order to keep within a regulatory threshold of loan to capital ratio.

Nigerian banks raised over $1.5 billion from issuing Eurobonds and other types of debt instruments in 2013 as lenders rush to lend to the once lucrative oil industry at the peak of crude prices before the 2014 price crash.

The central bank has been trying to curb pressures on the naira from excess demand for dollars. It also wants to help avoid widespread capital raises for the banking industry given the weak equity markets and expensive debt market yields.

Meanwhile, Nigerian interbank lending rates rose sharply by around 100 percentage points yesterday, as commercial lenders scrambled for cash to pay for bond purchases and cover their positions.

Overnight lending rates rose to around 300 per cent from

200 per cent at the end of last Wednesday, as naira liquidity dried up in the banking system and some banks were forced to borrow from the central bank.

The Debt Management Office raised N105.32 billion from bond sales this week, and payment for the debt sale was due yesterday, draining liquidity in the market and pushing further up the cost of money in the market.

“The market is currently short of funds with major placers asking for a higher rate on their money as a result of pressure from those who need cash to cover their positions,” one trader said.

The central bank has consistently sold dollars at both the spot and forward markets, and required banks to pay for the purchase. This has drained liquidity in the market.

The naira maintained its previous day’s value of N410 to the dollar on the parallel market yesterday.

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COMMENT

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

EDO ELECTION: THE DAYS AFTER The APC won the election fair and square, argues John Mayaki

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arthquakes are never delightful to their victims, and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) may soon be the latest witness to this tragic truth. I do not refer here to that natural phenomenon caused by tectonic plates’ interactions with one another. I refer to major events that have the potential to spell doom and cause certain unhappiness to those involved in them.

For getting its hopes too high and wheedling itself into believing it actually won the Edo election of September 26, 2016, PDP will soon enough have to survive or expire in an earthquake. The disaster will affect its foundations, not exempting its somewhat doubtful candidate in the election, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu or if you like, Pastor Andrew Ize-Iyamu.

After losing without much chivalry, the party filed a petition challenging the declaration of Governor Godwin Obaseki at the election petition tribunal. This petition was dead on arrival, and many have become savvy to that status quo, especially with the overwhelming controversy the party has generated, from altered depositions to final addresses with Biblical allegories.

Mr. Onyebuchi Ikpeazu, Mr. Wole Olanipekun and Chief Lateef Fagbemi, all Senior Advocates of Nigeria and counsels to the first, second, and third respondents respectively, detonated the nuclear weapons that vivified this earthquake.

While arguments had been flying back and forth with legal severity, Fagbemi lit the fuse when he told the three-man tribunal led by Justice Ahmed Badamasi that assuming the prayers of the petitioners were considered, the odds still favoured Godwin Obaseki, the All Progressives Congress candidate.

He whipped, and soundly so, the petitioners’ arguments that they had conducted a mysterious ballot recount and had drawn implausible tables illustrating their findings, to wit, that they won the election and should accordingly be declared winners. A baffled Fagbemi wondered in what séance this recount occurred for it was not in the full glare and ken of the general public that it happened.

He said: “They did not tell us which one belongs to which, but they have now come out to tell us that they have given us the figures.

Assuming your Lordships are even prepared to take their figures, we still have won by as much as 58,696 votes, and you can find that in paragraph 7.1 (2) of our reply”. He continued that even if the tribunal humoured their orphic figures, the 58,696 practical and proven votes by which the APC led the election results would still have heartily put PDP’s arguments to the sword. To prove PDP’s petition as a stillborn idea further, he cited the case of Oyewole and Akande submitting that unless a document was tendered as exhibit, the tribunal could not make use of it.

Another case he cited was that of Wasa and Kara where the Supreme Court took the position that the document must be an exhibit tendered

FOR GETTING ITS HOPES TOO HIGH AND WHEEDLING ITSELF INTO BELIEVING IT ACTUALLY WON THE EDO ELECTION OF SEPTEMBER 26, 2016, PDP WILL SOON ENOUGH HAVE TO SURVIVE OR EXPIRE IN AN EARTHQUAKE

in the case, rounding off that the petitioners had not even disputed the spread, which was an important factor in the proceedings.

Meanwhile, the petitioners, perhaps overwhelmed by anagnorisis, sensing the failure of their petition and its attendant arguments, resorted to fallacious tactics and eschewing their petition in favour of an argument that the first respondent did not call evidence.

Ikpeazu, himself a learned fellow and ready to battle on all fronts, explicitly argued that the electoral body was not obliged to call evidence. He accompanied the argument with a citation of the case of Alhaji Adamu Maina Waziri versus Alhaji Ibrahim Gaidam and four others. The deployed citation was fresh from the oven, being a judgment delivered on February 16, 2016. After Fagbemi had further decimated the petitioners’ tactics, Olanipekun referred the tribunal to paragraph 4.6, page nine of the respondents’ reply where they cited the case of Ucha and Elechi, and explained that they could not draw charts of their own volition and impose them on the court.

Meanwhile, the petitioners, not happy at the barrage of counterarguments, weakly protested that the allegations were directed against INEC, so only INEC could reply. Olanipekun displayed no tolerance for this argument and asked why the petitioners joined all three respondents. He cited the case of Omisore and Aregbesola where the court called it trite law, noting that non-calling of evidence by INEC did not affect the case adversely in any way.

By cross-examining the witnesses of the petitioner, he argued, the first respondent had given evidence and the witnesses of the respondents and appellants were evidence for the court. The petitioners, in their petition, said the PDP candidate was Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu.

The PDP candidate that appeared before the court and who co-wrote the petition was a man named Pastor Andrew Ize-Iyamu. Naturally, the respondents did not recognise him and voiced this. In defence, the petitioners’ counsel asked Chief Dan Orbih, Chairman of a faction of Edo State PDP, to stand up to identify the first petitioner – the man named Andrew.

Olanipekun cited a Supreme Court ruling that ‘Wild Gold Jewellery Limited’ is different from ‘Wild Gold Jewellery’ and that ‘Incorporated Gospel Holy Apostolic Church’ is different from Incorporated Holy Gospel Church’. These severe arguments against the petition of PDP and one of the two Ize-Iyamu(s) not only killed the spirit of the PDP supporters, it meted incalculable damage on the psyche of the man, Andrew.

His countenance was that of a weary, browbeaten man and not even the comical “10 commandments” of Mallam Yusuf Alli (SAN) could instil life and hope to PDP after the adoption of their addresses.

Analysts predict a Godwin Obaseki-victory would further crash the already haemorrhaging party and put its remains to rest. www.johnmayaki.com

AWAKENING THE GIANT

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hen my mind was made up to make this public, it was in the twilight of my middle age. I therefore, obviously had in retrospect, a dream that is supposed to be a prospect. It would appear therefore that the unfolding account of my dream for Ebonyi State is that of a world I would like to leave behind for those coming after me tomorrow and not that which I would have hoped to live myself yesterday. There were two kings with notable dreams in Holy Bible. One is King Nebuchadinezza of Babylon, the other King Pharoah of Egypt. Nebuchadinezza had a bad dream, in fact, he had no dream at all, for he had forgotten the dream he had. Daniel had to dream and interpreted the dream for him.

Pharoah had a good dream. Joseph had to interprete and showed him how to bring his dream to full effect. This he did with a blue print of strategic grains reserve, known as silos. It was a dream that got Joseph out of prison, into which a dream got him. While Daniel had companions, namely Shedrach Meshach and Abednego, Joseph was a recluse to the world from prison, at which he was head. Having no friends or enemies, as it were, therefore, he could govern without fear or favour. Pharoah was fascinated by his sophistication, such that he decreed that only in the throne shall he be higher than Joseph. In other words, Pharoah remained the King, while Joseph the son of Israel became the Prime Minister. A Joseph is therefore, a busy civilian prime minister, that can work behind the scenes, representing the backbone of a skeletal authoritarian structure and configuration of power, of a reigning king, around which the body and organs of state-ship are built, with gopher, meant for an ark or a water-bed.

Willie Eleje-Abili dreams big for Ebonyi State

Emerging from relative reclusion, writing my ‘Scriptural Paraphrases and Illustrations in Ehugbo Dialect’(SPIED), during which I succumbed to the lure of a treacherous terrain of lexicography, I am out here solo, not alone, with a dream of a preferred future for my people. But, the dreamer is never taken seriously, just as a prophet is known, except in his home town. Many of those that saw tomorrow either lived ahead or behind their time. Around the mid 1970’s, some of us saw for instance, flyovers with side-railings and streetlights in Lagos. With time, many of those infrastructure disappeared, some of which transmutated into akara-frying laddles.

Was it that Mobolaji Johnson lived ahead of his time? Probably not, for the 70’s only represented vestiges of a fading post-colonial culture. Did Fashola live behind his time? Probably yes, for the values of common good of state that he left behind, might have endured in a society with more consideration of own-self. So, peradventure they emerge at pre-mature seasons of statehood, the leader is usually misunderstood by society and in some cases outrightly dismissed as out of their minds. I believe, that so treated or even maltreated, were great inventors, philosophers and poets of all times. Worse still for the philosopher, he is usually a solo-man and like his father, David, a social fugitive or in the case of Daniel, an economic refugee. But, so be it, if only they served the purpose of humanity at some point in history. Let’s not condemn, but pray for those in authority, for God puts them there in his infinite wisdom for a purpose.

The head is like husband to the ship of state, his wife. If the man can paint a fascinating picture of a preferred future, his date, would disembark from a grand-prix vehicle, to take a long walk hand –inhand with him, to freedom and eldorado. But, as we know, the length of that walk is for a certain distance

of time as defined by the law of courting, which is customary and not constitutional, after which they shall part to meet no more. That time-distance is only about one and one and half years of governance and two and half of politicking, totaling four, in the first instance. It is my belief therefore that it should be better to take some key things and deliver them, than to try doing it all at once and end up doing little or nothing at all.

The motive-power unit of the vehicle is the man, which is the head, of the she-cargo unit, his date.

So, while, the principles define a walk in helping hand of his date, man-date would then appear to be the power of the head to determine the direction and speed of the van and ship of state. Direction would depend on the vision of his head on the bed, in a dream, how far ahead he can see, while speed would depend on his rev-anew of the van internally generated. Budget is therefore a cardinal principle of the motives of the dream of the head, decapitated in projections and forecasted as superscription on coins or notes of cash of wealth of the king and Lord of land and labour that deliver interest of state in cash flows as water currents.

What then are the intentions of my dream? I believe that, if motive power is the means, given to she-cargo, as energy, with rails and roads seen on the way to be delivered in the first instance, every other thing would fall around if given a second administrative tenure of our next four years. So, the additional grace of four, would enable us work farther afield together. What do I mean by these then, they are subject to questions and answers, but let me conclude with a brief on the vision of my dream.

I see a grand but not grandiose urban area, where we shall try to demonstrate in modeling spaces that Abakiliki can be transformed from a ‘brown town’ to a reserved urban municipality with expansive

dedicated parks and streets named after iconic figures befitting of an international city, for inspiration of our youths and in the overall interest of our country. In this wise, I see a mini Champ-Ellyses style autobahn heralding the new city from off Enugu-Abakiliki expressway. …I see a strategic partnership for an international standard of hotelling. I see our modern city infrastructure completely secure and full-tamperproof. We shall explore five-star partnership with Mossad Aliyah Bet. I see a Tse tse fly conservation belt against pastoral herdsmen incursion and a well-trained, equipped and mobilisable ‘Special Militia Volunteer Force’. Our state is blessed with a youthful population and youth is energy which cannot exist in a vacuum. I see a strategic business unit of the federation, with opportunities for economic prosperity and social inclusion, leaving little or no energy for negative channelisation. I see potable water resources, community health dispensaries and health education. I see opportunity in our relative challenge of arable land, internal capacity and IGR, through Public-Private Partnership, fiscal intervention policy programming, comparative advantage in inter/intra-competition and complementarity, in the resourcefulness of our people and in a visionary leadership. I see uninterruptible solar and wind incremental energy. I see a superb inter/intra-network of roads and rail, with emphasis in opening up strategic opportunities in Ogoja-Cameroun axis and seamless interface between our senatorial districts. I see ‘Aladin Hall Literary Scholarship College, to be headed by a Principal Visiting Expert...

Dear ladies and fellow Grand Ebo-Knights. As things begin to unfold, I see the name, ‘Grand Ebonyi Metropolitan State’, taking on our dear state.

I see a giant awakened from slumber to a new day, I see jubilation and marvelous hallows of God’s name…

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EDITORIAL CHIBOK GIRLS: THREEYEARS AFTER

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It is in the nation’s interest to find the remaining schoolgirls

xactly three years ago today, 276 girls were abducted by Boko Haram insurgents from Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State - all of them between the ages of 15 and 19. While 57 of the girls escaped from their abductors on that day, negotiations between the federal government and the insurgents led to the release of 21 others last year just as another three regained their freedom following military operations. The remaining 195 girls are still being held captive by the terrorists.

As we have repeatedly argued on this page, without the return of the remaining girls, the promise of the constitution that the welfare of Nigerians shall be the primary purpose of government will continue to ring hollow. That explains why giving up on rescuing the remaining girls cannot be an option for any self-respecting society, especially when education remains the only path to sustainable progress and the anchor of any serious government.

It is indeed WE SALUTE THE TENACITY reassuring to learn AND SACRIFICE OF THE that there are ongoMEN AND WOMEN IN THE ing negotiations with BBOG COALITION WHO Boko Haram for the HAVE CONTINUED TO release of the remainPRESSURE GOVERNMENT ing girls. The negotiation, according to AND ITS AGENCIES TO Vice- President Yemi ENSURE THE RESCUE OF Osinbajo, had “gone THE GIRLS quite far” although he also added that the existence of two factions within Boko Haram has created a new problem. This should not be an excuse. There are experts in such field of negotiations that can help and given the promises of recent years, there is no reason why such support would not be placed at the disposal of Nigeria on the issue of Chibok girls. But that will happen only if the federal government is ready and willing to walk its talk.

Letters to the Editor

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To the extent that Nigerians desperately need the assurance that our government has the capacity to defend our territory and that the life of every single citizen in distress matters, the authorities must deploy all necessary resources, equipment, intelligence and men in the search for the remaining Chibok girls.

Against the background that Boko Haram stands for “western education is sinful”, the Chibok tragedy, coming only a few weeks after the massacre of 59 innocent students at Federal Government College, Buni Yadi, was a clear indication of the nefarious agenda of the insurgents: to create a climate of fear and insecurity so as to discourage parents from allowing their children to go to school. The war being waged against us by the Boko Haram insurgents is not only in the abduction of our children but also in the attempt to kill their future. That is why the resolution of the Chibok tragedy is very important, if only to send a signal that the school-ground is a place to dream and not to die.

T H I S DAY

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he leadership of the BringBackOurGirls (BBOG) coalition, which has helped to put the issue of the Chibok girls in both local and international limelight and for sustaining the campaign for their rescue, was in January taken on a guided tour of Sambisa Forest. The group argued that more could still be done by the authorities. To cap a weeklong series of event, the BBOG will be hosting a lecture today in Abuja under the theme, “Where goes our girl, our nation goes”. It will be delivered by the Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II. Therefore, on a day such as this, we must salute the tenacity and sacrifice of the men and women in the BBOG coalition who have continued to pressure government and its agencies to ensure the rescue of the girls. Their message is simple: We need an atmosphere where our girls will not be afraid to go to seek knowledge. And that will be difficult until we find the remaining 195 Chibok girls who went to school on April 14, 2014 and are yet to return home.

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.

OBASANJO’S‘OGBOLOGBO’SOLUTION TO FIGHT CORRUPTION

or the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to succeed in its fight against corruption, it should carry out thorough investigations of corruption cases and also hire the services of ‘ogbologbo’ lawyers.

An ‘ogbologbo’, is a Yoruba word for a ‘seasoned and experienced person. These were the submissions of the former President of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, when he hosted journalists at his hilltop residence in Abeokuta.

Those who know the former president very well can attest to his self-styled bluntness in propagating staged melodramatic episodes that last longer in mind than its reality. It is an undiluted truth that as a man who has rigmaroled the corridors of power in Nigeria, he knows and understands very well the piece of land called Nigeria. Obasanjo has remained strong in the nation’s politics, moving majestically anywhere he thinks of, watching the rot he assisted in creating and dishing out piecemeal solutions whenever he feels attention would be engendered. He is always a major of the dramatis personae in the shows he often dedicates to his enthusiastic followers. In short, he would have won many awards as the protagonist of his own didactic verbiages.

He was a president, like Buhari, who came to power when all eyes: global, regional, national and local, were on Nigeria. He would have been, if he cared, the Mandela of Nigeria, coming into power at the right time when democracy was practically reborn in the country. In the dire quest to strike a deal for rotational presidency, he was drafted in from near absence. The land was fertile for him to till and feed, grow and sustain the Nigerian people. And he did

his best. No sincere compatriot can query his efforts. He could not have done otherwise because having been left with only about N20,000 after having tasted grandeur and freedom in the military, the Nigerian commonwealth was too much for him to control. And he did what he could do and managed to hand over to an unstable Umaru. Yar’Adua. Before then, he was able to mortgage national assets, sold some to loyalists and acquired others by proxy. But only few doubt the sincerity of Obasanjo in tying Nigerians together, including the Igbo whom he loves with approximate authenticity.

Sometimes people do not take him serious because he prefers the Ali Baba to the Hollywood. But he is such a simple man who can engage in absurdities even while delivering scholarly written official speech. I used the word ‘simple’ because as a man who later became a student of theology, he had realised that the world was too harsh to follow it harshly. If one must succeed, it is risky to rush except if it entailed conversion of commonwealth to private warehouses and for personal aggrandisement. Why not, after all Nigerians were, during his eight-year lordship, the happiest people on earth, suffering all sorts of pandemic, lack, international humiliation and sluggishness.

A recall to the past shows that Obasanjo was a man favoured

by God and Nigerians from all angles. He was handed power on the platter of gold after decades of military (mis)handling of the nation’s commonwealth. Before the year 1999, Nigeria was reckoned amongst failed states because of the successive military juntas. By 1999, he was made the president and he toured many countries before he was sworn in. I was lucky he addressed us as students in

Egypt and appealed to us to come back home after studies to join hands in developing Nigeria.

By implication, that opportunity of heading a new era under a democracy required not sophisticated efforts to make a difference.

But Obasanjo gradually revealed the (mis)conception that he was a Nigerian to the core, with the penchant to pleasure, unabated freedom and relative preferences. Corruption of the highest order continued, political gangsterism flourished and poverty was wonderfully reactivated. And so the eight years passed without fixing anything tangible in the key sectors: education, power, health, infrastructure and social amenities. However, I must recognise one area that was sacrosanct – the unity of Nigeria.

So, Obasanjo’s comments on corruption often receive stiff criticisms. Obasanjo claimed not to be satisfied with the way President Buhari’s EFCC is fighting corruption and losing cases. For him, corruption cases are lost for a number of reasons prominent of which was engagement of outside lawyers and not the ‘ogbologbo’ lawyers inside the circle. Secondly, investigations are not thorough.

Thirdly, the judges have displayed lack of commitment. There must be the Salamigate methodology to succeed.

Gov. Ayo Fayose queried how Obasanjo got his large wealth despite he was a pauper before he became president. He wondered how Obasanjo, under whose tenure, Nigeria witnessed the Haliburton scandal could be sermonising about corruption.

But no matter what, Obasanjo’s influence in the polity cannot be undermined.

Muhammad Ajah, Abuja

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POLITICS

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

PERSONALITY FOCUS

In the News for the Wrong Reasons Politicians generally enjoy being the subject of favourable news reports. But last week, Governor Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara State and Chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum found himself in the news for the wrong reason after he was quoted or ‘misquoted’ as saying that God sent meningitis to punish Nigerians for their sins, writes Segun James

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ntil his comments on the outbreak of meningitis in some states in the north, Governor Abdul’Aziz Yari had enjoyed a quiet time as governor. Not even his role as the Chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum has brought him such public outcry.

The last time Zamfara state or its governor featured prominently in the press was when one of Yari’s predecessors, Senator Sani Yerima (1999-2007), introduced the controversial Sharia Islamic legal system in the state; the issue became a matter of public debate as diverse opinions were expressed on the constitutionality or otherwise of the introduction of Sharia in Zamfara State. Some other states later followed suit.

As a senator, Yerima continued to be in the news. His marriage to a a 13-year old Egyptian girl was widely condemned by southerners. Yerima was latter to support a legislation pegging the legal age of consent for marriage from at 13 year.

This was the last time the Zamfara or any of its governors had any prominence in the news until the outbreak of meningitis in some states in the country. Yari was quoted to have said that God always sends strange illnesses that have no cure to torment the people for turning their back on Him. Yari, whose state, appeared to be worst hit by the disease had spoken to State House Correspondents at the Presidential Villa, Abuja after a private meeting with President Muhammdu Buhari. Over 200 persons were reportedly dead while several others are receiving treatment at various hospitals and clinics in the state when the alleged statement was made.

According to the reports, Yari said: “What we used to know as far as meningitis is concerned is the type A virus. The World Health Organization, WHO, has carried out vaccinations against this type A virus not just in Zamfara, but many other states. However, because people refused to stop their nefarious activities, God now decided to send Type C virus, which has no vaccination.

“People have turned away from God and he has promised that ‘if you do anyhow, you see anyhow’ that is just the cause of this outbreak as far as I am concerned. There is no way fornication will be so rampant and God will not send a disease that cannot be cured.”

The governor was quoted as saying that only 5 million dose of the vaccine against the Type C virus was available globally. Even this dosage, he was quoted to have lamented, would not be enough for his state, adding that the Federal Ministry of Health had only 50,000 doses of the vaccine, out of which 20,000 was given to his state.

He said: “That is not enough for Zamfara people alone, not to talk of Katsina or Kano.

“Our Focus as a state now is to continue treating those who are infected with the disease, but as for vaccination, it has an international dimension.

“We have information that Nigeria will get the highest percentage of the 5 million doses available now. Apart from WHO, other International bodies such as the Bill Gates foundation and UNICEF are also currently focusing on how to tackle the outbreak.”

When the report hit the airwaves and the news stands, the reaction was sporadic. Notable among those who condemned the statement was the Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi.

Yakubu..... has to creative to succeed

An exasperated Sanusi could not hide his disgust for the statement. He went ballistic.

He used the opportunity to take a swipe at the conservative northern leaders ‘whose discouraging attitudes and activities’, he said, had impeded the development of the region.

While speaking at an event organised by the Kaduna State Government to encourage investments, lamented the attitude of northern leaders to development. He cited an occasion when a former governor of Kano State destroyed books on romance and love just to demonstrate how conservative he was. Sanusi said that other Islamic countries or countries that were more Islamic than Nigeria had moved on. He said Yari’s response to the current meningitis outbreak in the state was “a complete failure of social policy.”

He said: “We are fighting culture and we are fighting civilization. For us to address social policy, we have to reclaim our religion.”

Sanusi criticised the ultra-conservative interpretation of Islam in some parts of Northern Nigeria which he said, had discouraged girlchild education, family planning and other progressive policies.

The emir descended heavily on Yari for at-

An exasperated Sanusi could not hide his disgust for the statement. He went ballistic. He used the opportunity to take a swipe at the conservative northern leaders ‘whose discouraging attitudes and activities’, he said, had impeded the development of the region

tributing meningitis outbreak in his state and others as God’s punishment for people’s sins. “(If) you don’t have vaccines, you don’t have vaccines; Go and get vaccines,” the emir said.

However, the governor was forced to beat a retreat and clarify his statement when it became clear to him that critics won’t let go.

It was an extensive interview and quote, but the governor in the clarification denied ever saying that the outbreak was punishment for sins committed by the people.

According to his Special Adviser on Media and Public Enlightenment, Mr. Ibrahim Magaji Dosara, the governor pointed out that he merely asked Nigerians to move closer to God and plead for his mercy to avert further infectious diseases and other health crises in the state and Nigeria since God has answers to all challenges.

“The governor noted that the situation was unfortunate because the state does not have enough vaccines yet for the Type C Meningitis.

The governor thereafter enjoined all Nigerians to embrace prayers, as God who is aware of the outbreak of the ailment surely has antidote for it.

“The governor specially appealed to Nigerians to make deliberate effort to be closer to God by shunning sins of fornication and other forms of disobedience so as to receive his divine health and other blessings, as he is closer to those who obey him and distant themselves from sins.

“No doubt, as a God-fearing man, and a Muslim, the governor believes in the powers of Allah to inflict whatever punishment He decides on the human race.

“However, the governor who spoke in Hausa had a particular audience in mind when he spoke to the BBC Hausa reporter.

“The governor added for example, that fornication ‘should not spread so much in society that it becomes common place and if that happens, Allah promises to inflict, on its perpetrators (people) a sickness that would have no cure.’

“Let it be known too that the governor still insists that all diseases come from Allah and that at no point in his interaction with the reporters did he insinuate that Allah was

punishing Nigerians but instead drew from the teachings of great Islamic traditions to buttress the point he was trying to convey.

“This is exactly what the governor said. But because some people are out there to ridicule him at the slightest opportunity and make a mountain out of a molehill with a view to tarnishing his rising reputation, the innocuous statement was misinterpreted and quoted out of context for reasons best known to the authors.

“We therefore use this medium to appeal to all well meaning Nigerians to ignore the story making the round and condemn the act of unethical practice by those disseminating the deceptive story.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the Zamfara State Government in conjunction with relevant federal government agencies is making frantic effort to contain the outbreak of meningitis in the state by taking immediate steps to secure appropriate vaccines for the latest health challenge.

“Let it be on record that the state under the leadership of Governor, Abdulaziz Abubakar Yari will not abandon the wellbeing of the people, who elected him to pilot the affairs of the state for any other thing. As the saying goes, health is wealth, and the administration will not settle for anything apart from vigorously pursuing the overall well being of Zamfara people,” he said.

Yet, the storm is yet to be over because as at today, almost 500 people have died from meningitis and it is hard not to be moved by the situation as it continues to ravage many states across the nation, most of them from Zamfara.

Abdul’aziz Abubakar Yari was elected Governor of Zamfara State, Nigeria in the 26 April 2011 national elections, running on the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) platform.

Following the merger of the ANPP and several other opposition parties into the now-governing All Progressives Congress, Yari became a member of the APC. Abubakar has been politically active since 1999. He was elected to represent Talata Mafara/ Anka Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives. He was Zamfara State chairman of the ANPP, and a member of the cabinet of former Governor Ahmad Sani Yerima. During Sani’s tenure, Yari was thought to have gained money from contracts. In November 2007, Yari was among Zamfara state officials charged with money laundering by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

When the then Zamfara State Governor Mahmud Shinkafi defected to the PDP in January 2009, taking the ANPP’s state executive committee with him, the ANPP’s national headquarters in Abuja was forced to create a Caretaker Committee headed by Yari. The committee’s tenure was repeatedly extended.

Yari was elected Governor of Zamfara State in the 26 April 2011 national elections, running on the ANPP platform. With a twist of fate, Yari defeated his father-in-law, former Governor Mahmud Aliyu Shinkafi of the PDP, to become the governor. He defeated his wife’s father by 514,962 votes to Shinkafi’s 460,656 votes.

Zamfara and other states have been battling with insufficient vaccines to prevent the spread of the disease.

As Yari rides this storm, many are wondering what is next in store for Zamfara State which appears to be taking the lead in Islamic conservatism: fromYerima’s Sharia now to Yari’s new diagnosis for meningitis outbreak.

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POLITICS

PERSPECTIVE

Oyo-Ita’s Initiatives to Fix the Civil Service To describe service delivery by the Nigerian civil service as poor is an understatement. Those who have gone there to seek information often come back with a bitter experience. However, the Head of Service, Winifred Oyo-Ita is determined to change that, writes James Ume

A

nyone who has related with civil servants in the country would readily admit that efficient and timely service delivery is not one of their attributes. The average Nigerian civil servant, perhaps, with a few exceptions, is a reluctant service provider when he chooses to serve. They are at their best, courtesy and all, when a client has greased their palms or offered a promise.

Ask a government contractor to tell you his experience.

If you are seeking some useful information from any of our Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and you assume you’ll get it on their website or when you visit the office, you will more likely than not get a shock. The website may either not be functional or it may not contain any useful information.

A greater shock even awaits you if you choose to visit the ministry or agency.

You are more likely to be told to write a formal letter of request for information, sometimes in a way that would make you feel the person was saying you must be stupid to think you’ll just walk into his office and get what you want. And when you stomach all that and come back with a letter, you are told that the office will respond to your request after a few days.

But you will never get a reply if you don’t follow up the letter. And even with the passage of the Freedom of Information Act in 2014, it could take a minimum of one month before your reply comes.

Sometimes you could be on it for months until you give up.

This is the bureaucracy the Head of Service of the Federation, Winifred Oyo-Ita, inherited and is seeking to change. Since her appointment in 2015, she has left no one in doubt that the civil service needed some urgent reforms, especially in the areas of service delivery and financial accountability.

Oyo-Ita came into office with a vision to change the attitude of the Nigerian bureaucracy and make it more responsive to the needs of the country. Her vision was crystalised into a 3-year reform plan named the “2017-2018 Strategic Plan”to be executed through a Public Private Partnership.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to formalise the execution of the strategy was signed on April 4 by the Office of the Head of Service of the Federation and the African Initiative for Governance. It is aimed at improving the current state of the service across a number of critical areas including culture and capacity building, technology, entrepreneurship, and welfare administration.

In the words of Oyo-Ita, the OHCSF 2017-2019 Strategic Plan aims to create an efficient, productive, incorruptible and citizen-centred (EPIC) civil service, and thereby, immensely improve the performance of the service.

She described the MoU signing as a historic event. “This is a momentous milestone in the decades’ long existence of the Federal Civil Service of Nigeria.

There has never been a partnership of this kind from within the shores of our great country, Nigeria, to render both technical and financial support of this quantum towards the implementation of the Strategy of the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation.

It is indeed a new vista and change has begun in the Nigerian Federal Civil

Oyo-Ita.....wants an efficient civil service

Service,” she said in a tone laced with self-satisfaction.

If carried through as she had promised, there is no doubt that it would not only be a landmark but also the beginning of true change in the civil service. It would also complement and sharpen the reforms

Trust in government by the people is enhanced by closing the widening gap with the citizenry. It is a fact that improvements in public service and delivery capabilities have direct effect on the living standards of citizens and the competitiveness of the private sector

that she kick-started on assumption of office.

As soon as she was appointed in October 2015 she immediately prioritised the commencement of a more holistic reform of the civil service. She envisioned an effective service delivery bureaucracy that would serve the government and people of Nigeria well. Among the reforms she itemised to be carried out, include, but not limited to achieving financial accountability, value for money through capacity building, and structured training programmes to equip the civil servants with relevant skills to do their work diligently and efficiently.

She instituted a personnel structure and Performance Management System (PMS), where there would be reward for hard work and effective service delivery, and possible sanctions for poor performance.

She has just concluded tours in some of the training institutions like Centre for Management Development (CMD) as part of her drive to see first-hand the institution’s challenges and how best to tackle them.

Oyo-Ita brought to the office of the HoS full integrity and a disdain for financial wastages and leakages. Thus when

the federal government established the Efficiency Unit at the Federal Ministry of Finance, she quickly embraced it and became one of its chief promoters. She has since appropriated the unit as part of government’s effort to block leakages in the public service procurement processes.

The HoS has also started the digitalisation of the civil service to make for efficiency and safety of public records.

She deplored a situation where staff records and other important service information were still kept in files. “The system whereby records of civil servants are kept just anyhow in piles of files in registries which could get eaten up by rodents cannot continue,” she had told a gathering of civil servants in 2015, promising that by 2016 records and document management of the Federal Civil Service would be fully automated.

Oyo-Ita is working hard to keep that promise.

The service was already working with the National Record Centre to ensure the full automation of records in the service. A programme on the electronic management system had already been rolled out, and an archival system and a software for it is also being developed. A human resource software was developed last year to address fully issues of ghost workers in the second phase of the Integrated Personnel and Pay Role Information System (IPPIS).

In furtherance of her change agenda for the civil service, Oyo-Ita, initiated a quarterly public lecture series aimed at reminding civil servants of the roles expected of them in the this change era.

The first of these lectures was held at the Banquet Hall, Aso Rock Presidential Villa, Abuja where Oyo-Ita gave a lecture entitled: “The role of Civil Service in a Change Environment: The change is Now.” The lecture dwelled on the need for a change in attitude and character of the civil servants. She advocated for a service that would initiate fresh ideas to help the federal government tackle the challenges of socio-economic and infrastructural development in the country.

She said the civil service was an indispensable sub-division of the executive arm of government which provides political leaders with the technical know-how to implement policies they were elected on, and seamlessly ensure stability and continuity between governments.

Her strong believe that the civil service must be responsive to the needs of the people and the country is underlined in her words: “The Federal Public Service needs to change its narrative when interacting with Nigerians who are demanding more accountability at all levels of government especially as regards the quality of public service delivery.

“Trust in government by the people is enhanced by closing the widening gap with the citizenry. It is a fact that improvements in public service and delivery capabilities have direct effect on the living standards of citizens and the competitiveness of the private sector.”

A chartered accountant and tested public administrator, Oyo-Ita has the requisite experience and knowledge power to help her achieve the civil service she envisions, and for which President Muhammadu Buhari appointed her.

Ume, a media consultant, wrote in from Lagos

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BUSINESSWORLD R A T E S NIBOR OVERNIGHT 1-MONTH

A S

NIBOR

15.3333% 17.0332%

A T

3-MONTH 6-MONTH

20.1621% 23.1621%

M A R C H 9 , NITTY 1-MONTH 2-MONTH

Group Business Editor Chika Amanze-Nwachuku

Email chika.amanzenwachukwu@thisdaylive.com 08033294157

2 0 1 7

13.0970% 14.0684%

3-MONTH 6-MONTH

15.7898% 19.6644%

EXCHANGE RATE N305.50//1US DOLLAR* *AS AT LAST FRIDAY

Quick Takes Etisalat’s ETEPP Session Begins

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

L-R: Regional Sales Manager, Weco Systems International Ltd, Femi Oluwatoyin; Assistant Manager, ICT, Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC), Piero Guarini; Senior Systems Engineer, Cisco Systems, Kelechi Udumukwu and Coordinator, Production, NAOC, Korubo Barry, at Weco-Cisco’s digital transformation conference in Oil & Gas operations in NAOC, Port Harcourt...recently

NNPC to Advance Nigeria’s National Broadband Penetration Plan Chineme Okafor in Abuja The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has said it would support Nigeria’s plan to extend telecommunication bandwidth across the country with the commercialisation of some of its critical Information Communications and Technology (ICT) infrastructure.

It also said such commercialisation plan would support its drive to achieve commercial viability as an integrated oil and gas company.

Its Group Managing Director,

ECONOMY Dr. Maikanti Baru, disclosed this when he received the Minister of Communication, Adebayo Shittu, in his office at the NNPC Towers on Tuesday in Abuja.

Baru said in a statement from the Group General Manager, Public Affairs of NNPC, Mr. Ndu Ughamadu, that the ICT infrastructure up for commercialisation include over 960 kilometres of fiber optic cable laid between Lagos, Benin, Warri, and to Kaduna

on the NNPC pipeline Right of Way (ROW), 52 remote Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) stations nationwide and two network centres connecting all NNPC depots and pump stations in Nigeria.

“Our look-ahead plan is to commercialise our fibre optics cable network utilising NNPC pipeline Right of Way that cuts across the entire country. Some of the benefits of this initiative include the opportunity to provide backbone carriage to meet the national 2020 plan for broadband penetration in the country,” Baru said.

He also expressed NNPC’s readiness to collaborate with the Ministry of Communications in its goal to develop new ICT initiatives that could make life easier for Nigerians.

“We are committed to supporting the ministry of communications to realise its ICT dreams which will not only ensure effective governance and service delivery in the country, but will also make life easier for Nigerians”, he pledged.

Baru also lauded Shittu for ensuring the pursuit of Continued on page 20

Customs to Issue Licenses for Bonded Vehicle Terminals across Nigeria Eromosele Abiodun To eliminate the difficulties experienced by importers and agents desperately looking for funds to clear their vehicles from the ports to avoid losing them as overtime cargoes, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) is set to issue licenses for establishment of Inland bonded vehicle terminals across the country.

This according to the Customs spokesman, Joseph Attah, is to create ease in the automobile business and increase commercial activities thereby boosting to the economy.

Attah said the NCS is set to commence issuance of licenses to interested auto

MARITIME dealers or any person who intends to operate bonded Vehicle terminals.

The Service according to him, will consider ownership of fenced landed space with designated building for customs outpost within the terminals and a N50million bank bond after detailed study of the company’s profile before issuing licenses to applicants.

The Customs spokesman said the new regime of car holding which is coming after the ban on the importation of vehicles through the land borders will boost auto businesses, strengthen national economy and security.

Apart from removing the

burden of duty payment at the ports of discharge from the operator, there will be many positive multiplier effects like spare part shops, mechanic villages, food vendors and many more.

“I can tell you that commercial bank branches around such terminals will be springing up very soon, “he said.

He promised that full customs functions of examination, assessment for value and prevention of smuggling through any form of concealment in vehicles will not be compromised under the new regime.

“Operators will be allowed to take delivery of their vehicles to their terminals under customs escort and pay duty as the cars

are bought within a 28 days grace period. Customs will only approach the dealers for duty payment at the expiration of the 28 days period as operators now make sales from imported cars before duty payment at their bonded terminals. For ease of duty collection and security, the customs will maintain presence inside the terminals.

“Bills of laden will indicate actual terminals where the imported vehicles will be transferred to and will make for easy evacuation from the ports to the designated terminals.

Unlike previous methods of collecting duties on vehicles before they exit the ports, Continued on page 20

The Etisalat Telecommunications Engineering Postgraduate Programme (ETEPP) at the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria has commenced a new academic session with 16 students. The new set of students makes it the fifth batch of intakes since the programme was launched by Etisalat in 2013. ETEPP is the flagship Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative of Etisalat, aimed at bridging the shortage of highly skilled local manpower in the Nigeria’s telecommunications industry. ETEPP is widely recognised as the first of its kind, taught Master’s programme in telecommunications engineering in West Africa. Run in partnership with Plymouth University United Kingdom, the Etisalat Academy in the United Arabs Emirates and Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria, the M.Sc. programme runs for 24 months and exposes students to practical training and world-class experience through an internship with Etisalat Nigeria. The top-three students of each set also benefit from an Etisalat-sponsored training at the Etisalat Academy UAE. In addition, Etisalat sponsors lecturers of ABU Zaria, to Plymouth University for Ph.D. programmes, in which they are all conducting innovative research focused on telecommunications engineering.

As part of activities to commence the new academic session of ETEPP, Etisalat Nigeria on Tuesday received an Associate Professor of InformationTechnology, at Plymouth University, UK, Dr. Mohammed Zaki Ahmed, who was on a working visit to ABU Zaria, to provide capacity building for lecturers as well as mentor students on the programme.

Wapic Insurance introduces New Products

Wapic Insurance plc, has introduced some lifestyle insurance products into the market. The products, which are classified under Wapic Smart Investment-linked Products are designed to cater for the protection and needs of individuals, families and businesses.

Speaking at the Launch, Managing Director, Wapic Insurance, Yinka Adekoya, said the company, resolved to splash the investment linked products into the market this time because it considered that given the present economic realities on ground in the country, it is difficult to make progress without plan and goals. According to her, Wapic Insurance, knows that a good insurance plan is the key to achieving successful living and so has developed a variety of insurance solutions to address critical customer needs.

“We are confident that these products which offer competitive rates, more added benefits and adequately address risk concerns would ensure that the policyholder remains a step ahead”, she said.

Explaining the benefits of the products, Adekoya, said the Wapic Smart Investment-linked products include the Smart Life plan, Smart Life+ plan, Smart Scholar plan, Smart Senior plan and the Smart Wealth plan.

Imo Air/Dana Unveils Easter Promo

Imo Air operated by Dana Air has announced that its guests travelling in and out of Imo state during the Easter celebrations would get bumper miles, when they book their tickets ahead this Easter.

The Media and Communications Manager of the airline, Kingsley Ezenwa, said: “Easter is a period of sacrifice and as part of efforts towards appreciating our frequent flyers and loyal guests since we commenced operations on January 24, this year; we have decided to surprise them with the ‘Miles splash promo,’ which will see most of them earning free tickets and upgrades to the Silver and Gold membership tier of our frequent flyer programme.’’

On the preparedness of the airline for the Easter season he said: “We are fully prepared to offer the best of service as always to our guests, most of whom will be travelling to the East to visit family and friends. And as a domestic airline strictly committed to connecting business and leisure travelers to Imo state and beyond, we have introduced pocket –friendly fares and the Miles splash promo to further encourage family bonding this Easter.’’

Commenting further, Kingsley advised guests to take advantage of the airlines’ low fares and multiple payment platforms for their booking and reservations, while assuring them that the airline would be unveiling more customer-friendly initiatives and partnerships in no distant time.

‘“This is to thank the general public, especially our travelling passengers into and out of Kaduna consequent on our closure of Abuja airport”

Minister of State, Aviation

Senator Hadi Sirika.

20

T H I S D AY • FRIDAY, APRIL 14, 2017

BUSINESSWORLD NNPC TO ADVANCE NIGERIA’S NATIONAL BROADBAND PENETRATION PLAN the national strategy and roadmap, which he added intend to increase broadband penetration from six to 30 per cent by 2020.

He told his visitor that to key into the ministry’s laudable agenda, the NNPC had already restrategised its ICT initiatives to make it a hub for seamless, efficient and value-adding operations nationwide.

According to him, the NNPC also boasts of a data centre facility that houses all its data, information and business solutions such as the Systems Applications and Products (SAP), e-mail services, collaboration solutions and specialised applications for the oil and gas industry.

The statement quoted Shittu to have lauded Baru for “bringing a new lease of life to the NNPC,” through what he said are reforms that were in consonance with President Muhammadu Buhari’s change agenda for the country.

CUSTOMS TO ISSUE LICENSES FOR BONDED VEHICLE TERMINALS ACROSS NIGERIA

which poses risks of congestion and possibility of being declared as overtime cargo due to lack of immediate funds to clear, the new regime will feature a seamless transfer of cars from the ports to bonded terminals, “he said.

Attah added, ‘’Interested businesspersons and car dealers are expected to apply to the Controller General of Customs through the Area Controllers of the place the terminal is to be sited. There will be chains of legitimate job opportunities for banks, auto mechanics, spare part dealers, vulcanising service providers and other ancillary vehicle related businesses and jobs.’’

Furthermore, he said that whatever job losses that were associated with the ban on vehicle importation through the land borders would be covered as the economy will be better for it.

The new method, he explained, is a departure from

Group Business Editor

NEWS

FIRS’ e-VAT Platform Nets N2.5bn from Three Airlines Ndubuisi Francis in Abuja The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) raked in N2.5 billion from three domestic airlines between 2014 and 2017 through its automated Value Added Tax (VAT) remittance platform, VAT Collect.

FIRS’ Director, Information Communications Technology (ICT), Mr. Kola Okunola made this disclosure in Abuja at a training session for finance journalists, organised by his organisation. Aero, Dana and Medview are the only local airlines hooked on VAT Collect, Okunola, said, noting that they constitute the lower end of the market.

“Arik Air, Air Peace, Azman and others are not yet on this electronic platform.

Arik Airline controls up to 70 per cent of the market share. So, by the time Arik and others come on stream, we hope to rake up to N10 billion annually from VAT from domestic airlines,” he explained. He also revealed that plans were in the offing to extend the automated VAT collection package to mega stores, the telecoms sector, oil and gas industry and other sectors of the economy.

The FIRS and the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), he added, have jointly developed platforms that allow Nigerians in diaspora to register their companies online.

His words: “You can now register a business end to end without physical contact. It is part of government’s ease of doing business package. We want to do away with physi-

cal human contact because that is where bribery comes in. We want this to stop.”

Okunola also revealed that about 105 Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) have been brought into an electronic platform it operates

in collaboration with the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF), where withholding tax and VAT are automatically deducted.

“Our platform will work with the Government’s Integrated Financial Management

Information System (GIFMIS).

FIRS wants to incentivise good behaviour. 105 MDAs are for the pilot scheme.

Eventually, all MDAs will fall in line. We are targeting digital tax administration and we are planning to have a

CAPACITY BUILDING

L-R: Head, SME Banking Unity Bank Plc, Opeyemi Ojesina, Convener & CEO, Mitwork Limited, Timothy Ikhide, CEO, Protection Plus Group, Ubong King and TV Host, Stephen Ipalibo Lawson, all speakers at an entrepreneurship workshop held at the Nouveau Center, VI, Lagos…recently

Niger to Audit Contributory Pension Scheme Laleye Dipo in Minna The Niger state government has hired private auditors to audit the operations of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) in the state.

The CPS had been embroiled in crisis and confusion resulting in the inability of retirees under the scheme to collect their entitlements in the last two years.

Consequently, Governor

Abubakar Sani Bello directed the audit of the operations of the CPS. The governor’s Senior Special Assistant on Media, Mr. Jide Orintunsin, confirmed the development in a statement made available to journalists in Minna. He however did not disclose the duration of the exercise.

But Oritunsin said: “The CPS operation audit is to unravel funds discrepancies in the operation of the scheme

in the Local Government Councils, Local Government Service Commission and Niger State Universal Basic Education Board” (NSUBEB).

“Forensic audit of the operations of the CPS was a move by the state government to unearth the discrepancies and the lingering crisis that led to the suspension of deductions under the scheme in April 2015 and ensure effective operation of the scheme in

the state.”

According to him, the forensic audit has also become necessary in view of the findings of a committee set up by the new management board of the State Pension Board.

He added: “The administration of Governor Abubakar Sani Bello is committed to resolving the inherited lingering crisis associated with CPS in the state and it is worthy to note that the administration

AgriBusiness/Industry Editor

NSC Boss Vows to Promote Ease of Doing Business

Comms/e-Business Editor

Eromosele Abiodun

Chika Amanze-Nwachuku Crusoe Osagie Emma Okonji

Capital Market Editor

Goddy Egene

Senior Correspondent

Raheem Akingbolu (Advertising) Correspondents

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

Nume Ekeghe (Money Market) Nosa Alekhuogie (Capital Market)

contact centre that will come on stream between now till the end of the year. We have the federal engagement and enlightenment tax team that educates tax payers all in our bid to widen tax literacy,” he said.

The Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), Mr. Hassan Bello has pledged to promote ease of doing business in the country.

He stated this when he received a delegation of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), who paid him a courtesy visit in Lagos.

He stressed that the essence of privatisation is to bring down the cost of doing business comparative to what is obtainable in other climes.

Specifically, he said: “We can only do that through negotiations and we have

been doing that to see that prices are reasonable and competitive together with the service providers. Everything we do, we need to get their buy-in because our regulation is democratic and we will achieve the same aim that we set out to achieve.

“The operating environment adds to little infractions here and there but with the NSC coordinating, these things will be minimised before the end of this year.”

In his speech, the Director General of MAN, Segun Ajayi-Kadir appealed to the federal government to review the Central Bank of Nigeria

(CBN) policy which bars the importers of some 41 items from accessing foreign exchange through the official forex window.

Ajayi-Kadir, who led the members of the association on the courtesy visit said more than 200 factories have closed down within the space of two years due to CBN policy.

He said: “Customs effort to intervene has not succeeded and we are still engaging them but engagement have to stop at some point and we need to start seeing action. The restriction on the 41 items should be reviewed to remove the raw materials that are in it.”

According to him, 95 out of the more than 680 tariff lines in the 41 items are raw materials that are not locally available hence the need for government to remove them from the list.

He stressed that, “the way out is to take out those materials that are listed on the 41 items.

It is not the right thing to do to deny any manufacturing industry the material it needs to produce. It just does not make sense. It was an error that was made and must be corrected. The raw materials that are needed to produce must be brought in especially because they are not locally available.”

has recorded some milestones in the settlements of entitlements to beneficiaries of CPS”, he added Orintunsin said the Pension Board management under Governor Bello had processed and paid 10 beneficiaries under the scheme to a tune of N23,826,578.16, adding that efforts were being made to get another set of 43 beneficiaries, whose entitlement of N35,510,471,89 paid.

He added: “To deny us access to those raw materials is ill advised and it should be changed. We are engaging government, the CBN and the Presidency. We have been having positive reactions, but something just needs to be done.”

He added that there is need for government to provide a conducive and friendly operating environment for the manufacturers to operate.

A conducive environment is a prerequisite for a successful manufacturing company.

An environment that is not conducive is like taking the fish out of water.”

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CVL Kicks Off Training for Entrepreneurs in Delta State One hundred aspiring entrepreneurs would commence tomorrow in Warri, Delta State for a year-long training in entrepreneurship in the Youth Entrepreneurship Development Programme of the Centre for Values in Leadership (CVL). The 100 young people emerged from a pool of 726 candidates.

Warri is the third of four cities where the CVL is conducting the training for 400 would-be entrepreneurs in Delta State.

Other cities are Ibusa, Agbor, and Ozoro. Training has commenced at Ibusa and Agbor while it would take off at Ozoro on Tuesday, April 18 at the Holy Trinity Catholic Church.

Participants for Warri and Ozoro training come from local governments in the area.

They include Warri South, Warri Central, Warri North, Udu, Okpe, Uvwie, Ughelli North, Ughelli South, Isoko South, Patani, Burutu, Sapele and Bomadi.

Under the Youth Entrepreneurship Development Programme, the Centre for Values in Leadership (CVL) would partner several organ-

isations and individuals to teach, mentor and guide the participants. A further 200 persons would participate in a finishing school.

CVL founder, Prof Pat Utomi said: The 400 participants would receive training valued at N3.5m per head over the period. Their curriculum would include Self Mastery, Pedagogy of the Determined, Marketing, Entrepreneurship, Finance and Operations. There would also be Vocational Skills Training.

The training is free.”

Participants would intern in organisations in Onitsha, Benin and Asaba. They would also deploy the vocational skills developed in their training in a community service project to construct prefabricated houses from kits imported into the country. CVL would donate the homes, valued at N2million each, to widows and elderly females with housing challenges.

Participants would leave with a starter pack comprising tools of the business in which they are majoring and links to funders.

Utomi said the goal of the Youth Entrepreneurship Training

Programme is to combat violent extremism and youth unemployment through entrepreneurship, agro-processing and ICT engagement for young people. The programme targets people ages 18 to 40 years from the local community of the intervention.

Participants would pursue innovative ideas in agriculture and agro-processing including fish farming, piggery or poultry. They would consider the Creative Economy, covering fashion, photography, creative arts, music and film or invest in Information and Communications Technology or Retail.

The CVL founder also indicated that the empowerment programme at the end of the year would bring in sponsors to provide starter packs to participants, in addition to grouping interested graduands into cooperatives with access to loan schemes of participating banks.

He said those interested in Agriculture would get land and be part of the out grower scheme of the Integrated Produce City in Edo State.

Firm Partners FG on Afrifoods, Drinks Festival Emma Okonji As part of the moves to boost the non-oil sector of the economy, the management of the Afro Intercontinental Connections Limited (AFRICON) has continued to celebrate the foods and drinks industry, with a view to encouraging players to increase productivity and boost the economy. As part of its contribution to boost the non-oil sector, the organisation said it would hold the 2017 edition of Afrifoods and Drinks Fest, which is an exhibition of foods, drinks, beverages and other allied products, from Saturday, 15th to Sunday 23 April at the National Theatre, Lagos. According to the organisers, the festival, which is being organised in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture

and other relevant agencies of government, is being put together as industrial tourism project in fulfillment of the recommendation of the April 2014 World Economic Forum that was held in Nigeria.

The world body was said to have appreciated the Agricultural development of Nigeria and endorsed a large scale promotion of same for other countries to emulate.

In what looks like a strategic plan to celebrate the 50th year anniversary of Lagos, the organisers appeared to have targeted the festive period to further showcase the economic and tourism potentials of the commercial city. The organisers had in a statement noted that Lagos State as the host state has indicated its willingness to partner them on the project.

Speaking on the festival, the Chief Executive Officer

of AFRICON, Mr. Segun Oyedeji, said the timing was necessary because the nation needed a massive exposition of her agricultural products and produces to rejuvenate the economy.

He said; ‘’While it could be agreed that the flow of foreign exchange can be through many channels, the importance of a well - structured and organised tourism industry is certainly beyond question.

It is not surprising therefore that tourism has become very powerful for many developed and developing countries as a source of foreign exchange and development generation through well organised ‘’center-point-activities like the RIO Carnival, Nothing Hill Gate Festival in London, Peoples Carnival in Glasgow and Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany, to mention a few.’’

Lawmaker Wants CBN Policy on Forex Sustained Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja A lawmaker representing Kano State in the House of Representatives, Ibrahim Garuba has called on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to sustain its policy on foreign exchange that had saw the Naira regaining some value against the Dollar.

Garuba made the call while speaking to journalists in Abuja, stressing that though some inconsistencies had been witnessed as regards government policies, but

noted that for the past few weeks the impact of government policies on forex have crashed the exchange rate in the market.

According to him, “I think what has been happening was just like try and error but maybe now for first three or four weeks we have started seeing impact on the policy of government.”

Continuing he said: “There was a time last six weeks, Dollar was selling at about N520 now it has come down to N320, why because government is now funding the forex

market.”

Garuba not that if the CBN could sustain the policy, it would help the Naira in sustaining its strength.

“If they (CBN) do not certainly the demand will outweigh the supply and provided the demand cannot meet the supply there is always the factor of high cost of the dollar. But I’m appealing to the federal government to sustain it if they can, so that we can pay our children’s school fees, we can get our basic travel allowance or business travel allowance or personal travel

RISK MANAGEMENT WATCH Robert Mbonu

The Economic Recovery and Growth Plan – A Project Risk Management Perspective

T

he situation: After months of waiting, the federal government launched the four-year Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP).

It is a strategic response to a recession in the second quarter of 2016 caused by the sharp and continuous decline in crude oil prices since mid-2014, along with a failure to diversify the sources of revenue and foreign exchange in the economy.

Previous economic policies left the country ill-prepared for the recent collapse of crude oil prices and production.

The ERGP, a Medium-Term Plan for 2017 – 2020, has been developed for restoring economic growth while leveraging the ingenuity and resilience of the Nigerian people – the nation’s most priceless assets.

The current administration recognised that the economy is likely to remain on a path of steady and steep decline if nothing is done to change the trajectory. The ERGP differs from previous plans in several ways. Focused implementation is at the core of the delivery strategy of the Plan over the next four years. More than ever before, there is a strong political determination, commitment and will at the highest level. All the ministries, departments, and agencies of government will have their different roles in implementing the Plan. But most importantly, a Delivery Unit is being established in the Presidency to drive the implementation of key ERGP priorities. The success of this plan therefore rests on the management of the programme by this special Delivery Unit.

With professional project and risk management techniques, it is entirely possible to deliver huge projects such as the ERGP on time, on budget, and to the expected outcome. The root of the problem often derives from the lack of governance over such projects. Governance of a project is best delivered in a well-managed project risk management programme driven by someone who has the authority and experience to deliver the programme, and who can motivate, sanction and drive people to deliver the expected outcome for the stakeholders.

These are ten steps that need to be conducted by the Delivery Unit, using Project Risk Management techniques to deliver the benefits. Whilst the following looks like a list to be done each in turn, once one process is kicked off, then concurrently another should start, like the wheels on a car, except that there may be hundreds of wheels on such a complex project, in other words ‘begin the process again and continue it until a state of perfection is reached in which perfect value is created with no waste’; COMMUNICATE: this is an ongoing process and seems obvious, but many project teams forget to be transparent about what they are doing and how the management of risk is progressing.

Transparency and honesty in communications that are consistent and persistent will help to bring everyone onto the same hymn sheet and get everyone feeling as if they are a part of the same team. Use all means that are available and appoint a communications person who is dedicated to getting the messages out.

CONTEXT: Independently determine the project priorities - what’s most important to the stakeholders? A project’s success is normally determined on three things; budget, timing and delivering the expected quality of outcome.

IDENTIFY: Identify the risks using a wide range of inputs from all interested parties and ensure that even the grey areas are not left untouched.

Understand the root causes of the issues and problems in the light of the objectives for the project.

Ensure that the identification stage continues

through the programme and is a constant process – risks change as the project moves through its phases, and the commissioning phase has its own unique set of threats and opportunities. Make everyone responsible for risk identification and reward those who come up with ideas.

ANALYSE: For the ongoing risk management of this project it is useful to separate the certainties from the uncertainties and then to analyse the threats and opportunities in joint workshops – mixing teams together and getting them to take joint responsibility for ensuring the project is on track.

Again, the analysis is an ongoing process as new risks are identified and new causes/consequences are analysed.

EVALUATE: Prioritise the threats and opportunities with the joint teams so that there is a workable plan for each stage. Be clear about the timings for the threats and opportunities; one of the pitfalls is that at critical points of the project it is often the case that several things can go wrong at the same time, or opportunities can be missed.

OWNERSHIP: Define responsibilities and ensure clear goals for each risk owner and risk control owner.

These goals should include timing for delivering the control, accuracy, communications, involvement of others and resources. Get buy in and sign off from those involved by ensuring that everyone feels jointly motivated and involved.

CONTROL: Use the full gamut of control techniques for the risks using proactive controls for the causes of the risks, and reactive controls for the consequences. Implement control strategies swiftly and run concurrent programmes, constantly analysing and improving the control processes and communicating the outputs in digestible ways to all partners in the programme.

MONITOR and MEASURE: You may at this stage require more than a series of spreadsheets to record, handle, and analyse all the data that has been generated. There are many generic risk management systems out there, and some are specifically geared to project risk management. An audit trail is also critical. Delivering believable and consistent management information is important to the ongoing belief in the programme and the incentivisation of the various players.

REVIEW: Look back and compare outputs with what was before. Make realistic comparisons that will enable people to learn and improve their own behaviour constantly throughout each phase of this project.

CELEBRATE: Yes, if you can do all of this consistently, concurrently and gain the proof that it all works, then a celebration is deserved. But also, everyone who participated in the programme needs to be rewarded appropriately because they will be seasoned project risk practitioners for the next time!

With these ten steps, a framework can be designed for a complex project such as the ERGP. This will ensure each phase is brought on track and successfully delivered. Therefore, to be fully effective, risk management must be closely integrated into the overall ERGP project management process. With the right commitment and drivers, the ERGP can be achieved •Mbonu, FERP, CIRM(UK), HCIB, MsRM (Stern), studied Engineering, is an experienced Banker and Enterprise Risk Management professional. Earned a post graduate degree in Risk Management from New York University Stern School of Business, and is a member of the Institute of Risk Management -UK. Can be reached on 09092092046 (SMS Only); email: rm4riskmgt@gmail.com

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AVIATION

Airline Operators Question N15bn Debt Claim by NCAA Stories by Chinedu Eze

Domestic operators under the umbrella of Airlines Operators of Nigeria (OAN) have denied N15 billion indebtedness to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA). Rising from an emergency meeting, the operators said in very strong terms that they are not owing the NCAA N15 billion as it claimed.

“We are still at loss as to why the NCAA made such a phantom claim publicly. The recently published breakdown in the media of what airlines owe of each passenger is completely wrong and false. Airlines don’t pay monthly fixed rate. The rate is a percentage of the fare paid.

Secondly, how can an airline like Arik Air with 27 airplanes have a fixed monthly remittance rate of N61, 477, 779.69 and Air Peace with an average of five airplanes to pay N109, 862,

633.84 monthly? At what rate were these figures calculated to get a fixed amount?” AON said.

The operators noted that even from “the phantom breakdown mentioned 80 percent of the bills are from airlines that are either out of operation or in receivership with the government today. Moreover, a couple of the airlines that make up the phantom numbers are not Nigerian registered airlines such as Cronos and Africa World Airlines (AWA).”

AON said it was obvious that the “phantom” numbers could not add up, noting that the airlines are working and struggling to stay afloat in a harsh terrain and made to bear the sin of others, thus urging NCAA to come out with a true picture of things. “AON therefore challenged the NCAA to come open with the breakdown of how it arrived at the phantom bill of

N15 billion and publish the details of the airlines and what they owe.

Perhaps doing so will erase the negative impression being fed the public as it will reveal that the money they claim airlines owe are owed by airlines that have now either been taken over by government (AMCON) or is a historic debt owed majorly by airlines that have gone out of business over the years due to the harsh environment, unfriendly polices and the continued burden of multiple charges or falsified account that can’t stand the test of an external audit or a law court trial.

But contrary to AON statement, THISDAY investigations disclosed that at the time Arik Air was operating about 100 flights daily and had 28 aircraft in its fleet, it used to pay about N60 million monthly as five percent ticket and cargo sales charge.

IT-driven Sabre Network Celebrates 10yrs in Nigeria One of the major airline distribution solution provider in aviation industry, Sabre Network West Africa has advised airlines, travel agents and other stakeholders in the Nigerian aviation industry to embrace technology for enhanced performance, as it marks 10 years in the country.

The US based company said that when it came to Nigeria, it contributed significantly in the introduction online booking, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Billings and Settlement Plan (BSP).

Many aviators and other professionals who spoke at the event to mark the 10 years anniversary of the company, held in Lagos recently stressed the need to take the advantage of the Internet in air travel in the country, noting that it was pertinent for stakeholders in the industry to embrace IT, warning that without this, most of them would be left behind.

The Senior Vice President, Europe, Middle East and Africa, Sabre, Mr. Dean Bibb, noted that mobile technology is the vehicle that drives global aviation industry and the sector in Nigeria could not be left behind.

He however observed that there are 94 per cent of mobile penetration in Nigeria, but said stakeholders should be more proactive in the discharge of their duties to their clients, remarking that Sabre Network currently has 42 million bookings on the continent of Africa with South Africa claiming the number one spot with 10 million bookings while Nigeria has just 4.5 million bookings annually.

He however, expressed hope that the tide would change very soon in Nigeria as more people are daily embracing the modern technology and more Nigerians are now travelling.

“We have seen a lot of change in Nigeria since we first came into the country 10 years ago with zero booking. Mobile network has changed the way we do business and interact in the world. We at Sabre believe that Sabre is the company you need to walk up to. In the next five years, we will only have one app for everything.”

Also the President, Sabre, West Africa, Mr. Gbenga Olowo decried the infrastructural deficit in Nigeria, saying that the deficiencies add up to the expenses incurred by the

company and other operators in the industry.

Olowo insisted that there had not been any improvement in infrastructure since the company was inaugurated in 2007 till 2017; rather, he said things had been degenerating as mobile network service has become less efficient and power supply has become more erratic.

“We supplied our own power 10 years ago and as at today, we still generate our own power. Internet was sluggish and despite the few improvements, it is still sluggish. 10 years ago, the telephone was good, but today, it’s going bad and might even be worse if care is not taken.

Power is a major challenge here as you even need to charge your backups.

“Sabre is an open platform with applications and we are spreading on the continent. We are between eight to 10 per cent in Ghana; we are in Liberia and even Sierra Leone, but some of the needed infrastructure are no there in those countries. For instance, some of them are not even on the Billing Settlement Plan (BSP)” Olowo said.

Airfield Lighting to be Completed Today at Abuja Runway There are indications that work on the runway of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja is almost completed few days to its reopening, as the runway lighting is expected to be completed today.

The Minster of State, Aviation Senator Hadi Sirika while inspecting the final lap of asphalt laying last weekend confirmed that there was already 96 per cent completion

of the ongoing rehabilitation and that the airport would be reopened for operations come April 19.

“This is runway 22 where the work terminates and remember the work started from the other end which is 04. You can see that we have finished asphalting and we are at 96 percent completion.

Asphalting has completed and the airfield lightings installation

has started. The marking of the runway and the lightings is going on simultaneously,” the Minister said.

He also gave assurance that the runway would not retain water again due to the introduction of new technology.

“The runway will not be retaining water again as it was in the past because of the introduction of new technology,” he said.

AIR WATCH Why FG Insists on Airport Concessions

International terminal of Lagos airport

O

n Sunday, the Minister of State, Aviation, Hadi Sirika reiterated the need to concession the airports, describing the plan as the only viable option to modernise and make the airports serve travellers better.

He poignantly noted that there is not much government could do in terms of investing more funds to develop the airports, as government does not have such funds and there is better alternative to improving the infrastructure through airports concessions.

Sirika was prompted to visit the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos that Sunday evening to inspect facilities following the report that there was vibration at the international terminal. During the inspection, it was discovered that the vibration was caused by the control room of chillers, where all the equipment that provide the air conditioning of the facility was stored. The door, which was heavy iron, was not latched after it was closed. It started vibrating, shaking adjoining areas close to the chillers room.

The Minister stated that when the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja resumes operation on April 19; government’s attention would turn to the Lagos airport and efforts would be made to provide the critical facilities to enhance passenger facilitation.

But he noted that whatever maintenance that could be done to the airport and other airports in the country, the ultimate option to ensure continuous development of these airports is to concession them.

“I think the ultimate solution to all of these is to concession these airports. I have maintained this because I don’t know any other way we can go about it. That is the only way to go because government does not have the resources to continue to invest in these airports. We want to make sure that all the things at the Abuja airport are fixed and the airport returns to normal operation.

However, I think that the ultimate end and solution to all of these is the concession of these airports.

I have maintained this. It is the only solution, I don’t know any other way we can do it because government no longer have the resources to continue to invest in these airports,” Sirika said.

The major opposition to concession is the workers. There is also the general apprehension of many Nigerians that the programme would not be transparently done, going by past experience. The aviation labour unions representing the workers believe that their interest would not be protected. The workers few months ago marched in protest against the government’s plan to concession the airports.

The unions said they were aware that some organisations were already coming forward to buy these ‘viable airports’, adding that the unions cannot mortgage the destiny of over 6,000 workers of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) into the selfish hands of few political cartel or individual concessionaires.

They also warned interested parties to stay off from the concession transactions and observed that in the last three months there had been uncontrolled employment and improper placement of certain category of staff without recourse to the Federal Character and Public Service Rule, describing such action as a ploy to render FAAN insolvent for them to acquire.

However, they noted that the Minister, Sirika gave assurance that the interest of Nigerians would not be jeopardised in the concession process of the aforementioned airports.

Sirika had told Nigerians that the decision to concession the airports, was borne out of government’s desire to have effective and efficient management of the airports and adequate utilisation of the abundant skilled manpower in the aviation sector.

Sirika also noted: “There are entrepreneurs, high net worth and knowledgeable people whose business is to be in the promotion, construction, selling and providing airport facilities around the world. It is the business they know how to do and they also make money out of it.

The concession is necessary but I have to emphasise that this government in power; the APC government is social, democratic government.

We are not going to sell the assets; we are going to concession them; So that after concession the assets will still come back to the people and in future they can re-concession them again with better deal and better service delivery.

“We are doing this becausegovernmentisattending to healthcare, attending to education, attending to roads etc, so it is difficult to find money, especially at this time of recession to put in our airports. And no matter how it is, the people who have the expertise to run the airports will always do better.

“Saudi Arabia is the richest country on earth but they concessioned their airports, so also China, so also US, so also Singapore. I don’t see why Nigeria, with dwindling fortunes, cannot go that route. We have taken the decision as a government and very soon the process will start in earnest. We want to concession the airports and give them to people that will turn it round and make it an airport that we all will be proud of,” the Minister added.

While this has reinforced government’s determination to concession the airports, doubts still linger on the sincerity and transparency of that planned efforts, going by past experiences. So it behooves the minister to convince the sceptical workers that their interest would be protected and to the Nigerians; that it would be different this time.

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How Aviation Fared in First Quarter

The Nigeria aviation industry, in the first quarter of 2017, may have lost its verve in terms of passenger traffic, but the government and its agencies are under pressure to chart a new course for the industry, writes Chinedu Eze

One of the major things that characterised the aviation industry in the last three months of this year was the closure of Abuja airport for comprehensive rehabilitation of its runway and the relocation of flight operations to Kaduna, which is now known as Kaduna International Airport. Another notable action was the takeover of Arik Air by Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON).

Owing to the controversies that greeted the planned closure of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, the decision was subjected to debate in the Senate, and at the end the decision of the Ministry of Transport held sway because the issue had to do with air safety, which must not be compromised.

Given the firm assurance by the Minister of State, Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika and the progress of work so far, the airport may be reopened by April 19, thus putting an end to the anxiety and apprehension, which trailed the closure, as it was feared that work at the airport’s runway might be extended.

Kaduna Airport Four weeks into the diversion of flights from the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA) to Kaduna International Airport, for runway rehabilitation, the programme seemed to be going on as scheduled.

Sirika had earlier said that repair work on the Abuja airport runway project was already 60 percent completed and the contractors had given a firm assurance that the April 19th deadline would be met.

To further buttress his confidence in the success of this project, Sirika at a recent meeting with Aviation Round Table (ART), offered to resign as Minister if the airport’s runway was not completed as scheduled, thus addressing the concerns by majority of Nigerians that the runway repair might be extended by 18 weeks.

He also said that the only choice for thorough job to be done was to close it.

Acting General Manager, Public Affairs, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Mrs. Henrietta Yakubu, confirmed that scores of flights have operated in and out of the airport showing its capability to handle international operations, “in line with the assurance earlier given by government that the airport would provide a veritable alternate to the Abuja Airport.”

“It is no longer news that the federal government made considerable financial provision to ensure that the Kaduna airport was adequately prepared to play this alternate role including the provision of adequate aids and other relevant infrastructure that the airport did not have. The Minister of State, Aviation, who has been in the forefront of driving this difficult transition, met with initial challenges associated with the movement, but one after another, those challenges were dealt with appropriately in the last four weeks,” Mrs. Yakubu said.

She noted that when international flight operations began in Kaduna, the challenge of getting cash when travellers arrived at the airport arose because of the absence of banking institutions, Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) and POS facilities.

Yakubu added: “In response to these challenges, Senator Sirika appealed to banks and airlines to intervene and promptly they provided these facilities which have now minimized the inconvenience experienced initially. The Minister also directed the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria to provide perimeter fencing around the airport, to curtail access from surrounding communities into the airport perimeter which has ensured adequate security at the airport.”

She recalled that the House Committee on Aviation after a recent inspection of the Kaduna Airport stated that the airport met minimum safety standards, adding that while the airport continued to serve as alternative to Abuja, the necessary infrastructure to facilitate passenger movement both at the airport and from Abuja must be in place.

Runway of the Abuja Airport under reconstruction

According to her, in addition to all these, logistics have been put in place to ensure the smooth and safe movement of passengers between Abuja and Kaduna, either by road or rail, adding that Senator Sirika said the train service is already running smoothly and that the road leading to the train station had been rehabilitated and efficiently lighted up for this movement.

AMCON’s Takeover of Arik Air The major upheaval that has taken place in the aviation industry so far this year was the takeover of Arik Air by AMCON for its failure to service its debts. Since after the takeover, the new management of the airline seems to be at crossroads about how to turn the airline around amid the challenges of paucity of funds and low passenger traffic occasioned by the current recession.

The workers are also in a dilemma about tomorrow, while government is yet to make definite pronouncement on the future of the airline.

While the events at FAAN may be a success story so far, it was not the same with airline operators, who said they have lost passengers due to the relocation to Kaduna airport. It was predicted that airlines may have lost about N10 billion in the first three weeks of the closure of Abuja airport. But despite the loss, the airlines agreed that what was being done is critically important for safety. Airlines like Azman and Medview which operate to Kaduna before the relocation and which would continue to operate to the airport after the reopening of the Abuja airport applauded government decision to upgrade the Kaduna airport. The Chief Operating Officer of Medview, Lookman Animasaun said it was a sacrifice worth making for better airport facilities and for safety. However, they have expressed the hope that April 19 is very close and the Abuja airport would resume operation and the airlines would also resume

their normal service.

Controversy over Appointments The appointment of directors and the sack of the existing ones at the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) raised generated furore in the industry. The labour unions had protested against the appointment of some of the directors, insisting they were not aviators and therefore did not have the requisite experience for the positions they were given. But the unions also commended the government for the appointment of Captain Fola Akinkuotu as the Managing Director of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Professor Sani Abubakar Mashi, as the new Director-General, Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMeT), Capt. Abdulsalam Mohammed as the Rector of the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT) Zaria and Akinola Olateru as the new Commissioner, Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB). These appointments they described as round pegs in round holes, but warned that sensitive appointments in NCAA should be given to those who are qualified to handle their jobs effectively in the agency.

Air Navigation One of the worries of Nigerian airlines is how they would face another bout of weather challenges next December, when the Harmattan haze will obstruct flights; at the time of peak flight operation, when travellers for the Yuletide troop to the airports. Last December, airlines said they lost over N20 billion within two weeks because of the Harmattan haze.

In order to avert this from happening this year, the federal government and the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) are working to improve the instrument landing system (ILS) at the airports and to upgrade the major airports to Category 2 ILS to ensure that there would be flights at low visibility.

According to NAMA source, the agency targets to upgrade 11 airports to Category 2 ILS before

December this year.

In addition to that, NAMA has rehabilitated and calibrated navigational aids at various airports in the last three months and upgraded the voice omnidirectional radio range (VOR) at the Kaduna airport along with the ILS, which enables both local and international flights to land at the airport.

Airport Inspection Almost two weeks before the Abuja airport was closed for runway repairs, the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo had visited the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos to appraise the facilities, especially those facilities that enhance passenger facilitation and to see how visa at arrival process, which the Nigerian Immigration Service had just introduced, worked.

The acting president, as he then was, drove from the VIP section of the domestic airport through airside to the tarmac of the international wing of the airport. He went through the security areas to the arrival hall, where he inspected the travelator and expressed disappointment that the facility was not working. Osinbajo also inspected the carousels and toilets, before proceeding to the departure hall of the airport.

“We are doing a lot to ease the process of doing business in Nigeria, so we want to make the environment friendly, not only in the area of transportation but for everybody who wants to come and do business in Nigeria.

“The airport is one of the places where we need to ensure that facilities are working and that things are being done properly. We have come and we have looked around and seen quite a few of the equipment.

At the end of his tour, Osinbajo noted that there a lot needs to be done to upgrade the airport.

The Minister of State, Aviation also affirmed that there were things that needed to be done at the airport to enhance easy facilitation and improve the comfort of travellers: “We are here to look at these things. I agree with the vice-President.

A lot needs to be done. That is why we are here”, he said.

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Sanusi: How We Plan to Revamp Aero Contractors The new Chief Executive Officer of Nigeria’s oldest airline, Aero Contractors, Captain Ado Sanusi says his management has fashioned out a blueprint to turnaround the airline. He spoke to Chinedu Eze. Excerpts: The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) in 2011 took over Aero, but from 2011 till now there is no sign of reviving Aero, now they have taken over Arik, people are very pessimistic, what is your take on it?

I will not agree with you 100 per cent that there is no hope for Aero Contractors with AMCON taking over. Of course you knew very well that Aero Contractors was underperforming; had gone through distress, went through crisis and now we are into the crisis management and hopefully we should stabilise and then start the recovery process.

This is a normal process a distress company will go through for a turn around. You see it underperforming, going through distress phase then it goes through crisis, then you do a crisis management, then you stabilise it and then you go into recovery phase. Now, if in the crisis management phase you do not get the right personnel to do it, it might delay the recovery process. I do not think you should blame AMCON for delaying the recovery process. AMCON position always is to save the industry to make sure it does not collapse. If the crisis management of that particular company that is in distress takes a bit longer or they make their wrong decisions at a particular point, that is something to discuss about.

But in a process where a company is underperforming, has gone through distress, has gone through crisis phase and now it is in the crisis management, it is either you allow it to go to failure, which means it is liquidated and sold and it rests in peace. Or you manage the crisis, stabilize it and then you start your recovery. So if you are looking at companies, I believe that Aero Contractors is on its way to recovery. Of course the crisis management may have taken longer but the understanding is that for every company there is a unique way to recover from its problems that it encountered.

What are your plans to rejuvenate the airline, working in tandem with AMCON? First, what you need to look at is that you are already managing a crisis, you have high personnel cost, you have high cost of operation; you have very limited capacity, that is two aircraft in the fixed wing and one aircraft in the rotor wing. So you have to look at the crisis that you are in and see how you can manage it. What we did was first of all study it for the first 21 days when we came in and we decided that definitely personnel cost must be reduced to reflect the number of aircraft that we have both rotor and fixed wing. The next step was to identify the business module of the company, which will bring revenue. So you have oil and gas, you have Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) and then you have the mainstream airline. For oil and gas we have only one helicopter. We do not have so much even for the fixed wing, then for the MRO, it was dwindling revenue that it was providing. The mainstream airline only has two aircraft. So what we had to do is to consolidate everything, streamline the workforce in reality with what we have. Aero Contractors is making revenue but we cannot put all the revenue we are making into personnel cost.

We have to make sure that the brand-Aero Contractors that is known for safety must be maintained at all times. So what we did was reduce the personnel cost and look at the revenue we have and plough it back into maintaining that safety standard of Aero Contactors. I am sure you have heard in the media that we have cut almost 60% of our workforce. We did that not because the revenue was not there, no, the revenue was there but to take the whole of that revenue, which is what the workers wanted or some of the workers wanted and plough all that revenue into personnel cost, forgetting the safety aspect and the critical items that we need to work on. So we took that difficult

Sanusi

decision to reduce the personnel cost, and we managed to exit about 60 per cent of our workforce considering that there is the maintenance part, which must be well staffed.

And then also going back to the core competence of Aero Contractors, which is oil and gas; we are paying attention to oil and gas to make sure that we serve the oil and gas community. We are also placing emphasis on the mainstream airline business. Now we have two aircraft, from one aircraft when I came and in the next two to three weeks we will have three aircraft. We intend to take the fleet to six. On the helicopter side we have one now, in the next two to three weeks we will have two helicopters flying and we intend to take the fleet to six before the end of the year. So that is the stabilisation mode that we are in, for the recovery, we intend to go into lease agreement with a lot of leasing companies to see how we can recover. Of course my mandate is to make sure that we move the company from where it is to a sellable point where people can invest; investors can come with their money and then recover it.

And I believe that it is a very good venture for people to invest in because Aero has an amazing positive brand name.

You know when Arik was taken over

by AMCON; there was this allegation that you backstabbed the Chairman of

the airline by quickly taking over this Aero job, despite the significant position you held in Arik?

Well, there is nothing to defend. If anybody is very conversant with court rulings, court orders, appointment of receiver manager, and taking over of companies then there is very little to say about it. But if people are not conversant with those processes and procedures then of course there is room for allegation, finger pointing, accusation and all of that. But I think it is a very simple thing; everybody knows that it was by court order that the takeover of Arik was done. They came to the compound with a valid court order. I was not even in the compound at that time, they served it to the company lawyer, the lawyer read it and said it is valid. I came to the compound and I asked the company lawyer and he told me that this is a valid court order. And exactly what I said as the then Deputy Managing Director of Arik Air, was that we have been served with a court order and as responsible corporate citizens, we will abide with the court order.

I also said Arik has the right to challenge this court order or to appeal the court order or to do anything in court because this is the rule of law and everybody is given a fair chance. So that is what I said and that was the role I played. Pertaining to the offer of Aero Contractors job, you see in life I believe there

is time for everything, there was a time when I joined Arik and there will be a time when I will leave Arik. There was a time when I was brought into this world; there will be a time when I will leave the world. So there is a time for everything in life and when you realize there is a time for everything and you believe and put all your things in the hands of God then you will not have any problem.

I was offered the job of Aero Contractors way before the takeover process. And I confided in my boss, the MD, I told him, I confided in my Chairman, I told him, I confided with my family, I told them and I also prayed about it because it is a decision I have to make, I was not born in Arik. I left somewhere to come to Arik, so I told everybody, of course it was a decision I had to make and after a long period of trying to make that decision, because the offer was made to me, I can remember, I think towards the beginning of the year but it was made to me, I did not hide it, I told the Chairman, I told my boss, I told everybody.

And I took the offer before the takeover, and as I said, God has a destiny for everybody and we pray that we know the destiny and that we are not chasing shadow, that is my prayer for everybody.

The present government talked about three key issues in the industry, which include airport concession, the establish-

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BUSINESSWORLD

ANALYSIS

SANUSI: HOW WE PLAN TO REVAMP AERO CONTRACTORS support it. It should support it because it is the key in the economic growth of the country.

But if you ask me if the federal government has $50 million to put into an airline to start a national carrier and they can put that $50 million in healthcare, I think it is a noble area, they should put it in healthcare.

This is because more citizens of the country will benefit more in the healthcare that they are going to put the money in rather than starting an airline with $50 million. You can only buy, probably if you are lucky two to three new aircraft, turbo props or you can even buy one Boeing aircraft. So the investment of that amount of money for a country that is undergoing a lot of challenges would not be a priority at least for now.

ment of a national carrier and attraction of maintenance facility, but so far, there is no sign that any of these would be achieved in the foreseeable future. What is your take on these promises?

Well, if you say that the government is not doing anything I do not think I will agree with you because it is not the true reflection of what is happening in the sector. I believe the government is doing a lot; there are so many things that are being done behind the scene. The rot in the aviation industry is not something that could be cleaned up in a couple of months or in 36 months.

You know when you have a free fall, first you have to stop the free fall and then you can now start recovering before you start making progress. So I believe there are lots of things that are being done behind the scene and by the time we are going to start seeing the fruits of it you will see that a lot has been done.

Bu the vision of the federal government is to first look at what caused this rot and then address them and I believe that is seen in the way they are involving a lot of stakeholders to find ways to move the industry forward.

Of course, there will be disagreements, there will be complaints of the pace at which the progress is being made and that is normal in a democratic setting; people have to criticize and constructive criticisms are very healthy and they are good for good governance. So I believe that a lot is being done behind the scene and the government of the day has no other choice than to make it work and to do the right thing to ensure that the aviation industry is repositioned where it belongs. It is the catalyst for economic growth. I sincerely believe the federal government has put a lot of emphasis on moving the industry forward.

It is believed that if we have airfield lightening in all the airports it will enable all the airlines to operate for more hours and enhance their profitability. Also if aviation fuel is available at good prices it will also help the airlines. What role do you think government should play to solve these problems?

First and foremost, I have to say that the federal government through the Minister of State, Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, has done considerably well to address the aviation fuel scarcity and also to address the prices of the product. Recently I have seen so many letters coming to my office for the oil marketers for downward review of the price for Jet A1, which means that the polices that they have put in place two to three months ago is now working.

And with the interaction I have been having with the fuel marketers, they are assuring that with the new policy that they have seen, the fuel scarcity will be a thing of the past especially as it concerns Jet A1.

On the issue of the pricing, I think there is a lot to be done, I believe the infrastructure must be worked on and that is my appeal to the federal government to look at the infrastructure especially in Lagos. From Apapa to the airport, there should be a pipeline that would transport this fuel. Because the issue of seeing at times 200 to 300 tankers in our airports or close to our airport is an eyesore and I believe we should do something to stop that. It will also reduce the cost, it will ensure free flow of the product and it is going to also enhance safety.

This infrastructure improvement should go all the way to all the other airports in the country; we should try and take comprehensive look at delivery of Jet A1 to most of the airports in the country. It is an integral part of aviation; you cannot have an airport without sustainable supply of Jet A1. So it has to be looked at holistically, but I believe that with what we are seeing now they will definitely address the situation.

On the issue of airfield lighting, I have always said that we should not have at this point in history of our country whereby state governments would build airports and allow them to operate only daylight flights; they should be 24 hours. You cannot have an airport and you say it is only 6:00 am to 6:00 pm.

Such daylight airports are supposed to be local government airports or private airstrips or very, very strong small aerodromes. But as far as a state that has an airport that serves the people, it should be a 24-hour airport

Sanusi

or at least should have the capacity to do a 24-hour service.

This is also in case of safety, in case you want to fly a patient out of the airport to a bigger hospital in another state, it also gives you that opportunity and that capacity to do it. So I believe all the airports should have airfield lighting, it is not something that is very expensive. It is something that we just need to put a policy in place and it can be implemented. We can use solar lighting for the airports that are hardly used, it is something that can be achieved if we deliberately put a policy together and ensure that it is being followed. The technology for the solar lighting for the airport is a proven technology and I think it can be implemented in most of these airports that are not high traffic airports.

Do you think that these oil tankers at the airport will expose the airport to fire and insecurity?

Of course, they are a danger to the public safety, they are also not the best to have close to the airport and they also constitute security hazard because in case somebody with bad intension wants to start something, he can go and do that and then cause a lot of havoc.

The moment you have a concentration of over 300 fuel tankers carrying highly inflammable liquid, then there is safety concerns. So I think it is very important that the federal government looks at it as quickly as possible. This is something that can be done through private public partnership (PPP) and the pipeline can pay for itself, because now we are paying a lot of money to transport it and if we put 50 percent of that into making sure the pipe works, of course it will have a huge safety impact.

Are you optimistic that there will be a turnaround of the industry?

I believe there will be a turnaround of the industry; I believe we cannot go below this point in the history of our aviation industry; I believe if we go any further in this, then

it is a total collapse of the industry. So I think the turnaround is just by the corner, I think we are just managing the crisis now, I believe the stabilisation is coming in and the moment you do that you start the recovery process. And I believe there will be a lot of policies that will be rolled out in the near future to ensure sustainability of the aviation industry. The biggest problem that we have in the industry is to have a viable airline that is sustainable. And I think Nigeria is capable of taking three major airlines that are viable.

Among the three major airlines, I believe at least two could do regional and one can do regional and international and one can be domestic. I believe the market is there, I believe we can harmonise this industry in such a way that it can be sustainable.

The era of failing airlines should be a thing of the past and I think we should look at doing things differently. Because the problems is, if we continue to do things the same way you are doing and you keep failing then there is something wrong. We must not allow status quo to continue, we must do something differently so that we can get a different result.

But if we keep doing something and we keep getting the same result that means there is something wrong in what we are doing, so we have to do something differently to get a better result.

You previously held the view that you do not support national carrier; do you still hold that view?

It is not that I do not believe in national carrier, I have always said that the country is undergoing recession; the country is undergoing a lot of challenges in other sectors. And I said my belief is that for the federal government to put money down to start an airline would not be a priority, and I still maintain that. I still maintain that there are so many sectors in the country that require more money than establishing an airline. Having said that, that does not mean the federal government should not look at the aviation sector in total and

You know from the beginning Ethiopian Airlines was enthusiastic of coming to play a role in Arik, but from the feelers we are getting from Ethiopia, it is like they want to come back to takeover?

Well, I cannot talk for Ethiopian Airlines but I do not think that we have exhausted all possible avenues to put up a team together.

Managing airline is not something that is rocket science, so I do not think we have exhausted all possible avenues in Nigeria to see that we put a team together. We need to put together an expert team that is very good in finance/ risk management, corporate governance and commercial. I do not think that out of the over 180 million people that we have, we cannot come up with a very good team that can run a formidable airline. After all, we have people running banks successfully so why can’t we replicate what is happening in the banking industry in the aviation industry.

People should understand and let us demystify this aviation industry. Of course, everybody that sees an airplane flying will think that it is a mystery seeing this metal flying in the air. But believe me, it is the same principle of economics, accounting and human resource management that are applied in most of the banks and most of the successful companies that can be applied in an airline. The only thing that is a mystery behind the metal in the air is technology. So I do not think there is any mystery behind aviation management, it is the same economics, it is the same accountancy, human resources, corporate governance, it is the same disciplinary approach that is applied when you are managing a company.

When will Aero’s maintenance facility begin to carry out checks up to C-level?

This is something that can happen in the next six months. I am looking at, say; in the next six months I want the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to give me approval to do C-check. I was pleasantly surprised when I joined Aero Contractors because of the capabilities of the Maintenance Repair Overhaul (MRO). Aero’s MRO is capable of doing up to C-check if given the chance. I believe they have the capacity, I believe they need a little bit of tooling and maybe a little bit of manpower to do it. But what I have seen in the capacity of the MRO of Aero, I am pleasantly surprised. And I did not know that an MRO capacity has been established this far in this country and the level of experience of the staff.

So I believe not two years, in the next six months, that is my belief. I am in discussion with a lot of maintenance organisations that the NCAA has given them an approval to do C-check outside the country. So why can’t I bring that maintenance and do it myself here? We have the capacity, we just need a little bit more tooling and we need a little bit of expertise to bring that. Yes, we have the shortfall of having a hangar that can take a full Boeing B737 in and close the doors, yes we have that limitation. But there is a way around it, we can hire a hangar, we can also see whether they are movable hangars.

We are talking to people to see whether they can come up with moveable hangars so that they can come and put a hangar for us temporarily while we are looking at Ccheck. But believe me, when we have another interview in the next three or six months I will let you know that we have the capacity of doing a C-check on a B737 aircraft right here in Nigeria.

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MARITIME

Curbing Substandard Tomato Pastes Imports Eromosele Abiodun writes that the federal government should keep to its promise to replace administrative measures on the list of 41 items barred from the official window of the forex market in order to curb the importation of substandard tomato pastes into the country

Recently, the federal government indicated its readiness to lift the foreign exchange (forex) ban it placed on some 41 items since 2015.

Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, had in the 2017 Fiscal Policy Roadmap, said the federal government, “will replace administrative measures on list of 41 items with fiscal measures to reduce demand pressure in the parallel market.”

Since the announcement, stakeholders in the industry have been in a dancing mood as the restriction of access to forex in the official window sent many of them out of business.

Also, the demand for tomato paste in Nigeria has outstripped supply ever since the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) started implementing the policy restricting the 41 items from sourcing forex from its official window. This has led to a massive mark-up of price. Profiteering became the order of the day with substandard tomato pastes flooding the market as unsuspecting consumers suffer the backlash.

Experts believe the health of Nigerians might be compromised with smugglers and sellers of tomato paste desperate to meet the difference between market demand and actual product supply. With the dying local tomato paste industry closer to the verge of extinction, smuggling of substandard tomato paste becomes inevitable to opportunists.

Importation of Fake Products At a joint press conference in Abuja organised

by Comptroller General of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), Col Hameed Ali (rtd) and the acting Director-General of National Agency for Foods and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Mrs. Yetunde Oni, on the outcome of laboratory tests conducted on the alleged “plastic rice” imported into the country, Oni said the seized rice was, “contaminated with microorganisms above permissible limit.”

NCS Comptroller General, who was represented by the Deputy Comptroller-General, Mr. Umar Ilya said the NCS will continue to do what is possible to rid the country of adulterated products.

While the NCS is doing their best to curb the menace of importers of fake products, analysts believe the best solution to counter the menace is to encourage local production until total ban on the 41 items that excludes tomato paste triple concentrate from forex interbank is removed.

Stakeholders therefore called on the federal government to remove restriction on forex pending when local production of the material starts and becomes self-sufficient.

According to a top player in the industry,

who pleaded anonymity, “Tomato paste triple concentrate is one of the essential ingredients used to manufacture the popular tomato paste.

This vital raw material is not produced in Nigeria for now even though there is so attempts and claims the raw material is still massively being sort outside the shores of Nigeria.

“In the mean time before local production of the material starts and becomes self-sufficient, government should not be in too much of a haste to throw away the bathwater with the baby thereby creating more problems than solutions. One of such problems is managing fake and substandard influx of finished tomato paste products into the Nigerian market. Local production remains the most viable means of securing maintaining high standard of tomato paste products.”

NAFDAC Product Test Not too long ago, former Director General of NAFDAC, Dr. Paul Orhii admitted that 85 per cent of tomato paste brands sold in various markets across Nigeria mostly imported from China were substandard and unfit for consumption, “but they still find their way through the borders in the country.”

The former DG also revealed that 91.1 per cent of the foreign brands of tomato paste failed NAFDAC’s product test.

According to Orhii, the tomato paste was filled with bulky agents such as starch and banned colouring that makes the product look reddish.

“But this could cause cancer, organ failure, kidney and liver related ailments among young and middle-aged Nigerians,” stated.

Another stakeholder, who does not want his name in print, told THISADAY that the federal government would be killing two birds with a stone if it reverses the ban on 41 items from forex interbank activities especially for an item such as tomato paste triple concentrate.

According to him, “This would ensure people retain their jobs in that sector and those who have already lost their jobs can be reabsorbed as experience is crucial in the production of tomato paste. The demand for triple concentrate tomato paste is not for itself as a concentrate, but its derived use to add form and utility in the production of finished products such as tomato paste, ketchups and sauces. There is significant addition of value in the process of conversion and given the capacities, which have evolved over time, Nigeria can become the hub of tomato paste re-processing for the surrounding less developed neighbouring countries, thus replacing Chinese

finished products imports in these places.”

He added: “Take for instance cassava that is grown in Nigeria, this crop is used for many other things aside food. Even as food it can be purchased for different kinds of food. Sugarcane is not just for food consumption, it is also used to make ethanol fuel for vehicles and other machineries.

Nigeria produces an estimated 1.5 million tons of fresh tomatoes every year, making it the 13th biggest producer in the world. Most of it goes to service the fresh tomato market in the country.

“Tomato paste plays its role, primarily as a substitute for fresh tomatoes, when there is reduced availability of fresh tomatoes; tomato paste variants are used to shore up supply and reduce scarcity. Tomato paste is also a very good way to store tomatoes that would ordinarily go bad in their natural and fresh state being a seasonal crop with Nigeria still lacking adequate storage facilities.

“Nigeria had developed a vibrant local processing industry but the importation of finished tomato paste products over the years has been affecting the growth of the industry. Hence out of the imported $170 million tomato paste in 2014 around $50 million was for the triple concentrate.

Since the triple concentrate tomato paste is not produced locally, this has to be imported and then value added by local processors with benefits such as employment, taxable income to state, production technology, growth of local industry and the county’s economy.”

He added that it is also virtually impossible to feed the local demand for Triple Concentrate till the local processing industry evolves over time to acquire and execute the required backward integration to make this possible.

He said the United States, European and Chinese tomato paste industries are examples, which took many years to establish and standardize.

Consumers, manufacturers Protest The decision to include triple concentrate tomato paste amongst 41 prohibited import goods is still raising dust amongst consumers, labour and manufacturers alike and many have been expressing frustrations over the forex policy.

Director General, Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA), Mr. Olusegun Oshinowo, asked succinct questions in an interview, “what is it that has made the CBN to prohibit tomato paste manufacturers from the foreign exchange that should not be extended to numerous products including petroleum. Right now NECA is trying to determine how many companies are set for redundancy. This cuts across all sectors.”

He said: “Petroleum maybe the mainstay of the economy today but the future of that sector looks very bleak as global pricing for crude oil keeps falling. This is perhaps the major reason why the government has intensified its drive to diversify Nigeria’s economy in a bid to shore up the country’s revenue.

“Oil aside, the consistent fall in Naira’s value has not spelt good tidings for entrepreneurs who have been producing and groaning from the already hostile production environment.

Manufacturers especially those in the tomato industry are merely holding on to the last straw as they do business but with the exclusion from forex activities it is tantamount to an execution of the tomato industry.”

On his part, President of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Franks Jacob said several of his member companies are presently operating below capacity and only few may be able to survive.

“The forex policy is not just killing the tomato industry but does more than that as it effeminates the purchasing power of the consumer and this consumer-impotence is replicated all over the country as they cannot afford to buy because of inflation and loss of jobs. The policy also eliminates the possibility of sales increase as the few people with jobs have to cater for those who just lost theirs, “he said.

According to the President, National Union of Food, Beverages and Tobacco Employees, Lateef Oyelekan, “all the companies involved in the forex exclusion should be given the latitude to plan for backward integration, as one of the downside of the policy is that it has started leading to massive job loss.”

“Hence the best approach would be a phase-wise implementation which will facilitate local backward integration of the key players through sound and stable policies and support measures. This will also retain and build the local processing capabilities of the downstream re-processing industry, so that in the long-run, not just Nigeria but the entire region can be serviced using local capabilities.

“The CBN while desperate to get the economy up and running should appreciate that some items cannot be treated with levity. If you take away Cassava you are not just dealing with Cassava but you are dealing with Garri, fuel made from Cassava, Abacha salad, African Salad and many others. Tomato Paste Triple Concentrate is not just an item on the list but a raw material that goes beyond providing food on the table but also jobs to millions of Nigerians,” he added.

WEEKEND WEEKLY PULLOUT

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

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COLLAGE | P36

THISLIFE | P37

FILE

EASTER IN A TIME OF RECESSION ACTING EDITOR CHARLES AJUNWA / charles.ajunwa@thisdaylive.com

28/COVER

14.04.2017

Easter in a Time of Recession Easter, the celebration of the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ, will be marked by Christians across the world this weekend. But in Nigeria, celebrations will be subdued due to the economic crunch, writes Solomon Elusoji In streets across Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial nerve centre and home to some 21 million individuals, people are going about their activities as usual; the shops are open for business while pedestrians and motorists alike navigate the city’s roads. However, there are no signs that Easter is just around the corner, despite the fact that a huge chunk of the population are practising Christians.

Easter is a global celebration. In western countries like England and the United States, churches are expected to hold special services on Easter Sunday, which marks the resurrection of Jesus Christ after his crucifixion.

Then many people also decorate eggs. These can be hard boiled eggs that can be eaten later, but may also be model eggs made of plastic, chocolate, candy or other materials.

According to topmarks.co.uk, the custom of giving eggs at Easter celebrates new life.

Christians remember that Jesus, after dying on the cross, rose from the dead. This miracle showed that life could win over death. For Christians, the egg is a symbol of Jesus’ resurrection, as when they are cracked open, they stand for the empty tomb.

But in Nigeria, the egg decoration culture is not a thing. Although churches are also expected to hold special services on Easter Sunday, most Nigerian Christians celebrate Easter by acquiring new clothes, preparing delicious meals (preferably jollof rice and chicken), going to see the movies, and ensuring that they have a ‘good time’. All these activities are encouraged by the fact that the government usually declares public holidays to commemorate the festival, and most Nigerians see it as a time to unwind and escape, even if just for a fleeting moment, from the constant pressures of their work lives.

But, due to the country’s recent severe economic problems, most Nigerians are finding it difficult celebrating Easter as they used to. A THISDAY survey of most shopping outlets in Lagos State revealed that sales have not been remarkable, as customers are not going on shopping sprees, either for clothing materials or edible products. “We have not really had lots of Easter sales,” a representative of one of the boutiques at a shopping mall in Oniru, Lagos, told THISDAY. “It has not been encouraging at all.”

Meanwhile, a cross-section of Nigerians interviewed for this piece complained bitterly that the slow economy has affected their pockets, consequently affecting their Easter budgets.

Mr. Nwajei Babatunde, a National Youth Service Corps member, told THISDAY that his plans have been altered due to dwindling finances. “The economy has in no small measure dashed my Easter celebrations,” he said. “Although I was not expecting to kill a chicken, I always visit the cinema and recreational centres to commemorate the day, but now that does not even seem like an option, due to the recession.”

A fashion designer based in Ikeja, Lagos, Mr. Blessing Archibong, also complained of dwindling revenues from his business. “People are not sewing clothes anymore,” he told THISDAY. “Easter is just a few days away but only two people have placed orders. It has not always been like this.”

Mr. Archibong is not the only fashion designer affected. Another designer based in Oshodi, Ms. Judith Agbonghae said she did not even know that Easter was coming up. “Because the price of everything has skyrocketed and people don’t bring enough clothes to sew as they would have done if everything was normal,” she said. “The few who bring clothes try to pay as low as possible, so I am not even thinking of getting anything for myself since there is no money.”

Also admitting ignorance of the festival’s imminent arrival was a writer, Mr. Naza Okoli. “I personally don’t see why people should be so bothered if they can’t afford to buy chicken or turkey or to travel,” he said. “Everybody understands that things

Shopping malls in Lagos are not seeing much pre-Easter traffic

Nigerians have adopted a conservative spending mode this Easter

Nigeria's economy is currently facing a crisis

are difficult in this country. The merriment should be left for the rich. Those of us who aren’t rich should invest every opportunity

we have in productive ventures; when the money comes, we can always begin our Easter.”

A disk jockey, DJ Doink, is another victim of the crunch. “As a disc jockey, there have been no bookings that came through,” he said. “The ones that I have are on the low budget side, so my spending power this period is just basically low. These are hard times.”

A music enthusiast, Ruth Olabode, also noted that “there are no shows like before.

People have learnt how to manage themselves.

When I was growing up, Easter was the buzz thing. But now, you are on your own.”

An employee at one of Nigeria’s financial firms, Osemeke Kimberly told THISDAY that even companies’ payroll culture are being affected. Usually, most organisations pay employees salaries early to enable them celebrate the festive season. But that culture is being threatened, at least at Kimberly’s workplace, where she is yet to receive any Easter bonus. “Then if you look at the general cost of goods and services which have shot up due to the devaluation of the naira, it becomes a more saddening situation,” she said.

However, not everything is gloom and doom. A Lagos-based fashion designer, who is currently observing her national youth service in Kaduna, Ms. Adewunmi Ayomide, told THISDAY that recession was just a word. “A lot of us have beautiful plans rolling already for the forthcoming Easter celebration,” she said. “I have a lot of dresses to make that will generate enough money to enable me pick up my share of the bills.”

A lot of organisations – hotels, airlines, retail stores – are also using the season to offer discounts on their goods and services.

Imo Air, operated by Dana Air, has announced special Easter packages for passengers flying to Owerri. Ibis Hotel Ikeja is also offering a special family buffet for visitors, while StarTimes has revealed plans to reward customers during the Easter period.

Still, the corporate promotions and largesse cannot take away the sad fact that millions of Nigerians are currently in dire financial straits. Only a fraction of the population can afford to fulfil their Easter wishes, while the rest continue to wait for manna.

29/XTRA

14.04.2017

A Marshal’s Easter Message to Road Users As Easter approaches with millions of South easterners travelling home to observe the celebration, General Manager Abia State Passengers Integrated Manifest Scheme (ASPIMS), Kingsley Megwara, offers specific tips that would help reduce road accidents while commending Works, Housing and Power Minister for his recent visit to the state with a ray of hope on rehabilitating the federal highways in the state. Nduka Nwosu reports Gift Obisike wept profusely, uncontrollably.

She was inconsolable, passing through what his boss would call a trauma syndrome.

The sight of road carnage was beyond what she bargained for on her new job, not when the unborn baby in the womb of the recent accident victim struggled helplessly to live. The kicks were visible, the desperation palpable. The rescue team expectedly was quick in moving the victims to a friendly clinic close to the state capital in Umuahia. If Gift thought this was the initiation that would ultimately chill her soul and admit her to the club of Female Samaritans, the sorority of good workers, she was wrong.

Day Two of the initiation witnessed an even more cruel ritual of human sacrifice, a monument to the god of road accidents on the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway. Mangled bodies, half living and barely breathing victims who left their homes with a warm farewell, have failed to reach their destinations. Instead they have become another feast for the Ikot Ekpene-Umuahia Road feast of human blood, their red crimson of custard spluttered on the highway, in this unending and unnecessary festival of death on the federal expressways connecting Abia to neighbouring states.

Every day while on bed, Kingsley Megwara, General Manager Abia State Passengers Integrated Manifest Scheme (ASPIMS), wakes up with a phone call to another day of carnage on another dilapidated federal highway, one of the expressways traversing the state. A mass transit load of passengers has lost its direction and crashed into a gulley with its unfortunate passengers while another oncoming vehicle has had a head on collision with a family returning home for the Christmas and New Year holidays.

A typical day in the life of Megwara begins with a desperate call asking him to come to an accident scene. Says Megwara: “At 10.45 am you receive a call that says two vehicles travelling on the road on the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway have been involved in a head on collision. Four women travelling in a 17-seater passenger bus are critically injured and bleeding with severe head injuries. One of the women is heavy with pregnancy and the unborn baby is kicking inside, struggling for life as you observe the movement of the mother’s stomach.

“This is what we cope with on a daily basis and my brother if you pass through this daily ritual, you will begin to appreciate the value of life.

That is why we continually sensitise our drivers in Abia State to ensure we are very obedient of the rules when on the roads, to be very tolerant of one another on our roads, lessen the speed and avoid text messages, making phone calls or answering phone calls while on the steering.”

Megwara explains ASPIMS is as well in the business of sensitising drivers on safety needs to prevent accidents from happening through a drivers’ education and orientation system. “We are a complement to the activities of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC}. If we arrive at an accident scene before the corps team, we take charge but if they arrive before us, we give support to its ambulance team. We are very pleased the way we are going right now.”

Unfortunately it does not look like this is working as the rate of deaths on the roads keeps rising.

The basic rules of don’t drink while driving and in particular driving and overtaking other vehicles at high speed, on dilapidated federal roads in the state, are flaunted with reckless abandon.

The evacuation of the dead to the morgue has become an issue with the constant breakdown of the few ambulances on duty. Megwara confesses that in spite of this the agency is miles apart from what it was in the past and thanks to Governor Okezie Ikpeazi whose vision of ASPIMS when he was its chief executive has driven it to a more proactive, result-oriented rescue and life-saving outfit. Among other things, Ikpeazu’s focus was to reduce the constant loss of lives on these roads and reduce to the barest incidents of fatal accidents travelers experience on Abia roads during festive occasions. As Easter

Megwara Inside the mobile clinic

ASPIMS ambulance

approaches, Megwara’s appeal to road users is anchored on this premise that as much as possible there should be minimum or no accidents on the roads if only road users can adhere to the basic rules of safety while on the wheels.

Megwara advises that if road users can discard or completely switch off their phones while driving the incidence of accidents would be largely minimised. Commercial drivers, he argues, are the worst culprits of fatal accidents on our roads. The Akwa Ibom driver who takes off from Ikot Ekpene on a second trip to Umuahia drives like a man being chased by armed robbers because he is in a hurry to drop his passengers and return to park ready for the next morning.

In the process he forgets the deplorable state of these roads ignoring the fact that his vehicle may not be efficiently road worthy until the inevitable happens.

Megwara believes most of these commercial drivers are not fit to be on the roads, blaming those who issue them licenses to drive. Adds Megwara: “When you go to the scene of an accident and see how bad things are, you will begin to have an appreciation for life. Until we develop a change on our attitude to driving and this includes several agencies such as those that issue drivers’ licenses, these accidents facilitated by these death traps called expressways, would continue to happen.”

Megwara who calls ASPIMS a rescue agency says if he has his way especially in the issue of licenses, several drivers on the highways would have no business being there. “My appeal is for a turn-around for a system that only issues licenses to well-trained and supervised drivers,” the ASPIMS boss stresses with emphasis.

However, the greater emphasis is on federal roads and according to the ASPIMS chief executive, the sooner the federal government focuses its attention on the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway, the Ikot-Ekpene-Umuahia Road and the Arochukwu-Ohafia Road, the better. As he puts it: “No day passes without our response to a major fatality. It is sad that these roads continue to be a death trap to Nigerians. All the federal roads in Abia State are in a terrible shape.

The sooner the federal government focuses its attention on that road, the better.”

Megwara believes if ASPIMS is provided with more ambulances he would save more lives. There had been moments when the timely arrival of an ambulance would have meant a nother life saved. Unfortunately, the distance between one accident scene and another had created an unnecessary loss of life. Happily, the governor has promised the provision of more ambulances after he expanded the fleet in May 2016 to six ambulances.

Megwara explains that in: the ideal world the response time to most accidents is between five and 10 minutes or between five and seven minutes noting that the number of ambulances in the fleet goes a long way in defining the response time. “Ideally, there should be ambulances everywhere in the state with a central command system that does not solely rely on the telephone but on walkie-talkies to save time.

This is going to be expensive but the governor has promised that with increased resources or revenue coming to the state, the fleet level would rise. It is extremely important to add more to the number of ambulances we currently have to help quicken our response time,” he stresses.

Besides an increase in the fleet of ambulances available for use, Megwara would want the completion of the trauma centre started by the governor. Megwara says with a trauma centre in place, he would be able to give quick response treatments to a certain category of cases identified as non-life threatening before proceeding to hospital, which he believes remains his primary responsibility. Besides, this is the emphasis on recruiting volunteer doctors from the NYSC pool and Diaspora medical personnel who are indigenes of the state wishing to assist while on holidays. Megwara believes completion of the trauma centre and its use as an outlet for easing the tension created by accident victims in some of the hospitals in the state, would go a long way to help reduce the burden of work on ASPIMS paramedical staff.

The ASPIMS boss says his other headache is getting more hospitals in the state to accept accident victims with minimum obstacles such as identification and deposits. “We are beginning to sensitise some of these hospitals and clinics on the need to receive these victims and give them the needed treatment. First of all, you would be breaking the law by not treating an accident victim brought to your hospital. The law says treat first and ask questions later.”

The federal and state owned hospitals have no issues accommodating the victims but where an accident occurs close to a private clinic adamant on taking in casualties whose relations are not in sight and with no financial involvement, a problem arises. How is Megwara responding to such situations? “If we have hospitals that are not complying with these rules, we have situations where we expose them so that they don’t get patronage but I must say we also have situations where some of these hospitals are complying.

“We have the Federal Medical Centre Umuahia, the General Hospital in Amachara in Umuahia, and the Living Word Hospital in Aba. These three hospitals have been cooperating. There are recalcitrant hospitals that reject victims on account of not knowing them or without a valid address and severally we hve had to register that person in the name of the general manager after which the family members are properly notified and the dead victim delivered to them.”

The silver lining is the recent visit to Abia State by the Minister of Works, Housing and Power, Babatunde Fashola who served his NYSC assignment in Aba. Fashola was able to rekindle the hope of Abians promising that the long abandoned expressways in the state would soon become history as contractors go to work with speed as the watchword in the rehabilitation of the roads.

That is cause for cheer for Megwara and his team.

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14.04.2017

Arojah Unveils Multi-million Naira Studio in Lagos Mary Ekah A multi-million naira recording workshop, Arojah Audio Visual Digital Studio, was recently unveiled in Lagos. The studio, according to its initiator, Apostle Rev. Samson Albert popularly called Arojah, apart from being highly commercial, is also established to encourage extremely talented artistes, especially in gospel music by recording their works for free of charge.

Located on Agboyi Road, Alapere, Ketu, Lagos, Albert who is also the Primate and Spiritual Head of St. Peters Cherubim and Seraphim Band, Alapere, said the studio is a personal project and has nothing to do with the church. “It is a personal project and that is why I called it Arojah Studio, the church has nothing to do with it. It is commercial and it is opened to all genres of songs.

Surprisingly, the studio, the clergy said was opened to all genres of music, including artistes who are Muslims, adding however that, “We are not producing these songs but we are only recording them for the artistes. There is a wide difference between producing and recording. You can only vet a song when you produce it but when it is just to record a song for an artist, you have nothing to do with what he has cone to record in the studio. But if I want to produce someone’ work, I will definitely vet his/her limits in such a way that whatever art work I produce must be capable of impacting

Mary Ekah

Albert with his studio Engineer explaining some items in the Arojah studio

positively on the society at large. I won’t just produce anyone just for the money.

If you do not have a message that would influence the public positively, I will not get involved but will be completely involved to ensure that the lyric is capable of impacting positively on the society with a positive message for the youths and the nation at large,” the cleric noted further.

Speaking on what in the first place informed his decision to come up with a recording studio, he said, “First I composed a lot of songs and I love songs so much but considering my position as a spiritual head of a church, I do not have the time to be going out here and there to record because I might be busy to even go there so I said it to myself, why don’t I just put

up a recording studio within my reach.

After establishing one, which turned out to be state-of-the-art studio, with an engineer and managing mounting it, I felt that I cannot just keep this capital intensive studio just to myself and so I decided to make it commercial where other artistes can also come and do the recording of their work.”

Albert who on the same day also launched the volume 2 of his ‘Arojah Hymnal’, spoke on the target audience for the hymnal. “The hymnal is like when God gives someone the inspiration to write the Bible. So just like the Bible, God gave me the inspiration to compose the hymns and I am proud of them because they are so inspiring and are meant for everyone who is spiritually oriented and deep.

UNILAG Don Tells Women, Girls Not to See themselves as Second Class Citizens Peter Uzoho Last weekend, the morale of young school girls was boosted and their minds redirected from the feeling of inferiority and helplessness as they were addressed by speakers at the Maiden Girl’s Summit organised by Impact Her Initiative (IHI), a non-governmental organisation, in collaboration with the Department of English, University of Lagos, entitled ‘Female Empowerment and Sustainable Development’, held at the J.P. Clark Centre in the campus.

Delivering his keynote speech, Head, Department of English, UNILAG and Chairman of the occasion, Prof. Hope Eghagha, reminded girls and women that they were in no way inferior to anybody, adding that they should not see themselves as second class citizens. He stated that too many forces ganged up against the girl-child and against women, noting that “some are cultural while some are societal.”

While noting that even among the female folk, some believed they were second class citizens, Eghagha advised that young girls should be educated very early to be confident of themselves.

The professor challenged girls present at the summit to aim high, not just for the

L-R: Miss Ideal Nigeria 2016, Queen Nkem; Lecturer, English Department,UNILAG, Professor Karen King-Aribisala; Lawyer and Motivational Speaker, Mrs. Chinyere Obi-Obasi; Head, Department ofEnglish,UNILAG, Professor Hope Eghagha; Founder, Impact Her Initiative, Miss Chioma Uwandu; Public Speaker, Mr. Abimbola Oyarinu; and Master of Ceremony, Mr. White,at the event.

sky but for the moon, urging them to take good advantage of the day’s summit which he said was intended to make remarkable impact in their lives. “Let today make a difference in your life,” he said Eghagha described the summit jointly sponsored by Whole Woman Network, Glass Door Concepts, and Comic Republic, as a very good one, saying it had provided information for those present at the event. “It also highlighted the plight of the girl-child, and then made some positive suggestions on

the relationship between man and woman, boy and girl, husband and wife about how to empower the girl-child,” he added.

Contributing, Miss Ideal Nigeria 2016, Queen Nkem, who spoke on the topic ‘Female Empowerment: A Sure Way to Sustainable Development’, stated that the current fight for female empowerment was not just for this present generation but for the future ones, stressing that the fight they are engaging presently is to prevent future fight by young girls.

Inspiring Better Oral Health with Animated Story Mary Ekah In line with its mission to reach 10 million Nigerian school children with face-to-face engagement, through its school oral health programmes by 2020, teaching when and how best to brush teeth for optimal oral health always, Unilever’s toothpaste brand, Pepsodent, has for the first time introduced a new digital behaviour change programme to make daily tooth brushing a fun habit for the whole family.

The initiative, which is mobile approach to behaviour change, tagged, ‘Little Brush, Big Brush’, is a 21-day behaviour change programme to help families with children build better tooth brushing habits through fun and play, delivered on people’s mobile phones through Facebook messenger. Combining strong storytelling and cutting-edge AI technology, Little Brush Big Brush is an animated story, which comprises 21 episodes featuring animal characters that help children develop good brushing habits for life.

The innovation was unveiled during the just concluded World Oral Health Day celebration marked by the company

Mavrodi Mondial Movement Sponsors Humanitarian Project

Oral Care Category Lead, Nigeria, Mrs. Ibironke Ugbaja; President Nigerian Dental Association, Dr. Bode Ijarogbe; Global Vice President, Oral Care, Unilever Severine Vauleon; Wife of the Senator President, Mrs Toyin Saraki; Vice President Customer Development Unilever Ghana Nigeria ,Mr. Felix Enwemadu; Brand Building Director Personal Care, Unilever Ghana Nigeria, Miss Nana - Yaa Kissi; Corporate Affairs Director Unilever Ghana Nigeria, Mrs. Soromidayo George at the World Oral Health Day celebration with Pepsodent

in conjunction with the Federal Ministry of Health and the Nigerian Dental Association at Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos, to raise awareness of the importance of brushing teeth daily, morning and night with a fluoride toothpaste like Pepsodent to avoid dental decay with the hope more families will be reached through this unique innovation.

Speaking at the event, Global Vice President, Oral Care, Unilever, Severine Vauleon, explained that children are powerful behaviour change advocates in their homes, often driving conversation and action with parents around issues like this, adding, “We’re confident that kids will love the stories and characters and this will drive their interest and excitement to brush day and night.”

Mavrodi Mondial Movement (MMM) Nigeria, a charity organisation, has sponsored a project by a non-governmental organisation, Life Changing Humanitarian Service, which amongst other things entailed rehabilitating the Igbehin Adun Special School for the Deaf and Dumb and Physically Challenged Beneficiaries of the project Children in Okoko, Lagos. This was revealed during a courtesy visit by both MMM and Life Changing Humanitarian Service to the special home recently. During the visit, the group unveiled a rehabilitated playing ground, basketball court and also presented food items, beds, mattresses and other gifts items.

Speaking at the event, Offline Secretary and Events Manager for MMM Charity, Amaka Benson, said: “We were brought here by Life Changing Humanitarian Service.

They wrote a letter to us and we approved it to help them carry out some of their projects. Today, we are unveiling a new playground with swings for the children including a basketball court. This place was nothing to write home about. It had been abandoned and the kids had nothing to play so we raised money to assist them.

Basically, at MMM, we are out to put smiles on the faces of people and we do this every month across Nigeria.”

An official of Life Changing Humanitarian Service who said the project cost about N726,000, explained that, “the NGO is known for carrying out humanitarian services.

We chose this school because we believe that Igbeyi Adun Special School needs help. They have been abandoned for years so we came in here to see what we can do for them. We want to say a big thank you to MMM. We were shocked when they agreed to sponsor this project because many organisations turned us down,” the official noted.

Speaking, Founder of the school, Mrs. Victoria Cotonu disclosed that the school was founded in 1990 to cater for challenged kids: “After my training in America and the UK, I came back to Nigeria and founded this school.

I realised that we have this children in our midst and we have to cater for them because they are part of society.

Viva L’amour Empowers Women Godbless Eduviere Members of the International Association of Lions Clubs, District 404 B-2 under the auspices of Ikeja Viva L’Amour Lions Club recently held an empowerment programme for women in Lagos State during which the club generously gave away items such as local oven, local gas cooker, cylinders and Hoses, Kenwood mixer, queen’s cake tray, food stuffs amongst other things.

Chairman of the event, former President and director of Viva L’amour Lions Club, Ikeja, Mrs. Rose Kate Nwamara after appreciating her fellow Club members said that it was indeed another remarkable accomplishment of the Lions Club objectives. “Lions Club is the largest service organisation that exists on earth and whenever there’s a problem, the lions clubs are represented there, whether it’s natural disaster or personal tragedies, we are always there to help.

“Viva L’amour Lions Club always have project every month and this month, we have been doing the empowerment of women because there are so many women who would like to do certain things to assist their homes but are not able to do it because of lack of finance and that’s why we take it upon ourselves to empower them today and to meet this dream, we have supervised the arrangement of the giveaway items to help these families,” she noted.

The President, Mrs. Helen Mbakwe explained that one of the core projects of the Club is to feed the hungry and that’s why the club’s empowerment specifically focuses on mothers. “In Viva L’amour this year, we decided to empower mothers so that they can earn and be able to feed their families. We have done different projects, not necessarily mothers or women empowerment, but series of activities all aimed at helping the needy in the society.”

Mrs. Olubusola Ogudipe, on behalf of the beneficiaries appreciated the club for its care and love towards them.

“We are deeply grateful for the care and wonderful gifts to us because they would really be of great help to us and our families, and we promise to use them effectively for the purpose they are given and for the betterment of our families”, she said.

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‘Embrace 10’ Kicks off in Grand Style Mary Ekah As ‘Embrace’ a yearly initiative of the Embrace International Assembly, Ikorodu, Lagos, enters its 10th season this year, the ministry is not leaving any stone unturned in ensuring that this year’s edition is significantly impacting. Embrace is one of the church’s Easter programmes, which amongst other things aims to impact positively on the physical and spiritual lives of the les-privileged and elderly in the society. It is a programme that is held on Good Friday of every year and this year’s edition is the 10th.

This year’s edition was however kicked off last Sunday in grand style with members observing Palm Sunday, often referred to as ‘Passion Sunday,’ which marks the beginning of Holy Week preceding Easter Sunday. The day is in commemoration of Christ’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem. So members of the Embrace International Assembly who were in a high spiritual mood observed the day with shouts of Hosanna reigned ceaselessly among the congregation.

Speaking on the theme: ‘The Goodness of God’, the officiating minister, Pastor (Mrs.) Tokunbo Adio, admonished the mammoth crowd that filled the large auditorium and by extension Christians to emulate the character of Jesus Christ who is rich in mercy and always doing good. The cleric who noted that many had taken the love of God for granted, said the essence of Christianity is love, which Christ demonstrated. She called on Nigerians irrespective of their creed to love one

Embrace Season 10 Committee 2017

another; adding that the country would be a better place if all and sundry eschew evil and do the right thing.

Embrace 10, which official holds today, Friday April 14 at the Ikorodu Town Hall, the Chairman of the Embrace Concert Season 10, Samuel Turoti has described as a landmark concert in the sense that the church is marking the 10th edition of the event. According to him, the purpose is to bring the youth together so that they would know Christ as their Saviour. “10 signifies double grace, so we are celebrating double grace. The main mission of the Embrace initiative is purely for winning souls. You would agree with me that the life that our youths are living today is not the same as we lived in our own days.

Consequently, one of the aims of the Embrace initiative is to bring the youths closer to Christ the more because the earlier you move closer to Christ, the better your life,” Turoti noted.

As part of activities to mark Embrace 10, there would be a medical outreach in the morning before the event at Ikorodu Town Hall, where free medical treatment, free drugs and 300 eyeglasses would be given to the public.

Speaking further he said, “Our salvation is free hence our attempt to emulate the gesture bestowed on us by our Lord Jesus Christ to administer free medicals to as many that would come to the event and arrangement has also been made to feed about 20,000 people for five consecutive Sundays at the Embrace International

Assembly premises after the Embrace concert.

So beginning from April 15, we are going to have a free feeding for our new converts for five consecutive Sundays. This is in line with the teaching of the Lord Jesus who after preaching to the congregation of about 5,000 people did not allow them to go away but he asked them to wait and be fed and then five loaves of bread and two fishes were used to feed them all,” he noted.

He explained further, “Our objective of feeding the new converts is to ensure that they are not just fed spiritually but also physically so that they can put their souls and body together to serve God.” Turoti who said the programme will also afford them the opportunity to pray for the nation, revealed that the Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode will grace the occasion as well as the lawmakers representing Ikorodu and Oba of Ikorodu, among others. Chief Ebenezer Obey, who has been part of the programme since inception will be heralding an array of gospel artistes, would be performing during the programme. They include Tope Alabi; CobhamAsuquo; Tim Godfrey; Bois Olorun; Bayo Adesuyi; Damola Adesina; Ksticks; Spirit and Life Choir; Battle Axe; Tolu Sax, among others who have been invited to perform at the event. The programme will be streamed live on Dove TV and other social media platforms to enable people all over the world to also be part of the programme.

Ode to Madam Ogunnaike Funke Olaode in this report, pays tribute to late Madam Comfort Remilekun Abeni Ogunnaike Sweet they say is the demise of the righteous.

And happy is she who finished the labour of life well. And for those who touched many lives, community, impacted humanity and also committed to their God till the end, their names indeed will remain in the sands of time.

All these saying without doubt suit the late Mama Comfort Remilekun Abeni Ogunnaike (Nee Jolafa) who died on March 8, 2017 at the ripe age of 93.

Her 93 birthday was five days away when this reporter had an encounter with her at her Abesan Ipaja Housing Estate on June 8, 2016. There was sign of ageing but Mama Ogunnaike was full of life. Her faculty was still intact as she recalled past happenings with nostalgia. How do you feel turning 90?

I asked. She smiled and retorted, “I feel excited and grateful to God for sparing my life. And that is why if I die today, I am very sure that God will say ‘Welcome, my beloved servant’ because I have served Him without involving any other gods,”she said.

But exactly nine months after that encounter, Madam Comfort Abeni Ogunnaike bade the world farewell surrounded by his children and relatives. Mama Ogunnaike was an epitome of beauty and brain. If she was to be in an academic community, she would have won many academic laurels. Brilliant, sharp, intelligent, enterprising and a strategist.

Born in Lagos on June 12, 1923 into the Jolafa family of Abeokuta descendant. Her mother was a trader trading in food stuffs while her father on the other hand was a merchant trader.

Unfortunately, she didn’t have any recollection of her father who died shortly before she was born. But like someone destined to be great, she forged on and rode to success on the back of an enterprising mother who wouldn’t spare any cost to give her only child at that time a comfortable beginning.

During our encounter, she gave kudos to her mother who stood by her through thick and thin. Though an only child for 11 years, her mother gave marriage a shot again and married Abayomi. Not quite long, her mother

Late Ogunnaike

gave birth to her late younger sister and mother to the former deputy governor of Lagos State, Otunba Femi Pedro and his siblings.

Unfortunately, her only sister died in February 1966 leaving behind six children. It was a saddest moment in her life. But together with her mother (Pedro’s grandmother) and the grace of God they took up the responsibility of the children and today they are all accomplished beings.

Mama Ogunnaike was raised in Agidingbi but as she grew older, her mother relocated to Ebute-Metta where she began her early education at Higher Elementary school on Abeokuta Street, a popular school founded by one Mrs. Ojelade. Mama Ogunnaike’s intellectual prowess manifested early as one of brilliant pupils of her time. She shone brilliantly as she was always a cynosure of all eyes at a weekly Friday results gathering where she was always called to the stage to receive academic laurels. She kept the flag flying until she left the school and proceeded to Collegiate Girls’ High School on Lagos Island where she was a pioneer student. She finished from this school in 1939.

After her secondary education her desire was to get the best education money could offer, and even dreamt to either work in an office or government establishments. But her guiding angel (her mother) prevailed over that decision and encouraged her to go for vocational training. Her reason was that it is better to have both education and skill work that if one fails at least she would have something to fall back on. She took to her mother’s advice and enrolled with one popular seamstress of her time, one late Mrs. Aderibigbe where she learnt sewing.

She was diligent, committed and dedicated to this vocation. The fashion business flourished.

She had a big fashion house with many apprentices. A woman of vision who always wanted to explore new opportunities, she would later abandon her fashion business and became a cloth merchant dealing in school uniform, clothing materials, and guinea brocade, Ankara with shops in Oyingbo, Agege, Aswani Market, and Mushin etc. Of course, God prospered the work of her hand.

Mama Ogunnaike’s feat is not defined solely by her achievement as a successful businesswoman and accomplished mother, she equally distinguished herself as a committed Christian. She was a Christian raised by a Moslem mother, her commitment to the things of God has seen her climb the ladder in the Cherubim and Seraphim where she has been worshipping since 1941/42 when she was barely 20 years old. Before she breathed her last, she had received the highest honour of Mother Seraph of Eternal Sacred Order of the Cherubim and Seraphim Worldwide.

Mama Ogunnaike also lived a disciplined life, which guided her path despite what life challenges threw at her early.

She got married to her first husband the late Okunseinde in her early 20s on December 28, 1944 and had two sons: Dr. Babajinmi Okunseinde and Dr. Olusola Okunseinde.

But it was a short wedlock because he died in February 1947 when she was barely 24 years old with two young children who were less than three years. Again, it was a sad

experience having grown up in Lagos where she had several suitors that she had turned down. With his death she thought her whole world had crumbled.

Instead of wallowing in self-pity, she accepted her fate and moved on until she met her second husband who was transferred from Ibadan to Lagos. Of course, her beauty attracted this young man and within a few months proposed to her. They got married and relocated to the North. The union was blessed with 10 children (though lost three at infancy).

Life is not a bed of roses as it is full of ups and downs. Mama Ogunnaike had had her own share.She was blessed with two daughters but lost one of them at age 64 in 2015. She was devastated but took solace in God and accepted her fate that God gives and takes.

And to celebrate a life well spent, beginning from Monday April 17, her children, grandchildren, church and family members would roll out the drum to celebrate this woman who many described as a gift from God. Her burial rites begin on Monday April 17, 2017 with a Service of Songs to be hosted by Eternal Sisters Association and All International Women Association at her residence on Plot 391, Abesan Housing Estate, Ipaja, Lagos from 5pm- 8Pm. And on Tuesday April 18th, another service of songs will be hosted by Mount Zion General Headquarters Ebute Metta Provinces in Lagos at Eagles Square Event Centre, Adeniran Ogunsanya, Surulere between the hours of 5pm-8pm. And on Wednesday, there would be all Night Wake Keep Service at the Eagles Square Event Centre, Adeniran Ogunsanya, Surulere from 9pm till dawn.

The grand finale of her burial would hold on Thursday April 20, 2017 at the Tafawa Balewa Square, Lagos Island. The venue will also play host to dignitaries for a grand reception after her interment at Ikoyi Vaults and Gardens Ikoyi.The outing service will take place on Sunday April 24, 2017 at Mount Zion Cathedral, Odunla Street, Ebute-Metta. Without doubt, Mama Ogunnaike died satisfied, fulfilled and an accomplished mother.

Heineken Returns as Headline Sponsor of #HeinekenLFDW The Heineken Lagos Fashion and Design Week, last weekend held its inaugural Autumn/ Winter presentations with premium beer brand, Heineken, deepening its role as sponsor of the globally acclaimed fashion event.

Speaking at an exclusive party to launch the Heineken LFDW AW17 exhibition, Ngozi Nkwoji, Senior Brand Manager, Heineken, said: “Heineken, as a premium brand, seeks to bring premium

experiences to its consumers. Using the LFDW platform, Heineken has created more awareness about Nigerian fashion and its commercial possibilities.” Nkwoji further noted that Heineken has successfully showcased the growing number of talent within the fashion industry while promoting fashion-related commerce, hence reaffirming Heineken’s continued support for the thriving sector.

She further affirmed that Heineken LFDW AW17

would set an unprecedented standard in African fashion and design industry. HeinekenLFDW AW17 presentations a three-day event saw top Nigerian designers exhibit their designs in an installation format. The AW17 presentation is aimed at bringing Heineken LFDW in line with the global fashion calendar while giving fashion designers an opportunity to showcase their work.

The fashion presentation, which kicked off on

Friday, March 31, 2017, at the Red Door Gallery, Victoria Island, featured top Nigerian designers such as Orange Culture, Maki Oh, AAKS, Gozel Green, KelechiOdu, Post Imperial, Shem Paronelli, Lisa Folawiyo, and Ré. 'Eko For Show: A History Of Lagos Fashion', a short documentary film which tells a story of the evolution of fashion in Lagos, was also screened at the three-day fashion show, which had the theme ‘Identity.

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14.04.2017

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Film Maker, Ekene Mekwunye Features Rita Dominic, Joke Silva, Kalu Ikeagwu, Others in ‘Light in The Dark’ The unveiling of 'Light in The Dark', a film by prolific filmmaker, Ekene Som Mekwunye held amidst pomp and pageantry at the Waterside Lounge in Ikoyi. Present at the unveiling were top Nollywood stars including Joke Silva and Rita Dominic. Respected brand expert, Charles O'Tudor and Cool FM OAP, Mannie were also part of the unveiling.

The movie parades top actors like Rita Dominic, Joke Silva, Kalu Ikeagwu, Ngozi Nwosu, Kiki Omeili, Mannie of Cool FM Lagos, among other stars who will playing significant roles in the film that will later become one of the best films shot to discourage domestic violence in the society and how best to integrate the victims back into the society.

According to the producer, Ekene Som Mekwunye, “We are planning to make a film that would show the effects of domestic violence, what it does to women and more importantly, how best victims can handle it. The film also shows a little of the friction in inter-tribal marriages and the way men look at issue in such marriages. This film would be a tool to draw awareness of this scourge to a lot of ladies in Africa and as well as look at how it affects families when it happens to married women.

"The film is a drama feature film that has a compelling story that would hold the viewers spellbound. The story would be accompanied by great acting, which will be delivered by seasoned and known actors that can sell the film as well as a strong cinematic directing.

The film would have a good production design that would go with the story with proper post production. We are looking at passing a message yet in a very entertaining way.”

Brand Specialist, Charles O’Tudor described the movie as one that will

Mannie, Rita ominic, Ekene, Joke Silva and Cahrles Otudor

keep the viewers spellbound. He also spoke about several opportunities inherent for brands to take advantage of in the movie. “Films have become a very powerful tool in today’s world and one of the strongest teaching tools too. It is also used as a tool of influence. There are several scenes in this movie that corporate organisations can jump at and communicate with their audience.

From bedroom scenes to kitchen, bar, hospitals and lots of others. This is one of the ways brands can communicate effortlessly with their audience.”

The producer, Ekene Som Mekwunye is a multiple-award filmmaker with strong interest in photography and teaching. His short film titled ‘Oblivious’ was awarded the winner of Best Short Film in Africa by one of Africa’s biggest film awards, The African Magic Viewers Choice Awards (AMVCA) in 2015. It was also nominated

for awards at the Africa International Films Festival (AFRIFF), Africa Movies Academy Awards (AMAA), and different film Festival across the world. Another of his film 'The Encounter' which is set during the Biafran war on an encounter with Gen. Ojukwu also won best Jury selected film at the African International Film Festival (AFRIFF) in November 2015 and got a review on the Newsweek magazine in Europe.

Ekene has worked for Mnet on several projects which include 53Extra, Jara and Channel O. He also worked for MTV as Project Coordinator for Shuga 3 before starting his own production company known as Riverside Productions which is responsible for creating shows like My Big Nigerian Wedding and has the rights for Nigeria to biggest Disk Jockey competition in the World, DMC world DJ championship.

Alizee Keeps Mum on Romance Rumour with Harrysong Shortly after releasing the video for her latest single, Masa, several pictures of fast rising Nigerian artiste, Alizee and that of popular Nigerian singer, Harrysong surfaced online. The pictures however sparked off romance speculations.

The two singers attended several outings together and most times found in a very compromising position.

One of such pictures was when Alizee was sitting on Harrysong’s laps in one of their outings.

Reacting to the romance tale, Alizee will rather not

comment on her relationship with Harrysong but her personal assistant has insisted that the two artistes are just good friends and nothing more. “People will always talk and as a matter of fact, it is something no one can prevent from happening. But on this issue, I know for a fact that Harrysong and Alizee are just friends and nothing.

Whatever anybody deduce from their pictures, it is just a figment of such person’s imagination. Alizee and Harrysong are just friends and nothing more”.

Harrysong and Alizee

Yemi Alade kicks Off World Tour Talented Nigerian artiste, Yemi Alade has kicked off her world tour tagged ‘Mama Africa World Tour’. The multiple-award winning artiste and her band arrived in Paris earlier this week in preparation for the kick off.

The singer immediately embarked on a media tour with her team upon her arrival in the city and also went sightseeing. A press conference was also held in her honour where she told

journalists on what to expect from the tour. She also confirmed that she will be releasing her anticipated single ‘Charliee’ on the same day and promised to deliver a performance like no other.

The tour is scheduled to start with a concert at Le Trianon this weekend. Fans of the singer and lovers of African music are expected to throng the venue to be part of the event.

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TEKNO

Talented Nigerian singer, Tekno has been announced

by Pepsi as the new ambassador of the company. The announcement was one of the major highlights of the recently held Pepsi Corporate Elite event which actually came as a surprise to the guests. Tekno thanked the brand for this opportunity and his loyal fans for their support. Other ambassadors of the company are wizkid, Davido, SEYI shay and Tiwa Savage

RUNTOWN

Nigerian singer, Runtown was invited as a guest after his tour of the United States to a special interaction session with Harvard African Students Association. The singer spoke on the emergence of African music and pop culture influence across the world, emphasising on the need for collaboration between African and international pop stars as well as urging international record companies to invest more in the structure and growth of music on the African continent.

MO ADENIRAN Nigerian-British Mo Adeniran emerged as the winner of this year’s The Voice UK. The 21-year-old was in disbelief as he was announced the winner and his coach, Jennifer Hudson rushed to the stage to congratulate him with hugs amidst tears. In his speech, he said, “thank you everyone at home, I just want to say thank you to Jennifer and all the coaches. An amazing thank you to the most phenomenal person I have ever met, thank you Jennifer.” He was up against Into The Ark, a two-man group coached by Sir Tom Jones and Jamie Miller tutored by Jennifer Hudson as well. Jamie Miller came up the second runner-up while Into The Ark came up first runner up leaving Mo with the ultimate prize.

Yemi-Alade

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14.04.2017

The New Lagos The Akinwumi Ambode-led administration in Lagos State has finally found solution to the perennial environmental crisis threatening the megacity status of the commercial city with the newly introduced fundamental environmental reforms, writes Raheem Akingbolu For years, Lagos residents have craven for a cleaner megacity and a serene environment.

Among other unpleasant hazards, arbitrary collections of refuse and street trading have for a long time remained a burden on the commercial city. Aside from the nauseating image this is giving the state, daylight robbers, who either pretend to be refuse collectors or traders on the highways, are increasing every passing second.

As a result of this, many organisations and individuals have since been campaigning for a pragmatic measure to transform the state.

Experts in the health sector and other stakeholders, who know the implication of having heaps of refuse in residential areas, are also crying out loud on the need for a lasting solution to the perennial environmental challenges. Of course, efforts were made and machineries were put in top gear by successive administrations to give the city an appealing look that everybody could be proud of but the garbage is still on the streets. Lately, it was discovered that previous measures could only work in the interim, especially as most of the companies handling the collection of the waste are either not well equipped or lack the required experience to handle the population.

Enters new environmental reforms However, the current administration in the state appears to have finally found solution to the challenge, with the recent unveiling of fundamental environmental reforms, which are expected to take care of all factors that could aid the abnormal situation. This is directly in line with the state’s Cleaner Lagos Initiative, which is concerned with addressing the challenges in the solid waste management system in the state. With the initiative, government is poised to protect the environment, human health and social living standards of Lagos residents by promoting a harmonised and holistic approach to the challenges, thereby improving operational efficiency.

Under the new reform, the state has leveraged its newly established Environmental Management and Protection Law to convert one of its agencies, KAI (Kick Against Indiscipline) into the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps Agency. The new agency will spearhead enforcement of the penalties that will be imposed on violators of its new environmental laws as well as demolishing all illegal structures on sewage systems.

According to the new law, KAI turned LASECORPS will be tasked with monitoring and maintaining surveillance along the highways, streets and public drainages, canals, markets and parks and will have the primary responsibility of ensuring that citizens fulfill their civic duty by paying the Public Utilities Levy- a property-based charge payable by property occupants for the management of solid and liquid waste, wastewater and environmental intervention for Lagos State.

Another strong highlight of the new law is the prohibition of street trading as it specifically stated that “It is an offence to engage in street trading along the major highways and streets of Lagos and sell in an unapproved market in Lagos while every owner, tenant and occupier of any shop, kiosks, space or stall in any market within the state shall on a regular basis ensure the cleanliness of his space.”

In a similar vein, it is now mandatory for every commercial vehicle in Lagos State to carry a litterbin for the use of the passengers so that passengers will not throw waste onto the road from the vehicle. “If the driver fails to provide the litter bin, the driver will also be penalised alongside the passenger or the occupier of the vehicle who commits the offence,” stated the law.

The government is also planning a clampdown on all illegal structures on sewage systems without approval as such structures will be demolished. Also in the new law, anyone who wants to a sink borehole or

Also, under the law, every owner or occupier of a facility who uses, stores, keeps and maintains underground storage tanks and surface storage tanks shall register such tanks with the enforcing authority while a facility monitoring and inspection exercise shall be carried out on all sites with surface or underground tanks periodically to determine the integrity of the facility involved while the soil test of the immediate environment shall be carried out as required.

Ambode...wants a cleaner Lagos

any structure connected with the supply of water must obtain permit from the office of drainage services.

Speaking at the signing of the new Environmental Bill recently, Ambode said; “Compliance is the key. The burden of the cost of providing these services will remain low if everyone does his or her part and pays the Public Utilities Levy.”

Speaking further, the governor said, “With the newly positioned LASECORPS, we will work within the communities to enforce the new laws. The state will have a zero-tolerance policy for offenders because simply put, disregarding payment of your PUL or flouting the new regulations ultimately promotes activities that lead to the loss of lives.”

He said further that “the Public Utility Levy which is to replace all service fees previously paid to the waste management authorities is an annual charge that will take effect as the rollout commences. We have worked closely with the public in determining the rates and have succeeded in keeping this levy relatively low. The PUL will be a major contribution to the state’s ongoing efforts to address severe challenges that are unique to Lagos because of rising urbanisation. The money will be held in the Environmental Trust Fund and managed meticulously by a Board of independent, SEC regulated trustees.”

In the area of performance evaluations and remunerations, the new reform has indicated that LASECORPS’s performance will be tied directly to the number of actionable fines they issue for non-compliance. For effectiveness, the Environmental Corps will be supported

by PUMAU (Public Utilities Monitoring Assurance Unit) a unit that will have oversight responsibility by using innovative monitoring tools to ensure the new standards are effectively enforced.

The Lagos State Government said defaulters of these laws would face stiff penalties from the government which include heavy fines ranging from N250, 000 to N5, 000,000 and/ or imprisonment.

“The primary driver of the new bill and the initiatives that we have undertaken is not just cosmetic but to save lives. Therefore, we will unapologetically prosecute offenders to the full extent of the law. We will make CEOs accountable, from the very top to the bottom, and the law is very specific about the consequences of non-compliance,” Ambode said.

Execution and involvement of global companies Meanwhile, in place of the existing arrangement with some contractors who have been found wanting in discharging their responsibilities as a result of poor equipment and experience needed to confront Lagos population, government has assembled a consortium of

international companies that are reputed to have been involved in the cleaning of major cities of the world. The companies include; Visionscape –CSH Environmental, Wastecare Solutions and Resources Management Limited.

Others are; VS Industries –Coseco/Ships, ABC Sanitation Taylor Bins and Bespoke Management and Maintenance Services –Interwaste.

Visionscape for instance is a globally acclaimed leading waste management company which has pledged its support to help transform Lagos, the 5th largest economy in Africa, to one of Africa’s cleanest megacities. Among the countries where the company has operated successfully are United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, India, Nigeria, South Africa, Malawi, Romania, Pakistan, Phillipines, Mali, Dominican Republic, and Morocco, just to mention but a few. As part of its strategy to collaborate with others to make Lagos the cleanest city in Africa, Visionscape will use a fully integrated waste management and recycling solutions targeted at achieving zero waste through reduction, recycling and reuse of wastes.

Farewell to dumping of toxic waste, air pollution By signing into law the Environmental Management and Protection Bill, the state governor can be said to have secured the legal instrument it requires to turn into reality his vision of ensuring that every person living in Lagos lives in a decent, clean, safe and healthy environment.

If there is any beautiful thing about the new law, it is the empowerment it gives government to set up the Environmental Trust Fund.

The trust fund, which will be chaired by the Commissioner for Environment, is aimed at promoting the development and sustenance of the state’s performance in managing its environment as it will create a system that can attract funds from persons, organisations and authorities in tackling environmental issues. The trust fund will also promote the creation of job opportunities for the youth in waste management and waste recycling among others.

In the newly promulgated law, no person or group of persons shall dump over any toxic waste capable of causing harm in the state and all emissions from vehicles, plants and equipment including generating plants in residential, commercial and industrial areas within the state must mandatorily meet air emission standard.

Similarly, the new law will ensure that no manufacturing of chemicals, lubricants, petroleum products, gases, quarry and cement, other than those used in construction, takes place in a residential premise. The law prescribed that any manufacturer of such items will procure an insurance policy from an approved insurance company.

A harvest of environmental benefits for residents If things work out as planned, then Lagosians are in for a new day. From any angle one chooses to look at it, the details of how the newly enacted Environmental Management and Protection Bill by the Lagos State Government will transform the lives of everyone working or living in Lagos has started to take shape.

In addition to creating 27,500 new jobs, the new policy will fast track the process of metamorphosing Lagos State into a cleaner megacity by decisively tackling the problems of air and water pollution, preventing deceases and halting the deterioration of the environment to avert adverse effect on socio-economic activities.

The new policy has also made a very special provision for thousands of Community Sanitation Workers (CSWs) who will be directly employed to work on the scheme by making their salaries tax free.

Additionally, the new environmental regime will provide numerous insurance benefits including Life, Health, Accident and Injury cover to the 27,500 CSWs who will also enjoy a pension scheme. The brains behind this project have been smart enough to turn all the people who will work there into their brand ambassadors. You cannot underestimate the power of a happy work force.

In a carefully articulated strategy to enhance the quality of lives of the sanitation workers who will be saddled with the task of keeping Lagos clean, an arrangement has been made to also ensure that the sanitation workers will only work in their immediate communities, thereby eliminating transportation cost.

Admitting how precarious environmental sanitation issues have become in Lagos State, the state government said: "Lagos is at critical levels of pollution. We must change course because our children’s lives and future depend on it.

The state governor, Ambode expressed optimism that the new law would result in historic environmental victories for a state which over the years has struggled with effective management of the 10,000 metric tonnes of waste it generates daily.

At the signing ceremony, Ambode said, “I am delighted that our bill has been signed into law. Our major environmental laws are outdated and do not address our present-day challenges.”

Stressing the importance of the bill, Ambode said, “We exist in a world where the protection and preservation of public health and the environment have evolved and are primarily driven by data. We cannot compete if our laws are based on obsolete information.”

The governor commended the Lagos State House of Assembly for shelving their differences in the best overall interest of the state to align and pass the bill. “I know that the process of change may seem daunting at first but ultimately this shows that we can achieve a lot on our own and we can join with others for the common good of Lagos State. We have taken everyone along the value chain into consideration from the existing PSPs, to the cart pushers and the scavengers on the landfills. Everyone will be accommodated under this new environmental scheme,” he said.

Considering the benefits the new reform will bring to Lagos residents, one can conveniently conclude that a new Lagos has finally come.

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14.04.2017

Umuahia Residents Walk for Peace in Nigeria Emmanuel Ugwu in Umuahia As Nigeria keeps struggling to overcome divisive tendencies pulling at the heart of the nation hundreds of Umuahia residents have trooped out to walk for peace and add their voices to the quest to build a fair and just society where Nigerians could live in peace irrespective of ethnic and religious diversities.

The clamour for peaceful co-existence in the country was amply demonstrated on the major roads and streets at the third edition of the Walk for Peace event during which participants carried messages of peace through the city with musical accompaniments.

The President of Vision Africa Radio, Bishop Sunday Onuoha, who has been organising the event for three years running, said that the essence was to bring men and women of shared values together in order to bring peace to the nation.

“It is to celebrate our humanness and oneness as a people,” he said, adding, “There’s nothing that says we can’t exist together though tribes and tongues may differ.”

Onuoha, who has been promoting peaceful co-existence of Nigerians and humanitarians activities, further stated that Vision Africa Radio

Atuegwu (middle) receiving the Margarette Golding Award from President of the International Inner Wheel Clubs, Mrs. Oluyemisi Alatise

104.1 FM was established 17 years ago based on the conviction that “we could build a peaceful Nigeria through the media.

“The radio station is communicating messages of peace and reconciliation the nation,” he said.

The cleric with a heart of gold pointed out that it was his faith in Nigeria that propelled him to

establish Vision Africa Radio at a turbulent period when people did not have faith in Nigeria, when people did not believe we could exist together as one and the international community treated Nigeria as a pariah state.

Though the running cost of operating the radio station has continued to rise without

commensurate revenue, Onuoha insisted that “the transformation of the society is important to me.

“It is not the money that is important to me but the message of peace,” the Bishop said.

On his humanitarian activities the Methodist Bishop, who just clocked 53 during the week, disclosed that 700, 000 Nigerians have benefitted from medical care in the past 20 years through the annual medical missions of his organisation in collaboration with foreign partners.

According to him, the medical missions have been able to penetrate the rural areas and put smiles on the faces of rural folks who have no access to medical services and in most cases could not even afford the cost of medical care.

While promoting peace and building bridges across the nation, Onuoha has also been campaigning against corrupt practices that have continued to perpetrate poverty in the land, saying that Nigerians should learn to serve the public creditably without stealing public funds.

He said: “It is not the money you make that gives you peace of mind but the larger society,” he said, adding that “what we need to survive is very little; we don’t have to steal public money to survive.”

Nigeria Authors Proffer Solution to Youth Unemployment Peter Uzoho Two Nigerian authors based in the US have documented alternative ways to solve the chronic problem of youth unemployment in Nigeria.

One of the major economic challenges Nigeria is facing today is the high number of youths who are out of work. Many people versed in the study of youth restiveness describe this as a tinder box because it is easy to recruit youths to unleash mayhem in the society.

With a population of about 180 million people, from which over 50 per cent are between the ages of 15 to 34 and about 47 per cent of this number is unemployed, experts say the rate of unemployment in Nigeria among this demographic group is dangerous. The National Population Commission also noted that there is a high rate of growth of youth unemployment because every year the universities send thousands of youths to the society in search of jobs.

Despite the fact that various programmes have been set up to address the issue of unemployment in the country, only very few of these programmes have recorded maximal impact, compared to the number of youths who are still unemployed till date and sometimes such

programmes are mere jamborees, which open a window to fraudulent enrichment of those recruited to implement the programme.

It therefore behooves on stakeholders concerned to bridge this huge gap by thinking out of the box to create some solutions youths in Nigeria can relate with, considering their cultures, peculiarities and their environmental upbringing.

This is why concerned Nigerian-born United States Professors, Chris Ehiobuche and Chizoba Madueke launched their new book, ‘Youth Entrepreneurship’ in a bid to explore effective solutions to youth unemployment and entrepreneurship in Nigeria.

Chizoba Madueke, the co-author of the book said what informed the launch of the book was in view of the fact that most of the Nigeria youths remain unemployed after their university education, adding even those that get jobs, get menial jobs.

Statistics indicate that in the second quarter of 2016, the youth unemployment rate hit an alarming level of 24 per cent from 21.50 per cent in the first quarter the same year. These circumstances are currently submerged into a seemingly intractable economic recession.

“Our book is a step-by-step guard on how to

Abia Oil Communities Laud FG over NDDC Commissioner Emmanuel Ugwu in Umuahia Oil producing communities in Abia State have heaved a sigh of relief as the federal government has finally appointed a commissioner from the area to represent the state on the board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

The appointment of Nwogu Nna Nwogu by the Presidency to fill Abia’s vacant position on the NDDC board was greeted with jubilation in Asa land, Ukwa West Local Government where Abia State got its identity as one of the oil producing states of the federation.

Nwogu’s appointment was announced in the aftermath of the Town Hall meeting between the presidential team led by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo and stakeholders drawn from the oil communities of Abia and the state government.

Abia State has been left without a representative on the current NDDC board which was inaugurated on October 11, 2016. Hon. Donatus Nwankpa, who was initially nominated to represent Abia, was rejected by the Senate on the ground that he is not from the oil producing area of the state as stipulated in the NDDC Act. The issue of appointing persons from outside the oil producing area had provoked angry reactions from Abia’s oil communities. It was among the grievances tabled before Vice President Osinbajo during the Town Hall meeting held in Umuahia on March 24, 2017, as part of the ongoing engagements with oil producing states.

The VP had promised that the Presidency would address the issue of appointing an NDDC commissioner from the oil producing area and

with the appointment of Nwogu that promise has been fulfilled.

Reacting to the new development, President of Ukwa Youth Initiative for Sustainable Development, Chinwe Uruakpa, said that President Muhammadu Buhari has done the wishes of Asa land by appointing one of their own as NDDC commissioner representing Abia.

Uruakpa, who was the chairmanship candidate of APC for Ukwa West in the December 2015 Local Government election, lauded Mr. President for this singular act, adding that he has given the oil producing communities every cause to believe in his sincerity to tackle their problems.

He described Nwogu, the NDDC commissioner nominee as a man who has been working for the interest of APC in Ukwa West and Abia State in general.

Executive Director of Centre for Equity and Eradication of Rural Poverty (CEERP), Sir Don Ubani expressed delight at the announcement of Nwogu’s appointment saying that Asaland is very grateful to Mr. President for acting promptly to one of the demands of the Abia oil communities.

“We cried out and they heard,” he said, adding, “We believe that justice has been done.”

Ubani, whose NGO has been campaigning for better deal for the oil communities of Abia told THISDAY that the initial blunder of appointing Abia NDDC representative from outside Asaland was an attempt by intruders to usurp the position, adding that “my people rose in unison” against the move.

A community leader from one of the oil

how to start a business in Nigeria. Our approach is what we can do to start a business. People do not need to wait to get all the money to start a business. They can start by taking basic steps little by little at a time.

“Youth entrepreneurship is about being selfsufficient, about getting resources from people, government offices, families and friends. The book also teaches how people can sell little things or gather money, instead of depending on someone.

It about getting out of being underemployed to becoming your own boss or and being financially secured,” Madueke added.

He explained that the approach of the book is not about criticism or trying to lecture. “We designed a step-by-step approach on how to start a business. People should begin to ask what they can do for their government. I was born an orphan, I should not be in United States or have a masters degree but I have all that today because I sold bottle water, that was how I raised money to travel out.

On how to distribute the book to the right audience, Madueke said people have been employed to get the books into various schools and universities, adding that some Vice Chancellors have already been contacted to get the books

sold in their schools.

Chris Ehiobuche, the co-author of the book said in an interview that his interest in launching this book in Nigeria was the need to see a generational transfer to the leaders of tomorrow.

“I am here to see to what extent we can contribute in rejuvenating our economy. I am looking at the Nigerian economy from the point of view of our inability to tap into our resources, which is a situation that has been there. We are good at analysing our problems but we are not so good in implementing those solutions.

“What I am looking into is a different focus on how we can capitalise on the equity of what we have, an area that is never tapped into, which is the Nigerian youths,” Ehiobuche added.

“What makes the difference is that we looked into the people that will benefit from the book.

We are in a digital generation. Regrettably, our parents and the professors in Nigeria are still educating people the way they were educated,” he explained.

He recalled that when his children came back to Nigeria for holidays, for the first time, they experienced power outage and immediately found out that their cousins were reading using the touch from their cell phones.

Crisis Hits Delta APC, Might Miss Warri South By-Election Sylvester Idowu in Warri Crisis has again hit the Delta State chapter of All Progressives Congress (APC) and might lose an opportunity of presenting a candidate in the upcoming by-election into the vacant Warri South 1 State Constituency seat if the national secretariat of the party fails to urgently resolve the leadership crisis in the state.

The party's 2015 Delta State House of Assembly candidate for the Warri South 1 Constituency seat, Robinson Ariyo, who gave this hint at a press briefing in Warri, lamented that the party in the state lacked cohesion, as about six factions are laying claim to leadership.

Ariyo noted that the Prophet Jones Erue faction, which currently parades as the authentic leadership, had violated the spirit of the party's constitution by filing a suit against the party, without exhausting internal provisions for redress, an action which punish us automatic expulsion from the party.

According to him, the APC in Delta State currently has no leadership as Erue's-led council had been terminated by a subsisting court action instituted in 2014 by an aggrieved group in the party, led by Chief Adolo Okotie-Eboh, adding that Erue and those who joined him in 2015 to file the suit against the party had automatically been expelled by the party's constitution.

"On April 30, 2015, the Adolo Okotie-Eboh -ed SEC successfully upturned the legal status of Jones Erue-led SEC in a Suit No. A/245/2014.

Let's bear in mind that an appeal has been filed against the judgement by the Erue's led SEC.

However, it is left for the APC to either act on the said judgement or pretend that its hands are tied by the judgement.

"APC has constitution and the law remains that every member of a political party is bound by the constitution of the party. Any member who files an action in Court of Law against the party or any of its officer on any matter relating to the discharge of duties, without first exhausting the avenues for redress provided for in the constitution shall automatically stand expelled from the party in filling such action.

"No appeal against expulsion stipulated in this clause shall be entertained until the withdrawal of the action from court by the members," he said.

However, in its reaction to the development, the Erue-led executive council, through its acting Publicity Secretary, Leonard Obibi, said the alarm raised by Ariyo was an overreaction, noting that besides acting subjudice, he was not in a position to determine whether internal mechanisms were duly exhausted.

"The matter to which he referred, the foundation of this matter he's raising is a matter that is already at the Court of Appeal, besides that he himself has taken the matter to the court for interpretation and if he has taken a matter to the court and he's now addressing a press briefing, it is considered as subjudice.

"Be that as it may, I don't think this is a subject that is of any major distraction to our party at this time because as far as we are concerned we have acted within the ambit of the law in both of the party and of the nation's constitution and to that extent we feel justified in our actions.

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14.04.2017

Orji

The Senator Who Values Education Despite overachieving in education during his tenure as Governor, Senator Theodore Orji continues to boost the fortunes of Abia students, writes Solomon Elusoji When Theodore Orji was Governor of Abia State, the state consistently excelled in the West African Examination Council (WAEC) examinations. At a point, its students were only second to Anambra State in the entire Nigeria. This was a reflection of the emphasis placed on quality instruction and infrastructure during Orji’s tenure.

So when he left power in 2015 and was subsequently elected to the Senate by his people, Orji was quick to note that there was a plethora of intelligent students, not just within his constituency, but across Abia. But most of these students struggled with the financial demands of modern educational institutions; they had the brains, the desire, the energy to pursue knowledge, but their pockets – and those of their parents and/or financiers – did not match their ambitions.

Amarachi Duroha, a student of Microbiology at the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike (MOUAU) was one of such students.

Because of delayed payment of school fees, she has been deprived of sitting for several examinations, leading to frustration and disillusionment in her academics.

So, in 2015, without any budgetary allocation, Orji decided to embark on a personal mission of doling out annual scholarships to some of these intelligent but indigent students. “I reasoned that the best thing to do for these youths was to give them university training because university education is important,” Orji told THISDAY in an interview. “Don’t worry about the jobs; the jobs will come eventually if you acquire the university education. Education does a lot of things, it disciplines you, it makes you to be a better citizen of the society. That is why I said let us do this to produce good citizens from my constituency who will eventually be good citizens for the whole of Nigeria , excel in

life, be useful to themselves and be useful to the society.”

So every year, since 2015, ten deserving university undergraduates are singled out from each of the six local governments comprising Abia Central Senatorial District (which Orji represents at the Senate) and are each given a sum of N100,000. The process is democratic, as students are expected to register online and an impartial committee is set up to decide the worthy winners of the grant. Till date, 120 students have benefitted from Orji’s initiative and, as at the time of writing this article, they had all received their monies. Still, the numbers are set to increase.

Initially, there were doubts from some people; but when they eventually saw the reality, when the scholarship was advertised on the internet and some newspapers, when students started filling forms and went in for interviews, when the first batch of 60 students were announced, they believed.

The testimonies that have emerged from this scholarship scheme have been incredible. Ikenna Nwankwere, a 200 level Law Undergraduate of Abia State University, Uturu (ABSU), who had had extreme difficulties paying his school fees was one of the beneficiaries of the scheme in 2016. Understandably, he was overjoyed and grateful. “I feel very happy because by God’s grace, through our amiable senator, my academic pursuit will now be a reality,” Nwankwere said. “It has been very difficult, but this scholarship will be able to pay my school fees.”

For Ikechukwu Uzodinma, who hails from Umuahia North, studied Mechanical Engineering at the Federal Polytechnic, Nekede and was a beneficiary in 2015, the scholarship could not have come at a better time. “Now, I’m in my final year and it has helped to

take care of my project and school fees,” he said. “I thank the senator so much for this.

He has really helped lives, even when he was a governor. I appreciate him so much and pray that God will give him long-life and more prosperity.”

Ndukaku Ahaoma, who is from Isiala Ngwa North and is currently studying Accountancy at ABSU, was also one of the 2015 beneficiaries. He had heard the information for the scholarship application from a friend and had gone ahead to put in for it, although he didn’t expect to win. When he was announced as one of the winners, his joy knew no bounds. “I’m working harder at my studies so that next year I would have a good chance to maintain the scholarship,” he told THISDAY at the time.

Doris Nwamaghinna said she was “so happy” when she found her name on the list of winners, even though she had been very positive she would be selected. The native of Isiala Ngwa North, who is currently studying Civil Law at Abia State University, said the scholarship money was used to pay her acceptance fee at the university.

Orji’s interest in education is not surprising, since he was also a product of education and he is determined to give others the opportunities he had. He started his primary education at St. Michaels Catholic Primary School, Umuahia. From there, he proceeded to Santa Crux Secondary School, Olokoro in the present-day Umuahia South LGA, before moving to Holy Ghost College, Owerri. Orji then capped his educational pursuit with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English, from the prestigious University of Ibadan, in 1977.

“Yes, I’m a product of education,” he told THISDAY. “If I wasn’t educated I will not be governor. So, I want people to be educated to

be governors and all. And when I was governor, I did very well in terms of education. You realised that in WAEC, we maintained the second position for two consecutive years. After Anambra State, we were second consistently for two years; we won trophies in educational competitions that we attended. We won a lot of laurels. We built and renovated a lot of schools just to maintain the tempo because education is vital.”

Although the scholarship scheme is designed as a continuous exercise, students will have to reapply every session.

“We looked at it and said we don’t have to award the money for the entire duration they are in school,” the chairman of the scholarship screening committee, Engr. Emma Nwabuko, told THISDAY. “They have to come back every session and apply, so that they will not become complacent. For a lot of people, when they receive scholarships, they will relax, because they know that at the end of the year somebody pays for their fees. So, every year, we will re-float the scholarship and make it open to everybody again, even if you have been a beneficiary previously.”

According to Nwabuko, “the senator floated the project to help the students. He is an education-friendly senator, as well as a lover of the youths. As a former governor, he also knows where the shoe pinches, because he has been in the system. And he did this without favouritism to anybody. It is a well-organised scholarship scheme: a committee was formed from all the six local governments, sat down together, and interviewed the applicants, who had registered online. Before the winners were announced, nobody knew who was going to win. Other politicians should emulate acts like this. If God has blessed you, the best thing you can do is to help others.”

36/COLLAGE

Ambassador, Royal Norwegian Embassy, Jens - Petter Kjemprud(left) and President, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Chief (Mrs) Nike Akande during a courtesy visit by the Ambassador to the Chamber in Lagos... recently

14.04.2017

L-R Members, Prisons Officers Wives Association (PROWA), Saliu Omolara ; Bassy Dorathy;Chief Executive Officer Arise Women, Siju Iluyomade; wife of Lagos State Comptroller General of Prisons, Folasade A. Tinuoye; Head, Welfare, PROWA,Ogundare Abiola; and Arise Women 2017 Chairperson, Yinka Almona, during a courtesy visit of Prisons Officers Wives Association to Arise Women in Lagos, recently ETOP UKUTT

Ooni of Ife, HRM Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, Ojaja ii flanked by Yoruba Unity Forum Executive Council members and Osun State Council of Obas and other paramount rulers during the YUF solidarity visit to the Ooni of Ife at his palace over the Ife crisis... recently.

L-R: Former Deputy Governor of Ekiti State, Prof. Modupe Adelabu; the deceased son-in-law, Mr. Akin Oyedele; his wife, Oluwaseun; and Mrs. Kike Ojo, during the Christian wake for Rev Israal Adewumi Abe, at his residence, Ekute Quarters, Ado-Ekiti...recently

L-R; The Bride’s Mother, Mrs. Taiwo Olayiwola; the Couple, Abayomi and Bisola Olajide and the Bride’s Father, Mr. Biodun Olayiwola, during the celebration of the couple's wedding at Omega Fire Ministry , Akure, Ondo State, recently.

SUNDAY ADIGUN

Mr Ogidi Abam and his wife former Miss. Doreen Apoeize Ugboka during their wedding reception at Ultimate Power Ministryi in Lagos... recently JAMES AGORI

Wife of THISDAY Political Correspondent, Shola Oyeyipo, Princess Omolola Ajoke Oyeyipo-Ogunwusi of the Ojaja ruling house, Ile-Ife, Osun State being committed to mother earth at Ikoyi cemetery, Lagos...recently

37/THISLIFE

14.04.2017

A Man for All Seasons At 50, Osita Okoli evokes the picture of a man who has walked through fire and survived.

A real estate magnate with over three decades of practice, his insistence on doing things with professionalism and integrity has won him a lot of enemies, but a passionate faith in the divine has granted him many victories. Recently, he granted Solomon Elusoji an interview at his Lagos office, and shared a bouquet of tales from his adventurous world In 2001, Osita Okoli received a vision from God. He was in the middle of a looming crisis within his professional organisation, the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV), after he had stumbled on some documents that provided ample evidence that some of the institution’s leaders had been involved in document forgery.

The vision consisted of a charge to Okoli to stand on truth and justice, regardless of the cost and consequences. “Out of the crises of the ashes, God told me,” Osita says, during a recent interview with THISDAY in his Lagos office, “will arise a new and glorious dawn to the joy of man and the glory of God.” It would turn out to be a life-changing revelation.

Earlier in 1999, during a NIESV meeting, a certain Chief Kola Akomolede had mooted the idea of moving the institution’s secretariat from Lagos to Abuja, which was then just living up to its identity as the nation’s capital. But the idea was thrown out by the institution’s leaders. The next year, the issue was brought up and, again, was stifled.

Then, Okoli, who had served as the institution’s Publicity Secretary between 1996 and 1997 and was then a council member, decided to take it upon himself to go to all the state branches of the institution, to find out the preponderant opinions of the members on the Abuja issue.

When he realised that many people wanted to make the move to Abuja, he approached the institution’s leaders with his findings. But the harder he pressed, the more jinxed the idea seemed. “The more I tried to explain to them, the less they understood,” he says.

Expectedly, he soon became the target of a plethora of hate and criticism for his progressive ideas; friends turned their backs on him and he was betrayed severally. But his 2001 vision helped him stand on solid ground. And, in 2002, the institution passed a resolution to move its central body to Abuja.

In 2001, the current Executive Governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha, told him: “My brother, if you put half the energy, time and money you are putting into your professional body into politics, you’ll go places.”

But he would never have been fulfilled in politics at that period of his life. He was a consummate professional, dedicated to the art and science of real estate, and his first responsibility was to his professional organisation. “All through my life, since my days in Onitsha, my prayer to God has always been for him to make me a blessing unto others,” he says, “I don’t mind if I catch the flak, as long as others get the booty. I believe that people should strive to give their best in whatever they do, because the way you make your bed is how you are going to lie on it.”

That attitude, of selflessly living and leading for others regardless of the opposition, has set apart Osita Okoli among his contemporaries.

He was born in Onitsha on April 15, 1967, shortly before the outbreak of the Nigerian Civil War. His father was a renowned trader, a dealer in Raleigh bicycles. Okoli describes him as a “profound and dedicated Christian”. He was, for 22 years, the pastor’s Warden at St. Andrews Catholic Church, Onitsha and was made a knight. His mother was a seamstress who dabbled in baking and petty trading, but also, like her husband, went into trading, majoring in plastics. “I come from a traditional trading family,” Okoli says. “And even while I was growing up professionally, I was doing some trading on the side.”

The war forced his parents to relocate to their hometown, Ukpor, in Nnewi South Local Government. He started his education at Ukpor, where he spent more time on mango trees than in the classroom. After the civil war, his parents moved back to Onitsha and he was enrolled in Central School Onitsha (now Community Primary School 1, Onitsha).

In his first year at Central School, his playfulness continued and he came second to last in

Okoli

Okoli with the love of his life. Cecilia

the class and had to repeat. But the girl he used to share his desk with was promoted to the next class. That inspired him to begin to take his studies seriously. Within a year, his grades shot up. By the time he was graduating, he was the best in the entire school.

He then proceeded to the Federal Government College, Enugu for his secondary school education, before attending the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, in 1983, studying Estate Management.

His decision to study Estate Management was heavily influenced by his elder brother, who was an architect.

He observed his National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme at Kaduna between 1987 and 1988, where he commenced his professional career, as a Pupil Surveyor, with the Kaduna Branch of Knight Frank and Rutley, a global real estate consultancy firm. He impressed during his service years and was subsequently granted full employment, moving to the Lagos Head Office of the company; and worked as an Estate Surveyor in the Management Department.

He also worked as an Estate Surveyor in the

Agency and Valuation Departments, having been elected an Associate Member of NIESV. However, during his time at Knight Frank and Rutley, Okoli made it clear to his employers that he had a vision to set up his own practice.

“I promised them unalloyed dedication, but I also made it clear that I would leave one day,” he says.

And unalloyed dedication he did deliver.

One of his managers during his time at Frank Knight and Rutley was Chief Simon Okeke, and he describes Okoli as “a brilliant professional who understands the content of Land Economy and Estate Management. He worked under me for a couple of years and I evaluated him, and I gave him a very good pass-mark. He is also reliable. He has a very high measure of integrity, which is required in any profession, especially in real estate. And he is someone who comports himself very well.”

He left Knight Frank and Rutley in 1991 and moved to Fox and Company, another real estate firm, as an Estate Surveyor and Valuer in General Practice. He was attached directly

to the Founding Partner of the firm, Mr. John Paget Fox. But in 1993, he left Fox and Company and set up his own practice, Osita Okoli and Company. Today, the firm has its Head Operations in Lagos, with branches in Abuja and PortHarcourt, as well as a Representative Office at Onitsha. They’ve worked on a plethora of huge, complicated projects, including the valuation of the assets of Westminster Dredging and the management of the Century City project in Cape Town, South Africa. They’ve also worked with several government institutions like the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) and the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).

A consummate real estate professional, Okoli is a member of the Institute of Revenues Rating and Valuation (IRRV) of the United Kingdom and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). He was designated Senior Certified Valuer (SCV) by the International Real Estate Institute (IREI) USA in 1997 and was elevated to President of the Nigerian Chapter of the Institute in 1998.

He revived the defunct Nigerian Chapter of the IREI and led its delegations to the International Real Estate Expos and Conferences of the IREI in Las Vegas, USA from 1999 to 2003.

He became a member of the International Real Estate Federation (FIABCI), Paris, France in 1994 and served variously as Secretary General of the Nigerian Chapter as well as the African Region; Vice President of the African Region; President of the African Region; Deputy World President/Director as well as President of the Marketing Committee. He also facilitated the visits to Nigeria of three FIABCI World Presidents: Dato Alan Tong of Malaysia in 2006, Owen Gwyn of the USA in 2007 and Lisa Kurrass of the USA in 2010.

Okoli organised the first FIABCI Trade Mission to Africa led by World President Lisa Kurrass in 2010. The hugely successful Trade Mission featured Board Meetings, Seminars, Receptions, Project Tours, Cocktails and Dinners in Cape Town, South Africa, in collaboration with SAPOA (South African Property Owners Association) and sponsorship from Old Mutual Group and Liberty Properties, of South Africa. The Nigerian segment featured Meetings, Courtesy Calls on the Nigerian Minister and Minister of State for Petroleum, the Minister of Lands and Housing; Minister of State for the Federal Capital Territory; Cocktails and Dinners, in Abuja, Nigeria. It was rounded off with the investiture of President Goodluck Jonathan as Grand Patron of FIABCI Africa and a Gala Dinner/Awards presented by the World President Lisa Kurrass to notable leaders of the Nigerian Real Estate community.

The visits, presented the FIABCI World Presidents with the privilege of meeting with key government functionaries, including the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria and was targeted towards attracting Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) to the Nigerian real estate sector.

Tomorrow, Okoli turns 50. A strong believer in God, he is grateful to his creator for sparing his life. He also reserves special gratitude for his wife of 23 years, Mrs. Cecilia Okoli, who is also a partner at Osita Okoli and Company.

“She’s the greatest gift God has given me outside my life,” he says, “she’s a gift from heaven.

My story is not complete without her.” They are blessed with five children.

In 2011, Okoli was expelled from NIESV, a consequence of dark politicking from some mischievous elements, and had his license revoked. It was one of the most testing periods of his life, and only his wife’s license as a certified estate surveyor and valuer kept their firm afloat. Even then, they lost almost 90 per cent of their revenue. But a 2015 court judgement, delivered by Justice Evelyn Anyadike of the Federal High Court in Kaduna, vindicated him.

“I have no regrets,” he says, of sticking to his principles and scruples, “everyone who wants to be a good leader must go through what I call the wilderness experience. Even Jesus went through it.”

38/OPINION

14.04.2017

ADEOLAAKINREMI HOME TRUTHS

Email: adeola.akinremi@thisdaylive.com

Tel 08116759785(sms only)

The Trumpcare for Nigeria Against prediction, America’s President Donald Trump’s first passage to Africa is positive.

The shift in America’s policy to sell military aircraft to Nigeria for onslaught against the Islamist Boko Haram, nearly two years after the Africa’s largest economy showed interest in acquiring the jet fighters is something that should cheer us.

Predictably, Trump’s extended hands to Nigeria may be located in his determination to “bomb the shit” out of ISIS and their affiliates like Boko Haram Islamist group.

But that Trump is taking the initiative to support Nigeria in its fight against terrorism early in his administration is commendable and charitable.

Yes, Trump consistently made it clear during his campaign that he will destroy ISIS by whatever means and we saw the volume of his anger go up last week after the Syrian regime bombed its own citizens with chemical weapons.

Already, the chemical weapons attack may have a far reaching implication for the Bashar Al-Assad regime in Syria and by extension Russia’s Vladimir Putin, whose government has been accused of complicity by the White House.

Specifically, the White House accused the Russian government on Tuesday of engaging in a cover-up by conflicting the account on the chemical weapons attack.

“Moscow’s response to the April 4 attack follows a familiar pattern of its responses to other egregious actions,” United States intelligence report on the chemical weapons attack said. “It spins out multiple, conflicting accounts in order to create confusion and sow doubt within the international community.”

But hey, we are equally confronted by human rights violation, though not to be compared in any way with the horrible situation in Syria, but

President Donald Trump

to the extent that the world cares about just any form of human rights violation.

Sadly, more lives have been lost since two years that the United States held back on the sale of the fighter’s jets, but the serious issue of human rights violation that costs us the deal in the first instance has not been addressed.

In Nigeria, court decisions on people held without trial or those undergoing trial whose bails have been granted by courts of competent jurisdictions are not being obeyed by the government.

In one instance, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mr. Nnamdi Kanu, and other members of his group have been languishing in detention since 2015, despite rulings granting them unconditional bail.

Their continued incarceration triggered

street protests in which the police freely shot at demonstrators with many killed and nothing was done to charge the police who killed our citizens.

The other piece of the pie is the continued detention of the leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN), Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, whose members were allegedly brutally killed in Zaria, Kaduna State, by state actors.

El-Zakzaky himself was shot and had one of his eyes ripped, but despite repeated calls for his release, the Nigerian authorities have refused.

Curiously, after 350 members of El-Zakzaky’s IMN were killed and dumped in mass grave, the Nigerian government has not come up with a report of its own investigation now more than a year since the clash between IMN and the Nigerian military in which soldiers allegedly slaughtered hundreds of men, women and children.

Imagine! On January 16, a 45-day ultimatum handed down to the government by an Abuja Federal High Court to release El-Zakzaky and his wife, Malama Zeenah Ibrahim, elapsed with continued disobedience to court order by the government.

The court described their detention, which began in December 2015, as illegal and unconstitutional, but the Buhari government has continued to show no respect for the judiciary in all of these cases.

To the case of the former National Security Adviser, Colonel Sambo Dasuki, all competent courts, including ECOWAS court delivered same judgments to release him on bail, but that has not happened. Since December 2015, Dasuki has been held on fraud charges with the government failing to honour court decisions.

And this, series of human rights violation that prompted the U.S. to invoke its Leahy

Law which prohibits the U.S. defence sector from providing military assistance to countries involved in rights violations are still commonplace in the country as Amnesty International noted in its report.

But this window of opportunity from Trump is all Buhari needs for a recast—to reform human rights The military needs to prosecute those who have violated the rights of innocent citizens in its fight against Boko Haram and the federal government needs to obey court orders on all issues involving human rights.

But there’s one more thing, we don’t have an ambassador in Washington D.C, and that should be a big issue in this new deal with America.

Let’s be reminded that it is at the Capitol Hill that the final decision will be made on the sale of the 12 Embraer A-29 Super Tucano aircrafts that will cost our country nearly $600 million, and there’s need to parley the senators who may want to oppose “anything Trump” and to hold on to champions like Senators John McCain and Bob Corker, the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee who have signified support for the deal.

Definitely, the aircraft deal is a bridge between Nigeria and America and one that will provide oasis needed in the Sahel, where Islamic extremists such as Boko Haram may have found a nest after suffering dislocation.

Honestly, the A-29 deal will do serious damage to Abubakar Shekau and his men who appear to have converted to an underground guerrilla strategy to launch attacks in recent time after the fall of Sambisa Forest and their crushing defeat in urban strongholds of Madagali and Maiduguri.

Follow me on twitter: @adeolaakinremi1

LEKANFATODU HEADS-UP

Email lekantodun@yahoo.com

Tel 07058069255

Random Thoughts on 2019 Conventionally in Nigeria, real political activities for the next general elections kick into full swing at the end of the second year of the statutory four-year term of a ruling government. And when they do, governance will be on lockdown. The political vultures usually looking for where to touchdown for their modest meals would have developed tremendous capacity to hover around and land anywhere they can feed their avarice.

Also, those who have previously been branded as baggage politically, and have thus been kept at arm’s length by those in control of power, would swiftly transform into the desirable brides being sought after by the powers that be. It is usually so because these so-called political burdens are proficient at solving, by hook or crook, curious political puzzles and winning elections in their domains of influence. Sadly, that is just politics according to the precept of Nigeria.

Meanwhile, it is far more unfortunate and frightening to note that President Muhammadu Buhari wittingly or unwittingly allowed this retrogressive practice to commence at the very early stage of his government of change.

The President’s unhelpful taciturnity towards the power-sharing feud that broke out amongst the top members of his All Progressives Congress (APC) party, particularly those at the two federal legislative Chambers, has made politics overshadow governance from day one of this government.

And this has spurred earnest and desperate moves for the 2019 general elections.

It is therefore trite to say that the rancour generated by the elections of Senator Bukola Saraki and Honourable Yabuku Dogora as the Nigerian Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives respectively against the wish of the APC was a fallout of the President’s vaunted apolitical stance and the major event that signaled the shape of things to happen in

Buhari

the politics of 2019.

Expectedly, many of these discomforting political circumstances, coupled with the troubled economy and Buhari's personal health challenges, have heightened secret talks and schemes on a suitable replacement for Buhari should he decide not to seek re-election in 2019.

Of course, every close observer knows that the “secrecy” about such political moves is just a little show of respect, or rather, borne out of fear of incurring the presidency's wrath.

So whether it is just the usual wish of the unsolicited fans or a planned desire that is yet to be let out, some eyes are already being marked as stern lookers at the highest seat in the land.

Thus their actions and inactions are deserving of examination to throw some light into the intrigues, power play and likely occurrences in the next elections. Similarly, a few entities apart from

the traditional political players are also seen to be growing in fame or infamy.

That said, the actions of these elements will certainly be referenced, either for good or bad, in the annals of the coming elections.

Long before this time, the Senate President, Saraki, put himself forward for the coveted presidential seat. And that's why his emergence as the Senate President was seen in many quarters as a prelude to his higher aspiration in 2019.

There is no doubt that he would have more than just a say in who becomes the next president.

He remains a strong factor in the politics of now, and the years to come.

Former governor of Lagos, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, is unarguably the foremost political strategist of this present time. He has, through his very profound understanding of the terrain, won many political battles and wooed legions of followers. And has, similarly, nursed injuries a few times.

He however recently drew an analogy between a player in the game of football and a tactical politician. He had opined that when a good player picked up an injury, he will pull himself back to get well, improve on training and return to best form. Perhaps reeling tongue-in-cheek, but the Jagaban of Borgu has suggested that if the opportunity presents itself, it will be a huge honour to give leadership at the topmost level in the country. Hence, presumably Asiwaju would come out in a bigger form in 2019.

Again, governor of Kaduna State, Mallam el-Rufai, ex-governors Sule Lamido and Rabiu Kwankwanso and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar are among the regularly mentioned candidates for the big office out there.

Frankly, how some of these individuals are able to manage the current socio-political challenges (unfortunately, management of the economy is

never a determinant) in their various states; and how the rest are able to rebrand themselves for national appeal, would only make them wield some measure of influence in the politics of 2019.

But, it is certainly not a guarantee that such will push any of them forward as a desirable candidate in the present climate.

Of course, there is the party palaver. The centre can no longer hold in the two major political parties. It is evidently as bad for the APC as it is with the PDP. Therefore, there will be an emergence of different parties and some splinters from the existing ones may come out with interesting nomenclatures like the ‘Advanced People’s Democratic Party, Democratic All Progressives Congress’ amongst others.

On another end, forget all the feeble statements about the unrepentant rebel leader, Nnamdi Kanu, not representing the wish of the entire people of the East in his aggressive advocacy for an independent Biafra. The calibre of people that are presently paying visits to the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in the prison should tell anyone that Kanu has already secured a fantastic place in the political agenda of 2019.

Similarly, some Niger Delta militant-entreprenuers have started to amplify their voices.

As ever, the discourse on resource control and marginalisation of the region is a profitable political tool especially during elections, and the coming one wouldn’t be any different.

Definitely, there are numerous people and factors to be considered here but for the constraint of space.

Sadly, in the politics of Nigeria, performance doesn’t really matter. A candidate must be able to scale the hurdles of ethnicity, religion and other ridiculous considerations. By and large, it is 2019 already!

39

T H I S D AY • FRIDAY, APRIL 14, 2017

BUSINESSWORLD

PERSPECTIVE

As Peterside Turns NIMASA Around Wale Suleiman highlights the various measures put in place by Dakuku Peterside to repositionthe Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency If a list of government agencies that have failed to realise their full potentials over the years is drawn, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) will easily top the list. No sector has been bogged down by corruption and incompetence as the maritime sector.

In 2015 when the economy started showing some serious signs of depression and government officials shied away from calling it recession, Olisa Agbakoba, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), a long time player in the maritime sector, alerted the authorities on the potential of the sector as an alternative to oil. Agbakoba said, in an interview, that Nigeria could generate as high as N7 trillion annually from the maritime sector if the right things were done.

He lamented that the sector was not managed as a revenue earner. He spoke with the conviction of an expert. It was as if government was more interested in political patronages than in good governance.

But luckily enough, one man had listened to him. The man was the former Governorship Candidate of the All Progressive Congress, APC, and now the Director General of NIMASA, Dr Dakuku Peterside.

Since assuming office, Peterside, a former lawmaker, has left no one in doubt as to his determination to ensure NIMASA achieves its full potentials as a major revenue earner for the country. When he led a delegation of NIMASA to the Comptroller General of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) Col. Hameed Ali (rtd), he did not mince words about his vision for the agency.

He told Ali that the Nigerian Customs and NIMASA were both revenue earning agencies of government now working to accomplish the purpose of facilitating trade to Nigeria, and ensuring that those doing business with the country did not take undue advantage of her. It speaks so much of the vision of this man that he is committing himself and the agency he heads to the service of the country.

Although a politician, Peterside is not running NIMASA as his predecessors did.

He appears to have placed premium on professionalism, integrity, transparency and President Muhammadu Buhari’s plan to diversify the economy and get it quickly out of the current recession.Since coming on board, the present management of NIMASA adopted a Medium Term Strategic Plan which has aided steps towards repositioning the Agency for better service delivery.In the words of Dr Peterside, “our principal mandate is to restructure, reposition, reorganise and reform NIMASA and make it a foremost Maritime Administration in Africa because we have no reason not to be number one in Africa. Of every 100 cargo heading to Africa 65 would come to Nigeria and in this regard we must ensure that our maritime sector remains vibrant” Recently when Abdulwaheed Odusile, President of the Nigerian Union f Journalists, NUJ, led a delegation to his office in Lagos, Peterside used the occasion to call on journalists to support the Buhari administration’s fight against corruption and diversification of the economy.

He said with him at the head of NIMASA, the maritime industry was ready to take over from oil as the leading revenue earner in the country and called on all stakeholders to look into the opportunity that abound in the sector.

One of the memorable things he told the NUJ delegation was that “the ocean is a resource a country can leverage on to grow its economy and blessed with a coastline of about 853km and 250 nautical mile Exclusive Economic zone, we must begin to take advantage of the maritime opportunities

Peterside

available to us to grow our economy”.

But to realise this objective, NIMASA must ensure adequate provision of basic infrastructure that could help unlock the vast potentials of the Nigerian maritime industry. But government, whose revenue has been on the downturn, cannot be wholly depended upon to provide all the funds for infrastructural development. This is why Peterside’s NIMASA has embraced Public, Private Partnership model, PPP, for the provision of infrastructure. NIMASA is partnering with the Infrastructure Concession and Regulatory Commission (ICRC), to make this happen. Given Nigeria’s strategic location, population and volume of trade in the African region, all the country needs to become a major hub of maritime activities is a strategic investment in infrastructure in the maritime industry, which should be championed through a PPP model. Dr Peterside seems keenly aware of this when he said during a meeting with ICRC that “the PPP model will be able to address infrastructure deficit as well as optimize local content development. Partnership with the private sector also has the potential to enhance human capital development and active government participation in a private sector driven economy”.

Looking beyond budgetary resources for the delivery of infrastructure in the country, especially in the maritime sector, is not only imperative but cost effective. This is the model that is being embraced the world over, and Nigeria cannot be an exception, especially if we desire rapid economic

progress. In a country where the wheel of government grinds slowly, PPP is a sure bet for quick transformation.

NIMASA under the amiable Peterside has focused on its core mandate through various collaborative efforts geared towards the development of the sector and by extension the Nigerian economy. These include delivering excellent service in the areas of Maritime safety, making the maritime domain safe and navigable, providing adequate supervision for the marine environmental management, and averting and reducing pollution at sea.

It has also focused on meeting relevant International Maritime Organisation (IMO) mandate as well as helping to grow indigenous shipping, and carrying out port and flag state responsibilities.

Such collaborative efforts include working with relevant professional groups to take advantage of their expertise and annex for a quick turnaround of the maritime sector.

The new maritime administration is desirous of keeping pace with modern practice where skilled professionals are utilized to ensure efficient regulation of the sector.

Associations such as that of Marine Engineers and Surveyors, a critical stakeholder in the sector, are having a new lease of life as NIMASA collaborates with them and engages their expertise. He is also developing local capacity in the sector for global competitiveness.

Nigerian youths in the maritime sector are now in line to earn foreign exchange as NIMASA has made provisions for the

beneficiaries of the Nigerian Seafarers’ Development Programme (NSDP) to obtain their Certificate of Competence (CoC) by undergoing requisite sea time training to qualify them for global shipping. This supports his assertion that a country could have ships and other assets, but its greatest asset in the maritime industry is manpower, because it is the manpower that drives the industry. Peterside has also expressed support for the establishment of the Maritime University at Okerenkoko, in Warri South West Area of Delta State. He said the university would help as a citadel of knowledge and development of human capital. But it will also create job opportunities for the Nigerian people, particularly for people in the Niger Delta.

He has also commenced the process to establish partnership with the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) to develop human capacity in the maritime sector. Peterside has repeatedly expressed his determination to grow local capacity in the maritime sector, and that is why he has called on universities in the country to include maritime related courses in their curriculum. This will not just help grow the economy but will expand the job potentials of Nigerian youths since maritime is a global business with vast opportunities.

If NIMASA under Peterside succeeds in getting out of the water to take its rightful place in the economy, Nigeria may well be on the path to economic Eldorado.

- Suleiman wrote in from Abuja

40

T H I S D AY • FRIDAY, APRIL 14, 2017

CITYSTRINGS

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

Wife of Oyo State Governor, Mrs. Florence Ajimobi (2nd right) distributing Ajumose Food Bank to beneficiaries in Ibadan, Oyo State capital

Feeding the Less-privileged Wife of Oyo State governor, Mrs. Florence Ajimobi’s pet project, Ajumose Food Bank, is set to hit the town again to deliver free food to the indigent. Ademola Babalola writes on the project now in its fifth year

E

ven with no special roles constitutionally assigned to wives of the President and governors across the 36 states of the federation, the First Ladies continue to launch pet projects to complement their husbands in the task of governance and delivering public good to the people. The providential need to etch out their names in gold and indelible in the minds of common man, may have informed the concern of these mothers, as they rush to float one organisation or another spread across the land since Nigeria’s return to democratic rule in 1999.

From South to North, East to West and across the length and breadth of the federation, successive leaders grant their wives opportunity to reach out to the vulnerable and young people especially the hapless women and children for them to have a dose of good governance, democratic dividends and empowerment facilities delivered to their door steps in order to cushion effects of excruciating economic woes in the land.

It was therefore no surprise when in 2012, Florence, the wife of Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State, took the battle to combat poverty and tackle it head-on with dispatch as she launched ‘Ajumose Food Bank’ with the sole aim of reaching out to the downtrodden masses.

The initiative was welcomed with open hands by all stakeholders and within the

shortest time, has become a haven of succour to many and hub of economic regeneration for Oyo women especially the widows from across the 351 wards of all the 33 local

With her knack for excellence, ears to the ground and the urge to catch up with the enduring global best practices of imparting on people’s lives, Mrs. Ajimobi through this initiative, began to distribute food across the land nay local governments to ensure that Oyo people do not live in hunger. It has catered for tens of thousands of women who in turn feed their families from the withdrawals from the Ajumose Food Bank

government areas of the Pace Setters state.

Ajumose Food Bank, was conceptualised to be in tandem with the spirit and letters of Goal Number Two of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations which is to achieve zero hunger across the land and more importantly in the developing nations of the world, of which Nigeria is no exception. The SDGs officially known as Transforming Our World was also christened Global Goals. It is a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity.

With her knack for excellence, ears to the ground and the urge to catch up with the enduring global best practices of imparting on people’s lives, Mrs. Ajimobi through this initiative, began to distribute food across the land nay local governments to ensure that Oyo people do not live in hunger. It has catered for tens of thousands of women who in turn feed their families from the withdrawals from the Ajumose Food Bank.

The Yoruba proverbial saying that “Ti ebi ba kuro ninu ise, ise buse” meaning “If we remove hunger from poverty, poverty vanishes”, may have further informed the SDGs Goal Number Two which Oyo First Lady anchored her pet project on.

This inspiring initiative and unrivalled ingenuity by Ajimobi thus becomes a means of reaching vast majority in a way that was unprecedented in the state and by extension,

Mrs. Ajimobi...caring mother with a heart of gold

Nigeria at large.

The kernel of it all is that a token of raw packaged food is given to women because they cater for the family and provide nourishment

41

T H I S D AY • FRIDAY, APRIL 14, 2017

CITYSTRINGS

Mrs. Ajimobi (left) presenting food items to a physically challenged

Mrs Ajimobi (middle) being assisted by wife of Deputy Governor, Mrs. Alake Adeyemo (left), to present a bag containing food items to one of the beneficiaries of Ajumose Food Bank

The Ajumose Food Bank

for the home, and are therefore the focus of Ajimobi’s initiative.

With retinue of aides and other recruited hands to make distribution to the mass of the people hitch-free, Ajimobi goes out on a regular basis, to reach out to the vulnerable and have-nots. And since the local government is closer to the people, the programme was designed in a local government per local government basis especially that people can be identified through their locality and geographical location they belong.

To underscore far reaching effects and positive feedbacks the project is having on its beneficiaries and more importantly, the accolades to the first family since Ajumose Food Bank was introduced, the once in a year event distribution of foods in each local government, is now a quarterly programme backed by Governor Ajimobi through his unwavering support for the sustainability of the project.

The programme, from available statistics, has till date catered for about 20,000 women across Ibadan, Ibarapa, Oyo, Ogbomoso and Oke-Ogun geopolitical areas of the state.

The beauty of the programme is that it does not discriminate but equitably distributes the available food materials to the needy among the mass of the people. Regardless of party and political affiliation and social leanings, it caters for all those that need it most. Everybody is considered equal and the food items are humanely distributed by the wife of the governor.

The female folk were chosen because mothers are believed to bear the burden of providing for the family and providing ample nourishment for both the children and the husband. Ajimobi, with her humane mind set, has followed the vision to make

The programme, from available statistics, has till date catered for about 20,000 women across Ibadan, Ibarapa, Oyo, Ogbomoso and OkeOgun geopolitical areas of the state. The beauty of the programme is that it does not discriminate but equitably distributes the available food materials to the needy among the mass of the people Mrs. Ajimobi (right) presenting food items to an elderly woman

malnutrition and extreme hunger a thing of the past in Oyo State.

A 73-year-old widow, Hassanah Ajibike in Ibarapa Central Local Government described the food items as “timely and handy,’’ while thanking Mrs. Ajimobi for the gesture.

Another beneficiary of Ajumose Food Bank in Onireke, Ibadan North West area of the state, Madam Janet Omoridion was full of prayers to the First Family in the state, asserting that “even when Mrs. Ajimobi and her husband are in their second term, they still continue the gestures they started over four years ago. I can only pray that God continues to bless them and provide for their future needs too.”

From the foregoing and beyond providing

immediate succour as is currently being done, Ajimobi can do a lot more in terms of poverty alleviation. The number one goal of the SDGs of “No Poverty” readily comes to mind here. And with the present administration still having two years to wind down, Oyo First Lady should make provision of vocational tools a top priority for this year. Whatever success recorded so far in wiping out extreme hunger can be topped up with empowerment facilities that would have far reaching and ripple effects on the beneficiaries and by extension, the society at large.

Who says Oyo First Lady cannot achieve more in her drive to put more smiles on all irrespective of where such people in need come

from? It is just a matter of time and with the zeal, drive and enthusiasm with which she has carried out activities embedded in her pet project, Oyo State can lead the way as a Pace Setter for other states of the federation, when issues as poverty eradication is on a front burner of public discourse. If and when that is done, Ajimobi will long be remembered as a mother whose love for eradication of extreme hunger and poverty among the mass of the people is second to none. And this will further lay credence and adds glamour to Governor Ajimobi’s stint in Agodi Government House as a man who succeeded in many remarkable firsts that outlived the life of his administration and many generations yet unborn.

42

T H I S D AY •FRIDAY, APRIL 14, 2017

BUSINESS/MONEYGUIDE

CBN to Raise Dollar Supply to BDCs to $40,000 Weekly Obinna Chima The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has resolved to raise dollar supply to Bureau De Change (BDC) operators to $40,000 weekly from next week, up from the $20,000 it sold to the currency dealers this week, THISDAY learnt last night.

The move is in line with its aggressive bid to achieve exchange rate convergence and stability.

A reliable source disclosed this in a chat with THISDAY. It will be recalled that earlier this week, the central bank had disbursed $20,000 each to the Bureau De Change operators in two tranches of $10,000 each, which according to the central bank’s spokesman, Mr. Isaac Okorafor underscored the commitment of the Bank to ensure liquidity in the foreign

exchange market.

However, there are strong indications that the demand for foreign exchange by authorised dealers has slumped, as the dealers were only able to pick $45 million out of the $100 million offered by the CBN on wholesale spot.

Industry experts attributed the slump in demand to the rate of forex liquidity being pumped into the system by the CBN. This was also attributed the new trend to the general cash crunch in the financial system.

The dollar has also crashed against major currencies since US President Donald Trump’s surprising declaration that China is not manipulating the value of the yuan.

Furthermore, Okorafor, said the major injections made by the Bank in the course of the week were aimed at providing

access to all stakeholders with legitimate need for forex.

“The CBN remains upbeat that the forex market will remain liquid and that Nigerians who genuinely require the forex will get ample access to the currency,” Okorafor noted.

It will be recalled that the CBN this week opened a new window for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). These special interventions were in addition to over $500 million dollars offered to dealers in the wholesale and retail segments in the past week.

Okorafor had disclosed that the new window for SMEs provides small scale importers an avenue to source forex to boost their respective business through the importation of eligible finished and semi-finished items at not more than $20,000 per quarter per enterprise.

Wema Bank Expands Branch Network Nume Ekeghe Wema Bank Plc has expanded its branch network by recently reopening its branch in Kaduna which was inaugurated by the Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai.

Speaking at the inaguration ceremony, El-Rufai expressed joy at the return of Wema Bank to Kaduna state to improve financial inclusion and contribute to the infrastructural development of the state.

“We are glad to have you back.” The Chairman of Wema Bank Mr. Adeyinka Asekun, who also spoke at the commissioning said when Wema Bank regained a national banking licence, one of the first places

the bank considered to return to was Kaduna “because we believe in the development going on here and we are glad to be back home.”

Asekun also congratulated the governor on the successful convening of the 2nd Kaduna Economic and Investment Summit. He further expressed appreciation to the governor on behalf of the Board, Management and Staff of Wema Bank, for taking out time out of his busy schedule to commission the Kaduna branch.

Speaking earlier at the 2nd Kaduna Economic and Investment Summit (KADINVEST) the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Wema Bank Segun Oloketuyi said: “While

it is an immense pleasure to participate in KADINVEST personally and on behalf of Wema Bank, I also believe that the need for tangible investment in Kaduna State is now. As such, today the commencement of KADINVEST 2.0 also marks the opening of our Kaduna branch as we aim to further expand our footprint within the state in the medium to long-term.

“Wema Bank Plc. is therefore pleased to be associated with KADINVEST. We remain committed to the growth of the State and furtherance of the Governor’s economic agenda in ensuring that Kaduna State plays a critical role in ensuring a robust and truly diversified Nigerian economy.”

Moghalu Bags Honorary Doctorate DegreeKThe Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University (formerly Anambra State University) has conferred the honorary doctorate degree of Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) Honoris Causa on former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Professor Kingsley Chiedu Moghalu.

Moghalu, is the founder of Sogato Strategies LLC, and Professor of Practice in International Business and Public Policy at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, Massachusetts, USA. The Vice-Chancellor of Ojukwu University, Professor Fidelis Uzochukwu Okafor, according to a statement, conferred the honor on Moghalu at the university’s 8th Convocation

Ceremony held recently, at the university in Igbariam, Anambra State.

The university said it decided to honor Moghalu in recognition of his achievements in academia and scholarship, his statesmanship, and his contributions to Nigeria’s economic development, particularly in the banking sector during his service as Deputy Governor of the CBN, and to the Nigerian society at large through his excellent leadership qualities.

Moghalu served as Deputy Governor of the CBN from 2009 to 2014 and was the head of the Financial System Stability (FSS) Directorate that implemented the apex bank’s extensive reform of the banking sector under the then CBN Governor

Sanusi Lamido Sanusi. After he completed his five-year tenure at the CBN, Moghalu was appointed Professor of Practice in International Business and Public Policy at Tufts University, one of the premier universities in the United States, in 2015.

Odumegwu Ojukwu University at the same convocation ceremony also conferred the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters (D.Litt.) Honoris Causa on the former Governor of old Anambra State, Senator Jim Ifeanyichukwu Nwobodo, and the honorary degree of Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) Honoris Causa on Chike Onyejekwe, former Managing Director of Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Ltd. (SNEPCO).

LSETF Promotes ‘Made in Lagos’ In keeping up with its commitment to creating an enabling environment for small businesses to thrive in Lagos State, the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF) held a two-day workshop on export for its beneficiaries this week. The workshop was in partnership with the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC),

Lagos Chapter, and was aimed to train LSETF beneficiaries to scale up their businesses for export, take advantage of export opportunities in their line of business as well as receive information on the policies that guide export in their countries of interest. Speaking about the purpose of the workshop, the LSETF’s Executive

Secretary Akin Oyebode, in a statement said the workshop was targeted at the LSETF beneficiaries who qualify for export because of the goods they produce. Asides its overarching mandate, the LSETF intended to provide business support, advisory services and access to new markets for all its beneficiaries

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 WEDNESDAY 12, APRIL 2017

The price of OPEC basket of thirteen crudes stood at $53.67 a barrel on Wednesday , compared with $53.36 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).

43

T H I S D AY • FRIDAY, APRIL 14, 2017

Nigeria’s top 50 stocks based on market fundamentals

7-Apr-17

6-Apr-17

% Change

Capitalisation

EPS

P/E

P/S

Div. Yld

Price/ Book Value

01 Dangote Cement Plc

164.60

164.60

0.00%

2,804,867,518,863.00

10.95

15.03

4.56

4.86%

3.52

02 Nigerian Breweries Plc

125.00

124.63

0.30%

991,137,611,000.00

3.58

34.88

3.16

2.88%

5.97

03 Guaranty Trust Bank Plc

25.00

25.00

0.00%

735,779,480,600.00

4.49

5.56

1.77

7.08%

1.46

750.00

750.00

0.00%

594,492,189,000.00

10.00

75.02

3.27

3.87%

19.25

14.45

14.30

1.05%

453,679,335,207.70

4.13

3.50

0.89

12.46%

0.64

395.00

395.00

0.00%

218,557,573,635.00 -82.02

-4.82

3.45

4.03%

0.58

47.50

50.00

-5.00%

216,357,835,975.00

3.71

12.80

0.98

6.32%

0.87

5.26

5.26

0.00%

190,830,308,453.72

1.99

2.64

0.50

11.41%

0.43

09 Presco Plc

47.05

47.00

0.11%

186,810,944,967.25

0.03

1,609.11

2.62

2.76%

4.47

10 Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc

18.61

18.50

0.59%

186,100,000,000.00

2.85

6.53

1.19

0.54%

1.32

11 Access Bank Plc

6.22

6.28

-0.96%

179,931,983,544.82

13.18

0.47

0.47

8.84%

0.40

12 Ecobank Transnational Incorporated

8.45

8.05

4.97%

155,053,707,766.75

0.68

12.49

0.26

7.34%

0.25

35.00

35.00

0.00%

132,415,368,750.00

0.81

43.11

1.90

0.14%

11.33

14 Mobil Oil Nig Plc

360.00

360.00

0.00%

129,814,294,320.00

22.61

15.92

1.38

2.00%

6.05

15 FBN Holdings Plc

3.11

3.09

0.65%

111,634,360,583.12

0.21

14.99

0.21

4.82%

0.18

16 Guinness Nig Plc

60.05

60.50

-0.74%

90,428,585,689.40

-3.06

-19.64

0.88

5.33%

2.29

17 Total Nigeria Plc

259.35

260.00

-0.25%

88,054,988,425.95

43.58

5.95

0.30

5.40%

3.74

18 Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc

7.00

6.98

0.29%

84,000,000,000.00

1.20

5.83

0.49

7.14%

1.27

19 Oando Plc

5.90

6.20

-4.84%

71,004,251,474.60

0.29

20.32

0.16

12.71%

0.37

104.90

104.90

0.00%

67,197,929,078.70

-0.05 -2,296.66

0.72

2.10%

3.03

21 Forte Oil Plc.

45.00

45.00

0.00%

58,611,649,635.00

2.22

20.28

0.39

7.67%

1.35

22 Julius Berger Nig. Plc

41.95

41.95

0.00%

55,374,000,000.00

-2.89

-14.51

0.40

3.58%

0.79

23 International Breweries Plc

16.68

15.89

4.97%

54,948,077,990.40

0.02

740.28

2.06

1.50%

5.01

24 Okomu Oil Palm Plc

52.51

52.51

0.00%

50,089,814,100.00

5.15

10.20

3.49

0.19%

2.94

25 Flour Mills Nig. Plc

18.00

18.00

0.00%

47,236,269,366.00

-1.19

-15.09

0.11

11.11%

0.47

0.75

0.75

0.00%

29,040,748,068.75

-0.03

-25.77

0.49

0.00%

0.34

15.00

15.00

0.00%

28,812,965,805.00

3.37

4.45

0.38

6.67%

0.38

28 Fidelity Bank Plc

0.84

0.80

5.00%

24,328,571,981.28

0.39

2.17

0.16

19.05%

0.13

29 National Salt Co. Nig. Plc

8.64

8.64

0.00%

22,891,147,585.92

0.91

9.48

1.25

6.37%

2.84

32.64

32.64

0.00%

22,848,000,000.00

2.29

14.25

3.35

3.52%

10.01

31 FCMB Group Plc

1.15

1.17

-1.71%

22,773,117,398.15

0.72

1.59

0.13

8.70%

0.13

32 Sterling Bank Plc

0.72

0.72

0.00%

20,729,101,050.72

0.18

4.02

0.19

12.50%

0.24

33 Diamond Bank Plc

0.85

0.85

0.00%

19,686,330,622.80

-0.29

-2.90

0.09

0.00%

0.09

34 Wema Bank Plc

0.50

0.50

0.00%

19,287,233,040.50

0.07

7.44

0.36

0.00%

0.40

35 Custodian And Allied Insurance Plc

3.22

3.22

0.00%

18,939,602,707.90

0.91

3.55

0.49

4.35%

0.63

36 Cadbury Nigeria Plc

9.46

9.46

0.00%

17,767,791,298.40

-0.16

-59.94

0.59

13.74%

1.61

14.50

14.50

0.00%

17,340,209,076.00

3.51

4.13

1.21

2.07%

1.02

38 Mansard Insurance Plc

1.58

1.59

-0.63%

16,590,000,000.00

0.25

6.30

0.80

3.16%

0.82

39 PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc

14.30

14.30

0.00%

14,300,000,000.00

5.69

2.51

1.00

0.70%

0.38

40 Continental Reinsurance Plc

1.27

1.21

4.96%

13,173,385,276.24

0.42

3.02

0.59

9.45%

0.70

41 Honeywell Flour Mill Plc

1.08

1.05

2.86%

8,564,613,470.64

-0.40

-2.67

0.18

14.81%

0.26

42 Unity Bank Plc

0.64

0.64

0.00%

7,481,176,282.88

0.19

3.43

0.09

0.00%

0.09

43 Skye Bank Plc

0.50

0.50

0.00%

6,940,150,705.00

-2.93

-0.17

0.04

60.00%

0.07

44 Wapic Insurance Plc

0.50

0.50

0.00%

6,691,369,126.00

0.18

2.78

0.85

6.00%

0.41

45 Resort Savings & Loans Plc

0.50

0.50

0.00%

5,664,866,202.00

0.03

17.71

3.72

0.00%

1.94

46 Cement Co. Of North.Nig. Plc

4.47

4.47

0.00%

5,617,349,614.02

0.22

20.42

0.51

2.24%

0.52

47 Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Plc

2.45

2.39

2.51%

3,979,335,937.50

0.36

6.85

0.50

8.16%

0.61

48 AIICO Insurance Plc

0.53

0.54

-1.85%

3,673,008,374.40

1.48

0.36

0.14

9.43%

0.42

49 UACN Property Development Co. Limited

1.70

1.76

-3.41%

2,921,874,991.50

-0.90

-1.89

0.46

41.18%

0.09

50 Fidson Healthcare Plc

0.95

0.95

0.00%

1,425,000,000.00

0.21

4.50

0.19

5.26%

0.22

04 Nestle Nigeria Plc 05 Zenith Bank Plc 06 Seplat Petroleum Dev. Co. Ltd 07 Lafarge Africa Plc 08 United Bank for Africa Plc

13 Unilever Nigeria Plc

20 7-Up Bottling Comp. Plc

26 Transnational Corporation Of Nigeria Plc 27 U A C N Plc

30 Cap Plc

37 Glaxo Smithkline Consumer Nig. Plc

TOTAL

8,315,875,027,042.01

TOTAL MARKET CAP

8,908,602,550,664.29

% OF MARKET CAP Annotation - MA* = Simple Moving Average

93.35%

Table 1 Market Statistics Mkt Indicators

Open 6-Apr-17

NSE All Share Index NSE Market Cap (N'Trillion)

25,755.18 8.91

25,746.52 8.91

-0.03% -0.03%

106.76 8.31

106.80 8.32

0.04% 0.04%

Close 7-Apr-17

Change %

Thisday BGL 50 Index Thisday BGL 50 Market Cap (N'Trillion)

Close 7-Apr-17

Change %

Table 3 Top 5 Gainers Stock

Open 6-Apr-17

Fidelity Bank Plc International Breweries Plc Ecobank Transnational Incorporated Continental Reinsurance Plc Honeywell Flour Mill Plc

0.80 15.89 8.05

0.84 16.68 8.45

5.00% 4.97% 4.97%

1.21 1.05

1.27 1.08

4.96% 2.86%

Table 4 Top 5 Losers Stock

Open 6-Apr-17

Lafarge Africa Plc Oando Plc UACN Property Development Co. Limited AIICO Insurance Plc FCMB Group Plc

Close 7-Apr-17

Change %

50.00 6.20 1.76

47.50 -5.00% 5.90 -4.84% 1.70 -3.41%

0.54 1.17

0.53 -1.85% 1.15 -1.71%

Market stays relatively flat on the last trading day Market pulse on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) today – Friday, April 7th, 2017 ended on a negative note as the stock market closed relatively red despite investors’ profit positioning. This was further highlighted by negative performance from the NSE Subsectors: Oil & Gas (Save Banking, Insurance and Consumer Goods). Likewise, trading activities decreased in volume as 107.94m shares worth of N908m in 2,405 deals exchanged hands today. This is a decrease from 241.62m shares worth of N1.49 billion in 3,339 deals which exchanged hands on Thursday.

Topping in volume terms are: Fidelity Bank Plc, FCMB Group Plc and Diamond Bank Plc; Nestle Nigeria Plc and International Breweries Plc ended trading as the most active stocks in value terms. Brent crude oil price today moved by 0.86% to settle at US$55.24 per barrel.

The All Share Index (NSEASI) closed negative with 0.03% (-8.66) decrease to close at 25,746.52 from 25,755.18 the previous trading day. Market capitalization depreciated in tandem to N8.91 trillion from N8.91 trillion of prior trading day. However, the Thisday BGL 50 Index closes with an increase of 0.04% to 106.80 from 106.76 recorded at the end of the previous trading day, while its market capitalization stood at N8.32 trillion from N8.31 trillion of the previous trading day.

Market breath closed positive today as 16 stocks gained on the bourse while 14 stocks also declined, leaving 61 stocks unchanged. Topping the Thisday BGL 50 Index gainers’ list Fidelity Bank Plc as it emerged as the day’s toast of investors with a gain of 5.00% to close at N0.84 per share. It was followed

by International Breweries Plc with a gain of 4.97% to close at N16.68 per share. Others on the gainers list include: Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, Continental Reinsurance Plc and Honeywell Flour Mill Plc; while on the decliners’ list, Lafarge Africa Plc lead with a loss of 5.00% to close at N47.50 share.

It was followed by Oando Plc with a loss of 4.84% to close at N5.90 per share. Others on the decliners list include: UACN Property Development Co. Limited, AIICO Insurance Plc and FCMB Group Plc.

REQUIRED DISCLOSURE This report has been prepared by BGL Plc. BGL Plc does and seeks to do business with companies covered in its research reports. As a result, the firm may have a conflict of interest that could affect the objectivity of this report. Investors should use this report as one of many other factors in making their investment decisions.

For more details go to www.thisdaylive.com

44

T H I S D AY •FRIDAY, APRIL 14, 2017

MARKET NEWS

Ashaka Cement’s Profit Falls by 27% to N2.0Billion Goddy Egene and Nosa Alekhuogie

decline of 27 per cent in profit after tax (PAT) for the year ended December 31, 2016.

According to the audited results, the company posted a revenue of N17.351 billion, showing a marginal fall from N17.415 billion in 2015. Cost of sales rose from N12 billion to N14.57 billion, reflecting the high cost of doing business during the revenue period.

Although the company strived to reduce general and administrative expenses, finance cost went up. Specifically, general and administrative costs fell from N4.35 billion to N2.535 billion, while finance cost rose from N10 million to N22.7 million.

However, Ashaka Cement ended the year with profit before tax of N2.663 billion, down from N3.209 billion in 2015, and PAT

of 2.01 billion, compared with N2.76 billion in 2015.

The Board of Directors of Ashaka Cement Plc had opted for a voluntarily delisting of the company from the NSE in violation of the exchange’s Free Float Deficiency provision of 20 per cent. According to the directors, Lafarge Africa Plc currently holds 84.97 per cent of Ashaka Cement, bringing

the free float that is tradable on the NSE to 15.03 per cent as against 20 per cent stipulated by the exchange.

The directors explained that is not improbable that given this free float deficiency, the NSE could take enforcement action and initiate a regulatory delisting, given that the free float deficiency is not likely to be remedied, hence the decision to delist and operate

as an unlisted company.

Shareholders of the company last December approved delisting from the NSE Following the approval, which was given at an extra-ordinary general meeting (EGM), shareholders of the company had a 90-day window as specified by NSE rules on voluntary delisting to decide on the exit plan on offer to shareholders.

DAILY STOCK MARKET REPORT

The challenging operating environment impacted the 2016 financial performance of Ashaka Cement Plc as the company ended with lower profit. The company, which has applied for voluntary delisting from the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), recorded a

T H E

N I G E R I A N

STO C K

E XC H A N G E

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T H I S D AY • FRIDAY, APRIL 14, 2017

MARKET NEWS

Medview Airline to Pay N292m Dividend for 2016 Medview Airline Plc has recommended a dividend of N292 million for shareholders in fulfillment of its promise to reward investors regularly. The company got listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) January 31 with its Managing Director/CEO, Alhaji Muneer Bankole, assuring capital market stakeholders that unlike past airlines, Medview would continue to create and deliver value for all stakeholders.

And the board of directors of the company, which met

on March 24, 2017 in Lagos to approve the financial results, also recommended a dividend of N292 million. The dividend, translates to three kobo per share.

According to market operators, unlike other airlines that got listed and delisted without adequate returns to shareholders, Medview is keeping to its promise of adding value to all stakeholders.

Audited results of Medview showed a turnover of N26 billion in 2016, up from N14.1 billion in 2015. The company ended with a

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

profit of N772.9 million compared in 2016, compared with N728.5 million in 2015, while total assets of Medview increased to N15.4 billion, up from N12 billion it was in 2015.

Bankole had, during the listing of the company’s shares on the floor of the NSE, had assured Medview is a company that has been known for excellent services delivery, stressing that the service excellence would be replicated in the company dealing with investors and other market

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 12-Apr-2017, unless otherwise stated.

stakeholders.

He said that the future of the aviation industry is very bright and Medview was positioning to be a leader hence the decision to list on the NSE. Bankole explained that the listing will: enhance the corporate value and brand image of the company; give it better access to long term capital from range of local and international investors; give it better clout and rating when obtaining loans from financial institutions; boost the

international image and profile of the company and boost its corporate governance and accountability.

Having succeeded in establishing its operations in the Anglophone countries, Medview is set to expand its services to Francophone countries in the West African coast.

According to the MD, the airline would expand its operations to Dakar (Senegal), Conakry (Guinea) and Abidjan (Cote D’Ivoire) in the next two

months, noting that the airline has already commenced Lome (Togo) route.

He said the prospects are very bright for the company because travelling by air is the most convenient for now and there is high demand for air travel.

“To carry cargo from Lagos to Abuja is 45 minutes; London is six hours even by ship you will be there for three months. Air travel is the only best way you can move people and communicate to the next neigbhour,” he said.

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

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

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

DAILY PRICE LIST FOR MUTUAL FUNDS, REITS and ETFS MUTUAL FUNDS / UNIT TRUSTS AFRINVEST ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD aaml@afrinvest.com Web: www.afrinvest.com; Tel: +234 1 270 1680 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Afrinvest Equity Fund 130.43 131.06 2.75% Nigeria International Debt Fund 218.91 219.80 1.75% 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 0.71 0.72 1.39% 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 17.30% 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 12.53 12.91 1.49% ARM Discovery Fund 294.05 302.91 2.39% ARM Ethical Fund 22.73 23.41 1.72% ARM Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 15.60% 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 107.64 108.40 2.34% AXA Mansard Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 17.62% 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 0.00% Paramount Equity Fund 9.60 9.84 2.53% Women's Investment Fund 88.12 90.38 4.17% 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 18.38% 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 1,056.17 1,057.29 4.64% FBN Heritage Fund 113.44 114.19 1.66% FBN Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 17.29% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Institutional $107.68 $108.41 3.50% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Retail $107.37 $108.10 3.91% FBN Nigeria Smart Beta Equity Fund 116.58 118.09 3.46% 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 0.98 0.99 4.79% Legacy Short Maturity (NGN) Fund 2.68 2.68 4.20% 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 2,243.45 2,270.28 1.56% Coral Income Fund 2,211.92 2,211.92 5.12% 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 17.46% 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 17.20% Vantage Balanced Fund 1.74 1.76 3.58% Vantage Guaranteed Income Fund 1.00 1.00 16.27%

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 3.27% Lotus Halal Fixed Income Fund 1,033.38 1,033.38 3.03% 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 10.05 10.13 3.95% Meristem Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 16.40% PAC ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD info@pacassetmanagement.com Web: www.pacassetmanagement.com/mutualfunds; Tel: +234 1 271 8632 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn PACAM Balanced Fund 1.08 1.10 2.91% PACAM Fixed Income Fund 10.47 10.52 0.71% 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 113.05 113.98 11.04% SFS CAPITAL NIGERIA LTD investments@sfsnigeria.com Web: www.sfsnigeria.com, Tel: +234 (01) 2801400 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn SFS Fixed Income Fund 1.28 1.28 2.82% 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 1,869.96 1,879.36 2.09% Stanbic IBTC Bond Fund 156.33 156.33 1.54% Stanbic IBTC Ethical Fund 0.77 0.78 0.65% Stanbic IBTC Guaranteed Investment Fund 194.40 194.40 4.02% Stanbic IBTC Iman Fund 132.44 134.26 2.05% Stanbic IBTC Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 17.74% Stanbic IBTC Nigerian Equity Fund 7,451.19 7,537.78 -1.74% 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 1.16 1.17 11.56% United Capital Bond Fund 1.28 1.28 15.45% United Capital Equity Fund 0.66 0.68 1.82% 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 10.13 10.31 5.08% Zenith Ethical Fund 11.47 11.58 5.02% Zenith Income Fund 17.51 17.51 5.95%

REITS

NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

11.41 125.87

1.01% 1.53%

Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

8.19 72.77

8.29 74.12

-6.68% -3.98%

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

2.69 6.19 11.80 16.69 129.90

2.73 6.27 11.90 16.87 131.90

-2.14% -11.88% -1.64% 4.55% 0.02%

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.

46

T H I S D AY FRIDAY APRIL 14, 2017

T H I S D AY FRIDAY APRIL 14, 2017

47

48

friDAY, April 14, 2017 • T H I S D AY

WORLD OF ISLAM

Edited by: MJO Mustapha Email deji.mustapha@thisdaylive.com

Communicating with Allah –1 Spahic Omer/IslamiCity Almighty Allah as the Creator communicates with His creation.

He does so in various ways most of which are unknown to man.

He informs us through His revealed Word, the Holy Qur’an, for example, that He communicates with the heavens, the earth, mountains, the fire, hellfire, animals, etc.

Allah communicates with man, His vicegerent on earth, too.

He said: “It is not fitting for a man that Allah should speak to him except by inspiration or from behind a veil or by the sending of a Messenger to reveal with Allah’s permission what Allah wills, for He is Most High Most Wise” (al-Shura, 51).

Allah communicates with man through the Qur’an. He conveys to him commands, proscriptions, a guidance and an explanation of a great transcendent truth. He does virtually the same through the sunnah, or the life-pattern, of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), which encompasses his teachings, deeds, sayings and silent permissions or disapprovals, for he did not speak “out of his own desire; that (which he conveys to you) is but (a divine) inspiration with which he is being inspired (sent down to you)” (al-Najm, 3-4).

Moreover, Allah communicates with, and conveys various meanings to man via incalculable signs (ayat) He had embedded in each and every aspect of His creation: from the grandest to the humblest and most ordinary. The signs permeate and dominate not only elements of the multi-tiered physical creation, but also the whole of man’s existence, his society, civilization and history.

Allah says: “And how many signs in the heavens and the earth do they pass by? Yet they turn (their faces) away from them!” (Yusuf, 105).

The truth contained in revelation (wahy) is essentially the same truth as contained in the working of Allah’s providence in human history and the history of individual souls, as well as in the physical and metaphysical signs scattered literally throughout creation.

Lastly, Allah communicates, to some extent, with man through his fitrah as well. The fitrah is the natural disposition, inclination and sound human nature that Allah instilled in mankind. According to a verse from the Qur’an (al-A’raf, 172), Allah took from the loins of Adam his progeny like tiny particles, and made them

testify concerning themselves that He was their Creator and Master. Every newborn in this world is born with this covenant and affirmation.

That means that everyone is born with the natural inclination towards Islam as the ultimate truth and so, the only religion with Allah; the natural inclination -- or pure human nature -- which Allah instilled in all people on the day of the covenant.

In their capacity as the creation and mere servants, all humans are born with the inclination towards their Creator, Master and Sustainer. Everyone is initially free of any false beliefs, and will always enjoy a disposition towards goodness and sound beliefs -- regardless of his adopted behavioural patterns -- while at the same time innately disliking evil, deceit and falsehood.

However, communication between man and Allah is not to be a one-way model.

Just like any other communication type, this type of communication, likewise, ought to be a two-way process, in order that it remains productive, meaningful and strong, insofar as man, the recipient of Allah’s communicated Word and Message, is concerned.

Thus, Allah afforded man a number of opportunities to reciprocate both His direct and indirect communication initiatives.

Man is asked to pray five times a day, supplicate, remember, praise, glorify and sing praises to Him, at certain appointed and recommended times, or whenever and wherever he feels disposed to do so.

Similarly, man can contemplate about Allah: His Holy Attributes and His creation, acknowledging the Master’s infinite power, supremacy and greatness, as opposed to his own insignificance and smallness, prompting his restive soul to scream out: “Our Lord, not for naught have You created (all) this! Glory to You! Give us salvation from the penalty of the fire” (Al-Imran, 191).

Certainly, it is no coincidence that these words are preceded by the following: “Men who celebrate the praises of Allah standing sitting and lying down on their sides and contemplate the (wonders of) creation in the heavens and the earth…” (Al-Imran, 191).

Or, man can open up his heart at anytime and anywhere and simply talk to his Creator and Cherisher about any topic and in any language. Allah says: “And if My servants ask you about Me -- behold, I am near; I respond to the call of him who

calls, whenever he calls unto Me. Let them, then, respond unto Me, and believe in Me, so that they might follow the right way” (al-Baqarah, 186).

The significance of communication with Allah All things considered, communication is the lifeblood of the relationship between man and Allah. The two are locked in a causal liaison, the former being the cause and the latter the effect. The stronger and more profound the communication, the stronger and more fruitful the relationship becomes. In the same vein, the weaker and more ineffectual the communication, the weaker and more deficient the relationship becomes.

Indeed, man needs special communication skills to make his relationship with Allah work. This is especially so because man is created but to worship (know and serve) Allah (alDhariyat, 56); that is to say, the innermost purpose of man’s creation is to become cognizant of the existence of Allah and to consciously as well as willingly conform his own existence to Allah’s will and plan.

For man, life is all about knowing, worshipping and serving.

However, these, in actual fact, are but different names for man’s incessant and pulsating communication with Allah, which comes to pass with various degrees of meaning and intensity, and at various levels of man’s physical, rational and spiritual presence.

It is on account of this that it is said, for instance, that reading the Holy Qur’an means letting Allah speak to a person, a form of communication the content of which should be properly comprehended, reflected on and then, duly acted upon. In other words, a reader, or reciter, of the Qur’an should perceive himself as being instructed, directed and meticulously guided thereby.

Performing daily prayers, furthermore, is to be understood as talking to and conversing with Allah, in which case man plays the role of an active participant under the aegis of divine inspiration and guidance. While performing prayers, a person should understand that he in his capacity as mortal servant has the privilege to converse directly with his Eternal Creator, Lord and Master, praising, glorifying, thanking, supplicating,

INTERNATIONAL

confessing, testifying, imploring, pleading, and seeking His unbounded forgiveness and mercy.

It follows that the daily prayers are the most powerful and meaningful experience one can have in his life. They are the best heavenly gift to mankind. They alone are at once a life-changer and life-sustainer. They are also a life-purifier. Allah thus affirms: “…And establish regular prayer: for prayer restrains from shameful and unjust deeds; and remembrance of Allah is the greatest (thing in life) without doubt…” (al-‘Ankabut, 45).

Such is the case owing to the rational fact that he who experiences five times a day everything prayer entails, will in no way engage willingly and persistently in any serious loathsome deeds or deeds that run counter to reason. The two prospects are absolutely incompatible in a person. It is unfathomable that a person who most directly communicates with Allah five times a day, will willingly and repeatedly commit a serious wrongdoing. If, however, a person who is constant in prayer does not shun lewdness and iniquity, that would mean that there is something seriously wrong with the former, whose complete state and effectiveness will need review and some drastic adjustment measures.

While performing all other religious injunctions, and while spurning the possibility of committing sins -- both minor and major -- as much as possible, a person should know that he answers Allah’s divine calls that target directly him and his consciousness. Such a realization lies at the centre of the concept of niyyah (the intention in one’s heart to do an act for the sake of Allah alone), which, in turn, is a prerequisite for acceptance of religious acts. Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), therefore, is reported to have said that the reward of deeds depends upon the intentions and every person will get the reward according to what he has intended (Sahih al-Bukhari).

Based on the above, it is incumbent on each and every Muslim to comprehend the meaning of communication with Allah as means of connection between people and their Creator and Master, and as the process of conveying intended meanings and messages from one “side” to the other through the use of prescribed ways and means.

Continued from last week

email:foreigndesk@thisdaylive.com

Kremlin: No Positive Shift Yet on Russia-US Ties President Vladimir Putin’s meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson hasn’t produced any positive shift yet in Russia-U.S. relations, the Kremlin said Thursday.

Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Russian leader on Wednesday gave Tillerson his view of the causes of the current “deadlock” in bilateral ties. “We hope that the U.S. president will become aware of that analysis,” he said Thursday.

President Donald Trump declared Wednesday that U.S.-Russia ties “may be at an all-time low,” and Tillerson struck a similar tone after a day of talks in Moscow.

Peskov said in a conference call with reporters that Putin’s meeting with Tillerson reflected the “understanding of the need to maintain a dialogue to search for solutions.” He added there was no talk Wednesday about a possible Trump-Putin meeting.

Asked if the meeting at the Kremlin marked any positive change, Peskov said: “Too early yet.”

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Trump’s administration has found itself under pressure from those who “want to prevent it from curing the wounds inflicted by Barack Obama’s administration and are using the Russian card in internal political struggle.”

Russia’s hopes for a thaw

in Russia-U.S. ties following Trump’s election have been shattered by the congressional investigation into alleged ties between Trump’s campaign associates and Russia. The tense back-and-forth over last week’s deadly chemical attack in Syria has added to the strain.

“It’s deplorable, and we regret what is going on, but we can do little except

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asking to back accusations with facts,” Lavrov said.“There hasn’t been a single fact, although under the pressure of President Donald Trump’s

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foes the White House has been forced to periodically make statements containing unfounded accusations against us.”

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I formerly known and addressed as MRS. MOSUNMOLA ANN ARIKAWE, now wish to be known and addressed as MS. MOSUNMOLA ANN ARIKAWE. All former documents remain valid. The general public should take note.

I formerly known and addressed as MARY ODUFA AKPURI, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. IRENE MARIAM ODUFA . All former documents remain valid. Bank and the general public should take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME I, DIKEOGU, AGWABUNMA am the same person as DIKEOGU AGWABUNMA; DIKEOGU NMA and DIKEOGU BEAUTY. All documents bearing these names refer to me and remain valid. General public take note.

T H I S D AY FRIDAY APRIL 14, 2017

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Afenifere to Northern Leaders: Restructure to Restore Justice or Wait for Consequences Oghenevwede Ohwovorile in Abuja The Secretary of the Yoruba social cultural group, Afenifere, and member of the 2014 National Conference, Mr. Yinka Odumakin, has stated that the position of the northern leaders, opposing the restructuring of the country, is self-serving and myopic.

A group of northern leaders, many of them members of the 2014 National Conference had said last Wednesday that they were opposed to restructuring of Nigeria.

“They are self-serving opportunist.

We all

together at the 2014 national conference took unanimous decisions on over 300 resolutions and did not vote on any issue.

The rules say that we have to have two third on any issue.

“We agreed on all those issues based on consensus.

Now because of their short sightedness to think, but because they are in chargethey got power back-all that is wrong with Nigeria should be over looked. This shows the opportunism in them,” Odumakin said.

The Afenifere leader added that at the 2014 National Conference, the North raised the issue of the South having more

Eni Paid No Intermediary Bribe to Acquire OPL 245, Oil Major Insists Ejiofor Alike with agency reports Italian oil giant, Eni, yesterday reiterated that it had not paid any intermediary or bribe to acquire the controversial Oil Prospecting Lease (OPL) 245 in Nigeria.

Speaking at the group’s annual shareholders’ meeting, the company’s Chairwoman, Emma Marcegaglia, said Eni had only ever dealt with the Nigerian government.

On Wednesday, Shell admitted for the first time that it was aware that some of the payments it made to Nigeria would go to a company associated with former Nigerian oil minister, Mr. Dan Etete, who was the leading shareholder in Malabu Oil and Gas Limited.

Shell’s Vice President in charge of Global Media Relations, Mr. Andy Norman, admitted that the oil giant knew that Etete was involved in Malabu and that the Nigerian government “would compensate Malabu to settle its claim on the block.”

“Over time, it became clear to us that Etete was involved in Malabu and that the only way to resolve the impasse through a negotiated settlement was to engage with Etete and Malabu, whether we liked it or not,” Norman had said.

Norman added Shell knew that the Nigerian government “would compensate Malabu to settle its claim on the block.”

Global Witness’s latest report had also revealed that Shell’s most senior executives were told that the part of the $1.1 billion payments for OPL 245 would go to Mr. Dan Etete.

But Marcegaglia said Shell’s comments did not change Eni’s position,

adding the company had not paid any money to Etete or sealed any deal with Malabu.

According to her, Eni has made no provisions for the Nigeria probe.

Also speaking at the AGM, Eni’s Chief Executive Officer, Claudio Descalzi, said in the future the group did not rule out a share buy-back programme but added for the time being he had no intention to discuss the issue with the board.

Eni had told Global Witness recently that it was not appropriate to debate the merits of the allegations as proceedings were pending.

“Eni’s filings in the pending proceeding in Milan will set forth the company’s position regarding the acquisition of OPL 245,” said Eni’s Senior Vice President for Legal Affairs Department, Marco Bollini.

Both Shell and Eni said they had commissioned separate, independent investigations.

“No illegal conduct was identified,” Eni had restated, claiming that it “concluded the transaction with the Nigerian government, without the involvement of any intermediaries”.

On its part, Shell said it had shared key findings of its OPL 245 investigation with relevant authorities and that “we do not believe that there is a basis to prosecute Shell.”

Courts in Nigeria and Italy are investigating the purchase of OPL 245 for which Eni and major Royal Dutch Shell paid $1.3 billion for the rights to the block in 2011.

Etete awarded the block in 1998 for $20 million to Malabu Oil and Gas, a company in which he was a leading shareholder.

delegates than them but when we took account of the delegates, it was discovered that northerners were more at the gathering which took place in Abuja.

Odumakin added that “what they have done is to preempt us by holding their own conference yesterday. Now this was what happened in 2000.

Obasanjo called a meeting of all the leaders of the six geo-political zones in Abuja where Senator Adesanya led the South-west delegates and Professor Ben Nwabueze led the South-east delegates.

“Obasanjo asked for what should be done to preserve the future of Nigeria; Nwabueze was the first to speak and he spoke about the need to restructure Nigeria while Adesayan endorsed everything he said as the leaders of the South-south and the Middle Belt also endorsed it, but only the leaders of this group of people who

held a conference yesterday got up and said ‘oh we didn’t know this was what we were coming here to discuss’.

“We will go back home and come back, but till today, they have not come back.”

On restructuring, he said for a group of persons or individuals to think that Nigeria can be kept this way is not possible, adding that it is an invitation to a revolution as Nigeria is in her late hours.

“To think that Nigeria may be kept as it is for long is clear deception and delusional. If they don’t allow us to restructure Nigeria with what would destroy all of us staring us in the face is short sighted, myopic and a clear lack of understanding of where Nigeria is and what has happened to other nations that has refused to do what is needed.

“Many of those countries have disappeared from the

map of the world. So let them continue to do what they are doing, and we will continue to insist that we must sit down and make this country a proper one by the structure unit, and

by God grace, we shall gather on May 2 in Abuja.”

On the composition of the confab delegate, the Yoruba leader said each geo-political zone produced 15 delegates each, and that each state governor nominated three delegates each with the presidency also picking equal number of delegates from each geo-political zone. Elder statesmen and others delegates were also representatives of professional bodies such as Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), among others.

“The delegates to the conference were picked 15 from each zone, professional bodies were also given delegates too,” he also said.

On their demand for the federal government to vote more money into oil exploration in the North, Odumakin said that has been the practice since the days of former President Shehu Shagari, and up till date, they are yet to discover oil.

He added: “They have been doing it since the days of Shagari. We sunk billions of dollars there, what did they find? Nothing; they should carry the entire 2017 budget of Nigeria to search for oil where there is none, it’s their power.

“All we are saying is that we must restructure this country, and that is the minimum condition to preserve this country because Nigeria is suffering.

“We are at the edge of the precipice. It is quarter to midnight for Nigeria, so whatever they want to do with Nigeria’s money, let them do it, we don’t care, but we must restructure this country.

GOVERNOR OF THE PEOPLE

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, while receiving 7,800 All Progressives Congress (APC) decampees to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the Sharks Stadium in Port Harcourt .....yesterday

Presidency: Nobody Knows Precisely Where the Chibok Girls Are Obinna Chima The presidency has reiterated that it does not know the exact location where the Chibok girls held by the Boko Haram terrorists are.

The Senior Special Assistant, Media and Publicity to the President, Malam Garba Shehu, said this on ARISE Television, a sister broadcast network of THISDAY Newspapers, last night.

“Nobody precisely know where these girls are being held.

Are they beneath the surface?

Are they on Nigeria’s territorial space? The campaign to free these girls and all others that are being held enjoys enormous support. But don’t forget that

there are aerial and drone flights at nights and day. So, the entire Sambisa Forest which everyone had suspected that the girls were being held had been subject to surveillance. So, nobody knows exactly where they are. If we knew, we have the capacity to go and get them,” Shehu explained.

According to the president’s spokesman, there is an ongoing two-track negotiation approach aimed at rescuing the kidnapped girls.

He pointed out that the military approach was ongoing, adding that a lot of success had been achieved in that regard.

“But using interlocutors and with the support of a lot of countries, there is an

ongoing discussion between the Nigerian government and factions of Boko Haram with a view of securing freedom for the Chibok girls. From what we are picking from the intercessors, the factions of Boko Haram is not really a challenge. They are two groups by their antecedents,” he added.

She said the faction of Boko Haram that freed the 21 Chibok girls in October last year wanted to prove a point, adding that the released girls were supposed to support “the proof of life.”

He said the girls were freed by the Abubakar Shekau faction.

What the Boko Haram faction did, according to him was “to

prove that they have the girls, take these ones, let them go and tell the story and that is where we are today.”

Responding to a question on whether Shekau is dead, he said: “Well, our military authorities have said so and there is nothing to argue about.

He said the “beauty of what is going on now is that we have a multinational joint task force that has brought together Chad, Cameroun, Nigeria, including Benin. All of these countries are involved in the search. With international support, there is also intelligence and all of them share information. So, the best intelligence is available, but sadly nobody can pinpoint where these girls are.”

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Election Bribe: EFCC Begins Prosecution of Indicted INEC Staff Staff got N3.4bn bribe, says Yakubu

Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has said all the staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) indicted for taking bribe during elections have been charged to courts in Lagos, Port Harcourt, Kano and Gombe.

A total of 295 INEC staff were indicted for their involvement in bribery, corruption and money laundering during the 2015 general election as well as the last re-run legislative elections in Rivers State.

Magu, who spoke during a meeting with the Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmoud Yakubu, at the headquarters of the electoral commission in Abuja yesterday, said the EFCC would welcome INEC’s Legal Department to join its prosecution team in handling the cases in court.

He said: “We are already prosecuting some INEC staff in Lagos, Port Harcourt,

Kano and Gombe. In the future, before we take any such case to court, we will inform INEC and share details of the charge sheet with you. And if you have anybody in your legal department that wants to join our prosecution team, such persons are welcome.

This will add value to work.”

Magu who said the EFCC regards corruption as “a crime against humanity,” commended the INEC Chairman for cooperating with the anti-corruption agency in the cases involving some INEC staff.

In a statement issued after the meeting, the spokesman to the INEC chairman, Rotimi Oyekanmi, said Magu also commended the INEC management for its decisive action on the issue.

“When you take actions like these, you are reducing our work. And as far as the fight against corruption is concerned, we (EFCC and INEC) are on the same page.”

According to Oyekanmi, the EFCC noted that sensitisation of the populace on the consequences of corruption was part of the EFCC Act, assuring that it would be pursued vigorously.

On his part, the Chairman of INEC, Yakubu, urged the EFCC to henceforth prosecute any INEC staff found to have committed any offence related to its mandate, without waiting for the conclusion of INEC’s internal investigation.

Yakubu said it took INEC about four months to thoroughly investigate all the allegations against the 202 staffers contained in the Interim Report, the agency forwarded to the

commission, before a final decision could be reached.

According to the INEC boss, in order to avoid delays in the future, the anticorruption agency should commence the prosecution of any staff, if it possesses sufficient evidence to do so.

On the decision taken so far, Yakubu explained that a committee was set up to conduct a thorough investigation of all the allegations contained in both the report and other findings, with all the affected staff members given the opportunity to defend themselves in the spirit of fair hearing.

He confirmed that the committee set by INEC had established that over

According to the INEC N3.4 billion was received by some INEC staffers in boss, the reason is that 16 states, apparently to they were appointed by the influence the results of federal government and as the 2015 general election. such, the commission cannot As a result, he said about take further action against 205 staffers had now been them.”

He also said the placed on interdiction, which entails suspension commission was referring from duty and being placed 70 other staffers back on half salary, pending the to the EFCC for further final determination of their investigation and possible prosecution, because of respective cases.

He further explained insufficient evidence.

While reiterating the that the implicated former National Commissioner commission’s zero tolerance and five former Resident for corruption, Yakubu Electoral Commissioners told Magu: “If we get (one of whom is now our elections right, we deceased) had been will get our democracy referred to the Presidency right. And if we get our through the Secretary to democracy right, we will the Government of the attain real development as a nation.”

Federation (SGF).

EFCC Raids Jonathan’s Cousin’s Premises in Bayelsa Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission yesterday swooped on the facilities being developed by Robert Azibaola, ex-President Goodluck Jonathan’s cousin, in Otakeme, Bayelsa State.

Although no reason was given for the raid, it was learnt that the company premises was searched by the operatives on the suspicion they would recover some hidden cash.

An official of the company, who witnessed the raid, lamented that some containers, machines and buildings were damaged in the process of finding cash.

“At about 1500 hours today, April 13, 2017, EFCC operatives invaded KAKATAR premises in Otakeme in Bayelsa State

and vandalised containers, equipment and machines and damaged our buildings in the process,” a spokesman for the company, Austin Ekeinde, said in a mail to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

“KAKATAR premises in Otakeme houses our construction equipment, machines and residential buildings and it not for the storage of cash or any other material,” Ekeinde added.

The raid came on the heels of similar ones in Lagos, Kano and Kaduna by the anti-graft agency’s operatives in search of cash suspected to have been stashed away by powerful and influential Nigerians, yet to come forward to claim the funds.

PDP CRISIS: SHERIFF ACCUSES WIKE OF BANKROLLING S’COURT CASE WITH $6M He said: “Sheriff is a mole of the APC who is being sponsored by the federal government. They are sponsoring Sheriff because of the crisis in the APC.” Meanwhile, Sheriff has singled out the Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, as the main cause of the crisis currently rocking the party.

Sheriff, who was on a working visit to the Cross River State chapter of the PDP, alleged that among the 12 PDP governors, Fayose was working seriously to ensure the party remained in fragments.

Sheriff told journalists in Calabar at the state secretariat of the PDP after meeting with the state party leaders, that he

enjoyed the support of 29 states chapters of the party, including Ekiti State, out of the 36 state chapters in the country.

Commending the Southwest party chairmen and their members for rallying behind his leadership, Sheriff declared that Fayose was free to leave the PDP. He described the Ekiti State governor as a “loner” whom he accused of acting a script of his benefactor to wreck PDP. Sheriff advised Fayose to quickly announce his exit from the PDP, and observe the peace the party will enjoy after his departure as they prepare for 2019 general election.

ROYAL VISIT

L-R: Aragbiji of Iragbiji, Oba AbdulRasheed Olabomi; Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi; Osun State Governor, Rauf Aregbesola; and Akirun of Ikirun, Oba Abdul Rauf Adedeji, during a courtesy visit to the governor in Government House in Osogbo....recently

Wike: Amaechi Withdrew N53bn from State’s Coffers without Due Process Gives assent to five bills passed by Assembly

Ernest Chinwo in Port Harcourt Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has accused the administration of former Governor Chibuike Amaechi of withdrawing N53 billion from the state’s stabilisation fund without the following due process.

He said the recklessness of the immediate past administration was reason for the Rivers State Reserve Fund (Repeal) Law Number 3 of 2017 as the former law was no longer relevant.

Wike spoke yesterday at Government House, Port Harcourt when he signed into law five bills passed by the state House of Assembly.

The bills signed into law by the governor were state Education (Return of Schools) Amendment Number 1 Law, Number 1 of 2017, Rivers

State Honours Law Number 2 of 2017, Rivers State Reserve Fund (Repeal) Law Number 3 of 2017, Rivers State University Law Number 4 of 2017 and Rivers State University Teaching Hospital Law Number 5 of 2017.

Speaking after giving his assent to the five bills, Wike lauded the state House of Assembly for its commitment to the rapid development of the state.

He said the Return of School law was vital because it permits the state government to intervene in mission schools already returned to their owners.

The governor said the law would help in the sustenance of the quality of education in mission schools returned by the state government to their previous owners.

He explained that the state Reserve Fund (Repeal) Law

Number 3 of 2017 became necessary as the law was no longer relevant following the financial recklessness of the immediate past All Progressives Congress (APC) administration in the state.

According to Wike, that administration refused to respect the law as it indiscriminately withdrew funds from the fund meant for the future.

He said: “Between February 12, 2014 and May 27, 2015, they (immediate past APC administration in the state) withdrew N53 billion from the fund without passing through due process.

“The state is today suffering from the financial recklessness of that administration as it squandered state resources through illegal withdrawals.”

He added that the state University Law Number 4

of 2017 was done to avert the loss of accreditation of several courses by the university following recent regulations by the National Universities Commission (NUC).

Presenting the five bills to the governor earlier, the Majority Leader of the state House of Assembly, Mr. Martin Amaewhule, said the assembly passed the five bills because of its commitment to the development programmes of the state government.

In his remarks, the Speaker of the assembly, Mr. Ikunyi Ibani, said the assembly would always put up its best in the interest of the state.

He commended the governor for his outstanding achievements, which has been complemented by the state assembly.

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Two Soldiers Killed, Three Injured in Gun Duel with Sea Pirates in Rivers, Bayelsa Border Militants abduct four telecom workers, kill three cops, two others in Lagos

Emmanuel Addeh in Yenagoa and Chiemelie Ezeobi in Lagos The Nigerian military yesterday suffered yet another loss in its fight against criminalities in the oil-rich Niger Delta,

following the killing of two of its soldiers in the creeks around the boundary between Rivers and Bayelsa States.

During the exchange of gunfire, it was learnt that three soldiers also sustained

Jimoh Ibrahim Denies Attacking Jonathan, Fani-Kayode Ejiofor Alike A businessman and former governorship aspirant in Ondo State, Mr. Jimoh Ibrahim, has denied ever attacking former President Goodluck Jonathan and his former campaign spokesman, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode.

Ibrahim said in a statement yesterday that the statement purportedly issued by him through a Twitter account pouring invectives on both Jonathan and Fani-Kayode was fake as he does not maintain Twitter account either directly or by proxy.

Ibrahim, who described former President Jonathan as “a brother and a quintessential gentleman,”

whom he holds in high esteem, also stated that Fani-Kayode is his “bosom brother and friend of utmost regard.

“My attention has been directed to certain statements purportedly issued by me through a Twitter account in which invectives were hurled on Jonathan. In the same vein, my attention was also drawn to the fact that such vituperations had also been directed at Fani-Kayode. I wish to reiterate that I do not own or maintain any Twitter account either directly or by proxy.

Jonathan is a brother and a quintessential gentleman and I hold him in high esteem. Fani-Kayode is a

severe injuries and are currently receiving treatment in an undisclosed hospital.

Military authorities operating under the Joint Task Force, Operation Delta Safe, disclosed that the deceased operatives were responding to a distress call that pirates were raiding commuters along the waterways of Ijawkiri, a community bordering both states.

They reportedly came under heavy fire during a rescue operation to free the traders from the pirates, resulting in the death of the two soldiers and injuries to three others.

The spokesman of the JTF in the region, Major Abubakar Abdullahi, stated in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, that an intense manhunt had begun to apprehend the fleeing hoodlums.

Meanwhile, the police in Bayelsa State yesterday confirmed the murder of

an operative of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and an attack on some cops on routine patrol in Otuasega, Ogbia Local Government of the state.

The armed gang reportedly hid in the bush and ambushed the NSCDC van after first attacking a group of policemen, and dispossessing them of their weapons in the process.

Though a security source who spoke in confidence said the armed robbers caught the policemen off guard and compelled them to surrender three AK47s, Mr Asinim Butswat, the state’s police command Spokesman, said yesterday that only one rifle was lost to the gang.

Meanwhile, barely five days after some suspected pipeline vandals struck at the Ikorodu area of Lagos, killing five policemen, two soldiers and

three civilians, they yesterday struck again and killed five persons.

The recent incident, which happened at Oko-Asagun village in Ibeju Lekki Local Government Area of the state, saw the suspects killing three policemen and two community leaders, before they abducted four telecommunication workers in the process.

The abducted workers were identified as Tayo Jibade and Johnson Ezewudo, both staff of TYDACOM Limited, as well as Tunji Moshood Akinbambi and Rauf Idowu, both staff of Erickson Limited.

According to an eyewitness report, the gang had stormed the scene from Ode-Omi creek, a border town between Lagos and Ogun State and had first shot dead the policemen attached to an estate developer in the area.

After killing the policemen,

they went on to shoot dead two community leaders who attempted to resist their attacks.

A staff of one of the telecoms company, Jude Ajagun, who agreed to speak, said: “We were working in a site being developed by one Onoside who contracted us. While on duty we started hearing sporadic gunshots and scampered for safety.

“I hid beside some blocks, while I was watching the scenario. I saw about six heavily armed men, three were wearing mask and they sighted three policemen attached to an estate developer and shot dead the policemen.”

A community leader who spoke on the crisis said they were initially happy when they saw policemen guarding the newly developed estate, but that the essence of their presence was defeated with their death.

SON Raises the Alarm as Illegal Flavoured Cigarettes Flood Nigerian Market Eromosele Abiodun A few months after the Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth International (ERA/ FoEN) notified the federal government that Philip Morris International was flooding the country with the “unlicensed, tax-not-paid” cigarettes, the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has raised the alarm over attempts by another tobacco manufacturing company to begin the distribution of illegally imported cigarettes in the country.

This followed the discovery of the planned deployment of 500 Mond flavoured cigarettes hawker boxes in Kano State from today.

The move is in direct opposition to government’s effort to curb the influx of illicit cigarettes, and resuscitating the nation’s economy discouraging the importation of goods that are sufficiently produced locally.

THISDAY investigation revealed that the shipment was received last weekend by the Dubai-based Gulhabar Tobacco International, distributors of the cigarette brand.

Following checks, the industry regulator, SON, observed that the company/ distributors do not have the SONCAP Certificate (SC), a mandatory Customs clearance document which is

issued by the SON. Cigarette is one of SONCAP-regulated products.

“In addition to the product being a flavoured cigarette, the non-possession of the SONCAP certificate by the company is clearly in breach of the National Tobacco Control Act (NTCA) 2015 on advertising and promotion.

“Flavoured cigarettes are a type of contraband cigarette and illicit trade products. The products are manufactured with sweet fruity flavours that have a powerful appeal to children and completely mask the smell of tobacco.

They have a strong allure for young people and are capable of encouraging underage smoking as well as initiating non-smokers into the act, “said an official of SON who do not want his name in print.

SON and other regulatory agencies in the country have constantly expressed their determination to rid the market of flavoured cigarette brands and stem the importation of the product by faceless marketing companies that are not registered in the country.

This move, experts believe, is aimed at protecting the few indigenous tobacco companies that manufacture the legally permitted menthol brand from unfair competition.

MEETING ON ECONOMIC MATTERS

R-L: Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr. Okechukwu Enelamah; Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode; and Senior Special Assistant to the President on Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Jumoke Oluwole, during a media briefing shortly after the minister’s meeting with the governor at the Lagos House, Ikeja....yesterday

Nigeria Sliding into Gestapo State under APC, Says Makarfi-led PDP Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) led by Senator Ahmed Makarfi yesterday said the nation was fast drifting into a dictatorship and possible anarchy under the All Progressive Congress (APC)-led federal government.

The leadership of the PDP National Caretaker Committee alleged that prominent leaders and citizens especially, the governors, ministers and other public office holders during the previous PDP administration had been arrested in a Gestapo manner and detained indefinitely without trial.

It said the actions of the APC-led administration

is a clear case of injustice and vendetta, adding that it should charge all those in detention to court as a matter of urgency and free all those granted bail by the courts immediately.

In a statement issued yesterday by its spokesman, Dayo Adeyeye, the factional leadership listed those who have so far been arrested by security agents to include the former Governor of Benue State, Hon. Gabriel Suswam, former Governor of Niger State, Dr. Babangida Aliyu and the former National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd), who has been in custody for about two years now without trial.

Adeyeye lamented that similar brutality, arrest

and mindless detention had gone on with other PDP leaders and members who were arrested by either the Department of State Services (DSS) or the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

“It is no gainsaying that under the present APC-led government, the agencies arrest suspects, convict them in the media and detain them against the law before they are proven innocent or otherwise by the court. It is also very clear in the Constitution of Nigeria that no security agency has the right or power to detain suspects more than 48 hours without trial.

“Ironically, while former leaders and members of PDP are being arrested

indiscriminately and detained without trial; other former office holders of the ruling APC who have been accused of various corrupt practices are yet to be arrested but instead are compensated with juicy ministerial appointments.

Double standards!

“We wish to further assure the public that the PDP is not against the anti-corruption fight. Our stand is that the present APC government must follow due process in dealing with issues of corruption as the PDP did during its governments without violating human rights of citizens especially, those suspects that may later be found innocent by the law court,” he said.

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El-Rufai Hits Back at N’Assembly, Insists on Transparency, Accountability John Shiklam in Kaduna The Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, yesterday hit back at the National Assembly, insisting that its budget should be made public.

The governor in a statement by his spokesman, Samuel Aruwan, regretted that rather than responding to his admonition on the imperative of budget transparency, the National Assembly leadership was taking the issues personally.

He said it was inconceivable that an important institution, vested by the constitution with representation, lawmaking and oversight powers, has for years ignored the imperative to set an example of transparency, despite being severally urged to do so.

The statement said those entrusted with high office would justify their abdication of the responsibility to be transparent in such cavalier fashion.

UTME: JAMB Partners Army to Provide Security for 1.3m Candidates Senator Iroegbu in Abuja

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has partnered the Nigerian Army to secure the Computer Based Tests (CBT) centres with a view to having a hitch-free 2017 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

The spokesperson of JAMB, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, in a statement yesterday, said the Registrar/Chief Executive of JAMB, Prof. Is-haq O. Oloyede, at a meeting with the military high command in Abuja solicited for the intervention and cooperation of the Nigerian Army in the forthcoming examination.

While commending the Nigerian Army for uniting the country particularly the feat it recorded in the insurgency war and restoring peace in other turbulent areas, Oloyede outlined his mission to Defence Headquarters.

“We are here to thank you for the wonderful job you have been doing; all Nigerians are happy with you for the wonderful feat you have recorded in the discharge of your duties, and your quest for an indivisible

and united country,” he said.

He pointed out that the mandate of JAMB was to conduct matriculation examination and place suitably qualified candidates desirous of qualitative education in all Nigerian tertiary institutions, adding that the board was at the verge of the first process hence the need to secure the venues, candidates and examination officials.

“This need became imperative to seek for security intervention from the army, particularly in turbulent areas,” he said.

The Registrar noted that over 678 centres across the country against the last year’s figure of 650 CBT centres would be put to use with an estimated 1.5million candidates for the examination.

He added that 1.237million candidates have already submitted their applications already.

Oloyede also told the Chief of Army Staff that there was a collaboration with Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) to airlift candidates in riverine areas to their CBT centres.

Police Stop BBOG Protesters from Approaching Ambode’s Office in Lagos Chiemelie Ezeobi

Attempts by the Lagos branch of the BringBackOurGirls’ (BBOG) campaign to commemorate the three-year anniversary of the abduction of the 276 school girls from the Chibok Secondary School in Borno State were yesterday foiled, as the police prevented them from gaining access to the government house.

Although 276 girls were abducted on April 14, 2014 by the Boko Haram terrorists, 81 has so far been rescued, with 195 still in captivity three years later.

Thus, the group had marched to the state government secretariat in Alausa, Ikeja, as part of the day six of their Global Week of Action to commemorate the abduction of the girls.

But despite their advance notice to Governor Akinwunmi

Ambode of the their visit, they were stopped by the police who formed a barricade to keep them off.

Despite the hitch, the group still went on chanting their demands not just for the release of the remaining girls, but also for adequate security to be provided in schools given the recent insecurity situations in schools across Lagos.

The protesters bore banners and posters with ‘#BringBackOurOirls’ that rea: “Three years to long’, ‘Countdown to three years in captivity’, ‘Lagos demands that our girls be brought back and alive’ and ‘Our core value is humanity’, among several others.

The protesters, dressed in their red and white attires, had first created awareness on the streets of Alausa before they marched to the governor’s office.

According to it, the statement, “The House of Representatives has responded with predictable etchings to a simple and clear demand that details of the National Assembly budget be made public.

“It is inconceivable that an important institution, vested by the constitution with representation, lawmaking and oversight powers, has for at least seven years ignored the imperative to set an example of transparency, despite being severally urged to do so.

“Despite the rush to personal attacks on a matter of public policy, we cannot allow the enthronement of the republic of distraction. It is important that everyone who is interested

in protecting and advancing democratic discourse should stay focused on the issue.”

The statement said however that “notwithstanding the intemperate response of the spokesman of the House of Representatives, the demand that the National Assembly budget be made public will not go away.

“It is not personal, and there is a strong civic constituency that is demanding it.”

He said the sooner all public officials recognised that the game has changed and that segments of civil society and citizens of Nigeria are much more aware, astute and advanced than the state of our polity, the better for democratic health.

The statement read further: “Since the National Assembly began conceiving its budget as a single-line item, how many legislators, not to mention other citizens, have seen the details of the budget?

“Can anyone recall seeing the spending patterns and details in any published audited accounts of National Assembly recently?

“By contrast, all state governments present their audited accounts to their state Houses of Assembly as required by law.

“The federal statutory agencies that National Assembly cites as not having their budgets reflected in the national budget submit details of their budgets to the National Assembly for

review and approval.

“How, in the 21st century, can we have any national institution that is comfortable with not being subject to any oversight, audit or external scrutiny.

“The constitutional principle of checks and balances was not introduced for purposes of idle luxury, but to ensure that every institution exercises its power in an accountable manner.”

He explained that the Kaduna State Government had presented details of its security budget, stressing that the security budget represents the only security vote for the entire government as there is no security vote for the Governor of Kaduna State.

FG Considers Import Restrictions against Dumping Ground Syndrome To protect SMEs from negative trade practices

Gboyega Akinsanmi The federal government yesterday said it would impose import restrictions to protect Nigeria from becoming a dumping ground for goods and products from other countries.

It, also, said it had started putting in place concerted efforts aimed at checking negative trade practices and protecting the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah, revealed the plans after meeting the state Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode and some members of the State Executive Council (SEC) at the State House, Alausa yesterday.

At a session with journalists, the minister described Lagos State as a true model of the vision of improving on the ease of doing business and turning Nigeria into one of the easiest and most attractive places for investors in the world.

He said Lagos, as Nigeria’s commercial capital, “stands in a vantage position to drive the goal of government to improve World Bank ranking of Nigeria on the ease of doing business.

“We have been talking about creating enabling environment for investments and ease of doing business. These are the two areas where we have convergence with Lagos State Government.

“We have been discussing how to collaborate very strongly to make Lagos State a true role model in line with our vision of making Nigeria one of the easiest and most attractive places to do business.

“There is no better place to start than Lagos State, particularly when you have a governor who is committed to it and as he puts it to us, it is like preaching to the converted,” he said.

He noted that the two governments had agreed on modalities on working together “to achieve the targets that we have set for ourselves both in ease of doing business

ranking of the World Bank. For instance, we have identified tourism.”

The minister, therefore, assured that the federal government “will not hesitate to impose import restrictions where necessary to avoid Nigeria from being a dumping ground.”

He, also, noted that concerted efforts “will be put in place to reverse and check negative trade practices, especially for the benefit of the SMEs.” Also at the session, the

governor recalled that in the last few months, the state government had been engaging the business community on ease of doing business.

He said that the meeting with officials of the federal government was in sync with the vision of his administration to achieve the very best in driving investment.

He explained what had been happening in the last two years, noting that his administration “has tried as much as possible to provide an enabling environment for

businesses to thrive in Lagos.”

The governor lamented that the indices indicated that the country “has not really improved on the ease of doing business. The indices are not really looking too good.

“If 70 per cent of businesses are actually coming from Lagos State, there is a need for us to quickly create a convergence between the federal government and the state government to ensure that we improve the business environment,” he said.

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friDAY, April 14, 2017 • T H I S D AY

FRIDAYSPORTS

Group Sports Editor Duro Ikhazuagbe Email duro.ikhazuagbe@thisdaylive.com

A F C O N 2 0 1 9 Q UA L I F I E R

NFF Satisfy with Uyo Pitch to Host S’Eagles against S’Africa Match Femi Solaja The coast is now clear for Godswill Akpabio stadium in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State to host the African Cup of Nations qualifying match between the Super Eagles of Nigeria and South Africa in June.

An inspection team led by the Chairman of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Technical and Development Committee, Chris Green yesterday expressed satisfaction with the present state of the playing turf of the stadium which was in bad state some months ago.

The 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier between the two former champions will come up in eight weeks’ time.

Green, alongside NFF Deputy General Secretary, Dr. Emmanuel Ikpeme on Tuesday inspected the magnificent facility, nicknamed ‘Nest of Champions’ and which hosted the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier between the Super Eagles and Tanzania in September 2016, as well as the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying battle between the Eagles and the Fennecs of Algeria five months ago.

“We are delighted with the state of the playing turf and other facilities at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium,” Green said yesterday.

“I can tell you that the pitch is just as it was when the Super Eagles played Algeria in the World Cup qualifier in November last year.

“The fact that Julius Berger has also started some work on the turf is even more re-assuring. They are adding manure, and afterwards will

do cutting and rolling, and they have the benefit of the weather at this period. By the time we host South Africa on 10th June, the pitch will be one of the very best anywhere in Africa.”

The visit to the capital of Akwa Ibom State was to ascertain the condition of the playing pitch and indeed other facilities at the stadium, as well as the level of commitment of the State Government to hosting the big match.

After the inspection, the team reported: “Every inch of the field is covered by grass and the grass is lush green. Julius Berger (the company that built the stadium) has commenced work on the field for the purpose of bringing it to the best standard possible.

Every other facility is in good condition. The condition of the field, as it is now, is good enough for matches to be played on it. The Akwa Ibom State Government has continued to show desire and commitment to hosting the match.”

However, in order to maintain the lush –green state of the pitch, the inspection team has advised that no activity be carried out on it until ongoing work is completed and the 2019 Cup of Nations qualifier between the Eagles and the Bafana Bafana is played.

The ‘Nest of Champions’ will also play host to the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches between the Super Eagles and Cameroon’s Indomitable Lions (August 2017) and between the Super Eagles and the Chipolopolo of Zambia (October 2017).

Sensational Milan Derby Live on Startimes One of longest football derbies in the world, the Milan derby, featuring Inter Milan and AC Milan will tomorrow air live exclusively on StarTimes.

The San Siro Stadium in Milan will be buzzing with great football action when two of the biggest teams in world football, Inter and Milan go headlong in an high-octane game that fans in Africa, including those in Nigeria will see catch the game live on StarTimes pay TV network.

Football fans will enjoy the game on StarTimes World Football Channel 244 or 255, 11.30 am local time.

The two sides meet at San Siro, with the Rossoneri currently occupying the final Europa League spot, two points ahead of their city rivals.

Disclosing this in a statement signed by the Chief Operating Officer, StarTimes, Tunde Aina, said its penchant for beaming top of the pack live European football action was to give its teeming viewers on the best programming content.

Tunde Aina added that apart the leading pay television outfit was poised to show other Serie A matches live on Saturday, a further testimony that it was

leaving no stone unturned in its bid to satisfy its customers.

“We continue to make good our promise week after week by offering varieties of fantastic goal-spinning sports leagues to our subscribers. Our viewers will definitely have a great time watching the matches in sharp images and clear signals”, added Aina.

Milan full-back Mattia De Sciglio admits the derby with Inter is “crucial” for “both teams are aiming for Europe”.

“For me, as for all Milan fans, the derby is the game,” De Sciglio told Milan TV. “It’s a game which stands apart, regardless of where the two teams are in the table, there’s a difference to other games. You experience it differently.

“We can’t make the mistake of thinking of the table, then we’d risk not being 100 per cent focused.

“The only objective is to give our all without thinking about the points in the table, who is favourite and who is playing at home.

“Given the standings though, the derby will be very tight and important. Both teams are aiming for Europe so it will be a crucial game.

NFF delegation, led by Chris Green, during the inspection tour of the stadium

11 countries, 60 Foreign Marathoners to Participate in Okpekpe Race Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City Sixty foreign marathoners, from 11 countries, are expected to participate in this year edition of the Okpekpe 10km road race in Edo slated for May 13.

The Director of Organisation, Mr Zackery Moudu, at a press briefing in Benin City, disclosed this, noting that the expected foreign athletes are Gold label.

He said it was part of strategies to make the road race get a Gold label.

According to him, this year edition, which is the 5th

edition, had been improved upon technologically, to curb the issue of cheating as well as enable fans of the athletes to monitor the performance of their athletes.

Moudu who listed some of the expected countries to include Kenya, Morroco, Eritea and Ethiopia, also said some athletes from Europe and Asia countries would be participating in the road race.

He also said as part of plan to improve on the standard of the race, accreditation of the expected athletes and other participants, would commenced

two days before the race, instead of the usual one day race plan.

The Director of Organisation said lot of awareness was going to be created for the 5th edition of the Okpekpe road race.

“It is going to be a week long event and the aim is to create much awareness for the race.

“We however expected our foreign participants for the race to start arrive the country on May 11, while accreditation will take place from May 11 to May 12, instead of the usual one day to the event.

“We also want to use this

race to work towards achieving Gold label for the race, for this reason, most of the athletes we expecting for this race are Gold label,” he stated.

Meanwhile, Edo state Deputy Governor, Mr Philip Shaibu, who was at the briefing, appealed to sport men and women to shun the use of performance enhancing drugs for sporting activities.

He said sports is all about discipline and said integrity must be brought into it by avoiding cheating through the use of drug.

LMC Reinstate Commitment to Referees’ Welfare Chairman of the League Management Company (LMC), Shehu Dikko on Wednesday restated that safety and welfare of all persons at match venues counts high and this includes that of Match Officials which he said is of paramount importance to the league body.

Dikko was clarifying the misconception contained in a letter to him by the President of the Nigeria

Referees Association (NRA), Tade Azeez which suggested that the LMC neglected to order compensation for the Match Officials assaulted at the Sani Abacha Stadium by some misguided fans after the Match Day 18 fixture between Kano Pillars and Akwa United.

The LMC Chairman said it would be wrong to create an impression that assault on match officials has been a regular

feature of the NPFL and pointed out that the incident in Kano was just the second on-field incident that affected match officials with the first being on Match Day 1 in Enugu in the match between Rangers International and Abia Warriors. In this case the LMC fined Rangers N250,000 as compensation to the Match Commissioner who was the victim in addition to any certified medical expenses

that may arise.

In the Match Day 12 incidence in Nnewi, the LMC investigated the report and found that the attack on the match officials could have been a robbery as it happened on their way to the motor park a day after the match and wrote to warn FC IfeanyiUbah that Referees must be protected until they depart the city. The Match officials’ reports also supported this finding.

NPFL U-15: Shooting Books Q/final Spot On Day 4 of the NPFL U-15 Promises tournament, Shooting Stars retained their lead on the log despite a draw with MFM but it was Remo Stars that made a big mark winning their very first game of the tournament.

The winning has positioned the Shagamu side to fight for the remaining Quarter Finals spot with second placed ABS FC in a winner takes all fixture. Remo

are now on four points while ABS are ahead on six points and victory for either sides would guarantee the winner progression to the last eight of the tournament.

Remo Stars struggled in their previous two fixtures, losing to group leaders, Shooting Stars and drawing 1-1 with MFM. But against the junior Akure Gunners, Dayo Awotoye struck a brilliant

brace to help Remo Stars banish the voodoo of not winning at the Osogbo City Stadium.

It was the first fixture of the day and Remo Stars was returning from a break having observed the day off on Wednesday.

A student of Ikene Community High School, Awotoye raised hopes for his side barely one minute after the break when he breached the defensive block

of Sunshine Stars that resisted all efforts at goal in the first 45 minutes. He benefitted from a defensive mix-up to bury the ball in the net for the opener.

He would complete his brace seven minutes after the first goal from the spot. Sunshine defender Amoo Dauda handled the ball inside his own box and Awotoye converted brilliantly and confirmed his team victory.

T H I S D AY FRIDAY APRIL 14, 2017

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MISSILE AI to FG “In 2016, Oyo State passed a law making kidnapping punishable with execution...

These steps by state and federal authorities are retrogressive and unjustifiable as there is no evidence to suggest that the death penalty deters crime more effectively than other punishment, or that it serves any useful deterrent purpose.” – Amnesty International (AI) giving a thumbs down to the federal government in its recently released 2016 report, which placed Nigeria second behind China among countries still prescribing capital punishments unmindful of the sanctity of human lives.

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Nigeria Slips Out of Buhari’s Control

O

n March 12, 2016, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed caused a stir while trying to justify President Muhammadu Buhari’s many foreign trips. He had declared that the economic situation in the country was completely out of the control of the government, as the crash in oil prices was having a negative spiral effect on it. He was later to deny the import of his statement saying, it was taken out of context by mischief-makers, even though the statement was a true reflection of the state of the economy - largely driven by the president’s outright mismanagement.

A few weeks after Mohammed spoke the truth about the economy, whether taken out of context or not, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released figures that buttressed his remark, showing that Buhari had indeed lost control. Nigeria recorded its first negative growth, -0.36 per cent, in many years in the first quarter of 2016 and thereafter, slipped into recession in the second quarter, with a -2.06 per cent growth, the first in 25 years and sank deeper into recession, contracting by 2.26 per cent in the third quarter.

One full year after, it is not only the economy that has reeled completely out of Buhari’s control: From the economy to the national security to the internal politics within the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the day to day running of his government, everything has reeled out of Buhari’s control.

I can report to the Nigerian people that under Buhari, the state of the union has become extremely fragile; danger has become a constant companion, daily existence and life and death have become frighteningly unpredictable. I can report to Nigerians that in the place of Boko Haram, a new - the more loosely dispersed terror group by the name, Fulani herdsmen has emerged across the country. And there seems to be no stopping them. The government is either unwilling or incapable of dealing decisively with this major security challenge, or is deviously colluding with the group in its mindless reign of terror in nearly every community on a scale never seen before in the country. And what was Buhari’s initial response? Cold and unfeeling silence.

He managed to speak after various groups began to express concerns about his deafening silence on the issue. It is befuddling why this was so. Even his reaction that Nigeria has a large border through which many foreigners come in to commit these crimes in the name of Fulani herdsmen and then run away left a bitter taste in the mouths of many Nigerians.

But Mallam Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State and Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State were enamoured with it. Shettima who is the Chairman of the Northern Governors’ Forum (NGF), picked the baton and toed the very same line of Buhari’s theory of foreign herdsmen, disclosing at the end of the forum’s recent meeting in Kaduna that the Fulani herdsmen wreaking havoc on lives and properties are from Senegal and Mali.

Then you wonder why if they are foreigners killing Nigerians, the government that swore an oath to protect them seems so helpless in this mindless slaughter of kinsmen across the land. It is a strange, simplistic theory that belittles a grave national dereliction of duty to protect lives and properties; a heinous violation of the oath of office. This is a national security crisis being treated with casual levity. The question is, how many more

Buhari

El-Rufai

people need to die to quench the thirst for blood of the marauding Fulani herdsmen?

Why are government officials not outraged by these senseless killings of Nigerians by “foreigners”? And why are they so eager to make excuses despite the evidence?

Now, when you match that with the audacity of kidnappers and armed robbers across the country, then you would realise we have complete anarchy in our hands. That audacity has become even more brazen since there are hardly any meaningful deterrent measures in place to deal decisively with this reign of lawlessness. To put it simply, Buhari’s government has failed to protect thousands of countrymen, and their means of livelihood. Life has become so cheap that it is now worth less than a cow.

But some of the ordinary supporters of Buhari who are the worst victims of his poor handling of everything, naively continue to defend the clearly indefensible mismanagement of the country. Any discerning observer would know that we are in perilous times, and things are falling apart like never before in our dear fatherland. Except, of course, you are living in an alternate universe as some Buharists, where they say everything is working nicely and perfectly.

They bury their heads in the sand, and even help to constantly re-echo the lie of the government that things are better. To justify their stand, they point to his purported war against corruption, recovered monies as evidence of things changing for the better. But these very same Buhari’s willing captives/supporters’ reaction to the massive corruption going on right now by the actors in this government is a pathetic rationalisation of the evidence.

They are not outraged at all by the evidence of barefaced stealing, and Buhari’s cover-up.

Well, for these obstinately gullible people who appear impervious to the truth, let me refer them to an excerpt from the “accidental public servant”, Nasir el-Rufai’s not-so-accidental memo to Buhari. Here it is: “In very blunt terms, Mr. President, our APC administration has not only failed to manage expectations of a populace that expected overnight change but has failed to deliver even mundane matters of governance.” Did you get that? El-Rufai said Buhari has failed to deliver even mundane matters of governance? The same Buhari whose body language allegedly fixed electricity, forced contractors back to site, fixed the rail lines, tarred countless roads all over the country,

made the stock market to rebound, stabilised oil prices, fixed the economy and stabilised the naira/dollar exchange rate in his early days in power?

El-Rufai for the record was one of those who constantly tweeted nonsense and misleading information to make Buhari look good and others look bad. What a turnaround! The truth is that el-Rufai knew right from the outset that Buhari wouldn’t change his ways.

It’s a small wonder he once said that Buhari was perpetually unelectable. But el-Rufai and others were later to deceive gullible Nigerians with the change mantra that ultimately foisted Buhari on the country because of what they stood to gain. Yes, he rode on Buhari’s coattails to become the governor of Kaduna State.

Until his “memo of truth to power”, irrespective of the hidden motive behind it, el-Rufai was one of the most influential persons in this APC-led government. If such a cheerleader and an insider in this government could admit to the failure of Buhari to deliver on their so-called strategic vision, why can’t some of the ridiculous willing captives/ supporters of this government acknowledge the damage their improbable candidate of change has done to this country? Even the Bible tells us that there comes a time the willing captive slaves to their leaders will agree to be freed. When will these willing captives/defenders of Buhari open their eyes and agree to be liberated? What manner of spell lasts for two years even in the face of failure to deliver “mundane matters of governance”?

Why people behave this way, I was told, has mystified behavioural scientists for years.

The APC has even become a magnet for all sorts of shady characters who are defecting to it in droves. For the reason that once there, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) ceases to be interested in their alleged crimes. You see the purported party of change and saints has become one big shelter for crooks.

Now let’s pretend that the above is not true and is the mere outpouring of wailers. Can we honestly say the same about the drama playing out in the public arena between the Department of State Security (DSS) and Ibrahim Magu, with the forces in the presidency and the National Assembly aligning on either side?

What more illustrates a loss of control than this disorganised orchestra that is playing out?

Weeks after Magu was first rejected by the

Senate based on the DSS report that indicted him, the president in his wisdom asked the Attorney and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), to investigate the allegations.

He supposedly investigated and cleared Magu. Based on that clearance by the AGF, the president re-forwarded Magu’s name to the Senate for confirmation. Yet again, the DSS in an unprecedented move sent another report directly to the Senate, doubling down on its earlier report that Magu failed the integrity test to qualify for confirmation to the position the president had nominated him for. Wow!!

What is going on? Who is in charge here?

If this is not evidence of a total dysfunctional government, then someone will have to tell me what is. And why the president wants Magu by all means even when his integrity has twice been called to question by a major state institution remains a mystery to me. EFCC was not created because of Magu, neither was Magu born to head it. And I ask: Is he the only capable one for the job, or is it that he fits perfectly for executing the president’s agenda of fighting corruption - paraphrasing Senator Shehu Sani’s criticism - with insecticide when others are involved but turns to a deodorant when people in the presidency and his friends are caught in the act?

On the Paris Club refund, who would have believed that right under Buhari’s nose, state governors would continue their looting spree like they did under former President Goodluck Jonathan? The then president yielded to pressure from the governors to share the money in the Excess Crude Account.

What did they do with it? They looted the money. Of course that became Jonathan’s cardinal sin. Now, under Buhari, 27 states got N338 billion as bailout between August and September, 2015 to offset arrears of workers’ salaries. What did they do with it? Many of them failed to use the money for what it was meant for. Instead, they looted the billions of naira again. Then the first tranche of N522 billion Paris Club refund was shared.

What did they also do with it? Many of the governors once again pocketed a large chunk of it, while others appropriated it to advance their political ambitions in 2019. And these governors from hell are already salivating and waiting for the second tranche. This is all happening under Buhari, the world-renowned, no-nonsense anti-corruption czar and the face of change. When will the willing captives agree to be freed and see that the more these people shout change, the more things stay the same, or even get worse?

What further evidence does anyone need that Nigerians are not included within the pale of their glorious progressive dividends of change? Their conduct in office so far only reveals the pretentious posturing of the campaign of change. These desperate power-seekers have amassed from the public treasury, a rich inheritance for their children, grandchildren and have condemned our own children to hewers of wood and fetchers of water. Their only motivation for seeking public office is personal benefit. They told us the PDP was bad and that the APC would bring about the change Nigerians need. But in just two years of the party of change in power, expectations have turned into ashes as hope of a new dawn fades into a distant horizon.

There is a saying in the land of my fathers: You can stay away from a rogue but you can never stay safe from a liar. Need I say more?

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