Thursday 20th April 2017

Access Bank Appoints Roosevelt Ogbonna as Group Deputy Managing Director Access Bank Plc has announced the appointment of Mr. Roosevelt Michael Ogbonna as Group Deputy Managing Director.

He replaces Mr. Obinna Nwosu who recently resigned his appointment to pursue other personal endeavours.

The new group deputy managing director began his illustrious banking career as an investment banker 20 years ago. Over the years, he worked across the Treasury, Risk Management, Commercial and Corporate Banking functions at leading

financial institutions. He joined Access Bank in 2002, implementing strategies across different divisions that increased the bank’s market share and more than doubled the group’s balance sheet.

Ogbonna had served as Divisional Head, Commercial

Banking and subsequently rose to the position of Executive Director, Commercial Banking, Access Bank, a position he held since October 2013. In that capacity, he oversaw firm-wide banking operations and formulated strategies to optimize the bank’s robust

commercial business.

Ogbonna holds a BSc. in Banking & Finance (Second Class Upper Division) from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Continued on page 9

FG Begins Fresh Manhunt for Absconded Failed Banks’ Chiefs... Page 9

Ogbonna

Thursday 20 April, 2017 Vol 22. No 8036. Price: N250

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IMF Endorses Nigeria’s Economic Recovery Plan Says it's step in right direction Obinna Chima, Funke Olaode and Kasie Abone in Washington DC The International Monetary Fund (IMF) yesterday endorsed the Economic Recovery Growth Plan (ERGP)

2017- 2020, launched recently by the federal government applauding it as "how fiscal policy should be thought in developing countries."

The Fund’s Director, Fiscal Affairs Department, Mr. Vitor Gaspar, conveyed its position

on the plan while responding to a question from THISDAY, during a media briefing on the IMF Fiscal Monitor press conference at the ongoing IMF/World Bank Spring meetings in Washington DC. The IMF official said he had

the privilege of visiting Nigeria some months ago and was very happy to understand that for the Nigerian government, fiscal policies in general and tax policy in particular were part of the strategy for development.

Also, IMF's Assistant Director/Head, Fiscal Policy and Surveillance, Catherine Pattillo, welcomed the country's ERGP, saying its focus on diversification and attention to some of the problems facing the

economy were steps in the right direction.

According to Pattillo: "We very much welcome the ERGP. As you are aware, Nigeria went into recession last year, Continued on page 10

Buhari Resets Anti-Corruption War, Suspends SGF, NIA Boss Osinbajo heads committee to investigate Ikoyi billions Senate committee hails presidential action Iyobosa Uwugiaren, Omololu Ogunmade, Chineme Okafor and Damilola Oyedele in Abuja, John Shiklam in Kaduna and Victor Ogunje in Ado-Ekiti President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday took a stagy step to manage the damaging image problems created for his anti-corruption crusade by

suspending the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr. Babachir Lawal, and the Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Ambassador Ayo Oke. The two senior officials of the government are to be investigated by a three-man committee headed by Vice Continued on page 9

APC Governors, NWC Meet Today ROYAL VISIT of Kano, Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi II (left), during his visit to the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi Ojaja II, in Ile-Ife, Over Conflict, Poor Funding... Page 10 Emir Osun State ... yesterday

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FG Begins Fresh Manhunt for Absconded Failed Banks’ Chiefs Chika Amanze-Nwachuku The federal government Task Force on the Implementation of the Failed Banks Act has commenced an intensive search for bank executives who fled the country in the wake of their investigation and prosecution over fraudulent practices.

The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) confirmed yesterday that the task force had issued a notice to re-arrest for prosecution, directors and officers of licensed banks who had committed banking malpractices and had absconded.

Some of the accused bank executives, who fled Nigeria some years ago, were said to have sneaked back into the country in the hope

that their prosecution might have been terminated or that investigations into their alleged criminal acts had ended.

It is against this backdrop, the NDIC said that the task force would go after the absconded suspects, with a view to bringing them to book to serve as a warning to other bank offenders.

“The task force would leave no stone unturned to ensure that erring bank offenders are apprehended and prosecuted,” the Director of Legal Department, NDIC, Mr. B. A. Taribo, said in a statement.

The task force had at its 38th meeting held on 13th March, 2017 reviewed some pending investigations by the Police Financial Malpractices Investigation Unit (FMIU) under the Failed Banks Act

comprising 17 cases involving 10 closed Microfinance Banks (MFBs) in which 15 former directors of the MFBs were involved.

It also reviewed two cases of closed commercial banks involving their former directors.

One of the closed commercial banks cases currently under prosecution, according to the NDIC, involved erstwhile directors of the closed Gulf Bank of Nigeria Plc, who were facing trial over banking malpractices involving N15.1 billion of depositors’ funds.

The task force also reviewed about 16 criminal cases being prosecuted under the Failed Banks Act in which prosecution had been stalled because the accused persons had jumped bail and had absconded from the country in the heat of their

investigation and prosecution.

The NDIC also said sureties of the absconded suspects had also disappeared.

The Failed Banks (Recovery of Debts) and Financial Malpractices in Banks Act 1994 was promulgated to recover debts owed to failed banks, which had remained outstanding as at the date the banks were closed or declared failed and to prosecute directors and officers of licensed banks who had committed banking malpractices.

In July 1995, the Inspector General of Police established a special Police unit called the Failed Banks Inquiry to assist the NDIC and the Central Bank of Nigeria implement the criminal aspects of the Failed Banks Act through investigation of criminal

complaints referred to the Unit by the Regulatory Authorities.

On the 28th of December 1998, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice constituted the Task Force on Implementation of the Failed Banks Act. The objective of the task force was to co-ordinate the different agencies involved in the implementation of the criminal aspects of the Failed Banks Act in order to achieve heightened police investigation and legal officers/ private legal practitioners’ prosecution of suspects under the Failed Banks Act. The members of the task force comprised the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation as Chairman; the Federal Ministry of Justice represented by the Director of Public Prosecution of

the Federation; the Central Bank of Nigeria; the Failed Banks Inquiry (now Financial Malpractices Investigation Unit); the Special Fraud Unit of the Police; and subsequently, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

In carrying out its objective, the task force reviewed the police investigation of suspects and the prosecution of accused persons by state counsel and private legal practitioners issued with the fiat of the Hon. Attorney General of the Federation under the Failed Banks Act. Generally, the mandate of the task force was to superintend over the investigation and prosecution of failed banks cases from commencement of police investigation to ensure early arraignment of suspects before the tribunals.

give him fair hearing.

“I think that is what we have been waiting for all along until the president decided this morning that he would put him on suspension and has ordered his own investigation.”

When asked if he considered the N200 million allegedly budgeted as being too much for mowing grasses in Nigeria, Shehu said: “A lot of people have laughed at it and I guess there is some explanations that is needed and the panel will help the president to understand what went wrong and all that happened.”

He said the president would have acted on the issue or any other matter anyway but had to wait for the Senate to submit its full report.

According to him: “You know that although the Senate began all these in the case of Babachir David Lawal, but they said they were handing the president an interim report, so it was expected that the full report would at the end of the day come to the president’s table and the panel hasn’t finished its work, the Senate hasn’t brought its final report to the president, so all of these waiting, I am not trying to pass the buck to the Senate, but if a final report had been laid with the president and it had taken him long, then people would have said what has gone wrong.”

Shehu however maintained that the president would still find the Senate’s final report useful notwithstanding the outcome of the panel's investigation that would be headed by Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo.

“I guess the president will still find the Senate report useful, but he wants the Vice President to lead the panel of investigation to let him know what went wrong there,” he added.

North-east has commended the president for finally summoning the courage to suspend the SGF. The chairman of the committee, Senator Shehu Sani (Kaduna Central), in a statement reacting to the suspension yesterday commended Buhari for taking the committee's report and its recommendations seriously.

“It's commendable for the President to heed the call to fumigate the throne of lice and bugs with the same ability he goes after rodents afar," he said.

The Ekiti State Governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose, however, described the suspension of Lawal and Oke as mere diversionary tactics targeted at deluding Nigerians, adding that the Osinbajo committee was an afterthought and an indication that Buhari had lost focus in his anti-corruption war.

The governor, who said the Buhari-led government was becoming an embarrassment to Nigerians with its macabre dance, asked: “Would the President have set up a probe panel if these scams were linked to anyone in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) or those members of his party that are not in his good books?

“Most importantly, what business does Presidential Committee have with investigation of crime? Are they telling Nigerians that they have lost confidence in all the intelligence and investigative agencies of the government, including the EFCC and DSS?” Speaking through his Special Assistant on Public Communications, Mr Lere Olayinka, he said it was becoming obvious that President Buhari had lost control of his government.

Meanwhile, the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Matthew Hassan Kukah, has asked the EFCC to adopt a more effective way of fighting corruption.

In an interview with journalists on Wednesday in Kaduna, Kukah said the manner in which huge sums of money were being hidden was very demoralising and

humiliating.

The cleric who attended a sensitization seminar on money laundering/ counter financing of terrorism for religious leaders organised by Intergovernmental Action Group Against money laundering in West Africa (GIABA), said the EFCC must end the ongoing drama over the discovery of billions of naira in private residences and tell Nigerians who the owners of the monies are.

"I feel quiet demoralised, I also feel very humiliated as a Nigerian. But the confusion is not helped by the fact that we are dealing with monies that are about the sizeable budget of many states in Africa, it is just unthinkable that we can say that we have money running into billions of naira and we don't know who has the money.

"Frankly, if I were a foreigner, I think my respect for Nigeria will dwindle seriously, so for me as a Nigerian, I feel quiet violated.

"I am sure whether this theatre is really the best way to go. I think that the agencies concerned should have a less dramatic, but most effective way of telling us the work they are doing other than this endless public washing of linens whose owners we don't know. It is not helping the fight (against corruption) at all" he said.

According to him, Nigeria is going through trying moments while resources are not being accounted for.

BUHARI RESETS ANTI-CORRUPTION WAR, SUSPENDS SGF, NIA BOSS President Yemi Osinbajo over allegations of corruption and breach of law and security procedures.

Other members of the committee are the AttorneyGeneral of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr Abubakar Malami (SAN) and the National Security Adviser, Maj-Gen Babagana Monguno.

A statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina yesterday, said the president directed the Osinbajo committee to investigate allegations of violations of law and due process made against Lawal in the award of contracts under the Presidential Initiative on the North East (PINE), running into millions of naira.

Also to be investigated, according to the presidential aide, is the recent recovery of N13.3 billion, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), from a residential apartment at Osborne Towers, Ikoyi, Lagos, over which the NIA has made a claim.

Both officers would remain on suspension until the outcome of the investigations expected within 14 days. Consequently, the most senior permanent secretary in the SGF's office, and the most senior officer in the NIA respectively, are to act during the period of investigation.

Adesina said the investigative committee has the mandate to dig up how and by whose authority the Osborne Towers funds were made available to the NIA, and to establish whether or not there has been a breach of the law or security procedure in obtaining its custody and use.

There have been claims that the cache of funds discovered at Osborne Towers was part of the money approved for the NIA by the former President Goodluck Jonathan's administration for arms procurement.

But the claims have several grey areas, which the Osinbajo committee would probably illuminate in the course of its investigation. The issues

include whether the NIA briefed the President and the NSA about the money as well as why it was the wife of the intelligence agency’s boss and not its officials that kept it in the Ikoyi flat, that is now referred to as ‘safe house.’

The president had persistently been accused of shielding the SGF who had in December last year been accused by the Senate of awarding contracts for grass cutting in the crisis-ridden North-eastern part of Nigeria to his company, Rholavision. He was also accused of awarding contracts to Josmo Technologies to the tune of N272 million only for Josmo to allegedly pay back the sum into Rholavision's Ecobank account some days later.

The Senate allegations followed the adoption of the report of its ad-hoc Committee on Mounting Humanitarian Crisis in North-east.

But when the SGF visited the vice-president in his office yesterday and was accosted by State House correspondents, he feigned ignorance of his suspension.

Asked for his reaction to his suspension, Lawal who was not ready to respond to journalists' questions, said: "Who announced it?" When told it was the Presidency, he retorted: "Ask them."

Below are the excerpts of the interview with the SGF. Your suspension has just been announced.

How will you react to the development?

Who announced it?

The Presidency Then, ask them. Why are you asking me? Who is the Presidency?

Have you been informed of the suspension?

By who? About what? What about you? Have you been informed?

Yes. By who?

By the Presidency.

I have not seen it. I should have been given... I have not seen the press release so I cannot comment on it.

It is currently trending

online. Are you doubting the authenticity of the statement?

I have not seen it.

Tell us the outcome of your meeting with the vice-president.

I am always here. I always meet the vice-president. I used to come here even before I was made SGF. However, the DG, NIA, Oke, who arrived the Villa with the intention of seeing the president over his suspension, was blocked by security operatives.

Consequently, Oke attempted to see the vice-president but realising that journalists were waiting to ask him questions and take his visuals, he opted to turn back. He only returned some minutes later after journalists had been asked to leave the scene.

Giving more insights into the presidential directives yesterday, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Garba Shehu, said Lawal’s suspension indicated a major crackdown on corruption, explaining that the president was extending the fight beyond party lines.

Speaking last night on Arise News, a sister broadcast company of THISDAY in Abuja, the presidential spokesman said the president acted on the Senate’s interim report when its final investigative report was taking longer to come in.

He said: “You know that the Senate of the Federal Republic had undertaken an investigation concerning some contract awards for the reconstruction of the North-east destroyed

by Boko Haram. These were supervised by his own office and the allegation was that they had found his hand through companies registered in his name in some of the contracts that were awarded.

“The Senate gave an interim report to the president upon which the president said look: “did you get a fair hearing? and the Secretary to the Government said he hadn’t received any, on account of which the president referred the matter back to the Senate and said they should

Senate Committee others React The Senate ad-hoc committee investigating the Mounting Humanitarian Crises in the

ACCESS BANK APPOINTS ROOSEVELT OGBONNA AS GROUP DEPUTY MANAGING DIRECTOR Accountants of Nigeria. He is an alumnus of the Senior Executives Fellows program at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and has attended various Executive

Management Development programs at leading global institutions including the Institute of Management Development (IMD), the Wharton School of Business,

and INSEAD. He is a Non-Executive Director of Access Bank (Zambia) and the Access Bank (United Kingdom).

He is also a member of

several reputable professional organisations, including Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts, Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria and the Future

Leaders Group of the Institute of International Finance.

Ogbonna’s appointment has been approved by the Central Bank of Nigeria.

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NEWS

Savage Delighted to Sell Nigerian, African Brand Ejiofor Alike A music icon, Tiwa Savage, has stated that she is delighted to sell the Nigerian and African brand to the global entertainment community, adding that she would not change the brand but work harder to present it better to the world.

Speaking yesterday on the Morning Show of Arise Television, a sister broadcast station of THISDAY Newspapers, Savage who described herself as a modern-day Fela girl, argued that the late African beat icon’s girls were misunderstood.

She stated that even when she sent her works to the United Kingdom (UK) and the rhythm could not be understood, she refused to change her style, adding that Nigerians and Africans were indeed learning to appreciate their own.

She said: “If you don’t try, you won’t succeed. It is not time for me to relax and say that I am at the same level with Rihanna. I need to do my thing. I need the support of Nigerians and the whole continent.

When I go to the UK to perform, they appreciate us more than American

artistes. We are learning to appreciate our own. It is so cool to be a Nigerian and African. The ‘pidgin’ english (an English-based pidgin and creole language spoken as a lingua franca across Nigeria) is there but we are trying to present it better to the world.”

According to her, before she moved back to Nigeria in 2009, the music in Nigerian clubs was 70 per cent American and only 30 per cent Africans.

“But when I came back, it changed with the presence of D’bang, Tuface, Don Jazzy and the rest of Nigerian artistes. We did not care whether the rest of the world was listening or not,” she added.

“I am delighted to sell the Nigerian brand; I don’t need to change some of the songs. When I sent the rhythm to the UK and they did not understand, I don’t need to change anything,” she said.

The mother of one said her music was like Jollof rice.

“I am in love with Jollof rice. When I prepare it, I can dish it out anyhow and eat. But when you have guest, you dish it out in a very special way. That

Savage is what we do in music,” Savage explained.

On her plans for next year, the music icon pledged to work harder for Africans and the rest of the world, adding that she would increase her last year’s efforts by 100 per cent to encourage African

women.

She said she wanted to encourage African women to understand that getting married or having kids should not put an end to their career.

According to her: “When you get married or have kids- it doesn’t mean that

your career has ended. Your career has just started. I worked under Don Jazzy who is extremely talented.

If you look at his catalogue, no two songs are the same.

I cannot take all the credit.

When I was pregnant, he was very understanding and very helpful. These guys

were very understanding about women issues.”

Speaking on Fela’s girls, she argued that they were misunderstood, adding that people acknowledged the late Afro Beats' king as a godfather and forgot the women that added glamour to his music.

According to her, what Fela’s girls did on stage was mere entertainment, which did not mean that they were loose off stage.

“These girls were misunderstood.

What they did on stage was just entertainment. What they do on stage doesn’t mean that they are loose off stage. People say Fela is godfather but people forget the women that added glamour to Fela’s show,” she said.

Savage explained further: “When I performed initially in Nigeria, they screamed that it was too much; that it was too sexy. We are still fighting the same battle the Fela girls fought. There is no way a movie and entertainment will not have sexual scenes. The only thing we can do as Africans is to provide guidelines. You cannot stop an artiste from being sexual in entertainment.”

APC Governors, NWC Meet Today Over Conflict, Poor Funding Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja The National Working Committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) will today meet with its 24 state governors to find solutions to some conflicts and financial problems facing the party.

The meeting with the governors comes on the heels of accusation by the Bauchi State Governor, Mohammed Abubakar, that the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, is opposing his administration due to his governorship ambition.

The governor who spoke to journalists on Tuesday evening, shortly after a project inspection in the state, said that the national chairman of the APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, has

scheduled a meeting with the governors in Abuja.

Although the governor did not give details of the agenda of the meeting, THISDAY gathered that the national chairman would intimate the governors with plans for the forthcoming National Executive Committee meeting and efforts to reconcile discontented members of the party.

While speaking on his relationship with the party structure in the state and national levels, the Bauchi State governor said that as far as the relationship with the party at the national level was concerned, everything was cordial.

He said: "Yesterday in the afternoon I was at the multipurpose hall for the closing ceremonies of the veteran badminton

championship that attracted 34 teams from all over Nigeria, when the national chairman of the APC, Chief John Oyegun, called me and said, ‘my governor, please I have decided to call for an emergency meeting with the governors for Thursday, please call your colleagues around you.’ I think that is an indication of some measure of confidence between the leadership of the party and myself."

The governor said that the party in the state was intact and behind his government, adding that there was no problem whatsoever with the party.

On his frosty relationship with Dogara and some Bauchi State legislators in the National Assembly, the governor said the criticisms by the lawmakers

were politically motivated and not based on any realistic assessment of his performance so far.

He explained that apart from clearing all outstanding salaries of workers, the state government had embarked on several development projects, some of which had been completed.

"In one word, ambition is what is fuelling opposition against my administration.

But my argument is that now is not the time for that. This is the time to come together and work for the people of Bauchi State. By the time we are ready to begin politics, everybody is free to come and aspire to any office. And we are not the only state that have that crop of lawmakers in Abuja but none of them is behaving the way our own is behaving, so it is essentially

ambition.

"I have tried as much as possible to be transparent in the running of the affairs of this government and to deliver on my promises despite the crunchy economic situation that we are in.

When we took over the first thing I was confronted with even before was I sworn-in as governor was that Labour was on strike because they were being owed four months salaries,” he said, adding that he was, however, able to pacify the workers and got them to go back to work.

On the allegation that the government got a loan without approvals, he said that he requested and obtained the approval of the House of Assembly to secure N4 billion loan to take care of the immediate needs of

the state.

He explained that the state government paid one month salary of workers, procured 10,000 metric tones of fertilizer, which was distributed to every ward in the state and the financed hajj operations from the loan.

The governor also gave account of the utilization of the N8.6 billion bailout fund granted by the Federal Government for the payment of outstanding worker's salaries.

“We used the N8.6 billion, less N88 million, at the initial stage to offset the outstanding salaries. Labour, both state and national, wrote me letters of commendation,” he said, explaining that the remaining N88 million was used to settle outstanding salaries for staff of the stateowned university.

stated.

However, it anticipated that the recovery will remain weak, with growth expected to rise only slightly above population growth, a pace that hampers efforts to boost employment and reduce poverty.

"Nigeria, South Africa, and Angola, the continent’s largest economies, are seeing a rebound from the sharp slowdown in 2016, but the recovery has been slow due to insufficient adjustment to low commodity prices and policy uncertainty.

Furthermore, several oil exporters in the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) are facing economic difficulties," the journal said.

The latest data revealed

that seven countries (Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, Rwanda, Senegal, and Tanzania) continued to exhibit economic resilience, supported by domestic demand, posting annual growth rates above 5.4 per cent in 2015-2017. These countries house nearly 27 per cent of the region’s population and account for 13 per cent of the region’s total GDP. According to the journal: "The global economic outlook is improving and should support the recovery in the region. Africa’s Pulse notes that the continent’s aggregate growth is expected to rise to 3.2 per cent in 2018 and 3.5 per cent in 2019, reflecting a recovery in the largest economies.

“It will remain subdued

for oil exporters, while metal exporters are projected to see a moderate uptick. GDP growth in countries whose economies depend less on extractive commodities should remain robust, underpinned by infrastructure investments, resilient services sectors, and the recovery of agricultural production.

This is especially the case for Ethiopia, Senegal, and Tanzania.

Quoting World Bank Chief Economist for the Africa Region, Albert G. Zeufack, it said: "A strongerthan-expected tightening of global financing conditions, weaker improvements in commodity prices, and a rise in protectionist sentiment represent downside external risks to the outlook. On the domestic front, risks to

the current recovery stem from an inadequate pace of reforms, rising security threats, and political volatility ahead of elections in some countries.

The report which was written by World Bank Lead Economist, Punam Chuhan-Pole, explained that as countries moved towards fiscal adjustment, there was need to protect the right conditions for investment so that Sub-Saharan African countries achieve a more robust recovery.

“With poverty rates still high, regaining the growth momentum is imperative.

Growth needs to be more inclusive and will involve tackling the slowdown in investment and the high trade logistics that stand in the way of competitiveness," it said.

IMF ENDORSES NIGERIA’S ECONOMIC RECOVERY PLAN there have been forecasted recovery, but still very fragile this year and the need to address the fiscal situation is urgent. Our recommendation is for the continued fiscal consolidation.

"One striking statistics I think is the fact that over the past years, the ratio of interest payment to tax revenue has doubled to 66 per cent in Nigeria. So, twothirds of all tax revenue is going into interest payment, illustrating the need to raise tax revenue. That would allow the government to implement the social and growth-friendly policies that are part of the objectives of the ERGP." A fortnight ago, President Muhammadu Buhari launched the ERGP 20172020. The Medium-Term

plan has among its broad strategic objectives, the restoration of sustainable, accelerated and inclusive growth and development; investing in the people and building a globally competitive economy.

Meanwhile, the economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa has been projected to rebound in 2017 after registering the worst decline in more than two decades in 2016, according to the new Africa’s Pulse, a bi-annual analysis of the state of African economies conducted by the World Bank.

The region is showing signs of recovery, and regional growth is projected to reach 2.6 per cent in 2017, the report released on the side-lines of the ongoing meetings in Washington

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COMMENT

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

SEXUALISATION OF CHILDREN: MATTERS ARISING (1) Let’s talk about sex, urges Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi

O

n Wednesday, April 12, Sonnie Ekwuwosi wrote an article that was published in THISDAY newspaper called ‘Sexualisation of Children: Matters Arising’. It did not come as a surprise to me because he has been frantically circulating his sensationalist claims about adolescent sexuality, sex education and the proposed Gender and Equal Opportunities Bill (GEOB) online for some time now.

In his THISDAY article, he mentioned my name and that of a good friend, Oby Nwankwo, Nigeria’s representative on the United Nations’ CEDAW Committee, as champions of sex education as a right for children, and also accused us of pushing the GEOB that will ‘promote homosexuality and abortion’.

People are entitled to their own opinions, no matter how archaic, uninformed or scary they might be. They are however not entitled to their own facts. Mr Sonnie Ekwuwosi has a right to write. When he insists on spending energy to convince people that there is a grand conspiracy to corrupt Nigerian children under the guise of Comprehensive Sexuality Education, he should realise that he is treading on thin ice. I take strong objection to Sonnie making libelous statements about my beliefs and values. In an attempt to come across as the champion of morality, he paints women like me as villains who are out to wreak havoc on the moral fabric of our communities.

I have never met Sonnie Ekwuwosi. The interaction I have had with him has been through a recently created WhatsApp group for people working on gender issues. After a while it dawned on some of us that Sonnie was the wrong man to have been added to the group. Sonnie was unrelenting in his rants against any reference to ‘bodily integrity’, ‘sexuality’, ‘sex education’, ‘choice,’ and so on. He would go on and on about how our ideas were anti-African and were responsible for the collapse of our traditional values. He kept accusing us of promoting abortion and lesbianism. He would not listen to reason and he would make one absurd claim after another.

After a while it was decided that because his views were so alarmingly anti-women, he should be removed from the platform because he had constituted himself into an unwelcome distraction. We all agreed on Sonnie’s rights to his views, but we wanted him to take them elsewhere and not clog our space. Sonnie’s removal from our WhatsApp group infuriated him no end. I was woken up the following morning by a journalist friend who called me and then forwarded a text Sonnie had sent to her.

In his usual long rant, he claimed that some of us are out to ‘sexualise’ Nigerian children and import foreign values. He named me and

UNESCO DESCRIBES COMPREHENSIVE SEXUALITY EDUCATION AS AN ‘AGEAPPROPRIATE, CULTURALLY RELEVANT APPROACH TO TEACHING ABOUT SEX AND RELATIONSHIPS BY PROVIDING SCIENTIFICALLY ACCURATE, REALISTIC, NONJUDGMENTAL INFORMATION’

Oby Nwankwo, as some of the ‘ringleaders’. He wanted my journalist friend to interview him so he could ‘expose us’. My friend refused.

The text was an abridged version of his article which eventually appeared in THISDAY on April 12. Sonnie Ekwuwosi is an editorial board member of THISDAY so I suppose they don’t have a choice other than to provide him space to air his views.

This is what the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) has to say about Comprehensive Sexuality Education, ‘Comprehensive Sexuality Education enables young people to protect their health, well-being and dignity. These programmes are based on human rights principles and they advance gender equality and the rights and empowerment of young people’. UNFPA also goes on to state that, ‘every young person will one day have life-changing decisions to make about their sexual and reproductive health. Yet research shows that the majority of adolescents lack the knowledge required to make those decisions responsibly, leaving them vulnerable to coercion, sexually transmitted infections and unintended pregnancy’. One of my favourites is the UNESCOposition which describes comprehensive sexuality education as an ‘age-appropriate, culturally relevant approach to teaching about sex and relationships by providing scientifically accurate, realistic, non-judgmental information’.

I am in my 50’s. Like most people in my generation, my parents never had any deep discussions with me about sex. The most I was told was to ‘stay away from boys’. When I was in high school, there was this classmate of mine who was one of the brightest girls in the class. She also seemed to be the most worldly when it came to matters of boys and sex. One day about six of us were having a conversation about sex. We were all curious and asked each other questions which, in hindsight, none of us had any truthful answers to.

My classmate declared, very confidently, ‘You can’t get pregnant unless you have an orgasm’. The rest of us did not know what an orgasm was, and we were too embarrassed to ask for fear of displaying our ignorance. We believed her because she seemed to know what she was talking about. This friend did not take her final examinations with us. She was pregnant. When I heard the news I said to myself, ‘she must have had an orgasm’. That was almost four decades ago.

Every time the issue of adolescent sexuality comes up I remember the sad case of my naïve, misinformed classmate.

Adeleye-Fayemi is a gender specialist, social entrepreneur and writer. She is the founder of abovewhispers.com, an online community for women

WAR AGAINST SUBSTANDARD PRODUCTS Rogers Edor Ochela writes that Osita Aboloma, chief executive of SON, is up to the task

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oday, it is no longer debatable that many unscrupulous Nigerians and some foreigners in their desperate quest to amass primitive wealth at all costs have perfected the art of either making or selling substandard products, unmindful of the devastating consequences of their actions on innocent citizens. As a matter of fact, the cost implications of the mindless acts especially as they relate to the health and general wellbeing of the citizenry and the economy of the nation are mind-boggling and unquantifiable in monetary or material terms.

For decades, the nefarious activities have been a source of concern and huge challenge to successive governments in the country and the ordinary citizens alike. The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) is the federal government’s agency solely vested with the enormous responsibility of standardising and regulating the quality of all products in Nigeria.

The mandate of the organisation is clearly spelt out in the SON Act, No. 14, of 2015 which repealed and overrides all other previous ones.

The organisation is empowered by its enabling act to enforce, seize, confiscate and destroy substandard products. It equally enjoys powers to seal off premises where defective products are manufactured or stored. Severe penalties for offending manufacturers, importers and sellers of substandard products are provided for in the SON Act as amended in 2015.

The SON has been profoundly fired up under its current leadership headed by Mr. Osita Anthony Aboloma to pick up the gauntlet against architects of substandard products. Aboloma has vowed to make business miserable for product counterfeiters. Also, the organisation has set for itself the goal to provide Nigerian industries with up-to-date information on standardisation and its benefits.

This is with a view to encouraging participation of the Organised Private Sector (OPS) in the standardisation and review to ensure improved competitiveness of Nigerian goods at home and

abroad by engendering quality assurance practices.

Apart from what has been mentioned previously, SON in the present dispensation, is also better poised to provide information, advice and assistance to industries to meet the required competitiveness in global trade, and to motivate the workforce through steady investment in human resource development for acquisition of skills in line with technological advancement. These huge challenges notwithstanding, there is only one word to qualify what is happening at the organisation today under the leadership of Mr. Aboloma: revolution!

What is happening at SON under its new helmsman, Aboloma can be likened to a silent revolution that is bound to reverberate positively across the country for a long time. The coming to the stage by Aboloma coincided with a time when all hopes seemed forlorn and when many were crying out stridently for deliverance from unbridled product counterfeiting and quackery in the land. In a nutshell, the new SON chief executive ushers new hope!

Aboloma’s ascension at the SON has understandably attracted high expectations from the workforce of the organisation and Nigerians in general. He has so far kept fidelity with his firm pledge to utilise his professional experience as a seasoned legal practitioner to pursue and prosecute dealers in substandard products wherever they may be found.

Expectedly, Aboloma, who is yet to clock a year in office, has significantly succeeded in turning things around in many fronts since taking over from Dr. Paul Angya as the substantive Director-General/ Chief Executive Officer of the Organisation. It can therefore be stated that he is on track in fulfiling his promise of action.

The truth is that SON is today redefining the war on fake and substandard products. In the light of the foregoing, the verve of the organisation that seemed threatened some years ago due to a combination of factors is being gradually restored under Aboloma’s stewardship. Using his assertive will coupled with his legendary strong aversion for

things that are against the development of the nation as handmaidens, the DG has been disarming many violators of set standards thereby warming his way into the hearts of many Nigerians.

First and foremost, Aboloma’s fidelity to due process and accountability has ensured an admirable husbandry of the limited resources of the organisation, thereby impacting positively on the implementation of the core mandate of the agency.

SON, which was established by Act No. 56 of 1971, with three amendments in 1976, 1984 and 1990 and the unprecedented passing of its amended act by the immediate seventh National Assembly in 2015, has now acquired new powers not only to arrest, prosecute and jail purveyors of fake and sub-standard products across the country, but prevent importers of such products into the country.

With this upgraded status, the war against fake and sub-standard products has been given additional impetus. Aboloma aptly defines dealers in substandard and adulterated products as terrorists in view of the danger their criminal activities pose to the lives and wellbeing of Nigerians. He has clearly enumerated some of the electronic platforms being deployed by SON to tackle the menace of substandard products circulation as including the mandatory conformity assessment programme (MANCAP) for locally manufactured products; SONCAP, for certification of imported products from source; product registration for documentation and traceability of all products in the market and library services for access to relevant standards for local production import and export with ease, among others.

It is to Aboloma’s eternal credit and some of his predecessors too that SON has worked relentlessly to make a positive mark in the war against fake and substandard products. Worthy of note is the evident reduction in the rate of production of substandard goods in Nigeria. Considering the propensity of some Nigerians to cut corners in their insatiable quest to acquire wealth by all means, especially in the area of faking products, what SON has achieved so far is worthy of commendation. This is not to say

that the war against substandard and counterfeit products has been exhaustively fought and won. No, the battle is a continuous one.

Nonetheless, some of the agency’s triumphs, especially under Aboloma’s superintendence include: seizure of N5billion worth of substandard tyres and the arrest of two Chinese nationals in connection with the importation; sealing off of several shops in Jos for selling substandard foreign electric cables worth millions of naira; prosecution of 40 suspected producers of substandard goods in Ondo State; seizure of substandard telephones worth millions of naira in ICT market, Ikeja.

Others are: confiscation of N200million worth of substandard handsets; impoundment of three containers of substandard gas cylinders in Lagos and sealing off of four warehouses with substandard products worth N400 million and the seizure of over N200 million fabrics in three different markets in Lagos.

Equally worthy of note here is the seizure of about N2 billion worth of expired household products in a three-storey building in Lagos. The goods were being clandestinely sold to supermarkets and open markets as wholesome products within the city and other parts of the country.

Determined to provide guidance on how businesses and organisations can operate in a socially responsible way, SON has launched the ISO 26000. ISO 26000 is Guidance Standard on Social Responsibility.

Similarly, in a bid to ensure that offenders are severely punished for infringing on the laws of the land either through production, importation or selling of substandard products, the organisation has imposed a fine of N1million or life imprisonment on offenders. The arrest and ongoing diligent prosecution of the Chinese nationals who imported a whopping N5 billion worth of fake tyres, for instance, clearly demonstrates that it’s no longer business as usual for purveyors of substandard products in the country.

Ochela wrote from Abuja

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EDITORIAL ARE BULLION VAN DRIVERS LICENSED TO KILL? The Federal Road Safety Corps must enforce its laws

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ast week, a bullion van, driven recklessly and in a very irresponsible manner, claimed the lives of two Nigerians and injured three others for no reason except that the man on wheel was apparently in a hurry. The driver of the vehicle said to be on top speed lost control of the Toyota Hilux pick-up van and rammed into a motorcycle conveying a candidate preparing for his Joint Admissions and Matriculation examinations in LaďŹ a, Nasarawa State.

Three prospective UniďŹ ed Tertiary Matriculation candidates processing their papers at a commercial bank branch were also seriously injured.

We have stated repeatedly in this space, even as we do so again, that the authorities must do something about the wanton loss of innocent lives caused by these mad drivers. For years, many Nigerians have been at the mercy of these killer-drivers whose daredevilry on the road have claimed the lives of numerous innocent citizens. Drivers in the convoy of top government ofďŹ cials, escorts, bank ofďŹ cials and the well-heeled in society WHY IS IT CONVENIENT break trafďŹ c rules and FOR FRSC OFFICERS regulation at will--a TO BREATH DOWN THE phenomenon that has NECK OF ORDINARY yet to be corrected CITIZENS WHILE AVOIDING over the years.

SPEEDING BULLION However, the bullion van drivers VAN DRIVERS OR GOVERNMENT CONVOYS? are a special case when it comes to reckless driving. But is it supposed to be so? Why can’t these drivers show more concern to the safety of other road users and indeed theirs’ by diligently obeying trafďŹ c rules and regulations? Why is it convenient for FRSC ofďŹ cers to breath down the neck of ordinary citizens while avoiding speeding bullion van drivers or government convoys? Are they above the law? Is the requirement to deliver money at some banks a license to murder people on the road?

What’s more, the so-called bullion van drivers,

Letters to the Editor

like their cousins in convoys, not only kill, maim and abuse the rights of other road users by forcing them off the roads, many of those who had the effrontery to challenge them had been bloodied or subjected to humiliating treatment. As His Eminence, Sa’ad Abubakar, the Sultan of Sokoto rightly observed not long ago, many trafďŹ c accidents were caused by the overzealousness of these drivers. “The FRSC should do more to curb the recklessness of government convoy on the roads. They should not stop ordinary Nigerians who are struggling to survive. I am yet to see FRSC ofďŹ cers stopping a government convoy,â€? he said.

T T H I S DAY EDITOR

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he Corps Marshall of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Mr. Boboye Oyeyemi, had indeed admitted that “road trafďŹ c crashes don’t just happen; they are caused either by omission or commission of the drivers, and therefore, could be averted if drivers are committed to carefully observing the causative factors.â€? So why can’t the FRSC enforce trafďŹ c rules and regulations among these irresponsible lot so as to avoid actions that could compromise safety on the roads?

What is lost on these bullion van drivers is the implications of harassing the very tax payers whose money was used to purchase the vehicles and to pay their salaries. The way and manner they go about terrorising other road users had always left the public wondering whether these drivers were under instruction from their superiors to break the rules of civilised conduct. When will many of the convoy drivers begin to demonstrate some civility and respect for trafďŹ c rules so we can put an end to executive recklessness on our roads?

The FRSC has a sacred duty to ensure that the safety and the welfare of the citizenry are uppermost by enforcing trafďŹ c rules and regulations, no matter whose ox is gored. That bullion drivers carry money does not give them any excuse to drive recklessly. The FRSC authorities must begin to challenge this deadly impunity.

TO OUR READERS Letters in response to speciďŹ c 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.

DEARTH OF MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS IN NIGERIA

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henever we encounter tragedies, we should learn to control emotions, watch our utterances and channel energies from such unpleasant experiences into stuff that will yield positive fruits in the future.

What I’m writing now was inspired by the lamentations of a Nigerian-born doctor working in the NHS (UK) who has been cursing Nigeria as a country on her social media account since she heard of the demise of her good friend.

The deceased died due to the usual negligence that occurs in most Nigerian hospitals (public and private). It was an avoidable death but no thanks to our nonchalant medical personnel, what was supposed to be a routine medical procedure somewhere in a hospital in Imo State, sent her to the next world. The lady in question was also a Facebook friend of mine, a very lively and intelligent young woman. This happened the same week a UK based 18-year-old Nigerian girl by name Kika who just returned home for the Easter holidays died after she underwent a procedure to remove her appendicitis.

It’s always painful when we lose loved ones especially under such circumstances. I use this opportunity to throw the challenge at the tens (if not hundreds) of thousands of Nigerian specialists doctors in the United Kingdom (especially), Europe, Middle-East, America, etc., to unite and come up with contingency plan(s) that would repair the systematic rot and save Medicare in Nigeria.

Most Nigerian trained doctors lack the x-factor needed to turn the health system ‘back on its feet’, reason why I’m looking up to Nigerian-born doctors practising abroad whose professionalism,

dedication and skill aren’t in doubt. I’m not saying this to spite Nigerian doctors without foreign training or experience, I’m just saying the undiluted truth based on personal experience and the little exposure I had abroad. Most Nigerian trained (based) medical doctors lack the basic professionalism, passion and emotions needed to attend to human beings. There’s this air of arrogance some (especially the young ones) move with and it can only be subdued if/when they undergo some kind of training in a foreign land where a very high premium is placed on human lives. I made friends with a lot of Nigerian doctors during my brief sojourn in the UK and observed a number of them (who had it in them before) shed the aura of arrogance associated with medical practice in Nigeria and transform to world class professionals within a short space of time. And whenever Nigerian doctors abroad inculcate this, they always turn out the best doctors amongst their peers due to the Nigerian spirit in them.

I’m not totally writing off Nigerian doctors, I’m only saying a huge percentage (say 70%) have been overwhelmed (or subdued) by the ‘anything goes’ Nigerian system. Such doctors no longer understand the meaning of the Hippocratic Oath which they ‘swore’ to during their induction. These 70% are usually found in government hospitals and they’re the ones giving the system its nasty image. On one occasion, my Dad was nearly slapped by a young medical doctor for ‘daring’ to interrupt him during a supposed tete-a-tete. His sin: he suggested a medical formula/ procedure for his child who was the patient-in-waiting based on his medical history. I lost a brother about 10 years ago because the clinic inside the University of Calabar campus was being

mismanaged and not equipped to standard- the medical doctor in charge was busy siphoning monies meant for the running of that clinic for personal use.

This level of un-professionalism is unacceptable even in Ghana.

Imagine a doctor shouting down the guardian of his patient on flimsy grounds in Europe. That doctor won’t only be suspended from practising for some years, he could also be made to pay damages.

Growing up in Calabar, we had doctors(specialists) like Dr. Asindi (paediatrician), Dr Udosen (plastic surgeon), Dr. Oscar Umoh (orthopaedist) returning back from abroad after years of practise (or study) to help sanitise/stabilise the system. The trio stood out and gave so much back to the society. If not for Dr. Oscar Umoh who studied (and I think practised) orthopaedic medicine in Germany, I could have lost the ability to walk at the age of eight. One of my hips had shifted from its socket, I was in serious pains and could no longer walk unaided; there seemed to be no remedy in sight. All the doctors we went to couldn’t even interpret the X-ray, when we were eventually directed to (the now late) Dr. Oscar Umoh, he ‘finished work’ and the rest as they say, is history.

I don’t know what template they’re going to use but I’m pleading with well-meaning Nigerian (specialists) doctors practising overseas to, having come back home to establish (or at least train our Nigerian doctors on medical ethics and professionalism) their practice should be at the back of their minds. That is one of the few ways in which the medical sector in Nigeria can be sanitised.

Dr. Paul John, Port Harcourt

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T H I S D AY THURSDAY APRIL 20, 2017

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T H I S D AY ˾ THURSDAY, APRIL 20, 2017

POLITICS

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

PERSONALITY INTERVIEW

Saraki: Our Salaries Will Be Made Public in 2017 Budget The Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, in an interview anchored by Charles Aniagolu of ARISE News Network, the broadcast arm of THISDAY newspapers, spoke on the relationship between the executive and Senate, the possibility of the National Assembly stepping into the discovery of N13.3 billion discovered by the EFCC, the economy, and the budget of the National Assembly, among other issues. Onyebuchi Ezigbo presents the excerpts:

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conversation are really just joining, we have already made that decision that by the time the budget is passed in the next few weeks, that would be seen. In my view, it is to the advantage of the National Assembly because when you hear statements like ‘the National Assembly legislatures are the most paid’, what people do is that they take the budget sum and just divide the amount by all the legislators and base what every legislator gets on that.

We must take part of that blame because the process has not been transparent. However, by the time you see what goes into the salaries of aides, management, capital, running cost, actual salary of the legislators, what goes to running their offices, you will see the breakdowns and I think that is when the commentaries should start.

et’s begin with the relationship between the Senate and the executive led by President Buhari; is there some kind of face-off between the two arms of government?

Well, I have had the opportunity recently to talk about the face-off and I have said I don’t see that, there is more noise than the actual face-off. I think the relationship now is much better than it was a year ago. I think that judging by our interactions and how we support government’s policies; if you look at confirmation of appointments, I think we are doing close to 90 per cent of executive confirmations, which have been successful. If you look at the relationship with regards to the economy where government has required the parliament’s support for foreign loans they have gotten our support. If you look at the budget of 2017, the process is better than it was in 2016. We are working closer with them on some of these issues, but of course by virtue of our position, by virtue of the presidential system we operate which is basically based on check and balances, there is bound to be friction from time to time.

What I tell people is that you can’t judge those one-off issues as the foundation to define the relationship. Definitely there would be cases where the president would send somebody for confirmation and we would say no and there are some cases we would say yes.

I understand the point about checks and balances. But it appears that your rejection of the nomination of Ibrahim Magu as EFCC chair did not go down well with the executive. The vice-president had to set up a reconciliation committee to try to make up with the National Assembly over that.

Let me take the first issue. I don’t think the committee was set up based on the fact that we rejected a nominee. There are many nominees that we have rejected. We must look at this as an institution. We can’t define our democracy based on individuals. There is a process and the process in my view is transparent.

The president sent a name, it has come before the Senate and the nominee was rejected and that is it. We have played our own part and I think even the executive is not basing their relationship on that.

So why was the reconciliation committee set up?

As I speak to you, I am not aware of the committee. I think it was announced after a cabinet meeting and since then that hasn’t happened.

Doesn’t that underscore the fact that the relationship is quite frosty because if it was announced and then nothing has been done to follow it up?

No, maybe because on a second thought, the issue is whether the committee is really necessary and secondly, as I keep saying when the relationship in my view wasn’t as good as this, when it concerned major issues like the budget, we didn’t even have a committee then.

I think these issues are issues that we would weather through.

To me, I don’t think you can define the relationship between the legislature and the executive based on one nominee. We have played our part and we have left it to the executive to play its part and we are addressing, in my view, more important issues.

Saraki

So what you are saying basically is that there is no face-off?

Face-off is a strong word to use. I think there are one or two issues that are there, but that can’t define the relationship. I think face-off is a strong word to use because of the rejection of one nominee.

The lifespan of the 2016 budget expires on May 5th, which is less than three weeks from now. What is holding up the passage of the budget and will it be ready for implementation

One of the strengths of the Senate is that from day one, we have always said that we have a plan; a legislative agenda and that it would be a Senate that is more proactive and strategic, as opposed to just reactive. Our focus has always been on the economy

by midnight of 5th of May? It is a process. It is clear that since January, four good months, sometime is required for this process but you can see definitely that there has been significant improvement with the way the executive and the legislative have worked together on this budget. There is less rancour, there is better understanding and I am sure that by the time we come back, the budget would be laid and it would be passed.

That is the plan we have put in place and we have held wide consultations and I am confident that it would happen.

Is it true that 44 out of 68 committees in the Senate are yet to defend their budget proposals before the appropriation committee?

No, that isn’t true as of yesterday. Now, what they are doing is just compiling all the reports.

Most of the committees have defended their budgets. What they are doing is compilation of all the submissions. The plan is that when we come back on the 25th of April, that week, we should go on to the final consideration of the report. That is the plan. What the appropriation committee is doing now is just checking to see that most of the committees have done their work properly. This is just the house keeping part, which is tedious.

Let me go to another point, which you raised about the National Assembly budget which is quite different. The issue has been lingering for years because in the past and till now people felt that there was no information on the details (of the National Assembly budget) and I promised that when I became the president of the Senate, we would make it transparent and for me we hoped we would have done it for 2016. But we did not have a united Senate and unfortunately we didn’t settle down united as quick as we could. But for the 2017 process, the openness of the National Assembly budget is a done deal. The people now joining in the

According to the Economist magazine, Nigerian federal legislatures received much higher salaries than their counterparts in wealthier countries. The publication revealed that a Nigerian legislator receives an annual salary of $189,000 which is 116 times Nigeria’s Growth Domestic Product per person and well above what parliamentarians in 29 countries whose data were analyzed by the magazine received.

What is your take on this?

That is exactly the point I am making. Those figures are based on the fact that they have taken the bulk of the budget of N115 billion divided by the 469 people and came up with a figure of $116,000. By the time you see the detailed budget, that is why I said the commentaries should wait till the detailed budget is released.

You will see what is for salaries, allowances, cost of running the office, cost of management, cost of legislative studies, and you see will the capital budget. So you will know how much the legislators’ salary is and how much he is paid to run his office which he has to retire. But because over the years it has never been made public, people have concluded that ‘if they are not going to tell us I am just going to simply calculate it’. If you look at other countries like the UK and the US, a US senator has close to a million or two million dollars to run his office and nobody adds that as his salary.

So are you saying that you get quite a lot of money to run your office?

No, I am not saying that. What I am saying is because we haven’t broken down our budget.

(Cuts in) But why haven’t you broken it down?

We are on the same side. I have said to you, we are going to do that in a transparent manner. I agree with you and that is why we are committed to doing it and that would be in a few weeks.

Let’s trust what you are saying. Do you also get allowances for car maintenance, domestic staff, constituency work, entertainment, wardrobe and much more, do you get all that?

You get your allowances which is part of your salary that is fixed by the Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Commission.

So you don’t get wardrobe allowance?

You do get, but that allowance isn’t different from anybody in the public sector. We don’t CONTINUED ON PAGE 19

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INTERVIEW SARAKI: OUR SALARIES WILL BE MADE PUBLIC IN 2017 BUDGET before the House of Representatives or Senate to explain to Nigerians.

make those figures, the figures are from the revenue commission. It endorses salaries for all public sector workers.. Then you have the budget of the National Assembly that has to do with the management, running of offices and capital projects. By the time you see the breakdown, people will have a better understanding and then we can now begin to address what we think. But for now, let me be clear we are not helping ourselves too in this situation, the moment we are transparent, I think people will have a better understanding of things.

And is that the best way to put the controversy of this money to rest?

If it has to come to that, I think an agency like this should be able to manage the situation on its own.

Do you believe those who say the anticorruption fight by the president is targeted at members of the opposition and people who are not supporting the Buhari government?

It won’t be fair to say that.

We look forward to that but what about something called quarterly allowance that lawmakers pay themselves, something known as office running cost?

It is not an allowance.

But it is named office running cost. At the last count in 2009, this so called office running cost amounted to N192 million per senator per quarter and N140 million for a member of the House of Reps per quarter. Have those allowances increased or decreased?

You see, you used the word allowances and I think that is a misrepresentation, but the figures are not true. As I said, the detail of the budget of the National Assembly will be made public.

You have waited over a decade and you will always have me here and that is why I am saying these figures are not true, these figures are being passed around because nobody has had the opportunity to see the budget detail.

So you don’t get quarterly allowances?

They are not allowances. We don’t get quarterly allowances because they are not allowances.

You have a budget for management; you have a budget for running cost.

It doesn’t matter what you call it, the fact is that Nigeria is mired by a terrible recession.

Workers are being laid off, some have not been paid their salaries. If a senator is getting N192 million for something called running cots, wont that be odious and obscene?

It is not running cost, it isn’t an allowance; there are specific line items and as I said, you will see those line items when you see the details.

By the time you see the details, you will have a different picture.

Senator Ben Murray-Bruce once called for a reduction of allowances for the members of the National Assembly which he thought were just absolutely obscene. Do you as president of the Senate support that course?

That has happened. The allowances of the National Assembly was as high as N160 billion (sic) in the last couple of years, three years to be specific but it has come down from N160 billion to N115 billion. So we are sensitive to the issue and that is why we are reducing costs and even in 2016 despite the depreciation of the naira, there was still a significant reduction.

Are you saying that you have taken account of the terrible state of the Nigerian economy and have decided to empathize with the people you serve as lawmakers by taking a pay and allowance cut?

If you hold on to your cost when we are having close to a 250 per cent depreciation, that is a cut, if you look at it from that point of view and that we have been able to do and it is going to be transparent for us to be able to debate.

On the economy, the government has just released its economic recovery and growth plan, which has been broadly welcomed internationally but also roundly criticized for some of the things lacking on it. What do you make of that plan?

I think it is a good plan. I think it is a good starting point. The most important thing is to focus on having a much diversified economy.

To try to move away from revenue that is solely based on oil. We have non-oil revenue of just 4.4 per cent of our GDP. We must see how we can increase our taxes, widen the base, and that would help significantly. A plan where you try and reduce domestic borrowing, give enough opportunity to the private sector, take less expensive foreign loans that have clear deliverables. We must also make sure we work hard on the Niger Delta area. There are good things that have come out of that plan. If you remember last year, the Senate came together and held a debate on the economy. One of the

Saraki

strengths of the Senate is that from day one, we have always said that we have a plan; a legislative agenda and that it would be a Senate that is more proactive and strategic, as opposed to just reactive. Our focus has always been on the economy. So some of these issues that the plan covered, I think laying the foundation for recovery and if we can implement largely to ensure that we diversify the economy in the area of agriculture which is key and we ensure that the government’s fiscal policy supports that and that there are no somersaults or contradictions, that will help significantly. I like the fact that the government is also looking at what we can do with our infrastructure. This is where we have supported tremendously. If you look at some of the laws we have put forth, some of the laws that are trying to encourage the private sector participation in infrastructure development. I believe this is where the growth is going to come from.

The problem is that these things have all been said before. The oversight function of the National Assembly comes in here because the big issue of Nigeria has never been about plans but implementation.

But we are doing that. I mean, the implementation. I have said that this Senate is a place where a lot of promises have been kept.

For example, where we have the Petroleum Industry Bill at this point has never been to this level. We have got bills that have been laid for over 10 years. The PIB never saw the light of day. We promised that we would pass it but a lot of people said we would not do it but we have done it. There is a bill on the railway sector which is over 50 years, it has never been passed but we have passed that. We have bills that support road maintenance and infrastructure which had never been passed.

What I am saying in essence is that these are not just promises, they are promises that we

Let me say that there may be a possibility that the EFCC might come before us, so I don’t want to prejudge them, but what I am saying is that Nigerians must know who owns the money (N13.3 billion) to save us all this embarrassment

are keeping. However, if we want to improve the environment for doing business then it isn’t just an oversight function, because if someone is going to invest in infrastructure or agriculture, he wants stability. It is a long term project. He wants to see the enabling environment, he wants to see that the law is there that would support this. In the past, we didn’t focus on important laws. What we are doing in the Senate is to focus on the laws that will help small scale and medium businesses. If you look at access to finance we have passed two bills. There is one in the area of agriculture, we have two on secured transactions and a lot of small-scale companies don’t have collaterals, all they have are receipts for their commercial goods. So there has been a lot of focus on those points.

I know that based on what has happened in the past, Nigerians are very skeptical. When we started the PIB, people never gave us a chance. PIB was meant to be an executive bill driven with executive proceeds but we said that we are going to ensure that this 8th Senate is different and we have done it and I am sure that we are going to pass it soon.

With the dust raised over the $43 million recovered from a luxury apartment in Lagos, who do you reckon the $43 million belongs to?

I don’t think I should speculate and say who it might belong to but I think it is the responsibility of the EFCC to come out and tell Nigerians who it belongs to and this whole circus will come to an end. The matter is very simple; the agency that has found this money should just come out with the owner of the money, because it isn’t good when we have different speculations of it belonging to some persons and agencies of government. Whoever it is, we shall determine what our conclusions are but at the moment, this circus must come to an end. I think they owe Nigerians the duty of telling us who this money belongs to. I really believe that the fight against corruption should be institutional and I think we should reduce the sensational aspect of this.

Is it not within the powers of the National Assembly to step in and summon both the EFCC and the National Intelligence Agency?

No, what I am saying is that this matter shouldn’t happen in the first place because it has been badly managed. As a last resort, yes if they don’t resolve it and tell Nigerians who the money belongs to, definitely we will do that but I am saying it could have been avoided, it is a very simple matter.

Do you wonder why the EFCC didn’t monitor that apartment to see who goes in and comes out before going in to grab the money? Isn’t that in some extent a failure in law enforcement in your assessment?

Let me say that there may be a possibility that the EFCC might come before us, so I don’t want to prejudge them, but what I am saying is that Nigerians must know who owns the money (N13.3 billion) to save us all this embarrassment.

I believe they should come up quickly and if they don’t, then definitely they would come

Well how many people in the Buhari APC party in which you are now a member, of course you were a former member of the PDP, have been persecuted or come after for corruption?

But I think again my view on the fight against corruption is let’s not personalise it as being a Buhari fight but as a fight for all Nigerians and the sooner we begin to do that, the sooner we begin to make progress. What are those laws, what are we doing to strengthen the processes. I went to a lecture and somebody said people that are corrupt are very patient, they can sleep for eight years and wait to start corruption. I obviously believe that we are getting it wrong and I think we should try and get a process that is so transparent, the process of the investigation is transparent and people will not believe otherwise. Don’t get me wrong. There are cases like that which are clearly political and because the process isn’t transparent enough, so I think that is what we should focus on quickly.

We have before us at the National Assembly about four bills; one we have referred to as constitutional issues of having a special anticorruption court that has to go to a constitution amendment committee. The one on whistle blowing is done, it is going to be laid next week, the money laundering bill has been taken back by the executive and I think we only have one and I think the focus on government’s part is to see how to strengthen institutions. As a doctor we learn not to treat the symptoms but the disease and I think what we are doing is treating the symptoms and not the disease.

What is your reaction to President Buhari’s illness and the fact that he extended his stay and never told Nigerians what was the matter?

He extended his stay as he said he needed more time to do more tests and be sure that he was fit to come back. I remember in the heat of it all there were a lot of speculations and if you could play back a lot of comments made by people, a lot of them had jumped into a conclusion and I had an opportunity to see him when I was in London and I made a statement that there was no cause for alarm and the president would be back and that is what has happened.

Well if there is no cause for alarm why doesn’t he tell the people what the problem is?

Maybe the issue isn’t that huge; you and I can’t speak for him; that is a personal choice.

But you are a check and balance institution, you represent the people. Don’t the people have the right to know what is wrong with the president?

That decision is his. Did the government run while he was away? Yes. Is the government running while he is here? Yes. What we should try to do is to focus on those issues that truly in my view that would address the problems of the people. If his health is such that it begins to incapacitate the performance of government, which I don’t think so, and I believe we need to be conscious of that. If you could remember we did a lot of harm with all the speculations and a lot of people said he won’t come back but he did. I really believe that for now that isn’t an issue. What we should address is the problems facing Nigerians today. I think that is the major issue and I will go back to it that we must look at the economy of the country.

Why did the Senate reject a bill that was aimed at eliminating all forms of discrimination against women: the Gender and Equal Opportunity Bill which would have promoted equality for women in marriage, inheritance and education?

Again you have got your facts wrong. It was rejected for the first time and it came the second time and we passed it.

20

THURSDAY, APRIL 20, 2017 ˾ T H I S D AY

FEATURES

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

A Shoemaker with Promise Onyinye Chima, a graduate of English Literature, is turning into one of Nigeria’s promising entrepreneurs bringing creativity and style to the world of shoe making, writes Peter Uzoho

H

er creativity and desire to make a difference keeps driving her. She is determined not to be a job seeker but to be a job provider in a world of growing joblessness. And this is in tandem with her motto-‘to employ myself and employ others’. Chima, a graduate of English Literature from Ekiti State University, is one of Nigeria’s young graduates anxious to contribute towards solving the country’s economic problems through manufacturing.

She is a budding entrepreneur bringing her entrepreneurial spirit and skills to bear in the world of shoe making.

She makes fashionable sandals and slippers for all sexes, satisfying the taste of young and old in foot wears. Indeed, she realised the importance of this aspect of man’s need and wants to solve it.

“People constantly yearn for new things and I’m out to give them that,” she told THISDAY. Even when in Nigeria, shoe making business and craft is widely believed to be a vocation reserved for the male folk, she refuses to allow that ro dissuade her from fulfilling her ambition. Her bold step to defy the odd clearly shows her ability to conquer stereotype and succeed. She is a typical example of what a man can do, a woman can do even better. To her, going the easy way is out of question. Her being a woman is never a restraining factor as she always pushes to accomplish whatever she sets her mind on, not minding how tough that can be. “I like doing things that people see as difficult. I like trying new things,” she said confidently. Chima’s interest in creative work did not just start. At her tender age, she was fond of fixing things when they are spoilt in the house to the amazement of her siblings. “When someone’s cloth got torn I would be the one to sew it or stitch it back. I like using my hands and brain to create or fix things,” she stated.

While in the university, Chima was also learning how to make shoes as a part time programme. She always kept herself busy, trying to balance academic work with something more practical. Done with her programme, she started making quality sandals and slippers on her own. In 2015, when she completed her degree programme and was deployed to Osun State for the compulsory one year national service as a corps member. She could not resist the urge to continue shoe making work despite the inconvenience of combining that with her national assignment.

Also, as someone disposed to learning new things and laying her hands on different things, she decided to use her NYSC period to also learn how to make liquid soap and hair shampoo conditioner.

Being so passionate about her shoe making business, she continued in her shoe manufacturing immediately after her youth service. Although, she does not have enough resources to acquire some of the tools needed to expand her business, she continues looking the way of notable organisations that have been supporting budding entrepreneurs, such as the Tony Elumelu Foundation, the Bank of Industry, and other SME-friendly financial institutions, for support. "I am committed to this business and I want to remain focused on satisfying my customers.

I strongly believe that at the right time, the required support would come from the Tony Elumelu Foundation, the Bank of Industry or any other reputable organisation," she enthused. While many see shoe making as a non-profitable business, Chima says there is much to gain in the business. “It’s profitable.

You know putting on shoes and other foot wears is very important. There is no one that doesn’t wear it. Both young and old people wear shoes, and for them to wear it they must buy it from people like us. So it’s

Chima coupling women's sandals

profitable because it’s something that records non-stop sales not minding the season. So long as you can make good shoes, people will definitely be looking for you, and as they come and buy, you make your money,"

I am committed to this business and I want to remain focused on satisfying my customers.

I strongly believe that at the right time, the required support would come from the Tony Elumelu Foundation, the Bank of Industry or any other reputable organisation

she explained.

Ordinarily, as always viewed in our clime, being a young lady and a university graduate, one would have expected Chima to have her eyes on an elitist job- to work in a bank, oil and gas, or to be a university lecturer just to satisfy her ego whether there is passion on the job or not, and whether she will be productive in the job or not. But, on the contrary, humility has remained a major factor oiling her ambition as she maintains a very cordial and courteous relationship with her customers, both young and old.

She realises the real worth of a customer and accords them their ‘kingship’ respect.

The odd nature of the job of shoe making in relation to her gender and people’s perception about it has in no way discouraged her as she remains resolute in following her passion.

To her, the impact of what she is doing on her life is uppermost and so no cause to chicken out.

“When I’m set to do what will be of benefit to my life I don’t get discouraged by what people say or how they view it. I don’t feel shy doing what I want to do. People can say whatever they want but it won’t bother me.

But there was no discouragement from my friends because they know me as someone that loves creativity. So when I told some

of them they didn’t discourage me instead they supported me. Some even do come around to help me in the work. Life is about having the right friends and relatives with you,” she explained.

Knowing the complexity of venturing into a business dominated by men, the shoe stylist believes in updating her knowledge on new trends in the business in order to compete favorably; gain a fair share of the market, and grow in it. “It requires continuous learning- learning new ideas about the business. New designs come up you just want to know how it’s done. You see someone doing something new, you want to put your eyes on the ground to know how to do it,” she noted.

According to her, many people are in the business of manufacturing shoes but not every one of them can produce neat shoes. She said her selling point is in the finishing of the work and her ability to deliver promptly. “This is what makes my customers to always come to look for me. I pay much attention to my work. I make sure I do a neat work that drives my customers crazy.

When I promise them that I will deliver on a particular date I make sure I fulfill it because I know what it means to promise a customer and disappoint him or her at

21

˾ T H I S D AY THURSDAY˜ Ͱͮ˜ Ͱͮͯ͵

FEATURES

Chima filing women's sandals

Chima cutting leather for her work

the end of the day.” In simple terms, she explained how the business will impact on the economy of the country if the needed support is given to her. “These days you find out that many people graduate from school and they don’t get employed. So as I’m starting this I’ve employed myself and by the time the business grows and stabilises I’ll think of employing some people who will be working for me, and through it, they will be sustaining themselves. With that there will be a drop in the unemployment rate.

I will also train people on the job who will later be on their own.”

These days you find out that many people graduate from school and they don’t get employed. So as I’m starting this I’ve employed myself and by the time he business grows and stabilises I’ll think of employing some people who will be working for me, and through it, they will be sustaining themselves. With that there will be a drop in the unemployment rate

Chima (left) haggling price with a customer

However, realising her great entrepreneurial dream is being hindered by lack of capital.

Chima does not have her own shop as she squats with her friend in her shop. She does not have the necessary equipment to do the work and this has been a major concern for her. Now she produces in a small scale and can only serve the demand of few customers

due to lack of capital. “To do this work you need money. So that’s my challenge at the moment. I really need money to do this job. I need money to buy tools like sewing machine, filing machine and others. I need money to buy the materials I use for the work. So these are the major problems I have. I will really appreciate it if government and good

spirited corporate organisations can support me with fund. Also, I beg government to create programmes related to shoe making so that more people can be trained on the job.”

The job of shoe making requires constant electricity to thrive and Chima called on government to improve power supply for the survival of operators in the business.

22

IMAGES

L-R; Executive Director, Real Estate, Alpha Mead Facilities (AMF), Mr. Damola Akindolire; Managing Director/CEO, (AMF), Engr. Femi Akintunde and Company secretary, Ibile Holdings Limited, Mrs. Omonwumi Idowu, at the Ground Breaking ceremony of Green Park Estate; a Joint Venture partnership between Alpha Mead Development Company (AMDC) and Ibile Holdings held in LagosÖ. recently

L-R; Retail Manager, Techno, Ray Fang; MD, Huawei, Peter Zeng; Senior Vice President, Jumi, Shobhit Pandey and CEO, Jumia Nigeria, Juliet Anammah at a press conference by Jumia Nigeria on mobile trends in Arica at lkeja, Lagos...recently Abiodun Ajala

T H I S D AY ˾ ˜ Ͱͮ˜ Ͱͮͯ͵

Photo Editor ÌÓÙÎßØ ÔËÖË Email ËÌÓÙÎßØ˛ËÔËÖË̶ÞÒÓÝÎËãÖÓàÏ˛ÍÙ×

L-R: Director, Academic Planning Unit, Yaba College of Technology, Dr Adedeji Oyediran; Managing Director, Energy Institute Nigeria, Mrs. Yewande Abiose; Chairman, Energy Institute Nigeria, Mr Osten Olorunsola; and Principal Consultant, Lonadek, Dr. Ibilola Amao, during the graduate engineering training scheme (GETS) induction program, in Lagos... recently

L-R: Representative of Lagos State Governor and th Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Tunji Bello; acting Commissioner for Tourism, Art and Culture, Hon Adebimpe Akinsola; Commissioner for Wealth Creation and Employment, Mr. Babatunde Durosinmi-Etti and the former finance Commissioner, Mr. Wale Edun, during the boat Regatta to mark the 50th years anniversary celebrations of Lagos State...recently KOLA OLASUPO

L-R: Governor of Kogi State, Alhaji Yahaya Bello; Manager, First City Monument Bank (FCMB), Lokoja, Mrs. Blessing Abdulmalik and Group Head, Public Sector, Mr. Hamid Joda, during the Bankís team visit to the Governor in Lokoja, Kogi State... recently

L-R: Glo subscribers, Chikelu Abana, Rose Ateri, Nollywood great, Richard Mofe-Damijo; Tina Adolphus and Terry Ajubaat at Globacomís mega comedy show in Port Harcourt....recently

Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, inspecting some of the constituency projects facilitated by him in Kwara Central Senatorial District, Ilorin...recently

L-R; COO of AOS Orwell/SPE member, Lester Clark; Publicity Secretary of the SPE, Engr. Ernest Mkpasi; Chairman of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Nigeria Council, Dr Saka Matemilola; CEO, GE Oil and Gas for West and Central Africa, Doyin Akinyanju and SPE Board of Trustees member, Engr Kofi Sagoe when GE played host to the Nigeria Council of the SPE in Lagos,... recently.

T H I S D AY Ëž Ëœ Í°ÍŽËœ Í°ÍŽÍŻÍľ

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Quick Takes 5% of IT Companies Digitally Ready Ă?ĂĄ Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă‹ĂœĂ?Ă’ Ă?ÒÙåĂ? ÞÒËÞ Ă™Ă˜Ă–ĂŁ Íł ĂšĂ?Ăœ Ă?Ă?Ă˜Ăž Ă™Ă? Ă–Ă‹ĂœĂ‘Ă? Ă?Ă™Ă—ĂšĂ‹Ă˜Ă“Ă?Ă? Ă‹ĂœĂ? ĂšĂœĂ?ĂšĂ‹ĂœĂ?ĂŽ ÞÙ Ă—Ă?Ă?Ăž Ă˜Ă?Ă™ĂœĂ—Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜ Ă?Ă?Ă’Ă˜Ă™Ă–Ă™Ă‘ĂŁ Ě™ Ěš ĂœĂ?Ă›Ă&#x;Ă“ĂœĂ?Ă—Ă?Ă˜ĂžĂ? Ă™Ă? ÞÒĂ? Ă˜Ă?ĂĄ ÎÓÑÓÞËÖ ĂŒĂ&#x;Ă?Ă“Ă˜Ă?Ă?Ă?Ë› Ă?Ă–Ă– Ă‹Ă˜Ă˜Ă™Ă&#x;Ă˜Ă?Ă?ĂŽ ÞÒĂ? ĂœĂ?Ă?Ă&#x;Ă–ĂžĂ? Ă™Ă? Ă‹ Ă˜Ă?ĂĄ Ă?ĂžĂ&#x;ĂŽĂŁ Ă?Ă™Ă˜ĂŽĂ&#x;Ă?ĂžĂ?ĂŽ ĂŒĂŁ Ă˜ĂžĂ?ĂœĂšĂœĂ“Ă?Ă? ĂžĂœĂ‹ĂžĂ?Ă‘ĂŁ ĂœĂ™Ă&#x;Ăš Ě™ ĚšËœ ĂĄĂ’Ă“Ă?Ă’ ĂœĂ?Ă Ă?Ă‹Ă–Ă?ĂŽ ÞÒËÞ Ă‹ Ă—Ă‹Ă”Ă™ĂœĂ“ĂžĂŁ Ă™Ă? Ă?Ă?Ă˜Ă“Ă™Ăœ Ă–Ă?Ă‹ĂŽĂ?ĂœĂ? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ĂŽĂ?Ă?Ă“Ă?Ă“Ă™Ă˜Ě‹Ă—Ă‹Ă•Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă—Ă‹Ă˜Ă‹Ă‘Ă?ĂœĂ? Ă™Ă? Ă–Ă‹ĂœĂ‘Ă? Ă?Ă™Ă—ĂšĂ‹Ă˜Ă“Ă?Ă? Ă?Ă&#x;ĂœĂ Ă?ĂŁĂ?ĂŽ Ă‹ĂœĂ™Ă&#x;Ă˜ĂŽ ÞÒĂ? ĂĄĂ™ĂœĂ–ĂŽ Ă“Ă˜ĂŽĂ“Ă?Ă‹ĂžĂ? ÞÒĂ?Ă“Ăœ Ă™ĂœĂ‘Ă‹Ă˜Ă“Ă?Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ă? ĂĄĂ?ĂœĂ? ĂŁĂ?Ăž ÞÙ Ă?Ă&#x;Ă–Ă–ĂŁ Ă?Ă—ĂŒĂœĂ‹Ă?Ă? ÞÒĂ? Ă‹Ă?ĂšĂ?Ă?ĂžĂ? Ă™Ă? ĂžĂœĂ‹Ă˜Ă?Ă?Ă™ĂœĂ—Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜ Ă˜Ă?Ă?ĂŽĂ?ĂŽ ÞÙ ĂœĂ?Ă—Ă‹Ă“Ă˜ Ă?Ù×ÚĂ?ÞÓÞÓà Ă?Ë› Ă’Ă“Ă–Ă? ÞÒĂ?ĂœĂ? Ă“Ă? Ă‹ Ă?Ă–Ă?Ă‹Ăœ Ă“Ă—ĂšĂ?ĂœĂ‹ĂžĂ“Ă Ă? Ă?Ă™Ăœ Ă?Ă™Ă—ĂšĂ‹Ă˜Ă“Ă?Ă? ÞÙ ĂžĂœĂ‹Ă˜Ă?Ă?Ă™ĂœĂ— ÞÒĂ?Ă“Ăœ Ă–Ă?Ă‘Ă‹Ă?ĂŁ Ëœ ÎÓÑÓÞËÖ ĂžĂœĂ‹Ă˜Ă?Ă?Ă™ĂœĂ—Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜ Ă“Ă? ĂŒĂ?Ă?Ă™Ă—Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ ÞÒĂ? ĂŽĂœĂ“Ă Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă?Ă™ĂœĂ?Ă? ÞÙ Ă—Ă‹Ă•Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ ĂžĂœĂ‹Ă˜Ă?Ă?Ă™ĂœĂ—Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜ Ă‹ ÞÙÚ ĂšĂœĂ“Ă™ĂœĂ“ĂžĂŁË› ÙåĂ?Ă Ă?Ăœ ÞÒĂ? Í°ÍŽÍŻÍľ ĂœĂ‹Ă˜Ă?Ă?Ă™ĂœĂ—Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜ Ă‹ĂžĂ&#x;ĂœĂ“ĂžĂŁ Ă&#x;ĂœĂ Ă? Ă?ĂžĂ&#x;ĂŽĂŁ Ă?Ù××ÓĂ?Ă?Ă“Ă™Ă˜Ă?ĂŽ ĂŒĂŁ Ă?Ă–Ă– Ă?ÒÙåĂ? ÞÒËÞ ͡ͳ ĂšĂ?Ăœ Ă?Ă?Ă˜Ăž Ă™Ă? Ă?Ă&#x;ĂœĂ Ă?ĂŁ ĂœĂ?Ă?ĂšĂ™Ă˜ĂŽĂ?Ă˜ĂžĂ? Ă“Ă˜ĂŽĂ“Ă?Ă‹ĂžĂ? ÞÒĂ?Ă“Ăœ Ă™ĂœĂ‘Ă‹Ă˜Ă“Ă?Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ă? Ă‹ĂœĂ? Ă‹Ăž ĂœĂ“Ă?Ă• Ă™Ă? Ă?Ă‹Ă–Ă–Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ ĂŒĂ?Ă’Ă“Ă˜ĂŽ Ă‹ Ă?Ă—Ă‹Ă–Ă–Ă?Ăœ Ă‘ĂœĂ™Ă&#x;Ăš Ă™Ă? Ă“Ă˜ĂŽĂ&#x;Ă?ĂžĂœĂŁ ĂšĂ?Ă?ĂœĂ? ÞÒËÞ Ă‹ĂœĂ? ĂžĂœĂ‹Ă˜Ă?Ă?Ă™ĂœĂ—Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ ÞÒĂ?Ă“Ăœ Ă“Ă˜Ă?ĂœĂ‹Ă?ĂžĂœĂ&#x;Ă?ĂžĂ&#x;ĂœĂ?Ă?Ëœ ĂšĂœĂ™Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ĂŽĂ?Ă–Ă“Ă Ă?ĂœĂŁ Ă—Ă?ÞÒÙÎĂ? ÞÙ Ă‹Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă–Ă?ĂœĂ‹ĂžĂ? ÞÒĂ?Ă“Ăœ ÑÙËÖĂ? Ă™Ă? ĂŒĂ?Ă?Ă™Ă—Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ ÎÓÑÓÞËÖ ĂŒĂ&#x;Ă?Ă“Ă˜Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă?Ë›

Tv Episode Harps on Fake Products

FIDELITY SME FORUM ON RADIO

L-R: Managing Director/CEO, Fidelity Bank Plc. Nnamdi Okonkwo; Veteran Actor and former Delta State Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Richard Mofe Damijo and Divisional Head, Fidelity Managed SMEs Division, Ken Opara at the Entertainment Series of the Fidelity SME Forum on Radio, shared insights on achieving sustainability in Nigerian Entertainment Industry‌recently

NBCC Tasks CBN on Sustainable Monetary Policy Stories by Emma Okonji The Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce (NBCC) has called on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to focus more on sustainable monetary policy that would drive infrastructural development, enhance tax compliance and ensure a favourable environment for the growth of small and medium enterprise (SME) businesses in the country.

The Chamber also urged the apex bank to adopt monetary policies that would boost capital inflows, encourage domestic lending and enhance production for export.

President of NBCC, Dapo Adelegan, who gave the advice

ECONOMY while analysing the Chamber’s quarterly review of the Nigerian economy, identified decline in economic activities, increase in unemployment rate and high operating cost as some of the negative effects that emanated as a result of the restrictions earlier placed on foreign exchange.

Addressing foreign portfolio investment, Adelegan said the foreign inflow has dropped from N53.20 billion in April 2015 to N14.52 billion in April 2016.

He noted that many investors had left the country due to foreign exchange restriction and economic downturn.

Adelegan however expressed

optimism that the new foreign exchange policy adopted by the CBN would bring in more foreign funds as it has started attracting domestic capital to the equity market. He said the new guidelines would also attract foreign investors back to the country through foreign direct investment (FDI) and provide domestic companies with funding and expertise.

Speaking on the economic recovery and growth plan of the federal government, which addresses major structural deficiencies, Adelagan said: “The success of the plan lies on the ability of government to implement and executive these policies.�

He said the federal govern-

ment must consider concessions of federal assets in order to attract private capital that would efficiently exploit these valuable assets that are currently lying unutilised. Private investment will also reduce the burden on the government to utilise moribund assets, Adelegan said.

He added that a holistic tax reform that would among other outcomes, increase the tax base by effectively absorbing the informal sector into the economy, was also imperative.

Speaking on the implications of foreign borrowing, which he said formed a significant portion of the federal government’s plan to plug the N2.3 Continued on page 24

Survey Reveals New Initiatives on Surgeries

By Robots A study carried out by YouGov, the world’s premier qualitative and quantitative research suppliers, and featured in the recent report of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), has revealed countries’ support for minor surgeries performed by robots, in place of human doctors.

According to the study, majority of people from Nigeria, Turkey and South Africa, were willing to receive care from these advanced technologies, which have the potential to transform healthcare delivery to make it better, faster and more accessible for all.

The findings are explored in PwC’s report –What doctor?

Why Artificial Intelligence (AI) and robotics will define New Health – which is based on a commissioned survey of over 11,000 people from 12 countries

IT across Europe, the Middle East and Africa including Nigeria.

Across the region, more than half of respondents, which is about 55 per cent said they were willing to use advanced computer technology or robots with AI that can answer health questions, perform tests, make a diagnosis and recommend treatment.

The survey found that even in the operating theatre, respondents would be willing for a robot to perform a minor surgical procedure instead of a doctor, with close to half and up to 73 per cent of all respondents willing. Respondents in Nigeria, Turkey and South Africa were the most willing to undergo minor surgery performed by robots, showing 73 per cent,

66 per cent and 62 per cent respectively, with the UK the least willing, which is about 36 per cent.

Although majority of the respondents were willing to undergo minor surgeries performed by robots, few said they would not mind undergoing major surgeries like replacement of a knee or hip joint, removal of a tumour, or heart surgery, performed by robots.

Analysing the survey study, Partner and Advisory Leader, PwC Nigeria, Dr. Bert Odiaka, said: “Whether we like it or not, AI and robotics are the future of healthcare. Access to quality, affordable healthcare, and good health for everyone are the ultimate goals. The economic and social advantages to be gained from integrating AI and robotics seamlessly into

our existing healthcare systems, and then creating new models of healthcare based on these technologies, are enormous.�

He said the survey report would pose some challenges for government, business and the profession, but advised that governments must create quality standards and a regulatory framework that are applicable to and obligatory for the entire healthcare sector, as well as the appropriate incentives for adopting new approaches.

He said healthcare professionals would need to understand how AI and robotics have the potential to work for and with them in a medical setting as well as throughout the healthcare eco-system, and be open to Continued on page 24

Ă™ĂšĚ‹Ă˜Ă™ĂžĂ?Ă’ Ă?Ă–Ă?Ă Ă“Ă?Ă“Ă™Ă˜ ĂŽĂœĂ‹Ă—Ă‹ Ă?Ă?ĂœĂ“Ă?Ă?Ëœ ĂœĂ™Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă™Ăœ Ă™Ă’Ă˜ĂŒĂ&#x;Ă–Ă–Ëœ ÚÙåĂ?ĂœĂ?ĂŽ ĂŒĂŁ Ă–Ă™ĂŒĂ‹Ă?Ă™Ă—Ëœ ĂĄĂ“Ă–Ă– ÞÒÓĂ? ĂĄĂ?Ă?Ă• äĂ?ĂœĂ™ Ă“Ă˜ Ă™Ă˜ ÞÒĂ? ĂŽĂ‹Ă?ĂžĂ‹ĂœĂŽĂ–ĂŁ Ă‹Ă?Ăž Ă™Ă? Ă—Ă‹ĂœĂ•Ă?ĂžĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă?Ă‹Ă•Ă? ĂšĂœĂ™ĂŽĂ&#x;Ă?ĂžĂ? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă“ĂžĂ? ĂœĂ?ĂšĂ?ĂœĂ?Ă&#x;Ă?Ă?Ă“Ă™Ă˜Ă? Ă™Ă˜ ÞÒĂ? Ă?ÓÞÓäĂ?Ă˜ĂœĂŁË› ÓÞÖĂ?ĂŽ ËŠ Ă&#x;ĂŒĂ?ĂžĂ‹Ă˜ĂŽĂ‹ĂœĂŽ ĂœĂ™ĂŽĂ&#x;Ă?ĂžĂ?ËŞËœ ÞÒĂ? Ă–Ă‹ĂžĂ?Ă?Ăž Ă?ÚÓĂ?ÙÎĂ? Ă’Ă“Ă‘Ă’Ă–Ă“Ă‘Ă’ĂžĂ? ÞÒĂ? Ă‹ĘľĂ?Ă˜ĂŽĂ‹Ă˜Ăž Ă’Ă?ËÖÞÒ Ă’Ă‹Ă¤Ă‹ĂœĂŽĂ? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ÙÞÒĂ?Ăœ Ă˜Ă?ÑËÞÓà Ă? Ó×ÚÖÓĂ?Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ă? Ă™Ă? Ă?Ă&#x;Ă?Ă’ ĂšĂœĂ™ĂŽĂ&#x;Ă?ĂžĂ? Ă™Ă˜ Ă?Ă™Ă˜Ă?Ă&#x;Ă—Ă?ĂœĂ?Ë› Ă?Ă?Ă™ĂœĂŽĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ ÞÙ Ă–Ă™ĂŒĂ‹Ă?Ă™Ă—Ëœ ÞÒÓĂ? ĂĄĂ?Ă?Ă•ËŞĂ? Ă?ÚÓĂ?ÙÎĂ? ĂĄĂ™Ă&#x;Ă–ĂŽ ĂŒĂ? Ă?Ă?Ă’Ă?ĂŽĂ&#x;Ă–Ă?ĂŽ Ă?Ă™Ăœ ĂŒĂœĂ™Ă‹ĂŽĂ?Ă‹Ă?Ăž Ă‹Ăž ͜˛͹͎ ڲײ Ă™Ă˜ Ă&#x;Ă?Ă?ĂŽĂ‹ĂŁ ĂŒĂŁ Ă?ĂžĂĄĂ™ĂœĂ•Ëœ

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OLX Supports IDPs Ă˜Ă–Ă“Ă˜Ă? Ă?Ă–Ă‹Ă?Ă?ÓʨĂ?ĂŽĂ?Ëœ Ă“Ă‘Ă?ĂœĂ“Ă‹Ëœ ÞÒÓĂ? Ă‹Ă?ĂžĂ?ĂœËœ Ă?Ă’Ă‹ĂœĂ?ĂŽ Ă’Ă‹ĂšĂšĂ“Ă˜Ă?Ă?Ă? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ÒÙÚĂ? ĂŒĂŁ Ă?Ă&#x;ĂšĂšĂ™ĂœĂžĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ ÞÒĂ? Ă? Ă‹ĂœĂ?Ͳ Ă? Ă˜Ă“ĂžĂ“Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă Ă?Ë› Ă’Ă? Ă?Ă‹Ă—ĂšĂ‹Ă“Ă‘Ă˜ Ă“Ă? ĂŽĂ?ĂŽĂ“Ă?Ă‹ĂžĂ?ĂŽ ÞÙ ĂœĂ‹Ă“Ă?Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă?Ă&#x;Ă˜ĂŽĂ? ÞÙ Ă?Ă&#x;ĂšĂšĂ™ĂœĂž Ă˜ĂžĂ?ĂœĂ˜Ă‹Ă–Ă–ĂŁ Ă“Ă?ÚÖËĂ?Ă?ĂŽ Ă?ĂœĂ?Ă™Ă˜Ă? Ě™ Ă?ĚšËœ Ă‹Ă? ĂšĂ‹ĂœĂž Ă™Ă? ÞÒĂ?Ă“Ăœ Ă?ĘĽĂ™ĂœĂžĂ? ÞÙ Ă—Ă‹Ă•Ă? Ă‹ ÚÙĂ?ÓÞÓà Ă? Ó×ÚËĂ?Ăž Ă™Ă˜ Ă“Ă‘Ă?ĂœĂ“Ă‹Ă˜Ă?Ë› Ă’Ă? Ă‹Ă˜Ă‹Ă‘Ă?Ă—Ă?Ă˜Ăž Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă?ÞËʼ Ă™Ă? Ă?Ă‹Ă—Ă? ÞÙÑĂ?ÞÒĂ?Ăœ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ĂœĂ‹Ă“Ă?Ă?ĂŽ ÍłÍŽÍŽËœÍŽÍŽÍŽ ÞÙ ĂŽĂ™Ă˜Ă‹ĂžĂ? ÞÙ ÞÒĂ? Ă?Ë×Ú˛ Ă&#x;ĂŒĂ–Ă“Ă? Ă?Ă–Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ă? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ù××Ă&#x;Ă˜Ă“Ă?Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ă? Ă?Ă‹ĂŽËœ Ëœ Ă?Ă’Ă? ĂĄĂ‹Ă‘ĂŒĂ™Ă?Ă™Ëœ ĂĄĂ’Ă™ Ă—Ă‹ĂŽĂ? ÞÒĂ? ĂŽĂ“Ă?Ă?Ă–Ă™Ă?Ă&#x;ĂœĂ?Ëœ Ă?ÞËÞĂ?ĂŽ ÞÒËÞ ĂœĂ?Ă—Ă‹Ă“Ă˜Ă?ĂŽ Ă‹ Ă?Ă™Ă—ĂšĂ‹Ă˜ĂŁ ÞÒËÞ Ă“Ă? ÚËĂ?Ă?Ă“Ă™Ă˜Ă‹ĂžĂ? Ă‹ĂŒĂ™Ă&#x;Ăž Ă“Ă—ĂšĂœĂ™Ă Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ ÞÒĂ? Ă–Ă“Ă Ă?Ă? Ă™Ă? ĂšĂ?ÙÚÖĂ? Ă“Ă˜ ÞÒĂ? Ă?Ù××Ă&#x;Ă˜Ă“ĂžĂŁ Ă“Ă˜ ĂĄĂ’Ă“Ă?Ă’ Ă“Ăž ÙÚĂ?ĂœĂ‹ĂžĂ?Ă? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă‹Ă? Ă?Ă&#x;Ă?Ă’ Ă“ĂŽĂ?Ă˜ĂžĂ“Ę¨Ă?ĂŽ ÞÒĂ?

Ă‹Ă? Ă‹ Ă?Ă‹Ă&#x;Ă?Ă? ÞÙ Ă?Ă&#x;ĂšĂšĂ™ĂœĂž ĂŒĂ?Ă?Ă‹Ă&#x;Ă?Ă? Ă™Ă? ÞÒĂ? Ă?Ă‹Ăœ ĂœĂ?Ă‹Ă?Ă’Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ Ó×ÚËĂ?Ăž Ă™Ă˜ ÞÒĂ? Ă?Ă™Ă&#x;Ă˜ĂžĂœĂŁË› ĂĄĂ‹Ă‘ĂŒĂ™Ă?Ă™ Ă‹Ă–Ă?Ă™ Ă‹ĂŽĂŽĂ?ĂŽË? ËŤ Ă’Ă“Ă? Ă‹Ă?ĂžĂ?Ăœ Ă?Ă?Ă‹Ă?Ă™Ă˜ Ă“Ă? Ă‹ĂŒĂ™Ă&#x;Ăž Ă‘Ă“Ă Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ ÒÙÚĂ? ÞÙ ĂšĂ?ÙÚÖĂ? ĂĄĂ’Ă™ Ă˜Ă?Ă?ĂŽ Ă“Ăž ÞÒĂ? Ă—Ă™Ă?Ăž Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă‹Ă? Ă‹ ĂžĂ?Ă‹Ă— ÞÒÓĂ? Ă“Ă? Ă™Ă&#x;Ăœ ÖÓʾÖĂ? ĂĄĂ‹ĂŁ Ă™Ă? Ă‘Ă“Ă Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ ÒÙÚĂ? ÞÙ ÞÒĂ? Ă?ËŹË› Ă“Ă? Ă?Ă&#x;ĂœĂœĂ?Ă˜ĂžĂ–ĂŁ ĂœĂ&#x;Ă˜Ă˜Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă‹ Ă?Ă‹Ă—ĂšĂ‹Ă“Ă‘Ă˜ Ă™Ă˜ Ă?Ă™Ă?Ă“Ă‹Ă– Ă—Ă?ĂŽĂ“Ă‹ ÞËÑÑĂ?ĂŽ Í­ Ă‹ĂœĂ?Ă?Ͳ ĂĄĂ’Ă?ĂœĂ? Ă—Ă?Ă—ĂŒĂ?ĂœĂ? Ă™Ă? ÞÒĂ? ĂšĂ&#x;ĂŒĂ–Ă“Ă? Ă‹ĂœĂ? Ă&#x;ĂœĂ‘Ă?ĂŽ ÞÙ Ă?Ă&#x;ĂšĂšĂ™ĂœĂž ÞÒĂ? Ă? ĂžĂ’ĂœĂ™Ă&#x;Ă‘Ă’ ĂŽĂ™Ă˜Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ă? Ă™Ă˜ ÒʾÚË?˚˚ ĂŒĂ“ĂžË›Ă–ĂŁËš Ă‹ĂœĂ?Ă?Ͳ Ă?

PR Reports for 2016 Out Today Ă&#x;ĂŒĂ–Ă“Ă? Ă?Ă–Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ă? Ę¨ĂœĂ—Ëœ Ëœ ĂĄĂ“Ă–Ă– ÞÙÎËã ĂœĂ?Ă–Ă?Ă‹Ă?Ă? ÞÒĂ? Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă™Ă˜ĂŽ Ă?ĂŽĂ“ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜ Ă™Ă? Ă“Ă‘Ă?ĂœĂ“Ă‹ Ă?ĂšĂ™ĂœĂž Ě‹ Ă‹ Ă?Ă™Ă—ĂšĂ“Ă–Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜ Ă™Ă? ĂœĂ?Ă?Ă?Ă‹ĂœĂ?Ă’ Ă?ĂžĂ&#x;ĂŽĂŁ ÞÒËÞ ĂœĂ?Ă Ă?Ă‹Ă–Ă? Ă?Ă‹Ă?ĂžĂ? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ʨÑĂ&#x;ĂœĂ?Ă? Ă‹ĂŒĂ™Ă&#x;Ăž Ă“Ă‘Ă?ĂœĂ“Ă‹ËŞĂ? Ă“Ă˜ĂŽĂ&#x;Ă?ĂžĂœĂŁ ĂĄĂ“ĂžĂ’Ă“Ă˜ ÞÒĂ? ĂŁĂ?Ă‹Ăœ Í°ÍŽÍŻÍ´Ë› Ă?ÞËÞĂ?Ă—Ă?Ă˜Ăž Ă“Ă?Ă?Ă&#x;Ă?ĂŽ ĂŒĂŁ ÞÒĂ? Ă‹Ă‘Ă?Ă˜Ă?ĂŁ Ă?ÞËÞĂ?ĂŽ ÞÒËÞ ÞÒĂ? ĂœĂ?ĂšĂ™ĂœĂžËœ ĂĄĂ’Ă“Ă?Ă’ ĂĄĂ‹Ă? Ă?Ă‹ĂœĂœĂ“Ă?ĂŽ Ă™Ă&#x;Ăž ĂŒĂŁ ËŞĂ? ĂœĂ?Ă?Ă?Ă‹ĂœĂ?Ă’ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă“Ă˜ĂžĂ?Ă–Ă–Ă“Ă‘Ă?Ă˜Ă?Ă? ĂŽĂ“Ă Ă“Ă?Ă“Ă™Ă˜ Ă“Ă˜ Ă?Ă™Ă–Ă–Ă‹ĂŒĂ™ĂœĂ‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜ åÓÞÒ ĂœĂ?Ă˜Ęľ Ă™Ă˜Ă?Ă&#x;Ă–ĂžĂ“Ă˜Ă‘Ëœ Ă?Ă™Ă?Ă&#x;Ă?Ă?Ă? Ă—Ă™ĂœĂ? Ă™Ă˜ Ă“Ă˜Ă?Ă“Ă‘Ă’ĂžĂ? ĂŽĂœĂ‹ĂĄĂ˜ Ă?ĂœĂ™Ă— Ă›Ă&#x;ËÖÓʨĂ?ĂŽ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ĂœĂ?Ă–Ă?Ă Ă‹Ă˜Ăž ĂœĂ?Ă?ĂšĂ™Ă˜ĂŽĂ?Ă˜ĂžĂ? ĂĄĂ“ĂžĂ’Ă“Ă˜ Ă?Ă™Ă&#x;Ăœ Ă—Ă‹Ă“Ă˜ Ă?Ă‹ĂžĂ?Ă‘Ă™ĂœĂ“Ă?Ă?Ë› Ă’Ă? Ă?Ă‹ĂžĂ?Ă‘Ă™ĂœĂ“Ă?Ă? Ă‹ĂœĂ?Ëž Ă‹Ă‘Ă?Ă˜Ă?ĂŁ Ă?Ëœ Ă?×ÚÖÙãĂ?Ă?Ă?Ëœ Ă—Ă?ĂŽĂ“Ă‹ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă?Ă–Ă“Ă?Ă˜ĂžĂ? Ě™Ă?ĂœĂ™Ă— Ă Ă‹ĂœĂ“Ă™Ă&#x;Ă? Ă“Ă˜ĂŽĂ&#x;Ă?ĂžĂœĂ“Ă?Ă? Ă™Ă&#x;ĂžĂ?Ă“ĂŽĂ? Ă&#x;ĂŒĂ–Ă“Ă? Ă?Ă–Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ă?̚˛ ËÞË Ă?ÙÖÖĂ?Ă?ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜ ĂžĂ’ĂœĂ™Ă&#x;Ă‘Ă’ ĂœĂ?Ă?Ă?Ă‹ĂœĂ?Ă’ Ă?Ă&#x;ĂœĂ Ă?ĂŁĂ?Ëœ Ă?Ă™Ă?Ă&#x;Ă? Ă‘ĂœĂ™Ă&#x;Ăš ĂŽĂ“Ă?Ă?Ă&#x;Ă?Ă?Ă“Ă™Ă˜Ă? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă“Ă˜ĂžĂ?ĂœĂ Ă“Ă?ĂĄĂ? ĂĄĂ‹Ă? Ă?Ă‹Ă“ĂŽ ÞÙ Ă’Ă‹Ă Ă? ĂŒĂ?Ă?Ă˜ Ă?Ă™Ă˜ĂŽĂ&#x;Ă?ĂžĂ?ĂŽ ĂŒĂŁ ÞÒĂ? Ă?Ă™Ă˜Ă?Ă&#x;Ă–ĂžĂ“Ă˜Ă‘Ëœ ĂĄĂ’Ă™ Ă?Ă™Ă—ĂŒĂ“Ă˜Ă?ĂŽ ÞÒĂ? Ă&#x;Ă?Ă? Ă™Ă? Ă?Ă&#x;ĘľĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă?ĂŽĂ‘Ă? ĂœĂ?Ă?Ă?Ă‹ĂœĂ?Ă’ ĂžĂ?Ă?Ă’Ă˜Ă™Ă–Ă™Ă‘ĂŁ Ă‹Ă? ĂĄĂ?Ă–Ă– Ă‹Ă? ĂžĂ?Ă?Ă’Ă˜Ă“Ă?Ă‹Ă– Ă•Ă˜Ă™ĂĄĚ‹Ă’Ă™ĂĄ Ă™Ă? ÞÒĂ? Ă–Ă™Ă?Ă‹Ă– ĂžĂ?ĂœĂœĂ‹Ă“Ă˜ Ă˜Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜ĂĄĂ“ĂŽĂ? ÞÙ Ă‘Ă–Ă?Ă‹Ă˜ Ă“Ă˜Ă?Ă™ĂœĂ—Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜ Ă?ĂœĂ™Ă— Ă?Ă Ă?ĂœĂŁ Ă‹Ă?ĂšĂ?Ă?Ăž Ă™Ă? ÞÒĂ? Ă“Ă‘Ă?ĂœĂ“Ă‹Ă˜ Ă“Ă˜ĂŽĂ&#x;Ă?ĂžĂœĂŁË›

“Nigeria stands a better position to digitise its activities, based on the size of its population and the zeal for technology among its youths�

Managing Director, Ericsson Nigeria, Mr. Rutger Reman

24

T H I S D AY Ëž Ëœ Í°ÍŽËœ Í°ÍŽÍŻÍľ

NBCC TASKS CBN ON SUSTAINABLE MONETARY POLICY trillion deficit in the proposed 2017 fiscal budget, the NBCC President said “it will place more pressure on Nigeria’s debt service burden which is already about 35 per cent, due to low government revenue.�

He insisted that the influx of FX capital would be essential in bolstering Nigeria’s foreign reserves, which he said, would in turn increase foreign investor’s sentiment on FX liquidity.

According to him, increased borrowing, further disruptions in oil production and failure to meet revenue targets, could result in credit rating downgrades.

He maintained that inflow of foreign capital, coupled with robust fiscal policy, would provide the much needed injection of capital to fund key capital projects that would boost economic recovery and growth.

The CBN, apex financial regulator in February, released a new foreign exchange policy to ease the difficulties encountered by Nigerians in obtaining funds for foreign exchange transactions.

Unveiling the new initiatives, the CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele said the apex bank would “henceforth be providing direct additional funding to banks to meet the needs of Nigerians for personal and business travel, medical needs, and school fees�.

The CBN said such retail transactions would be settled at a rate not exceeding 20 per cent above the interbank market rate.

SURVEY REVEALS NEW INITIATIVES ON SURGERIES BY ROBOTS change.

Odiaka explained that patients would need to become more accustomed to AI and robots and discover its benefits for themselves. “The private sector developing AI and robotics need to create solutions to solve the big issues of demand and resource that every health system faces.

In essence, by providing AI and robotic-driven solutions, the private sector has the opportunity to disrupt healthcare for the good,� Odiaka said.

Group Business Editor

Ă’Ă“Ă•Ă‹ Ă—Ă‹Ă˜Ă¤Ă?Ě‹ ĂĄĂ‹Ă?Ă’Ă&#x;Ă•Ă&#x; AgriBusiness/Industry Editor

ĂœĂ&#x;Ă?Ă™Ă? Ă?Ă‹Ă‘Ă“Ă?

Comms/e-Business Editor

Ă—Ă—Ă‹ Ă•Ă™Ă˜Ă”Ă“ Capital Market Editor

ÙÎÎã Ă‘Ă?Ă˜Ă?

Senior Correspondent

Ă‹Ă’Ă?Ă?Ă— Ă•Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ĂŒĂ™Ă–Ă&#x; (Advertising) Correspondents

Ă’Ă“Ă˜Ă?ĂŽĂ&#x; äĂ? (Aviation) Ă“Ă˜ĂŽĂ‹ ĂœĂ™Ă•Ă? (Labour) ĂœĂ™Ă—Ă™Ă?Ă?Ă–Ă? ĂŒĂ“Ă™ĂŽĂ&#x;Ă˜ (Cap Mkt) ÔÓÙĂ?Ă™Ăœ Ă–Ă“Ă•Ă? (Energy) Ă‹Ă—Ă?Ă? Ă—Ă?ÔÙ (Nation’s Capital) ĂŒĂ“Ă˜Ă˜Ă‹ Ă’Ă“Ă—Ă‹ (Money Mkt) Reporters

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A’Ibom Drags Oil Firm to Court over Unpaid N65bn Tax Liabilities Ndubuisi Francis in Abuja The Akwa Ibom State government has dragged an oil servicing companies operating in the state before the State Revenue Court over N80 billion Pay As You Earn (PAYE) tax liabilities spanning a 10-year period.

In two separate suits: REV/772C/2016 and REV/15C/2016 filed against Globestar Engineering Company (Nigeria) Limited before the state Revenue Court sitting in Uyo, the state capital, the state government is seeking the court’s declaration compelling the company to pay the sum of N65 billion PAYE tax due and payable on income of its employees for a period of 10 years, in compliance with the Personal Income Tax Act of 2004, as amended.

In the charge read by the State Counsel, Eyo Asuquo before the Revenue Court when the matter came up for hearing, the state government accused Globestar of failing to pay the tax on its personnel under the PAYE scheme regulation of 2004, to the Akwa Ibom State government’s treasury.

The state government resorted to the court action after discovering that many of the oil servicing companies operating in the state had failed to remit over N80 billion in PAYE tax on their over 3,000 workers in the last 16 years.

In the report of the said tax investigation, the Akwa Ibom State Government also alleged that Globestar Engineering Company had no history of remittances of the PAYE taxes on the expatriates deployed in over 15 project sites under Mobil Producing and Total (OFON) projects between 2000, and 2016 respectively.

Globestar was said to have recorded the engagement of over 5,000 expatriates, mostly on temporary work permit.

The company, according to the investigation by the Akwa-Ibom State Internal Revenue Services, owes the state government over N65 billion in cumulative PAYE taxes which it allegedly evaded for over 16 years.

Asuquo said the amount being demanded by the Akwa-Ibom state government represented only the periods from 2005 to 2014 tax years.

Globestar was therefore, accused of having committed

an offence punishable under Section 94 sub-section 1 of Personal Income Tax Act 2010 for which the Akwa-Ibom state government is seeking enforcement. The legal counsel to the defendant from the chambers of Adepetun, Caxton-Martins Agbor Segun, (ACAS LAW), however, prayed the court to allow both parties out of court settlement.

The charge read in part: “That you, Globestar Engineering Company Nigeria Limited of number 39, Alfred Road, Ikoyi, Lagos state on the 7th day of February, 2013; Being an employer required

under section 81 of the Personal Income Tax Act of 2004 and Sections 7 & 8 of the Operation of Pay As You Earn (PAYE) Scheme Regulations of 2004 to deduct Income tax from the emoluments of your employees and remit same to the complainant, did fail to comply with provision of Section 47 which resulted to application of Section 54 of the Personal Income Tax Act of 2004 with the sum of N65, 910, 721, 622. 96 only, being Pay As You Earn (PAYE) tax from the salaries of members of your staff for the period of 2005 - 2014 and thereby

committed an offence punishable under Section 94 (1) of the Personal Income Tax Act 2010.�

The report of tax investigation carried out on companies that have over the years evaded tax and those that have under-remitted taxes due and payable to Akwa Ibom State, shows that the oil servicing companies failed to comply with the tax laws of the host country, Nigeria.

Oil servicing companies operating in the state are said to owe the state over N80 billion in PAYE tax liabilities spanning a 10-year period.

RAISING QUALITY ACROSS EMS AFRICA

L-R: Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shitu; Postmaster General/CEO, Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST), BISI Adegbuyi; Secretary General, Pan African Postal Union (PAPU), Younouss Djibrine and Deputy Comptroller, Nigeria Customs Service, Mr. Gregory Itotoh, at the EMS African Regional Symposium held in Lagos...recently

C’River, Hunan Province of China Sign Sister- Nigeria Records 6,797 Domain states Agreement Name Registration in March Cross River state government and Hunan province of China, have signed a sisterstate agreement to partner in areas of manufacturing, construction, agriculture and education.

The Hunan 50-man delegation was received on arrival at the Margaret Ekpo International airport, Calabar, by the deputy governor, Prof Ivara Esu. During the pact signing ceremony held at the State Executive chamber, Calabar, Governor Ben Ayade, said: “Hunan and Cross River must come together to form a new economic embrace that depicts cross-economy, culture, respect and prosperity to the two divides.�

Explaining that Cross River State remains the epicenter of tourism with a people highly moderated by their conduct and act, the governor charged the investors to “capture and explore the African market, take advantage of the 1.3billion Africa people waiting to buy your products by using Cross River as your base.�

In demonstration of the sister-states commitment, Ayade announced the donation

of land for the establishment of China town in Calabar.

The governor said that Cross River also provides hospitality and create investors ambience for local and international investors. “Open your hearts to the great businesses as we conduct you round.

You are going to have great opportunities in pharmaceuticals, construction, infrastructure, agriculture, solid minerals, manufacturing and final end products. The opportunity is limitless and great, even as the landscape is illimitable,� the governor hinted.

Ayade, who said he was overwhelmed by the visit, further disclosed that “the first 50 investors that will come from Hunan to invest in the state will have land for free to establish their factories.�

Assuring the team of President Muhammadu Buhari’s interest in Cross River and his resolve to ensure that the various projects in the state were completed, the governor said: “We have the President of the country with us, he is ready to make sure that

your investment in Cross River and indeed Nigeria is fully protected while ensuring that your investment in the country is also expanded.�

Earlier, Vice Governor of Hunan province in the Peoples Republic of China, Bao Xiang, explained that his team was in the state to not only get the pact implemented, but to ensure that the relationship between China and Nigeria got a boost.

Xiang who spoke through an interpreter disclosed that Hunan has over 73million people, located in the Central part of China with 210,000sq km of land, adding that “in 2016, the total GDP of the province was 430billion US dollars and after more than 30 years’ development, Hunan transited from traditional to a modern province.�

The vice governor explained that his team intended to go into agriculture, education, infrastructure development, manufacturing and cultural partnership with Cross River.

He expressed the hope that the relationship between the sister-states will yield fruitful results that will tremendously impact on both countries.

Emma Okonji The Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NiRA), the body managing the country’s domain name registration, has said that the country recorded a total of 6,797 domain name registrations as at the end of March 2017.

The figure, which is more than the March 2016 registrations of 4,129, has been regarded as a remarkable improvement.

President of NiRA, Sunday Folayan, who revealed the figure, said: “The March 2017 total registration is more than the total February 2017 registration of 5,254. This trend shows the improvement in the number of domain registrations. Of course the economic situation in 2016 was quite different from the economic climate in 2017. Nigerians have re-strategized in their plans for promoting their online business and hence there is improvement in the domain name count.�

The current figure brings the total number of domain name registration in the country to over 100,000.

Nigeria’s .ng domain name registration moved up slightly

by 3,236 in September last year, and by additional 3,483 registrations in October last year bringing the total number of registered domain names in the country to 77, 776 as at October 2016, according to the statistics released by NiRA. Although few registrations were recorded in November and December last year, the country in January this year, recorded 15,000 domain name registration, while it recorded 5,254 in February this year and 6,797 in March this year, bringing the total number of domain name registration in the country as at March this year, to a little above 100,000.

As at July 2016, the total number of .ng domain names registered in the country in the last 10 years, was 68,050, but with the additional registrations by the registrars in the months of August, September and October last year, the figure rose to 77,776 .ng domain registrations as at October 2016.

The number however further increased by additional 23,000 in the months of January, February and March this year, bringing the total number a little above 100,000 domain name registrations so far.

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BUSINESSWORLD

ANALYSIS

Repositioning EMS to Compete Emma Okonji examines the place of EMS in the 21st century courier business and the need to reposition it for effective competition From 1985 when the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) was carved out of the postal division of Post and Telecommunications Department, up to 1995, NIPOST was an extra-ministerial department under the supervision of the Ministry of Communications, designed to promote the development of economic postal service for the federation. Then was the boom era for NIPOST, whose major lines of operations were sales of postal stamps, delivery of parcels and bulk delivery of dividend warrants and share certificates.

But in 1986, NIPOST, in collaboration with other Universal Postal Union (UPU) member countries, established the Expedited Mail Service (EMS), as an arm that will manage courier business for NIPOST. The establishment of EMS Nigeria was a response to the incursion of private courier companies into areas otherwise regarded as the preserve of NIPOST. The private courier companies were seen offering significantly higher quality document merchandise delivery services than the traditional services rendered

by NIPOST through its post offices.

At that time, NIPOST became the centre of attraction for job seekers because it was generating huge revenue for government and paying jumbo salaries.

But with the spread of internet in Nigeria from 1995 to 2000, the activities of NIPOST, including revenue generation, started shrinking, as most people no longer visit post offices to buy stamps for posting of letters. People then preferred the electronic mail posting via the internet, where instant response is received within few minutes of posting, which eliminated delays in receiving mails via post offices, operated

by NIPOST. The emergence of Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) in 2001, became the straw that finally broke the camel’s back, when Nigerians started using their mobile phones for quick communication, via short message service (SMS), otherwise known as text messages, and the era of letter writing and posting via post offices, began to go away. The situation no doubt, affected the sales of postal stamps, which was the main stay of NIPOST. The emergence of internet and GSM were the two major technology development that slowed down development of NIPOST, but government did not give up on NIPOST, believing it could still flourish in the area of courier service, through the EMS Nigeria, especially with the emergence of e-commerce, which opened avenue for online purchase and delivery.

In order to reposition the EMS courier business, Nigeria, last week, played host to a four day Africa regional EMS symposium, which was organised to address the operational performance and quality improvement of EMS service across the African region.

Repositioning EMS Worried that EMS business across the African region, including EMS Nigeria is losing steam, the region last week, met in Lagos for a four day symposium to discuss ways of repositioning EMS operations for effective competition with private courier operators across the African region.

The symposium and workshop was organised to assess the EMS operational performance and service quality across the African region, with a view to repositioning EMS for effective service delivery and innovativeness in the African continent.

EMS operators that were represented at the symposium by dignitaries from over 22 countries across Africa, were of the view that EMS offers the cheapest courier services across Africa, with expectations to attract higher volume of customers But they explained that EMS operators do not have larger control of the courier market, despite its cheap services. The symposium therefore discussed several ways through which managers of EMS operations could gain better understanding of the courier market, in order to create efficiency, greater customer satisfaction and how to generate more income

A cross section of participants from across the globe at the EMS African Regional Symposium held in Lagos...recently

for EMS. EMS Nigeria appears to be the last hope of NIPOST, having lost out in postal services, which are no longer in vogue, due to emergence of new technologies. Another aspect of service delivery for NIPOST is in the area of bulkpost, which is also fading out gradually, as registrars now prefer to either store annual reports into discs, or send them as electronic copies to shareholders.

The only viable option left to NIPOST is the courier aspect of its business, being handled by the EMS department. It had been argued at various fora that EMS could become competitive with private courier operators and share the revenue string with them, occasioned by the emergence of e-commerce, where buyers will always need the courier service for delivery of all online purchased items. EMS Nigeria has the wide reach and network to play big in the courier sector, but must be innovative to remain relevant in the courier business, where competition is at its peak.

Minister’s position

Worried that EMS business across the African region, including EMS Nigeria is losing steam, the region last week, met in Lagos for a four day symposium to discuss ways of repositioning EMS operations for effective competition with private courier operators across the African region

In his keynote address at the opening ceremony of the symposium, the Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu, said it was imperative to return the lost glory of NIPOST through the repositioning of EMS Nigeria, and commercialise it where appropriate.

According to him, since the establishment of EMS Nigeria in 1986, it has operated as the courier and business arm of NIPOST, with the responsibility for effective and efficient collection, conveyance and delivery of time sensitive correspondence, documents or merchandise, both locally and internationally.

Shittu, however, noted that the postal sector, particularly in sub-Sahara Africa is caught in a vicious circle of poor financial performance, which led to lack of investment, thereby preventing either improvements in the quality of service or expansion, which generates lower usage of the sector and Mail volumes, which further perpetuates the circle.

“Given the scenario, government must take, within the shortest time frame possible, some remedial and long lasting measures to improve the postal system,” Shittu said.

According to the minister, while there is a tendency to conclude that the regional challenges are universal, it is essential that we tap into the peculiarities in operations of other countries since our underlying focus remains the same, which among others, include building public confidence in EMS, its products and services, creating possibilities and arriving at a reasonable pragmatic solutions to the shared problems and challenges.

“I see a greater role for EMS in providing access for trade facilitation for small and medium scale enterprises through e-commerce. In spite of the unfavourable economic climate in many African countries, the courier business is still one with promising prospects,”Shittu said.

“The federal government on its part, will ensure an enabling environment for NIPOST to fulfill its mandate by facilitating passage of the Postal Reform Bill and the implementation of National Addressing System among others,”Shittu promised.

NIPOST’s view The Postmaster General (PMG) and Chief Executive of NIPOST, Adebisi Adegbuyi, in his welcome address, said his assessment of the NIPOST when he came on board, was that of a government agency endowed with huge potential but bogged down by bureaucratic bottlenecks and limited capacities for experimenting and thriving business models that have stood the test of time in other climes.

He, however, said many postal administrations in sub-Saharan Africa, were bedeviled

with similar plights, except for few African countries like Morocco, Tunisia, Kenya and South Africa. Adegbuyi called on operators of postal services in Africa to join forces with a view to not only repositioning EMS, but also to working for inclusive, innovative and complete integration of the continent.

He said NIPOST would leverage the exponential growth of e-commerce, which offers plethora of opportunities for greater business collaboration with medium and small scale entrepreneurs, as this would go a long way in improving NIPOST revenue base, creating jobs for the unemployed and ultimately stimulating the nation’s economy.

UPU’s optimism and strategies Encouraged by the global exponential growth of postal and EMS services, the Director General of the UPU, Mr. Bishar Hussein, who was represented by the Manager EMS unit, UPU, Ms Jane Dyer, quoted the recent Accenture and Ali Research, which states that the global business to consumer (B2C) cross-border e-commerce market, is expected to generate $1 trillion by 2020 from $230 billion in 2014.

He said the traffic of international packages, including EMS and small packet items, was about 692 million in 2016, which is an increase of nearly 22 per cent, over the previous years.

“By the end of 2020, it is expected that more than 900 million people around the world will be international online shoppers, with their purchases accounting for nearly 30 per cent of global B2C transactions,”Hussein said.

He added that the e-commerce boom would generate more business for postal administrators, as they deliver purchases made online, especially for the B2C market.

According to him, the market conditions would bring about increased growth of EMS over the next four years. “While there is a risk of increased national protectionism, which could adversely affect global trade, the continued growth in demand driven by cross-border ecommerce, coupled with the execution of the EMS Business Plan (2017-2020), is expected to result in increased market share across the EMS global network,” Hussein said.

Global EMS growth Hussein was of the view that about 76 per cent of the total population in the more developed regions of Europe and North America are internet users and that more than half of those users, shop online. While online shopping in developed markets around the globe continues to grow, baselines in other regions such as the African region are much lower and thus poised for even more explosive growth in online shopping.

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Okonkwo: Organisations Must Mitigate Online Threats with Security Solutions Country Manager, CheckPoint, Mr. Rommy Okonkwo, spoke with Emma Okonji on the need for organisations and government agencies to address advanced security threats with advanced security solutions. Excerpts: to find out if it is malicious. We also have the extraction solution that extracts the readable content of the email and push it to the user, without the user knowing, and the process does not affect the work of the user. So the technology scans the files and ensure they are free from malicious contents. So what our solution does is to block any malicious attack from the central processing unit (CPU) level without allowing the virus to get access to the entire network.

As a security company, do you think organisations are interested in investing in security, based on the high cost of available security solutions?

Security is the key to any business, and I think companies are interested in investing in security, not minding the high cost of deploying security solutions. Companies are conscious of the effect of data attacks and they are willing to invest in security, just to save and protect their businesses. So recession or no recession, companies should see security as key to their business growth and invest wisely in security.

Looking at security risks to businesses, what impact can your organisation create, using technology solutions?

We have security solutions that can make great impact in all sectors of businesses, be it in telecommunications, banking, oil and gas, insurance, aviation, real estate, among others.

For the telecommunications companies for instance, we provide technology solution to protect their networks. If their base stations are compromised, it means total downtime on their operations, but we have security solutions that telecoms operators can bundle together for their use, and still sell to their clients and make money out of it. So subscribers can buy services and at the same time, buy security solutions from the same telecoms operators to protect their mobile devices. So with this arrangement, telecoms companies could actually be selling security as a service to telecoms subscribers.

For the banks, CheckPoint has security solutions that they could also bundle and sell to their bank customers to protect every financial transaction that they carry out on the bank’s platform.

Security threats enter into organisations in various ways. What is your advice for organisations that want to guide against any form of security threats?

This is where the CheckPoint Mobile Threat Prevention (MTP) comes into play. The idea behind the MTP security is for customers to move with the security solution wherever they go, be it on their mobile devices or desktop devices.

The global trend today is that organisations allow their employees to bring in their devices to the work place and organisations could face serious security risks through this method. So organisations must ensure that the devices of employees are put under checks with security solutions like MTP that prevents organisations from getting infected through employee’s mobile devices. So we strongly advise organisations to get the MTP solution since it has been established that most organisations face security threats through links to employee mobile devices.

So if organisations do not have full control and protection of employee’s devices, and such mobile devices are exposed to malware, then the organisation could be infected with the malware.

At what point could an organisation declare downtime in its operations, based on security threats?

Ransomware attack is a security threat that could be very dangerous and could shutdown the entire operations of an organisation, and when this happens, the organisation is said to have total downtime, which means that the entire operations of the organisation are affected and nothing practically works. It means loss of revenue for the organisation.

If such downtime lasts for few hours, it will mean huge loss of revenue. We have seen national attacks on government data and once any government data is compromised,

How affordable are the CheckPoint security solutions, especially to small businesses?

The truth is that when we design technology solution, the idea is to make it available to every organisation, be it small or big organisation.

So they actually buy security as a service and consume the specific areas they need, instead of spending so much to buy an entire security package that they may not be able to utilize all its security features because they do not need all them to operate successfully.

Okonkwo

it affects its operations. So the best thing is to prevent the attacks and CheckPoint has advanced security solution to address all of that.

What exactly are the motives of those pushing out malware to organisations?

Malware attacks are launched for different purposes. Some do it in order to demand for ransom, because to them, it is business of making money, while others push out malware as malicious attacks to settle scores.

So our advice is for organisations not to wait until the hackers strike before looking for solutions. They should be proactive and deploy protective solutions before the hackers strike.

The hackers must be technology savvy to be able to create malware and ransomware that are malicious. But some schools of thought are of the view that government should assemble such people, pay them and put them into effective use. What is your take on this?

The idea of assembling them to pay them and put them into more effective use may not be the solution. The reason being that there are available software online with which people create malware, and the software are relatively cheap. So how many people can government assemble and be paying salaries. Organisations and government agencies should learn to be proactive and go a step ahead of the hackers to deploy advanced security solutions that could block all loopholes through which they could gain access into organisation’s data.

In 2015, Nigeria signed the cybercrime bill into law, but some experts have criticised it, arguing that it does not address the real issues of cybercrime, which include pushing out of malware to organisations. What is your take?

At the moment, the law is not addressing key cybersecurity issues, but I believe that in the future, it could address some of these concerns.

Before 2015, Nigeria had no cybercrime law and people commit all manners of cybercrime and go scot-free, but now that we have the law, the situation is no longer the same as it

used to be in the past where people commit online crime with impunity. Today they are being prosecuted and people are mindful of what they do online.

There are lots financial losses to cyber attacks in the financial sector and they usually conceal it for fear of loosing customers. What is your advice for banks?

Well, there is no where you can find 100 per cent perfect protection from cyber attacks.

My advice for the financial institutions is to have security policies that allow them have strong collaborations with security bodies and other financial institutions, where they can share their experiences and learn from one another. CheckPoint has collaboration agreement with over 85 per cent of the money deposit banks and we have fresh plans on how to engage them better to mitigate the attacks because we have the right tools and solutions to address the challenges posed by online hackers.

What is the latest security threat that could cause downtime to organisations and how can you mitigate it?

For me, there are few security threats that are currently trending and ransomware is one of them. It does not target an individual, but the entire network of an organisation, which could be government organisation, and its implication is huge, because the ransom that hackers demand, runs into billions of dollar, which is far above security budget of an organisation for even a period of 10 years. Again, Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack is also trending.

What are the specific solutions to address these latest attacks?

CheckPoint has advanced security solutions that address these attacks and one of them is the CheckPoint Sandblast technology, which is an advance security threat prevention solution that emulates emails as soon as the user clicks to open an email. Once an email is clicked, the solution quickly scan through the email

Malware attacks are on the increase and it doubled in 2016. Could it be that security experts are not doing enough, or that organisations are not investing enough in security solutions?

You are right in your observation that malware attacks doubled last year, and some organisations are even trying to accuse security solution providers for the increased attacks, just to make more money from themselves, but this is not true. The truth is that organisations must be a step ahead of the hackers who are exploring new ways to launch malicious attacks. Todays’s attacks are so sophisticated that the old firewalls and antivirus can no longer prevent the attacks, once they are launched, because the attacks are highly advanced, and this is the reason we have advanced security solutions that address all of that. Today, we look at security from a virtual perspective.

How secured is the cloud, in respect to virtual technology?

I cannot say how secured the cloud is for other cloud vendors, when it comes to virtual data storage in the cloud because most cloud vendors are not security solution vendors.

For CheckPoint, we also play in the cloud space and because we are security solution company, organisations will be rest assured that their data kept in our virtual cloud is safe to a great extent.

Apart from having the CheckPoint Cloud, we also collaborate with global virtual cloud operators like Microsoft, Cisco, VMware among others. What we do with such collaborations, is to provide the CheckPoint advanced security solution on the cloud platform of the organisation.

How do you address the issue of interoperability, during collaboration with other organisations to provide service for the customer?

Our solutions have no issues with interoperability with other networks and that is the reason we can collaborate with Microsoft and Cisco in providing customer service.

CheckPoint recently moved its office space to a new location in Lekki. What informed the change in location. Could it be that the business is doing fine in spite of recession ?

Well it is true that the business is making good progress and we needed to expand the business and the business space. We felt the need for a bigger space and we relocated to Lekki in January this year. We have operations in West Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa and the Central Africa, and our businesses in these regions are doing quite well and we see more potential of the business.

T H I S D AY THURSDAY APRIL 20, 2017

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ELIZADE Rebrands, Leverages on New Identity In conceptualising its new logo, Elizade successfully combined the spatial relationships and certain aspects of the Chinese Feng Shui philosophy to produce a compact, bold and striking identity. Raheem Akingbolu reports In the introduction to the well written book; “The Breakaway Brand: How Great Brands Stand Out,� by Francis Kelly III and Barry Silverstein, Ed Eskandarian listed out three key reasons why brands stand out.

In the first reason cited, he said for most breakaway brands, they base their success on unique characteristics which may include superior performance, unique positioning, physical environment, unique packaging and distribution.

The second reason Eskandarian listed is advertising which he said can “significantly contribute to the success of a breakaway brand and on occasion, advertising can in and of itself create a breakaway brand.â€? His third reason is that “behind every breakaway brand is a team working toward a common goal- and a champion leading the team. Typically, you’ll find that the team is comprised of internal marketing staff‌ along with numerous people from the marketer’s ad agency. It is the close working partnership between the marketer and agency- the respect they have for each other, the relationship the share, the passion they have for the brand-that creates the “magic.â€?

Synopsis The passion to create this “magic� is exactly what Elizade University (EU) Ilara-Mokan, Ondo State, one of the leading universities in the country is doing. As the world grapples with the unique and constant change that is the hallmark of the 21st century, EUis poised to not only confront, but surmount the challenges. The new identity was unveiled to a select audience of corporate icons, University dons and media executives.The unveiling will serve as a springboard for the provision of cutting edge educational services.

(L-R) Pro-Chancellor, Elizade University, Mr. Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, Acting Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Theophilus Oyeyemi, Founder, Chief Michael Ade.Ojo and the Chancellor-Designate, Mr. Gbenga Oyebode at the unveiling of new Elizade University Logo...recently

The passion to create this “magic� is exactly what Elizade University (EU) Ilara-Mokan, Ondo State, one of the leading universities in the country is doing. As the world grapples with the unique and constant change that is the hallmark of the 21st century, EUis poised to not only confront, but surmount the challenges. The new identity was unveiled to a select audience of corporate icons, University dons and media executives.The unveiling will serve as a springboard for the provision of cutting edge educational services

Pro-Chancellor of Elizade University and President of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, Mr. Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede who shed light on the new identity said in designing the new logo, the varsity combined the spatial relationships and certain aspects of the Chinese Feng Shui philosophy that has a bent for harmony and balance, to produce a compact, bold, easily recognizable and striking identity.

This, he pointed out, is a fusion of the letters ‘E’ and ‘U,’ with an icon which is a combination of the torch handle carrying the tip of a golden fountain pen. “We call it the knowledge symbol. The “Torch Handle� gives the base to the golden fountain pen head, which symbolises the high worth and value of a top-quality pen as well as the depth of diligent craftsmanship and painstaking attention that goes into the fashioning it.�

The “Pen Head,� on the other hand, represents the light of knowledge that shoots forth from the torch handle. Aesthetically, it also showcases the high worth & value of a top quality pen, just as it emphasises the depth of its diligent craftsmanship, and the painstaking attention that has gone into fashioning it. “This,� Aig-Imoukhuede stated, “captures the essence of the university, which is, to teach every Elizade University student to the point of unimpeachable competence and graduation, as well as, having them ready for the demands of the real world. It is instructive to note that, this wholesome tutelage structure is a prime and non-negotiable requirement for speedy national development, especially at this stage of our country’s existence.�

He added that this is representative of what the university does to each and every Elizade University graduate, to set them on the right footings to confront and surmount the unique challenges of the 21st century. In achieving this, the institution has at the back

of its mind the much needed requirement for national development at this stage that Nigeria is bent on diversifying its economy.

Aig-Imoukhuede stressed that the new identity is an invitation into a world of superior knowledge laden with world class standard. “We have used the colour Blue to symbolise authority, maturity, responsibility and Stability, all features of EU. This gives strong visual, recognition and recall value for the brand identity. Gold is seen on the pen nib, and symbolises vibrancy and zest, both features of youth and vibrancy.

management of Elizade University. He identified passionately with the vision of the founder, which is to create a world class university than can compete in all areas with top universities like Harvard, Oxford, Yale etc. Aig-Imoukhuede speaks further: “One of the things great universities are known for is their larger-than-life image. This is why you find people buy and proudly wear T-shirts of such schools across the globe. Many are ready to defend the school and identify as alumnus years after their exit. They last almost for eternity.�

Reason for rebranding On why EU is rebranding, stated that the logo is a most fitting expression of an ideal academic brand that is bent on stamping its feet on the sands of time as it communicates the qualities that make the university unique and one of a kind. “With a mix and match of colours and logo elements that hold deep meaning and symbolism, the new Elizade University logo showcases the high worth and value of a top-notch university in Nigeria, as it emphasises the depth of the University’s commitment and painstaking attention to producing a well-rounded graduate, ready for the global market.�

It should be pointed out that building and communicating a strong brand is fundamental to Elizade University’s long-term growth and viability. The varsity is bent on maintaining the great exposure and recognition as a prestigious and highly innovative institution that it has built since inception. This is even more evident in an era of rapid and consistent change that charactarises the 21stcentury. To this end, Elizade University’s desired position as a forward thinker in the educational industry would be maintained.

Aig-Imoukhuede also extolled quality ingredients of excellence assembled by the

Future projection Earlier, the founder and Visitor to the university, Chief Ade Ojo, explained that the new logo is a step towards actualising his vision of creating a world class institution of higher learning, dedicated to the pursuit of academic and moral excellence. In the words of the erudite philanthropist, “we are unveiling this new identity to herald a new dawn in the life of our great institution established for the growth of knowledge, character as well as the total development of mankind. The new identity reflects the resolve of the university to breed young men and women who will break new grounds in all areas of human endeavours in accordance with global best practices�. He also appreciated specially, the National Universities Commission for their support in the approval process of the new logo.

The acting Vice Chancellor, Prof. Theophilus Fadayomi spoke ardently as a man who carries the founder’s vision with great passion.

He traced the university’s records from 2013, when it started with 13 programmes till date with a total of 31 fully accredited academic programmes in their kitty. Also, Students enrolment according to Fadayomi has grown from 64 in 2013 to a total of 1,144 this year.

T H I S D AY THURSDAY APRIL 20, 2017

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Building a Healthy Workplace Companies can build resilience and enhance growth not just by the strength of their financial performance, but also through staff welfare and capacity building, writes Obinna Chima The harsh economic environment and the increasing cost of doing business in the country have taken its toll on institutions with resultant effects on employees as well as investors. This unfortunately has led to downsizing by some institutions while return on investment for investors, has reduced drastically.

The challenges facing banks in the country are hydra-headed. Currently, the economy is faced with what could best be described as a weakening oil sector leading to reduction in earnings. This, coupled with the implementation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA), which has impacted the earnings of almost all banks; inflation; the foreign exchange crisis; phase out of commissions on turnover (COT) and other economic headwinds, have impacted the fortune of banks significantly. This unfortunate situation is not helped by the high exposure of banks to the oil and gas sector, which contributes over 70 percent of government revenue and 90 percent of all exports.

Building Healthy Corporations However, McKinsey, a global management consulting firm noted in a report that managing companies for success across a range of time frames—a requisite for achieving both performance and health—is one of the toughest challenges in business. It pointed out that recently, it has been especially hard: turbulent economic conditions, for example, have concentrated the collective minds of many executives on pure survival.

According to the report titled: “Building the Healthy Corporation,� the fact that 10 of the largest 15 bankruptcies in history have occurred since 2001 is a strong deterrent to business building, playing up its inherent risks.

It added: “Businesses complain that financial markets increasingly focus on quarterly results and give little credit to strategies for creating longer-term value, particularly if they depress today’s profits. Empirical evidence largely contradicts such claims (see sidebar, “The stock market values health as well as performance�). “But some noisy analysts undoubtedly do focus on short-term performance and thus unwittingly drive wedges between managements, boards, and investors. Management teams must urgently take the lead in showing their boards and the capital markets that they are nurturing the long-term health of their companies.

They must act not only to improve corporate performance in the near term but also to lay the foundations today for consistent and resilient growth in years to come. “Tools intended to encourage a more balanced approach and to promote “systems thinking� have been available to managers for some time.

But our experience suggests that these tools are either being applied too mechanically (and therefore ineffectively) or being squeezed out by the focus on survival and by perceived pressure from investors. And that’s to say nothing of the increased near-term demands created by new regulations on financial reporting, particularly in the United States.�

Mckinsey stressed that while good shortterm results are important, only by delivering them will management build confidence in its ability to realize longer-term strategies.

Furthermore, the report stated that companies must also act today to ensure that they can convert their growth prospects, capabilities, relationships, and assets into future cash flows.

It revealed that one major European financial-services company recently discovered how easy it is for performance and health to get out of balance. After the company had achieved an impressive turnaround in its short-term financial performance in the three years to 2004, it found to its dismay that this success had been accompanied by falling customer service levels, a huge increase in staff turnover, and a fall in its share price.

Management complained that the financial markets didn’t understand what the company had achieved. But in reality they understood,

MD Sterling Bank, Yemi Adeola

all too well, that its short-term success had been purchased at the expense of its underlying health. “Such shortsighted behavior is widespread.

In one recent survey, a majority of the managers polled said that they would forgo an investment offering a decent return on capital if it meant missing their quarterly earnings expectations.

Indeed, more than 80 percent of the executives responding said they would cut expenditures on R&D and marketing to ensure that they met their quarterly earnings targets—even if

they believed that the cuts were destroying long-term value.

This survey showed that even if more organisations are now talking the language of health, many address the issues only at a superficial level.

According to the report, the chief executive of an international bank was recently shocked to find that members of his senior-management team were responding only to revenue targets and deliberately ignoring broader metrics of performance and health.

The Sterling Bank Experience Sterling Bank in the last 11 years of its corporate existence has established itself as an institution that is an employee’s delight. The bank has continued to build its staff into the best they could be and recognises their contributions to its success.

Indeed, Sterling Bank is managed as a business that cares about its people though operating in an industry that is unknown for empathy towards employees.

According to a report, apart from competitively remunerating its staff, Sterling Bank has an outstanding record of giving employees an incredible opportunity to grow and develop. It is worthy of note that capacity building sessions are creatively woven into the weekly activities of the institution as staff bank-wide get the opportunity to increase their knowledge base and skills set mandatorily on a weekly basis driven by the bank.

The bank also has an excellent retirement plan; a good healthcare facility and an almost free daycare/creche facility for staff children between the ages of 2 weeks to 18 months at the Bank’s head office.

A novel initiative which the bank recently established is the flexi time and place which enables staff to choose the preferred time and place to discharge their responsibilities. Under this initiative, staff can work from home and resume at 10am which has never been a practice in the Nigerian financial services industry. This promotes work-life balance and some staff members get to drop their children off at school promoting family bonding also.

To build capacity for its people, the bank has instituted training and developmental programmes such as the Sterling Graduate Associate and the Sterling Management Associate programmes targeted at identifying, grooming and developing young talents for leadership positions in the Bank.

By extension, Sterling Bank also provides staff opportunities to give back to society and help them achieve their self-actualisation goals. These opportunities include the Sterling Volunteer Programme (SVP) where interested staff members get to impart knowledge and teach pupils and students in both public and private schools across the country relevant subjects and financial literacy topics to give the students a better financial head start in life. Apart from this, interested staff members also get the opportunity to donate in cash and kind to the less privileged and to internally displaced persons. More so, in line with the global clamor for environmental preservation, the staff members of the bank regularly join street sweepers across the country to sweep the streets of the country giving them fulfilment that monthly remuneration could never give them. “The Made-in-Nigeria national drive also provided a platform for staff of Sterling Bank to make impact. For the first time ever in the Nigerian financial services industry, staff of the bank adorned clothing Made-in-Nigeria to work on a Monday morning. It was done to promote locally made attires, patronise locally manufactured goods and align with the national drive to grow the economy and ensure consumption of domestic manufactures. “These and so many other unique initiatives geared at staff engagement and actualisation of staff goals explain why a significant percentage of staff members in the bank have being employed for over five years and some staff have spent their entire careers working with Sterling Bank. “The bank has also consciously engaged the global organisation, Great-Place-to-Work to further build on these achievements and achieve its goal of building a great place to work that will outlive current managers. While other organisations have taken steps to ensure they meet staff needs, it is not debatable that Sterling Bank has achieved some great feat in ensuring that its employees are fulfilled, positively impacted and can add better value to themselves, their families, the organisation and the nation as a whole,� the report from the bank added.

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Moradeyo: We Want to Close the Knowledge Gap on Crypto Currency In Asia, Europe and the Americas, Cryptocurrency trading has become a way of life, but that is not the case in Nigeria and other African countries. In this interview, the Chief Executive and Principal Consultant, Crypto Plus Certified, Mr. Peter Ayoade Moradeyo tells Ndubuisi Francis that his company is poised to close the knowledge gap with the ultimate goal of enlisting Nigeria on the global cryptocurrency exchange. Excerpts: What is a good way to concisely explain Bitcoin, block chain and crypto currencies?

The success story of Crypto currency dates back to 2009, during the financial breakout, when Bitcoin was formed on blockchain technology. Bitcoin was first introduced in Asian countries and gradually to Europe, US etc. It is needful to clarify however, that the blockchain technology is not the same thing as Bitcoin; the relationship between them is only that Bitcoin is deployed on the blockchain technology. Interestingly, Bitcoin seems to be more popular today than the platform on which it stands. Now, there are two things which distinguish Crypto currency from the normal currencies.

The first is that it is finite. It has a fixed number that can be taken off and immediately that happens, its value shoots up and we all know that anything that can finish naturally increases in value as it is being taken up. So, as the world gradually adopts cryptocurrency, the available number reduces and value automatically drives upwards, causing it to grow dynamically in value. That explains why Bitcoin has been able to grow like that since 2009.

The second thing is that cryptocurrency has intrinsic value or what some call store of value. Let me explain it this way: each copy of a coin is an address, a location on the blockchain. When one address belongs to a person, that address cannot belong to another person in any part of the world. This is unlike the fiat counterpart where any money reading on a person’s bank account means that the bank owes the account holder to the tune of the said amount, but not necessarily that that money is the account holder’s to cash at any time. This is why sometimes the banks would tell an account holder that they do not have enough cash to complete a transaction. The case of the blockchain is different because the value is intrinsic and better preserved.

What is the function of CryptoPlus Certified?

Since 2009, Bitcoin and several other alt coins have been coming up. Alt coins are referred to as alternative coins to Bitcoin which is the first and most popular of them all. At a point, we realised there was an opportunity where Bitcoin and other coins can relate in value; there is value relativity between them.

So, we started by trading Cryptocurrency. I can recall that sometime in 2015, there was an upsurge of certain Ponzis in Nigeria.

Nigerians sustained the following of Ponzis until it became almost endemic. Unfortunately, very few Nigerians knew about the very essence of the medium of transfer which Bitcoin was during the transaction of these Ponzis. Bitcoin was only used because it did not need a third party like banks to facilitate a transaction between the Ponzis and their victims. So, the Ponzis took advantage of their patronage, cashing in on the anonymity of transaction which was part of the features of cryptocurrency. What was supposed to have been an advantage became a disadvantage because of the ignorance of Nigerians.

Someone needed to educate Nigerians appropriately as to what cryptocurrency really meant and what disruption it was meant to address. So, we now came up because before now, we had a deep background on its trading. We decided to reappraise the image of Cryptocurrency as it were in Nigeria.

Also, at several conferences we have been all over the world, we realised that Africans are

enquiries on how do we have a framework for a kind of currency that has thus kind of features? Sometimes, it takes time, but individuals are working and several people have stored values on it and exchanged it with another. The US is an example where Poloniex is operating. So looking at it more objectively, the regulatory framework and the operational climate go hand in hand but they can be mutually exclusive.

Moradeyo

non-existent on several cryptocurrency trading platforms. Just like we have the Nigerian Stock Exchange with several companies trading on its platform, there are also several participating bodies that trade value among us. The sad thing here is that Africans are non-existent on any Cryptocurrency exchange whether in US, Asia or Europe. This is also true when one considers Cryptocurrency graph. The Asians are up there; Europe and America are there too, but Africa is non- existent. Our function at Crypto Plus Certified is basically to close the knowledge gap so that people can take advantage available and then Nigeria can be enlisted on what we call the global Cryptocurrency exchange.

We trace the current state of Crypto currency trading to slowness of adoption. The federal government is yet to adopt a framework for the implementation of blockchain that can give rise to participation. Several countries have done that but for some reasons it has not happened in Nigeria.

You have a dream to raise and establish 1,000 Nigerians on the Poloniex Exchange. What is the implementation plan put in place to achieve this and why the choice of Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt?

We need to make it clear that Nigeria is a country with many opportunities. We also need to state that Bitcoin came into Nigeria with a wrongly perceived image, and on the wrong platform. So, our first goal is to take the responsibility to repair that image, and then reappraise the benefits and enlist Nigeria as a participator in the normal trading of Cryptocurrency.

In order to achieve that, we launched what we called, ‘Dream 1000’. It is all about trading on Poloniex which is the largest Crypto exchange in America and we are currently working with them on releasing a mobile platform strictly for Nigerians and it will work as an arbitrage with our own exchange

which will come from Germany. We want to work as an arbitrage so that they will trade on our own platform via the mobile interface. Nigerians can be taught on how to trade this currency easily, and our strategy is very unique because the mobile application is actually enhanced to be able to reduce all the variables of trading system. Since we launched the ‘Dream 1000’ recently in Lagos, we have had some of our students who were able to distinguish themselves with the level of knowledge we passed to them and they are going to show Nigerians that we are serious about what we are here to do. We have this on cyptopluscertified.org.

How has the response been like?

I grew up in Nigeria before I decided to relate with other countries for business reasons.

One thing I know about Nigerians is that they respond to results. So, the first thing we want to identify is, we want to be able to have people who have had results and that is why all the events we have done, we have been showcasing people that distinguished themselves, those that we gave the knowledge and they applied it and got results. We want to be inspired by results and not just belief.

Can Bitcoin be regulated? What about Bitcoin and taxes?

Those conversant with information coming out of cryptopluscertified would have noticed that Nigeria is currently on a discourse on how to regulate Cryptocurrency trading based on several frameworks. I have several write ups regarding this. Cryptocurrency trading as it were is decentralised and this is why the banking system cannot operate it. It is decentralised because of its nature. For instance, Bitcoin as it were, does not have a management interface and that is why the regulation has not been somewhat forthcoming. But it is found to be very secured and has ability to store values. That has been the reason for all the

Bringing it to a layman’s understanding, what are the advantages of Bitcoin and how does Bitcoin work?

In a layman’s way, I would like to use the similitude of changing one currency to another, for instance. If you have some Naira notes and you want to change to Dollar, knowing the exchange rate that relates one to the other will be very helpful. Now to a layman if I bring my Naira and want to buy a Dollar, I will change the Naira to a Dollar based on the foreign exchange rate agreed between the person selling the Dollar and myself.

Now imagine where you have the Bureau de Change in the middle and you have the buyer, that is, the demand, on one side and the supplier on the other side; that is the way it works. The person at the middle collects commission from two persons. The buyer sells at a price based on demand and supply.

So, if the demand is higher than supply, the price is likely to go up. If I’m able to read that the demand and price for a thing I bought and own have gone up and I sell it, now the difference between what I bought and what I am selling now that the price has gone up is my own profit. That is the basic analysis of how it works.

Demand for Cryptocurrency‌what are your training modules like? The fee, process and duration?

Training is 30 days and we have a huge demand for it and because of this, we have set up world class training hubs in the three geopolitical zones Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt. So, demand is already there. We have a structure that accommodates different levels of trading - the strategic portfolio building and robotics. Our modules cover; Introduction to Cryptocurrency Trading - CPC 101 Cryptocurrency Masterclass - Advanced Trading CPC 102 Trading Engaging Robotics - CPC 103 People are already aware of what Cryptocurrency is; it will be wrong for us to say that people are not aware of it. The only thing is that there is a knowledge gap on how to use it and take advantage of the value in it, and that is what we are trying to close up.

Is there any risk attached to Cryptocurrency...

Is Bitcoin legal? And how secure is Bitcoin?

The idea of trading Cryptocurrency and the national legal framework is mutually exclusive.

Trading on Cryptocurrency can be done when someone knows how to handle it. The reason for the legal framework is to protect the participators because when there is no third party that puts power in the hands of those that know the ‘Whats’ and ‘Hows’. Bitcoin is safe and this knowledge is out there. You are your own bank. Records are protected by mathematical laws and are irreversible. The Blockchain technology protects its addresses and have histories on an open ledger, and is always available and transparent for anyone to confirm.

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BUSINESSWORLD

DEVELOPMENT

HDR 2016: Seeking Human Devt for Everyone Abimbola Akosile looks at the contents and key messages in the Human Development Report 2016, titled ‘Human Development for Everyone’, which was published by the United Nations Development Programme and launched recently

A

and location of deprivations is not enough.

Some aspects of the human development approach and assessment perspectives have to be brought to the fore.

It also identifies the national policies and key strategies that will enable every human being to achieve basic human development and to sustain and protect the gains. And addressing the structural challenges of the current global system, it presents options for institutional reforms.

lthough the world is riddled with inequality across ethnic, social and continental divides, the Human Development Report 2016, which was launched recently by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), believes there is a way out.

In the latest report released by the agency titled ‘Human Development for Everyone’ there is an emphasis on the need to close the human development gap, despite identified challenges.

Key Messages The HDT 2016 Report conveys five basic messages: r 6OJWFSTBMJTN JT LFZ UP IVNBO EFWFMPQment, and human development for everyone is attainable. r 7BSJPVT HSPVQT PG QFPQMF TUJMM TVGGFS GSPN basic deprivations and face substantial barriers to overcoming them. r )VNBO EFWFMPQNFOU GPS FWFSZPOF DBMMT for refocusing some analytical issues and assessment perspectives. r 1PMJDZ PQUJPOT FYJTU BOE JG JNQMFNFOUFE would contribute to achieving human development for everyone. r " SFGPSNFE HMPCBM HPWFSOBODF XJUI GBJSFS multilateralism, would help attain human development for everyone.

Vital Foreword Human development, according to the Administrator UNDP, Helen Clark, is all about human freedoms: freedom to realise the full potential of every human life, not just of a few, nor of most, but of all lives in every corner of the world - now and in the future.

In a foreword to the 286-page report, Clark noted that such universalism gives the human development approach its uniqueness. However, to her, the principle of universalism is one thing; translating it into practice is another. “Human development has enriched human lives - but unfortunately not all to the same extent, and even worse, not every life. It is thus not by chance but by choice that world leaders in 2015 committed to a development journey that leaves no one out - a central premise of the 2030 Agenda. Mirroring that universal aspiration, it is timely that the 2016 Human Development Report is devoted to the theme of human development for everyone�, she added.

Identified Challenges The Report paints a picture of the challenges the world faces and the hopes humanity has for a better future. It notes that some challenges are lingering (deprivations), some are deepening (inequalities) and some are emerging (violent extremism), but most are mutually reinforcing.

Whatever their nature or reach, these challenges have an impact on people’s well-being in both present and future generations.

Given that broader context, the report then raises two fundamental questions: who has been left out in progress in human development and how and why did that happen.

It emphasises that poor, marginalised and vulnerable groups - including ethnic minorities, indigenous peoples, refugees and migrants - are being left furthest behind. The barriers to universalism include, among others, deprivations and inequalities, discrimination and exclusion, social norms and values, and prejudice and intolerance. The report also clearly identifies the mutually reinforcing gender barriers that deny many women the opportunities and empowerment necessary to realise the full potential of their lives. To ensure human development for everyone, it asserts that merely identifying the nature of and the reasons for the deprivation of those left out is not enough.

Some aspects of the human development analytical framework and assessment perspectives must be brought to the fore to address issues that prevent universal human development. For example, human rights and human security, voice and autonomy, collective capabilities and the interdependence of choices are key for the human development of those currently left out, the report noted.

The report forcefully argues that caring for those left out requires a four-pronged policy strategy at the national level: reaching those left out using universal policies (for example, inclusive growth, not mere growth), pursuing measures for groups with special needs (for example, persons with disabilities), making human development resilient and empowering those left out.

It rightly recognises that national policies need to be complemented by actions at the global level, and it addresses issues related to the mandate, governance structures and work of global institutions.

Inequality is a global phenomenon The report complements the 2030 Agenda by sharing the principle of universalism and by concentrating on such fundamental areas as eliminating extreme poverty, ending hunger and highlighting the core issue of sustainability.

To Clark, “Transformation in human development is possible. What seems to be challenges today can be overcome tomorrow. The world has fewer than 15 years to achieve its bold agenda of leaving no one out. Closing the human development gap is critical, as is ensuring the same, or even better, opportunities for future generations. Human development has to be sustained and sustainable and has to enrich every human life so that we have a world where all people can enjoy peace and prosperity�.

Devt for Everyone The report notes in an overview that over the past quarter-century the world has changed and with it the development landscape. New countries have emerged, and the planet is now

SOURCE: UNews (Utah.edu) home to more than 7 billion people, one in four of them young.

The geopolitical scenario has also changed, with developing countries emerging as a major economic force and political power. Globalisation has integrated people, markets and work, and the digital revolution has changed human lives.

The 2016 Human Development Report focuses on how human development can be ensured for everyone - now and in the future.

It starts with an account of the achievements, challenges and hopes for human progress, envisioning where humanity wants to go.

Its vision draws from and builds on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development that the 193 member states of the United Nations endorsed in 2015 and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals that the world has committed to achieve.

The report explores who has been left out in the progress in human development and why.

It argues that to ensure human development for everyone, a mere mapping of the nature

Critical Conclusion According to the authors of the report, Selim Jahan (Director and lead author) and Eva Jerspersen (Deputy Director) “Universal human development must enable all people - regardless of their age, citizenship, religion, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation or any other identity - to expand their capabilities fully and put those capabilities to use. “This also means that capabilities and opportunities are sustainable throughout an individual’s lifecycle and across generations.

But those less endowed or lagging behind need support from others - from individuals, communities and states - to realise their full potential.� To them, “In the ultimate analysis, development is of the people, by the people and for the people. People have to partner each other. There needs to be a balance between people and the planet. And humanity has to strive for peace and prosperity.

Human development requires recognising that every life is equally valuable and that human development for everyone must start with those farthest behind. “The 2016 Human Development Report is an intellectual contribution to resolving these issues. We strongly believe that only after they are resolved will we all reach the end of the road together. And when we look back, we will see that no one has been left out�, they added.

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ĂŒĂ“Ă–Ă? Ă?Ă’Ă?Ă–ĂžĂ?ĂœËœ Ă&#x;Ă˜ĂŽĂ?Ăœ ĂĄĂ’Ă“Ă?Ă’ ĂĄĂ?ĂœĂ? Ă?Ă–Ă&#x;Ă?ĂžĂ?ĂœĂ?ĂŽ Ă?Ù×Ă? ÙÖÓĂ?Ă? ÙʊĂ?Ă?ĂœĂ?Ëœ Ă‹ĂšĂšĂ‹ĂœĂ?Ă˜ĂžĂ–ĂŁ Ă™Ă˜ Ă?Ă?curity watch. Ă?Ă&#x;ĂœĂ?Ă™ĂœĂŁ Ă‘Ă–Ă‹Ă˜Ă?Ă? Ă—Ă‹ĂŁ ĂœĂ?Ă Ă?Ă‹Ă– Ă˜Ă™ĂžĂ’Ă“Ă˜Ă‘Ëœ ĂŒĂ&#x;Ăž ÞÒÙĂ?Ă? ÚÙÖÓĂ?Ă? ÙʊĂ?Ă?ĂœĂ? ĂĄĂ?ĂœĂ? Ă’Ă‹Ă Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă‹ Ă?ĂĄĂ?Ă–Ă– ÞÓ×Ă? Ă“Ă˜ Ă?Ă&#x;Ă–Ă– ĂšĂ&#x;ĂŒĂ–Ă“Ă? Ă‘Ă–Ă‹ĂœĂ?Ëœ Ă?Ă&#x;ĂœĂžĂ“Ă Ă?Ă–ĂŁ Ă?ÙÖÖĂ?Ă?ĂžĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă?ĂĄĂ“Ă–Ă–Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă?Ù×Ă? Ă‹Ă–Ă?ÙÒÙÖÓĂ? ĂŽĂœĂ“Ă˜Ă•Ă? ĂŽĂ“Ă?ĂžĂœĂ“ĂŒĂ&#x;ĂžĂ?ĂŽ ĂŒĂŁ Ă‹ Ă?Ă?Ă—Ă‹Ă–Ă? ÙʊĂ?Ă?Ăœ ĂĄĂ’Ă™ ĂĄĂ‹Ă? Ă?Ă–Ă&#x;ĂžĂ?Ă’Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă‹ ĂŒĂ–Ă‹Ă?Ă• ÚÙÖãÞÒĂ?Ă˜Ă? ĂŒĂ‹Ă‘Ë› Ă‹Ă Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă?Ă&#x;Ă˜ Ă™Ă˜ Ă‹ ÚÙÚĂ&#x;Ă–Ă‹Ăœ ĂšĂ&#x;ĂŒĂ–Ă“Ă? ÒÙÖÓÎËã Ă“Ă? ĂŒĂ‹Ă?Ă“Ă?Ëœ ĂŒĂ&#x;Ăž ĂĄĂ’Ă?Ă˜ ÞÒÓĂ? Ă?Ă‹Ă—Ă? Ă?Ă?Ăž Ă™Ă? Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă&#x;ĂœĂ“ĂžĂŁ ÙʊĂ?Ă?ĂœĂ? Ě‹ ĂŒĂ™ĂžĂ’ Ă—Ă‹Ă–Ă? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă?Ă?Ă—Ă‹Ă–Ă? Ě‹ ĂĄĂ’Ă™ ÒÙÖÎ ÞÒĂ? Ă–Ă“Ă Ă?Ă? Ă™Ă? ÞÒĂ? Ă‘Ă?Ă˜Ă?ĂœĂ‹Ă– ÚÙÚĂ&#x;Ă–Ă‹Ă?Ă? Ă“Ă˜ ÞÒĂ?Ă“Ăœ Ă’Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽĂ?Ëœ Ă‹ĂœĂ? Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă˜ Ă?Ă&#x;ĂŽĂŽĂ–Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ ĂŒĂ™ĘľĂ–Ă?Ă? Ă™Ă? Ă&#x;Ă“Ă˜Ă˜Ă?Ă?Ă? Ă?ÞÙĂ&#x;ĂžËœ ÞÒĂ?Ă˜ ÞÒĂ?ĂœĂ? Ă“Ă? Ă‹ Ă?Ă‹Ă&#x;Ă?Ă? Ă?Ă™Ăœ ĂĄĂ™ĂœĂœĂŁË› Ă‹Ă“Ă˜ĂžĂ‹Ă“Ă˜Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă?ĂžĂœĂ“Ă?Ăž Ă Ă“Ă‘Ă“Ă–Ă‹Ă˜Ă?Ă? ÞÙ Ă?Ă‹ĂžĂ?Ă’

ĂĄĂ‹ĂŁĂĄĂ‹ĂœĂŽ Ă?ĂœĂ“Ă—Ă“Ă˜Ă‹Ă–Ă? Ă’Ă‹Ă˜Ă‘Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă‹ĂœĂ™Ă&#x;Ă˜ĂŽ Ă?ĂžĂ‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ă‹ĂœĂŁ Ă—Ă™ĂžĂ™ĂœĂ“Ă?ĂžĂ? ÞËÕĂ?Ă? Ă‹ ÖÙÞ Ă™Ă? Ă?Ă™Ă˜Ă?Ă?Ă˜ĂžĂœĂ‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ë› Ă&#x;Ăž ĂĄĂ’Ă?Ă˜ ÞÒÙĂ?Ă? ÞËĂ?Ă•Ă?ĂŽ åÓÞÒ ĂšĂœĂ™ĂžĂ?Ă?ĂžĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă‹Ă‘Ă™Ă? ĂœĂ?Ă?Ă“ĂŽĂ?Ă˜ĂžĂ? ĂŒĂ?Ă?Ù×Ă? Ă“Ă˜Ă?ĂŒĂœĂ“Ă‹ĂžĂ?ĂŽ ĂĄĂ’Ă“Ă–Ă? Ă™Ă˜ ĂŽĂ&#x;ĂžĂŁËœ ĂĄĂ’Ă™ ÞÒĂ?Ă˜ ÞËÕĂ?Ă? Ă?Ă‹ĂœĂ? Ă™Ă? ÚÙÖÓĂ?Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă&#x;ĂœĂ“ĂžĂŁËŁ Ă? ÞÒÙĂ?Ă? Ă—Ă™Ă˜Ă“ĂžĂ™ĂœĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă?Ă›Ă&#x;Ă‹ĂŽĂ? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ÞËĂ?Ă• Ă?Ă™ĂœĂ?Ă?Ă? Ă?Ă‹Ă˜ Ă?Ă‹ĂœĂœĂŁ ĂŒĂœĂ?ËÞÒËÖãäĂ?ĂœĂ? Ă‹Ă–Ă™Ă˜Ă‘ ĂĄĂ’Ă?Ă˜ Ă—Ă‹Ă•Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ ÞÒĂ?Ă“Ăœ ĂœĂ‹Ă˜ĂŽĂ™Ă— ĂœĂ™Ă&#x;Ă˜ĂŽĂ?Ëœ ÞÒĂ?ĂœĂ? ĂĄĂ™Ă&#x;Ă–ĂŽ ĂŒĂ? Ă‹ ĂŽĂ?Ę¨Ă˜Ă“ĂžĂ? ĂœĂ?ĂŽĂ&#x;Ă?ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜ Ă“Ă˜ Ă?Ă‹Ă?Ă?Ă? Ă™Ă? Ă‹Ă?Ă?Ă“ĂŽĂ?Ă˜ĂžĂ‹Ă– ĂŽĂ“Ă?Ă?Ă’Ă‹ĂœĂ‘Ă? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ĂœĂ?Ă?Ă&#x;Ă–ĂžĂ‹Ă˜Ăž Ă?Ă‹Ă?Ă&#x;ËÖÞÓĂ?Ă? Ă“Ă˜ ÞÒĂ? Ă—Ă?ĂžĂœĂ™ĂšĂ™Ă–Ă“Ă? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă“Ă‘Ă?ĂœĂ“Ă‹ Ă“Ă˜ Ă‘Ă?Ă˜Ă?ĂœĂ‹Ă–Ë› ĂŽĂœĂ&#x;Ă˜Ă•Ă?Ă˜ ÚÙÖÓĂ?Ă?Ă—Ă‹Ă˜ Ă™Ăœ ÚÙÖÓĂ?Ă?ĂĄĂ™Ă—Ă‹Ă˜ Ă?Ă‹Ă˜Ă˜Ă™Ăž Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă&#x;ĂœĂ? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŁĂ™Ă˜Ă? Ă?ĂœĂ™Ă— Ă’Ă‹ĂœĂ— Ă™Ăœ ĂŽĂ‹Ă˜Ă‘Ă?ĂœË›Ë›Ë›Ë›Ă”Ă&#x;Ă?Ăž Ă?Ă‹ĂŁĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ -Abimbola Akosile

33

T H I S D AY Ëž Ëœ Í°ÍŽËœ Í°ÍŽÍŻÍľ

Ëš

Some past Nigerian leaders possess valuable insights for good governance

Best Devt Lesson/s from the Past?

There is a saying that if mistakes from the past are not corrected, they are bound to happen again.

Conversely, positive best practices or lessons learnt from the past are capable of boosting any development process if they are employed in the present situation. From your viewpoint, what best or useful lesson/s can we draw from the various past administrations in Nigeria, in order to enhance the current development situation in the country?

Abimbola Akosile *Sadly, there is little to celebrate from past administrations in Nigeria at all levels of government.

The bane of Nigeria’s development can be hinged on: A. crass ethnicity; B. crass partisan politics; and C. irrelevant religious beliefs. Ethnicity has prevented us from seeing the bigger picture and its long term mutual benefits. Nigeria will make great strides in its development. Crass partisan politics has ensured that visions which offers good for the larger society are dead on arrival, bipartisan policies should be aggressively pursued for the good of all. Irrelevant myopic religious beliefs have stymied Nigeria’s development: The Zamfara State issue of implementing Sharia Law in the last decade, and the recent outburst of the current Zamfara State government over the outbreak of Meningitis are classic examples of how irrelevant, myopic religious beliefs have short-circuited the development of Nigeria. Let Nigeria focus on the bigger long-term picture for mutual benefits rather than the short-term myopic “me only� vision which offers little for the bigger society.

- Mr. Utibe Uko, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State * Nigeria and the citizens are immensely blessed variously. We need genuine leadership to harness our potentials. The time is now.

- Mr. Apeji Onesi, Lagos State * The best development lesson/s from the past is human development. Despite accusations of corruption mounting on them, they have love, care, and above all placed their needs first before anything else. Of a truth, an aged man of 70 years and above has run away from his house in Kaduna because he can’t withstand their pressure. Today, everything is just too high that daily our mortuaries and burial grounds are just filled up. This leadership is full up with people mostly from 60 and above; what do they want to be remembered for? Making people beggars in their own home? The good thing is that this world is not our home.

THE FEEDBACK Top lesson:

Sincere leadership

Second: T

Transparency in governance

Third:

Universal primary education

Radical tip:

Restore discipline!

Total no of respondents:

9

Male:

8

Female:

1

Highest location:

Lagos (3)

- Hon. Babale Maiungwa, U/Romi, Kaduna * Yes, mistakes are bound to be repeated if not adequately tackled. Logically, to evaluate the positive and negative side of past administrations give rooms for improvement for the present administrations and growth and development are assured.

- Mr. Yusuf MBO, Nda Aliu, Kwara State * A lack of transparency in governance is one of the major setbacks that have affected the country negatively in the past. Corruption is usually at the root of any lack of transparency in our country. Secrecy laws have done so much damage in every arm of government as well as the private sector. Compared to the past, blocking leakages has been proven to be relatively effective in reducing corruption in the nation.

If transparency is entrenched, it would go a long way in making the blocking of leakages as well as the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act far more effective.

- Mr. Buga Dunj, Jos, Plateau State * In the past, there was love between neighbours, father and son, mother and daughter,

mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, and between religious bodies e.t.c. Today, the reverse is the case; can we faithfully repent and ask God for forgiveness? Families, politicians are divided.

Because of money, corruption is on the increase; Boko Haram, herdsmen, kidnappers, armed robbers, killing innocent people at will, leaving peace-loving citizens at the mercy of God. These vices are perpetrated across the country.

We forgot that we can only kill the physical body but cannot destroy the soul. There is no fear of God or willingness to accept the truth.

Unless we return to our first love, there may not be much we can in terms of ensuring real development.

- Mr. Dogo Stephen, Kaduna * Very poor leadership due to shameful behaviour, selfishness, avarice, bigotry e.t.c are the real mistakes annihilating Nigeria. Lawlessness by a privileged few at the corridors of power have robbed Nigeria of our deserved joint wealth, growth and development. It is a self-inflicted tragedy because instead of accountability we unfortunately celebrate wanton illegality for unmerited largesse therefrom.

- Miss Apeji Patience Eneyeme, Badagry, Lagos State * There are several developmental lessons littering our past, and we would do well as a nation to go back to some of them. The adoption of universal primary education by a regional government in times past is a veritable example. Distinguished people, among them former US President Bill Clinton, have sounded it loud and clear that our greatest assets exist between our ears. We have seen also that the geo-political zones with the lowest school enrolment figures suffer extreme and pernicious penury. In addition, permit me to advocate the re-establishment of agricultural commodities boards nationwide.

- Mr. E Iheanyi Chukwudi, Brainchild Academic Resources, Apo, Abuja * A major development lesson is the employment

of comparative advantages in each region to develop the agricultural sector. Back then, the regions were self-sustaining and the model used then can be applied now. Also the War Against Indiscipline (WAI) scheme which has been amended to Change Begins With Me (CBWM) should be pursued more vigorously.

For Nigeria to really combat the scourge of corruption, indiscipline must be tackled properly.

- Mr. Olumuyiwa Olorunsomo, Lagos State

Next Week: Can the National Assembly Boost the Anti-corruption War? ÓÞÒ ÞÒĂ? Ă˜Ă?ĂĄ Ă?ĂœĂ‹ Ă™Ă? ĂĄĂ’Ă“Ă?ÞÖĂ?Ě‹ĂŒĂ–Ă™ĂĄĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă‹Ă‘Ă‹Ă“Ă˜Ă?Ăž ÖÙÙÞĂ?ĂœĂ? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă™Ă?Ă?Ă“Ă?Ă“Ă‹Ă– Ă?Ă™ĂœĂœĂ&#x;ĂšĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă’Ă&#x;Ă‘Ă? Ă?Ă&#x;Ă—Ă? Ă™Ă? ĂŒĂ™ĂžĂ’ Ă–Ă™Ă?Ă‹Ă– Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă?Ă™ĂœĂ?Ă“Ă‘Ă˜ Ă?Ă&#x;ĂœĂœĂ?Ă˜Ă?Ă“Ă?Ă? ĂŒĂ?Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă?Ă™Ă&#x;Ă˜ĂŽ Ă“Ă˜ Ă’Ă“ĂŽĂŽĂ?Ă˜ Ă?Ă‹Ă?Ă’Ă?Ă? Ă‹ĂœĂ™Ă&#x;Ă˜ĂŽ Ă“Ă‘Ă?ĂœĂ“Ă‹Ëœ Ă?Ù×Ă? Ă‹Ă˜Ă‹Ă–ĂŁĂ?ĂžĂ? Ă‹ĂœĂ? Ă?Ă&#x;Ă‘Ă‘Ă?Ă?ĂžĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ ÞÒËÞ ÞÒĂ? Ă’Ă™Ă˜Ă™Ă&#x;ĂœĂ‹ĂŒĂ–Ă? Ă—Ă?Ă—ĂŒĂ?ĂœĂ? Ă™Ă? ÞÒĂ? Ă™Ă&#x;Ă?Ă? Ă™Ă? Ă?ĂšĂœĂ?Ă?Ă?Ă˜ĂžĂ‹ĂžĂ“Ă Ă?Ă? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ÞÒĂ? Ă?Ă˜Ă‹ĂžĂ? Ă?Ă’Ă™Ă&#x;Ă–ĂŽ Ă‹Ă–Ă?Ă™ Ă?ĂžĂ‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă&#x;Ăš ÞÙ ĂŒĂ? Ă?Ă™Ă&#x;Ă˜ĂžĂ?ĂŽ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ĂŒĂ?Ă?Ù×Ă? Ă‹Ă?ÞÓà Ă?Ă–ĂŁ Ă“Ă˜Ă Ă™Ă–Ă Ă?ĂŽ Ă“Ă˜ ÞÒĂ? ĂĄĂ‹Ăœ Ă‹Ă‘Ă‹Ă“Ă˜Ă?Ăž Ă?Ă™ĂœĂœĂ&#x;ĂšĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ëœ ĂĄĂ’Ă“Ă?Ă’ Ă“Ă? Ă‹ Ă?Ă™Ă?Ă‹Ă– ĂšĂ™Ă“Ă˜Ăž Ă™Ă? ÞÒĂ? Ă?Ă&#x;ĂœĂœĂ?Ă˜Ăž Ă‹ĂŽĂ—Ă“Ă˜Ă“Ă?ĂžĂœĂ‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ë› Ă˜ ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x;Ăœ Ă™ĂĄĂ˜ Ă Ă“Ă?ĂĄËœ ÒÙå Ă?Ă‹Ă˜ ÞÒĂ? Ă–Ă?Ă‘Ă“Ă?Ă–Ă‹ĂžĂ™ĂœĂ?Ëœ Ă?Ă?ĂšĂ?Ă?Ă“Ă‹Ă–Ă–ĂŁ Ă‹Ăž ÞÒĂ? Ă˜Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ă‹Ă– Ă–Ă?Ă Ă?Ă–Ëœ ĂŒĂ?Ă?Ăž Ă?Ă™Ă˜ĂžĂœĂ“ĂŒĂ&#x;ĂžĂ? ÞÒĂ?Ă“Ăœ Ă™ĂĄĂ˜ Ă›Ă&#x;ÙÞË ÞÙ Ă‹ Ă?Ă&#x;Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă&#x;Ă– ĂĄĂ‹Ăœ Ă‹Ă‘Ă‹Ă“Ă˜Ă?Ăž Ă?Ă™ĂœĂœĂ&#x;ĂšĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜ Ă“Ă˜ ÞÒĂ? Ă?Ă™Ă&#x;Ă˜ĂžĂœĂŁËŁ Ă–Ă?Ă‹Ă?Ă? Ă—Ă‹Ă•Ă? ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x;Ăœ ĂœĂ?Ă?ĂšĂ™Ă˜Ă?Ă? ĂŽĂ“ĂœĂ?Ă?ĂžËœ Ă?Ă’Ă™ĂœĂž Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă?Ó×ÚÖĂ?Ëœ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă?ÞËÞĂ? ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x;Ăœ Ă?Ă&#x;Ă–Ă– Ă˜Ă‹Ă—Ă?Ëœ ÞÓÞÖĂ?Ëœ Ă™ĂœĂ‘Ă‹Ă˜Ă“Ă?Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ëœ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă–Ă™Ă?Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ë› Ă?Ă?ĂšĂ™Ă˜Ă?Ă?Ă? Ă?Ă’Ă™Ă&#x;Ă–ĂŽ ĂŒĂ? Ă?Ă?Ă˜Ăž ĂŒĂ?ÞåĂ?Ă?Ă˜ ÞÙÎËã Ě™ ĂšĂœĂ“Ă– Í°ÍŽ Ęś Ă™Ă˜ĂŽĂ‹ĂŁËœ ĂšĂœĂ“Ă– ͰͲ̚ ÞÙ abimbolayi@yahoo.com, greatbimbo@gmail.comËœ abimbola. akosile@thisdaylive.comË› Ă?Ă?ĂšĂ™Ă˜ĂŽĂ?Ă˜ĂžĂ? Ă?Ă‹Ă˜ Ă‹Ă–Ă?Ă™ Ă?Ă?Ă˜ĂŽ Ă‹ Ă?Ă’Ă™ĂœĂž ĂžĂ?âÞ Ă—Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă‹Ă‘Ă? ÞÙ 08023117639 Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽËšĂ™Ăœ 08188361766 Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽËš Ă™Ăœ 08114495306Ë› ÙÖÖËÞĂ?ĂŽ ĂœĂ?Ă?ĂšĂ™Ă˜Ă?Ă?Ă? ĂĄĂ“Ă–Ă– ĂŒĂ? ĂšĂ&#x;ĂŒĂ–Ă“Ă?Ă’Ă?ĂŽ Ă™Ă˜ Ă’Ă&#x;ĂœĂ?ĂŽĂ‹ĂŁËœ ĂšĂœĂ“Ă– Í°Íľ

34

T H I S D AY ˾ ˜ Ͱͮ˜ Ͱͮͯ͵

BUSINESSWORLD

DEVELOPMENT

Endless search for water in Iju-Ishaga, Lagos

ABIMBOLA AKOSILE

CSO Advisory Committee Vows to Monitor Nigeria’s UNCAC Review, Other Processes Abimbola Akosile The Civil Society (CSO) Advisory Committee for the European Union (EU) funded Project, ‘Support to Anti-Corruption in Nigeria’ has pledged that it will monitor the Social Intervention Programme (SIP), Nigeria’s review under the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) and the country’s engagement with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) processes.

In a statement issued by the Chairman, Mr. Olanrewaju Suraj, at the end of its first meeting for the year 2017, the committee commended the Federal Government for the SIP which, according to

President Muhammadu Buhari, is aimed at ameliorating the sufferings of vulnerable people in the country and is expected to generate employment for 500,000 graduates and train over 300,000 Nigerians. The committee, however, vowed to monitor the process in order to ensure that the programme justifies its raison d’être and is free of corruption.

The committee noted that since signing the UNCAC in 2003 and ratifying it in 2004, Nigeria has been actively involved in negotiations leading to the review mechanism but added that having engaged and observed the first review cycle, it recognised the need to improve CSOs engagement in Nigeria’s review process. It

therefore reemphasised its commitment to supporting capacity building and policy advocacies that seek to strengthen the engagement of civil society in the second cycle of the review process.

The committee commended Nigeria’s application to join the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) as part of efforts to strengthen the country’s war against corruption. But it noted that it was unfortunate that due to the rehabilitation of the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja, the high-level delegation from the FATF due to visit Nigeria in March 2017 has now postponed the plans.

The committee urged the Nigerian government to intensify its efforts towards joining

the FATF as it would facilitate improvement in Nigeria’s ease of doing business status and enhance the economy generally even as it serves as a framework for fighting corruption.

It also commended the federal government for recovering a significant amount of stolen assets in the fiscal year 2016. It urged the government to ensure that the monies recovered are judiciously used and not looted again.

The Committee encouraged the federal government to make public the details of how the money would be spent including the amount of full and partial forfeitures; the amount that is committed to the consolidated account, the amount that goes back to

the states of origin and other important details.

These, it noted, would aid the CSOs in monitoring the assets and ensuring that the government succeeds in its fight against corruption. The committee added that releasing such important information will also build public trust in government, its fight against corruption and all its programmes.

It noted that under the 10th European Development Fund (EDF) ‘Support to Anti-Corruption in Nigeria’, 10 grantees were selected from among CSOs and were awarded grants to conduct anticorruption activities in various parts of the country and across different sectors and stakeholder

groups, while the successful grantee organisations are being supported to implement the anti-corruption activities.

The statement said details provided at the meeting showed that CSOs have recorded a number of successes in the foundational work within the first phase of implementation and that the programme is now proceeding to the second phase.

Notable achievements of grantees identified include strategic advocacy visits, the designing of IT platforms for corruption risk assessments, hiring of consultants for added technical support, designing radio and television programmes for citizens’ enlightenment, developing training modules, among others.

from each centre were then selected for the leadership camp where they acquired leadership skills, group management skills and partook in various outdoor activities.

Participants in the IBILE initiative are required to have minimum qualification of SSCE/ WASC and the Lagos State Residents Registration Agency (LASRRA) card in order to register for the programme.

Registrations forms were made available at designated Youth Centres across the state.

Speaking at the ceremony,

the Lagos State Commissioner for Youth, Mrs. Uzamat Akinbile-Yusuf, hailed Airtel for its commitment towards the development and empowerment of youths in the state.

“Airtel Nigeria has demonstrated commitment to helping and empowering young Nigerians to achieve their dreams.

The Lagos State government will continue to find innovative ways through which we can collaborate more with Airtel to empower many more young Nigerians,” Akinbile-Yusuf stated.

Airtel Partners Lagos on Youth Leadership Devt Project Sunday Okobi In line with its commitment to empower young Nigerians as well as create a credible platform for youths in Lagos State to leverage on, Airtel Nigeria has partnered the Lagos State Ministry of Youth Development to organise an intensive capacity building workshop for selected, exceptional youths across the state.

The one-week long training exercise, which climaxed at a presentation ceremony at the National Youth Service Corps

(NYSC) orientation camp in Lagos recently, offered many youths a rare privilege to hone their leadership skills, network, brainstorm, initiate and implement specific programmes to accelerate their personal development as well as personal effectiveness.

The highlight of the closing ceremony was the emergence of Lana Promise Elijah as the new state ambassador for youths.

He emerged winner among the top five participants from the week-long intensive training.

The new youth ambassador,

who was presented with a brand new laptop by Airtel Nigeria, was charged by the telco to lead by example and set a good standard for all youths in the state and beyond.

The other top four finalists who emerged the best participants at the grand finale were each awarded with an Apple iPad from Airtel Nigeria and recognised as Lagos State Youth Ambassadors for their respective divisions.

In the first leg of the programme, a total of 500 participants went through a

five-day intensive training exercise held at designated youth centres located in the five administrative divisions of the state.

Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Airtel, Mr. Segun Ogunsanya, who was represented by the Director for Enterprise Business, Tawa Bolarin, noted that as a youth-centric brand, Airtel strongly believes in empowering, nurturing and inspiring young Nigerians to achieve their potential.

Ten outstanding participants

35

T H I S D AY ˾ ˜ Ͱͮ˜ Ͱͮͯ͵

BUSINESSWORLD

DEVELOPMENT QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“I believe progress will be made faster if the process is transparent. Those are ways to strengthen institutions. When the process is transparent up to the investigative stage, people will not believe that it is because of this person that so, so, person is being prosecuted. Corrupt people are very patient, but with a transparent process, the fight against corruption will be won” - SENATE PRESIDENT BUKOLA SARAKI SPEAKING ON ARISE NEWS NETWORK, A THISDAY SISTER BROADCAST STATION Enugu Erosion Control Project Unveiled Christopher Isiguzo in Enugu

SDGs: FG Empowers 125,000 Youths with Digital Skills Abimbola Akosile The Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals (OSSAP-SDGs) has commenced a digital skills training for the empowerment of 125,000 youth across the federation.

The training is holding in all Senatorial Districts in collaboration with Google through its vendor, MindTheGap with the theme ‘Diversifying the Nigerian Economy: Enabling Youth through Digital Skills Training’.

According to the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals, SSAP-SDGs, Princess Adejoke OrelopeAdefulire, it is instructive to continue to invest in the youth and empower them with digital skills in an era that is technologically driven, so as to help them leverage technology in order to sustain innovation as well as deploy the knowledge to improve themselves and the economy of the country.

Orelope-Adefulire, according to a statement issued by the Head, Information & Communications, OSSAP-SDGs, Janet McDickson, expressed optimism that the hands-on training would further equip the beneficiaries with the requisite knowledge and exposure that are highly sought after in the labour market; thereby helping them secure a sustainable future.

The Presidential aide, while acknowledging the positive impact of technology on commerce, science, medicine and practically all aspects of human endeavour, re-echoed the position of the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo that digital skills would unleash the creativity, innovation and the boundless imaginative of the most productive segment of our society.

She added that the initiative is in line with the goals and targets of the SDGs. “For us, to attain all-round sustainable development

Orelope-Adefulire across the indices clearly outlined in the SDGs, we must make the youth focus on the long and medium term strategy. SDG Goal 8 succinctly puts it in the right perspective. It calls on countries to “promote full productive employment and decent work for all”.

“As you well know, job creation is a key priority of the administration. As we create the enabling environment for employment in the public and private sector, we are not oblivious of the fact that employability is pivotal to the success of all job creation initiatives.

The future has no place for the digitally illiterate. You are either in it or you are nowhere. This is why the Digital Skill Training

initiative deserves special commendation”.

The SSAP-SDGs noted that the training would surely increase the chances of employability of the trainees’ in today’s competitive world. For those who are interested in entrepreneurship, the training is also expected to take them one step further in the right direction, adding that business owners - small, medium scale or large corporations can no longer ignore the vast potentials of online and digital marketing as an imperative for growth.

“The digital skills training will put the youth in better stead to run and grow their businesses more efficiently. To my mind, this is not just training. This is empowerment with the tool of life”, Orelope-Adefulire stated.

Ten years after it was abandoned, the multimillion naira, Federal Government erosion control project in Udi local government area, Enugu state has been completed and unveiled.

The Obinagu /Akpulu/Enugueze-Umunneobagu Soil Erosion and Control Project Phase 1, executed through the Ecological Fund office had suffered several delays before it was completed late last year.

Speaking at the official unveiling ceremony of the project in Obinagu recently, the Director General of Voice of Nigeria (VON), Mr. Osita Okechukwu said the commissioning and handing over of the project was made possible by President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-corruption war.

Okechukwu, who represented the Secretary to Federal Government, Babachir Lawal, recalled that the project which began over seven years ago, suffered some delays as a result of logistic problems, difficulty of the terrain and unbridled corruption, but was successfully completed late 2016.

“Today marks a milestone in the history of Ecological Fund Office (EFO) as we commission the Obinagu/Akpulu/Enugueze-Umunneobagu Soil Erosion and Control Project, a product of President Muhammadu Buhari’s commitment to finish all abandoned projects.

“It is pertinent to observe that this project is among the 15 ecological projects in the Southeast geo-political zone initiated by the Federal Ministry of Environment inherited by the present regime which received Presidential approval and was funded by EFO. This project, which began over 10 years ago, suffered some delays as a result of logistic problems, difficulty of the terrain and unbridled corruption, however was successfully completed late 2016.

“This commissioning/handing over of the project could not be done earlier than now, because of the reasons stated above. Glory be to God that it could be said that without President Buhari’s raging war against corruption this commissioning and handing over ceremony may not be taking place today,” the VON DG said. Okechukwu thanked Mr. President, SGF Lawal, Enugu State Government and by extension the governor, Hon Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi; Chairman Udi LGA, Ecological Fund Office of Federal Ministry of Environment, the contractor, Messrs Nostro Ventures Ltd and the consultant, Messrs Carsul Ltd for immense contributions and cooperation during the execution and eventual completion of the project. He called on the beneficial communities - Obinagu, Akpulu, Enugueze- Umunneobagu to guard the project jealously by ensuring that the drainages are kept clean and devoid of dumping of refuse.

Responding, the Commissioner for Water Resources, Enugu State, Chief Charles Egumgbe, thanked the federal government for executing the erosion control project in Obinagu, saying it was in line with the efforts of the State government to ensure that people living in erosion prone areas do no suffer. Making remarks, the contractor, Uche Dick Usouwa of Nostro Ventures Limited recalled that the contract was awarded to his company in 2010 but work started in 2011 and was completed late 2016.

Usouwa explained that the specification for the contract was to control flood erosion by constructing drainages and roads but they discovered that there was no natural water to channel the water into.

36

T H I S D AY THURSDAY, APRIL 20, 2017

HEALTH & LIFESTYLE

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

Lessons to Be Learnt from Turkish Healthcare

While Nigeria and Turkey had the same poor healthcare facilities decades ago, the deliberate decision by the Turkish government to raise its health sector budgetary allocation to 15 per cent and investment to over $30 billion, made a remarkable difference in that country. Martins Ifijeh who just returned from Turkey, reports

E

ver imagined why Nigeria’s healthcare system seems not to improve year-in-year-out despite the continued outcry for a better healthcare by the citizens, and the belief that the country has all resources needed to put it at par with that of other countries like the United States, Germany, India or Turkey?

Wonder no further. Nigeria has refused to do what these countries did to become healthcare destinations for not just their citizens, but for people of other countries and races, including Nigerians, even though it has what it takes.

Others invest hugely in healthcare. Nigeria considers it one of the least sectors to spend money on.

Consider this! Nigeria hosted member countries of the African Union in 2001 where an Abuja Declaration was agreed and signed.

Participating countries agreed that 15 per cent of their annual national budget will now be allocated to health. But till date the country which hosted the declaration, Nigeria, gives an average of 4.5 per cent allocation to health.

But the same attitude cannot be said of Turkey, which decades ago was struggling with its healthcare system just like Nigeria.

But the deliberate attempt of its government to revamp the system through policies and investments have made it one of the best places on earth to access healthcare, especially in oncology, organ transplant, invitro fertilisation, orthopedics, among others; leaving Nigeria behind to continue to grapple with one of the poorest healthcare indices in the world.

For instance, while the Nigerian government said it was making efforts to revamp the healthcare system, it surprisingly allocated 4.17 per cent of the annual budget to healthcare in 2017, which is about N304 billion (less than $1 billion) for 180 million persons. Meaning the government will spend about N1,688 ($5.5) for a whole year on each citizen; an obviously unrealistic amount needed to treat a single episode of malaria not to talk of the entire health needs of a citizen for a whole year.

Maybe a clue should be taken from its sister country, Turkey, (sister because they were in the same healthcare situation decades ago), who has made successes within the last 20 years in the health sector.

This year, according to the Founding Chairman, Turkish Healthcare Travel Council (THTC), Emin Cakmak, Turkey’s health allocation from the 2017 annual budget is 15 per cent, which is about $6 billion to take care of the healthcare needs of about 80 million persons.

He said the health allocation was deliberate because the government had identified health as a major tool that can drive other sectors, adding that from the 100 per cent annual national budget, the government gives 30 per cent to health and education (15 per cent each), while other sectors, including security, economy, foreign affairs, transportation, among others, all share the remaining 70 per cent.

“For us to be where we are now, Turkish government invested $30 billion within the last 10 years into the health sector. We also make sure 15 per cent goes to the health sector from the annual budget. This, we have done over the years in order to be where we are now. The plan is to spend another $10 billion on the sector within the next five years,” he said.

Wondering if the investment made since two decade ago paid off? Indices show it indeed paid off. The country is now a medical destination hub to over 100 countries and 750,000 foreign patients yearly, while the citizens now feel at home when accessing healthcare. They now can conveniently treat ailments which take Nigerians to countries like India, U.S., UK or Germany.

On specifics, the once-upon-a-time poor

President of Turkey, Tayyip Erdogan

healthcare country in almost all tertiary care, now has about the best facilities in oncology, orthopedics and trauma, ophthalmology, paediatrics and gynaecology, IVF, organ transplantation, dentistry, plastic surgery, genetics, among others.

In oncology for example, the gaps between Nigeria and Turkey calls for concern. Nigeria has seven radiotherapy machines for 180 million people, and specifically for the over two million cancer patients in the country.

However, information show that only two of those machines work at a time for many years now, meaning only two cancer machines work at a time in the country for the two million persons who need them. Health experts have continuously called for more and new cancer machines in Nigeria as the few ones are old and breaks down at will; a situation that has caused the death of many Nigerians, who ordinarily could have been treated using cancer machines if they were available.

But in Turkey, for its 80 million citizens, there exist 186 radiotherapy machines. Mr. Cakmak, while speaking with THISDAY in the just concluded Hestourex 2017 Congress and Exhibition in Antalya, Turkey recently, says majority of its 186 cancer machines are Truebeam.

Truebeam is the latest radiotherapy technology/machine for cancer treatment.

For failing to invest in its healthcare and allocate reasonable percentage to the health sector, not only that Nigeria does not have a single Truebeam, it is using worn out and expired seven radiotherapy machines that break down at will because they have long past their lifespan.

This means for every cancer patient requiring radiotherapy, even if they love their country so much, Turkey will still be the destination.

Nigerian government says it was putting efforts to stop medical tourism, but sadly, it was indirectly encouraging it by refusing to fix the system. A Nigerian suffering from cancer would rather go to Turkey for radiotherapy than wait in line for months to access possibly the only radiotherapy machine in Nigeria.

Decades ago, Turkey used to have dearth of doctors like Nigeria, but same cannot be said

now as those who studied or resided in the U.S. or UK are returning back to become part of the healthcare revolution in their country.

They have seen how investment in healthcare has changed the system.

For its 80 million citizens, the country has over 80,000 medical doctors and hundreds of thousands of nurses, pharmacists, physiotherapists, among others.

But Nigeria, which was in same condition decades ago is still having dearth of doctors.

According to a Professor of the College of Medicine, University of Lagos, Folasade Ogunsola, in 2015, Nigeria has about 35,000 doctors, whereas it needs 235,000 medical doctors for its population in order to meet the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendation of one doctor per 600 citizens.

If Prof. Ogunsola’s figures are still relevant in 2017, it means Nigeria has one doctor to over 5,000 citizens.

Experts believed the two key reasons why doctors leave the country are poor renumeration and lack of standard healthcare environment to practise adequately. Nigerian doctors are said to flourish elsewhere. The U.S. has over 25,000 Nigerian doctors, according to records.

“We have now decided to make our healthcare provision open to the world, as we presently have what it takes to be the number one medical destination hub in the world,” says Cakmak, who is obviously glad the deliberate investments in their health sector has paid off.

“In terms of quality, we can only be compared to Germany and U.S., yet it is relatively cheaper to access healthcare here with same quality.”

Asked if same approaches could help the Nigerian health system, Cakmak said investment in healthcare definitely pays off on the long run, adding that on their part, they have at different times organised trainings for Nigerian doctors, and was willing to bridge the huge gap through the provision of healthcare to Nigerians who require certain types of treatment.

“Nigeria and Turkey quite have a good relationship. In oncology, we are ready to build bridges. If there are little or no radiotherapy machines in the country, patients who need treatment are welcomed into our country to

access it,” he said.

He said apart from oncology, treatments on dentistry, ophthalmology, organ transplantation, paediatrics and gynaecology, genetics, IVF, orthopedics and trauma, among others are offered in Turkey for those who need them, whether its citizens or foreigners like Nigerians.

The advancement of its healthcare provided room for the establishment of the Turkish Healthcare Travel Council to strengthen tourism activities and unite the national efforts to bring more patients to the country from around the world.

“With 317 members, consisting of hospitals, clinics, thermal and medical SPA centres, hotels, assistant companies, and with 144 network offices in 85 different countries, the council has grown into the largest healthcare association both in Turkey and the world,” says Cakmak, who believes the country was now ready and willing to extend its healthcare services to the world.

But how has the THTC benefitted Nigerians?

The Director of Nigeria THTC, Dr. Adedayo Sobamowo says the council has over the past four years provided medical consultation and facilitation services to enable over 300 Nigerian residents receive world class medical treatment in Turkey, adding that these treatments have included brain and spinal surgery; IVF treatment; cancer diagnosis and treatment; comprehensive medical check ups, medical spa and detoxification; weight loss surgery; knee and hip replacements; cardiac surgery; renal surgery and a host of other highly specialised medical procedures.

While Nigeria is striving to curb medical tourism, the clear lack of investment in the sector has made it somewhat inevitable, especially on issues requiring certain expertise and facilities which the country lacks. Their former partner-in-struggle, Turkey, is now well positioned to offer help in this regards for Nigerian patients requiring medical treatment abroad.

This shows a tale of two nations. Same challenges and wishes, but with different approaches and zeal. In the end, one is better placed to save the world, while the other is probably comfortable being saved by the world.

37

T H I S D AY THURSDAY, APRIL 20, 2017

NEWS

Female Condom: Less than 1% Compliance Recorded in Nigeria Kuni Tyessi in Abuja In pursuance of diverse Family Planning methods as well as in curbing the spread of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI), the female condom has come to stay in Nigeria but regrettably, statistics has revealed that there is less than one per cent compliance and with the North recording almost zero per cent. Dr. Sekina Bello of the Pathfinder International, a non-governmental organisation, who stated this in Abuja at a one-day meeting with key development partners and service providers towards adopting and developing a plan of action for the nationwide roll-out of the tools, said like the male condoms which recorded an uproar during its introduction, so is the female condom which will also be accepted with the right kind of education, enlightenment and training.

While stressing the need for healthcare providers to be well informed about its use, as well as calling on husbands to champion it’s use and support their wives, she said the female condoms which does not just help in preventing unwanted pregnancies and the spread of infections between partners, also serves as a barrier for the spread of infections to an unborn child in the case of an already pregnant woman, and reiterated that the tool has been modified for easy use and acceptability. ”Generally, the acceptability of female condom is very low both

in the North and in the South.

The national demographic survey conducted in 2013 states that less than one per cent of women in Nigeria use the female condom. So I can boldly say that in the North, it is almost non-existent because the commodities are available but whenever you go for them, they are either in the drawer or in the store somewhere. Most of the healthcare providers do not know how to use it and so they cannot even convince anybody to use it.

“The problem in the North is that husbands do not generally come with their wives to seek healthcare and in the trainings we do, the healthcare providers are involved even though some of them are community-based, but majority of the women come on their own to seek for Family Planing services.

They don’t bring their husbands along.

“The female condom is available in all public facilities free of charge. What I can say about cost is that it might not be available in all pharmacies but can be found in any public facility and it is free of charge in any public facility you walk into in this country. But because they don’t know it, they don’t ask for it. The healthcare providers are also not well educated about it and so they shy away from bringing it out and so lack the will power to encourage their clients to use it as availability of commodity is made on requisition made by healthcare providers.

“There is so much misconcep-

UNIDO Builds Capacity of Assessors for Quality Products, Service Delivery Martins Ifijeh A 3-day training programme for assessors trained under the auspices of the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) EU Funded Nigeria Quality Infrastructure Project, NQIP has ended in Lagos.

This training is a prelude to the Launch of the National Quality Awards billed to take place in Abuja on 20 April 2017.

The NQIP for Nigeria is to support the development of the missing standards and accredited testing and certification bodies in order to improve the quality of products and services exchanged in the Nigerian, regional and international markets.

The Lead Technical Adviser of the project in Nigeria, Dr. Shaukat Malik Hussain said the first quality award was launched by Japan in 1951 when the country was experiencing recession. The programme is credited to helping Japan pull out of the recession at the time. The United States and Europe followed with their own versions in 1988 with similar objectives and results as Japan.

The most recent Quality Awards were launched by the United Arab Emirates and China.

The incoming President of the Nigerian Association of

Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture, NACCIMA, Iyalode Alaba Lawson in her remarks said “the integrity of the National Awards depends to a large extent on the thoroughness and expertise of the assessor.

Thus, if we must create the desired awareness on quality and standards to build confidence and reliance in Nigeria’s goods and promote healthy competition among manufacturers and service providers using the award system, every detail must be considered and taken with utmost importance.

The National Quality Awards is in four grades, with the highest being the Diamond Excellence Award that entitles the awardee participation in the completion at the regional level for the ECOWAS Quality Award.

In its quest to improve the economy, the Nigerian government has committed through its collaboration with this project, to organize a scheme for National Quality Award for every 2 years, promote best management practices and promote quality culture.

Participants who had previously undergone a rigorous selection process, were drawn from Private and Public sector organizations’.

tion surrounding the use of the female condom. If one person uses it and something happens, instead of her to back and seek clarification, she just spreads with word of mouth that its use is painful or uncomfortable.

However, the second brand, which is the FC2 brand, made

specifically by a female health company, has gone through a lot of modifications. So the new one does not make any kind of noise and a mere touch of the material will convince you that it just warms up with your own skin. It’s very thin and it’s just near natural. The

man can even hardly know that there is anything coming between him and his partner.

“The only thing that can work for men is continuous education and orientation.

We need to keep talking to the men and changing their orientation and getting them

to advocate for it instead of having females advocate for it.

We need to have the men use it so that they will be testifying to their friends and colleagues and that will go a long way in changing their perception and increasing acceptability of the female condom.”

L-R: Director, Operation, Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON), Mr. Felix Nyando; Head of Department, Product Certification Directorate, Mr Terso Ornguwen; Lead Technical Adviser, United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), Dr. Shaukat Malik; and Assistant Director/Head, MANCAP, Product Certificate Directorate, SON, during a Product Certificate training in Lagos ...recently

NGO Tackles Depression, HBP, Stigma, Others in Widows Kuni Tyessi in Abuja In the spirit of the Easter celebrations, a non-governmental organisation, Rock of Ages Foundation , has as part of its programme to mark the occasion, invited medical personnel and healthcare givers to check the health status of widows for depression, high blood pressure, stigma from HIV/AIDS and other health-related issues.

Founder of Rock of Ages Foundation, Evangelist Ignatius Newman Ezeigbo, said the check-up which is done on monthly basis has become necessary due to the trauma several of the widows were going through and which had consequently led to the death of many of them.

On the N5,000 promised allowance from the federal government to the unemployed and indigent members of the society as well as the vulnerable, Ezeigbo said none of the widows, numbering over 3,000 has benefited.

He called on the government at all levels to live up to the expectations of the electorate and build more hope and trust.

“Every month we carry out this outreach and make sure that their health status is checked. The issue is not only that their husbands died but the load that has been left for them to carry such as children’s school fees and several others.

We have lost so many of them due to too much thinking and this is part of the reason we embarked on the monthly checkup in order to make sure

Save the Children Initiates Efforts to Strengthen Health Workforce in Lagos Rebecca Ejifoma

we check their blood pressure, sugar level, the stigma of HIV/ AIDS for those of them affected, and ensure that monthly, they check their health status and take their drugs.

“We make the drugs available for them. We have trained doctors and health workers. We have nurses that come every month to carry out the assignment of checking them and we pay for them, so we make sure that they get it free. So we keep telling and reminding them to make sure that they are around every month for their medical check-up.

“If you ask any of them, none has collected the N5,000. We hear of it but we have not seen anything. If they have started, I pray that God helps us to see because I know that if one of them has seen and received, the person will come and tell me. So we pray that the government will come and see them. If they can give the allowance to the widows, we will be glad and will tell the world that they have started.

But for now, I have not seen anything.”

Continuing he said, “There is depression and poverty in the land. You will be shocked to see the number of people going down because of these two traits and this further supports the 2017 World Health Day which centered on depression due to its high rate which sometimes leads to depression and that’s why we are calling on the government to rise up to its responsibility and give hope.

With statistics showing a slack in the number of workers in the health workforce, theLagos State government has concluded plansto adopt its Human Resources for Health (HRH) policy in order to identify, highlight, strengthen and proffer solution as way forward.

This was stated at the final pre-validation of a Situation Analysis Report and the draft HRH held recently at the Genesis Hotel, GRA, Ikeja to provide the framework for building a strong workforce that will help the state attain and sustain progress on Universal Health Coverage (UHC).

Coordinated by the Lagos State HRH Technical Working Group (TWG), with guidance from the Directorate of Planning, Research and Statistics (DPRS), Lagos State Ministry of Health (LSMOH), the Health Professionals Integration Unit (HPIU), with support from Save the Children International (SCI), the documents have been subjected to a series of intensive technical reviews since last June.

“The HRH Situational Assessment report is carried out today to determine the current health workforce information, the availability and distribution of human resource for health in the state and also to establish the trend and progress made by the health sector in the relevant HRH indicators,” the Chief Executive Officer/Principal Consultant, Affinity Consulting, Akaoma Onyemelukwe, explained.

Stating that the assessment

is the second in the history of strengthening HRH in Lagos State, she continued that the current number of health workers in the state had declined from 14,984 workers in 2010 to a total of 13,724 in 2016. The private sector was reported to have a higher number of workers estimated at 23,001.

She, however, attributed the current decline in the number of health workers to inaccuracy in documentation, brain drain and retirements. “This report shows that the state has an estimated 17.30 doctors and nurses per 10,000 population to deliver essential maternal and child health services as against 23 per 10,000 population recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO).”

She, therefore, urged: “Urgency is required to raise these numbers for the state to achieve SDGs and UHC.” The expert said that findings show that health sector/function budget allocation between 2010 and 2015 range within 7 per cent to 9.76 per cent of the Lagos State budget with a public expenditure average of 8.1 per cent.

About 40 per cent of the recurrent expenditure in the budget is expended on the payment of salaries for HRH. While maintaining that the Lagos health sector remuneration is better than other sectors but not competitive with private sector jobs, she said Lagos HRH institutions within the public sector have 66.21 per cent females working across the health sector with 33.78 per cent males.

T H I S D AY THURSDAY, APRIL 20, 2017

38

HEALTH

HEALTH MATTERS

goketakinrogunde@gmail.com

By Goke T. Akinrogunde 07036777348; 07029126776

Ovarian Cyst: The Myths and the Facts

O

ne condition that is seriously misunderstood by most women is the phenomenon called ovarian cyst, especially since it is inconsequential.

Women have two ovaries on either side on the body, the ovaries are the egg-manufacturing sites that store and release eggs at ovulation. Each ovary is about the size of a walnut. One ovary produces one egg each month, and this process starts a woman’s monthly menstrual cycle.

The egg is enclosed in a sac called a follicle.

An egg grows inside the ovary until estrogen (a hormone), signals the womb (uterus) to prepare itself for the egg. In turn, the lining of the uterus begins to thicken and prepare for implantation of a fertilized egg resulting in pregnancy. This cycle occurs each month and usually ends when the egg is not fertilized. All contents of the uterus are then expelled if the egg is not fertilized. This then flows outside the woman as the menses.

Ovarian cysts are quite common and it is estimated that almost all women would have had an ovarian cyst one or more times in their reproductive years. The good thing however is that most of these cysts, more than 95 per cent are noted to have resolved on their own.

They are small fulfilled sacs that develop in a woman’s ovaries.

It is important to note here that ovarian cysts affect women of all ages. Most ovarian cysts are considered functional (or physiologic and normal). Similarly, most ovarian cysts are benign, meaning they are not cancerous, and many disappear on their own in a matter of weeks without treatment. Ovarian cysts occur most often in women in their childbearing years and less in women who have passed their menopause.

Types of ovarian cysts: Follicular cyst: This type of simple cyst can form when ovulation does not occur or when a mature follicle collapsed on itself. A follicular cyst usually forms at the time of ovulation and can grow to about 4.5cm in diameter. The rupture of this type of cyst can create sharp severe pain on the side of the ovary on which the cyst appears. This sharp pain occurs in the middle of the menstrual cycle, during ovulation.

About 25 per cent of women with this type of cyst experience pain. Commonly, follicular cysts produce no symptoms and disappear by themselves.

Corpus luteum cyst: This type of functional ovarian cyst occurs after an egg has been released from a follicle. After this happens, the follicle becomes what is known as a corpus luteum. If a pregnancy doesn’t occur, the corpus luteum usually breaks down and disappears. It may however get filled with fluid or blood and persist in the ovary. Usually, this cyst is found on only

one side and produces no symptoms.

Hemorrhagic cyst: This type of functional cyst occurs when bleeding occurs within a cyst. It can cause abdominal pain on that side of the body.

Dermoid cyst: This is a type of benign tumor, it is an abnormal cyst that usually affects younger women and may grow to 12cm in diameter. A dermoid cyst can contain other type of growths of body tissues such as fat and occasionally bone, hair, and cartilage.

Who gets ovarian cyst The following are possible risk factors for developing ovarian cysts: · History of previous ovarian cysts · Irregular menstrual cycles · Increased upper body fat distribution · Early menstruation (11 years or younger) · Infertility · Hypothyroidism or hormonal imbalance · Tamoxifen therapy for breast cancer Oral contraceptive/birth control pill use decreases the risk of developing ovarian cysts because they prevent the ovaries from producing eggs during ovulation.

Symptoms Usually ovarian cysts do not produce symptoms and are found during a routine physical exam or

are seen by chance on an ultrasound performed for other reasons.

However, the following symptoms may be present: Lower abdominal or pelvic pain, which may start and stop and may be severe, sudden, and sharp; Irregular menstrual periods; Feeling of lower abdominal or pelvic pressure or fullness; Long-term pelvic pain during menstrual period that may also be felt in the lower back; Pelvic pain after strenuous exercise or sexual intercourse; Pain or pressure with urination or bowel movements, Nausea and vomiting; Vaginal pain or spotty bleeding from the vagina and infertility.

Treatment While noting that most ovarian cysts will be picked at ultrasound scanning sessions, other medical evaluations may come handy for better diagnosis and medical assessment.

As noted earlier, functional or simple ovarian cysts are the most common type of ovarian cyst. They usually disappear by themselves and seldom require treatment. Growths that become abnormally large or last longer than a few months should be removed or examined to determine if they are a sign of a more serious condition.

Usually, pain caused by ovarian cysts may be treated at home with pain relievers, including

ibuprofen, paracetamol, or other prescription pain medicine. Limiting strenuous activity may reduce the risk of cyst rupture or torsion.

Treatment options Operation as a form of treatment This may be through any of the following methods: Laparoscopic surgery: The surgeon makes small incisions through which a thin scope (laparoscope) can pass into the abdomen. The surgeon identifies the cyst through the scope and may remove the cyst or take a sample from it.

Laparotomy: This is a more invasive surgery in which an incision is made through the abdominal wall in order to remove a cyst.

Surgery for ovarian torsion: An ovarian cyst may twist and cause severe abdominal pain as well as nausea and vomiting. This is an emergency, surgery is necessary to correct it.

Follow-up and outlook Follow-up depends largely on the type of cyst that is present. Cysts in women in child bearing age group that show no evidence of cancer and are fewer than 6cm inches in diameter may be observed for a period of time, while suspicious-appearing cysts may warrant immediate evaluation.

Inside the Hospital Masturbation vs Weak Erection: A Patient’s Concern I have been having consistent weak erection since after my wedding in 2007. Funny enough I have normal erection when I want to masturbate, this habit has eaten deep into me.

It started since I was 18, now I am 43yrs.

My erection is extremely weak when I want to meet my wife and usually could not release.

Before, I used to have strong libido within a week, now no libido for upwards of 2 months unless I fantasize. My wife’s body does not generate erection for me again.

Is my problem psychological, physical or spiritual? I have tried both orthodox and tradomedical medications to no avail including daily vitamin E. I have never contacted any STD in my life.

Tell me what to do sir.

Please reply me.

Kingsley Kingsley, Please, be assured that you have a sympathizer in me. I should inform you, however, that generally and objectively speaking there is no agreement among researchers and experts on the appropriateness, or otherwise with respect to sexual ill-health, of masturbation in male or in the opposite sex.

Different cultures however have different attitudes to this not very uncommon behaviour that comes in different forms across the gender divide and among the different age groups.

I should add here that it largely represents, initially at the earlier stage, a desire to let out a psychological and /or physical tension in an unusual form. Usually most individuals soon developed other ways to let out this tension via different coping mechanism.

The first step to overcome and take personal control of the situation is to overcome the inertia to saying it out. I respect your present courage as per writing this letter to me. It is the beginning of a solution to the problem.

The fact that you are still achieving an erection during your so-called ‘fantasies’ is an indication that the problem is less physical or organic in nature; your concern lies more in the inner psyche.

I’m confident that an interaction with a knowledgeable medical practitioner or a clinical psychologist grounded in human sexuality, and who is not beclouded with undue/unscientific hypocritical morality, will lead you out of your present worrying situation.

Since physical attraction is a factor of sexual attractiveness and fulfillment, regardless of who you are meeting on this problem, sooner than later your wife will have to be brought into the picture, it is better to let her know about this ‘dullness in her attractiveness to you, so she can get closer in outlook to those other women in your ‘fantasy’ world that get you thrilled in your imagination.

39

T H I S D AY THURSDAY, APRIL 20, 2017

HEALTH

When Health Insurance Becomes Unattractive in Nigeria In this report, Odimegwu Onwumere writes that there are loggerheads surrounding the Health Insurance scheme, causing intricacies in the areas of regulation and implementation, thereby creating loopholes for funds to go down the drain A clash of interest has been brewing between the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) and the parent body of Health Maintenance Organisations (HMOs) in Nigeria, Health and Managed Care Association of Nigeria (HMCAN).

A seeming fraud has allegedly been exposed in the Health Management Organisations (HMOs) by members of the House of Representatives’ Committee on Healthcare, early March this year, to the tone of N350b.

Irked by the shoddy picture, Chairman of the Representatives Committee, Chike Okafor frowned that the money in question was the eventful efforts of Nigerians in making the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), an initiative of the federal government since 2005 after the Health Act of 1999, was made. Okafor therefore advised the NHIS to hold back from funding HMOs till examination into the matter was completed.

The federal government had although convinced the citizens that there was going to be NHIS monthly capitation under the National Health Insurance Scheme Act Cap N42, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, meant to actualise the universal health coverage for the citizens but especially for children, women and the vulnerable in the society, through inexpensive cost and diverse prepayment systems. This was after the institutionalisation of NHIS in 1999 via Decree (now Act) 35 of the Federal Government of Nigeria.

Owing to the fact that health insurance is regarded as one of the most influential insurance policies, the NHIS was given a mandate to see that Nigerians did not lag in their overall health concern.

But this exquisite initiative might have lost its focus as fraud and irregularities have supposedly been characterising the effort to give Nigerians a befitting health insurance.

Experts judged that there was a glaring misinterpretation in the way the health insurance has been handled on the part of government officials that hypothetically wanted to implement and regulate. The experts were consequently calling on the authorities for a talk in order to take a stand, given what the law has said. They believed that the government should not be the implementer of the health insurance and as well, as the regulator. In their effort, they wanted the government to come in as a regulator whereas the implementer would be the HMOs. Speaking to newsmen on the issue in February, Prof. Mustapha A. Danesi, a consultant physician/neurologist at the College of Medicine University of Lagos (CMUL)/Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), said, “So at present the government seems to dabble into implementations rather than keep strictly to regulation and I believe it is in the interest of everyone to make sure that government keeps to its role as regulator and facilitator.”

In the cause of investigation, Mahmud Yusuf, NHIS Executive Secretary threatened to resign when the Pandora’s Box was discovered in the health insurance agency and he did not sing a different song to that of the Representatives, saying that the health insurance agency has not lived up to the responsibility it was formed.

Yusuf said that not upto 5 per cent of Nigerians have been covered by the insurance scheme as against 60 per cent that was the nomenclature on

Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole

ground at the formation of the health insurance agency.

Given the slapdash practices in the way funds meant for health insurance have been handled, some private health organisations in the country had earlier raised their voice in the way remittances were made in the NHIS monthly capitation.

Some private organisations in a state like Plateau State made this known. In February, Chief Medical Director of Sauki Hospital in Jos, Dr. Daniel Gana, who was a former Chairman of Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Plateau State Branch, was angst-ridden.

Gana said that the federal government has only been keen in staying at the NHIS office in Abuja, but allowed other individual health and other organisations to totter.

Gana’s words were that some organisations that include Health Maintenance Organisations (HMOs) were paid up front, every quarter, by the

federal government. Literarily, Gana’s statement suggested that hospitals nationwide hardly get their salaries as at when due. For instance, checks revealed that as at February 24, 2017, no hospital across the country received their salaries, making “what the hospitals are doing now as just humanitarian services.”

There are obviously many challenges facing the health sector in the country. The 2017 budget of 4.15 per cent for health, for instance, is the fraction of 3.65 per cent was in 2016, as against 15 per cent WHO and African Heads of State declared for countries healthcare in a meeting at Abuja in 2001.

The federal government was oblivious or it knew but pretends to shy away, that health insurance has been hardly penetrated in the country given its unconcern attitude to the health sector.

Pundits in the health sector like the Chief Executive Officer

AMLSN Champions Crusade on Antibiotic Resistance Kuni Tyessi in Abuja The Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists of Nigeria (AMLSN), has directed its members to increase efforts against the growing challenges posed by antibiotic resistance in the country, and to ensure they offer their best to save lives being affected by the scourge.

President of the group, Toyosi Raheem, gave the directive in Abuja at a briefing commemorating the 2017 World Biomedical Science Day. He also expressed worry over the current toll taken by meningitis and said the over 500 deaths could be averted if government had taken necessary precautionary measures to prevent the outbreaks.

Raheem said against the claims of government that funds were not immediately available, except government prioritises health issues and implement crucial laws such as the National Health Act;

it would be difficult to meet public expectations in the sector.

He informed that Medical Laboratory Science or Biomedical Science had continued to be very important in diagnosis, research, training and service delivery, and that as such, it plays great roles in responding to health emergencies among others. He charged all state chapters of the association to commemorate the day “in the best way possible.

It is already a known fact that Biomedical Laboratory Science Day is observed to increase the awareness of the roles that Biomedical Scientists play in healthcare. Biomedical Scientists play an important role in diagnosis, quality development and quality assurance, treatment, research and development, and public healthcare.

Therefore, the purpose for which International Biomedical Laboratory Science Day is commemorated annually, is to give our profession a

day to promote and celebrate ourselves.”

The theme for this year World Biomedical Laboratory Science Day is ‘Antibiotic Resistance: Biomedical Laboratory Scientists Respond to the Global Threat.’

AMLSN explained that due to poverty, ignorance and weak regulations in various health practices, “there has been use, misuse and abuse of antibiotics in our various communities especially in Nigeria. The danger arising from this ranges from wastage of drugs (antibiotics), development of side effects, some of which include damage to organs and systems, development of resistance by the microorganisms, prolonged hospital visits/admissions due to treatment failures and complications, loss of avoidable man-hours or economically productive hours amongst others.

“Imagine what the outcome of a drug resistant strain in

an epidemic outbreak of meningitis and other infectious diseases would be! It is better imagined than experienced.

We are already battling with emerging drug resistance in HIV, TB, malaria, diarrhoea and other enteric diseases.

“As a responsible professional association, we need to decisively respond to the threats and engage the community in advocacy, proper and faster methods for detecting infectious agents and their susceptibility testing.

Meanwhile, AMLSN has said medical laboratory scientists are both involved in disease diagnosis and bacteria vaccines production processes.

It called on the federal government to revive the vaccine laboratory in Lagos State and also engage its members to help the nation produce bacteria vaccines locally.

The group also said it would offer its best to help reduce the menace of antibiotic resistance in the country.

of Novo Health Africa Ltd, Dr. Dorothy Jeff-Nnamani, said, “with the objective of providing healthcare delivery solutions across Nigeria and internationally through collaborative partnerships. In a public presentation in 2015 the government has not really made the citizens to understand what insurance really is. “ Jeff-Nnamani was of the opinion that aside the health sector, the citizens were still aloof in the understanding of insurance in its entirety.

Manifestly in a religious country like Nigeria, the source added that majority of the citizens don’t agree in preparing for the unanticipated circumstances that might befall them hence the churlish for insurance. On the assertion that the federal government has only been sitting at the NHIS office in Abuja, Nigeria’s seat of power, to supervise the health insurance scheme, the source added that federalism has been part of the culprits besetting the health insurance.

The highlight of this is that the federal government insures public servants in its employ, but the state governments most times do not follow up, thereby not relieving their employees the insurance they needed. In a nutshell, the specialists believed that the authorities have made health insurance unattractive to the citizens in a country known for nepotism. Those who know better were of the view that health insurance should not have any barrier in how people access healthcare.

While fielding questions to newsmen in January this year, Danesi said, “Nigerians do not need free health but free access to health. Free access to health is only available to those who have a lot of

money.” Danesi had a view that lack of finance was not only the barrier in accessing healthcare; many people that had the money hardly get healthcare as at when due.

In a quest to proffer a solution to resolve the crisis rocking the Health Insurance scheme, Danesi added, “Regulation means, make sure that the laws are implemented and make sure every accredited HMOs are quality HMOs, and make sure that accredited health care providers are quality providers. Those are regulatory issues and make sure that the money that is paid is properly kept and disbursed to the HMOs in order to pay the providers and so on, and that is facilitation. If we are housing the money that is paid, disburse it as fast as possible so that there will be no hitch in the implementation.”

The source, however, frowned at the situation where a patient lineup in the hospital for hours to see a doctor; something that ought to be easy for the patient. Adding, it stated that in a state where free access to health is fad, it means that a patient sees the doctor on arrival to the hospital and not need donkey hours to see a doctor. This is even as a Senior Director for the Health, Nutrition and Population Global Practice at the World Bank, Dr. Tim Evans, said, “Universal health coverage is an essential ingredient to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity within a generation.

Putting people’s health needs ahead of their ability to pay stems poverty and stimulates growth.”

It is believed by connoisseurs that the only way to get free access to health is through health insurance.

Zamfara Governor Offers Assurance to MNCH2 on Sustainability of Life Saving Interventions Martins Ifijeh The Zamfara State Governor, Alhaji Abdulaziz Yari, has pledged to sustain activities of the Maternal Newborn and Child Health programme (MNCH2) in the state.

The governor made the pledge recently during an engagement with key stakeholders including the Minister of Health, Prof.

Isaac Adewole and Executive Director, National Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr. Faisal Shuaib, in a bid to tackle the current meningitis outbreak in his state.

Yari, who promised to sustain the interventions of the programme after it exits, assured that life saving drugs and commodities will continue to be made available to women and children in the state for

free. He also gave a nod of approval to partnership talks between the state and the Society of Gynaecology and Obstetrics of Nigeria (SOGON) for the operationalisation of the Volunteer Obstetrics Scheme (VOS) and the Maternal and Perinatal Death Surveillance Review (MPDSR). National Team Leader, Dr. Salma AnasKolo briefed the governor on the activities of the programme in the state. She encouraged the governor to employ graduates of the community midwifery programme in order to bridge the human resource gap in the state’s health system.

Earlier, Dr. Anas-Kolo briefed the Health Minister of the support of MNCH2 in the area of making drugs available for the treatment of meningitis patients across the 14 LGAs of the state.

T H I S D AY ˞ ˜ Ͱ͎˜ 2017

40

BUSINESS/MONEYGUIDE

Umeofia: Nigeria Will Be Self-sufficient in Tomato Production in 18 Months Nume Ekeghe The President/Chief Executive Officer of Erisco Foods Limited, Mr. Eric Umeofia yesterday applauded the recent federal government’s policy on Tomato, saying it would increase manufacturing, farming and the entire tomato value chain.

This, he added, would in turn change Nigeria from an importer of this product to a major exporter. Specifically, Umeofia who has been an advocate of the policy, noted that the increase in tariff on importation of tomato concentrate to 50 per cent and levy of $1,500 per metric tonnes slated for May 7, would encourage the sector to becoming an exporter in the next 18 months.

Umeofia made the remarks at a media briefing in Lagos.

He said: “We are thankful that the federal government has finally come out with a policy on tomato sector this confirms that this government is a listening

government. It has confirmed our belief that this government under President Buhari actually cares for the development of Nigeria and he’s support for anything positive in Nigeria. “It is not that this ban would give us more money personally, but on a wider scale, it going to liberate our economy and make our farmers to be richer and a general progress for this country. And in the next 18 months, Nigeria would see the effects of this policy because farmers would be more buoyant, the industry would grow and we would become exporters of tomato paste and concentrate.�

He also faulted a statement in some news media where the president of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) seemed to be supporting importation of the product.

Umeofia said: “We read a statement attributed to the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria president that the policy is fine except that the time given

is inadequate. If it is true he said so, then it is unfortunate because it has showed that our own people are being used to destroy our people. “Why would a body like MAN say that and we wonder why manufacturing would not improve in the country. This means they are not supporting manufacturing and foreigners are using them to protect their own business in Nigeria and continue to manipulate us here.�

He also urged the federal government to replicate this policy in other sectors of the economy so as to improve manufacturing, stressing that the country’s growth was dependent on the growth of the manufacturing sector.

He added: “No country has ever and would ever be sufficient without manufacturing. We should manufacture what we have here to our advantage and then export them to balance our trade books.�

Lottery Firm, Give’n’Take, Embarks on Mobile Advertising Give’n’Take, the mega-box Nigeria lottery company, has rolled out mobile advertising campaign to sensitise Nigerians ahead of its National Lottery Jackpot coming up on NTA and other major TV channels in March.

The company has rolled out eye-catching, tantalizing adverts in Lagos, with over 50 GnT-branded BRT buses across the state. It has also rolled out several radio advertisements, voiced by Veteran actor, Segun Arinze of Nollywood fame, who was recently unveiled as the brand ambassador of GnT and the host of the first of its kind, Lottery gameshow, GnT National Lottery Jackpot.

GnT prides itself as Nigeria’s mother of all lottery, with

spread in several states of the country, and expanding further on daily basis. With the launch of this advertisement blitz, the company has not only brought the competition to the doorsteps of other lotto companies in Lagos, but it is setting new standards for the Nigerian lottery industry.

G’nT says it hopes to make playing lottery a more interesting pastime and fun than the old-fashion view of it as a game for gamblers and idle minds. “That is an old, parochial view of lottery,� says MonabeMitee, GnT’s Director of Operations. “We are here to make people’s dreams come true by playing the lottery with small money and winning big.�

At Mile 2, GnT-branded

BRT buses are conspicuously seen, with people giggling in admiration. Same could be noticed at Okokomaiko Bus stop and other routes. And tune radio stations in Lagos, you hear the voice of Black Arrow (SegunArinze) come alive hugging you the Go Play GnT lottery.

GnT is a Nigeria lottery company with passion to bring lottery to international standards like Canada, UK and USA, especially where national lottery jackpots are observed as huge national events and people look forward, nostalgically, to who will emerge as winner of the ultimate prize which runs into several millions and billions of dollars or pounds.

Access Bank Appoints Ogbonna DMD Access Bank Plc yesterday announced the appointment of Mr. Roosevelt Michael Ogbonna as Group Deputy Managing Director. His appointment has been approved by the Central Bank of Nigeria.

He replaced Mr. Obinna Nwosu who recently resigned to pursue personal endeavours.

According to a statement from the bank, Ogbonna is a consumate banking professional with over 19 years working experience cutting across treasury, commercial and

corporate banking. He has been the Group Executive Director, Commercial Banking Division of the bank since 2013. Ogbonna joined Access Bank in 2002 from Guaranty Trust Bank.

The new Group Deputy Managing Director is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria and holds a Second Class Upper Degree in Banking and Finance from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

He has attended executive management development

programmes on diverse areas of banking and management in world leading institutions. He is also a member of reputable professional organisations, including the Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts, Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria and the the Future Leaders Group of the Institute of International Finance.

Ogbonna is a non-executive director of Access Bank (Zambia) Limited and Access Bank (UK) Limited.

Firm Enters Market with ‘BigVolt’ AJE Group, manufacturers of Big Cola, a 65cl carbonated soft drink, has moved into energy drink segment of the market with a new offering, with which the company want to gain a substantial share of the energy drink market.

The company with headquarters in Lima, Peru recently adopted boat ride in Lagos lagoon as platform to unveil its energy drink, ‘Big Volt’ in 65cl pet bottle in to the Nigerian market. It is selling for N300 per bottle.

In 2015, when the company

with initial investment capital of over N5 billion introduced 65cl soft drink in different variants of cola, orange and lemon, it really stretched competition in that segment and this time the management is also confident that the new energy drink would find space in the market.

Theo Williams, the country manager of Ajeast Group, who said that the Big Volt is locally produced, believed that consumers required another viable alternative to existing brands “especially a drink that

would be more affordable�

He said the company is not likely to introduce the product in Can pack because of cost.

On why he is confident that Nigerians would appreciate the drink, Williams maintained that it is cost effective as Nigerians are moving to lower cost but quality products.

Williams agreed that Big Volt in 65 cl is largest energy drink in Africa but it is not the largest in the world as America has 1 litre product but believed that Nigerians would likely use it as mixer.

UmeoďŹ a

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 Ëž Ă™Ă&#x;ĂœĂ?Ă? Ě‹

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

Ëž Ă™Ă˜Ă?ĂžĂ‹ĂœĂŁ ÙÖÓĂ?ĂŁ Ă‹ĂžĂ? Ě‹ ͯͲϹ

OPEC DAILY BASKET PRICE AS AT TUESDAY 18, APRIL 2017

The price of OPEC basket of thirteen crudes stood at $52.60 a barrel on Tuesday, compared with $52.94 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).

T H I S D AY ˾ ˜ Ͱͮ˜ Ͱͮͯ͵

41

MARKET NEWS

Unilever Nigeria’s Profit Hits N2.8 Billion in First Quarter Goddy Egene and Nosa Alekhuogie Unilever Nigeria Plc has announced improved financial performance for the first quarter (Q1) ended March 31, 2017. The results showed increases in both top and bottom-lines, raising expectations of stakeholders for a better performance at the end of the current year.

Unilever reported a revenue of N22.172 billion for Q1 of 2017, showing an increase of 32 per cent compared with N16.782 billion in the corresponding period of 2016. Cost of sales rose by 47 per cent from N10.749 billion to N15.879 billion, making the company to end the period with gross profit of N6.293 billion as against N6.033 billion in 2016.

Sales and distribution

T H E

expenses went up by 23 per cent, while market and administrative costs fell by 22 per cent from N3.355 billion to N2.596 billion in 2017. However, finance costs increased by 32 per cent to N724 million, from N545 million. Profit before tax(PBT) improved by 53 per cent from N1.419 billion to N2.80 billion, while profit after tax (PAT) went up from N1.041

N I G E R I A N

billion to N1.603 billion.

The company said it remained a consumer and customer centric business, as it continues to meet varying needs of Nigerians.

“The company will not relent in its efforts to satisfy its consumers. As a company, we will continue to deploy best practice marketing strategies, with high level of operational intensity; in our continued

STO C K

investment in commercial and factory operations to expand our capacity and grow our market share,” the company said.

In their assessment of the results, analysts at FBN Quest said compared with their estimates, Q1 sales were ahead by 17 per cent while PBT and PAT were ahead by wider margins, mainly due to the positive surprise on the

E XC H A N G E

sales line.

“On an annualised basis, while sales are tracking ahead of consensus full year estimate of N76 billion by 16 per cent, PBT and PAT are ahead by 87 per cent on average. Although forex exchange sourcing for raw material importation remains a challenge, any adverse effect has been offset by positives seen in the topline.

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˾ THURSDAY, APRIL 20, 2017

MARKET NEWS

United Capital Records N2.1bn Revenue, N1.2bn Profit in 3 Months Goddy Egene United Capital Plc yesterday reported gross earnings of N2.113 billion for the first quarter (Q1) ended March 31, 2017, showing an increase of 13 per cent from N1.857 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2016.

Investment income grew to N1.057 billion, from N947 million, while net operating income settled at N1.847 billion, compared with N1.761 billion in the corresponding period

of 2016.

Profit for the year stood at N1.172 billion, up marginally from N1.137 billion. However, market operators said the company’s Q1 bottom-line was commendable considering the fact the capital market, where the company plays, is still faced many challenges.

United Capital had recorded an impressive performance for the year ended December 31, 2016, recording a jump of 133 per cent in profit after tax(PAT).

It had recorded gross earnings

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

of N9 billion in 2016, showing an increase of 50 per cent from N6 billion posted in 2015.

Investment income rose from N3 billion to N4 billion, while fee and commission income grew from N1.612 billion to N1.979 billion.

Despite high inflation in 2016, the management of the company was able to reduce its total expenses by 19 per cent from N3.238 billion to N2.634 billion. Consequently, profit before tax (PBT) grew by 95 per cent from N3.264 billion

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 18Apr-2017, unless otherwise stated

to N6.366 billion, while PAT soared from N2.57 billion to N6 billion.

Based on the performance, the directors have recorded a dividend of N3 billion, which translate to 50 kobo per share, up by 42 per cent from 35 kobo paid in 2015.

The Group Chief Executive Officer of United Capital Plc, Mrs. Oluwatoyin Sanni had said the company would continue to continue to pursue its clear and consistent strategy, which has delivered a strong performance

for shareholders.

Sanni said: “We remain positive about our future opportunities within the Nigerian and African market, not-withstanding the challenging macro-economic environment.

As we commence 2016, we remain committed to achieving our goal of building Africa’s leading investment and financial services group and to work hard to accomplish our strategic objective set out in 2015 & 2016. Our priorities

include: driving effectiveness and efficiency initiatives to improve productivity whilst optimising costs, further improving our brand awareness, corporate image and brand value to achieve market-wide recognition and appreciation of our corporate identity.”

Sanni had assured stakeholders that the company would continue to innovate and remain a leading facilitator in raising debt capital for both governments and other corporate organisations.

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 131.67 132.31 3.72% Nigeria International Debt Fund 219.32 220.23 1.94% ALTERNATIVE CAPITAL PARTNERS LTD info@acapng.com Web: www.acapng.com, Tel: +234 1 291 2406, +234 1 291 2868 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn ACAP Canary Growth Fund 0.70 0.71 0.76% 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 17.24% ARM INVESTMENT MANAGERS LTD enquiries@arminvestmentcenter.com Web: www.arm.com.ng; Tel: 0700 CALLARM (0700 225 5276) Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn ARM Aggressive Growth Fund 12.55 12.93 1.66% ARM Discovery Fund 294.44 303.32 2.53% ARM Ethical Fund 22.71 23.39 1.64% ARM Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 15.66% AXA MANSARD INVESTMENTS LIMITED investmentcare@axamansard.com Web: www.axamansard.com; Tel: +2341-4488482 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AXA Mansard Equity Income Fund 106.34 107.09 1.10% AXA Mansard Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 17.45% 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 9.58 9.83 2.37% Women's Investment Fund 88.21 90.47 4.27% 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 18.35% 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 1,058.16 1,059.31 4.82% FBN Heritage Fund 113.20 113.94 1.44% FBN Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 17.38% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Institutional $107.83 $108.62 3.67% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Retail $107.51 $108.31 4.08% FBN Nigeria Smart Beta Equity Fund 116.11 117.61 3.04% 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 0.97 0.99 4.26% Legacy Short Maturity (NGN) Fund 2.69 2.69 4.48% 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 2,248.30 2,275.20 1.78% Coral Income Fund 2,216.62 2,216.62 5.34% 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 17.66% 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 17.00% Vantage Balanced Fund 1.74 1.76 3.49% Vantage Guaranteed Income Fund 1.00 1.00 16.63%

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 3.11% Lotus Halal Fixed Income Fund 1,014.55 1,014.55 3.15% 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 10.04 10.12 3.89% 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 1.09 1.11 3.88% PACAM Fixed Income Fund 10.51 10.56 1.09% PACAM Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 14.06% 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 112.90 113.82 10.89% 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 3.04% 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 1,870.33 1,879.67 2.11% Stanbic IBTC Bond Fund 156.56 156.56 1.69% Stanbic IBTC Ethical Fund 0.77 0.78 0.65% Stanbic IBTC Guaranteed Investment Fund 194.94 194.94 4.31% Stanbic IBTC Iman Fund 132.38 134.20 2.01% Stanbic IBTC Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 17.76% Stanbic IBTC Nigerian Equity Fund 7,420.26 7,506.35 -2.15% 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 8.61% United Capital Bond Fund 1.27 1.27 15.18% United Capital Equity Fund 0.66 0.67 -1.12% United Capital Money Market Fund 1.15 1.15 11.33% 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 10.15 10.33 5.29% Zenith Ethical Fund 11.48 11.59 5.12% Zenith Income Fund 17.56 17.56 6.24%

REITS NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

11.41 125.94

1.01% 1.59%

Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

8.06 72.25

8.16 73.59

-8.15% -4.67%

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

2.71 6.19 11.83 16.29 129.41

2.75 6.27 11.93 16.49 131.41

-1.43% -11.88% -1.39% 2.12% -0.36%

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.

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THURSDAY APRIL 20, 2017 ˾ T H I S D AY

INTERNATIONAL

email:foreigndesk@thisdaylive.com

Mike Pence: U.S. Would Defeat North Korea Attacks against Japan U.S. Vice President Mike Pence vowed to strike back in the event of a North Korea attack against Japan.

Speaking on the fight deck of

the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan at the naval base in Yokosuka, Pence said Wednesday any military provocation would be met with an“effective

American response,”The Japan times reported.

“We will defeat any attack, and meet any use of conventional or nuclear weapons with an overwhelming and effective American response,”Pence said.

The vice president also said North Korea is the most dangerous threat in the AsiaPacific region and that the era

of strategic patience was over, Kyodo news agency reported.

Pence had met earlier with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and affirmed the United States, like Japan, seeks to achieve peace but that peace is possible through force and strength, the Japanese news agency reported.

North Korea’s most recent

missile launch, which ended in failure, was most likely a test of a KN-17 Scud missile, Fox News reported.

The missile is probably a single-stage, liquid-fueled anti-ship projectile that was on display during Pyongyang’s military parade on Saturday, according to the report.

North Korea’s last two

missile tests ended in failure, raising questions whether the U.S. military could be using cyber methods to disrupt North Korea tests, CNN reported.

The vice president is also in Tokyo to renew trade talks that began with the first summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Abe.

Three men were having a seemingly ordinary day in downtown Fresno, California, before they were singled out at random and killed by a black gunman targeting white victims, police said.

The men happened to be on the same block, but had no known connection to each other or to the shooter, Kori Ali Muhammad, who told police he wanted to kill as many white people as he could before he was captured.

One victim, a 34-year-old father of two preschoolers, was on the job when he was shot Tuesday in the passenger seat of a Pacific Gas & Electric utility truck. The

driver wasn’t hit and sped toward the police department, but his partner couldn’t be saved.

Another victim, a 37-year-old man, had just picked up a bag of groceries Tuesday at a Catholic Charities building when he was gunned down.

Stephen Hughes, 66, said he and his wife rushed home Tuesday after receiving a frantic call from a neighbor to find a body draped in a blanket on the sidewalk leading to his front door.

“It looks like a guy carrying his groceries home from the store,” Hughes said.

The third victim, a 59-year-old

man, was gunned down in the parking of the Catholic Charities building.

“These were unprovoked attacks,” Fresno police Chief Jerry Dyer said.

Two Latina women and a child crossed paths with Muhammad but were luckier. Muhammad pointed the gun at them as they sat in their car trying to flee, but didn’t shoot.

Muhammad, 39, is in custody and is expected to be charged with four counts of murder — for Tuesday’s three victims and 25-year-old Motel 6 security guard, Carl Williams, another white man who Muhammad

shot last week. He also faces at least two additional charges of assault with a deadly weapon.

Police had been looking for Muhammad in the Williams killing, and Muhammad said seeing his own name and picture in a press release Tuesday morning helped spur the rampage.

Muhammad had shorn off the braids featured in his wanted pictures and YouTube videos, fired 16 rounds in less than two minutes at four places within a block.

“I did it. I shot them,”Muhammad told officers as they arrested him, according to the chief.

UK General Election 2017: MPs Back Plans Police: Fresno Gunman Targetting Whites for 8 June Poll Chose 3 Men at Random A UK general election will be held on 8 June after MPs backed Prime Minister Theresa May’s call for a snap poll.

The House of Commons backed the PM by a margin of 522 votes to 13, above the two-thirds majority needed, as Labour and the Lib Dems supported the move.

The PM has argued a fresh mandate would strengthen her hand in Brexit talks and provide certainty for the future.

Jeremy Corbyn welcomed the poll but accused the PM of changing her mind and breaking promises on a range of issues.

The next general election had been expected in 2020, but the Fixed Term Parliaments

Act allows for one to be held earlier if it has the support of two-thirds of MPs. Defending the measure, Mrs May told MPs there was a “window of opportunity” to hold a poll before Brexit negotiations begin in earnest in June and that the country needed “strong leadership” to make a success of the process.

The prime minister, who will make her first campaign stop in the north-west of England later, is hoping to significantly boost her current Commons majority of 17 to increase her authority, ahead of 18 months of talks which will determine the manner of the UK’s exit from the EU.

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THURSDAY, APRIL 20, 2017Ëž T H I S D AY

NEWS

Ă?ĂĄĂ? ĂŽĂ“ĂžĂ™Ăœ Davidson Iriekpen Ă—Ă‹Ă“Ă– davidson.iriekpen@thisdaylive.com, 08111813081

Court Orders Temporary Forfeiture of N449.750m Abandoned at BDC Tauheed says money belongs to a serving government official Davidson Iriekpen

in different bags.  He also stated that inquiries Justice Rilwan Aikawa of on the ownership of the shop the Federal High Court in where the exhibit was recovered Lagos yesterday ordered indicated that the shop had temporary forfeiture of the not been opened for close sum of N449.7million found in to two years. EFCC added possession of one Mohammed that both the Chairman and Tauheed at the Legico Shopping Vice Chairman of the plaza, Plaza in Victoria Island in Lagos Mr. Sulaiman Mukthar Daba to the federal government. and Alhaji Ishaq Ayandiran,  Justice Aikawa’s order was could not trace the identity sequel to an ex-parte application of the owner of the shop, but filed and argued before the came to EFCC’s office with the court by the Economic and said Tauheed, who claimed Financial Crimes Commission’s ownership of the money and (EFCC) lawyer, Rotimi Oyedepo informed the EFCC that he Iseoluwa. received the money in cash The EFCC in an affidavit from a serving government sworn to by one of its operatives, official whose name he will Moses Awolusi, averred that not disclose for security reasons.  the commission received an The deponent further stated intelligence report on April 7, that thereafter, Tauheed in the 2017, that money in several presence of his lawyer, agreed Ghana must go bags was in a to return the money back to the warehouse in one of the shops federal government which is the located at Legico Shopping rightful owner of the money.

Plaza, in Victoria Island, Lagos. He contended that the said The intelligence report, money recovered was reasonably according to the EFCC, was suspected to be proceeds of analysed and found worthy crime fraudulently diverted of investigation against one from the federal government. Mohammed Tauheed. Iseoluwa also stated that the The deponent also stated said Tauheed who was arrested that the investigation revealed in connection with the money that on April 7, 2017, the shop criminally conspired with the with number LS64 at Legico owner of the aforementioned Shopping Plaza, Ahmadu shop now at large to launder Bello Way, Victoria Island, was the said funds. searched and a whopping sum He said it would be in the of N449,750 million was found interest of justice if the court

Presidency Commences Moves to Strengthen Whistleblower Policy Omololu Ogunmade Ă“Ă˜ ĂŒĂ&#x;ÔË The presidency yesterday said in view of the success recorded by the whistle blower policy in the war against corruption, it had commenced moves to strengthen the device for more effective results.

Making this disclosure, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, said the enthusiastic response of Nigerians to the whistle blower policy had boosted the tempo of anti-corruption crusade of President Muhammadu Buhari.

He also said the government was itching towards strengthening the structural capacity of the whistle blower mechanism, pointing out that government was considering doing so by either bringing it under the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC) or some other government bodies with a view to making the device more result-oriented. “In a word, government thinks that the whistle blower mechanism is too important to be left without a strategic, national direction,� he said. He also commended the zeal and patriotism of Nigerians towards exploring the whistle blower policy to expose hidden looted funds.

He added: “No public policy can succeed or go far enough without public support and participation. When the citizens realise they are victims of corruption, they may feel encouraged to join the efforts to expose looted funds.�

Shehu further explained that the huge and incredible amount of looted funds being recovered

by EFCC through the whistle blower device “is a revelation about the mindless, callous and reckless scale on which Nigeria had been robbed by unpatriotic and egregiously selfish public officials.�

He also said the government was receiving suggestions that it should employ the device to expose Nigerians who use the illegal weapons to cause communal violence. “Yes, it is true, the presidency has received suggestions that call for the whistle blower policy to be extended to the possession of illegal weapons by powerful individuals in the country. “The government will look at all that and make a pronouncement. Nigerians would be encouraged to expose the presence of illegal weapons in the homes of powerful politicians and other public figures who may use those deadly arms for sinister political agenda.�

can in the interim, make an order of forfeiture to the federal government and allow Tauheed to put on notice and appear before the court within 14 days to show cause why the money found in their

possession should not be forfeited to the federal government. The presiding judge, Justice Aikawa, after listening to the submission of the EFCC lawyer granted the order of temporary

forfeiture of the money to the federal government.

The court also ordered EFCC to advertise the order of the court within 14 days for any interested party to come before the court

to convince the court while the money should not be permanently forfeited to the federal government. The matter has been adjourned till May 19, 2017.

CONGRATULATIONS FOR THE FEAT

Vice-President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, in an hand shake with Africa’s first solo traveller, Captain Ademola Odujinrin; flanked by Captain Adetokunbo Adekunbi (left) and Ladi Mumuni, Project Head (right) at the State House, Abuja....yesterday

CBN Intervenes with $100m in Forex Market Obinna Chima On the heels of its injection of $280 million into the foreign exchange Market on Tuesday, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday carried out another spot wholesale intervention in the interbank forex market by offering $100 million to authorised dealers to meet the seven to 15-day forwards requests of customers.

Owing to this, the naira appreciated to N400 to the dollar on the parallel market yesterday, stronger than the N407 to the dollar it closed

the previous day.

The latest intervention was confirmed by the Acting Director, Corporate Communications Department, CBN, Mr. Isaac Okorafor, who, however disclosed that the banks and authorised dealers were only able to pick up $68.51 million.

Okorafor attributed the inability of the authorised dealers to fully subscribe to the CBN to a surfeit of forex in the system, which may lead to further appreciation of the naira.

He also disclosed that the CBN will on Thursday, April

20, 2017 continue its sale of $20,000 to Bureax de Change (BDCs) for onward sale to small-end users.

According to him, the trend monitored by the Bank indicated that deposit money banks are now able to meet the forex demands of their customers within the time frame stipulated by the CBN. Speaking further, Okorafor said feedback on the Bank’s forex new window for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the country revealed that majority of the small importers were heading for a major boost

in their activities. This he said was responsible for the current appreciation of the Naira, stressing that the Naira will continue to gain strength with the relentless efforts of the CBN to supply the market with forex.

The spokesman also reiterated the determination of the CBN to continue to intervene in the various sectors of the interbank forex market in order to guarantee access to all categories of customers requiring forex for legitimate obligations and ultimately ensure stability in the forex market.

INEC to Commence CVR on April 27 Onyebuchi Ezigbo Ă“Ă˜ ĂŒĂ&#x;ÔË The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has fixed the commencement of its Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) on April 27.

The commission in a statement issued at the end of a meeting between the management, Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) and Administrative Secretaries (ASs) from the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), said the exercise is to take place simultaneously in all the 774 local government areas

in the country.

In the statement signed

by Amina Bala Zakari, INEC said the meeting was to finalise its preparations for the commencement of the nationwide CVR exercise.

It added that the meeting considered the methodology, modalities and effective date for the commencement of the exercise nationwide. “Arising from the meeting, the commission has decided that the nationwide CVR shall commence on April 27, 2017 in each of the 774 local government areas of the federation. The

exercise shall take place on weekdays (Monday to Friday) from 9a.m. to 3p.m. excluding public holiday,� it said.

INEC said the exercise is intended to enable citizens who have turned 18 years of age since the last registration as well as those who did not register during the last exercise to register as voters.

It said it is meant to allow those seeking transfer of their registration from one state to another or within a state from polling unit to another to do so.

The commission also stated that the exercise

would also be used to distribute uncollected Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) to those who could not collect them before or since the last general election.

In addition, it will enable citizens who have the Temporary Voter Cards (TVCs) but whose names are on the register to collect their PVCs. According to the commission, the registration centres shall be the local government offices of the commission or such other suitable locations as will be made public by the state offices.

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NEWSXTRA

Meningitis Death Toll Rises to 745, Says NCDC 8,057 cases are recorded

Martins IďŹ jeh The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has revealed that as at April 17, the death toll from the recent Cerebrospinal Meningitis (CSM) outbreak had risen to 745, while a total of 8,057 cases have been recorded so far.

Stating this in a statement made available to THISDAY yesterday, the Technical Adviser, NCDC, Dr. Lawal Bakare, said the number of deaths represent 9.2 per cent of the total cases, while of the 8,057 cases, 7,529 (93 per cent) occurred in five states  of Zamfara, Sokoto,

Katsina, Kebbi and Niger.

He said the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) and NCDC would continue to lead the federal government’s response to the outbreak, with activities focused on four key outbreak response and control areas. “These include raising awareness of the outbreak in communities, implementing enhanced surveillance to quickly detect and report new cases, vaccinating populations at the highest risk and treating persons diagnosed with the disease as well as outbreak preparation in local

government areas and states at risk for the outbreak. “To increase awareness of the outbreak and coordinate response across states, the Northern Traditional Leaders Committee on Primary Health Care convened a meeting of governors and traditional leaders from all Northern Nigerian states. The meeting, held in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Health and its agencies, and international partners focused on strategies to end the outbreak,� he said.

Bakare stated that the state governors have reaffirmed their commitment to the immediate and concrete actions towards halting the outbreak. He added that traditional leaders were also committed to continue awareness in their communities and jurisdictions. “At national level and in affected states, activities aimed at driving information into grassroots, including advocacy meetings with religious leaders, civil society organizations, health

professionals, entertainers and media organisations is on going.�

He said the NPHCDA has successfully led vaccination in Zamfara and in Katsina, targeting persons between ages 2-29 years in the priority local government areas in both states. “Preparations are at advanced stages for the next round of vaccination in priority wards and local government areas in Sokoto State.

Distribution of medicines and

other essential commodities to treat persons with meningitis in key affected states is also ongoing.�

According to the Incident Manager of the response, Dr. John Oladejo, “We are grateful to all Rapid Response Team members, including government agency and partner staff who have remained at their different field posts, through the Easter period working on this outbreak response and control.â€?Â

Chairman of Chachangi Airlines is Dead Buhari, Dogara mourn John Shiklam Ă“Ă˜ Ă‹ĂŽĂ&#x;Ă˜Ă‹Ëœ Omololu Ogunmade Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ James Emejo Ă“Ă˜ ĂŒĂ&#x;ÔË The Chairman of Chachangi Airlines, Alhaji Ahmadu Chachangi, has died. He died in the early hours of yesterday following his deteriorating health, family sources said. According to the source, the businessman had been facing some health challenges for sometimes, adding that his condition became critical and had to be rushed to Abuja for medical attention.

However, on the way to Abuja, he gave up the ghost along  the Kaduna-Abuja Expressway. He is  survived by three wives and about 33 children, including  Rufai Chanchangi, a member of the House of representatives.

He has since been buried according to Islamic rite at the Bashama road cemetery at the Tudun Wada area of Kaduna.

The burial was attended by hundreds of sympathisers.

Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, have extended their condolences to the Chanchangi family on the death of their benefactor.

Buhari in a statement by his media aide, Mallam Garba Shehu, also commiserated with the government and Taraba, his state of origin, and Kaduna where he lived, on the demise of the notable entrepreneur whom he said used his wealth for the advancement of the welfare of others instead of pursuing conspicuous consumption in a society overwhelmed by poverty.

The statement added that the president joined friends, well wishers and the business community in mourning the deceased whom he said passed on at a time humanity needed his compassionate services most.

The statement also commended Chanchangi’s

selfless commitment to humanitarian affairs, which he said was demonstrated in his decision to offer succour to those in need by sponsoring community enlightenment programmes and uplifting of people’s spiritual well-being.

It added that Buhari believed that Chanchangi, who devoted his life to the service of God and humanity would be long remembered for his resourcefulness, discipline and passion for hard work as he prayed Allah to bless his soul and reward his good deeds with Aljanna.

On his part, Dogara, has expressed sadness over the death of Chanchangi. In a statement in Abuja by his Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs,  Turaki Hassan, the Speaker commiserated with the Chanchangi family,  friends and associates over the death of the renowned business mogul. He described the deceased as a great philanthropist, community leader and businessman whose legacy of charity and humanitarian service to the people endeared him to everyone across all divide.

According to him: “Death is a necessary end that must come when it shall. We are however, consoled that late Chanchangi contributed positively to the development of the society during his life time. He left an indelible footprint on the sand of time and  a legacy of philanthropy, community development and service to his society and the nation.â€? Dogara admonished the children and grandchildren he left behind to emulate the virtues of honesty and hard work which their late father and grandfather represented. “On behalf of the leadership and the entire members of the House, I sincerely extend our heartfelt condolences to our colleague, Hon. Rufa’i and the entire Chanchangis. May God grant you the fortitude to bear this irreparable loss,â€? he added.Â

MARITIME SAFETY IN FOCUS

L-R: Director General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dakuku Peterside; Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok Eket-Ibas; and Chairman, NIMASA Board, Maj. Gen. Indian Garba (rtd), during the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Nigerian Navy and NIMASA at the Naval Headquarters in Abuja....yesterday

Ooni Hosts Emir of Kano, Sues for Peaceful Co-existence Yinka Kolawole Ă“Ă˜ Ă?Ă™Ă‘ĂŒĂ™ The Ooni of Ife, Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi Ojaja II, yesterday played host to the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi II. The emir, accompanied by senior members of Kano Emirate Council, said he was in Ile-Ife to formally congratulate Ooni on his ascension to the throne of his forefathers and to appreciate him for his fatherly role sequel to the recent Hausa-Fulani crisis in Ile-Ife. The emir thanked Ooni and the people of Ife for the warm reception given to him and prayed for the robust continued relationship between Kano Emirate and Ife Kingdom. “I was here as a prince a couple of years ago in company of my late father, Emir Ado Bayero, during the 30th coronation anniversary of the late Ooni Okunade Sijuwade Olubuse II. As a prince, I had always felt welcome in this palace and today, on arriving here, I have received the same welcome as a member of this royal family.

It is indeed remarkable and we thank Allah for the way he does his things because the

relationship between our two predecessors which was critical to building bridges across the Niger and unifying the people of this country has continued with us and I hope we will keep being agents of peace and unity for our great country,� the emir said.

He added that his visit was both a happy and sad one.  “My visit here today is a happy and sad one. It is a happy one because it is an opportunity for me to come and formally congratulate you on your enthronement and it is a sad one because it is in connection with the sad incident that occurred at Ile-Ife recently. “I know many people from the North have been complaining that I have been quiet on this matter, let me say that the moment this sad incident happened, the Ooni of Ife reached out to me and Sultan, and both of us have reached out to Ooni on a number of times and we are satisfied with the fatherly way he has so far responded to the crisis which we see as a confirmation that he is truly the father of all in Yorubaland irrespective of tribes and religion and we felt that so long the Ooni was doing  everything humanly

possible to stabilise the situation, there was no need for anyone of us to make any statesmen that could worsen the situation. Let me also add that I was to be here with the Sultan but he has had to travel and he has asked me to represent him and all the northern traditional rulers.�

He concluded: “I on behalf of Sultan and the other emirs commiserate with you over the sad incident and follow up by making for the great leadership you showed during the crisis and the quick manner in which you doused the tension and the way the culprits were apprehended for justice. You showed indeed that everyone in Ife is your subject which is the way it should be. The family we come from and the institution we represent are institutions that take responsibility for protecting the lives, property and dignity of our people living within their jurisdiction irrespective of where they are from. We thank you for playing that role.�

He equally commended the governor of Osun State, Rauf Aregbesola, for setting up a high powered commission of

enquiry to look into the matter and immediate cause of the incident and to recommend appropriately so as to avoid future re-occurrence and to ensure that justice is done.

He said “Our relationship in the country is such that safety in one place is safety everywhere.�  In his own remarks, the Ooni thanked the visiting emir whom he described as a perfect gentleman and a courageous intellectual for the visit and expressed satisfaction with the reaction of the entire northern leaders over the ugly incident. “When you are talking of intellectuals in Africa Sanusi is actually a force to reckon with.

I have always had tremendous respect for him. Thank you your highness for this historic visit. You are a detribalised Nigerian who has always shown love to members of other tribes. My love for you dates back to when you were governor of Central Bank of Nigeria as your courage of calling a spade a spade actually drew my attention to you.�

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Nigerian Army Declares War against Bandits in Southern Kaduna John Shiklam ÓØ ËÎßØË Nigerian Army yesterday launched an operation tagged: ‘Operation Harbin Kunama II’ to tackle the menace of herdsmen in the southern part of Kaduna State.

Hundreds of people have been killed in the past five years by herdsmen while property estimated at billions of naira were destroyed.

The federal government, had in December last year, deployed

troops and the police to the area to stop the mayhem, but the killings have continued with the recent one that claimed 12 lives in Asso village last Saturday.

Speaking at the event which held in Kafanchan, the headquarters of Jama’a Local Government Area, the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, said there would no longer be any hiding place for armed bandits in the state.

Ife Crisis Panel Begins Sitting Yinka Kolawole ÓØ ÝÙÑÌÙ The panel of inquiry on the civil disturbance of public peace, set up by Osun State Governor, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola, to unravel the causes of crisis that ensued between the Hausa and Ife people on March 8, yesterday commenced sitting.

The panel, headed by Justice Moshood Adeigbe, during the sitting at Oba Okunade Sijuade Memorial Hall, Enuwa, Ile-Ife, urged the petitioners to assist the panel in discharging its duty within the stipulated time.

He recalled that the panel was given four weeks to submit its findings to the state government, promising that it would be fair to everybody.

Meanwhile, indigenes of Ile-Ife, yesterday inundated the panel with various affidavits, claiming lose of property worth millions of naira in the March 8 mayhem.

One of the petitioners, Reverend Rotimi Omisakin, told the panel that his church and shop were burnt by unknown Hausa boys, saying he would need N150,000 to

repair the church.

“I was on the prayer mountain when my wife called me that some Hausa boys came to our house and burnt her shop and church.

“I want to appeal to the government to give me N150,000 to repair my church.

Also, one Rotimi Fabunmi who claimed to represent his stepmother, alleged that properies worth N480,000 were burnt in his stepmother’s shop.

Asked why his stepmother did not appear before the panel, Fabunmi said she was rushed out of the country due to the shock she had when she heard that her shops were burnt.

He said kolanut and palm oil worth N480,000 were burnt by the unidentified hoodlums during the crisis.

Also, the Secretary of the panel, Bisi Babalola, disclosed that 140 memoranda have been received by the commission.

He said the panel would be sitting everyday so as to meet up with the four-week deadline given to it by the state governor.

Buratai said the aim of the exercise is to ensure that southern Kaduna area is kept safe.

“I know it has been in the press and it has generated a lot of interest. But we are determined to shoulder the major responsibility of keeping the peace always and it is better to do this job than to leave it until it goes out of hand. God forbid,” he said.

According to him, the exercise is a remarkable experience to the one that took place last year, adding that “I have seen confidence in all the officials that have briefed us and I have seen improvements in their understanding of the environment.”

He said the army would

continue to coordinate its activities to ensure that communities understand each other so as to provide the needed security and the right atmosphere for economic and social activities to thrive.

Also speaking, the Kaduna State governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, said he was delighted by the effort of the Chief of Army Staff to launch the operation.

“This operation is very important because this problem in Southern Kaduna has attracted high levels of attention not just because of the gravity of the situation here, I think there are more serious crisis in other parts of the country, but this one has been given religious and ethnic coloration,” the he said.

He expressed confidence that with the operation, the bandits that have been attacking farmers will finally be neutralised so that farming activities will resume as the rains approaches.

El-Rufai said the state government adopted a threestep plan to end the crisis.

“The first step is what you are seeing today, to stabilise the place by ensuring that the presence of security to protect lives and property and then to target areas of hideouts for the bandits and flush them out. Our hope is that, with the completion of these operations, we will relax the curfew.

“The second step which we have started concurrently is to arrest perpetrators of these

crimes, whether it is those that write hate speech or go to churches and mosques and encourage others to kill or supply arms to young people and drug them so that they can kill, we have been monitoring them and we will be arresting and prosecuting them.

“This is what has been missing in this part of the state in the last 37 years, people have gotten away with murder and that has inculcated a culture of impunity, by God’s grace we are going to change that because some people would be prosecuted for what is happening here.

“Everyone one that we lay our hands on would be brought before a judge,” the governor said.

PRESENTING FACTS AND FIGURES

L-R: General Manager, Finance NNigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG), Solomon Folaranmi; Managing Director, Sadeeq Mai-Bornu; Deputy Managing Director, Tony Attah; and General Manager, Kudo Eresia-Eke, at the formal presentation of Facts & Figures on NLNG 2017 publication, in Lagos...yesterday.

Investigation into Cabin Smoke Incident in Flight NG316 Ongoing, Says Aero

AMCON Concludes Payment of Ex-Staff of Delta Steel Company

Chinedu Eze

Ejiofor Alike

Aero Contractors has dismissed reports on the smoke incident that took place in the cabin of its Lagos bound flight from Port Harcourt last Tuesday, saying it is still investigating the cause of the smoke.

There are different accounts of the incident by the airline as Aero management delayed to make a statement and explain what caused the smoke.

Passengers in the aircraft were petrified by the incident, as some said they thought they would die.

The flight was operated by Bombardier Q300 Dash 8 aircraft.

The management source also said the aircraft was checked when it arrived safely in Lagos but there was no technical problem with the airplane.

Aero said in a statement, “Unlike the stories being spread on the social media, the management of Aero has explained that flight NG316, which departed Port Harcourt airport on April 18, 2017 at 1608GMT, enroute Lagos, with 52

adults +1 infant on board. They also commended the pilot and the entire crew for the professionalism they displayed in handling the situation.

“There have been different accounts of the incidents with some claiming that the smoke came from the baggage compartment while others alluded to all manner of unverified claims.

But the management of Aero said it regrets any inconveniences the incident might have caused its esteemed passengers and assured it will get to the root cause of the matter.

“Although the management led by Capt. Ado Sanusi, Chief Executive Officer of Aero, has ordered for full scale investigation into the incident, preliminary reports has it that at 16:45 GMT (4:45p.m.) about 75NM (distance) to Lagos at 24,00ft, the cabin crew observed that the cabin was misty. This was reported to the captain, who briefed the passengers accordingly, assuring them of a safe landing in Lagos in a couple of minutes.”

The statement said expectedly

as announced by the pilot, that normal descent was initiated into Lagos, but while descending, however, a passenger went into the lavatory, after which the lavatory smoke detector alarm came on; however, the cabin crew again reported this incident to the captain and by this time the smoke was getting denser in the cabin.

“Ready and armed with ‘Aft Cargo Smoke’ indication in the flight deck, the crew carried out the smoke dispersal procedures and contacted air traffic control at 16:55GMT (4:55p.m.), requesting for emergency support services and proceeded to Lagos, which is the airport with the full complement of emergency support. At this stage again, the cabin crew reassured the passengers and handed out wet towels to them as a precautionary measure for such incidents,” the statement said.

The airline account noted that the captain also announced to the passengers to be calm as the smoke in question did not present any irritation or discomfort.

The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) has said it has concluded the payment of salaries and gratuity arrears of eligible ex-staff of the Delta Steel Company Plc, with some staff receiving as much as N2.1 million.

AMCON said yesterday in a clarification made available to THISDAY that it ensured that all verified ex-workers, who were eligible and also participated in the agency’s verification exercise were fully paid directly.

Following their inability to liquidate the debts they owed several banks, AMCON took over the assets and undertakings of Delta Steel Company Plc (DSC)/ Global Infrastructure Nigeria Limited (GINL) and appointed a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Chief Ajibola Aribisala as the Receiver/Manager of the company.

However, in 2015, AMCON replaced Aribisala with another senior lawyer, Dr. Joseph Nwobike

(SAN), who subsequently engaged the services of an audit firm to carry out a verification of the ex-staff.

“At the exercise, only those who were staff of DSC/GINL at the time of the take-over by AMCON were audited. At the conclusion of the exercise, Nwobike engaged the representatives of the staff, which engagement led to an agreement to accept as full and final settlement of their outstanding salaries and gratuity, a percentage of the verified sums,” AMCON said.

It was however gathered that although the percentage agreed to be paid was below the staff’s expectation, AMCON said the arrangement was the best in the circumstance, given the fact that DSC/GINL is insolvent.

According to AMCON, over 1,600 staff were screened and paid in the exercise, which lasted between March 13 and 31, 2017.

Speaking on behalf of the workers, Mr. Isaac Omatseye lauded AMCON and Nwobike for addressing their plights.

Omatseye said by the

payments, most of the ex-staff would be able to either engage themselves with the new owners of the steel company, Premium Steel and Mines Limited (PSML) or pursue other meaningful endeavours.

He appealed to Nwobike to ensure that all the ex-staff who are able and willing are re-engaged by the new owners.

Also speaking on behalf of the ex-workers, Mr. Godfrey Egbevwie expressed mixed feelings over the payment.

“We are elated that this payment will lead to the opening of the company by the new operators and consequently, engagement of several workers.

What we are not happy about is that only 25 per cent of what we were owed is being paid,” Egbevwie said.

Reacting to complaints by some of the ex-staff that they were not paid, Egbevwie said those who were not paid were those staff whose services had been disengaged or terminated

by DSC before AMCON took over the ailing company.

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Don’t Conduct Census before 2019 General Election, Ozekhome Warns FG Says previous exercise manipulated to favour North Opposes those against 2014 National Conference Insists Magu cannot continue to act, as senate rejection stands Paul Obi ÓØ ÌßÔË A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and a human rights activist, Chief Mike Ozekhome, yesterday warned the federal government against conducting the forthcoming National Population Census ahead of the 2019 general election.

He made this known while speaking to journalists in Abuja over recent happenings in the country.

Ozekhome’s warning came on the heels of similar caution by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, tasking the federal government to rescind going ahead with the exercise as the census would be prone to intense manipulation by the political class.

Dogara had last week cautioned the National Population Commission (NPC) against going forth with the planned 2018 exercise as politicians would hijack the census.

Ozekhome said: “When Dogara is afraid of census before 2019 elections, I sympathise with him. He knows that census is an explosive matter in this country.

“The former chairman of Commission NPC said previous censuses were false, and he was

sacked because certain parts of this country did not like what he said.

“I agree with the Speaker that the census should not be held.

The 2019 elections are almost here. Let the census be held after the 2019 elections.

“If it’s held, it will be manipulated by politicians. The same politicians can even use the census exercise to disrupt the conduct of the 2019 general election.”

He also contended that previous censuses conducted since the almagamation of the northern and southern regions of Nigeria, have always been tilted and manipulated to favour the North.

“All the censuses we have ever had in this country have always been manipulated. They have never reflected the true population of Nigeria.

“This is the only country in this world where the population in the dry region is higher than those in the wetlands,” he maintained.

Ozekhome held that it is wrong for states “laying the golden eggs to have fewer local government areas.

“This is because of our attachments to national resources. Look at this. The old Kano was divided into

Kano and Jigawa States. As I speak, Kano State has 44 local government areas, while Jigawa has 27. National resources sharing is based on this.

“Let us look at Bayelsa State.

It lays the golden egg, but it has only eight local government areas. If Bayelsa State lays the eggs, where is the justice in this country when those who do not lay the eggs get the lion’s share?” he asked.

Ozekhome also reacted to another statement credited to some northern elders who last week tasked President Muhammadu Buhari not to implement resolutions reached at the 2014 National Conference.

He described those calling on President Buhari not to implement the resolutions of the conference report as hypocrites.

The SAN added that northern delegates participated in the conference and were privy to the decisions arrived at by over 450 delegates drawn from every part of the country.

“It was a battle royale at the 2014 National Conference.

At the conference, we made over 600 recommendations. No one was forced to adopt any report. We disagreed during the conference and almost exchanged blows.

“It is alarming when you see participants of that conference coming out to say that they have rejected the outcome of the exercise.

Every segment of Nigeria from the six geopolitical zones was represented at that conference.

“We cannot take our unity for granted. It needs to be nurtured. We need to go back to fiscal federalism. The over

600 recommendations of the National Conference which President Buhari has said he would put away in the archives, is unfortunate,” Ozekhome stressed.

Ozekhome further stated that it was disingenuous for the acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, to continue to stay in office despite the overwhelming rejection of his appointment by the Senate.

He argued that constitutionally, once the Senate rejects a nominee, the right for the presidency to do was to withdraw such nomination.

“Where there are strong institutions, you build an institution around an individual. The EFCC is not supposed to be run by one person but by a board.”

He added that lawyers “who stand logic on the head” and insist that the President can still nominate Magu, saying that, such statement “is a lie from the pit of hell.”

“The president shall appoint the EFCC chairman subject to confirmation by the Senate.

Subject to means depended on, subservient to, subjugated to, living on. Question, can he continue to act forever, the answer is no, because, acting is a stop-gap measure. It is a temporal measure pending action - pending what, confirmation.

“I challenge all the lawyers to show me where EFCC is mentioned in section 161.

In America, once the senate rejects a nominee, the president withdraw the nomination with apology,” Ozekhome submitted.

DIG: Police to Recruit 30,000 Personnel Annually Mohammed Aminu ÓØ ÙÕÙÞÙ

“So, our focus is on constables and cadet inspectors who will The police high command actually go to the hinterland yesterday said it had for community policing. concluded plans to recruit The policy thrust of the Nigeria 30,000 personnel annually to Police Force is on community enhance community policing policing and we have to key in the country. in to the international trend,” The Deputy Inspector Dikko said.

General of Police in charge of He stated that the Force North-west zone, Mr. Maigari had already recruited 10,000 Dikko, made this known while personnel, who are currently addressing officers at the state undergoing training in various police command headquarters police training schools across in Sokoto. the country.

He said the bulk of the The DIG further said the recruitment would focus on management was looking for constables and cadet inspectors alternative source of funding for adequate community policing through the Police Trust Fund in the country. to tackle challenges bedeviling According to him, the move the force. was aimed at addressing the Dikko reaffirmed the challenges of inadequate commitment of the IG towards manpower in the police force. improving the welfare of officers Dikko disclosed that the and rank and file in the country.

Inspector General of Police He therefore, commended the (IG) had already written to Sokoto State Police Command President Muhammadu Buhari for its efforts in curtailing cattle for approval of the recruitment rustling and illicit drugs in the exercise. state.

“The IG had already written In a remark, the state to the president and as soon as Commissioner of Police, Mr. he gives the approval, we intend Mohammed Abdulkadir, said the to recruit 30,000 personnel every command was currently faced year for a period of three years. with challenges which include “We are really facing shortage of manpower and manpower challenge in the patrol vehicles while some force. We have only 375,000 of the police divisions are personnel in the country and operating from makeshift this is inadequate even with structures, as they do the 10,000 cadets currently not have standard police undergoing training. station.

SYNERGY AGAINST CRIME L-R: Ogun State Deputy Governor, Mrs. Yetunde Onanuga; Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) in charge of Southwest region, Foluso Adebanjo; Governor Ibikunle Amosun; Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG), Zone 2, Adamu Ibrahim; and state Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Illiyasu, after a courtesy visit on the state governor in his office in Abeokuta...yesterday

Rivers Golden Jubilee Celebration to Gulp N1.5bn Ernest Chinwo ÓØ ÙÜÞ ËÜÍÙßÜÞ Rivers State Government has said it would spend about N1.5 billion in celebrating the state’s 50th anniversary.

It, however, said the bulk of the funds would be provided by the private sector.

The Alternate Chairman of the Golden Jubilee Anniversary Committee, Chief Onueze Okocha (SAN), who disclosed this while briefing journalists in Port Harcourt yesterday, said they have already realised over N1 billion through donations from private donors.

“We have a budget of N1.5 billion for the celebration, most of which is expected to be raised from private donors. Already,

we have raised over N1 billion from private donors. The golden jubilee celebration will be selffunded without any stress to the Rivers State government,” Okocha said.

He stated that the awards and honours sub-committee of the Golden Jubilee Committee, headed by former Minister of Transport, Dr. Abiye Precious Sekibo, has shortlisted names of founding fathers and heroes of the old Rivers State who will be honoured during the celebration.

The Golden Jubilee Committee alternate chairman stated that the purpose of the celebrations was to showcase the history, unique geography and the rich cultural tapestry of the state.

Okocha said the central theme of the events was to strengthen “the bonds of brotherhood of the people of the state,” and set the agenda for the development of the state for the next three decades.

He said: “The celebratory activities which began in January this year with the unveiling of the anniversary logo by the state Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, have seen a fund raising dinner, statewide wrestling competition, and a novelty cycling event.

“Other events lined up for the celebration include, a polo tournament, football competition, a beauty pageant, and the colourful canoe regatta for which the state is famous. The programme

shows special days dedicated for the celebration of women, the youth and the traditional institution in Rivers State.

“A day has also been set aside for Corporate Rivers, affording leaders in the business and investment community an opportunity to interact and explore new frontiers for investment in the state. A special golf event and a biking procession are also planned as part of the events.”

Okocha revealed that as a mark of appreciation and respect, individuals who have made exceptional contributions to the development and advancement of Rivers State since its creation would be publicly honoured at an award event.

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CRIME&PUNISHMENT Police Raid Lagos Creeks, Kill One Militant Arrest other suspected militants, kidnappers Promise sustained surveillance, raid

Gboyega Akinsanmi A special force comprising Lagos State Marine Police, Special AntiRobbery Squad (SARS), Anti-Riot Police and Anti-Kidnapping Squad yesterday raided hideouts of militants in Ishawo creeks, killing one suspected militant.

The operation, coordinated by the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Fatai Owoseni, and led by the Commander of the Rapid Response Squad, Mr. Tunji Disu, also led to the arrest of 13 other suspected militants.

The special force raided the entire stretch of Lagos-Ogun creeks about two weeks after the suspected militants killed four police officers and one army captain, in an ambush in Ishawo creeks.

Consequent on the ambush that culminated in the death of four police officers and one

military officer, the state governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, said every perpetrator linked to the act would face justice.

Giving journalists updates after the operation yesterday, Owoseni said 13 suspected kidnappers “have already been arrested and are currently aiding the special force to track the suspects that are still on the run.”

The police commissioner, who addressed journalists alongside the RRS commander and Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Mr. Habib Aruna, acknowledged that the governor ordered the joint operation, which he said, culminated in the death of one militant and the apprehension of 13 others.

According to him, the operation yielded positive results.

Following the attack that occurred at Ishawo where we lost four of our policemen and army captain,

we have deployed operatives in the creeks.

He said: “What you have seen now is for us to appraise what we have been doing in the last one week. So, we have arrested suspected militants.

We are talking to the suspects that we arrested. Likewise, the suspects we have arrested are already talking to us and giving us useful information.

“We will get some meaningful evidence from those we arrested from the creeks. The evidence we are obtaining from those we arrested will help us know who we are looking for so that we will not be just wild catching.”

Owoseni noted that the visit was “to appraise the work done so far and the next line

of action. Earlier this morning, our special force was able to get to the proper camps of these criminal elements where they saw some of them cooking food who fled immediately they saw our combined force.

“We just feel that we should take a decision to destroy the camps. The destruction of the camps is ongoing. That is why we are here and the officers that are handling the destruction of the camps are right inside the creeks now. At the end of the day, they will share the story when they finish the operations.

“But our movement here is just for you to see the terrain and see what the security operatives are facing with regards to policing this environment. That is why we

are clamouring for the destruction of these shanties.”

Owoseni confirmed that one of the suspected militants died during a sustained raid of the creeks, assuring residents in the area that the special force “will ensure that all criminal elements in the state are fished out.

“We still want to assure members of the public that these people have murdered sleep and they will not sleep, we will make sure that all of them are rooted out and that they face the full weight of the law.

“At least, 13 suspects were arrested. We are interrogating them and they are making useful statements for us. We are making progress. You can see that helicopter surveillance is

also supporting all we are doing.

“But we want to assure members of the public around this axis that the government is ready. The security agents are equally ready to ensure that we put an end to the madness of these criminal elements.”

Owoseni noted that the police had already gathered necessary information on the perpetrators still on the run, noting that they would be arrested one after the other and be made to face the full wrath of the law.

He commended the security operatives adding that the efforts of the local vigilante groups who are familiar with the terrain was critical to the operation especially in aiding to navigate the hideouts of the militants.

Police Arrest Administrator of Ijumu in Connection with Dino Melaye’s Assassination Attempt Yekini Jimoh ÓØ ÙÕÙÔË The Police Special Squads drafted from Police Force Headquarter Abuja have arrested the administrator of Ijumu Local Government Area of Kogi State, Hon. Taofiq Isah, in connection with the assassination attempt on Senator Dino Melaye.

Taofiq was arrested yesterday at about 1.30 p.m. at the premises of the Ministry of Education, Lokoja, where he had gone to visit the state Commissioner for Education, Hon. Sunday Tolorunleke.

Some gunmen last Saturday at about 12 midnight invaded the house of Senator Melaye at Aiyetoro-Gbede, destroying two of his vehicles and riddled his building with bullets.

Sources close to the state Police Command disclosed to THISDAY that the directive was from Inspector General of Police (IG), Ibrahim Idris, following a report by the senator on assassination attempt on his life at his country home.

The source further added that the issue involving attempt on somebody’s life “is a very serious

issue and the force must do everything possible to investigate the alleged assassination attempt.

“Nobody is above the law in Nigeria as far as the law is concern. We are still investigating and we must get to the root of the issue.”

Meanwhile the state Commissioner of Police, Wilson Inalegwu, while confirming the order to journalists, said his command is working round the clock on the issue, as he confirmed that the arrest was made while guns were also recovered.

He further pointed out that he is working hand in hand with his senior officers on the issue, adding that as the investigation is on, and that nobody is above the law if such person is link to the alleged crime.

“Nobody is above the law, if you are linked to a particular crime, that person must be investigated to determine his innocence,” he said.

The state police boss further disclosed that five suspected Fulani kidnappers were also arrested in Aiyetor-Gbede while AK 47 was also recovered from them.

Maria Ijeoma Adiogu for Burial April 27 The family of Chief James Ubendu Adiogu of Amachara Umuopara Umuahia South Local Government Area of Abia State has announced the passing away of Mrs. Ezinne Maria Ijeoma Adiogu (Nee Anyanwu).

Fondly called Mama Matron, she passed on December 17, 2016 at age 92.

There will be a Christian wake keep on today at Chief James Ubendu Adiogu

compound Amachara Umuopara, Umuahia at 6p.m.

The funeral service will take place on Friday, April 28, 2017 at St Stephen Methodist Cathedral Amachara West Dioceses Umuopara, Umuahia South LGA at 10a.m., while internment follows at Chief James Ubendu compound.

Thanksgiving service and outing service is on April 31, 2017 at St. Stephen Methodist Cathedral at 9.a.m.

COMBING THE CREEKS FOR CRIMINALS Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Fatai Owoseni (left), with Commander, Rapid Response Squad (RRS), Tunji Disu

(right), Chief Press Secretary to the state governor, Mr. Habib Aruna (right), and other security operatives, during the police inspection of ongoing demolition of criminal hideouts in Ishawo, Ikorodu....yesterday

Traffic Law: Lagos Impounds 3,619 Vehicles in Three Months Gboyega Akinsanmi Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, yesterday said the Vehicle Inspection Service (VIS) had impounded 3,619 vehicles in the last three months for failing to comply with the Road Traffic Law 2012.

The governor also said it was committed to the United Nations Decade of Action, which he said targeted at reducing road crashes globally by 35 percent by instituting safety system.

He reeled out the statistics at the unveiling of Lagos State Computerised Vehicle Inspection Centre at Ojodu, noting that the centre would eradicate vehicles that were not road worthy in the state.

Ambode, who was represented by the state acting Commissioner for Transportation, Mr.

Olanrewaju Elegushi, said 2017 “falls within the United Nations Decade of Action with respect to road crashes.”

He explained that the Decade of Action “targets reducing road crashes globally by 35 percent through instituting a safety system that aims at minimising loss of life as a result of road crashes.

“To ensure this, the VIS in the first quarter of 2017 has impounded 3,619 rickety vehicles which can potentially cause fatalities on the road. Statistics has shown that between 2013 and 2016, over 416 lives were lost and 2,498 injured due to road crashes on Lagos roads.

“These road crashes have been traced to human error. It is an established fact that human error is responsible for 90 percent of accidents while mechanical and environmental factors accounts

for only 10 percent.”

Being Africa’s fastest growing mega city and taking cue from other developed cities in the world, Ambode said it was imperative to establish the computerised Vehicle Inspection Centre to enhance the inspection of vehicles in line with International best practices.

He said he “is committed to his promise of a safe, secure, reliable and efficient transport system.

It is imperative to state that in determining roadworthy vehicles we need to put in place, a faultless and human error-proof system; hence the new development of the computerized system.”

The governor explained that the centre would indicate the state of vehicles in areas, such as emission system, the beam (lighting focus and aim), braking system, suspension system and

the body of the car.

“It is important to state that vehicle safety is a key component for road safety. The state government will ensure that those centres are built in the 20 local government and local council development areas making 57 centres across the state and these will be completed in three years.”

Also speaking, the Managing Director, Lagos Computerised Vehicle Inspection Service, LACVIS, Segun Obayendo, said the centre was about safety and to ensure that only roadworthy vehicles were allowed to ply roads in the state.

Sector Commander, Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Lagos State, Mr. Hyginus Omese, said by law, both private and commercial vehicles were supposed to come to the centre to test the integrity of their vehicles.

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T H I S D AY ˾ THURSDAY APRIL 20, 2017

THURSDAYSPORTS

Group Sports Editor Duro Ikhazuagbe Email duro.ikhazuagbe@thisdaylive.com

S P O R T S F E D E R AT I O N E L E C T I O N

NOC Rejects Sports Ministry’s Guidelines Femi Solaja The cordial relationship existing between the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) may have finally broken down following the outright rejection of the guideline released last week by the Sports Minister, Solomon Dalung.

At the end of its Executive Committee meeting yesterday at its secretariat in Lagos, the NOC resolved that there should be a harmonious guideline on the national federation elections in line with international best practices.

The body argued that the essence of this harmonious guideline is to ensure that it conforms with the Charter of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the constitutions of the various international sports federations.

According to the Secretary General of NOC, Tunde Popoola, who briefed the media after the meeting, “the issue of ‘eligibility’ as contained in the Ministry’s guideline does not in anyway conform with the provision of the IOC Charter and constitutions of the international federations.

“That provisions in the guidelines which forbids Nigerians who are members of Executive Committees of their respective international federation from holding offices in their respective national federations locally will inhibit opportunities of getting more

Nigerians into positions in the long run,” he argued.

The NOC scribe also picked some holes in the composition of the Appeals Committee, which he said “was a crowd of appointees of the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports, with only one NOC member is not in accord with the principle of fair hearing. We (NOC) recommend that a team of independent persons be appointed as members of the committee for fair hearing,” he explained.

Popoola also narrated how the Olympic body has tried to maintain good relationship with the sports ministry, noting that the Godwin Kienka’s Reforms Committee made use of the NOC boardroom for most of its meetings with inputs from NOC but some individuals in the sports ministry for selfish interest threw everything over board.

“We are the direct descendant of IOC in Nigeria operating within this territorial water and established to coordinate the affairs of the federations just as the each sporting federation relates with the international bodies.

“It is time to correct most of the anomalies that are associated with the composition of boards of the federations.

We are ready to thread path of dialogue and will appreciate if the sports ministry can allow everybody to operate within norms as approved by IOC and not manipulation of the compositions of the

Jide Bademosi U-19 Cricket Tourney Bowls off in Ibadan Hostilities will begin today as some of the best cricket teams in the South West zone have assembled at the Liberty Stadium Ibadan to battle for honours in the maiden edition of the Jide Bademosi U-19 Cricket tournament.

Team Ogun will open their account in the competition with a clash against host Team Oyo in the opening match at Pitch 1, while Lagos will take on Team Osun, the first visiting team to arrive Ibadan.

On day two, Team Lagos will square against Team Ogun while the homers, Team Oyo tackle Osun, On day three Lagos comes face to face with host team Oyo in a match that would mean a lot to the two teams.

Osun and Ogun would tango in the other match of the day.

On Sunday, the first and second placed teams will slug it out in an epic final to decide the winner.

Yesterday was arrival and the teams representing Lagos, Ogun, Osun and host Oyo states will be paired in epic matches to determine who wins the tournament which ends on Sunday, April 23.

“Competition will begin Thursday,” said tournament co-ordinator, Okon Ukpong yesterday. Organisers have

called on cricket lovers in Ibadan to turn up in their thousands and cheer their teams to victory.

“We hope to witness stiff competition as all the teams have prepared for this tournament,” said the tournament co-ordinator, Okon Ukpong. He would not point out any team as favourites, insisting that “only the best prepared team can win the tournament.”

Sponsored by Energy and Mineral Resources Limited (EMR), the Jide Bademosi U-19 tournament is a 40 over competition which will take a round robin format. The first and second placed teams will play in the final on Sunday.

Chairman of Energy and Mineral Resources Limited, sponsors of the tournament, Seye Fadhunsi has praised the organisers for putting in place all that is required to host a successful tournament. “That is why the teams should do well as everything to motivate them is in place. We expect the best from the players,”he said, adding that the company has set aside handsome prizes for the winners of the tournament. “Teams that do well will not regret their efforts as handsome prizes await them.”

Dani Alves consoles ex-team mate, Neymar in Juventus’ goalless draw against FC Barcelona yesterday in Camp Nou, the Italian club qualify into semifinal 3-0 on aggregate respective boards of the sports federations,” he insisted.

Last week, the Sports Ministry released the guidelines with too many contentious issues in the area of eligibility.

The guideline disqualified candidates that have spent more than two terms and as well as banning presidents that are currently serving in the executive committees of their respective continental/ international federations.

The battle for supremacy between the two bodies (Sports Ministry and NOC) has become a recurring decimal at every elective year.

The major cause has always been the special privilege accorded NOC Presidents at the Olympiad preceding the election.

After surviving several sports ministers, Late Raheem Adejumo was finally removed by then Sports Minister, Dr. Jim Nwobodo and was

replaced by Adamu Dyeri before a serving director in the sports ministry, Habu Gumel took over and doubled as the President of volleyball federation.

There was synergy between the two bodies until he was upstaged by Sani Ndanusa who used his platform as a serving sports minister to plot his way into the plump position.

Incidentally, Gumel staged a comeback at the last election

held in December of 2014 by snatching the NOC job from Ndanusa.

But his plan to return to the position is now threatened by the new guideline released

by Dalung.

Other federation presidents disqualified from seeking fresh mandate by the new guidelines include; Solomon Ogba (athletics), Tijani Umar ,,(Basketball), Wahid Enitan Oshodi (Table tennis), among others.

Plateau Utd Return to NPLF Summit Goals from Joshua Obaje, Kabiru Umar and Jimmy Ambrose gave Plateau United a 3-0 win over Katsina United on Matchday 19 of the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL).

The win at the Rwang Pam Stadium, Jos was enough to send the Jos club to the summit of the NPFL. Plateau United went into the fixture in second place but knew a win at the Rwang Pam Stadium would take them top as long as MFM FC failed to win in Uyo against Akwa United.

MFM’s objective to win

in Uyo ended in futility as Alhassan Ibrahim and Ubong Friday scored to put the Lagos-based side to the sword.

Akwa now seem to have put behind them their poor start to the season and now sit in fifth place with 29 points, just six adrift the leaders Plateau United.

Plateau United have now amassed 35 points from 18 matches while MFM, the leaders before Matchday 19’s round of fixtures, have claimed 33 points despite playing a game more than the side currently at the

summit of the log.

El-Kanemi Warriors have been one of the biggest surprises of the season and they continued their sparkling home form on Wednesday with a 1-0 win Remo Stars in Maiduguri.

Matthias Samuel scored the game’s only goal which meant that the Warriors consolidated on third place on the log with 33 points, the same number as secondplaced MFM FC. In Makurdi, Anthony Okpotu scored a hat-trick as Lobi Stars overcame Sunshine Stars 3-1 at the Aper Aku

Stadium.

Last season’s top scorer, Godwin Obaje grabbed a double as he converted two spot kicks for FC Ifeanyiubah who came from a goal down to tame Shooting Stars (3SC) 2-1 in Nnewi.

Ebenezer Odeyemi was Niger Tornadoes’ matchwinner as he plundered his side’s solitary goal in the 1-0 success over Kano Pillars.

Abia Warriors continued to keep pace the with top hitters as Ndifreke Effiong scored twice to inspire his side to a 2-0 win over Wikki Tourists in Umuahia.

Juve Closes in on Record Sixth Serie A Title Leading pay television provider, StarTimes is upping the ante this weekend in its live broadcast of Italian Serie A matches as it plans to beam Juventus game against Genoa as the former close in on a record sixth straight Serie A title.

After serenading African football fans to a live telecast of the Milan derby last Saturday, in which Inter were held to a 2-2 draw by AC Milan at the San Siro Stadium, StarTimes has affirmed that it was not resting on its laurels to provide top of the range live sporting actions to its subscribers.

According to a statement issued by Chief Operating Officer StarTimes, Mr. Tunde Aina, the digital television leader was set to transmit no fewer than six live Serie A matches this weekend, top of which is Juventus game with Genoa.

“As a customer-sensitive company, we are not resting on our commitment to always deliver the best live sporting coverage happening anywhere in the world. We are already beaming the World Cup qualifiers and have secured the broadcast rights of the

FIFA 2018 World Cup in Russia in no fewer than 48 territories in Africa, except South Africa, meaning that football fans can watch all the matches of the next World Cup live on StarTimes and this weekend, we have lined up exciting live Serie A games for the enjoyment of our subscribers”, said Aina.

The match between Juventus and Genoa holds on Sunday, April 22 at 7:45pm and StarTimes World Football Channel will show it live, Aina added.

On Saturday, StarTimes said the game between Fiorentina

and Inter Milan from Florence will be shown live at 7:45pm even as Atlanta’s home game against Bologna at 5pm will also be televised live.

Meanwhile, Gobzalo Higuain has warned his teammates to be wary of the threat Genoa will pose in their attempt to win a record sixth title.

Juventus are eight points ahead of second-placed Roma with six games to play and a win against Genoa, coupled with a Roma defeat at Pescara on Monday, will see them stretch their lead to 11 points, with five games to play.

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Price: N250

MISSILE Gabriel Ajayi to Ishaya Bamaiyi “When a General descends into the sewage tank, he cannot expect to smell of cologne. The book is a fictional thriller, a novel. Even then, some thrillers are based on truths though embellished. But in Bamaiyi’s own case, all that I have read are tissue of lies, falsehood and things that never happened” – Col. Gabriel Ajayi (rtd) on the recent book by former Army Chief, Lt. Gen Ishaya Bamaiyi (rtd) titled “Vindication of a General.

OLUSEGUNADENIYI THE VERDICT

olusegun.adeniyi@thisdaylive.com

Riding on the Runway F

or a government that thrives in propaganda, it is just as well that the operatives of the Muhammadu Buhari administration did not understand the significance of what happened on Tuesday at the Abuja International Airport. If they did, they would have moved beyond just regaling us with their cemetery tales.

Ordinarily, the rehabilitation of an airport runway should be no big deal. However, given the circumstances surrounding this particular project, the Buhari administration has not only recorded a major landmark, it has also shown that if our public officials apply themselves, we can easily overcome most of our challenges as a nation. By proving many naysayers wrong and in the process, solving a national problem that has lingered for several years, the Minister of State for Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, has also distinguished himself.

Against the background that Abuja usually hosts important events and meetings, the idea of closing the airport for six weeks made little sense when Sirika first anounced the decision.

From British Airways to Lufthansa to Air France to Egypt Air to Kenya Airways as well as other stakeholders who generate sustaining income from Abuja airport, the option to operate from Kaduna airport was rejected outright. Only Ethiopian Airlines took the gamble and it must have reaped bountifully from the Kaduna adventure.

Even for those who were ready to give the Federal Government the benefit of doubts when the decision was first announced, there were so many questions begging for answers. Did they take into account the security implications of such an action at a period when kidnapping has become a national malaise? What if there was a need for an emergency health evacuation by air from Abuja? What of the sheer logistics of ferrying thousands of passengers to and from Kaduna on a treacherous road filled with pot holes? What about the economic loss of such a closure to the aviation, car hire and other businesses? What about the political implications of practically shutting out our federal capital from the rest of the world?

While nobody could offer practical explanations for some of these concerns, I came to my own conclusion on 30th January after driving to and from Kaduna to interview Governor Nasir el-Rufai for my book. On that day, I spent almost four hours on the road and that was just about four weeks to the closure of the Abuja airport. I didn’t imagine any miracle to change the state of that death trap of a road within weeks among other considerations so I narrated my experience to colleagues at the THISDAY editorial Board where we took a position that the whole idea of closing Abuja airport made no sense. And we made our position clear as did other media houses.

For sure, we took into account the fact that the old runway was built in 1981 with a lifespan of 20 years, which it had already exceeded by 15 years. We also noted the fact that in 2013, a Saudi Arabian cargo aircraft was damaged when it taxied though a section of the runway which necessitated a 24 hour closure of the airport with all the implications for other intending passengers and operators. That Emirates Airways decided to stop flying into Abuja airport was also because of the damaged runway.

Minister of State, Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika Notwithstanding the foregoing, we were almost certain that closing the Abuja airport would create a chaotic situation that would be impossible to manage. We also did not believe that the six-week promise to complete the rehabilitation work would be kept. Knowing how things work in our country, many Nigerians believed that we would be lucky if the runway was completed within six months. For that reason, we suggested a gradual rehabilitation process that would not necessitate closing the airport but could take a very long time to complete as had been tried in the past and in other climes.

However, Sirika had a different idea and he stood his ground in the face of strong opposition from several quarters. He said those flying into and out of Abuja would be ferried to and from Kaduna airport by bus. He promised that the road would be fixed and that there would be adequate security. At a point, he also added some drama that if the airport was not ready by due date, he would resign his appointment.

At the end, Sirika delivered on all his promises.

The Abuja-Kaduna road was fixed, there was security presence everywhere (I travelled three times from Kaduna airport in the course of the six weeks) and 24 hours before the 19th April deadline, the Abuja airport was reopened for business.

The real point here is not about a runway but rather about how a government should respond to critical challenges. What Sirika has done was to apply common sense in dealing with a problem and that is far more productive than all the Jonathan-is-to-blame propaganda that has become the default mode of this administration.

First, Sirika identified the problem but he was not going to stop there as he also came up with possible solutions. He chose a more durable one that even he knew was contentious.

But he was determined to push it through apparently because a lot of planning must have gone into his decision which accounted for his certainty that within six weeks a new runway would be delivered to Abuja airport.

Fortunately, even nature was kind to Sirika

as there was no rain in Abuja throughout the period the work was in progress but then, as football commentators would say, you make your own luck.

The strategic challenges posed by the Abuja airport closure are however not exhausted by the prompt execution of the project or Sirika’s sense of commitment and responsibility. It has for instance thrown up two pertinent questions.

If this were not a problem that affect members of the political and business elite (poor people don’t fly), would there be this kind of prompt response from the authorities? If the project was for a facility used by the ordinary people on the streets, would some fat cats not adopt a do-nothing approach while blaming the problem on the “fornication” that necessitated the wrath of God? While we must commend Sirika for displaying leadership when it was most needed, it is nonetheless sad that the capital of a nation of our size does not have an alternative airport that can serve in moments of emergency and even when aircraft bound for the main airport are in distress. This is therefore an opportunity to devote attention to putting that right. Again, there were also obvious dividends to the Kaduna airport and other infrastructure that were upgraded and

pressed into increased national service while the Abuja airport was closed. The government should consolidate these facilities for future use instead of allowing them to relapse to their original state.

But the enduring lesson is that in the Abuja airport runway story, Sirika was bold enough to identify a politically sensitive project that touches the elite and commit himself and his portfolio to a prompt delivery. This project, and the manner in which it was carried out, enhances the credibility of the Buhari administration in general while paying tribute to the capacity of our bureaucracy to facilitate the commitments of government especially on projects where the targets and goals are very clear.

At the end, the template provided by the manner the Abuja runway repairs was executed offers something of a model that can be replicated in other departments of national life where there are low hanging fruits of infrastructure rehabilitation and rescue. We hope that will ginger the Buhari administration to forget Jonathan and face the future. With the reopening of Abuja airport on Tuesday, Sirika has proved that a clear headed public official can identify and deliver a socially and economically desirable outcome on schedule.

Yemi Ogunbiyi @ 70 Whether you are young or old, rich or poor, if you ever encounter Dr Yemi Ogunbiyi, you will leave with the impression that you have just met a friend. How he does it is really difficult to fathom so it must be a gift from God. That perhaps then explains why he looks so youthful that he would easily pass for a man of 50 rather than the 70 years now ascribed to him. And there can be no better tribute to him than the one paid yesterday in THISDAY by his friend and co-conspirator, Dr Chidi Amuta.

With a Yoruba father and an Igbo mother, Ogunbiyi was raised in the North which makes him unique within the context of our country’s tripodal politics. But it is also a testimony to Ogunbiyi’s brilliance that he can speak the

three WAZOBIA languages (Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo) fluently. It is not everybody with his kind of experience and exposure who can do that with as much dexterity as he does.

That Ogunbiyi has had a distinguished professional career is not in doubt. From the academic world where he excelled as a teacher of literature and drama at Ife, Ogunbiyi moved to the media in Lagos where he would hit it big before going into private practice as a consultant. Yet, despite his accomplishments, Ogunbiyi has remained humble and is ever supportive of younger professionals. That is why he deserves all the accolades that have come his way in the past week.

Happy birthday to the great Balogun of Ipara Remo!

Against The Run of Play ...In David Mark’s view, the problem arose because the First Lady kept alleging that (Aminu) Tambuwal had presidential aspirations and for that reason, could not be relied upon to support her husband. The former Senate President shared his own insight on the First Lady’s suspicion: “I guess she had the same fear about me even when she never said it to my face. She once accosted Senator Joy Emordi to say, ‘Joy, I hear you are the manager of David Mark Presidential Campaign Organization’, which was a baseless accusation. I had to meet the President to clarify issues with him. So, I would say it was President Jonathan and his wife who radicalized Tambuwal and turned him into a political foe.”

============================== My book, “Against The Run of Play: How an incumbent president was defeated in Nigeria” will be released next week Friday after a public presentation in Lagos. To chair the event is former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar while former Cross River State Governor, Mr Donald Duke will do the unveiling. I have in recent weeks been receiving so many questions about the book and they will all be answered next week. But I can assure that the book will be affordable and it will also be available on relevant platforms for interested readers all over the world.

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