Sunday 23rd April 2017

How Division Among PDP Governors is Fueling Party's Crisis Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja The crisis in the Peoples Democratic Party has lingered because of indecision and irreconcilable differences among the governors elected on the party’s platform, who form the most influential bloc in the party, THISDAY has learnt. The

10 PDP governors are its main financiers and they generally call the shots. But the governors have gradually lost cohesion since the party’s leadership tussle, which broke out at the botched national convention in Port Harcourt on May 21 last year. The governors, however, remain members of the PDP

Governors’ Forum headed by Ekiti State Governor Ayo Fayose.

Similarly, the PDP National Assembly caucus led by Deputy Senate President Ike Ekwerenmadu appears to have given up hope of a political solution to the crisis in the party.

THISDAY reliably gathered that the uncooperative attitude of

the warring parties towards the recent peace initiative brokered by former President Goodluck Jonathan had displeased many of the legislators. Sources in the party said the legislators were particularly offended by the decision of the national chairman, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, to walk out on the leaders of the party

during a peace meeting.

"The legislators are not happy that the matter has dragged for a long time and that effort at arriving at mutually acceptable solution is not sight," the source said.

It was learnt that protracted dispute had divided the PDP governors, making it difficult

for them to hold meetings where common positions can be canvassed. Since the return of mutual brickbat between the PDP factions following the February 17 ruling of the Court of Appeal, Port Harcourt Division, which restored Sheriff Continued on page 8

IMF: To Tackle Poverty, Nigeria Must Invest More in Infrastructure...Page 8

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With Buhari Making Steady Recovery, Don’t Rule Him Out of 2019 Race, Say Aides Abimbola Akosile

Contrary to prevailing views about President Muhammadu Buhari’s health, THISDAY checks have revealed that following his medical vacation during which he had blood transfusion, the President is making 'steady and significant recovery'.

The increased pace of activities at the seat of government lately

is proof that he is progressing steadily, his aides who spoke on condition of anonymity told THISDAY, thus, confounding political pundits who had thought his health challenges had ruled him out of any future political projection.

According to one of them, since his return from medical vacation last month, the President has been taking his

time, but has improved steadily in recent days.

He has received many friends and officials in audience, made several phone calls to friends, families and supporters and generally cheered up, working for longer hours, going through official correspondence in detail, and giving approvals where necessary.

This is evident in the series

of appointments he has made and key decisions taken in the last few days, during which he has dissolved and reconstituted boards, removing and appointing heads of several parastatals, while nominating two ministers for the confirmation of the senate.

Just last week, the President suspended the Secretary to the Government of the Federation,

Lawal Babachir, over allegations of violations of law and due process in the award of contracts as the Chairman, the Presidential Initiative on the North East (PINE); and Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Amb. Ayo Oke, over funds recovered in an apartment in Ikoyi, Lagos.

He also set up a panel chaired

by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo

to look into the two issues.

Close aides say though Buhari is not even thinking of the 2019 presidential race at the moment, those who rule him out are doing so at their own peril.

“He is not even bothered about them, he doesn’t even bother about 2019 one way or the other right now. All he has Continued on page 8

No Fear, No Favour as Osinbajo Panel Begins Sitting on SGF/N13bn Recovery

Panel to invite all relevant officials, private individuals Proceedings will hold behind closed doors to allow full disclosure

Omololu Ogunmade in Abuja The three-man committee headed

by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo to investigate allegations of financial impropriety against the suspended Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir David Lawal, and Director-General of National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Mr. Ayodele Oke, has said it would discharge its duty without fear or favour.

Oke's suspension was based on the discovery of N13.3bn in an apartment in Ikoyi, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, which he claimed

belonged to the NIA. The committee which pledged to conduct its assignment with utmost diligence and turn in its report within 14 days as scheduled, also spelt out the procedure for its operations.

The three-man committee was constituted on April 19 by President Muhammadu Buhari to probe allegations of violations of law and due process against Lawal on the award of contracts Continued on page 8

See THISDAY Style Inside…

DISCUSSING GLOBAL ECONOMY

World Bank President, Jim Yong Kim, with Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, at the ongoing Spring Meetings of the IMF/ World Bank in Washington DC., USA …weekend

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IMF: To Tackle Poverty, Nigeria Must Invest More in Infrastructure Kunle Aderinokun, Obinna Chima, Funke Olaode, Kasie Abone in Lagos and Nosa Alekhuogie in Washington DC The International Monetary Fund (IMF) advised the federal government to give more priority to investment in infrastructure so as to address the high level of poverty in Nigeria.

The Director, African Department of the IMF, Abebe Aemro Selassie, made this call at a media briefing on Sub-Saharan African economies at the on-going IMFWorld Bank spring meetings in Washington DC, United States.

Selassie pointed out that the economic situation in Nigeria remained difficult despite its tremendous resources. He, however, urged the government to look for ways to mitigate the weak economic situation on the poorest.

"You know the fact is that the country has moved from a period when oil prices were $100 per barrel for five or six years or more, to where they

are now. But it's a huge hit on the income of the country and the government's revenue.

The government has a lot of public services it has to provide which need to be financed and so alternative sources of financing have to be found for that. Which particular tax system they want to use, of course is up to the government.

"But without that, the government's objective of addressing poverty, you need infrastructure investment to be able to do that, you need to build more schools and you need to invest more in health and education. All of these require resources. So, you know it's imperative for the government to be able to address its long-term developed agenda to have tax handles to be able to generate revenue," he added.

The IMF official noted that in countries hardest hit by commodity price decline, especially oil exporters like Angola and Nigeria, the budgetary revenue losses and balance of payment

pressure were continuing. He, however, warned that the delay in much-needed reforms in those regions was creating uncertainty, holding back investments, generating risks as well as even creating deeper difficulties in the future.

Selassie also said the IMF was concerned about famine in South Sudan and the North-eastern Nigeria, which he said had created significant humanitarian concerns, saying that addressing the problems in those countries would pave the way for the restoration of economic conditions in those countries.

"2016 was a difficult year for many countries. Economic growth in 2016 is estimated to have reached only one and a half per cent, which is the weakest outcome in more than two decades, and below the rate of population growth. While a number of countries continue to grow robustly, the slowdown in growth has been broad, affecting about two-thirds of countries that

together account for more than four-fifth of regional GDP. This contrasts with the fairly robust growth rates the regions has experienced in recent years.

"Inflation has also begun to accelerate in some countries reflecting widening macroeconomic imbalance, currency depreciations and drought-related food price increases. Looking ahead, the outlook is foreseen to remain subdued. Growth in the region is expected to rebound modestly to two and a half per cent in 2017.

However, this falls short of past trends and barely delivers any per capital gains,” he added.

Selassie explained: "The uptick in growth is largely driven by one-off factors in the three largest economies- a recovery in oil production in Nigeria, higher public spending ahead of elections in Angola, and the fading of drought effects in South Africa. This aggregate number hides considerable differences across the region, with some of the largest Western and Eastern Africa countries expected to

continue to grow at five to seven and a half per cent.”

"The outlook remains subject to external risks, including further appreciation of the U.S dollar and a tightening of financing conditions, especially for countries where fundamentals have deteriorated, and a broad shift towards inward-looking policies, including protectionism, that could reduce trade and impede global growth. In addition, the outlook is clouded by the incidence of drought, pests, and security issues that have contributed to an increase in food insecurity and even famine in parts of sub-Saharan Africa.

This humanitarian crisis needs to be urgently addressed," he, however, pointed out.

Meanwhile, the Acting Director, Corporate Communications Department, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Isaac Okorafor, has said that the call by the IMF and World Bank on the CBN to float the naira and liberalise the market, was "laughable," citing the case of Egypt where inflation

has skyrocketed.

"We are 180 million people, our infrastructure is so poor and the productive capacity cannot be fast enough to rise to benefit from massive depreciation. If you float the naira today, and given the discoveries by security agencies, you'll discover that our case will be terrible. Egypt today has an inflation rate of almost 31 per cent, remember Angola also has about 36 per cent inflation, ours is at 17.26 per cent.

"If we float the naira and we allow speculators and those with corruption money and all the people who create the bubbles to launch into the market, you can imagine the kind of situation we will find ourselves. Of course, you should also know that no country floats its currency, just leaving it to the dictates of the market. Our economy has its own peculiarities, and we cannot kill our people in the name of floating the naira," the CBN spokesman said during a media briefing at the IMF-World Bank meetings.

President Buhari recently returned from a 50-day medical vacation during which several political alignments and realignments continued among

leading politicians of the two political parties and throwing open the race for the presidency in 2019.

WITH BUHARI MAKING STEADY RECOVERY, DON’T RULE HIM OUT OF 2019 RACE, SAY AIDES said to people (his appointees) is to do their work and focus on delivering on their promises, particularly in infrastructure and agriculture.

"He is particularly focused on covering grounds that were lost due to the recession that slowed down the pace of work in the early part of his administration”, the close aides of the President said.

The thinking is that even if Buhari chooses to run, he will run on his record of delivery and not on the basis of promises.

“So his job right now is to work to improve his record of performance,” the aides said.

THISDAY checks show that in recent months, the president and his team have been so pleased with the progress made in agriculture and infrastructure revival, as seen in many communities, particularly in the North, where the availability of fertilizer coupled with its

reduced price, breaking the monopoly and corruption of the past, have resulted in bumper harvest.

The ease of transporting farm outputs following the revival of some railway lines after years of rot in that transport subsector has further enhanced agriculture in the North, with many farmers and communities transporting fertilizer and farm products by rail.

“This significant development in rail transport is so much appreciated by the people that many farmers and communities are even buying their own coaches to transport their goods, especially in Kano and parts of Jigawa, Katsina and other areas, where they are trying to make hay while the sun shines with local production of rice and other produce”, the aides said.

They added, "These are the kinds of issues that keep him

up at night especially since he had to negotiate directly with the King of Morocco to improve the fertilizer process in Nigeria".

Aides also said the President had just sent a high-powered team to China “so that they could come and quickly restart Mambilla and other projects, because he wants to build Mambilla and resolve the power issue quickly.”

The aides therefore noted that Buhari’s focus right now over the next year is not on election but on delivering infrastructure and restoring his health to status quo ante.

Even though most of the criticism regarding his performance have been from the South, where two of the zones – South-east and Southsouth – voted for his opponent in the 2015 presidential election, his support base, especially in the North, where the poor love him, has not waned and his

ailment has made him even mystical among some of his followers.

According to medical doctors whom THISDAY spoke to, when a patient undergoes full blood transfusion, such as the one the president confirmed he had, it could take up to six months to fully recover, but when the patient recovers, with the bone marrow kicking in, it is a full recovery. The president has so far not disclosed the exact nature of his illness.

Should Buhari make a full recovery and he chooses not to run in 2019, that will be his choice and would not be because of health or age considerations, his aides said.

They, however, said that the kind of candidates, many of whom are pretenders that are already dancing in the public square ahead of 2019 will not go very far. But the president is watching them quietly.

HOW DIVISION AMONG PDP GOVERNORS IS FUELING PARTY'S CRISIS to office, the governors have not met to deliberate on the crisis.

An aide to one of the governors told THISDAY yesterday that the governors had not met as a body, except on February 28, when they held a meeting with Jonathan at his Abuja residence.

According to the source, the reason for the lack of solidarity among the governors is their divided loyalty to Senator Ahmed Makarfi and Sheriff.

Makarfi had been appointed at the Port Harcourt convention to head a national caretaker committee chosen to lead the party until the election of substantive officers. With the exception of Bayelsa State Governor Dickson, chair of the party’s peace committee, who has expressed his preference for the party to move ahead with the convention under the leadership of Sheriff because of his recognition by the Court of Appeal, and Governors Fayose and Nyesom Wike, who have been vehement in their opposition to Sheriff because of their believe that he is a mole in the party, other PDP governors have not made their stand conspicuous for fear of falling on the wrong side should

the leadership of the party go either way.

The source said, "Most of the governors are in support of the unity convention because it doesn't make sense for someone to say if it is Sheriff, nothing.

Today you are saying you cannot work with Sheriff, meanwhile you were the ones who brought him.

"The reasonable thing to do is to follow the position of the law and to proceed with the convention because if the Supreme Court says it is Makarfi, we will go for convention and if it says it is Sheriff, the party will still go for convention.

"So why do we wait for the court before we do any of those things. Some people are presently not speaking the language of politics or how can someone say it is over my dead body for Sheriff to be recognised as chairman of PDP. The reasonable thing to do is wear our thinking cap and apply wisdom in order to ease Sheriff out of the way."

Apart from Fayose and Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike, who have openly opposed the appeal court’s recognition of Sheriff and backed the appeal of the judgement at the Supreme

Court by the national caretaker committee, no other governor has come out to state his position. Some of the governors are said to be maintaining a strategic neutrality to watch and see where the pendulum would swing at the apex court.

But sources close to some of the PDP governors believe it does not exactly help matters when Fayose, the leader of the governors’ forum, has openly declared support for one of the parties in the PDP crisis.

The Ekiti State governor is a fierce supporter and defender of Makarfi. Having shown bias, many of the governors think that the forum may be incapable of producing a generally acceptable solution.

Fayose may be seen as speaking on behalf of the PDP governors, being the chairman of the PDP Governors Forum.

But Sheriff has described the Ekiti State governor as acting alone. Sheriff's deputy, Cairo Ojougboh, has also gone further to claim that with the exception of Wike and Fayose, other PDP governors were in support of the former Borno State governor’s leadership of the party.

Ojougboh said having

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

This claim by Sheriff's faction has not been denied by any of the affected governors, though spokesman of the national caretaker committee, Dayo Adeyeye, has refuted the claim that PDP governors were in support of Sheriff.

Adeyeye said in a statement that contrary to the claim by Ojougboh, the PDP governors were intact and solidly behind the Makarfi leadership.

Sheriff has visited some PDP governors from the South-east and South-south.

But Adeyeye said the attempt to persuade the PDP governors would be fruitless. He also condemned the planned NEC meeting. "We wish to inform our leaders, members and teeming supporters that the purported NEC meeting being summoned by Senator Sheriff’s led non-existent NWC on the 3rd of May, 2017 is a total fraud politically and legally,” he said.

NO FEAR, NO FAVOUR AS OSINBAJO PANEL BEGINS SITTING ON SGF/N13BN RECOVERY as the Chairman, the Presidential Initiative on the North East (PINE). PINE had been set up by the president with the mandate to spearhead the rehabilitation of North-east destroyed by Boko Haram.

Specifically, the SGF 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 for Josmo to allegedly pay back the sum into Rholavision's Ecobank account some days later.

On the other hand, the committee was mandated to commence investigation into the funds discovered in a flat in Osborne Towers, Ikoyi, Lagos as well as the claim of ownership of the money by the National Intelligence Agency (NIA).

The committee was tasked to investigate how and by whose or which authority the funds were made available to NIA, and to establish whether or not there has been a breach of the law or security procedure in obtaining custody and use of the funds.

A statement issued yesterday by the Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media, Mr. Laolu Akande, disclosed that the committee had begun its work in earnest.

Following perceived speculations on the conduct of the committee's work so far by some newspapers, Akande said the committee's activities would be conducted in closed-door sessions to avoid speculations during which he said relevant persons to the probe would be invited to state their own sides of the story.

The statement reads: "The Presidential Committee ordered earlier this week by President

Muhammadu Buhari to probe certain allegations against the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Engineer Babachir Lawal, and the Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency, NIA, Mr. Ayo Oke has commenced its work in earnest.

"President Buhari on Wednesday established the 3-man panel headed by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, with Attorney-General & Justice Minister, Abubakar Malami and National Security Adviser, Rtd Major General Babagana Munguno as members, to investigate allegations of legal and due process violations made against the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF and the discovery of large amounts of foreign and local currencies by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, in a residential apartment in Ikoyi, Lagos.

"In the discharge of its work, the panel is expected to invite all relevant officials and private individuals, who may be connected to both cases. It will also obtain and scrutinize documents that may throw some light on the issues raised in both cases. All its proceedings will however be in closed sessions to avoid speculations, allow for full disclosure and enhance the pace of proceedings.

"The panel which is expected to submit its report to the President at the expiration of the 14-day deadline, will conduct its work with utmost diligence and without fear or favour."

The Acting Chairman of the EFCC, Mr Ibrahim Magu, had appeared for several hours before the committee on Friday to give his own account on the raid on the apartment where the funds were recovered. see concluding part on www.thisdaylive.com

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R • APRIL 23, 2017

SUNDAY COMMENT

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

SHOULD THE 2018 CENSUS HOLD? No. The timing is not right for the exercise

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he Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, last week called for the postponement of the planned 2018 population census on grounds that such an exercise, coming on the eve of the 2019 general election, could end in chaos. We agree with Dogara. If indeed we must observe the ritual of a headcount to validate the projection that we are currently over 180 million in population, let us not do it on the eve of an election. If it holds as scheduled, chances are that the figures will not be credible and that could on its own engender crisis.

We therefore subscribe to the suggestion that the exercise should be shifted till after the election in 2019.

That is the only way to avert a political crisis in a nation where groups fiddle with numbers on every critical issue. It is therefore important that before the exercise, there is need for a reorientation of Nigerians to see population counts as an instrument for economic planning rather than for the allocation of unearned resources.

Aside the political consideration, there are other challenges with the proposed census. The Director General of the National Population Commission (NPC), Ghaji Bello, for instance, said two weeks ago that it would hold only on certain conditions that were currently not in place. “If we are given all the resources that we need today, it may take possibly the first quarter of next year before we can do proper census. There are quite a number of processes that have to be undertaken as part of the preparatory activities between now and the actual census phase itself,” said Bello. He said since the last census exercise was conducted in 2006, the current exercise should have been done in 2016 in line with the United Nations recommendation of a 10-year benchmark.

We are for a proper census because once the baseline demographic footprint of a nation is done properly, subsequent demographic changes can be determined almost accurately through satellite imaging and statistical projections

Letters to the Editor

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To the extent that a census provides primary sources of basic statistics on the population characteristics of any nation in a disaggregated format, we understand the concerns of Bello and that of the NPC that would ordinarily want to deliver on their mandate. We also subscribe to the fact that a census is very important for our country.

H

S U N DAY N E W S PA P E R EDITOR TOKUNBO ADEDOJA DEPUTY EDITORS VINCENT OBIA, OLAWALE OLALEYE MANAGING DIRECTOR ENIOLA BELLO DEPUTY MANAGING DIRECTOR KAYODE KOMOLAFE CHAIRMAN EDITORIAL BOARD OLUSEGUN ADENIYI EDITOR NATION’S CAPITAL IYOBOSA UWUGIAREN

T H I S DAY N E W S PA P E R S L I M I T E D EDITOR-IN-CHIEF/CHAIRMAN NDUKA OBAIGBENA GROUP EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS ENIOLA BELLO, KAYODE KOMOLAFE, ISRAEL IWEGBU, IJEOMA NWOGWUGWU GROUP FINANCE DIRECTOR OLUFEMI ABOROWA DIVISIONAL DIRECTORS PETER IWEGBU, FIDELIS ELEMA, ANTHONY OGEDENGBE DEPUTY DIVISIONAL DIRECTOR OJOGUN VICTOR DANBOYI SNR. ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR ERIC OJEH ASSOCIATE DIRECTORS HENRY NWACHOKOR, SAHEED ADEYEMO CONTROLLERS ABIMBOLA TAIWO, UCHENNA DIBIAGWU, NDUKA MOSERI GENERAL MANAGER PATRICK EIMIUHI GROUP HEAD FEMI TOLUFASHE ART DIRECTOR OCHI OGBUAKU II DIRECTOR, PRINTING PRODUCTION CHUKS ONWUDINJO TO SEND EMAIL: first name.surname@thisdaylive.com

owever, besides the fact that resources are currently scarce, there is also a very important question that should concern all stakeholders: Are we still intent on the antiquated, expensive and inaccurate system of conducting census through periodic physical headcounts? The challenge, as Dogara has aptly captured it, is that just like our manual election system, our periodic census exercises are programmed for inaccuracy, political manipulation and financial waste.

Going by the NPC estimates, the proposed 2018 national population census would cost N272 billion of which the federal government would contribute 51 per cent while the international donor community was expected to fund the remaining 49 per cent. That is not a solid plan. Besides, while 51 per cent of that hefty sum will amount to about N140 billion, there is nothing to indicate that the federal government can muster that kind of money, given its current scale of priorities, especially for a project that could end in a fiasco. The fact that the NPC intends to include religion and ethnicity in the data to be collected makes the proposed census even more tricky.

For sure, we are for a proper census because once the baseline demographic footprint of a nation is done properly, subsequent demographic changes can be determined almost accurately through satellite imaging and statistical projections. Population updates can then be carried out through mandatory birth and death registrations, patterns of migration such as internal displacements or the attraction of economic opportunities in parts of the country, etc.

But we are also mindful of the fact that such an objective may be jeopardised by the timing of the exercise.

In recommending that countries should conduct a census every 10 years, the UN believes that it will allow for the capture of changes in structure and movement of population. But all factors considered, we share the position of Dogara that conducting a census in 2018 will be counterproductive for Nigeria.

TO OUR READERS Letters in response to specific publications in THISDAY should be brief (150-200 words) and straight to the point. Interested readers may send such letters along with their contact details to opinion@thisdaylive.com. We also welcome comments and opinions on topical local, national and international issues provided they are well-written and should also not be longer than (950- 1000 words). They should be sent to opinion@thisdaylive.com along with the email address and phone numbers of the writer.

SOLUDO, OBIANO AND ANAMBRA STATE

t is no longer news that Anambra governorship election will take place on November 18. I think what is the news now is who will be slugging it out with the incumbent governor and the likely candidate of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in the poll, Chief Willie Obiano.

While Obiano will be seeking reelection for a second term, other aspirants like Mr. Barth Nwibe, Senator Andy Uba, Osita Chidoka, Comrade Tony Nwoye, Uche Ekwunife, Ralph Okeke, Chike Obidigbo, Dr. Obinna Uzor, and others are angling to dislodge him from the Government House, Awka.

Obiano, who had earlier fallen apart with his godfather and predecessor, Mr. Peter Obi and at the same time fell short of credible performance in office is already doing everything possible, including receiving sponsored awards and endorsements among others to win the support of the people.

Food-is-ready politicians and

members of National Assembly-Uba and Nwoye who recently jumped into All Progressives Congress (APC) will be banking on the assistance of their godfathers namely-Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and Chief Arthur Eze, to grab the APC ticket, forgetting that APC is not PDP, where anything is possible. Lest we forget; the duo have contested before now, neither their antics nor their godfathers saved them.

Besides, Uba and Nwoye may have forgotten that Anambra people are not suffering from amnesia and there will always be a question time. Besides, there will be scrutiny on aspirants especially those with questionable track record and Toronto certificates. Nwibe with his outstanding track record, capacity and vision has continued to flaunt his well-articulated vision and plan for the state. He is at the grassroots consulting and marketing his qualities because he has nothing to hide. No wonder many see him as the best alternative and a golden fish that has no hiding place.

As the political game tempo rises in the state, so surprising is the former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo’s recent endorsement of Obiano for a second term at an arranged lecture in Awka. Soludo said the economy of Anambra, which is not an oil producing state, had been well managed under Obiano, making it one of the most buoyant states after Lagos, Abuja and Rivers.

He said: “There is no need for change at the moment. Anambra is the fourth largest economy in Nigeria behind Lagos, Abuja. We are in a crisis moment and you don’t change a general in the middle of the war; in Anambra, Obiano is a general.

“Many people are calling on me to come and contest, but the point is: if Anambra is not broken, why mend it? There will only be vacancy in Anambra Government House in the next four years.’

While it is within Soludo’s constitutional rights to endorse any aspirants

for the election, such endorsement should be altruistic, factual and statistical.

Soludo’s endorsement of Obiano lacked all these. That is why it was surprising and curious. It is expected of Soludo as a renowned economist to put facts and figures about Obiano’s performance on table to convince Anambra people why he deserves a second term.

Relying on rhetoric, hearsay and unverifiable economic claims to endorse Obiano for a second term is unexpected of Soludo. That is the height of his political hypocrisy and desperation.

Is it because of the alleged political agreement he had with Obiano; that he (Soludo) will succeed Obiano after his second term? What a selfish and parochial agreement that lacks common sense and legality.

With this, it is obvious that Soludo has not learnt any lesson from his previous political misadventures in the state. Soludo may have forgotten that in politics, nothing is cast in stone and one plus one could be six instead of two.

No wonder, late Dr Chuba Okadigbo

said that it takes political sagacity to understand political arithmetic. Soludo may have known economic arithmetic, but lacked knowledge of political arithmetic, judging by some of his political miscalculations.

If the ex-CBN governor has forgotten why he has failed politically before now, let him be reminded. After being denied second term as CBN governor, Soludo was pushed into governorship race unprepared by the powers-that-be in the PDP and the presidency in 2010. Soludo lost the election woefully, having emerged third runner up behind Governor Peter Obi and Dr. Chris Ngige of the defunct, Action Congress (AC).

Ahead of the last governorship poll in Anambra in 2013, Soludo jumped into APGA without due consultation, but was later shortchanged by the APGA national leadership that handed the party governorship ticket to Willie Obiano.

––Grace Nkemjika, Onitsha, Anambra State.

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SUNDAYNEWS

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

Calabar Tragedy: ‘We Tried to Stop Our Husbands from Going to the Viewing Centre’

• Dogara seeks investigation, as Ita-Giwa pledges viewing centre • Mark mourns as NDDC wants houses under high-tension cables demolished Abimbola Akosile inLagos,James Emejo inAbujaand Bassey Inyang inCalabar

As Nigerianscontinuetomourn theshockingdemiseofthefootball fans who were electrocuted at a viewing centre at Nyaghassang Community,CalabarMunicipalityofCrossRiverStateonThursday night while watching the return leg match between Manchester United and Anderlecht in the UEFAEuropaleague,twowomen yesterdaylamentedthattheydid everything to prevent their husbandsfromgoingtotheviewing centre on the ill-fated day.

One of the women, Mrs. ElizabethAlexSamuel,amother of a year-old child, who is now a widow as a result of the incident said, if her late husband, Mr. Samuel,hadtakentoherconstant advice,andwarning,perhapshe

wouldn’thavediedattheviewing centre that fateful night.

Thewoman,whowasinasober mood when she narrated her ordeal,saidaftertheincidenthappened, her husband was among thoseevacuatedtothehospital,but she learnt the following day that he was among those who died.

Narrating her ordeal, Mrs. Samuel who was carrying her child said, “Every day I warned him not to watch football in that viewingcentre.Thatnight,hewent to watch football. The next thing I heard shouting and they said people have died. I was waiting I did not see him. I heard they had rushed him to the hospital.

I was crying throughout. It was yesterday (Friday) they came and told me that my husband was dead”.

On a similar note, another woman who gave her name as

MaryOkonsaidherhusband,Mr. Emmanuel Okon, lost his life to theincident.Marysaidshetriedto stopherlatehusbandfromgoing to the viewing centre that night because she wanted him to eat, andstayathomewiththefamily.

Shesaidherlatehusband,who wasaManchesterUnitedfan,left to watch the match despite her asking him to stay back, and eat the food she was preparing.

“I was boiling rice for him and then he decided to go and watch the match. I told him to stay back andeatbuthesaidIshouldcome andmeethimwhenitwasready.

When the incident happened I went there to look for him and when I found him he was not moving.Therewerebodieslying ontheflooreverywhere.Icarried him with the help of his nephew, but he was not responding. His body was cold. With the help of a

neighbour who is a taxi man, we carriedhimtothehospitalwhere we were told he was dead,” she said, while sobbing.

Alsospeaking,GodswillOkon, a nephew to the late woman’s husband said: “That evening, meandmyunclewerejustjoking about the match. He is a Man U fan and I am a Chelsea fan. So, wewereplayfullyarguing,andI toldhimManUwilllose.Hesaid no way that they would win. So, when it was time for the match, he called me to go with him and watch, but I felt somehow and decided not to go.

“Normally,Iwouldhavebeen theretowatchthegame,butIsuddenlydidnotfeeltoowell.People were even surprised that I did not go to watch. It was while we were at home that we heard the noise, and we went out; and I got thereandsawmyuncledead.My

DIALOGUE CONTINUES L-R: Founder, Nigeria and Entrepreneurship: Summit & Honors (NESH), Emeka Ugwu-Oju; Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo SAN; Imo State Governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, and Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta, Brig. Gen Paul Boroh (rtd), during Osinbajo’ arrival at Owerri Airport on his way to Abia State in continuation of the Federal Government’s dialogue with stakeholders in Niger Delta...recently

Ahead LG Polls, INEC Begins Voter Cards Distribution in Lagos April 29 • Voters’ registration to continue April 27 Olaseni Durojaiye with agency report The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will begin distribution of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) in Lagos State on April 29, the spokesman of the electoral body in the state, Mr. Femi Akinbiyi, said yesterday.

Akinbiyi, the Head of Publicity and Protocol of INEC in the state, said in a statement that the stepwasimportant,especiallyin preparation for the July 22 local governmentelectionsinthestate.

He said: “INEC will as from Saturday,April29begindistribution of Permanent Voter Card (PVC) in all the 245 Registration Areas in the state. This is purely

for the purpose of the Local Government elections coming up soonest in the state.

“The exercise is for those that haveregisteredbeforebuthadnot collected their PVCs. It will last for five Saturdays starting from Saturday, April 29 to Saturday, May 27,” he added in a News AgencyofNigeria(NAN)report Accordingtohim,anyeligible resident who is in doubt of the Registration Area of the Polling Unit he or she registered can contact the Electoral Officer for the local government.

Thespokesman,alsosaid:“The nationwide Continuous Voter’s Registration (CVR) exercise will commence throughout the state as from April 27 and remains continuous all the year round.

The CVR will be in all the 20 INEC local government offices in the state between the hours of 9am and 3pm, excluding public holidays.

“Allresidentsthathavereached the age of 18 years after the last registration exercise are to come out and register. Also, all registered voters who have theirTemporaryVotersCardsbut whose names are not on register ofvotersandthosethatareabove 18 years but could not register in the last registration exercise are eligible to register.”

He said registered voters who wereseekingtransferofthePVC could also come for registration.

NAN reports that INEC had onWednesdayannouncedplans to begin a nationwide continuousvoterregistrationonApril27 across the 774 local government

areas of the federation.

Thecommissiondisclosedthis inastatementsignedbytheINEC National Commissioner, Mrs. Amina Zakari, after a meeting with Resident Electoral Commissioners and Administrative Secretariesfromthe36statesand the Federal Capital Territory.

“The exercise also intends to enable the distribution of uncollected Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) to those who could not collect them before or since the last general elections. It will also enablecitizenswhohavetheTemporary Voter Cards (TVCs) but whose names are on the register to collect their PVCs,” it had said.

Thecommissionhad,however, advisedthosewhowerealready registered not to do so again as it is an offence to register more than once.

unclewasaverylovingandkind person.Hewastheonewhowas takingcareofme.Myschoolfees, accommodation,feeding,clothes, everything. I don’t know what I would do now that he is gone.

Who would come to our help?”, he lamented.

Meanwhile, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara yesterday called for investigation into the unfortunate incident which led tothedeathoffootballfansinthe Calabar viewing centre.

Dogara,whoexpressedsadness over the development, however, condoledwiththefamiliesofthose wholosttheirlivesaswellasthose who survived the incident, and the people and government of the state.

Thepolicehadconfirmedthat no fewer than seven persons watching the Europa League match between Manchester United and Anderlecht football clubs died by electrocution on Thursday.

However, Dogara, in a statementissuedbyhisSpecialAdviser on media and publicity, Turaki Hassan,said:“Myheartgoesout tothefamiliesoffootballfanswho died in the incident at the viewing centre. At this moment, my thoughtsandprayersarewiththe affected families, survivors, and thegovernmentandgoodpeople ofCrossRiverstatefollowingthis sad incident.

“It is my ardent hope that survivorsarereceivingadequate care,andthatthestategovernment is taking the necessary steps to avoid a recurrence of such a sad incident”, the Speaker said, and urged the state government to conductathoroughinvestigation intothecircumstancessurrounding the incident.

Also, former President of the Senate, Senator David Mark has lamentedoverthetragicdeathof

the soccer fans, who were electrocuted at the viewing centre in Calabar.

In a condolence message to the Governor of Cross River state, Senator Ben Ayade, SenatorMarksaiditwassadthatsuch youngpeoplemettheiruntimely deathswhilewatchingagamethat should ordinarily bring joy and excitementtothem.Hedescribed the incident as one tragedy too many.

“Thedeathofover30soccerfans inoneincidentisahugelosstothe nation. It is more tragic because these were promising Nigerians wholookedforwardtoarewarding future. They represented the futuredreamsofourfatherland.

They were the ready hands on which our future lies. But we are incapableofquestioningthewill of the Almighty. May God grant them eternal rest”, Mark said, in a statement issued by his media aide, Mr. Paul Mumeh.

Mark suggested that public utility providers should take precautionarymeasurestoavoid futurere-occurrence.Inspiteofthe tragedy,hebelievesthat“soccerisa unifyingtoolbetweenandamong Nigeriansthatmustofanecessity be promoted and encouraged in our society”.

Meanwhile,formerSpecialAdvisertothePresidentonNational Assembly Matters, Senator FlorenceIta-Giwayesterdaypromised tobuildastandardviewingcentre at Nyaghassang Community, CalabarMunicipalityinmemory ofpeoplewhodiedattheviewing centre in the community.

Ita-Giwasaidshewasmaking the promise on behalf of mothers of the Efik Kingdom, whom she led to visit the victims of the viewing centre tragedy. She put theblame oftheincidentonthose shedescribedasthepoliticalclass, sayingthesadeventwasanindictment on them.

Olumide Bakare, Popular Nollywood Actor, Dies Nollywood popular actor, Olumide Bakare, is dead. He died in the early hours of yesterday.

According to media reports, Bakare, aged 65, who has been sick for more than a year was discharged from the University College Hospital (UCH) last year after he was allegedly diagnosed with a respiratory disorder problem.

The Ibadan-based actor and former NTA staff, fondly called Chief Koko on the heels of his role in a TV series, ‘Koko Close’ back in the days, had been battling ill-health since 2013, according to a News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) report.

Meanwhile, President, Directors’ Guild of Nigeria (DGN), Fred Amata, yesterday said the death of Bakare would not stop his legacy from living-on in the minds of people, through the theatre.

AmatatoldNANinLagosthat thespians,evenafterdeath,were always remembered because of their contributions to the entertainment industry.

“It is sad that we have lost one of our veteran actors in the entertainment industry but we must give glory to God for He is the giver and taker of life.

Although Bakare is dead, but he will continue to live on through his works and contributions to Nollywood, in the minds of his fans and friends,” he said.

Amata condoled with the family of the deceased and prayed that God would grant them the fortitude to bear the loss.

President, Actors’ Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Emeka Ibeh, said, “I really do not know the deceased in person but from his works and contributions to the development of Nollywood, he would be greatly missed by his fans. I pray that God grants his family members the strength to bear the loss, at a time like this”.

Ibeh urged thespians in the country to continue to impact positively in the entertainment industry, saying that their good works would definitely outlive them.

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R • APRIL 23, 2017

NEWS Controversy Trails Raiding of PenCom by SSS Iyobosa Uwugiaren in Abuja

There is controversy over the alleged raiding of the National Pension Commission (PenCom) corporate headquarters in Abuja late Friday by the State Security Services (SSS), with senior management staff of the commission, who spoke with THISDAY in confidence, describing the raid as uncalled for.

The presidency recently announced the removal of the Director General of the Commission, Mrs. Chinelo Anohu-Amazu, along with other commissioners.

Security operatives on Friday frisked personnel of the PenCom as they were exiting the commission’s headquarters in Abuja. The development came on a day Anohu-Amazu

and the Commissioners of the agency received letters formally disengaging them from service.

A source at the commission said the workers were visibly irked by the security measures, which they felt were uncalled for. The measures were said to be aimed at ensuring that no official document was taken away. But some of the staff were said to have held the view that

it may have been instigated by powerful people on whose toes she might have stepped on due to her uncompromising attitude on matters of transparency and due process.

Anohu-Amazu and other commissioners were relieved of their appointments last week but apart from the announcement of the termination of their

appointments, letters formally disengaging them from the commission were not received by them until Friday evening.

It was gathered that upon hearing the news of her sack over the radio, she had requested from the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, a formal letter to that effect. The letter was however not received until Friday. A source said the former PenCom DG was in her office on until Friday evening.

But a senior SSS operative said last night that the agency did not conduct any raid on PenCom office.

“What we did was to put a standby team at the office to prevent anybody from tampering or altering any document

unlawfully or without due process”, the secret security agent stated.

“We had an intelligence information that some documents are being tampered with, some documents are being signed and back dated at the PenCom office following the announcement of a new management of the commission. And we are only being pro-active by ordering all officials there to stop forthwith any action on official documents pending when the new management will assume duty”, the agent added.

But debunking the secret security agency last night a senior management staff of PenCom told THISDAY that SSS acted illegally as there was no need for its action.

Saraki’s Trial at CCT Stalled over Prosecution’s Request for Adjournment Alex Enumah in Abuja

FRIENDS OF THE EARTH Visionscape COO, Thomas Forgacs (right), and Visionscape Head Corporate Communications and CSR, Motunrayo Elias, flanked by participating children during Visionscape’s celebration of Earth Day 2017 in Lagos...yesterday

Again, Ikot Offiong Unleash Terror on Oku Iboku, Many Killed as 12 Corpses are Recovered

Buhari Congratulates Peterside on Election as AAMA Chair

Okon Bassey in Uyo

President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday congratulated the Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Dakuku Peterside, on his election as the Chairman of the Association of African Maritime Administrators (AAMA). Dakuku was elected at the end of the Third Annual Conference of the continental organisation in Abuja on Friday.

The President, according to a statement by his Special Adviser, Media and Publicity, said Peterside’s unanimous election was not only a personal honour and affirmation of confidence in his ability to lead AAMA but also placed Nigeria in a pivotal position to rally other maritime administrations in collaboration with the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) towards safer global maritime activities.

Buhari said given NIMASA’s encouraging performance under the leadership of Peterside especially in the fight against sea piracy through inter-agency cooperation, he had no doubt that his new position would offer him a bigger platform to forge ahead in doing the nation proud by meeting

Gunmen suspected to have been mobilised by the people of Ikot Offiong in Odukpani local government area of Cross River State have again unleashed terror on the citizens of Oku Iboku in Itu local government area of Akwa Ibom state with dozens of people killed on the waterways that serve as boundary between the two sister states.

THISDAY checks revealed that twelve corpses of those murdered have been recovered while many are yet to be seen in the attack recorded on Friday.

Sources said the victims, mainly women and fishermen, were ambushed and attacked by the gunmen who invaded the territory without any resistance as they embarked on their normal daily farming and fishing businesses.

The attack, it was learnt, took place within the Western flank of the Cross River bank of the River where the defunct Oku Iboku paper mill had its jetty.

Sources said the gunmen went to the area with more than 15 flying boats and started shooting on the women who were returning from the farm; young men who were diving

and in search of periwinkles and lobsters on the bed of the river, as well as fishermen on fishing expedition.

The bodies of those killed were reportedly dumped in the river while those who sustained gun and machete cuts who escaped to the village broke the news of the attack.

A community leader from Oku Iboku who pleaded for anonymity described the killing of indigenes of the area as a provocative attack.

“Innocent women and men who went in search of their mean of livelihood were just murdered for nothing. Some of the corpses dumped in the river were trapped by the fishing nets.

Three corpses were recovered on Friday by the fishing nets and today (Saturday) another nine corpses have been picked up floating on the water”, he said At the time of going to press, the people of Oku Iboku were said to be in a crucial security meeting over the development in the community.

The Chairman of the Itu Local Government Transition Committee, Mrs. Else Esara confirmed the attack saying some dead bodies from the river have been recovered.

Omololu Ogunmade in Abuja

the objectives of AAMA. While wishing the new Chairman of AAMA a successful one-year tenure, Buhari said he was confident that the federal government’s renewed focus on economic growth through increased maritime resources would be further enhanced within the period.

In another statement by Head, Corporate Affairs, NIMASA, Isichei Osamgbi, Chairman of the Local Organising Committee, Mr. Bashir Jamoh, addressed a media conference shortly after the event and announced that Peterside would pilot the affairs of AAMA for a period of one year while Egypt would host the next conference, while South Africa would retain the secretariat.

The statement added that Namibia and Seychelles were jostling for the 2019 hosting right which it said could not be confirmed at the time of filing this report. AAMA, a body of 34 African countries including Nigeria, unanimously elected Peterside at the conference jointly organised by NIMASA and the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) which drew attendance from maritime countries within the African continent and across the globe.

The trial of the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) over alleged false declaration of his assets when he was governor of Kwara State, has again been stalled by a request for adjournment by the prosecution. The request for adjournment at the instance of the prosecution was the second in less than two weeks.

At the last sitting, tribunal Chairman, Mr. Danladi Umar fixed April 18 for continuation of hearing. But before that day, the prosecution counsel, Mr. Rotimi Jacob SAN, sent a letter to the tribunal chairman, asking for a shift in the earlier

date agreed among parties during the last proceedings.

Jacob had in the letter requested that the matter be adjourned to April 25. Few days to the new date on the matter again, Jacob sent in another letter asking that the matter be shifted to April 27.

The head, public affairs of the tribunal, Mr. Ibrahim Alhassan, confirmed that Mr. Jacob sent in letters asking for adjournment of the trial twice.

A source close to the legal team of the Senate President said they (prosecution) are worried and concerned that there won’t be any excuses on the part of the prosecution as to the availability of the witness in the matter on the next adjourned date.

Two Persons Killed as LG Boss Escapes Assassination in Kogi Yekini Jimoh in Lokoja

Two persons were reportedly killedyesterdayastheadministratorofOkehilocalgovernmentarea of Kogi State, Hon. Abdulraheem Ohiare, escaped an assassination attempt on his life, as hoodlums attacked his residence in Nagazi, in Kogi Central.

The gunmen were said to have stormed his residence at about 2.30 am yesterday morning and started shooting sporadically, but security operatives attached to the local government boss were said to have been able to repel the attack. THISDAY gathered that the security agent attached to the administrator who are mobile prevented the hoodlums from gaining entrance into the building

to carry out their mission.

It was however learnt that some hoodlums had earlier on Friday evening attacked the residences of two people that were close to the chairman in Okene andshotthemdead.Theattackon the people said to have happened at about 8pm was believed to be a prelude to the one carried out on the administrator.

Meanwhile the Commissioner of Police Kogi State Command, CP Wilson Inalegwu, was said to have visited the scenes of the attack with the aim of unraveling the issues surrounding the attack.

He was said to have directed a full scale investigation into the attack, while security was also ordered to be beefed up in the community.

L.E.A.R.N Hosts Youths May 1

The Leadership Empowerment and Resource Network (L.E.A.R.N), the non-governmental youth development oriented organisation of the former First Lady of Lagos State, Dame Emmanuella Abimbola Fashola will on Monday, May 1, hold the 8th Edition of its flagship programme tagged, ‘Time Out with Youths.’ The Project Manager of L.E.A.R.N, Mrs. Bisi Awoyomi, who disclosed this in Lagos said the topics for this year’s programme, which promises to be exciting and educative, include: Who Am I?, Telling Your Story and Keeping It Real.

ThetopicswillbehandledbyrespectedresourcepersonslikeDr.Otive Igbuzor of African Centre for Leadership, Strategy and Development; Mr.TaiwoAkinlamiofGilgalPartners;Mrs.FunmiIloriofMobileLibrary Initiative; Dr. Martin Agwogie of the National Drug Law Enforcement AgencyandpopularComedian,KOFFI.

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T H I S D AY SUNDAY APRIL 23, 2017

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R • APRIL 23, 2017

NEWS FG Earmarks N100bn Seed Fund for Affordable Homes From Kunle Aderinokun, Obinna Chima, Funke Olaode, Kasie Abone and Nosa Alekhuogie in Washington DC

Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, said yesterday that the federal government has earmarked N100 billion in 2017 budget for Family Homes Fund, which was designed to catalyse delivery of affordable homes to Nigerians.

Adeosun, who disclosed this at a meeting with representatives from International Finance Institutions at the ongoing IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings, noted that the N100 billion, a seed fund, was part of the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and would complement the resources that would be mobilised from the private sector, amongst others.

Essentially, the meeting was convened to discuss Nigeria’s agenda to deliver affordable housing.

According to the minister, “Delivering affordable housing is critical to the delivery of our reform agenda and is one of the key pillars for implementation we have been discussing in Washington this week. Nigeria has an estimated housing deficit of 17 million units, and with an estimated increase of 900,000 annually. Some of the reasons for this are clear. Interest rates are high for both developers and home buyers, and the tenure of debtremainstooshort.Asaresult, wehavetofindawaytoaccelerate theprovisionofaffordablehomes.

That is why we have established the Family Homes Fund.

“We have requested N100 billioninthe2017budgetandforthe subsequentthree yearsaspartof the Medium Term Expenditure Framework,thisisseedfunding from the government, but this is notsolelyapublicsectorscheme, it will be a partnership with the privatesectorandwearelooking to mobilise additional resources

from domestic and external sources.”

Adeosun believed, “The Fund will enable us to deliver discounted mortgages for home owners, while also enabling access to attractive funding mechanisms for developers.

We are piloting in 6 states and the results of those pilots will guide long term programme implementation.”

The minister is conducting a series of meetings on the implementation of some of the critical projects in the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan including meetings on Housing, Water,PowerandFoodSecurity.

“Many of these projects are already well advanced and we have had a series of productive meetingsinWashingtonDCwith developmentpartnerstoadvance those projects and hopefully accelerate implementation so we can meet the ambitious but achievable goals we have set ourselves.”

German Govt, DHQ Train Military Personnel on Armoured Fighting Skills Paul Obi in Abuja

The German government and the Nigerian Defence Headquarters (DHQ) have trained military personnel on armoured fighting skills against acts of terrorism in the North-east and other parts of the country.

The training yesterday graduated the first set of military personnel trained by the DHQ in conjunction with the German government to service and maintain military war vehicles including armoured vehicles being currently used against Boko Haram terrorists in the North-east.

The technicians, who cut across the Nigerian Army, Nigerian Air Force and the Nigerian Navy have been equipped to maintain current and future automobiles of the Armed Forces of Nigeria and its personnel, particularly, as it concerns terrorism and insurgency.

Speaking at the graduation ceremony of the 14 military personnel from the Armed ForcesElectricalandMechanical Engineeringschool,(AFEME)in Abuja,theChiefofDefenceStaff, General Gabriel Olonisakin stated that “the Armed Forces of Nigeria and other security agencies were working assiduously

in ensuring terrorism and other criminalities were checkmated.

“It was pertinent for the Armed Forces to have technicians with requisite skills to maintain weapons, armed fighting vehicles as well as softskinned vehicles in support of the ongoing operations.

“The successful training of 14 out of the 15 students who started the programme at AFEME Mechantronic School, located at the Mogadishu Cantonment, Abuja, was in fulfilment of the bilateral agreement between Nigeria and the German Ministries of Defence, leading to its establishment in 2015,” the CDS added.

Multinational Oil Companies Operating Double Standards, Says Dumpe James Emejo in Abuja

Greenfield Campaigner and Peace Initiative Nigeria, Mr. Boniface Dumpe yesterday accused multinational oil establishments operating in the country of double standards, a

practice which had contributed to decades of neglect of oil producing communities.

He said the joint venture programme between government and oil companies had constrained the former from exercising its regulatory respon-

TOMEB Foundation, Exxonmobil Empower Students on Learning Anayo Okolie

On Saturday, April 29, a nongovernmental organisation, Tomeb Foundation, in partnership with oil giant, Exxonmobil will host hundreds of students at Lagos State Model College, Badore, to a personal development and learning programme.

Time is 9.am prompt. As part of lined up activities, each student will receive a motivational book that discerns aspects of human behaviour, titled ‘Insight: Nuggets of Excellence for Teenagers,’ written by 16-year-old Maryam Popoola. Speakers at the event, which is sponsored by Exxon-

Mobil, will read out and explain chapters from the book, which address topics like what it takes to succeed as a teenager, important habits to cultivate, academic excellence, and the good and bad sides of social media.

Some speakers scheduled to speak at the event include the Country Managing Director of Accenture Nigeria, Mr. Niyi Yusuf; the Managing Consultant, Kitbenj Consulting, Mrs. Elizabeth Olofin; a Professor of Medicine at the University of Lagos, Prof. (Mrs.) Fatimah Abdulkareem;andaGovernment Relations Lead at Google, Mrs. Titi Akinsanmi.

sibility over the latter.

Specifically, he said multinationalswhoadheretoprescribed standards in oil exploration and drillingpracticeselsewhereinthe developedcountrieswoulddeliberatelyabandonglobalstandards inNigeriabecausethosewhoare supposed to monitor them are rather not doing their job.

SpeakingonAriseTelevision,a sisterbroadcastarmofTHISDAY Newspapers, he said from the time of production commenced in Nigeria, multinationals have operated double standards.

He said: “You can produce oil and not contaminate the environment to the extent that the healthofthepeopleisthreatened.

But in the Niger Delta you have low standards of operations to maximise profit. And that’s what has severely impacted the people.Fromthecurrentoilspills, there’sconstantflaringofgasthat is supposed to be avoided.

“And the reason that is not done is to maximise profit and in this case, you compromise the health and the fundamental rights of the people in trying to maximise profit”, he added

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APRIL 23, 2017 • THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER

OPINION

WHO And Challenges of Leadership

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Mohamed Abdi Jama lists the defining health issues for WHO member states

he health challenges in today’s world, particularly for developing countries, demand bold new leadership to ensure the organisation can deliver on its mandate for people across the globe. As the World Health Organisation (WHO) votes for a new leader next month, the WHO member states can make a decisive impact on global health. The election comes at a time when the demand for a strong, responsive, and efficient international health agency is growing louder each day. The decision that all 194 countries will take will likely affect the health and wellbeing of millions of people around the world particularly those in the African Continent.

I have seen firsthand the qualities I believe make for a strong and effective international health agency.

I recently served as the Assistant Director-General of the WHO in Geneva. At this critical time, there are five issues that will define the tenure of the next Director-General and on which their success will be measured.

Pandemic Preparedness: The Ebola outbreak in West Africa was a painful reminder that being prepared to respond to epidemics is vital to the health of our people and the strength of our economies. We also learned that being prepared to respond to such epidemics requires a holistic approach that includes smart foresight (i.e., placing a priority on strong health systems before an epidemic strikes), decisive leadership, and effective communication – all characteristics that the new WHO leader will need to embody.

Non-Communicable Diseases: Rich and poor countries alike are now grappling with a growing burden of non-communicable diseases. Cancer, diabetes, and heart disease are among the leading causes of premature mortality globally. They are skyrocketing particularly in the developing world.

Their rise is worrying, particularly in settings with a sizeable burden of infectious diseases – the so called double burden of disease. How the WHO responds

to this growing challenge will affect millions of lives.

South-South Cooperation and Leadership: The global political and economic landscape is changing.

There are now unprecedented opportunities for countries in Africa to engage with countries in South America and Asia to share innovative and adaptable solutions to address their health and development challenges. The history of the AIDS epidemic in Africa was changed by the introduction of cheap generics from the global South and the emergence of global health partnerships. The global South must look to build local capacity to ensure medicines reach the people who need them most.

Mitigating Climate Change: Climate change is already having a devastating impact on health around the world. Five countries in Africa are now struggling to respond to one of the worst food shortages we have seen in decades. Communities, many of which are

The Ebola outbreak in West Africa was a painful reminder that being prepared to respond to epidemics is vital to the health of our people and the strength of our economies

already vulnerable to poor health, will also have to deal with changing water levels, extreme heat events, and infectious diseases. We need a leader who acknowledges climate change as a threat to health and will fight to mitigate and prevent it.

Organisational Reform and Transparency: WHO must undertake a number of key reforms. These include adopting new priority setting mechanisms, changing management structures, and adopting an accountability framework that can improve organisational performance. The new leader of the WHO will be tasked with reestablishing the organisation’s primacy as the global authority of health. These reforms will be central to this effort.

Three WHO regions, largely in the global south, have never had a representative in the top position at WHO. I agree it is time for change but this is not about regional representation, gender, or religion. It is my strong belief that the most qualified candidate to lead the WHO at this pivotal time is Dr. Sania Nishtar of Pakistan.

I have known Sania for many years and I know she is eminently qualified to face these challenges and accelerate the reforms needed within the WHO. She is a visionary leader with an impeccable reputation of transparency, effectiveness, and fair yet forceful governance. I am fully confident that she will be successful in leading change at the headquarters, and indeed, her leadership will mark the start of a new kind of WHO for a world that has changed much since its founding.

As a public health professional from the developing world with over two decades of service in WHO across at the national, regional and global level, and with deep knowledge of the governance and functioning of this great organisation, I call upon all the member states to support Dr. Sania for DirectorGeneral of WHO at the World Health Assembly in May 2017.

––Dr. Abdi Jama is the former Assistant Director-General of the World Health Organisation, Geneva, Switzerland.

Drug Abuse As A National Emergency

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Chuks Akamadu argues that government must do more to curb drug abuse

hen Prime Minister Mohammed bin Rashid Al Makhtoum wrote in his book, My Vision: Challenges in the Race for Excellence, “What I wish most for the youth of the United Arab Emirates is success...all I want is for each one of our young men and women to make their own success story”, he reminded me of our own President Mohammadu Buhari who is at present waging a relentless war against corruption ostensibly to secure the future of youths of Nigeria and offer them a platform to attain, like their peers in UAE, deserved individual accomplishments.

Whereas the UAE narrative has since become what lawyers call “Locus Classicus” in a universal sense, the Nigerian aspiration remains an experiment assailed by a demon that crept in on the nation in the dead of the night called “drug Abuse”. When President Buhari declared that If we fail to kill corruption, that corruption will kill Nigeria, those factual words of his drew applause - and for good measure too, but what he appeared not to have taken cognisance of is that those to whom the new future he seeks to build belongs are being decimated without ceasing by the menace of drug abuse and drug addiction.

Pray, who shall tell the president that drug abuse and drug trafficking deserve no less fury than corruption?

Please let those who have Mr. President’s ears tell him that the war against drug abuse is a matter of life and death!

Someone should also be kind enough to commend Wife of the President, Mrs. Aisha Buhari, for insisting that “collective efforts by relevant stakeholders to end drug abuse have become necessary”.

Research has shown that there is exponential population growth among young people of Nigeria who do drugs.

More and more youths are subscribing to Bob Marley’s false preachment of “When you smoke the herb, it reveals you to yourself”; yet there are those who acknowledge drug abuse and drug addiction as evil, but are quick to justify or, at a minimum, rationalise it by finding solace in the contemptible words of a Sophist, Theodore J. Kaczynski, who argued thus: “Imagine a society that subjects people to conditions that make them terribly unhappy then

gives them the drugs to take away their unhappiness... in effect, antidepressant are a means of modifying an individual internal state in such a way as to enable him tolerate social conditions that he would otherwise find intolerable.”

Notwithstanding the debate on whose lot it is to carry the can in the foregoing regard, the bad news is that drug abuse is here and doing incalculable damage to our today and our tomorrow alike. Sadly the beautiful rhetoric and semantics that have come to characterise the phenomenon have not in any way operated to either contain or curtail it. Things have only gotten progressively worse. The concern really is that no argument, however sound, can erase the fact that substance abuse wrecks the consumer, their family and the society, just as it is not debatable that it also compromises national security as well as endangers public health. What is more, the statistics are most frightening. Out of 196 countries on planet earth, United Nations Office on Drug and Crimes (UNODC) in its 2014 World Drug Report (WDR) rated Nigeria as “Number One” in cannabis sativa seizure. Similarly, according to Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Kaduna, six million bottles of codeine expectorant are sold in the North-Western part of the country daily. That is not all. Disclosures made by the National Law Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) indicate that in 2015 alone, the agency seized within our borders, narcotic drugs valued at N22bn.

The tragedy however is that despite and in spite of these startling revelations, the nation appears to be carrying on as though not much is at stake. Obviously the NDLEA is overwhelmed. Why won’t it be? There are reports that those who are supposed to take sides with the law are the ones trampling upon it. Whilst ordinary citizens do their thing in the comfort of their homes and designated hideouts, a section of our political elite and a growing clan of unscrupulous elements within the security and law enforcement agencies are said to be doing same in their official fortresses with absolute state protection.

Drug abuse is a plague on the nation...worse still, it deteriorates by the second. Our collective failure to give

it the attention it deserved has emboldened it to become fashionable; and as a fad, the vulnerable are being left at the mercy of peddlers and consumers who are constantly recruiting. As things stand, it makes little or no differences that NDLEA was able to arrest 34,499 suspects and secured 7,317 convictions against offenders between 2012 and 2015. On the contrary, what matters the most is that the outcome of the agency’s best efforts is regrettably a drop in the ocean, and the nation - particularly her youth, remains on all fours as casualty figures keep rising.

In some parts of the country married women are equally guilty just as children are readily yielding to it with little or no persuasion. The question then is: whither the future of the nation? Because it leaves everyone, directly or indirectly, on the “Victim List”. Frankly speaking, critical stakeholders can no longer afford to sit idly by and expect the NDLEA to solely quench this wildfire.

Dan Masanin Kano, Alhaji Maitama Sule once told this writer that “the joy of a dying father is the presence of worthy successors”. As they say in Igboland, our leaders should “jiri ire ha guo eze ha ogu” (use their tongue to count their teeth”).

It is high time the federal government found the courage to acknowledge the inadequacy of NDLEA in the daunting task of arresting and possibly reversing the deepening drug abuse trend in Nigeria. With the way things stand, the federal government should urgently seek to galvanise the critical mass necessary for waging a multi-sectoral war against drug abuse and drug addiction, otherwise the agency statutorily charged with this responsibility would at best continue to maintain clearly ineffectual presence at our borders and inter-state check points whilst rogue courier service companies continue to profit maximally from intra-city distribution of cannabis sativa, codeine expectorants, skonk, heroin, cocaine and a legion of other contemporary harmful drug brands.

––Akamadu, FIPMN, is President, Centre for Ethical Rebirth Among Nigerian Youths

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R • APRIL 23, 2017

LETTERS

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Government and The Abuja Airport

he announcement by the Minister of State for Aviation, Mr. Hadi Sirika, that the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja would be closed for six weeks to carry out major repairs on the damaged runway generated widespread controversy across the country. In fact, the National Assembly and other interested stakeholders tried unsuccessfully to stop the closure. Considering the economic and logistics implications of the proposed closure, the stance of those who were opposed to it is quite understandable.

While the closure lasted, Abuja bound passengers from any part of the world used the Kaduna International Airport as alternative. According to Sirika, the federal government decided on the painful but logical option of closing down the airport having realised that palliative approach would be counterproductive because it might not endure. Diversion of air traffic activities from the Abuja Airport to Kaduna was, no doubt, a very strenuous experience for

T

Sirika, Minister of State for Aviation

air travellers. Though the federal government tried as much as it could to provide necessary logistics support to lessen the pains of passengers, the situation was undoubtedly quite demanding.

It was, therefore, a

big relief for all when the federal government recently announced the re-opening of the Abuja Airport 24 hours ahead of deadline. This development, indeed, came as a surprise to many Nigerians as it contradicts the usual

official style of dealing with such critical national issues. A lot of people were sceptical when the federal government insisted that the rehabilitation of the runway would be done on record time. This is because in our clime, it is uncharacteristic of government to make and fulfil such promises.

No wonder an elated President Muhammadu Buhari lavishly commended the efforts of the Ministries of Transport, Power, Works and Housing, the Kaduna State government, Julius Berger Plc, and others who made the feat possible. In a statement by presidential spokesperson, Mr. Femi Adesina, President Buhari said he “looked forward to such display of interagency cooperation and efficiency in the operation of the entire federal government machinery.” In his own remark, Minister of State for Aviation revealed that government decided to reopen the airport 24 hours earlier because the runway rehabilitation was completed on schedule.

The minister commended Nigerians and air travellers for their resilience during the six weeks closure of

THE WAR ON CORRUPTION

he war on corruption is real. Banks are no more safe havens for financial criminals. Huge sums of money belonging to politicians or petty tradesmen can easily be traced in banks.

Besides, it is clear that all the monies used for politics and a lot used for illegal businesses were stuck in private houses after President Muhammadu Buhari was sworn-in in May 2015. Daily discoveries by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), with the support of whistle-blowers reveal the scenarios, confusion and tension which the treasury looters found themselves, leading to the abandonment of our monies in their many inhabited houses.

That has partly caused the recession. Yet, corruption does not end there.

Startling revelations by the EFCC had shown that treasury looters also hid their loot in forests, graveyards and unimaginable places. There are now in existence all kinds of banks in Nigeria, an invention by the looters for the safekeeping of their ill-acquired wealth. There are deep forest bank (DFB), vacant house banks (VHB), graveyard bank (GYB) occupied house bank (OHB), farm house bank (FHB), airport lounge bank (ALB), parked cars bank (PCB) water reservoir bank (WRB) and soak-away bank (SAB).

More discoveries are on.

Information and Culture Minister, Lai Mohammad, through his media aide, Segun Adeyemi, confirmed that funds looters now bury money in cemeteries and in deep forests, asserting that many of them are abandoning their booty

at unusual places, including airports even as they continue to run helter-skelter.

A friend sent me a whatsapp massage that he is mobilising a group of volunteers to relocate to Lagos to assist in finding those houses and dens where the looters have hidden our monies.

According to him, EFCC has been doing a good job and needs to be supported. But how to find out the houses, he said he would need to consult spiritualists in order to get his percentage as a whistle-blower.

He wondered why the looted funds are found in Lagos more than Abuja.

But the controversial Ekiti State governor, Ayodele Fayose claims that the looters who have resorted to burying stolen funds in their backyards and burial grounds are looters in the Buhari’s presidency, especially those being compensated for funding the election of the President in 2015. He claimed that they bury their own loot in the Villa with Presidential protection. His special assistant on public communications and new media, Lere Olayinka, described the anti-corruption war as a laughing stock because most of the discovered monies including N49 million at Kaduna Airport, N448 million in a shop at Victoria Island, Lagos and N13 billion in Ikoyi, Lagos neither have owners nor the identities of owners of the property where the money was found known.

He faulted the claim that only the president’s appointees were saints, while other Nigerians, including those in the National Assembly, judiciary, opposition politicians and the civil servants were rogues. The

cabals in the Presidency, he squeaked, have been taking advantage of the president’s state of health to oppress Nigerians.

Actually, most of the culprits are ex-political office holders and it is quite understandable.

But however, there are cases of incumbent government officials entangled in corruption. There have been several reports on that and the courts are still handling many, though accusations are mounting that those in government are untouchables, thus being protected. And with the clearance of alleged corrupt members of the executive, legislative and judiciary arms of government at the federal level, a lot of citizens have been questioning the sincerity in the corruption war proclaimed to be total and effective in all its ramifications. We recall with sadness that Nigeria lost four corruption cases in one week.

Questions from recent events have been nagging.

The first was lost by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) when Justice Abdulaziz Anka of the Federal High Court in Lagos lifted the forfeiture of N75m in the account of Mike Ozekhome a lawyer for Ekiti State governor Ayo Fayose. The following day, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) lost the case involving a former Niger Delta Affairs Minister Godsday Orubere who was discharged and acquitted by an Abuja High Court over alleged complicity in N1.97bn contract fraud. Recall that Orubebe alone nearly disrupted the 2015 Presidential polls because Goodluck Jonathan was losing out.

Orubebe’s trial Justice Olukayode Adeniyi also discharged and acquitted all the defendants, after the charge was withdrawn by the prosecution.

The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, in a letter to Chairman of the ICPC, confirmed that money which Orubebe allegedly diverted, was intact, but was awaiting further contract decisions and directives from the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs.

Moreover, an Abuja High Court discharged and acquitted Justice Adeniyi Ademola; his wife, Olabowale and Joe Agi of 18-count charge. Ademola was last year arrested by the DSS for alleged corruption and possession of firearms. The trial judge, Justice Jude Okeke ruled that there was no justifiable reason to call on the defendants to enter their defence and discharged all of them.

The EFCC also within the week lost the case involving former First Lady Patience Jonathan. Justice Mojisola Olatoregun of a Federal High Court in Lagos defroze her $5.8m Skye Bank account which she quickly wanted to withdraw but was stopped by the EFCC. Olatoregun freed her and discharged affected five companies: Finchley Top Homes Ltd, Aribawa Aruera, Magel resort Ltd, AM -PM Global Network Ltd, Pansy Oil and Gas Ltd, and Pagmat oil and Gas Ltd as well as one Esther Oba said to be having a total sum of N7.4 billion in six different banks. This is unbelievable!

Why the rush to court without thorough investigations. This is unbecoming of the EFCC. Muhammad Ajah, Abuja

the airport. He said: “I also wish to thank all my colleagues who did it all and the media and the Nigerian people for standing by us”.

Hungarian Ambassador to Nigeria, Prof. Gabor Ternak, who was at the airport at the re-opening, disclosed that the model set by the federal government was novel and should be emulated by other countries. He said: “It was a surprise that Abuja airport was re-opened a day earlier than scheduled.

I did not anticipate that the airport would be ready as scheduled, let alone a day earlier. This is really a change government and it speaks volumes of Nigeria to other countries of the world.”

According to the Minister of State for Aviation, the re-opened Abuja airport came with new and improved technology.

For instance, the runway was rebuilt with latest technology known as the Glass Fibre Grid to provide better strength and prevent it from cracking.

This is the first time that a Nigerian runway is being treated with such material.

With this development, the airport will now be more compliant with the International Civil Aviation Organisation standard and best practice.

However, experts have disclosed that the new and improved Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, has, however, come at a great cost. It has been alleged that the nation may have expended over N10b in project cost and revenue losses while rehabilitation was on-going. Most prominent losers of the temporary closure are the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), hotels, business proprietors around the airport and informal sector operatives such as taxi drivers, killichi sellers (a popular Abuja dried meat delicacy), recharge cards sellers, newspaper vendors, water vendors, among others.

Experts are of the view

that the rehabilitation may have cost the federal government a total of N7b.

This includes N5.8b that was budgeted for the rehabilitation of the runway as well as N1.134b spent on logistics for the diversion of traffic to Kaduna. Other loses include a drop in revenue on account of foreign carriers that suspended Abuja operations and aviation auxiliary services that had experienced a slump in business during the closure.

Ironically, while others are counting their losses, officials of the Kaduna International Airport are counting their gains from the diversion of Abuja bound flights to Kaduna. It has been officially affirmed that over 3,533 flights and 170,150 passengers were recorded at the Kaduna airport within the period.

This, of course, means huge business for the airport and business interests within its environs.

Meanwhile, in as much as it is reasonable for government officials to rejoice over the successful completion of the Abuja Airport runway rehabilitation, it is, nevertheless, important for us to learn vital lessons from the whole episode. For one, it is unacceptable that the airport had only one runway. As bad as this is, it is a shame that we could not properly maintain it.

This is the same reason why major national assets and infrastructure across the country have for long remained in disgraceful and frightening condition.

There is, therefore, an urgent need for government across all tiers to imbibe the culture of systematic maintenance and management of public assets and infrastructure. Such maintenance culture ought to become a routine and not a national emergency.

This is the way it is done in civilised climes. Ours must not be an exception.

Tayo Ogunbiyi, Ministry of Information & Strategy, Alausa, Lagos

SECURITY IN BENUE STATE

T

he security problems that presently besets Benue State is not about Terwase “Ghana” Akwaza and it is all about killer Fulbe tribesmen who roam the rural areas at will, kill at will, sack communities at will, and occupy these communities at will.

The Chief of Army Staff, Gen. Yusuf Buratai, has even informed Nigerians that these killers are foreigners from Niger, Chad, Mali, Northern Cameroon, Central African Republic, etc. It is so sad to read a cynical angle into

the “swinging action” that the federal government has mandated the Air Force and other security outfits to do in Benue State.

Expending all those resources to go after Mr. Akwaza (who, in all likelihood, is hiding in Abuja) is futile whereas the simple solution lay in the adoption of the practice of cattle ranching, necessarily located in the vast open lands of Northern Nigeria especially at the geological province called the Sokoto Basin.

––Sunday Adole Jonah, Federal University of Technology, Minna

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THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER • APRIL 23, 2017

INTERNATIONAL Nigeria’s International Image under PMB: The Challenge of Anti-Corruption War and National Unity

T

he perception of Nigeria when she acceded to national sovereignty on October 1, 1960 was that a great nation was in the making. Nigeria’s capacity and policy position to challenge France’s atomic tests in the Reggane area of the Sahara desert shortly before her independence lent much credence to a great Nigeria in the making. The perception became stronger and more interesting with Nigeria’s foreign policy of ‘no compromise with Apartheid South Africa’ in 1963.

Apart from the very dynamic afro-centric foreign policy, entrepreneurial, industrial development plans were also put in place to the admiration of the western-dominated world. The world could not have been happier with the then pro-west foreign policy of Nigeria.

In fact, the support for Nigeria was to the extent that the United States not only gave active support to the establishment of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs but also donated books for its take-off.

However, the image of Nigeria at the domestic level was not much of a big deal: national unity was first threatened in 1962 as Kirk Green’s documents on crisis and conflicts in Nigeria have clearly shown. National unity was actually confronted with the outbreak of a civil war in 1967. The battle came to an end in 1970 but there is nothing to suggest that the war of national unity had been won since then. What specially helped Nigeria’s image domestically and internationally was General Yakubu Gowon’s policy of’ ‘no victor and no vanquished,’ as well as the prompt introduction of the policy of reconciliation, rehabilitation and reconstruction.

Nigeria’s pro-African foreign policy continued in the post-civil war era and not only endeared the country to the world but was also to the detest of some others who were actually aiding and abetting apartheid and under-development of Africa. In fact, when General Muhammadu Buhari was military Head of State of Nigeria, Nigeria’s international image was fraught with both encouragement and suspicion. It was encouragement at the level of his policy on war against indiscipline and suspicion at the level of policy of trade by barter which he adopted to guide his foreign economic relations.

As elected leader of Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB) is not only encouraged by many people for carrying the antigraft war to the door steps of the elite, but is also being suspected for alleged politicisation of the war. His mania and approach to the war on corruption is under severe criticism. As a result, the international image of Nigeria is gradually becoming an issue: is PMB truly serious about his anti-graft war? Is his war strategy an appropriate one?

What is the extent to which the war can succeed? In the event of a new administration, can the war effort be sustained?

Vie Internationale believes that ‘perception’ is an important factor in the evaluation of bilateral ties, attitudinal disposition of states, and particularly in decision-making. In determining what future the anti-graft may have, the factor of perception must be looked into. This is in spite of whether or not the perception is right. Consequently, as the global community is much interested in fighting corruption tooth and nail the world over, impression must not be given that there is no seriousness of purpose in the efforts being made by the PMB administration. The seriousness must be reflected in all ramifications, especially in principles and actions, fairness and justice.

The argument of this column is that PMB is serious about the anti-graft war but the likelihood of his success is, at best, debatable for three main reasons: approach; insincerity and unfairness in the political governance of Nigeria; and acquiescence or conspiratorial attitude of the people of Nigeria. These reasons are actually the main dynamics of corruption and indiscipline since corruption was first identified as the bane of the Nigerian society in 1967 by Professor J.S.

If corruption has been difficult to nip in the bud in Nigeria, it is essentially because political governance is also largely based on insincerity of purpose, unfairness in the management of common patrimony, and victimisation of the honest and patriotic people.The mania of political governance in Nigeria encourages the development of anti-Nigeria sentiments and this also largely explains why the quest for self-determination is also growing and why national unity is constantly threatened

VIE INTERNATIONALE with

Bola A. Akinterinwa Telephone : 0807-688-2846

e-mail: bolyttag@yahoo.com

Buhari

Cookey.

Major Dynamics of Corruption in Nigeria

The approach to the anti-corruption war is in itself a major source of another corruption. Steve Nwosu, in his Frank Talk on ‘As anti-graft war runs into a hitch’ (The Sun, April 13, 2017, back page), raised some relevant interesting points but some of which we do not agree with. He contended that ‘the manner we were going about the fight against corruption in the country was wrong and unsustainable.’ We cannot agree more with this hypothesis, but not for the same reasons advanced by him.

In the eyes of Steve, if the EFCC case against Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State, which prompted the freezing of his bank account, but ‘unfreezed’ by a law court in due respect to his right to immunity as a serving governor; and if the cases of others like Chief Mike Ozekhome, Fayose’s lawyer; Dame Patience Jonathan, former First Lady of Nigeria; Justice Ademola and his wife; Andrew Yakubu, the former Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Cooperation (NNPC), etc, could be quashed in the law courts to the detriment of the interests of the prosecuting EFCC, then something must be wrong with the method and the allegations.

In this regard, Steve considered the empirical experience he had in the prosecution of two cases, not only to note that ‘there is so much hot air and no substance,’ but also that ‘in virtually all the instances where conviction was secured, arm-twisting, intimidation and other extra-judicial means had a major role.’

Perhaps more interestingly, but more disturbingly, Steve said ‘people whose means of livelihood was shut down ad infinitum were left with no choice than to cut their loss by pleading guilty to offences they probably never committed, or agreeing to some bogus plea bargain arrangement. Many who returned money did so, not because they had stolen it but because of extraneous reasons.’

This is where the point of disagreement lies: why should anyone accept to have stolen because of extraneous considerations? What is the nature of the ‘extraneous reasons’ that would be allowed to override the name and integrity of the concerned person in the long run? We do not share this argument because the existence of factors of arm-twisting, intimidation, and possibly extra-judicial means does not and should not imply that the truth should not be insisted upon in self-defence and for sake of posterity. Why accept to refund whatever money if it is legitimately earned? Why accept the compromise of free bargaining? Let us look at one of my own experiences.

In 2014 and 2015, the General Ike Nwachukwu-led Governing Council of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs made strenuous efforts to intimidate and arm-twist me to promote two research officers to the professorial cadre by dictating to me the contents of the letters to be sent to the assessors after I had already sent what I believed were the appropriate letters. The Council got the addresses of the assessors and mailed the letters directly to them. In fact, one of the Council members even had the indecent courage of personally but informally contacting one of the assessors.

When the Council requested for an update on the responses from the assessors at a meeting of Council, I responded that the Council

was handling and that I was the one to ask for an update because professorship is not about the sale of commodity in the market. It is not an honorary title that can be commercialised. In fact, it is more serious than any military title which is always earned on merit. On this basis, I stood my ground and the Council took the bad end of the stick. The Council could not do more than distorting the truth and feeding the Supervisory Authority with untruths, especially that the dust over my handling of an international conference centre in which the Council has special interests could not settle down. I resisted intimidation and arm-twisting.

But true enough, the Federal Government was very happy with this type of misinformation. Government was not interested in investigating allegations but finds it easy to take decision on allegations without preliminary inquiry. This is one reason and major impediment to the success of any war against corruption. At the NIIAof today, we now have two categories of professors: Councilassisted professors and NIIAprofessors whose appointments were only based on merit. They are not political professors. I reported to the Supervisory Authority how the Ike Nwachukwu Governing Council had bastardised the NIIAbeyond repairs, particularly in terms of indiscipline. Indiscipline is a manifestation of corruption. For a Governing Council to be inciting staff against the Chief Executive is nothing more than an executive corruption. But why?

Without doubt, the Council’s efforts at misinformation were specifically targeted at preventing the renewal of my appointment as Director General of the institute. And true enough, my appointment was not renewed. Many senior citizens, including former Heads of State who used to have high regards for me, opted to declare me a person non-grata in the belief that I was wrong, but not knowing there was misinformation at play. In spite of all these, my integrity is intact. I derived much happiness that I stood by patriotism and what was right to do. Why should I accept to bastardise academic professorship in order to be in the good books of a Council?

Without gainsaying, accepting free bargaining, concealing the truth in order to be free is only promoting the untruths and Nigeria cannot survive on the basis of promotion of untruths. The use of armtwisting and intimidation by the EFCC may be wrong and, indeed, it is. How to deal with corruption without arm-twisting and intimidation has to be looked into on a more serious note, and particularly in light of fundamental human rights and on a long term basis.

In this regard, government will need to declare its anti-corruption war at the crescendo of elite politics and at the lowest level of every given stratum of society. The truth is that, while efforts are being made to stop corruption at the higher levels, the same corruption is rearing its ugly head at the bottom levels of the society. With this, corruption is growing at the tap root level while the branches of corruption are being cut at the top. The message being sent to the international community is incapacity to stop corruption and Nigeria’s international image cannot be helped with this type of situation. This brings us to the second issue: insincerity and unfairness in the political governance of Nigeria.

If corruption has been difficult to nip in the bud in Nigeria, it is essentially because political governance is also largely based on insincerity of purpose, unfairness in the management of common patrimony, and victimisation of the honest and patriotic people. The mania of political governance in Nigeria encourages the development of anti-Nigeria sentiments and this also largely explains why the quest for self-determination is also growing and why national unity is constantly threatened. I will endeavour to substantiate this observation with cases I am much conversant with and then raise questions.

First, in 1994, the Federal Government of Nigeria advertised the construction of small and medium houses. The advert invited interested Nigerians to make deposits. Alhaji Lateef Jakande was then the Minister of Works and Housing. For the medium houses, the sum of N200,000 (two hundred thousand naira) was the initial cost.

The amount was jacked up by Jakande’s successor, Major-General Abdulkareem Adisa to N800,000 (eight hundred thousand naira only), thus raising the required deposit from N40,000 (forty thousand naira) to N165,000 (one hundred and sixty-five thousand naira only.

Major-General Adisa considered that the cost of purchase was not realistic. whereas, in the eyes of Jakande, it was feasible, as he was thinking of using local building materials.

Whatever is the case, I paid the initially required N40,000 deposit for the N200,000 medium house bungalow and took loan from the Universal Trust Bank to pay the required balance. We are now in 2017, the Federal Government of Nigeria is yet to build the medium houses. It is yet to allocate any house. It is yet to refund. In fact, the Government does not even talk about it. Is the Federal government not the most corrupt by taking public money for service it does not intend to provide? Government will come out saying it is building houses for civil servants or houses for footballers. What about the houses for which we deposited money? Where is the fairness or justice?

Also in the 1990s, but this time at the level of the OPIC in Ogun State, advert was similarly placed for the purchase of houses. I collected seven forms, one for me and six others for other colleagues at the NIIA. By coincidence, the six others were from Ogun State.

When the considerations for allocation of houses took place, I was the only person, an indigene of Ondo State, of which I am most proud of anyway, whose name was removed from the list of potential beneficiaries. Yet we are preaching national unity.

(See concluding part on www.thisdaylive.com)

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R • APRIL 23, 2017

BUSINESS

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

LAST WEEK WEEK

Treasury Single Account The federal government recorded overN7trillionintheTreasurySingle Account by the end of March 2017, accordingtotheAccountantGeneral of the Federation, Ahmed Idris. The amountrepresentedmoniesbelonging to different Ministries, DepartmentsandAgenciesputintheportal in such a way that government can view the entire balance as one. Idris said the implementation of theTSA saved additional N4 billion monthly, whichcouldhavebeenheldbybanks, notingthatatotalcollapseofgovernment activities would have occurred if the TSA was not in place.

Abuja Airport Normal aviation services, including flights, resumed at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport,Abuja, on Tuesday as the Minister of State for Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, reopenedthefacilitiesadayearlierthan schedule.The airport was reopened after a successful completion of its runway rehabilitation. An Ethiopian Airlines aircraft, Airbus A350-900, landedattheairportat12:10pm.The 313-capacity aircraft is one of the lastaircraftmanufacturedbyAirbus.

A local market... a chunk of this informal sector is not captured in the tax net

Adeosun: Nigeria’s Tax to GDP Ratio among Lowest in the World Kunle Aderinokun, Obinna Chima, Funke Olaode, Kasie Abone and Nosa Alekhuogie in Washington DC

The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, has lamented that with a tax to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio of six per cent, the country is rated one of the lowest in the world.

Adeosun, who revealed this during an interview on the sidelines of the ongoing 2017 Spring Meetings of the IMF-World Bank/IMF in Washington DC, said the situation was unacceptable, stressing that the government has a lot of work to do.

But the minister pointed out that the government would require the support of all stakeholders to achieve its objective of increasing non-oil revenue.

“We have the tax to GDP ratio of six per cent, one of the lowest in the world. And with all the cooperation of encouraging companies to pay tax, it will support what we are doing to increase our GDP, improve amount of debt to take and improve our ability to fund our projects and get our economy going. This is fundamental. T he World Bank made some comments about Nigeria’s debt. The problem is not our debt; it is because our revenue is too low. So we have to do something fundamental about the revenue improvement. That is what we are going to be working on.

“The point I was making was

TAXATION

about illicit financial flow in the G24 meeting is about the money that has left our countries especially Nigeria - gone abroad either through tax evasion or through money laundering. Really, we need these monies back in Nigeria and what we are working on is a revenue initiative that would bring a lot of this money back so we can fund our infrastructure,” she explained.

Adeosun said the federal government’s delegation at the forum had been having bilateral meetings, saying that a meeting with the World Bank was to review the bank’s portfolio in Nigeria, how it was performing as well as how to improve on the World Bank projects in Nigeria.

According to her, the meetings she had with the rating agencies were positive, saying that they all indicated that the country would return to growth this year.

“We have met with the African Development Bank looking at similar type of review, such as project, looking at what is not working and what to improve on.

We have also been meeting with rating agencies talking about how Nigeria economy is performing and how Nigeria’s economy will return to growth in 2017 and how it can be sustained. This gladdens my heart. So we have had a number of meetings

that cut across many areas.

“There is a general consensus that Nigerian economy will grow in 2017.

The point is that what do to sustain that growth is to ensure that it translates to good life for our people (the masses); how do we translate money spent on infrastructure into jobs? That is the next level.

“Last year was a ground preparation: You know how to get our road going, the rail, the power and now it is about how we translate the man on the With all the cooperation of encouraging companies to pay tax, it will support what we are doing to increase our GDP, improve amount of debt to take and improve our ability to fund our projects and get our economy going

street getting a job.

And when we leave here now we are going to look on how to implement what we discussed, agriculture inclusive.

Today (Friday) we are going to discuss power because power on its own can transform the man on the street or having an improvement in his standard of living. Power alone can transform our GDP growth and improve the economy,” she added.

When asked about the country’s budget support request from the World Bank, Adeosun said: “We have a budget and we have a plan around the medium term strategy which include the World Bank. We have been talking about that. But that is not the focus of this Spring Meetings. The focus is what our economy strategy is all about and how we are going to improve on it.”

Meanwhile, remittance flows to Nigeria fell by 10 per cent in 2016, the latest edition of the Migration and Development Brief released has shown.

The report also showed that, that was the second consecutive year remittance flows into the country would decline, a trend not seen in three decades. The development was largely attributed to slow economic growth in remittance-sending countries; decline in commodity prices, especially oil, which impacted remittance receiving countries; and diversion of remittances to informal channels due to controlled exchange rate regimes in the country.

Generally, it revealed that remittances to Nigeria and other countries in Africa declined by an estimated 6.1 percent to $33 billion in 2016.

Similarly, remittances to other major receiving countries were also estimated to have fallen last year, including Bangladesh (-11.1 percent) and Egypt (-9.5 percent).

World Bank The World Bank on Wednesday said Nigeria needed to reform its finances to avoid future foreign exchange crisis. The World Bank Chief Economist for Africa, Albert Zeufack, noted that exchange rate adjustments could lead to higher inflation. Zeufack was quoted as saying making fiscal adjustments in thecountry’ssecondyearofrecession wouldbe“extremelychallenging.”But theWorld Bank chief noted that continued monetary policy tightening would address the pressures. The CentralBankofNigeriainitseffortto stabilisetheNaira,hasbeeninjecting liquidity into the market.

FX Market TheCentralBankofNigeriapumped a total $380 million into the foreign exchange market within two days, further strengthening the Naira.The first tranche of $280 million was releasedonTuesday.OnWednesday, thebankofferedadditional$100million to authorised dealers to meet the 7 to 15-day forwards requests of customers.

Aviation Two Air Peace aircraft collided on the departure ramp of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos. One of the aircraft with registration mark 5N-BQR was being towed for departure when it made contact with the stabiliser of the second aircraft with registration mark 5N-BQP. The airline’s spokesman, Chris Iwara, said, “The points of contact of the two aircraft were only slightly impacted, but we took the cautious decision to declare them unserviceable to enable a proper investigation of the incident.

CBN

TheCentralBankofNigeria suspended charges on over-the-counter or ATM withdrawals of above N500,000 or deposits of same amount. The apex bank’sDirector,BankingandPayments System Department, Dipo Fatokun, in a circular dated April 20, 2017, and directed at money deposit banks stated that all the charges introduced in February, and meant to take effect from April 1, 2017, had been dropped.

“Henceforth, nothing will be charged as processing fees for lodgments,” he said. Fatokun directed banks to make allnecessaryrefundstocustomerswith immediate effect.

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R • APRIL 23, 2017

BUSINESS/POWER

As FG, Power Investors’ Rift Deepens

The controversy between the federal government and the power investors over the obvious failure of both parties to meet the terms of the privatisation agreement has deepened with the recent opposition of the distribution companies to the government’s plan to escrow their accounts. Ejiofor Alike reports

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he 11 electricity distribution companies in the country recently kicked against an alleged attempt by the federal government to escrow their accounts as part of the measures to resolve the liquidity challenges that have crippled power supply in recent months. The Discos, under the aegis of the Association of Nigeria Electricity Distributors (ANED), accused the federal government of failing to fulfil the terms of the privatisation agreement, including the provision of N100 billion subsidy. They argued that any attempt to escrow the Discos’ account would be tantamount to nationalisation or expropriation of the Discos.

Since power supply worsened in recent months, the Discos have embarked on a spirited campaign to absolve themselves of any blame for the apparent collapse of the power sector, which had prompted Africa’s richest man and president of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, to call on the federal government to cancel the power privatisation. Dangote alleged that the private investors “went in without even understanding what they were doing.”

Blame While the Discos blame the federal government and electricity consumers for the failure of the sector, the government has also accused the companies of frustrating its effort to activate their agreements in the Transitional Electricity Market (TEM), which should bind them to objective service delivery.

For instance, the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, had challenged the Discos to also use the same campaign, which they have mounted in the form of advertorials, to tell Nigerians that they refused to submit their annual statement of accounts to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) as required by the power reform law.

While the Discos are insisting that there is a huge revenue shortfall threatening the power sector, the government is of the view that the fact that the Discos are hiding their books from the regulator is a strong indication that they are not telling the government and Nigerians the whole truth about their financial state.

According to the Discos, the sector has a revenue shortfall of close to N90 billion as a result of the federal government’s inability to meet its commitments in the performance agreement with the investors who acquired the assets during the power privatisation.

ANED’s Executive Director in charge of Research and Advocacy, Mr. Sunday Oduntan, had once argued that the performance agreement had stipulated that there would be cost reflective tariffs from November 1, 2013. But he said this never happened, as “R2 customer class was politically frozen and collection losses removed in 2015” by the previous administration for the purpose of winning 2015 elections.

Oduntan added, “Sculpting or under-recovery of cost will result in N164 billion revenue shortfall, for the period of 2016 through 2018. Delay in reflecting costs means a growing increase in deficits.”

Oduntan also alleged that the federal government committed that tariffs should reflect reality but argued that tariffs had not changed, despite the devaluation of naira from N197 to N305, while inflation has also increased from nine per cent projected in the performance agreement to 17.9 per cent.

According to him, the performance agreement was hinged on projected generation of between 5,000 megawatts and 7,500 megawatts between 2014 and 2016 but generation, according to the companies, averaged between 2,000mw and 3,000mw during this period due to pipeline vandalism and transmission constraints, which they claimed were outside their commitments.

The distribution companies had also revealed that the generation companies were owed in excess of N184 billion, contrary to the performance agreement, which guaranteed the credit worthiness support

An Electricity Transformer

of Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) by the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET), also known as the Bulk Trader.

The investors also hinted that the government made a commitment to guarantee them increased access to gas supply, but said there had been no improvement in gas supply.

They argued that the performance agreement also guaranteed them clean balance sheets to ensure that they have the ability to borrow funds to invest in power sector.

However, the reality, according to them, is that the sector is operating at a loss since two and a half years plus with no bank willing to lend money to them, as the banking sector is already exposed to oil, gas and power sectors by over N3 trillion.

Apart from the over 3,000MW lost to vandalism, the Discos noted that the MDAs were indebted to the sector to the tune of N100 billion.

Counterclaim While the generation and distribution companies have blamed the worsening power supply on gas shortages and grid instability caused by weak transmission infrastructure, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) say the Discos are to blame for rejecting power allocated to them.

However, gas suppliers have argued that there is enough gas to generate power but that the generation companies cannot pay for gas.

On their part, the Gencos have argued that they are not able to pay for gas because they are being owed by NBET for the power the Gencos generated into the National Grid.

NBET, on its part, has claimed that it has insufficient fund to pay the Gencos because the Discos make under-payment for the power they buy and distribute to their customers.

The excuse by the distribution companies is that the tariffs paid by customers are not cost-reflective enough for them to recover the actual cost of power and remit to NBET. They also blame their revenue shortfall on MDA debts and failure of customers to even pay at all.

Escrow Account Option To resolve the liquidity challenge in the power sector, the government recently unveiled a N701 billion intervention fund to be spread over a period of three years. But the Discos say the package could worsen the funding situation.

The government was also said to have threatened

to escrow the accounts of the Discos to ensure that money realised from the power sector is paid to all the members of the value chain – gas suppliers, generation companies, distribution companies, Transmission Company of Nigeria, and the regulators.

But the Discos opposed the move, saying that it would also send very wrong signals to investors that Nigeria is not fully open for private sector investment but is still partial to the old habits of nationalisation, which prevents the injection of cheap and needed capital that is critical to the rehabilitation and improvement of electricity infrastructure.

Oduntan said, “You cannot have a supposedly private sector-owned and managed business in which the government now seizes control of its revenues. It is a contradiction in terms and practice.

The same principle applies to any consideration of regulations or government action that intrudes into corporate responsibilities of procurement, financial management or personnel management.

“To date, the government has not met the privatisation transaction foundational requirements of providing N100 billion in subsidy to the sector. Indeed, any attempt at escrowing our accounts runs counter to the objectives of the National Electricity Power Policy, 2001 (NEPP) and the Electric Power Sector Reform Act, 2005 (2005), of a private sector-owned and managed electricity sector.”

Government Response However, Fashola has accused the Discos of becoming a stumbling block to the smooth regulation of the power sector by NERC, saying there are instances where the Discos have by their actions impinged on NERC’s regulatory responsibilities. He had also alleged that the Discos were largely responsible for the delay in the settlement of debts owed them by the MDAs. The minister specifically noted that the Discos had, irrespective of their excuses, failed to tell Nigerians that for three years, they did not submit their audited financial reports to NERC. He alleged that when NERC wanted to activate their contractual obligations as contained in the TEM, the Discos dragged the regulatory agency to court and frustrated its efforts.

“Advert should also have told the Nigerian public how many Discos have gone to court to frustrate the attempt by NERC to hold them to their contracts so that they can pay the Gencos who

have been sacrificing, the gas producers who have not received payment and who have continued to act patriotic,” Fashola had said.

He added, “It is important to remind all of us that the privatisation exercise that transferred the distribution companies was not held as a contract with an association. It was between Nigeria and the distribution company. So, while I respect the right of an association, the constitution guarantees the freedom of association, the federal government will not pay over N100 billion to anyone under the aegis of an association. That is not how to solve it.”

Fashola insisted that the government will treat the debt on individual company basis upon government’s honest verification of the claims and not with their association, adding that his request for them to submit records of their claims has been largely rebuffed by the Discos.

“We won’t pay estimate. The figure must remain clear in naira and kobo terms. And we will do our work. I think that the advert that the Discos issued should also have conveyed information to the Nigerian public about how many of them have supplied details of their audited accounts for the last three years. And we have been asking them to provide it.”

Capacity Issue Indeed, since the power assets were handed over to the new investors on November 1, 2013, some of the Discos have demonstrated lack of capacity to run these assets. Rather than explore other funding options, some of these companies have resorted to extorting consumers through exorbitant estimated billings, concealment of their books from NERC, blackmailing government, and flouting market rules.

On several instances of breaches of the market rules, NERC has responded with appropriate sanctions against erring Discos.

But despite NERC’s sanctions, some of the Discos have continued to flout the market rules by extorting customers through exorbitant estimated bills. Ironically, while some Discos have embarked on massive rollout of free prepaid meters to their customers, others, which operate under the same market conditions, have suspended the provision of prepaid meters, citing high cost of forex difficulties.

Observers say, though the government shares part of the blame, there is indeed, a lack of sincerity on the part of most Discos, who have resorted to blackmailing the government and consumers.

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R • APRIL 23, 2017

BUSINESS/POWER

L-R: Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola; Fashola; Permanent Secretary (Power) in the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, Louis Edozien; and Vice Chairman, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, Sanusi Garba, during the 14th monthly meeting with sectoral participants in the power sector, held in Osogbo

Fashola, Stakeholders: Entering a New Cycle

As the monthly meeting between the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, and operators in Nigeria’s electricity industry enters another cycle, having completed its first year, Chineme Okafor examines the discussions at the last two meetings in Ughelli and Osogbo

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ase Transceiver Station (BTS), commonly referred to as base station, is a telecommunications mast that houses telecoms antennae, which are devices used to receive and transmit telecoms signals in the form of electromagnetic waves.

Since the inception of Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) in Nigeria in 2001, telecoms operators have always installed BTS for the transmission of telecoms signals and the BTS is powered 24/7 by generating sets.

Risks The BTS had initially been installed away from residential buildings to avoid health risks that could emanate from either the radioactive emission from the antennae or from fumes released by the generating sets. But in recent times, telecoms operators are seen installing masts close to buildings, and in most cases, masts are installed on roof tops. Aside the possible health risks, there are fears that the mast could collapse when subjected to strong wind because of its height and lead to damage of buildings and, consequently, death of persons living around the installed BTS. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has tried to allay fears about health risks from electromagnetic emission from BTS, insisting that there is no scientific research that has proved it otherwise. But even at that, subscribers are still sceptical that the endless fumes and noise from BTS generating sets pose serious health risks, since most telecoms masts are now located close to residential buildings.

Another area of concern raised by subscribers is about the communications masts used by Internet Service Providers (ISPs), radio stations and television stations, designed for the transmission of radio wave signals from one location to another.

Nigerians have been witnesses to the collapse of such masts, whether in use or out of use, causing

death of humans From the time he took office as Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola has held monthly meetings with relevant operators in Nigeria’s electricity industry to try to find solutions to the many problems of the industry. Though, he somewhat adopted this practice from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Fashola enlarged the assembly to, perhaps, provide some level of inclusiveness in the deliberations. He has done this for 14 months now.

As a sustained practice, Fashola would in his opening remarks always ask operators in the power sector to indicate if the monthly meeting he set up to try and find agreed solutions to the many challenges of the sector was still relevant. In response, operators would affirm the need to continue the meeting. It is from then that deliberations on old and new challenges of the sector would kick off, with Fashola superintending and providing the lead on government’s actions and plans for the sector as regards the issues previously raised as well as fresh ones that would be discussed.

Having held the meetings for 14 months, the last two meetings at the premises of Transcorp Power, Ughelli, Delta State, and the National Control Centre (NCC), Osogbo, in Osun State, provided an opportunity to measure the impact the deliberations have had on the operations of the country’s power sector, especially since they were the first two after one year of the meetings.

Intention When he started the meeting, Fashola was emphatic on the intentions of the meeting. He explained that the target was to review and enhance services offered by the power sector to ensure that they meet the needs of Nigerians who expect something different from the government. The minister, by implication, meant that improvement in service delivery and obligations of all stakeholders

in the sector to Nigerians was the primary focus of the meeting.

He further highlighted this at the 11th edition of the meeting at the Ayobo area of Lagos, when he noted that it was the duty of the sector operators to meet the expectations of the consumers who pay bills for services rendered. To do this, he encouraged operators to improve the user experience of the consumers, by improving on their metering plans and providing near-scientific estimated bills to unmetered consumers.

Acknowledging the multiple challenges of the sector, Fashola also noted that the meeting would take them one after the other until they were considerably resolved to allow the sector operate efficiently. One of the challenges, which he said would be addressed urgently, was the issue of financial illiquidity. The sector got into this as a result of issues that include operators’ recalcitrant attitude to revenue remittance and payment of bills to the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET), and debts to electricity distribution companies (Discos) by government offices across the country.

Similarly, technical issues which relate to efficient project implementation across the transmission and generation systems were also going to attract the attention of the monthly meeting, as the minister explained that his plan for the sector would revolve around “incremental, stable and uninterrupted” power policy. The minister explained that the meeting would continue to deliberate on and solve relevant issues of the sector to secure its appeal to investors as a functional, friendly, and profitable industry.

Verification At the 11th meeting in Lagos, Fashola agreed that debts owed the 11 Discos by government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) was inimical to their progress, and acknowledged the need for proper verification prior to payment.

The verification was subsequently reported to have

commenced at the 12th meeting in Ibadan, where a deadline of February 28 was issued to Discos to submit their MDAs debt claims to the verification team from the office of the vice president.

13th Meeting Sets Off New Cycle.

The 13th meeting was the first edition that marked the beginning of another cycle of the monthly meetings. While many of the challenges identified at the onset still dominated the discussions, they were however being tackled with considerable progress. For instance, the meeting acknowledged at its 13th edition that Nigeria’s economic progress was largely dependent on the success of the power sector, saying the government is committed to improving the sector’s fortunes with measured actions.

It disclosed that in addition to reconstituting the board of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), the Federal Executive Council (FEC) had approved a financing package of N70 billion for the NBET to assure payments for generated electricity to the generation companies (Gencos).

It also reported that several distribution and transmission projects had been completed to improve service delivery to consumers, and specifically mentioned the completion of maintenance works in Awka and Maiduguri by Enugu and Yola Discos to improve service delivery to targeted customers.

As regards compliance with regulatory terms, which the NERC had previously said was poor among operators, the 13th meeting reported an improvement in compliance, with stakeholders submitting their audited accounts as was mandated at the 12th meeting. Also on the financial challenges of the sector, the 13th meeting stated that the audit and verification of debts owed the Discos by government MDAs had advanced from the position it was at the last meeting to a new position that looked promising.

It explained that the debts verification team received claims currently estimated at N59.3 billion, out of which 86 per cent (N51 billion) were owed by the top 100 customers, composing mainly military and defence installations around the country.

Similarly, at the 13th meeting, the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) presented the level of progress it had made on some of its generation projects at Ikot Nyong, Egbema, Ihovbor, Gbarain, Olorunsogo, and Omotosho.

The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) also reported at the meeting that it had resolved the “way leave” issue in Uzalla in Edo State, while work on its transmission projects in Ondo and Rivers, among others around the country, were on-going.

14th Meeting in Osogbo The 14th meeting in Osogbo provided the federal government the opportunity to disclose its completion and approval of a power sector recovery plan, which it jointly developed with the World Bank. The government acknowledged the plan as being critical to ensuring accountability for losses, improving customer service, customer accessibility, safety, and performance in the sector.

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R • APRIL 23, 2017

BUSINESS/ECONOMY

With IMF Projection, Hope Rises for Nigeria

Indications that the Nigerian economy would exit recession soon became rife with the confirmation by the International Monetary Fund that the economic growth would be positive this year. Kunle Aderinokun reports

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he latest growth projection by the International Monetary Fund for Nigeria in its World Economic Outlook, April 2017, is a signal that the economy may be on its way out of recession.

IMF, in its estimation, has predicted that the Nigerian economy would grow by 0.8 per cent this year, citing recovery in oil production, continued growth in agriculture, and higher public investment. The projection is, however, lower than the Fund’s forecast last July in its World Economic Outlook update, where it predicted that the economy would bounce back with a gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate of 1.1 per cent in 2017.

Analysts believe the economy could record higher growth than the IMF projection this year, provided the operating environment continue to improve and the managers are more creative in turning the economy around. Already, the IMF has endorsed the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan aimed at restoring sustainable, accelerated and inclusive growth and development.

There are expectations that if the blueprint is fully implemented, the economy would not only recover, it would also be on the path of higher growth.

Nevertheless, the projection is still encouraging, especially for a country, whose economy had been plagued with myriad challenges including disruptions in the oil sector coupled with foreign exchange, power, and fuel shortages, plunging it into recession after two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth rate. Smarting from a contraction of -2.06 per cent (year-on year) in the second quarter of 2016, the economy had only managed to close the year with a negative growth rate of 1.5 per cent.

In releasing its WEO at the 2017 Spring Meetings of the IMF-World Bank meetings, the Bretton Woods institution explained that, in sub-Saharan Africa, a modest recovery is foreseen in 2017. “Growth is projected to rise to 2.6 percent in 2017 and 3.5 percent in 2018, largely driven by specific factors in the largest economies, which faced challenging macroeconomic conditions in 2016.”

The IMF, however, cautioned that, the outlook for the region remained subdued.

According to the Fund, “output growth is expected only moderately to exceed population growth over the forecast horizon, having fallen short in 2016.”

“Many commodity exporters still need to adjust fully to structurally lower commodity revenues because commodity prices—the recent rebound notwithstanding— remain low (restraining stronger growth in Nigeria, Angola, and oil exporters within the Economic Community of Central African States),” it explained.

“Many of the largest non-resource-intensive countries will find it increasingly hard to sustain growth through higher public capital spending, as they have done in the past, in the face of rising public debt and a slowing credit cycle,” it added.

Many economic analysts and observers believe the IMF projection is a sign of good things to come and making good the prediction and even surpassing it, depends on the ability of the managers to be more extraordinary in their efforts.

In his view, Executive Director, Corporate Finance, BGL Capital Ltd, Femi Ademola, expressed no doubt that the Nigerian economy would see an increase in 2017.

R-L: Ag. President Osinbajo with Mr Gene Leon and another member of the IMF Team on 2017 Article IV Consultation during a courtesy visit to the State House, Abuja... recently

According to him, “With improved oil production and oil price averaging about $50/barrel, the country is in a good position to experience continuous accretion to foreign reserves and to meet the expected revenue projections for its budget. The moderation in exchange rate volatility and lower inflation in addition to release of capital votes could boost economic activities for the year.

“What is therefore apparent is that the economy will come out of recession this year and will record an overall positive growth at the end of the year,” he added.

Notwithstanding, Ademola noted that, the rate of growth was debatable and a lot will depend on the report of the Q1 2017 GDP when released on May 30, 2017.“The improvement in GDP growth as expected in the last two quarters is expected to continue with a near 0 growth for the Q1, 2017. This is expected to become positive

by Q2 and end the year with an average of circa 1% driven by the improved economic environment through improved supply of foreign exchange, moderating inflation, increased focus on agriculture and food security and the investment in infrastructure development.”

“While the IMF is projecting 0.8 per cent, several analysts are expecting a growth rate ranging between 0.7per cent and 0.9 per cent. Whatever the growth projection may be, what is clear is that the Nigerian economy will experience a positive growth in 2017,” he concluded.

Expressing the same optimism with Ademola, Chief Executive Officer, Global Analytics Consulting Ltd, Tope Fasua, said “I have maintained that Nigeria could grow a lot faster than as projected.”

“We should be talking 15 per cent – 20 per cent growth rate per annum if we were doing the right things. Slow growth is a

preserve of economies that have plateaued.

Developing economies like ours should be playing catch up and thus growing in leaps and bounds,” he posited. Lamenting that, “Nigeria is suffering from low productivity.

Its youths are unemployed,”Fasua believed, “If GDP measures the value of work done, or goods and services produced in a country each year, then getting our largest demographic to produce should lead to a much higher growth than 0.8 per cent.”

He, however, noted that,“What the IMF has done is to tell us that they don’t think we are going to think outside the box this year and so our growth will continue to be dismal. It is left to Nigerians to think properly about how to get this productivity going and so our GDP growth could be much better.”

While pointing out that,most analysts projected a return to growth for the Nigerian economy in 2017, Director, Union Capital Markets Ltd, Egie Akpata, said ,“It is unclear how the IMF comes to its 0.8 per cent growth projection which on the surface seems conservative.”

“However, there is little debate that the level of economic growth in 2017 will be a lot less than in previous years.

Given the current trends in the oil market and the level of spending activity from the Federal Government, there does not seem to be any obvious catalyst to help drive growth beyond nominal levels that do not even match the population growth rate,” he added.

He, however, expressed belief that,“If oil prices remain at current or higher levels, Nigeria produces an average of over 2m barrels of oil a day and there is above average rainfall, it is conceivable that nominal GDP will grow above the IMF

projected 0.8 per cent in 2017.”

Similarly, Director-General, West Africa Institute for Financial and Economic Management, Prof. Akpan Ekpo, said“The growth projection is pessimistic and it is okay.”

Ekpo, who said he had always maintained that 80 per cent of the fiscal component of the 2017 budget must be implemented for the economy to exit the recession in the 3rd quarter of this year, argued that, “The 0.8% growth projection while marginal does not signal the end of the enormous economic challenges facing the economy.“ “There are signs that increased spending is beginning to have some impact. However, the slight increase in oil prices should not slow down efforts at diversifying the economy,” he added.

However, Chief Executive Officer, The CFG Advisory Ltd, Adetilewa Adebajo, pointed out that, “The greatest threat to growth and the ERGP is the current level of the fiscal deficit and the corresponding 66% of revenue going towards debt service.”

This, he noted, was “highlighted in the recent IMF Article IV report and the ratio is clearly unsustainable if we expect to meet the reported growth target.”

Besides, Adebajo also stated that,“Another critical challenge to growth, is how the Central Bank implements a market driven FX system to boost market confidence and address the over N2 trillion record level of NPLs of which according to the NDIC over 45 per cent are insider related” According to him, “The integrity of the banking system is also under pressure as a result of dollar illiquidity and banks cannot provide the necessary credit to stimulate growth and expansion.

Ultimately, the policies and implementation framework set out by government will be the key growth drivers.”

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R • APRIL 23, 2017

BUSINESS/ECONOMY

Govt’s Policy on Tomato: An Appraisal

Through its recent policy, the federal government has banned the importation of tomato paste, powder, or concentrate for retail sales, as well as of preserved tomatoes. It also increased tariff for tomato concentrate, presumably for commercial use from five to 50 per cent in order to revive the tomato sector in addition to $1,500 per metric tonne.

Ndubuisi Francis appraises the new policy

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In the face of the nation’s economic malaise exacerbated by a foreign exchange (FX) crisis, many believe that import substitution is a potent weapon to conserve the badly needed forex. More reliance on locally made goods and services is believed to be an effective way to stimulate economic growth, create jobs and depend less on imported items, a chunk of which are sub-standard.

Nigeria is said to import an average of 150,000 metric tons of tomato concentrate per annum at a staggering value put at $170 million.

It is perhaps in a bid to check the huge capital flight and the pursuit of the Nigeria Industrial Revolution Plan (NIRP), which prioritises agroallied businesses, an area that the country has comparative advantage that the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment (MITI) recently developed a new policy on tomato.

The policy tallies with government’s goal of boosting production, improving the value chain and attracting investment With the policy, the government set out to stop the importation of tomato paste, powder or concentrate put up for retail sale.

According to the ministry, the tomato sector policy was developed and is being implemented in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Federal Ministry of Finance, Federal Ministry of Water Resources, Central Bank of Nigeria, (CBN) Bank of Industry (BoI) and the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC).

The policy is imbued with certain specific objectives, including to increase local production of fresh tomato fruit required for fresh consumption and processing; increase local production of tomato concentrate and reduce post-harvest losses.

The unveiling of the tomato policy followed the approval by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) to enable the implementation of certain extraordinary price-based measures aimed at safeguarding Nigeria’s balance of payments in an environment of recession.

The price-based measures include: Classification of Greenhouse Equipment as agricultural equipment in order to attract 0 per cent import duty, and the stoppage of the importation of tomato paste, powder or concentrate put up for retail sale.

Others are the stoppage of the importation of tomatoes preserved otherwise by vinegar or acetic acid, and increase in the tariff on tomato concentrate to 50 per cent with an additional levy of $1,500 per metric tons.

It also includes the restriction on the importation of tomato concentrate to the seaports to address the abuse of the ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme (ETLS).

There is also the inclusion of tomato production and processing on the list of industries eligible for investment incentives administered by the Nigeria Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC).

These measures will become effective 30 days after April 7, 2017, when the ECOWAS Secretariat was notified.

Commenting on the tomato policy, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah said:“this new policy is at the core of the Nigeria Industrial Revolution Plan (NIRP), which prioritises agro-allied businesses, an area that we have comparative advantage.

“These measures ultimately, accelerates the growth of the manufacturing industry and deepens diversification.”

Nigeria is said to import an average of 150,000

Fresh tomatoes at a local market

metric tons of tomato concentrate per annum at a value put at $170 million, mostly due to inadequacy in capacity to produce tomato concentrate. Current demand for fresh tomato fruits is estimated at about 2.45 million metric tons per annum (MTPA) while the country produces only about 1.8 million MTPA. Despite the supply gap, about 40 per cent of fresh tomato produce is lost due to wastage arising from poor post-harvest handling and inadequate storage.

The Ministry of Industry,Trade and Investment has however expressed its commitment to sustainable investment in the entire value chain of tomato sub-sector.

It believes agriculture and agro-allied processing are priority areas for achieving the ministry’s plan for growth and diversification.

By its projection, the new policy is expected to create at least 60,000 additional jobs in fresh fruit production and processing.

However, for Nigerians from different walks of life, reactions to the tomato policy have been mixed.

Their reactions stem mostly from the fact that the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Nigeria’s domestic demand for tomato is 2.3 million tonnes annually while only 1.8 million tonnes is produced.

The 500,000 tons shortfall is made up of imported tomato paste, powder and concentrate.

Therefore, some Nigerians appear cynical about the success of the tomato policy.

Such scepticism also finds expression in the failure of such past government policies.

A trader who sells consumer goods at the Wuse Market in Abuja, Mrs. Gladys Amadi told THISDAY that the recent ban on the importation of rice and frozen chicken with the aim of reviving local rice snd poultry only ended up shooting

the prices of the products to the rooftops.

She wondered whether a similar scenario will not be reenacted with the tomato policy.

A recent research conducted by the Department of Agricultural Economics Department, University of Ibadan indicated that tomato constitutes 18 per cent of all vegetables consumed by Nigeria’s estimated 180 million people.

That being the case, some Nigerians also question whether the new policy, though commendable, will meet local demand.

Some others believe it would create scarcity of

Current demand for fresh tomato fruits is estimated at about 2.45 million metric tons per annum (MTPA) while the country produces only about 1.8 million MTPA. Despite the supply gap, about 40 per cent of fresh tomato produce is lost due to wastage arising from poor post-harvest handling and inadequate storage

tomatoes in the market and lead to price hike.

However, the National Union of Food, Beverage and Tobacco Employees (NUBTE) argued that local tomato companies should be given the latitude to plan for backward integration.

NUBTE argued that the quantity of fresh tomato being cultivated currently in the country is not enough for local consumption, noting however that the quality is not good enough to be processed into paste.

According to the union’s Presudent, Lateef Oyelekan,“it would take years for the planting, harvesting and processing of the produce into concentrate.”

But the President/Chief Executive Officer of Erisco Foods Limited, Mr. Eric Umeofia, whose company manufactures Ric-Giko tomato paste, disagrees, arguing that Nigeria has the capacity to grow and produce enough tomato paste for local consumption as well as for export.

He applauded the federal government’s policy, saying it would boost the manufacturing, farming and the entire tomato value chain.

Umeofia added that it would in turn catapult Nigeria from a tomato importer to a major exporter.

The increase in tariff on importation of tomato concentrate from five to 50 per cent and a levy of $1,500 per metric tonnes from May 7, he added, would encourage the sector to become an exporter in the next 18 months.

“It is not that this ban would give us more money personally, but on a wider scale, it is 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,” Umeofia said.

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R • APRIL 23, 2017

INTERVIEW

Seton: We Need to Empower Our Youths and Create More Entrepreneurs

In 2013, NF Branding took off in Nigeria and West Africa with offices in Ghana and Abidjan.

Between 2013 and 2017, the company had grown rapidly, providing modern branding services, which has changed the terrain extensively. The brain behind company is its Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Olufela Seton, a thoroughbred events and branding professional with experience, cutting across top agencies in Nigeria. He led other investors to float NF Branding Nigeria. Seton speaks with Raheem Akingbolu on a number of issues including branding industry and state of Nigerian economy. Excerpts:

W

hat is your motivation for bringing NF Branding to Nigeria?

for the marathon and we look forward to working with them in other areas.

Do you produce flags?

The urge to introduce modern branding concept to the region is the underlying factor behind the expansion of NF Branding to Nigeria and West Africa.

It was also a strategic approach to extending its success story the region. Hitherto China has been the destination where Nigerians procure their materials which they ship to Nigeria. But with our presence, it’s a new development altogether. They have realised that we can do the job for them at the same price, or even lower because of discount.

What we want to do is to create jobs for Nigerians. If NF Branding South Africa can provide jobs for 7,000 employees, we are very optimistic that we can replicate that in Nigeria too. We want to dissuade people from going to China to produce their materials because there is no consistency in the design coming from that region. This is because the Chinese companies do not have faces here in Nigeria. As for us, there is consistency with our company and we deliver at the due time.

In US, UK and even South Africa, there are companies licensed to produce national flags. As a nation and because of our cultural heritage, we should not allow just anybody to produce the national flag. In the UK, there are only three companies that have government approval to produce flags, while in the in the US and South Africa, there are just two licensed companies. I think we should follow suit here as well. This will not only protect our Flag but it will accord it necessary respect. We will handle such assignment with outmost professionalism.

Can Nigeria overcome the economic recession?

We need to plan well and adopt a trade and economic policy which helps to replace foreign imports with domestic production.

This culture of importing everything is not doing us any good because it takes away jobs from young African graduates and technicians. We are too import-dependent instead of us to focus on how we can also export our own products to other parts of the world. That is the only way our currency can increase in value and wouldn’t be so susceptible to fluctuations in the global marketplace. We also need to empower our youths, create more entrepreneurs and generally encourage our people to patronise made in Nigeria products. All these, would in turn boost the economy.

What is NF Branding’s mission?

NF Branding came in to fill the vacuum in the Nigerian creative industry and to take advantage of the vast opportunities in the industry. Our plan is to change the outlook of the branding industry in Nigeria and create African jobs for African people.

This is something African countries have been grappling with since they started getting independence. However, I believe that Africans have the answers. I have the burning desire to bail out as many graduates as possible from the abyss of joblessness and empower them to compete in an environment dominated by expatriates. We have been able to record some strides in this regards because in Lagos, we have over 40 staff members. And we’re still looking to create thousands of direct and indirect jobs once our factory is completed. The factory will provide employment for about 1,500 people in Nigeria at the initial stage and this is expected to rise to about 3,000 after our first year of operation. In addition to that, we would inject about $12 million into the industry with the factory that will manufacture tarpaulin products, cargo nets and sim pack casings, which are presently being imported. This would catalyse real growth and sustainable development which we have been craving to achieve for a long time.

How long has NF Branding been in the branding industry?

The National Flag and Branding Limited, which is our parent company, have been operating in South Africa since 1982. We currently have regional offices in Nigeria and Ghana. The Nigerian office serves as the head office for our West African operation

How will NF branding cope with other companies considering the fact that the branding industry is very competitive?

Excellent services are our unique selling point. We would only deliver modern and excellent branding jobs, which would stand test of time. We aim to change the business

How would you describe Nigeria’s business environment?

Seton

landscape by introducing professionalism and bring top grade branding products that have not been seen before. This will invariably expand the market and make the business terrain more competitive by creating broader opportunities for individuals, public institutions and corporate entities.

We also have the largest product range in the African branding industry.

What are the core services that NF Branding provides?

We produce outdoor and indoor materials.

For outdoor, we produce banner walls, banner poles, display banners, umbrellas, face wraps, pennant and gazebos. Our indoor services include canvas fabrics print, custom wall wrappers, eclipse banner, light boxes and pop-ups. We also produce flag poles, car flags, and signage, among others.

What will the Nigeria and West Africa branding industry gain from NF Branding?

We want to bring modern branding concepts we see in other more developed climes to the country. We are investing heavily

in new technologies to enhance our printing capabilities and product range such as HD printing which is what is in vogue now. Our materials can also be recycled. We can give you hardware and tell you to go to bed for one year because our products are genuine and are of high quality. Very soon, we will be bringing in some experts to train people on standard printing because what we have in Nigeria is old and inferior technology, which is about eight years behind the new style of printing.

Can you list some of the big jobs that NF Branding has handled?

We were responsible for the branding of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, African National Congress (ANC) Centenary Celebration, DRC Conference in Congo, 2009 Confederation Cup, 2013 African Cup of Nations. In Nigeria, our clients include Huawei, Coscharis, Ecobank, JSK, Unilever, Pepsi, Nigerian Breweries, German Embassy and others. We were also part of the last edition of the Lagos City Marathon. We are especially glad that the Lagos State government liked our output

This is a very dynamic market. It is growing in terms of business volume that comes here. We are the biggest economy in Africa and this by implication, translates to good business. What we lack is a properly structured economy but we have the population and the market. I predict that in the next 10 years, the Nigerian economy would be number one in Africa. Nigeria has the purchasing power which is why there is no world-class brand that does not want to do business in Nigeria. Shoprite came in to the country recently and today they are all over the country. Also telecommunication company MTN, operates in over 20 African countries but 50 per cent of the group profit comes from Nigeria. The Nigerian market is ever buoyant.

You recently opened NF Branding office in New York…

Thank you, The New York branch is very strategic and we are glad that it has taken off .Very soon, we will be moving to more locations across the world, delivering the best of branding services.

What are your future plans?

We are set to revolutionise branding not only in Nigeria but in West Africa and Africa as a whole. Very soon NF Branding, with its state-of-art machineries and modern branding style will become number one and ultimately the reference point in branding and printing technology on the continent.

We are wholly committed to delivering excellent services and we will continue to expand around the world.

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R • APRIL 23, 2017

BUSINESS/MEDIA Rewarding Savings Culture in Time of Recession Raheem Akingbolu looks at how the ongoing ‘Reach for the Skye Millionaire Reward’ promo sponsored by Skye Bank is helping to cushion the effect of recession

T

he Nigerian economy went into recession in 2016, and the economy has ever since been defined by devaluation, inflation, and other negative tendencies that hurt the standard of living. Experts say the current economic condition confirms the fact that Nigeria’s growth and exchange rate stability in the last decade and half, from 2000 to 2014, had been dependent on favourable global commodity cycles.

Reward But despite the gloomy economic outlook in the country, some corporate organisations have remained resolute in their commitment to making life enjoyable and bearable for customers.

One of such organisations is Skye Bank Plc., which recently re-launched its Reach for the Skye Millionaire Reward Promo, with over 36 customers emerging millionaires in Season I of the promo.

The Season II of the promo is in full gear and is said to be rewarding customers with millions of naira and plenty of consolation prizes as promised. According to Skye Bank, the reward promo was instituted not just to encourage customers to save, but also to reward them for doing so.

Giving a background of the reward exercise, the bank explained that it was instituted to encourage savings culture among its customers. “The Reach for The Skye reward promo is an initiative meant to reward mass market customers for saving their money with the bank; as well as support the Central Bank of Nigeria’s financial inclusion policy,” the bank stated.

Testimony Millionaires, who are already emerging in Season II of the exercise, have been sharing their testimonies regarding the change in their status through the reward promo. Olusola Olusegun Ezekiel was one of the lucky winners of N1 million, who emerged the first Millionaire at the draw where the Ayangburen of Ikorodu, Oba Kabiru Shotobi, endorsed the initiative as life changing. Ezekiel said he was excited when informed that he had won. He said the award could not have come at a better time.

Oba Shotobi, who was the guest of honour at the draw, used the occasion to share his personal story, while lauding Skye Bank for its commitment

to financial inclusion, building entrepreneurs’ and empowering SMEs. The royal father recollected how the bank had encouraged him to save and later advanced him overdraft facility from which he recorded a big success and profit. “And I have since remained a customer of the bank till date,” he said. The traditional ruler vouched for the integrity and responsiveness of staff and management of the bank and urged his subjects and Nigerians, generally, to continue to patronise Skye Bank, which he described as a “truly Nigerian brand.”

Similarly, Mrs. Ohaeme Elizabeth of Mgbidi branch in Imo State, who emerged as the new Millionaire at the second draw of the savings reward promo, was elated at the cheque presentation ceremony in Owerri, exactly 24 hours after she was picked as the second millionaire. She said, “I am so grateful to he Almighty God that made this possible. I have been banking with Skye for over 20 years and today Skye Bank remembered me and turned my life around with N1, 000,000. I will continue to be loyal to Skye Bank and make sure that I spread the news everywhere.”

Speaking on the ongoing Reach for the Skye Millionaire reward promo, the chairman of Imo State Council of Ndi-Eze congratulated the winner and thanked the bank for what he called a wonderful and life-changing gesture. His Royal Majesty, Eze Samuel Agunwa Ohiri KSC, Obi of Obi-Orodo (Eze Imo) praised Skye Bank for its support for businesses and individuals, which has contributed to the growth and development of Imo State. The second millionaire emerged in Owerri during the second draw of the bank’s saving reward promo.

Eze Ohiri, who gave the commendation during the cheque presentation ceremony in his palace, lauded Skye Bank for its professional banking services to the people and businesses in the state, which he said had made a transformational impact..

According to the traditional ruler, “I am a witness to the support Skye Bank has been giving to Imo people through their services and reward to their customers.” He described the bank’s support as professional and transformational in its impact and urged the people of Imo State to continue to bank with Skye Bank.

Group Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer, Skye Bank , Tokunbo Abiru

The draw attracted a huge crowd of passers-by and customers of the bank at the popular Benson Bus-Stop, hehind BRT Motor Park in Ikorodu, Lagos State.

The winner, who emerged through an open and transparent electronic ballot, was, incidentally, a customer of Skye Bank’s Ikorodu main branch.

At the launch of the season II promo in January, the bank’s Group Head of Retail Banking, Mr. Ndubuisi Osakwe, gave details of the reward promo and noted that the reward was in recognition of the support of customers and sought to create several millionaires.

He stated, “The bank will also seek to continue to nurture winners and migrate them to other areas of banking products that will help them build their wealth, ensuring that the under-banked and unbanked find the propositions of banking services more attractive and

The Reach for The Skye reward promo is an initiative meant to reward mass market customers for saving their money with the bank; as well as support the Central Bank of Nigeria’s financial inclusion policy

convenient.”

Osakwe further stressed, “The reward scheme will provide an opportunity for prospective customers of the bank to take the bold step of patronising the bank’s numerous cost-saving products and solutions,” emphasising, “you can only save your way out of poverty”.

On how people can qualify to participate in the reward draw, Osakwe explained that customers who made deposits or reactivated their accounts with N10, 000 (and its multiples), and maintained same for a period of 30 days, stood the chance of becoming millionaires every month. He added that consolation cash prizes included N100, 000 for 10 winners; N50, 000 for 10 winners; and N20,000 for 20 winners.

Each month, more than 41 customers will be rewarded by the bank, with the first 200 customers to reactivate their dormant accounts given airtime worth of N500 each within 48 hours.

Osakwe encouraged all Nigerians to spread the good news.

The Skye Bank’s ‘Reach for the Skye Millionaire’ reward scheme is an ongoing initiative which will see the bank give away the sum of N60 million in one year to customers who operate the Skye Save Plus and Skye Ease savings account types with a minimum credit balances of N10,000 on an incremental basis. The higher the account balances, the more the chance of winning.

The reward promo was unveiled at a time when individuals, groups and organisations are devising various survival strategies to rise above the challenges posed by the bad economic conditions. The Skye Bank initiative, certainly, gives hope to the people in this time of recession. Many believe such intervention at a time when all economic indices indicate that the aggregate economy is in recession, if emulated by other big players in the economy, would go a long way in ameliorating the effect of the harsh economic conditions on the citizens.

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R • APRIL 23, 2017

BUSINESS/AVIATION

Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport

After a Lull, Businesses Pick Up at Abuja Airport

Chinedu Eze

O

n Tuesday, April 18, a day before the scheduled reopening of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, two aircraft landed at the airport. That was six weeks after the airport was closed for the rehabilitation of its runway, which had become a safety risk due to years of deterioration.

The Minister of State, Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, was in the first aircraft that landed, while the second was Ethiopian Airlines latest aircraft, Airbus A350, debuting on that route.

With the landing of these flights it was obvious that the federal government had fulfilled its promise to reopen the airport exactly after six weeks after its closure. To further convince Nigerians, Sirika had staked his job, saying he would resign if government did not meet the target date. This excited many Nigerians.

Lull During the past six weeks, economic activities at the Federal Capital Territory had ebbed. In fact, some economists had projected that if the closure of the Abuja airport lasted another two weeks the economy in Abuja would literally crawl on its knees. Possibly, government saw the signs and decided not to delay the reopening of the airport and kept to the April 19 promise.

Considering the proclivity of government to defy and trivialise targeted dates in project completion, appointments and others, this is considered a rarity.

However, THISDAY learnt that the massive turnaround envisaged on the runway was reduced to what could be completed in six weeks. A pilot who flew to the airport in a helicopter when the repair work was going on told THISDAY that the upper part of the runway was scrapped and patched, “except the areas that had serious depression, like the places most of the aircraft hit the ground on landing that they did concrete work. But what they did would last for some time.”

Commendation Many Nigerians were impressed by the fact that the federal government kept its words by

reopening the airport on schedule. There were also chest beating by top government officials over the timely completion of repairs at the airport runway.

The Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, noted that the timely completion of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport runway repair, after a six-week closure, had shown the ability of the Buhari administration to rise to any occasion, irrespective of how daunting the challenge might be. In a statement issued in Addis Ababa, on Wednesday, the minister described the ability of the government to complete the reconstruction of the runway within the stipulated time, despite doomsday predictions, as a remarkable achievement. He said the precision with which everything concerning the closure of the arport and the temporary relocation to the Kaduna airport was handled by the relevant ministries and the security agencies was the clearest indication yet that Nigeria could tackle any challenge.

Mohammed noted that the rehabilitation of the Abuja-Kaduna road by the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, the provision of non-invasive but effective security along the highway by the security agencies and the perfect handling, by the Ministry of Transportation, of the massive logistics involved in ensuring that the Kaduna airport was able to handle such a large number of flights, all showed that Nigerians had what it takes to make the country a proud member of the international community.

Commenting on the reopening, Sirika said, “We thank Allah for His benevolence. We are happy and thank Mr. President, His Excellency, for his support, guidance and leadership. And I also want to thank my colleagues who did it all, the media and the Nigeria people for bearing with us during the time of the closure.”

Perfect Shape The aviation minister said on Tuesday, “The runway has been completed and it is in perfect shape. I just landed now on the same runway.

Final exercise, the friction test was carried out this morning and they found out that it meets international standard, the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO)’s standard and Recommended Practices (SARPs). So the runway is good, perfect.”

Sirika

In reaction to the scheduled reopening of the Abuja airport after six weeks of closure, the industry think-tank, Aviation Round Table (ART), commended the federal government for keeping its words.

ART stated, “We in ART salute the Minister of Aviation and his agencies for living true to its promise to deliver Abuja runway on schedule as we count down to 19 April. Measurable deliverable remains our challenge in the sector and we are quite pleased the minister even put his job on the line on the project during ART breakfast meeting with himself and the information minister.

“We appreciate the Presidency for giving the essential and necessary support to make this happen on schedule. It is our prayer that such purposeful actions are sustained in the sector as we demand that aviation delivers one per cent of Nigeria’s GDP by 2020 as against the present meagre 0.4 per cent. We demand for measurable growth on the airline side and the airports.”

Loss While the federal government spent huge resources to prepare the Kaduna airport as alternative during the six weeks closure, the

airlines suffered huge financial losses and were weighed down by logistic limitations, especially at the beginning of the movement to Kaduna from Abuja. There was massive drop in passenger traffic and the airlines spent more money on fuel because Lagos to Abuja, the most lucrative and busiest route, takes less time than Lagos to Kaduna.

In the first three weeks of operations in Kaduna, Nigerian airlines said they lost about N10 billion.

The loss, according to the airlines, was because of low passenger traffic, more fuel consumption and increased remuneration cost due to extra flight time for the crew. Some of the operators, passengers and airport officials who spoke to THISDAY said passenger traffic had significantly reduced because many people, who did not want to go through Kaduna, suspended their trips to Abuja pending the reopening of the airport.

Passengers, who had been travelling through the alternative airport, complained that it was cumbersome, especially with the long bus ride from the Kaduna airport to Abuja, which took at least three hours.

An operator of a major airline told THISDAY that due to the envisaged losses, his airline had decided to cut down its operations and use part of the six weeks period the Abuja airport was closed to send the airline’s crew for simulator training.

The operator, who chose to remain anonymous, said, “Airlines are incurring huge losses now.

The N10 billion projected loss in the first three weeks is more like it because the suspension of flights to Abuja cut down the traffic by 40 per cent and even the remaining 60 per cent is underperforming. Those airlines that were generating about N100 million daily cannot even generate N50 million now and you still have to pay for insurance, consume the same amount of fuel, if not more, carry out the maintenance of the aircraft and pay the crew.

“It is wrong to put pressure on airlines to operate from Kaduna because it is purely a commercial decision by the airlines. As a newspaper company, if your newspaper does not sell in Maiduguri, will you carry two truckloads of your newspapers to that city and what do you expect when you take your goods there? Airlines should have been allowed to take their decision. Some airlines like Ethiopia Airlines decided to play politics. That is a government airline; not every airline has the kind of privilege that they have.”

Second Runway A former top government official told THISDAY that the huge amount spent in relocating operations from Abuja to Kaduna, the inconveniences and heavy financial losses incurred by airlines would have been averted if government had built a second runway at the Abuja airport. He said the issue of a second runway was long overdue.

According to the former official, who did not want to be named, “From the road reconstruction to the deployment of security operatives, the Kaduna airport project must have cost over N3.2 billion.

They spent billions because all the vehicles from Abuja to Kaduna and vice-versa were escorted by security operatives in their pick-up vans. So you can estimate how much that cost the federal government. When I travelled from Abuja to Kaduna to board a flight to Lagos, we were escorted by two policemen in Hilux van until we arrived. All the vehicles that left were escorted.

They would put road safety at the back; they would put escort in front. The money spent on these activities is crazy.”

He noted that the resurfacing of the runway in Abuja cost about N9.6 billion, saying, “They just scrapped the runway and put a new one.

If they were to do a new runway they would have spent three times more than that. They just scrapped the surface of the runway and rebuilt it. Before, they said they were going to remove everything, including the concrete base but nobody did that.”

The source said the rehabilitation of the runway would have been postponed but because the economy of Abuja was grinding to a halt, “they abandoned the plan to excavate the whole runway to rebuild and did what was possible that could be completed in six weeks, which was the mere scrapping of the runway to patch it. If they spent about N800 million on bus ride from Kaduna airport to Abuja airport, it means they must have spent about N1 billion on security, because they escorted every vehicle that left. They paid them allowances. The cost of logistics and others was huge.”

But the airlines are happy that Abuja airport has reopened. Air travellers have also breathed a sigh of relief, knowing they can now make their straight trips to Abuja.

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R • APRIL 23, 2017

BUSINESS/TRANSPORT

Tin Can Island Port, Lagos

Nigeria Customs and Electronic Auction Option

After decades of manual auction of goods at ports and border stations amid malpractices, the Nigeria Customs Service is experimenting an e-auction method as part of a reform process. Francis Ugwoke writes

C

omptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Rtd. Col. Hameed Ali, is pursuing an all-embracing reform in the service.

It is not just about correcting the ills at the ports involving officers, it is also about ensuring that there is transparency in whatever the service does. Part of this is the recent decision by the Customs to change the old method through which overtime or seized goods are sold to the public. The service said recently that it had decided to introduce an electronic platform to conduct its auctions. The idea, according to the public relations officer of the service, Deputy Comptroller Joseph Attah, is to ensure that there is transparency in the exercise. The electronic platform, Attah said, is already undergoing user acceptability test. He explained,“What that means is that in the very near future, in a matter of weeks, the NCS will officially deploy its trade portal.

So the auction exercises will be electronically driven. So when we say e-auction platform, (we mean) a platform in our trade portal that gives opportunity to all interested people to see what they want with a full description of its present state.”

Transparency Problem In the past decades, auction of goods by the Customs was in about two forms. Once the goods in questions have been certified as overtime cargoes or seized, such goods are gazetted. Goods which are auctioned are those ones seized from their owners for contravening trade laws. These goods could be those seized from smugglers or seized

at the ports, may be through concealment and their owners could not come forward to claim them. Such goods could also be those whose owners could not clear within the time allowed for this, either as a result of lack of funds or other reasons. An importer stands the risk of losing his goods once he fails to clear them after three months or 90 days on landing at the ports. Such goods are put together and declared as overtime cargo. The goods are also in turn gazetted before they can be sold.

What the Customs has always done is to first allow the owner of such goods the first right of choice to buy such goods before any other person. In some cases, the Customs can use registered auctioneers to sell the goods. The Customs can also allocate the auction papers directly or even through the auctioneers. It is this way that the process suffers transparency problems. In most cases, it is usually an opportunity for the auctioneers to give the goods to who they want in the name of being the highest bidder. The exercise was indeed fraudulent. Some highly placed officials dictate who benefits from the process.

Most times, they use fronts to benefit from the exercise. The same goods are sold to other people at a price five or 10 times more than what the first person bought it. This is why many people see the auction process as full of malpractices.

Change In a bid to correct the wrongs of the past, the electronic bidding process was introduced.

This, according to the Customs PRO, was part of the reform measures initiated by the Customs boss. Attah said the new strategy allowed everyone to bid, with the highest

bidder emerging at the end of the exercise.

He said the Comptroller-General suspended the auctioning exercise in order to strengthen the process. He assured that under the new exercise, the process will give everyone interested in the exercise equal opportunity. The CG had noted that the manual process was open to abuse in the past.

Under the new method, interested bidders are expected to produce authentic Tax Identification Number (TIN) from the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS). They are also to pay a non-refundable administrative fee of N1, 000. The money will be paid into the e-wallet. The application will be accessible online through the trade portal, www.trade. gov.ng.

The service cautioned that there will not be any replacement for items auctioned. Attah said in a statement, “Before this is officially deployed we considered it necessary to adequately sensitise members of the public about those things they should get ready before its deployment. What they need to get ready most importantly now is the Tax Identification Number (TIN). In other words, if you want to be part of this e-auction exercise, you have to approach the FIRS and get your TIN. It is open to all.”

Stakeholders The e-auction is seen by maritime industry stakeholders as a good development. According to stakeholders who spoke with THISDAY, anything that will reassure Nigerians of the genuineness of an exercise and transparency is the best for the society. A maritime lawyer, Mr Kasa Opara, noted that the past exercise was fraught with malpractices, saying the new policy appears to be credible. But Opara said

this will also depend on whether the customs men handling the exercise will not manipulate the electronic system to the benefit of their fronts. He called on the customs boss to use officials with integrity to carry out the exercise, arguing that there is nothing electronic that cannot be violated by those in charge.

Applauding the customs boss for the reform measure, Opara said that it will eliminate the incidence of fraud in the auction exercise. The former chairman, Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN), Iju Tony Nwabunike, said the new policy was a good development. He described the new policy as the way forward, saying it will eliminate the incidence of touts taking over the auction exercise, which was the case over the decades.

Nwabunike said, “This is promising to be more transparent. It is fair, as everyone will bid electronically. The manual system was not the best because there used to be a leak of information on what the other person offered.“ He called on the customs management to consider owners of such goods that are to be auctioned first, stressing that this is important particularly if the owner lost those goods in circumstances beyond his control.

Nwabunike said, “The owner of the goods who for circumstances beyond his control lost the goods to overtime should be first considered to benefit from the exercise. There are circumstances under which an importer fails to pay and take his goods at the ports before such goods enter overtime. This should be considered so that such importer is given the first right of choice to buy such goods during an auction exercise. It is very important and should be retained in the reform measure by the customs boss.”

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R • APRIL 23, 2017

NIGERIA’S TOP 50 STOCKS BASED ON MARKET FUNDAMENTALS

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

F

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

The Bank which listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange in 2004 and issued her first public offering (IPO) in 2005 now has a record of 2 million customer base, over 270 branches in Nigeria and a licensed banking subsidiary in the United Kingdom (FCMB UK).

First City Monument Bank Limited has continued its strive towards enhanced customer experience through innovation acceleration, enhancement of performance and security boosting.

TRADING INCOME DRIVES GROWTH IN TOP-LINE EARNINGS Gross earnings for the 12 month period ended, 31st December 2016 grew by 15.63% to N176.35 billion from N152.51 billion reported in the same period 2015.

Gross earnings growth was impacted by a 77.16% upsurge in non-interest income on the back of an extra-ordinary 504.82% increase in net trading income largely driven foreign exchange income to N5.69 billion from N940m during the period under review. Interest income on the other hand, rose by a modest 1.23% to N125.11 billion from N123.58 recorded at the corresponding period end of 2015. This stemmed from decline in customers deposit by 6.08% which impacts on advances.

Interest expense for the period declined by 6.83% to N55.58 billion from N59.65 billion reported in December 2015.

Hence, an 8.75% rise in net interest income to N69.53 billion from N63.94 billion over the period under review.

Fees and commission income declined by 6.92% to N17.68 billion in December 2016 from N19 billion a year ago, while fees and commission expense increased notably by 10.66% to N3.51 billion from N3.16 billion over the same period.

Due to decline in fees and commission income and rise in its expense, net fee and commission income decreased to N14.18 billion in December 2016 from N15.83 billion in December 2015; reflecting a change of 10.44%.

OPERATING INCOME AND TAXATION POSITIVELY IMPACTS PROFITABILITY Total operating expenses increased by 23.51% to N101.30 billion in December 2016 from N82.01 billion in December 2015 primarily due to a massive growth of 136.29% in net impairment loss on financial assets to N35.52 billion from N15.03 billion recorded in December

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

2015.

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

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

change in investment securities to N128.44 billion from N135.31 billion, 22.69% decline in other assets to N16.78 billion from N21.70 billion and advances to customers rose by 11.30% as at 31st December, 2016.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Valuation Metrics 7-Apr-17 Recommendation

BUY

Target Price (N)

1.67

Current Price (N)

1.00

Market Cap (N'm)

23,169

Outstanding Shares (m)

19,803

EPS (N)

0.72

PE Ratio

1.38x

Forward EPS (N)

1.03

Forward PE

1.13x Source: NSE Data, BGL Research

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

176,352 16,251 14,339 9.22

Source: Company Report 2016, BGL Research

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

152,507 7,768 4,760 5.09

Source: Annual Report 2015, BGL Research

Shareholding Information Capital IRG Trustees Ltd.

8.27

Stanbic Nominees Ltd.

21.05

AMCON

6.73

Public Float

63.95

Others

29.51%

Outstanding Shares (m)

1,624

Source: Annual Report 2015, BGL Research

income from fees and commission.

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

Based on the company’s performance, we cautiously make full year, December 2017 projection of N209.37 billion for gross earnings and N20.46 billion for net income. Using the Price to Earnings (PE) multiple of 1.38x, our valuation leads to a forward EPS of N1.03, and a 6-month average target price of N1.67. Since this represents an upside potential of 42.66% on the current stock price of N1.17, we therefore recommend a BUY.

27

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R • APRIL 23, 2017

NIGERIA’S TOP 50 STOCKS BASED ON MARKET FUNDAMENTALS

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

U

nilever Nigeria Plc (The Company) was established in 1923 as a soap manufacturing company – West Africa Soap Company – by Lord Leverhulme. It later became known as Lever Brothers Nigeria. Today, it is the longest serving manufacturing organization in Nigeria.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

REDUCTION IN ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES POSITIVELY IMPACT PROFITABILITY The Company’s management increased activities towards curtailing expenditures which yielded positive result as it was able to reduce administrative expenses notably by

15.96% to N11.46 billion in December 2016 compared to December 2015 figure of N13.64 billion. This was in spite of an increase in utilities.

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

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

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

As a result of the diminished operating expenses and higher growth in finance income, the Company recorded an enormous growth of 131.86% in profit before tax to N4.12 billion in the full year ended, December 2016 over N1.77 billion reported in the corresponding period of 2015. Income tax expense grew by a 78.77% to N1.03 billion from 2015 figure of N578.7m. Consequently, profitability preserves massive growth of 157.63% in Unilever Nigeria Plc’s profit after tax, which rose to N3.07 billion in December 2016 from N1.19 billion reported in December 2015.

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

WE UPGRADE OUR RECOMMENDATION TO A HOLD In the long-term, we look forward to sustained growth in profitability for Unilever Nigeria Plc which would depend largely on the resultant impacts of innovative advertisement, expansion and increased efficiency in operating cost reduction. While consumer spending declines as inflation increases, we expect the

Valuation Metrics 21-Apr-17 Recommendation

HOLD

Target Price (N)

33.82

Current Price (N)

33.15

Market Cap (N'm)

124,849

Outstanding Shares (m)

3,783

EPS (N)

0.81

PE Ratio

43.72x

Forward EPS (N)

0.85

Forward PE

38.72x Source: BGL Research, NSE Data

Full Year December 2016 Audited Turnover (N'm)

69,777

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

4,106 3,072 5.89

Source: Company Data 2017, BGL Research

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

59,222

Profit Before Tax (N'm)

1,771

Profit After Tax (N'm)

1,192

Pre-tax Margin (%)

2.99 Source: Company Data 2015, BGL Research

Shareholding Information Unilever Overseas Holdings B.V. Holland

50.04%

Unilever Overseas Holdings BV

10.02%

Stanbic Nominees Nigeria Ltd

10.43%

Others

29.51%

Outstanding Shares (m)

1,624

Source: Company Data 2017, BGL Research

potential of increased economic activities in the coming year to result in growth of its core business activities, revenue and profitability.

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

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

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R • APRIL 23, 2017

28

TRAVEL

Edited by Demola Ojo Email demola.ojo@thisdaylive.com

One of the thrill rides at high impact

The Thrilling World of Family Entertainment at Hi Impact Planet Stories by Demola Ojo

A

t some point during the recently concluded Big Brother Naija TV show, one of the contestants, Bisola, spent a few minutes waxing lyrical about an amusement park she visited alongside her daughter on the outskirts of Lagos. Bisola was visibly impressed by what she saw and experienced. In the few minutes of unsolicited hype, Bisola spoke glowingly about Hi Impact Planet, a theme park at Ibafor (which is actually in Ogun State) on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway.

A visit to Hi Impact explains why the runner-up at the reality show was excited. In a country where zoos, parks and other family entertainment destinations are either non-existent or below international standards, Hi Impact Planet is a breath of fresh air.

A little over a year old (Hi Impact opened to the public in December 2015), the park couldn’t have opened at a better time. With high exchange rates reducing the attraction

of overseas travel, HI Impact offers a viable alternative to family entertainment destinations in the Middle-East, Europe and the Americas, without the obvious attendant costs.

Constructed over an expanse that occupies an area of about 46 acres, facilities in the park include a clinic, banking services, food courts, and a multi-purpose hall of about 7000 capacity.

In consideration of the distance from town, and the fact that it would take more than one day to enjoy all the thrill rides that park has to offer (if that is your plan), there are apartments in different configurations (single, studio, tworoom and three-room) which accommodates up to 200.

Of course, these wouldn’t mean much if the primary objective of exhilarating fun isn’t attainable. However, Hi Impact Planet delivers for the young and the young at heart. There is a wide range of thrilling outdoor rides and exciting indoor games suitable for children, teenagers and families to enjoy.

They include bumper cars, a haunted house, a vertical swing and spring ride and a Freestyler, which is a surfing simulator that tosses every gamer on make believe waves.

There’s the Hoopla, a type of flight experience for the brave and Go-Karts capable of speeds approaching 100km/hour, thus satisfying the thirst for speed many have.

There’s also a Ferris Wheel which can be seen from the Lagos Ibadan expressway. The 40-meter high ride has comfortable mini coaches that provide thrill seekers with a view of the park and its environs. For the more adventurous, there is the Spring Ride with its sharp ascent and free fall which give riders an exciting feel of being suspended in space.

Hi Impact Planet also boasts of the Rio Grande Train, a bestselling electric train with colorful western-themed cars which can accommodate both children and adults, Convoy cars on a 120m long track with power pick up and six themed vehicles for kids, a Boeing 777 simulated ride and animatronics, which help animate lifelike lions, elephants and other animals.

Facilities include a souvenir court, food court, a 5-D cartoon animation studio and a “12 D” cinema. They partly explain why fun seekers visited the park in their thousands during the last Easter break. The other reason why Hi Impact should continue providing (relatively) affordable

entertainment is because of its experience in the entertainment sector generally, and children’s entertainment in particular.

As a subsidiary of Solutions Media, Hi Impact draws from the parent company’s expertise in organizing events like the Dance Afrique concert in demanding climes like Dubai on one hand, and hosting thousands of kids through its Hi Impact Creative Kids event at the Tafawa Balewa square in Lagos on the other.

According to Prince Adeyanju Lipede, Chairman/ CEO of Solutions Media, the experience his staff has garnered both locally and internationally when it comes to delivering entertainment stands Hi Impact Planet in good stead.

Plans for the next set of holidays are in full gear with May throwing up opportunities like Workers Day, Children’s Day and Democracy Day. But Prince Lipede is looking further towards the summer holidays and December. New rides have been commissioned and are set to be delivered in the coming days.“There is no reason travelling out of Nigeria for your family to experience world class entertainment when you can get all that here for less than the ticket price,” he asserts.

Nigeria to Host African Emirates Cuts US Frequencies Tourism Ministers Next Year

N

igeria last week won the right to host the 61st meeting of African Ministers in charge of Tourism, tagged the UN World Tourism Organisation (WTO) Commission for Africa (CAF).

Nigeria won the hosting right by acclamation following the presentation of a five-minute video, entitled ‘’Simply Nigeria’’ to delegates at the 59th edition of the UNWTO CAF Meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.

The compelling video, which highlighted Nigeria’s rich cultural heritage and tourism destinations, was greeted by a prolonged applause.

Making a case for Nigeria’s bid, which was launched

at the 58th edition of the UNWTO CAF Meeting in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, in 2015, the Mohammed said it presents an opportunity for the country of almost 200 million people ‘’to showcase our rich cultural heritage and to promote Nigeria as a leisure and business destination’’.

He described Nigeria as a‘’fascinating country’’which previously hosted the UNWTO CAF Meeting in 2003, 2008 and 2012, in addition to hosting the Second World Festival of Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture in 1977.

Mohammed continued by saying Nigeria is a country of peaceful and hospitable people, and that the 2018 UNWTO CAF Meeting will be a practical demonstration of the government’s commitment to developing the tourism sector as an alternative source of revenue.

F

rom May 1 (next Monday), Emirates will reduce frequencies on five of its 12 US routes, blaming“recent actions taken by the US government”. The Middle-Eastern carrier will reduce its Dubai-Fort Lauderdale service from daily to five flights per week, followed by a similar reduction in its Orlando route from May 23.

Then from June 1 the carrier will reduce its DubaiSeattle service from twice daily to daily, followed by similar reductions in its Boston and LA routes from June 2 and July 1 respectively.

Emirates said the decision follows actions by the US government “relating to the issuance of entry visas, heightened security vetting, and restrictions on electronic devices in aircraft cabins”, which it said have had “had a direct impact on consumer interest and demand for air travel into the US”.

In a statement provided to Business Traveller, the carrier said: “Until the start of 2017, Emirates’

operations in the US have seen healthy growth and performance, driven by customer demand for our high quality product and our international flight connections.

“However, over the past three months, we have seen a significant deterioration in the booking profiles on all our US routes, across all travel segments.

Emirates has therefore responded as any profit-oriented enterprise would, and we will redeploy capacity to serve demand on other routes on our global network.

“We will closely monitor the situation with the view to reinstate and grow our US flight operations as soon as viable. Emirates is committed to our US operations and will continue to serve our 12 American gateways – NewYork JFK, Newark, Boston, Washington DC, Chicago, Seattle, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, Dallas, Fort Lauderdale, and Orlando – with 101 flight departures per week, connecting these cities to Dubai and our global network of over 150 cities.”

29

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R • APRIL 23, 2017

BUSINESS/INDUSTRY

Some imported fake pharmaceutical products seized by Nigerian authorities

Ending Influx of Substandard Products

Amidst the calls to stamp out importation of fake and substandard goods into the country, PZ Cussons attain highest standard of certification, reports Olaseni Durojaiye

T

he on-going trial of two Chinese nationals and a Nigerian for allegedly importing N5 billion fake tyres into the country has again beam attention to the presence of fake and sub-standard products in the Nigeria market even with the presence of several agencies saddled with preventing same at the nation’s sea ports.

Importation of fake and substandard goods into the country goes beyond tyres as several other consumable are known to regularly find their ways into the country. The danger that such practices pose to the economic well-being of the country and the safety of Nigerians cannot be overemphasised as it ranges from killing of local manufacturers of such patronage due to non-patronage and the safety of individuals, who patronise such products.

Many observers trace the influx of such products to porous border and sharp practices at the entry ports. However, others still, have continually reiterated the need for local manufacturing concerns to improve on quality standard in order that they could meet international standards and well placed to compete globally as a deterrent to the continuous importation of such sub-standard goods. It must however, be noted that some Nigerian companies were known to adhere to the international best practices in their operations by adhering to the highest recognisable international standards. One of such companies is the foremost manufacturers of soaps and other household items, PZ Cussons Plc. The issue again came up for discussion recently at the presentation of International Organisation for Standardisation’s ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management Systems certificates to the company for its Ikorodu and Aba factories

by SON Director General in the country.

Chairman of the company, Chief Kola Jamodu, who lamented the influx of substandard products into the country called on the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) to continue in its efforts to curtail the trade.

While commending the work of SON

and its new helmsman, Dr. Osita Aboloma.

The certification and certificate presentation ceremony was in recognition the company’s quality and adoption of Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP).

Chief Jamodu reiterated the need to protect local manufacturers against the menace of unscrupulous importers, whose stock in trade is to bring into the country fake products at the detriment of Nigerian and local manufacturers Speaking at the certification presentation, Jamodu stated that, “What we are witnessing today is indeed a cause for celebration. A journey that started in 2013 has culminated into ISO 9001:2015 certifications providing maximum benefit to our organisation.

The quality management system of PZ Cussons factories in Ikorodu and Aba were established based on the strategic direction, culture and value of the organisation. Our company is now, more than ever before, fully committed to manufacturing products that not only meet consumer expectations. Of paramount importance is the fact that the products are safe for use and comply with standard specifications and requirements applicable to them.

“Our association with SON has been historic.

We are one of the pioneers that started dealing with standards and quality regulators since the promulgation of the enabling act setting up the organisation in 1971. The company subjects its process to Mandatory Conformity Assessment Programme (MANCAP).

“Let me seize this opportunity of this event to congratulate you the Director General of Standard Organisation of Nigeria on your appointment to this office. We learn from the media of the good work that you are doing. Please keep it up; manufacturers need to be protected and need to be encouraged.

Importation of sub-standard gods should be stopped and we will partner you to achieve that,” he stated.

Speaking further, he stressed that,“We have continuously made self-regulation our target and we are, therefore, pleased to be the first

Nigerian company to achieve the certification.”

Importance of ISO 9001:2015 The ISO 9001:2015 QMS is the latest version that replaced the previous version ISO 9001:2008, and PZ Cussons is the first manufacturing company in Nigeria to achieve the certification after a year of rigorous audits of its manufacturing processes across factories.

ISO 9001 is the international standard that specifies requirements for a quality management system (QMS). Organisations use the standard to demonstrate the ability to consistently provide products and services that meet customer and regulatory requirements. It is the most popular standard in the ISO 9000 series and the only standard in the series to which organisations can certify.

ISO 9001:2015 applies to any organisation, regardless of size or industry. More than one million organisations from more than 160 countries have applied the ISO 9001 standard requirements to their quality management systems.

Findings reveal that organisations of all types and sizes find that using the ISO 9001 standard helps them to organise their processes, improve the efficiency of the processes and continually improve, which explains why all organisations that use ISO 9001 are encouraged to transition to ISO 9001:2015 as soon as possible.

ISO 9001 was first published in 1987 by the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO), an international agency composed of the national standards bodies of more than 160 countries. The current version of ISO 9001 was released in September 2015.

Making reference to the certification in his address at the event, Osita stressed that the company had joined a privileged class of ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management System (QMS) certified organisations and charged local manufacturers to adopt global best practices when producing goods and services for public consumption, saying this is the only way to surpass consumers’ expectations.

He stated that the present administration was working tirelessly to create the enabling

environment for local industries to thrive and remain competitive at the global market and assured local manufacturers of the agency’s commitment to protect local manufacturers in the country, seeking the support of Nigerians to join hands with SON to combat the influx of fake and substandard goods in the country.

According to him, the on-going challenges continue to create and sustain opportunities for local content development in Nigeria. He pointed out that the adoption of the ISO 9001:2015 QMS framework reflected the company’s vision to be a centre of excellence in the manufacture of soaps, detergents and other household products, leveraging on the best talents in Nigeria and internationally.

“The adoption of the ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management System framework reflects your vision to be a centre of excellence in the manufacture of soap, detergents and other household products, leveraging the talents in Nigeria and internationally. By the presentation of the certificate today, PZ Cussons Ikorodu and Aba factories are adjudged to have a system in place to deliver quality products to its esteemed customers at all times.

“The ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management System approach now provides you a robust, globally recognised and acceptable solution to address the challenges associated with managing internal and external issues and risks associated to business and harnessing the opportunities at your disposal. Achieving this certification is a demonstration of your management system’s conformity to internationally acceptable standard requirements and the ability of PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc to get it right the first time and all the time.

“You would have to note that the quest for excellence has no destination because it is a moving target. Our challenge to you today is to keep the system healthy and up to date in order to reap the immense benefit of ISO approach to management. We are already receiving information from your customers to assure ourselves that you are up to their expectation and improving continually,” Dr. Osita added.

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R • april 23, 2017

MARKET NEWS

Ecobank Strengthens Risk Mgt to Reduce Impairment Goddy Egene Ecobank Transnational Incorporate (ETI) has strengthened its risk management architecture for better future performance, the Group Chief Executive Officer of ETI, Mr. Ade Ayeyemi has said.

After recording gross profit of N188 billion, it ended 2016 financial year with loss of N52 billion following provision of N221.7 billion for impairment charges on legacy

loan portfolio for the financial year ended December 31, 2016.

Speaking to THISDAY on the strategies being put in place to avoid a repeat of such huge loss, Ayeyemi said the bank recognised that it could not go into the future with what got it into problem in the first instance.

“We have strengthened our risk management strategy. We have changed the processes and procedures, automate decision making to make sure that we give visibility

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

to everybody. We have trained people who are in the forefront of the customer for early identification of the problem for early management of the account to make sure that they continue to perform and ultimately, we are to change some people. Where we identified it is a training issue, we can train, where it is a cultural issue, we coach people but where we identified there are individuals, we have changed people. All of that from the board of directors

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 20-Apr-2017, unless otherwise stated.

to management in various countries, we have done that.

We will continue to do that,” he said.

The ETI boss disclosed that the group is in the market searching for experts, people that are very good in the risk management.

“Not just credit risk. We are in the market trying to make sure we improve our credit risk, improve our market risk and operational risk,” he stated.

ETI recorded a growth of 22.3 per cent in gross earnings

to N665 billion in 2016, from N542.7 billion in 2015. Net interest income similarly rose by 25.3 per cent to N284 billion, from N226.6 billion in 2015. Profit before impairment charges stood at N188 billion, up from N146 billion.

However, the N221.7 billion impairment charges led to company to close the year with loss before tax of N33.7 billion compared with a profit before tax of N40.5 billion, while loss after tax stood at N52 billion, as against

a profit after tax of N21.25 billion in 2015.

Ayeyemi had said Group revenues remained resilient despite a tough year of macro- economic headwinds including a weaker economic environment, particularly in Nigeria, and the strengthening of our reporting currency - the United States dollar – against all African currencies particularly the Nigerian Naira where 40 per cent of the group’s revenues have historically been generated.

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 132.31 132.96 4.23% Nigeria International Debt Fund 219.59 220.52 2.07% ALTERNATIVE CAPITAL PARTNERS LTD info@acapng.com Web: www.acapng.com, Tel: +234 1 291 2406, +234 1 291 2868 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn ACAP Canary Growth Fund 0.71 0.72 1.24% 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 16.98% 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 12.52 12.89 1.37% ARM Discovery Fund 294.41 303.28 2.52% ARM Ethical Fund 22.60 23.29 1.17% ARM Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 15.71% 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 106.31 107.06 1.08% AXA Mansard Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 17.86% 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 88.28 90.54 4.35% 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 1,056.97 1,058.12 4.71% FBN Heritage Fund 113.56 114.30 1.76% FBN Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 17.43% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Institutional $108.06 $108.77 3.86% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Retail $107.74 $108.45 4.26% FBN Nigeria Smart Beta Equity Fund 115.26 116.74 2.28% 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 4.57% 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 2,249.10 2,276.00 1.82% Coral Income Fund 2,218.73 2,218.73 5.44% 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 12.64% 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 17.70% Vantage Balanced Fund 1.75 1.76 3.79% Vantage Guaranteed Income Fund 1.00 1.00 16.92%

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 3.05% Lotus Halal Fixed Income Fund 1,015.27 1,015.27 3.22% MERISTEM WEALTH MANAGEMENT LTD info@meristemwealth.com Web: http://www.meristemwealth.com/funds/ ; Tel: +234 1-4488260 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Meristem Equity Market Fund 9.92 10.00 2.68% 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 14.15% 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 1,870.14 1,879.44 2.09% Stanbic IBTC Bond Fund 156.69 156.69 1.77% Stanbic IBTC Ethical Fund 0.77 0.78 0.65% Stanbic IBTC Guaranteed Investment Fund 195.11 195.11 4.40% Stanbic IBTC Iman Fund 131.08 132.87 1.00% Stanbic IBTC Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 17.98% Stanbic IBTC Nigerian Equity Fund 7,433.99 7,520.17 -1.97% 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 10.11 10.29 4.88% Zenith Ethical Fund 11.45 11.56 4.88% Zenith Income Fund 17.56 17.56 6.29%

REITS

NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

11.41 125.94

1.01% 1.59%

Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

8.05 72.63

8.15 73.98

-8.27% -4.16%

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

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS

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

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

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

funds@vetiva.com Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

2.69 6.19 11.82 16.25 129.58

2.73 6.27 11.92 16.45 131.58

-2.14% -11.88% -1.48% 1.87% -0.23%

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

A

WEEKLY PULL-OUT

MIKE DADA

23.04.2017

UNITING AFRICA THROUGH MUSIC

32

T H I S DAY, T H E S U N DAY N E W S PA P E R • April 23, 2017

COVER

In a group photograph with former president Olusegun Obasanjo

MIKE DADA

UNITING AFRICA THROUGH MUSIC

From banking to marketing communications and public relations, Mike Dada has followed his passion, veering off entirely from Chemical Engineering which he studied at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife. Lately, he is better known for his enduring efforts to unite Africa for development through the All Africa Music Awards, AFRIMA. Nseobong Okon-Ekong writes

H

Dada

is friends and acquaintances have started addressing him as ‘ambassador’ and it is for a good reason. Who knows, this seeming joke, may yet become a reality, even if he emerges as a honourary ambassador. But that was not his aim when he set out to court the understanding and a working relationship with the Africa Union.

All he wanted was an influential continental institution to walk by his side in the execution of his dream project, the All Africa Music Awards, AFRIMA. A graduate of Chemical Engineering from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, Mike Dada cut his career teeth in the banking industry. Chemical Engineering, he said was a course he studied to enliven his interest in the sciences. His job satisfaction lay somewhere else, far from the realm of science. He found fulfillment in marketing communications and public relations, an industry that he traversed in the last 15 years in different capacities, as an employee, partner and lately as an employer.

When he left banking, he walked away with a prized trophy that was more than all the monetary benefits that accrued to him.

His better half, Modupe, is still in the banking

industry. With her still in banking, a part of him still remains in the industry where he started his professional life and where he has learnt some of the career survival strategies that has enabled him to keep his head above rough waters over time. On a lighter note, he said it was the banking industry that changed him from being a casual dresser to one ‘semicasual’. “I say semi-casual because except it is absolute formal and necessary, I hardly wear a tie. But you are likely to find me in a jacket, a blazer or something like that. When I came to Marketing Communications and Public Relations, it was also an accepted and preferred form of dressing.”

The native of Badagry, Lagos State recalled a major turning point in his life. He had left paid employment and decided to go it alone. He soldiered on for a few brief years, despite the rough economic environment that eventually sank his business. Dada was back to knocking about on the streets of Lagos in search of a job until he came up with an ingenious solution. He approached a friend, Alhaji Teju Kareem, Chairman of Zmirage Limited and proposed a partnership to him. This gave birth to Zmirage Marketing Communications. Dada was in charge of this arm of the Zmirage business empire. He brought his skills to bear on the operations and the company began to make huge

APRIL 23, 2017 • T H I S DAY, T H E S U N DAY N E W S PA P E R

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COVER

Dada at an occasion with Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode and wife

with Minister of Sports, Dalung Solomon

profits. However, the two could not reach a mutual understanding on how to share the gains. On the day he decided to pull out of the partnership, Dada had only N3,450 to his name. He rummaged for long on how he was going to tell his wife that he could not carry on anymore. As he turned his back on the office at the close of work that day, he knew he would not come back. It took a few days before he could summon the courage to tell his wife. He was going to make a demand on her to foot the bill at home, while he got a grip on the direction his life was going.

While the partnership with Zmirage lasted, he had worked as a consultant on marketing communications and public relations for the organizers of the Kora Awards, a continental reward platform for the entertainment industry. The efforts to organize Kora took him to South Africa and other African countries as part of the production team, affording an opportunity to gain invaluable experience. The CEO of that award had defaulted on payment of certain monies due to Dada. The effort to get a redress was exhausting. Then a friend suggested he should concentrate on stoking the fire for a Pan-African reward platform for the creative industry which he conceived over a decade ago. He dusted up the proposal.

Incidentally, his search led to Mike Strano, owner of PHAT Music and Entertainment, originally from Australia who has since made Kenya his home. The coincidence that they shared the same first name and interest in the African creative industry cemented their relationship. In no time, they were working together and AFRIMA was born! The two Mikes brought formidable acumen to the table. Dada was the sponsorship, public relations and marketing communications wizkid, while Strano was strong in logistics and production. Standing side-by-side, Strano is tall, but Dada who may be considered diminutive stands on a tall dream to unite and develop Africa through culture and the arts.

For Dada, who now owns five companies including PRM Africa and Backstage Productions, AFRIMA afforded him another chance to do what he loves - to sell positive values. He had come to the conclusion that culture is the strongest natural product that could project the positive values of the African continent. Lately, Dada is emerging as a giant in another area of marketing communications

Regional DirectorCo-Producer, Micheal Strano; Chief Executive Officer PRM Africa and Executive Producer AFRIMA Mike Dada; Co-Producer Petra Seseli and Director

- political marketing communications. His company worked hard in strategic selling of the candidature of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos and Gov. Obaseki of Edo State.

“Everything else in Africa is copied.

Culture is the only thing that is still original, indigenous and free in Africa. This is the one thing we must guard jealously. We cannot afford to lose it. The consequences are far too great to imagine. In all other walks of life, the opportunities that are open often lead to rivalry and cut-throat contest, but cultural interactions among African countries offer unlimited and unfettered hope for development and growth. I am often angry to see all the wasted opportunities in Africa. And since government is a strategic institution to bring about the desired change in Africa, working with the Africa Union is the most strategic avenue available to anyone who is passionate about bringing positive development to the continent.”

‘Africa Must Unite’ is a theme many legendary Africans like the late Ghanaian leader, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Reggae music superstar, Bob Marley, and creator of Afrobeat, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, have canvassed in varying degrees. Dada is threading a familiar path, even though he has chosen to prosecute his campaign through a different means.

Every year since 2014, an AFRIMA calendar is announced in partnership with

the Africa Union. Unusually, there is a line-up of events leading towards the awards proper.

This includes dates for opening and closure of submission of works by artistes. This period is followed by the adjudication season when the AFRIMA jury which is a 13-man professional team scrutinizes the entries. In between all of these, we have the AFRIMA Stakeholders Conference taking place across various cities in the continent. This definitely avails anyone opportunity as well as the music industry to be carried along on the processes, dates and timeline of the different activities.

Every year, AFRIMA introduces a wow factor that leaves the jaw of audiences dropping and eyes popping. All the editions of AFRIMA since inception in 2014 have been held in Lagos Nigeria. The logistics of moving participants from all over the world to the venue is crazy. “When we started we depended on the secretariat staff only. And even though the event takes place towards the end of the year, we find that we have to work all year round to meet defined timelines. Apart from the main event, we try to have a certain number of the build-up events in other African countries and we consider the different so that everyone will have a sense of belonging.”

Last year, the theme for AFRIMA was ‘For hope, for celebration.’ The criteria for choosing a theme is that it must align with the legacies of the African Union. In 2016, the

FOR DADA, WHO NOW OWNS FIVE COMPANIES INCLUDING PRM AFRICA AND BACKSTAGE PRODUCTIONS, AFRIMA AFFORDED HIM ANOTHER CHANCE TO DO WHAT HE LOVES TO SELL POSITIVE VALUES... EVERY YEAR, AFRIMA INTRODUCES A WOW FACTOR THAT LEAVES THE JAW OF AUDIENCES DROPPING AND EYES POPPING AU looked at human rights from the musical aspect. The consideration was on how to entrench human rights and educate people on human rights, expand the space of human rights in the continent.

“The idea is to use this platform of AFRIMA to awake and re-awaken the consciousness of those countries that you think are laid back or that their songs are for certain kind of elegy. All of us grow and move together. It is not in the interest of anybody for some countries in Africa to lag behind in terms of growth and development in the entertainment industry. The more people, cities, towns that are alive to the reality of growth and development, the better for the continent, so we don’t have more issues or problems in our hands.”

58

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R • April 23, 2017

entertAinment

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

Lagos Entertainment Firm Seeks N45m Nseobong Okon-Ekong

L

agos-based entertainment promotion company, Inspiro Productions Limited has initiated moves to recover about N45 million allegedly owed it by the Bayelsa State Government.

The amount in contention is the balance payment for services engaged by the Bayelsa State Tourism Board during the maiden edition of the Bayelsa International Jazz Festival held four years ago.

Solicitors to Inspiro, Creative legal Seun Omotoba and Co., whom had been in the forefront of negotiations for a peaceful resolution of the impasse between his client and the Bayelsa State Tourism Agency indicated in a letter that the talks had broken down irretrievably and his client had given him the goahead to seek redress for same.

Inspiro Productions, which is famed for its city-themed Jazz music festivals, has been promoting the Lagos International Jazz Festival and NAIJAZZ festivals for over one decade. The company is also in the forefront of helping shape the emerging Nigeria creative economy. It was based on this reputation that the Bayelsa State Government through its tourism agency engaged the company to secure the participation of local and Nigerian artistes for the first ever Bayelsa State International Jazz Festival in 2013. Part of the consultancy deal for Inspiro also included providing technical equipment and services for the event.

The enduring delay in off-setting the debt to Inspiro, according to their lawyers has led to incalculable damage to their business, particularly the relationship with few of its foreign partners based in both South Africa and the United States.

Justin Ige of Creative Legal Seun Omotoba & co. said certain interests in the Bayelsa State government appear to be bent on frustrating the series of meetings which had begun at the office of the Special Adviser to Bayelsa State

GOING ALL OUT FOR LAGOS@50 The planning committee for the Lagos@50 has declared that till May 27, there will be a series of celebration on a daily basis for all Lagosians and friends of Lagos for the final celebration of the state’s Golden Jubilee Anniversary.

At the World Press Conference held inside the well-decorated Banquet Hall in Lagos House, Ikeja, the co-chairman of the Lagos@50 planning committee, Mr Habeeb Fasinro highlighted the events that would make the celebrations memorable.

For him, it is important to celebrate the existence of Lagos State as a multi-ethnic entity because out of the 12 states created at that period in Nigerian history, only Lagos state remains the most vibrant, united and progressive.

Fasinro, in company of other members of the Committee including Professor Ademola Abass, Hon. Adebimpe Akinsola, Mrs. Sarah Boulos, Mrs. Chika Balogun said the events will tell the story of Lagos and her journey from 1967 till date. The celebrations will kick-off with the musical, ‘Wakaa’, produced and directed by Bolanle Austen-Peters at the MUSON Centre, Onikan on April 8.

For the Easter weekend, a special treat awaits Lagos residents. A three-day Broadway Musical concert tagged “Fela” that features the life and times of the Afrobeat legend, Fela Anikulapo Kuti. The performance will feature a combined cast of the original Broadway production and the Royal National Theatre production under Bill T. Jones.

Gov. Dickson making a presentation to Bayelsa born artistes..Timi Dakola and Timaya

Governor, Henry Seriake Dickson on Legal Matters, Barrister H. Igbani, with the current D.G. of the Bayelsa State Tourism Development agency Mrs. Ebiere Musah present. According to Mr. Ige, all the efforts appear to lead nowhere as Mrs. Musah on the government’s side has failed to keep the understanding reached by both parties, more than eight months ago.

Part of Mr. Ige’s letter to Mrs. Musah, with his Excellency and Igbani in copy read, “We also recall your warm reception too, even though it will be difficult for anyone to reconcile your attitude after the meeting with the attitude expected of anyone who is sincere about an amicable resolution. Since the day we returned to Lagos, there has been no promise you kept. You will recall that it was resolved at the meeting that you will revert with the decision of his Excellency, the Governor.

You will recall also our several phone calls, and text messages. We find it quite embarrassing that you have chosen not to answer our phone calls nor reply text messages anymore.”

Mr. Ige further said he was taking these steps since he was convinced that the Government of Bayelsa State was acting in a manner suggestive of being deliberately out to ruin his client and bring their business to disrepute. He entered a passionate plea to “any sense of fair treatment, good conscience and equity that may lie within your person to no longer ignore the plight of someone who worked hard to improve the tourism potentials of Bayelsa State.”

While Mrs. Musah’s comments could not be obtained as she neither answered her calls nor replied text messages, Dr. Igbani told our reporter on the phone, “I would not say that the talks have broken down irretrievably. I tried to broker an understanding between Inspiro and the Tourism Agency. They say the state government is indebted to them to a certain tune. I have asked that they furnish us with documents to support their claim. Once we have that, we will make recommendations to His Excellency.

We have not heard from them since.”

Chioma Ude with Kate Henshaw The Lagos story is incomplete without the mention of the body of water that surrounds the state and divides it into Island and Mainland. For this reason, the International Day of Jazz will be celebrated in style. As you may already know, April is set aside as the Jazz history month and it is observed globally by a growing community of jazz lovers. However, this year’s edition will take a different turn as Jazz meets fashion in The Runway Jazz event that will feature Grammy award winning artistes.

Fasinro further stated that the celebration would continue on May 1 with a Special Workers’ Day celebration by both

active and retired civil servants with a special parade at Agege Stadium and later that same day, a state dinner. On May 5, five of the highest box office hits from Nigerian cinemas by Nigerian film producers will be screened at five districts namely Ikeja, Badagry, Ikorodu, Lagos Island and Epe. The movies to be screened are 93 days, ‘76, The Wedding Party as well as an emotional documentary on Lagos music by Remi Vaughan-Richards titled, “Faaji Agba”.

On May 6, there will be a dance exhibition that will be a fusion of both traditional and contemporary dance routines.

The Lagos Carnival will hold on May 13 in both Lagos Island and Mainland while

Femi Kuti...on stage at the Bayelsa International Jazz Festival

Lagos will see the grand return of the Eyo Festival which was last observed in Lagos five years ago at the Tafawa Balewa Square on May 20. Four days later, all former Governors of the state will join Governor Akinwunmi Ambode in council for a Special State Executive Council Session while the judiciary and House of Assembly would hold on May 18 and May 22 respectively. An interfaith service will also take place on May 19 to express gratitude to God for the well-being of the state. The entire celebrations will end on the day that coincides with the World Children’s Day. A historic gala night and a photo exhibition to celebrate the state’s cultural heritage will be held that day.

The Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Culture, Steve Ayorinde revealed that the planning committee for Lagos@50 was set up in February 2016 and by April, it was set to work.

The celebrations had been preceded by a series of colloquium held at various venues such as the Glover Hall, MUSON Centre and Freedom Park which was often moderated by the veteran journalist and culture advocate, Jahman Anikulapo who represented the co-chair of the planning committee, Prof. Wole Soyinka at the press conference.

Other events to look forward to during the last 50 days of the Golden Anniversary include the Principal’s Cup, Lagos Laffs as well as Kakadu the Musical. A minute of silence was observed in memory of Chief Rasheed Gbadamosi, a former member of the planning committee for the celebrations who died last year.

APRIL 23, 2017 • T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R

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ENTERTAINMENT TIMAYA LIGHTS UP ENUGU WITH LEGENDARY PERFORMANCE For fun lovers and fans of great music, Timaya’s performance at the recently held Real Deal Experience in Enugu will remain indelibly in their minds. The Nigeria’s Dancehall king treated the audience to a great performance, dishing out back-to-back hits as he engaged the audience in an unending sing-along.

As the headline act for Legend’s Real Deal Experience, the ‘Dem Mama’ crooner didn’t disappoint his fans who had turned up en masse at the Polo Park Mall, Abakaliki road, to meet their idol.

The thunderous ovation that followed Timaya’s appearance on stage left no one in doubt as to his popularity amongst the local fans. And true to his street credibility, the self-acclaimed ‘Egberi Papa One of Bayelsa’ lived up to expectations.

Armed with a full complimentary live band, an unparalleled stagecraft and a trademark high energy known across the length and breadth of Africa, Timaya delivered an exhilarating performance that would be remembered for a long time by fun-lovers in Enugu.

There was indeed no dull moment as the fans sang and interacted with the A-List performer while enjoying an endless supply of Nigeria’s first locally brewed stout, Legend. The Tipsy Kelvano band and comedian, De Don also made the event an all-round success with very fantastic performances.

Speaking on the success of the event, Brand Manager, Legend Extra Stout, Oluseun Lawal said; “We are not surprised by the massive success of the event. Legend as a brand thrives on excellence and delivering real value to our consumers in every city. It’s why we are committed to bringing Nigeria’s biggest acts to every neighborhood so the people can get to meet and interact with them on a more personal level, while also promoting local talents. The energy you saw here today is incredible and we’ll continue to delight consumers all around Nigeria with the Real Deal Experience.

Congrats to all the consumers who won prizes here tonight.”

LIP SYNC BATTLE KICKS OFF ON HIGH NOTE MTV Base is set to draw music lovers to the edge of their seats with the return of Lip Sync Battle Africa (LSBA) for a second season. The first season saw celebrities like Denrele, Tiwa Savage,Funke Akindele and Ebuka Obi-Uchendu slug it out for the coveted LSBA belt. Seasoned with a dash of zest, season 2 returns with more.

In a private screening session ahead of its official broadcast at the Genesis Deluxe Cinema saw in attendance the likes of IK Osakioduwa, Ehiz, Denrele and Gifty of the Big Brother Naija show among others.

Lagos at 50 Street Party

Season 2 will kick off with a lip sync duel between Nigeria’s dancehall sensation, Patoranking and East African diva, Victoria Kimani. Utilising stage props and elegant backup dancers, each contestant battled fiercely, unveiling their childhood fantasies with an out-of-thebox approach which instantly immersed the crowd into a state of uncontrollable frenzy.

Kimani throughout her performance exuded confidence, offering a full serving of sex appeal covered with a layer of sass whilst Patoranking brought to the stage an element of surprise flavoured with wits.

With the new season came minor changes which ranged from upgrade of technical equipment to the obvious replacement of the Kokomaster, D’Banj for the unpredictable character famous for his one-liners, Denrele Edun, due to some scheduling issues.

Also, the LSBA Challenge is open to fans who can upload a short online video showcasing their lip sync ability. The winner will be awarded with a cash prize and a VIP Experience for two to any MTV award show.

Other Nigerian celebrities confirmed for the season 2 includes IK Osakioduwa, Simi and DJ exclusive.

NOURISHING TELEVISION COMMERCIAL FROM HOLLANDIA For close observers of communication campaigns in Nigeria, one commercial that has ignited conversations recently is the Hollandia Yoghurt Commercial currently deployed on Television, Radio, digital and Out of Home. The campaign titled ‘Nourishing Goodness for Every Moment’ carefully reinforces Hollandia Yoghurt’s proposition as a brand that brings happiness and enjoyment to every moment of life.

Through the television commercial, the brand takes the consumer through a journey of nourishing goodness and offers various pack sizes to go with life’s every moment. Hollandia Yoghurt succinctly captures each product pack size to meet the ever evolving consumer needs. In essence, it is an integral part of the consumer’s life as every moment is associated with a distinctively named pack size that everyone can relate with.

For Managing Director, Chi Limited, Mr. Deepanjan Roy ‘The Hollandia Yoghurt Nourishing Goodness for Every Moment’ campaign is a bold step to highlight the many benefits of the brand.

Hollandia Yoghurt is healthy and has a smooth taste sure to guarantee your well being with every sip. Our innovative product extension is a unique way of adding value by ensuring nutritious goodness for our teeming consumers as they experience life’s every moment”

Jubilating troupe at a Gldberg Ariya event

Enhancing the Economy of Entertainment with Ariya Repete Captured with two Yoruba words which is loosely interpreted as ‘total enjoyment’, the entertainment industry, especially in South West Nigeria is about to experience an exciting a music talent hunt which encompasses Fuji and Juju music. The competition is an initiative of the lager beer brand, Goldberg, also known as ‘Your Excellency’ from the stables of Nigerian Breweries Plc. The talent hunt is aimed at discovering and promoting young and indigenous music talents in Yorubaland, South West of Nigeria, and to empower them to be part of the existing pool of Fuji and Juju artistes that would engender growth of the entertainment culture in the region.

Audition and selection for this contest is expected to commence this month in major cities in the South West. The organizers say the competition would provide an unparalleled experience as young artistes would compete in their various capacities go up against one another in a bid to win fabulous prizes and recording deals.

Goldberg which has gained much popularity and appeal in its Fuji music talent hunt, ‘Fuji t’o Bam’ introduced in 2012, has decided to include Juju music in this year’s musical concerts in order to capture what was left untouched in the indigenous entertainment culture of the South West.

Also, the importance attached to both music genres has prompted Goldberg to encompass them under the ‘Ariya Repete’ musical platform.

The inclusion of Juju music called ‘Juju to Gbayi’ under Ariya Repete, came from feedback gotten from lovers of Juju music who felt marginalised and even tried to pass off as Fuji musicians so as to get a chance to contest.

Both Fuji and Juju music are indigenous to the Yorubas, and they are not just means of entertainment, but also a means of moral, religious and cultural education. Although, they have incorporated western instruments, they remain rooted in the traditions, culture and language of the Yoruba people.

For them, music occupies a central place in celebrations of life and death, religious ceremonies and recreation in general. This has earned them the appellation of “Owambe”, a reference to their love for parties and ceremonies.

Yoruba popular music largely rely on indigenous musical instruments like the ‘dundun’ and ‘bata’ drums and traditional

oral poetry like ‘oriki’ and ‘iwure’.

Both genres of music provide avenues for relaxation and social interaction during performances before large audiences that cut across age grades, religions or social status. They remind society about positive cultural values and deprecate societal ills.

Also, one important aspect of these music genres is the opportunity it creates for employment as each of the band employs an average of six to 10 individuals or more as drummers, vocalists, guitarists, percussionists, engineers, etc. This helps in alleviating a major social problem of unemployment in the society.

Those wedding, naming and funeral ceremonies where they perform nearly every weekend create avenues for big businesses and petty-traders to do business. Breweries sell their products while the average woman who sells wares also makes profit from sales.

More importantly, these musical forms contribute to the promotion of Yoruba language and to a great extent the strengthening of traditional institutions through their emphasis on respect for elders, and the affirmation of the authority of traditional rulers.

Meanwhile, at outdoor celebrations where these musicians perform, the wealthy exhibit their wealth while the urban poor get the opportunity to enjoy free food, drink and entertainment. Not only do such performances provide relief for many groaning under severe economic strains, it also saves society from major social upheavals as people often take solace in the lyrics of the songs to console themselves and build hope for tomorrow.

According to Professor Akin Babawale, former Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilisation (CBAAC) and Professor of Political Science, University of Lagos; both music genres under Ariya Repete would provide opportunities for families and friends to gather together, interact and build new friendships and social networks.

Meanwhile, the 2016 Fuji t’o Bam competition which produced Tope Ajani the overall winner, has paved way for him to launch his second album. The album which is a collection of Fuji music would promote the relevance of the music genre that depicts the culture of the people of the South West, whose interest in it cannot be quantified.

T H I S DAY, T H E S U N DAY N E W S PA P E R • April 23, 2017

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FOCUS

African Fashion Week Rises with National Monuments Funke Olaode

A

frica Fashion Week Nigeria recently added another feather to its cap when it showcased the iconic national monumentsNational Theatre and Tinubu Square-both in Lagos Island for its two-day fashion explosion that featured seven designers from different African continents including Cameroon and Zimbabwe. Former first Lady, Mrs. Abimbola Fashola was among the dignitaries at the fashion fiesta.

On Saturday April 1, National Theatre played host to fashionistas, fashion designers and upcoming ones as AFWN introduced a fresh dimension of promoting the culture and old fashion through the use of historic locations in Lagos.

As selected models strode the runaway, invited guests were excited by the electrifying and the old school designs.

Among all the designs, the renowned fashion icon who has been around for close to two decades, Zizi Cardow was largely applauded for her captivating designs using ABC Wax, a sister brand of Da Viva. ABC Wax which has been around for over a century in Manchester, England. It made

a triumphant entry into the African market in 2006.

Speaking on his company’s involvement in the iconic show

using ABC Wax, group marketing manager of Da Viva and ABC brand Steven Dutton said apart from the fact that Nigerian market is huge, the iconic designs is like going back to root.

“We took that decision because we felt the future is more in Africa. So ABC Wax is a product made in Africa by Africans for Africans. What we are doing now is to formalize our distribution using similar shops and make the products more available and accessible.

We are re-launching which is coinciding with the African Fashion Week. This is why we partnered with Zizi Cardow to re-launch the product.”

According to Duttonis, “To make Wax is not easy because it is highly technical. ABC Wax guarantees quality. That is important. We also want to break a new ground by building a relationship with upcoming designers. That is one of the reasons we are working with the promoter of the African Fashion Week,” he concluded.

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ENTERTAINMENT NEWS

Golden Globe Awards 2018 to Recognise Multiple Directors Vanessa Obioha With the few tweaks made to the governing rules of the 75th annual Golden Globe Awards, more directors stand a chance to scoop more awards at the show. A recent announcement showed an adjustment in the Best Animated Motion Picture category which previously recognized one or two individuals, a director and a producer. The new rule will now recognize accredited director or directors and will follow the Producers Guild of America guidelines for which producers deserve awards consider-

ation.

Same rule applies for the Best ForeignLanguage Motion Picture category.

Where the award has previously limited winners to the movie’s director, the new rule recognizes the possibility of multiple directors on a foreign-language film. Another rule affecting this category include the compulsory scheduling of an official screening date with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association- organizers of the award ceremony- before entering a film in the awards. The deadline is N0vember 1, 2017. the 75th Golden Globe Awards will hold on Jan. 7, 2018.

Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone at Golden Globe Awards 2017

RUSSIA’S RESTRICTING POLICY SENDS NETFLIX SHOPPING FOR PARTNERS As the date of Russia’s restrictions on foreign ownership of online video services draws near, Netflix is critically looking for a local partner to sustain its presence in the European country. According to the country’s trade journal Exhibitor’s Bulletin, the online streaming service are showing signs of maintaining their relationship with the country by scouting for local companies to partner with. Although declining to mention names, possible partners in the country include Ivi, Megogo and TVZavr.

The restrictions came barely a year after Netflix launched in Russia. They came into the market in early 2016 while Russia introduced the new laws earlier this year. Under the new law which is expected to come into effect June 1, foreign companies will be limited to owning a 20 percent stake in online video services operating in Russia. Companies that won’t comply could be forced to shut down operations at any point after that date.

A similar law regarding foreign ownership of media companies was enacted in 2016, forcing Walt Disney and Discovery Communications to partner with local distributors to comply.

The total audience of Russia’s online video services is estimated at 70 million people, and the market is worth about $100 million a year.

CLINT EASTWOOD BRINGS PARIS TRAIN ATTACK TO BIG SCREEN Following the successes of his heroic movies ‘Sully’ and ‘American Sniper’, the seasoned actor and director is set to bring the historic thwarted Paris train attack to the big screen.

Based on the book, ‘The 15:17 to Paris: The True Story of a Terrorist, a Train and Three American Heroes’, the movie revolves round Anthony Sadler, Alek Skarlatos and Spencer Stone, three Americans traveling in Europe who found themselves on a train from Brussels to Paris, where they thwarted an attempted terrorist attack by overpowering the man armed with an AK-47. The story was heavily covered on cable news, where the friends, one of which was in the Oregon National Guard and the other in the U.S. Air Force, were lauded for their bravery.

Dorothy Blyskal adapted the book for the feature, which will be produced by Eastwood, Tim Moore, Kristina Rivera and Jessica Meier.

BEST OSCAR MOVIE MOONLIGHT GETS ITS OWN STREET NAME Few Days after La La Land got its official day in Los Angeles, Moonlight is also stamping its root permanently in Liberty City, the hometown of the film’s director Barry Jenkins and playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney.

According to online reports, a stretch of Miami-Dade County’s Liberty City will be named ‘Moonlight Way,’ and will be on NW 22nd Avenue from NW 61st Street to NW 66th Street — only a short distance from Liberty Square, where Jenkins grew up and where parts of ‘Moonlight’ were filmed.

Commissioner Audrey Edmonson, who is sponsoring the project is hopeful that the street will have a lasting impact in bringing awareness to those who did not grow up in the city.

Will Smith

WILL SMITH LIKELY TO PLAY GENIE IN ALADDIN LIVE-ACTION Seasoned actor Will Smith is in talks to play the role of Genie in Disney’s Live action adaptation of Aladdin. The role was voiced by the late Robin Williams in the 1992 animated classic film. The animation was part of Disney’s animation renaissance and retold the Middle East-set folk tale of a young man granted three wishes by a genie trapped in a lamp and the evil sorcerer who covets the magical object.

Smith was previously in talks with Tim Burton about the live-action ‘Dumbo’ movie, but a deal never materialized due to scheduling. ‘Sherlock Holmes’ producer Dan Lin, Disney revealed will be producing an ambitious and nontraditional take on Aladdin via his Lin Pictures banner while Jonathan Eirich will executive produce the movie and oversee it for Lin Pictures.

Barry Jenkins

AMAZON FIRE TV BERTHS IN INDIA India is officially the fifth country where the online device is launching its services. The Amazon Fire TV stick comes preloaded with apps, including Amazon Prime Video and rival OTT platforms, such as Netflix, Fox India’s Star network-owned Hotstar, Viacom18’s Voot and Indian film major Eros International’s ErosNow, among others. The device also offers access to YouTube, various gaming apps and more.

Amazon has launched its Fire TV stick in India, making it the fifth country where the device becomes available after the U.S., U.K., Germany and Japan.

Fire TV made its U.S. debut in 2014. Other countries that enjoy the device include Japan, U.K and Germany. At the launch announcement recently, Amazon Fire TV Vice President Marc Whitten said “Fire TV Stick offers access to a vast selection of movies and TV shows, popular apps and features designed specifically for customers in India, including powerful voice search for Amazon Video titles in Hindi and English. It also offers data monitoring and other features to help customers in India get the most from their data plan and stream more content using less bandwidth.”

assistant editor nseobong okon-ekong senior correspondent funke olaode correspondent vanessa obioha designer ibirogba ibidapo CONTRIBUTORS onoshe nwabuikwu, temilolu okeowo, kelechi nduka THISDAY ON SUNDAY editor adetokunbo adedoja deputy editor vincent obia

GUESS WHAT IS BACK TO CALIFORNIA! MTV Video Music Awards will return to California in August this year. In the last decade, the VMAs have been held in different locations, from New York City to Los Angeles. This year, according to the cable network, the event will hold at The Forum, a historic landmark on the coast. The last time the event was held at the venue was in 2014. The event will take place on August 27.

STUDIO art director ochi ogbuaku jnr

Clint Eastwood

THISDAY NEWSPAPERS editor-in-chief & chairman nduka obaigbena managing director eniola bello deputy managing director kayode komolafe

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APRIL 23, 2017

• THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER

INFOGRAPHIC

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Sept 2014

Dec 2014

Nov 2015

Mar 2016

1st attack / eviction attempt on Otodo Gbame led by Elegushi family.

Otodo Gbame goes to court against Elegushi family on fundamental rights matter.

Otodo Gbame goes to court against Elegushi family and Lagos State Government on land matter.

Otodo Gbame stages peaceful protest over dredging/sandfilling activities that are affecting their homes and livelihoods.

Oct 9, 2016

Oct 18, 2016

Nov 7, 2016

Nov 9-10, 2016

Lagos State Governor announces Government's intention to demolish all waterfront informal settlements within 7 days.

Otodo Gbame and 14 other waterfront communities go to court to enjoin Lagos State Government and Police from carrying out threat.

Lagos State High Court issues injunction against demolition of waterfront communities.

Without prior warning, Lagos State Government and Police forcibly evict 30,000 from Otodo Gbame using arson attack and an excavator working during the night, in violation of court order.

Jan 26, 2017

Feb 7, 2017

Mar 10, 2017

Mar 17, 2017

Lagos State High Court issues interim ruling that these evictions are "cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment" in violation of the right to dignity in the 1999 Constitution; orders State Government and Police to maintain the status quo while going through court-ordered mediation with waterfront residents.

Governor Akinwunmi Ambode receives the Certificate of Admission of Lagos State as a member of the 100 Resilient Cities.

The waterfront communities engage the Lagos state government in a mediation session to discuss alternatives to eviction.

Without prior warning, Lagos State Government demolishes rebuilt parts of Otodo Gbame community, rendering 4,700 homeless once again in blatant disregard for court order and ongoing mediation process.

Mar 21, 2017

Mar 22, 2017

Mar 29, 2017

Apr 9, 2017

Military Police, Mobile Police and Lagos State Governmentcontracted swamp buggy return to continue demolishing remaining homes on water.

Otodo Gbame women stage a peaceful protest; swamp buggy and security forces turn back rather than continuing the demolition.

Lagos state government unilaterally withdraws from the mediation process with Otodo Gbame.

Without prior notice, Lagos State Task Force attacked Otodo Gbame at 6am, setting remaining houses on fire and chasing residents in boats deep into the lagoon by shooting tear gas and bullets; one young man was shot dead and thousands rendered homeless.

Apr 12, 2017

Apr 12, 2017

Apr 14, 2017

Apr 18, 2017

Justice Adeniyi Onigbanjo of Lagos state High Court, Igbosere dismissed an application by displaced residents of Lagos waterfront settlements seeking committal to prison of the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, the Commissioner of Police in Lagos, Mr. Fatai Owoseni, for alleged contempt.

Otodo Gbame evictees hold protest at governor's office protesting against alleged killing of Daniel Anya, injuring others and demolition of their properties by suspected policemen.

A press statement was issued by The Nigerian Slum/Informal Settlement Federation and Just Empower Initiative (JEI) on forceful eviction of Otodo Gbame inhabitants and highlighting the Lagos State Governor's noncompliance with the rule of law.

Otodo Gbame evictees and civil society organizations (CSOs) had meeting with Lagos State Government without any conclusive commitment from the government.

Apr 19, 2017

Otodo Gbame evictees hold another protest at Governor's office against the forceful eviction of Otodo Gbame inhabitants.

www.justempower.org

JustEmpower

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EiENigeria

ARTS & REVIEW A

UBULU IN THE EYE OF A WRITER...

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PUBLICATION

23.04.2017

KAKADU’S GIANT STRIDES AGAINST XENOPHOBIA

Music Director, Kakadu the Musical, Ben Ogbeiwi at a rehearsal session with cast

EDITOR OKECHUKWU UWAEZUOKE/ okechukwu.uwaezuoke@thisdaylive.com

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APRIL 23, 2017 • THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER

ARTS & REVIEW\\MUSICAL

KAKADU’S GIANT STR AGAINST XENOPHOBIA

One of Nigeria’s box office success stories, Kakadu the Musical takes a bold step against Xenophobia a to perform inside the Nelson Mandela Theatre, arguably the biggest in South Africa this June as p marking Africa Day. Yinka Olatunbosun reports

W

hat started rather quietly as a senior advocate’s play writing hobby turns out to be Nigeria’s first musical to debut in SouthAfrica this June. How impressive! When Uche Nwokedi wrote Kakadu, it was thought to be a tale of the Nigerian people set in Lagos during the civil war. But the play has acquired a life of its own, developing thematic wings that can fly in any clime where similar situations exist.

Then, recently, SouthAfrica has been in the news for the wrong reasons. Some of its unscrupulous citizens attack Nigerians, destroying their properties and business premises. Some aggrieved Nigerians retaliated, targeting South Africa-owned businesses inAbuja, Nigeria’s capital city. In SouthAfrica, several lives had been lost to Xenophobia. But the figures are minimal when compared to the Nigeria-Biafra war where hundreds of thousands were killed and three million people were displaced. The wounds are still fresh in some quarters. But one lesson Nigeria can teach SouthAfrica at this moment is love.

Kakadu hopes to puncture Xenophobia with piercing musical dialogue; torn by costumes that communicate shared cultural heritage and buried by the new voices in contemporaryAfrican theatre that the play parades. But nothing good comes easy. One reason why the rehearsals for the musical had commenced early is that the production team is assembling a new cast. Of course, there are a few pioneer actors on board but the audition in February accommodated a wide range new talents in Nigeria and surprisingly too, one actress from Botswana.

What Kakadu has not deviated from over the years is its focus on growing fresh talents and empowering youths through training and workshops. The successful and committed ones take part in the ground-breaking productions which are indeed world-class. Little wonder Kakadu had been selected as one of the performances to mark Lagos at 50. Before setting off for the Johannesburg production, Lagos will see Kakadu the Musical once more at Harbour Point, Victoria Island on May 20 and 21.

While rehearsals were in full swing, this reporter, recently, walked in to get a firsthand experience of how the cast and crew are preparing for the much anticipated show, scheduled to begin on June 7 and running till 18 to markAfrica Day. It is an important period in history as it is annually observed as the commemoration of the day the Organisation ofAfrican Unity (OAU) was established. Kakadu the Musical has fast become a family tradition in Nigeria for its good content in terms of language, role interpretation and cross-over appeal. What is more gratifying is to see Kakadu as a major cultural export to a country that is one of the world’s most vibrant territories for theatre and other entertainment forms.

Obviously, performing at the Nelson Mandela Theatre, which reportedly has 1069 seating capacity and a stage floor measuring 400m2 , will be a big deal for the cast. Formerly referred to as the Main Theatre, the stage has five computer controlled stage lifts that can raise the sets 3.9 metres above the stage and five stage wagons to move sets across the stage as well as a circular stage wagon. These actors have to work with these structures that are currently unavailable in their home country.

The Executive Producer and playwright, Uche Nwokedi was watching the rehearsals at a “safe distance” at a venue in Onikan when this

A view of the rehearsal for Kakadu reporter arrived. Being a man who prefers to let his works speak for him, he didn’t say much except to show this reporter the pictures of the stage where Kakadu is set to debut. His play, his son and his beard had all grown on him. The young Nwokedi, who seemed like an introvert at first, would later reveal to this reporter how much work has gone into the legal acquisition of rights to use the musical works in the production. That is expected given the fact that the show is a brainchild of a senior advocate and a self-trained theatre entrepreneur.

The director, Kanayo Omo had the advantage of seeing the stage with Nwokedi. He knows the task ahead.Asides putting up a great show, SouthAfricans long to have the production team at workshops that will add value both ways.

Working with an almost entirely new cast presents a unique challenge for Kanayo who seemed very self-assured at handling it.

“People carry on with a sense of right,” he said.

“That is the first thing you face in any ensemble be it football or theatre. Sometimes, you are better off with people who have trained because the desire and curiosity will be there. For me, there has been a clear strategy of what we want to do.As the show grows, you discover new things because it is art and it is not static. If you put life and art together, you will have a lot of dynamic potentials. it is going to be much more spectacular other than just the technical details.”

His first reaction when he saw Nelson Mandela Theatre was articulated in one word: “Finally”. He thought there are very few theatres in the world that can boast of the same magnitude.

“This stage gives you everything you need. The actors can now be immersed in a world where you

can live so that the audience won’t just go there to watch the show but to experience life. That’s the richness of theatre.”

How well does he know his SouthAfrican audience? Kanayo’s response hinted that the perception of the audience was really secondary to global relevance of the play material.

“The first thing that you want to know in terms of your material is whether it is dealing with the classical nature of the script. Is there a difference between love in Yoruba and love in Ibo? Heartbreak is heartbreak irrespective of the cause. The classical essence is what the story should be distilled to.

And if I can portray to you pain, joy, regret, ecstasy, all are classical and they are there, the next thing is to shape your audience to appreciate the cultural nomenclature.

“Every nation has a challenge. How do we progress and build and make it work? It is in the play when you look at the argument between the Yoruba. Xenophobia is basically the fear of the other. It is the same idea of you versus I. So in essence you can say we are fighting because you are hungry and I am hungry. Can we fix the hunger?

The stage is expected to help you refocus on a wider view of life. The story provides the opportunity to understand our world. Theatre just brings it to life. That is why actors live the story. They must empty themselves so that the material can fill them up. The mind is focused on that being.”

Are there safeguards for the artists who may be working with the stage equipments like those in the Nelson Mandela Theatre for the first time?

“Health and safety is key and it is a policy in SouthAfrica,” he said. “The actors will be going through some training.Any professional theatre

anywhere needs to have that training. The machine part of the stage requires training and it is really an upgrade.”

The production team has eight days for rehearsals as soon as they land in Johannesburg. The vital elements of the musical namely music and dance had been the preoccupation of Ben Ogbeiwi who is the music director and lead actor in the play.

“We represent the truth with this play,” he began.

“It reflects the mind, heart and soul of this country.

If we play close attention to the issues that we have, Kakadu offers solutions to all the challenges around the selfish elements in the system. If we do not get into the conscience of these wild ones, we won’t get ahead of these challenges and we hold the key to solving these problems.”

The cast which is at present 40 will likely be reduced to half. Unlike before, every singer will wear his or her microphone. The sound is surround which means audibility is guaranteed.

Haji Omonoba Bello who has been a part of Kakadu since inception plays the roles of Uncle Azubuike, a drunken policeman and an armed robbery.As a professional actor, he enjoys challenging roles though he admitted that the rehearsals have been rigorous starting at 8a.m. and ending at 4 p.m. daily.

“Kakadu has been going through phases and I see high level of metamorphosis and new innovations,” he observed. “Turning up for rehearsals have been really stressful. But we know where we are heading anyway. Kakadu rehearsals have always been rigorous but not this intense. The concept of Kakadu is very rare and it speaks of my history.”

The only act drawn from Botswana is Sheila

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THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER •APRIL 23, 2017

RIDES A

as the cast and crew prepare part of the key celebrations

Molelegwa, a former beauty Queen in her home country and in Nigerian sense, “very endowed”.

The lady with sonorous voice was in Nigeria for a short vacation when she got a whiff of the audition. Based on logistics, she was selected and now she is looking forward to the SouthAfrican show.

“When you make decisions, they are always calculated,” she said. “Decisions sometimes involve taking risks and making a compromise.

I had already heard about Kakadu. Kakadu and Lion King are the biggest inAfrica. I had always wanted to live in Nigeria and learn about the culture. I don’t have relatives here. I am all by myself. For me, it is a moment of cultural exchange.”

Her mother is her biggest fan. She has enjoyed her support and hopes to see her at the theatre.

Having left music studio for the stage, she has the pleasure of being indoctrinated to Nigerian culture.

“I feel at home in Nigeria. They treat me practically like I am a family member. They used to call me Botswana but I am now fully Nigerian.

I have been christenedAisha Olasunmbo Amaka.And my favourite food is Egusi soup and Eba,” she disclosed.

The choreographer,Abel Otuedor from the National Troupe is not new to international cultural exchange programmes having worked with the French Embassy on a couple of productions.

“It means a lot for SouthAfrica to see our story and know what Kakadu meant for them,” he said.

ARTS & REVIEW\\MUSICAL The Inverted Pyramid; Adapted from a novel by Emeka Dike

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APRIL 23, 2017 •THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER

ARTS & REVIEW\\LITERARY CAFE

UBULU IN THE EYE OF A WRITER Yinka Olatunbosun

E

sther Nwogwonuwa Wright could have passed for a pleasure-seeking tourist in her wide-legged pair of jeans that hugged her firm waist as she sat in the midst of community leaders that morning at a hotel lobby in Ajao Estate, Lagos. Far from that assumption, she is a researcher, writer and more importantly an adventurer who strongly promotes a rebirth of interest in our cultural heritage.

For two years, she sought an understanding of Ubulu kingdom by relocating from Lagos to her hometown in Delta State to develop a documentary script around the Ubulu people who are reportedly spread across five states in Nigeria.

“There was a lot of discussions as people were talking about this subject in different versions and most of the custodians of this culture were dying,” she explained.”I planned a short visit but then I knew I had to live among the people to really get to the heart of the story. Most of the time, what you get on the field determines what you will do. Initially, I wanted to do some select communities in Delta state. They are found to be inter-related. There were lots of migration so I decided to move around twelve communities. Ubulu got its name from a tree and had been reported for centuries. I met this tree as a child. This tree connected many people.

There were many communities that I couldn’t reach because of time constraint bit I gathered enough information about them.

By time I was done, I discovered that all I had was too much for an hour documentary film so I decided to put it in a book. After the book, I can go back to my directing.”

During her research, she discovered a lot of festivals, rituals and taboos. There exist some parallels in the legal framework that is operational in our contemporary society and traditional setting. She felt even more compelled to document her findings for good reasons in her latest book titled, The Story of Ubulu Kingdom, launched recently in Delta State.

“It is said that we don’t write about our history but I found out that our history was written in our festivals, dance, music and worship. I am a Christian but I can tell you that I went to the shrine. There had been

Esther Wright at the book launch of Ubulu Kingdom attempts to do this research but many got discouraged by the enormous nature of the story. I found out what connected us as a people, the similarity in us. I discovered that one of the traditional rulers migrated from Ile-Ife. Some of them said they came when Orunmila was coming to Benin. We have the taboos and banishments. We also have penalty for women who have extra-marital affairs. That is how I got my book. Most of the people I spoke to are between the ages of 70 and 100. When my book was completed, I had to add more stories because some of the people felt excluded. I made a lot of references to what people said and I didn’t try to parade what they said as my own thoughts.

There will be a volume two.”

Asides the historic landmark of Ubulu tree, Ubulu people have a mask that is very similar to the mask of Ile-Ife, which lends

credence to the migration narrative. But can oral narratives be trusted? One of the greatest criticisms against oral narrative is that it can vary from one narrator to another; very prone to omissions and additions or exaggerations. For the elderly, it can be a challenge to recall the details of history accurately but Wright was prepared for all that.

“I know what dementia is and I know how to handle the elderly,” she continued.

“When you are talking to them, you don’t give them many questions. Then I repeat the questions over and over again to see if I will get the same response. There was a particular woman I was talking to. She was about 115years old. I wasn’t sure she could hear me and I decided to talk to someone while she was narrating a story to me. She said, “You are not paying attention. Why

VISUAL ARTS

Edo Govt. Seeks Viable Arts Sector, As Nigeria Goes to Venice Tony Usidamen As the Nigerian participation in the forthcoming Venice Biennale looms, the Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki has called for concerted efforts in the development of the local art industry. This, he said, will be good for a more inclusive and sustainable economy.

Obaseki, who – as “Commissioner” of the Nigerian pavilion at the Venice Art Biennale 2017 - is leading efforts towards the country’s first showing on the world’s biggest art stage, made the call during a stakeholder event in Benin.

According to him: “Nigeria is blessed with an abundance of creative talent. By leveraging our rich human capital and cultural resources in arts and crafts, we can generate job opportunities for our youths and create a more robust and viable economy.

“As a progressive government we recognize the immense potential that a developed art sector holds for the state, and we are already exploring avenues for collaboration with the private sector in arts and crafts training, as well as financing opportunities, that will foster increased, better quality artistic output and a thriving market for trade in art, both locally and globally.”

“Our ultimate aim is to restore Edo’s pride in the arts by developing the state’s cultural capital, including the building of a world-class museum of the arts in Benin City.

Besides creating jobs for our people, and the economic gain from increased tourist activities, a vibrant art space contributes to

Obaseki social cohesion and nation-building through the promotion of intercultural dialogue and collaboration.”

Venice Art Biennale is a defining platform where nations of the world showcase the best of their art and seek to exert some level of socio-cultural influence. The platform offers Nigeria a great opportunity to develop a positive narrative for the country and to re-establish its national pride by showcasing our unique art and rich cultural heritage to the world.

Edo-born painter, Victor Ehikhamenor, is one of three contemporary artists representing Nigeria as the country makes her debut at the 122-year old biennale. Others are sculptor Peju Alatise and choreographer Qudus Onikeku, and each artist will showcase

a unique work centred on the theme “How About NOW?” An earlier statement by the Nigeria in Venice team explains: “’How About NOW?’ places a poignant emphasis on the passage of time: time long gone, time that shapes the contemporary zeitgeist, and time that the hopes and faith of a people are hinged on. The question of NOW and Nowness asks us to reflect not only on our myths, history and heritage but more so, on how we chose to champion contemporary narratives in a fragmented, interconnected, and distributed present.”

Ehikhamenor presents a large-scale work fusing abstract shapes with traditional sculpture, informed by an investment in classical Benin art and the effect of colonialism on cultural heritage.

Alatise presents an installation of eight winged life-size girls, based on the story of a ten-year old girl who works as a housemaid in Lagos while dreaming of a realm where she is free, who belongs to no one but herself, and can fly. The installation is a concise meditation on the nature of survival, here connoting a defiant journey into the imagination.

Onikeku showcases a trilogy of dance films, presented as an investigation through dance of the workings of body memory and its connection to national consciousness.

The Nigerian pavilion at the 57th Venice Biennale is curated by Adenrele Sonariwo and Emmanuel Iduma. The exhibition, whose preview holds on May 10, will be opened to the public on May 13 and runs till the end of November.

are you shouting? I can hear you. I was at the National Library in the UK, University of Ibadan, Yaba College of Technology, University of Benin and Nsukka. And I got a lot of information online. I spoke to a lot of kings. I visited forests. There were places I could not enter without making enquiries.I am hoping that our place can attract tourists so I have to know the rules of the place.

When you destroy shrines, you destroy the history of a people. I search for the similarity in humanity in Ubulu Kingdom.”

Wright dug into libraries in the United Kingdom, University of Ibadan, University of Benin and National Library, Yaba as well as online archives to consolidate her findings in the two-year research that culminated in a book.

CalebBritishInternational SchoolAwardedthe‘Best InternationalEntry’ The final of the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation’s (DSWF) annual Global Canvas Art and Poetry Competition for children showcased a fabulous celebration of ‘Our Precious Planet’, the theme for this year’s event, at the Natural History Museum in London on March 23. Caleb British International School was awarded the “Best International Entry” at the final exhibition.

Over 1,800 children from Art Groups and Schools in the UK and overseas entered the 2017 competition with a shortlist of 15 Schools invited to display their work at London’s famous Museum. Caleb British International School was the only shortlisted School from Africa. “Being one of the shortlisted finalists was a prize in itself as choosing the winners from so many inspiring and creative entries was a hugely difficult task,” says DSWF Education Manager, Ms. Jo Elphick.

“It was an Outstanding Shortlist, and in my eyes everyone was a Winner,” said Wildlife Artist and Conservationist David Shepherd CBE (85) who attended the event.

“That the winners also managed to raise so much money to protect the wildlife that we all love was the icing on the cake.” “The entry from Nigeria showcased some exceptional artistic talent that was much admired by everyone who attended the event” reported

by Jo Elphick, DSWF Education Manager.

The Global Canvas Art and Poetry competition is part of the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation’s Art for Survival programme.

Established in 2004 it aims to encourage young people to express their concern for the environment and, in particular, endangered species of this fragile planet.

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THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER •APRIL 23, 2017

ARTS & REVIEW\\ExhIbITIon

STRELITZIA... AN EXPERIMENTAL JOURNEY TO SELF” Blessing Bee Azubike

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ast weekend, “STRELITZIA … A Journey to Self” held in Lagos as part of the just concluded Lagos Theatre Festival by The British Council.

Strelitzia was an experiential poetry and art installation project put together by Poedio Productions Partners, the Poet, Donna and Bianca Odiete. The show was on for four days, from Thursday, March 2 through Sunday, March 5.

If you attended the Lagos Theatre Festival, you would know that it was indeed a hub of activities, from trainings to stage plays, music shows and talks. The festival showcased about 500 performances by over 100 artists, and with so much content to choose from and a lot of the shows running concurrently, all the audience could depend on in trying to select the best shows to watch, was either a really catchy title, a properly written description, a great cast line up or aggressive marketing. For Strelitzia, apart from the fact that Donna is remarkable on stage, the title may also have worked in her favour. Granted it isn’t one of the catchiest titles, but it does make you curious… Strelitzia, what in the world does it mean?!

“Strelitzia” is originally the biological name for a flower of South African origin called “Birds of Paradise”. It was given that name because of its beautiful colours and the shape of its petals which are spread in a manner reminiscent of the plumage of a beautiful colourful bird.

The organisers of the show chose the name after trying out many others, including keeping “The Black Box Diaries”, the name of the art installation which first inspired the idea.

“It was an entry made by my friend, Sadiq Williams, in an art competition that he was a part of” Donna explains “He had called me to tell me about it and asked if I could recite the history of influencers of black history… and while he spoke, I saw what would become Strelitzia, in my head” They eventually met up and as Donna listened to what Sadiq had created, she realised that it was different from what she had in mind, and so she told him about her idea and he instantly exclaimed “Sis, you’ve got to do this! It’s powerful! … a different dimension” That idea grew continuously until it became “Strelitzia... An Experimental Journey to Self”.

As you walk into The Ramp, a wooden structure within Freedom Park which houses the installation that is about to begin, you don’t know what to expect. The venue has been demarcated into a number of small rooms, and as you step into the first space, you realise you are about to be taken on a journey.

This journey begins with a Beckoning Voice (played by Tope Sadiq, Poet and founder of Freedom Hall), who calls the audience (regarded as ‘the story bearer’ in this show) into the diary where you are met with treats from the past; tasting Choco Milo, Sisi Pelebe (groundnut candy), Coconut Candy, or ‘Baba Dudu’.

According to Donna, the journey through the first part of Strelitzia, is a call to the ‘why’ of Nigeria, and you can see past leaders and newspaper clippings (which are copies of the original papers from the 1950’s to 1970’s) also line the wall.

Strelizia is no mean feat, and to achieve what was intended, Donna and her partner Bianca worked with a tireless team of researchers, technical crew and consultants: ICEE (Nnamdi Nweke), Jacqueline Aki, Victory Omoruyi and Grace Falaye.

A scene from the play She got her friends to send in books, vintage comics and action figures from the U.S and London, and her Mother sent her records and other precious memorabilia. People also sent in their memories and stories, powerful stories which were recited; their own way of letting go.

The show is officially open and The Beckoning Voice hands over to the Light Bearer, played by dancer, Mary Oluwo, but not before taking the audience through the Living Room, a most crucial part of the entire piece. Here, there is a Gramophone from the 60s, a Boom Box from the 80s, a Discman from the 90’s, Records, comics and novels of old, the old sponges (koin koin), old medicine (Alabokun), toys, action figures, shoes, thread, an old Television Set with the roller shutters, a Cast Iron, Mentholatum, the original tinned Robb, Morning Rose Powder and other memorabilia that the Story Bearers are encouraged to touch, smell, flip through all the while being led in chants or songs of old adverts, Ryhmes, movie themes from the 70’s , 80’s and 90’s. These familiar objects from way back immediately trigger some memories Next, the audience is led to the Emotional Memory of Movement (played by Emmanual Luka-Musa), his character is a semi-nude sleeping man who makes movements and sounds that indicate he is having a torturous dream, and when awoken, he performs an emotional dance piece indicative of the heaviness of sorrow, often borne alone. As he lies back down on the bed, the Light-Bearer yet again guides the audience to the next room where the silhouette of a lady is seen moving sensually to Zayn Malik’s Pillow Talk. Whether she is nude or clad in body-fitting attire is unclear. This phase could aptly be called ‘the peeping room’, as the audience only get to watch from outside the room where the actual dance takes place. The Sensual Memory, played by dancer Lilian Yeri, stops abruptly, rather awkwardly and the journey continues for the audience as they are led to the Life Force, played by singer and dancer, Jennifer O’ who sings while a noiseless reel of old films plays behind her.

A reviewer summarises these first few

scenes thus “A woman’s silhouette dancing sinuously… shakes off the haunting feel of the second room and opposite the silhouette, a woman in white sings a medley of songs my inner child remembers” Describing the show, Donna says “The experimental piece I created is an exploration of human vulnerabilities undertaken through a journey into a re-imagined physical diary... I kept thinking ‘if you could walk into your diary...its physical pages, what would you find there? How would it smell? What would you taste?

Touch? See?” She further explains “In my head, at the end of that kind of journey, one should unburden; surely a page or repository of thought would draw the words out of one and take them for itself, leaving the visitor lighter.”

The journey finally comes to an end within The Page. Imagine if the pages of a dairy could speak, what secrets it would tell. This is exactly what the final stage of Strelitzia is about; a physical space where the ‘Page’ of diaries recites entries of story bearers of all ages. The recitals are conveyed through poetry pieces and narrations, and Donna, who plays the Page, evokes emotions with tales like the Christian Sister who is ‘holierthan-thou’ but gets pregnant to the shock of the neighbourhood, Amina who cheats on her very loyal N.Y. S.C. boyfriend, and most painfully, Brother Lati who rapes a young trusting girl amidst cries of “Brother Lati please don’t do this, I’m a virgin..”. As Donna squeezes her face in pain, holding her clenched hands up in portrayal of brother Lati’s victim, you can tell from facial expressions that everyone is on that journey of pain and heartbreak with her.

At the last recital, Donna calls on the audience to tell their secrets by writing their entry in or lay their burden down.

She takes a napkin and bowl of water around for the audience to wash and dry their hands, signifying a laying down of burdens, markers are handed round for everyone to write their entry on the walls of the ramp; by now, the room is heavy with silent but intense emotion – some are in tears, and Donna can be seen locked in an

embrace with someone who is sobbing. All through Donna’s recitals, Toni ‘The Emperor’ Akinola, a folklore soul singer leads the audience within the page, strumming his guitar and singing his original compositions in a call and response manner. It is indeed a beautiful cocktail of poetry, music, dance and theatre.

A chat with some of the guests who had just seen the show reveals that they had a great time and were obviously intrigued by what they had just seen, one describing it as “…different from the usual shows you see in Nigeria”. The catch however was that they seemed not to have a full grasp of the entire show and clearly had a ton of questions “Why was the guy struggling in his sleep? What did the sexual dance mean?...why didn’t Donna perform her poems in all the stages alongside the other performers?”. All these questions were asked outside the ramp while the organisers hurriedly tried to prepare for the next show which was already running late.

Perhaps, an inclusion of a chat session after the show would have helped clarify a lot of the concepts.

When asked what she hoped to achieve with Strelitzia, Donna says “My desire was to use different art mediums to cause the audience to reflect on the who that they have become and the why of their pain or journey, ultimately laying it down and forging ahead un-burdened; thereby unfolding into something beautiful… Just like the Strelitzia” Though, the questions asked indicate that some bits of the message may have been lost in translation, what cannot be ignored or denied is the impact of the show; there was laughter from familiar memories in the beginning, tears from actions like washing one’s hand while being told that the unpleasant memories were being washed away, and silence from deep thought as Donna chanted lines like “…they will never see your scar. They will only see your ‘beautiful’… because you are a certain kind of strong.”

-Ms Azubuike is the curator/chief ARTvocate of Art for a Reason, Lagos.

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APRIL 23, 2017 • THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER

ARTS & REVIEW\\LITERARY CAFE

Change Begins With a Book Koko Kalango

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ewYork!NewYork!YesNewYorkissettingthepace forareadingrevolution.FromtheofficeoftheMayor, thecityhaslaunchedacampaigncalledOneBook OneNewYorkwhichencouragesNewYorkersto readonebookforaseason.Over5000peoplevoted tochooseoneof5awardwinningbooks;theselected booktokickoffthiscampaignisAMERICANAHby ChimamandaAdichie.

I am not a fan of AMERICANAH for its subliminal message that trivialises the sanctity of marriage and sex. I would have preferred New York to read Purple Hibiscus, Adichie’s first book, which exposes the challenges many families face (and hide) to their detriment. Incidentally, the Rainbow Book Club kicked off its ‘Get Nigeria Reading again’ campaign in May 2005 with Purple Hibiscus as Book-of-the-month and Chimamanda Adichie as guest author.

At this debut campaign the author interacted with hundreds of people from our book clubs in Port Harcourt and made the final selection of winners of an essay competition (for children) on a topic that was related to the book. Sixteen year old Master Adedotun Ajibade of Nigerian Navy Secondary School came out tops, while fourteen year old Master Victor Amango of Emarid College and fifteen year old Miss Nneka Jayne Moh of International Secondary School, Rivers State University of Science and Technology were first and second runners-up respectively.

By its incredible reading project New York is demonstrating its understanding of the importance of the book in building society.

It was a similar conviction that led to the Rainbow Book Club featuring a book-of-the-month which seeks to make the book an anchor for social interaction with the objective of learning lessons that will move us and our society forward. Kunle Kasumu, Channels TV Book Club presenter, ends each episode of his TV show with these words – ‘One good book can change your life’.

Just as a good book can be a positive force, a bad book can be used to influence society negatively. I recently read an article in this paper written by Sonnie Ekwowusi on ‘Sexualisation of Children’. The writer talked about how our children are receiving an inappropriate version of sexual education through curricular books. Let us intentionally and strategically employ the book as a tool for positive change.

In February 2017 the Rainbow Book Club read They Call Me Mama

by Dolapo Osinbajo, now wife of Nigeria’s Vice President. In this book, the author shares her experiences working with ‘area’ boys in Lagos from around the year 2000. She encountered these street boys in the course of daily school runs and soon began engaging them in dialogue. This interaction progressed and she started dropping off tea for them daily. Over time the bond grew

through social action should get this book. It provokes you to roll up your sleeves, get your hands in the mud and begin to work for change.

Peter Enahoro’s How to Be a Nigerian remains amongst the most popular books the Rainbow Book Club has read in the last 12 years. It will make you laugh and cry at once. It is about the conduct, misconduct, behaviour and misbehaviour of the average Nigerian.

It can serve as a mirror to the Nigerian and for the non-Nigerian, an induction or orientation text into the Nigerian way of life. It should lead us to pause and ponder on the consequences of the things we do as a norm (such as jump queues or be late to appointments).

This book should stir us to make changes that would take us in the direction of the Nigeria of our dreams.

Today, as we mark the UN World Book and Copyright Day 2017, let us use the book as a tool for positive change in Nigeria.

The Rainbow Book Club is witnessing the power of the book to transform society through the 200 book clubs we established in primary and secondary schools in Port Harcourt in the course of the city’s tenure as UNESCO World Book Capital (2014).

After a decade of our ‘Get Nigeria Reading again’ campaign we Chimamanda Adichie at the maiden Rainbow Book Club have now switched to a ‘Keep Nigeria Reading’ mode. And like in ‘Get Nigeria Reading again’ campaign (2005) with winners New York, we must all get on board the campaign trail. of the essay competition based on Purple Hibiscus An ambitious project of this nature cannot be accomplished by one person or one organisation. It will take a collective effort and all and she became like a mother to them. She took church to them under stakeholders in society have a part to play. The Government will need the bridge and later took them to church in her local assembly in Ikoyi. She to make policies that promote and encourage a vibrant book industry. was able to get many of the boys trained in a vocational skill, rehabilitated Grants should be made available for literary enterprise and these should be and re-integrated into society. This book sensitizes the reader to the plight of awarded on merit, through a credible agency. Businesses should support the less privileged and shows that we often do not need much to make a sustainable book related programmes as part of their Corporate Social difference in the lives of others.

Responsibility(CSR) endeavours. When it comes to CSR, companies should Arese Ugwu’s The Smart Money Woman was our book for March think beyond financial profit to social profit. We need libraries. Governments 2017. Arese’s book enables the reader kill three birds with one stone – enjoy should provide functional public libraries, corporate organisations should a heart-warming story of 4 friends (girls) and the dynamics of money in establish libraries, families should set up libraries as legacies to their loved relationships, get a peep into contemporary Lagos life, and glean lessons ones. Every school should have a library. on financial literacy. The size of the book is friendly to the busy schedule of Parents and guardians also have a part to play. They can nurture a love for the average person and the narrative is engaging. Arese makes you think reading amongst their children and wards. We should set good examples by about your attitude to money and gives tips on how to make money work becoming readers ourselves. We should read to our young children and take for you. By the time you are through with the book you should have only the older ones to book shops and libraries so they can catch the bug. yourself to blame if you are not making smart money choices!

Let us take a cue from New York and transform Nigeria, one book at In October 2016 our book in focus was Rage For Change, by LEAP a time. This month join us to read And After Many Days by Jowhor Ileh.

Africa. This work is actually a handbook for those who are serious about Remember, Change Begins With A Book. making a difference in society. It places the responsibility for change in the –– Koko Kalango, MON, founder Rainbow Book Club and lap of the individual and encourages us to look inwards to see how we can Project Director UNESCO World Book Capital 2014, wrote this piece be the solution to a problem that irritates us. It gives a step by step guide to mark World Book and Copyright Day to actualising our ideas. Anyone who has had a dream to impact society

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• APRIL 23, 2017

CICERO

Editor Olawale Olaleye Email wale.olaleye@thisdaylive.com, SMS: 08116759819

IN THE ARENA

Resolving the $50million Debacle A thorough, transparent and conclusive investigation into the recovered N13.3billions from an Ikoyi flat in Lagos is the only way out of this national embarrassment. Olawale Olaleye writes

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he constitution of a presidential panel by President Muhammadu Buhari, last Wednesday, to probe the discovery of N13.3billion in a flat in Ikoyi penultimate Thursday and the suspension of the DirectorGeneral of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Ambassador Ayodele Oke, appears to be the only concrete steps that had been taken by the presidency since the controversy surrounding the discovery broke.

Both the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the NIA have since the development refused to make any official statement on the matter.

But the president, on Wednesday, took the initiative and ordered a full scale investigation into the discovery of the large amount of foreign and local currencies by the EFCC in the apartment at Osborne Towers, Ikoyi, Lagos. The NIA had already laid claim to the money as funds for its covert operations. Though Oke has not been indicted, his suspension was hinged on the need to ensure unhindered probe.

A committee of three persons led by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo with Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, and National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno, as members, has been mandated by the president to conduct the investigation and turn in its report in 14 days.

And in the meantime, the most senior Permanent Secretary in the office of the SGF and the most senior officer in the NIA, are to act, respectively during the period of investigation The development, to say the least, has been the most embarrassing to a majority of Nigerians, who know the import of the negative tag of the latest discovery and the embarrassment caused by the initial poor handling of the issue for the country in the eyes of the international community, and had been calling for details of what really transpired at the flat since only a conclusive investigation can save the country from further embarrassment.

Senate President Bukola Saraki, had in his reaction to the controversy trailing the discovery, said: “I believe this is something simple that the organisation (EFCC) should manage, even before the speculation started coming out.

The circus has to come to an end as to whether it belongs to individuals, companies, agencies or a state government.

“We, however, believe they will sort it out and eventually tell Nigerians who owns the money. Nigerians deserve to know. The circus must stop. 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 it is because of this person that so, so, person is being prosecuted.

“But clearly, Nigerians must know, to save us this embarrassment. I believe they should come out and tell us who

owns the money. I believe an agency like this should monitor and clear this mess.”

Afenifere leader, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, was terrified, saying “Government set up commissions by law to fight corruption and they are fighting each other, is that not corruption? What is happening now shows the rottenness in the government.”

He insisted that government must be transparent as far as the matter was concerned.

Former Ogun State governor, Chief Olusegun Osoba, described, “The whole thing as a total disgrace of the highest order”, adding that “there’s a total display of sordid incompetence.” He, however, maintained that the “EFCC has to go and search itself, clear its name and stop this trial by the media.”

Dr. Eyimofe Atake, a Senior Advocated of Nigeria (SAN), also said, “My view, therefore, is that by now, the EFCC knows who owns the flat or rented it. But it is baffling that they are silent and nothing is being done about it. One thing is also clear: keeping such money in the house also shows that the money is illegal.”

Afenifere’s scribe, Mr. Yinka Odumakin, too described the development as “The greatest embarrassment for the anti-graft war in Nigeria,” saying: “I think the EFCC integrity

P O L I T I CA L N OT E S

S

Sirika

ix weeks after it was closed for extensive rehabilitation works, the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on Tuesday reopened for business as an Ethiopian Airline plane was the first to touch down on the rehabilitated runway at exactly 12:05 pm.

The Abuja airport repairs were particularly a test case for the cred-

is seriously being challenged here just like the DSS wrote to the Senate that there is integrity issue in EFCC, so the integrity of EFCC is being challenged over this recovered fund,” he said.

Clearly, they all cannot be wrong and the fact that their viewpoints align greatly with those of a majority of Nigerians, then, the federal government and its agencies must answer all the questions arising from the haul. Buhari’s intervention should not just be a presidential order, the investigation must be thorough, detailed, objective and sincere such that can help the country out of this image crisis.

The probe panel must equally see the many opaque sides to this embarrassing situation through the lenses of the average Nigerian, and must attend to the matter with all the urgency and seriousness it deserves, with a closure that will highlight in positive slant, the integrity of the contending security agencies.

Nigeria has had enough of these demeaning narratives.

The Ikoyi discovery is one development too many and therefore, it is for national pride and the collective security of the nation that the matter is resolved conclusively with the mist of uncertainties cleared off with the substance of the investigation. A lot is at stake and the Osinbajo team cannot afford to approach this with levity.

A Promise Kept! ibility of the Muhammadu Buhari administration. The proposal for the repair works which was going to see the airport shutdown for six weeks did not go down with a lot of people. And this was reflected in the heated debate it generated in the Senate. A majority of the lawmakers opposed it, citing different reasons, chief of which was the inconvenience it was meant to cause the users of the airport,

including passengers.

But government stood its ground and promised to complete the repairs within the stipulated time, a position other concerned interests embraced at the end of the day. But not many believed the government and its familiar talks. At the end of the day, it was not business as usual.

The federal government promised and delivered on its promise in record time.

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• APRIL 23, 2017

BRIEFINGNOTES Bukola Saraki: His Brand is Crisis Arguably one of the most influential politician at the moment, a submission President Muhammadu Buhari recently affirmed at a public gathering. But curiously, every attempt to deconstruct Senate President Bukola Saraki has only further unveiled his positive politics and development inclination. Olawale Olaleye takes an introspective look at this emerging force in the annals of the nation’s body polity

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he title of this piece derived from a 2015 American comedy-drama film, Our Brand Is Crisis, directed by David Gordon Green and written by Peter Straughan. It is based on the 2005 documentary film of the same name by Rachel Boynton, but a fictionalised account of the involvement of American political campaign strategists, Greenberg Carville Shrum (GCS) in the 2002 Bolivian presidential election.

In 2002, Bolivian politician, Pedro Castillo (a fictionalised version of Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada) contracted an American political consulting firm (based on James Carville’s Greenberg Carville Shrum firm) to help him win the presidential election. The firm brought in Jane Bodine (Sandra Bullock) to manage the campaign. But the opposition’s political consultant, a fellow American, Pat Candy (Billy Bob Thornton) was to be her nemesis.

In Bolivia, the situation preparatory to the poll was tense. The indigenous people, who are in majority wanted a constitutional reform to get proper representation. And to achieve this, they would rather embrace protest.

The American consultants, not knowing the language or the culture, were however persuaded by Bodine, a spent political strategist, to follow a smear campaign approach. But Castillo disagreed. It was only after a flyer, which accused him (Castillo) of an illicit affair and blamed on the opposition that he agreed to play their game.

Thus, waltzing through the crisis of seeming unacceptability, compounded by age and the growing quest for change, Castillo, who was then the sitting president, was returned to office, albeit with a close margin. His brand was evidently crisis and the crisis was his strength and winning joker.

The story of the emergence of Dr. Bukola Saraki as the President of the Senate must have by now found a place in the retentive channel of the brains of a majority of people. How he was alleged to have betrayed certain vested interests in his party to clinch the coveted seat and how his alleged horsetrading with the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) earned him the place he eminently occupies today.

To assume that his manner of emergence, against all odds, would not have consequences would have been naïve.

But it appears Saraki saw it far ahead even before plunging into a potentially volatile arena and that, perhaps, could explain his survival in spite of the mines that have been set on his path.

From the alleged forgery of the Senate Rules upon which his election was predicated to claims of disregard for the party leadership, his trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal, the swirling allegation of corruption against him, and later, the alleged non-cooperation of the Senate at his instance with the Executive, none of these, to an average observer, was believed to have happened by sheer accident.

It was good for him after all that a majority of these allegedly orchestrated narratives tarried awhile, providing a window through time for a few discerning minds to see the conspiracy against a man, who despite the strength

His brand is crisis, no doubt, but not because he enjoys strutting through it, but because it is most times inevitable for him however cushioned by the fact that he has developed a pastime for staying atop

Saraki...eyes on the ball of establishment forces, became the nation’s number three citizen.

Many a time, the question has been posed: what is or are Saraki’s sins? But not one answer has been supplied outside of the already established interests that had congregated against him. Not only have such answers bolstered the resolve of those, who have come to see the undercurrents of the power play before and after his emergence, they are also fast changing the narratives without prompting. Some of the posers that have dovetailed into serious debates amongst members of the public will suffice a bit.

Recorded as one of Saraki’s sins is the fact that he has refused to be a tool in the hands of people believed to have hijacked the instruments of government. The debate has never been about how many executive bills President Muhammadu Buhari sent to the Senate and which the institution refused to attend to? Rather, in helping to respond to the economic recession, the Saraki-led senate is reputed to have passed seven urgent economic bills without recourse to the Executive. Today, the nation’s

economy is globally acknowledged to have pulled out of recession, technically, but no one has recognised the role of the Senate.

Talk about the fight against corruption and the question that naturally pops up is: how many bills has the Executive sent to the National Assembly to strengthen the fight against graft?

It is just one that everyone knows and it is the whistleblower bill, which though is still undergoing the process of approval, is already in effect, courtesy the understanding of the senate.

But further supporting that argument is this: how many public accountability bills have been sent to the legislature?

Maybe the Executive is still pondering that option. What about the judicial reform bills? None still! The talk about economic diversification is as monotonous as the concept itself, but how many bills have been sent in by the executive in respect of that? Nobody has an answer because it does not exist.

On the contrary, the man who is reported to have led the initiation of 13 economic reforms and business environment bills is the one being branded

as the black sheep that is against the change agenda, not minding that he was “an investor” ab initio in the change stock market.

Curiously, regardless of the distractions designed in his way, Saraki has never stooped to excuses but continued to push on with legislative reforms, such that is gradually redefining the senate he leads and the leadership he is offering.

Definitely, what has so far been churned out by the Senate may not be the best or the minimum expectations from these representatives, what cannot be taken away from them still is that there is a leadership that is dynamic, progressive-minded and firmly in charge of the Senate through the support of his colleagues and by extension, the National Assembly as its chairman.

Saraki’s politics of ideas has always trumped his travails, even though his traducers would dismiss this for obvious reasons. With an enviable capacity to process, analyse and manage information, he has always read with near accuracy, the future of his political career, an endowment that provides clear edge over many of his contemporaries and to the awe of his support base.

Deliberately stoking crisis for Saraki may be fruitless because he not only has the capacity to manage such but has also risen through it over time and to the disappointment of those, who may detest his demeanor or politics.

His brand is crisis, no doubt, but not because he enjoys strutting through it, but because it is most times inevitable for him however cushioned by the fact that he has developed a pastime for staying atop crisis situations.

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• APRIL 23, 2017

CICERO/ISSUE

L-R Former President Goodluck Jonathan embattled PDP National Chairman, Ali Modu Sheriff and Chairman, PDP Board of Trustees, Alhaji Wali Jubril at the failed Stakeholders? meet in Abuja recently

With Another Failed Peace Effort, PDP Plunges Further Onyebuchi Ezigbo writes that with a recently botched peace effort, the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party might have to forgo a political solution

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here seems to be no letting off the steam in the protracted leadership crisis currently rocking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The dispute, which started as a mere disagreement over the chairmanship position, has now engulfed the entire structures of the party, affecting not only the national leadership but also the state and of course, the local government wings

of the party.

The crisis has held the party and members hostage for almost one year. Within the period, several attempts had been made to resolve the dispute to no avail. The latest of such efforts to broker peace and reconciliation among the warring parties, championed by former President Goodluck Jonathan also hit the rocks.

And unfortunately, the failure of the Jonathan reconciliatory effort has further created serious doubt as to whether the parties were indeed ready to embrace political solution. In fact, it has left the party with no other option than to leave the matter at the Supreme Court, where the Senator Ahmed Makarfi had since taken it.

The hopes of a peaceful resolution of the long-drawn leadership crisis in the PDP dimed when one of the key actors in the conflict, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff stormed out midway into a stakeholders’ meeting convened by Jonathan in Abuja a fortnight ago. The peace meeting was held with high expecta-

With the resumption of verbal war between the warring factions, which has become even more intense now, any hope of political solution could only exist in the realm of imagination and not based on the reality of the things on the ground

tions ended in disagreement, when Sheriff against all pleadings, left the venue in protest over non-recognition as the national chairman.

Although Sheriff had got a favorable ruling from the last Appeal Court judgment recognising him as the PDP chairman, the ruling was immediately appealed by the National Caretaker Committee headed by Makarfi and has since been at the Supreme Court.

Most of the stakeholders, who were at the peace talks, had expected the two antagonistic factions to drop their rivalry and ego to give room for reconciliation. But they were taken aback when the former governor of Borno State insisted on his right to preside over the meeting. He even objected to former President Jonathan’s right as the convener of the peace parley to chair it.

A heated argument later ensued with all the party leaders standing on their feet. Sheriff still insisted that nothing would be discussed unless he was given the opportunity to sit as the chairman and address the stakeholders. After series of interventions and persuasion failed to calm nerves, Sheriff finally walked out on the meeting along with his deputy, Dr. Cairo Ojougboh and their other loyalists.

However, on his way of out of the meeting venue, Sheriff said there was no way a meeting of the party could take place without his being given the opportunity to make an opening remark.

“The party as today has one national chairman, which is Ali Modu Sheriff. There is no PDP meeting that will take place under any arrangement that I will not make an opening remark as a national chairman.”

The former governor however said he would accept the peace template contained in the report of the Reconciliation Committee headed by the Governor of Bayelsa State, Hon. Seireka Dickson.

“I think that Governor Dickson made a proposal, and we have accepted it. Other people have a programme to bring an agenda, which is not part of that proposal and as the national chairman of the party, what I told you people in my office is that I will not be party to anybody using any means to do another programme. I will not be a party to it” But the peace meeting continued without Sheriff and some of his loyalists. At the end of the meeting, a proposal for the setting up of another reconciliation committee was agreed upon.

Apart having an enlarged membership of about 40 stakeholders, the new peace panel is to be headed by either

of three top leaders of the party: ex-President Jonathan, former Vice-President Namadi Sambo or former Senate President David Mark. Jonathan said the 40-man committee would come up with a political solution to the crisis. According to him, the committee would consist of six nominees of the Board of Trustees (BoT), six nominees of the Sheriff led National Working Committee (NWC) and six nominees of National Caretaker Committee to be drawn from the six geo-political zone.

Other members of the committee are all the PDP governors, Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, Senate Minority leader, Senator Godswill Akpabio, House of Representatives minority leader, Hon Leo Ogor.

Jonathan added that two former governors, two former ministers, two women and two youths would also be appointed to serve in the committee. Jonathan assured that once the committee is formed, it would come up with a roadmap for peace in the party within two weeks.

However, one thing that remained unclear at the end of the meeting was the status of the report of the peace and reconciliation committee led by Dickson, which had earlier recommended a unity convention under the supervision of Sheriff.

The Sheriff leadership had rejected the proposal to set up a new reconciliation committee, insisting that it would instead stick with the recommendations of the Dickson committee. Sheriff was quoted as saying he and his National Working Committee would go ahead with plans to hold a national convention, with or without the participation of the Makarfi-led National Caretaker committee.

Sheriff’s words: “We have a programme, which was initiated

by Dickson, anything that is outside that, I will not be part of it”.

The apparent flop of the Jonathan intervention and the inability of the major organs of the PDP to address in specific terms, the contents of the Dickson reconciliation committee report had further compounded issues and are threatening to further plunge the opposition party into deeper crisis.

With the resumption of verbal war between the warring factions, which has become even more intense now, any hope of political solution could only exist in the realm of imagination and not based on the reality of the things on the ground.

Rather than continuing to put their supporters in suspense, pretending that they were ready for dialogue, it serves the two sides better to get down to business and prepare for their legal battle at the Supreme Court, when the appeal comes up on May 4.

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• APRIL 23, 2017

CICERO/ONTHEWATCH

The New Face of NDDC With its new Managing Director, Mr. Nsima Ekere, the Niger Delta Development Commission is certain to get back its groove. Shola Oyeyipo writes

W

hen former President Olusegun Obasanjo conceived the idea of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) as an interventionist agency in 2000, its sole mandate was to develop the oil-rich Niger Delta region of the country. The NDDC is therefore a child of necessity created to respond to the demands of the people of the region.

Among the core responsibilities of the NDDC are the formulation of policies and guidelines for the development of the Niger Delta area, and this is spelt out in such bits as conception, planning and implementation, in accordance with set rules and regulations, of projects and programmes for sustainable development of the area.

These development agenda include transportation (roads, jetties and waterways), health, employment, industrialisation, agriculture and fisheries, housing and urban development, water supply, electricity and telecommunications.

It is also to survey the region in order to identify measures necessary to promote its physical and socio-economic development.

The commission also has as parts of it tasks, preparation of master plans and schemes designed to promote the physical development of the region, implementation of all the measures approved for the development of the region by the federal government and the states of the commission.

It is also to address ecological and environmental problems that arise from the exploration of oil, advise the federal government and the member states on the prevention and control of oil spillages, gas flaring and environmental pollution as well as liaise with oil mineral and gas prospecting and producing companies on all matters of pollution, prevention and control among several others.

However, most of the strongly opinionated personalities from the region and outside have a near consensus in the perception that the commission has not achieved the objective for which it was set up.

For instance, renowned Niger Delta activist, Miss Annkio Briggs, has always maintained that the NDDC and Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs have both failed to achieve the essence for which they were established and her argument is predicated on the number of abandoned NDDC projects littering the region.

Briggs’ views are shared by the likes of former Senate President David Mark and former President Goodluck Jonathan, who once regretted that nothing on the ground could justify the huge amount of money the federal government had so far spent on the Niger Delta Development Commission.

Jonathan, who is of the Niger Delta extraction, said since he bears the brunt of the failure of any government agency as the Commander-in-Chief, he would start to clinically look into the commission’s books with a view to ensuring that those in charge did not depart from the conventional and acceptable way of managing resources of the people.

“From three per cent to one intervention or the other, if you aggregate the total amount of money the federal government has spent on this agency, it is enormous and I don’t believe on the ground that we have something to show very clearly”,

Ekere...the unintended change!

Jonathan had said.

His concern, as most other Nigerians was further corroborated by last month’s position of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) which stated that between 2007 and 2014, a period of seven years, the NDDC got $1.98 billion and N594 billion remitted to it, but could not account for how N7.4 billion allocated for grassroots development projects was spent.

According to records, since its inception, the commission has awarded 8, 557 projects of which 3, 424 projects have been completed and handed over to communities and states while there are 2, 257 on-going projects and 2, 506 yet to be started for various reasons.

Thus, as Mark succinctly put it, the NDDC had been turned into a goldmine for some people and that is the more reason why all eyes have been on successive leaderships of the commission, particularly, the incumbent Managing Director, Mr. Nsima Ekere, who many had waited to see how he hoped to get the agency to meet the yearnings and aspirations of the people.

Ekere, 51, came on the NDDC saddle with a reputation as an entrepreneur and innovative thinker with requisite knowledge in Estate Management. He studied Estate Management at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, graduating in 1986. He built successful businesses and acquired important national and international experiences in urban and regional planning, oil and gas, power and construction. He served briefly as deputy governor of Akwa Ibom State between May 2011 and October 2012 before resigning on personal grounds.

In picking the NDDC job, the task before Ekere was how to put his more than 27 years of public and private sector experience, with 19 years spent

In picking the NDDC job, the task before Ekere was how to put his more than 27 years of public and private sector experience, with 19 years spent in top management positions working cross-functionally in a variety of challenging projects across various economic sectors into addressing the problems preventing the commission from achieving its set objectives

in top management positions working crossfunctionally in a variety of challenging projects across various economic sectors into addressing the problems preventing the commission from achieving its set objectives.

When he addressed the recent fifth Niger Delta Dialogue in Port Harcourt, where he spoke on the theme: “Assessment of NDDC’s Successes and Shortcomings to Date”, Ekere, who did not pretend to be oblivious of the problems facing his commission, reechoed how his leadership intends to reposition the agency and actualise the dreams of its founding fathers.

According to him, “The new board of the NDDC is committed to tackling the root causes of the numerous challenges besetting the commission and by extension, the Niger Delta region.

“After a careful review of the issues, we are implementing what we call the 4R strategy which consists of the following components: Restructure the Balance sheet which currently has about N1.2 trillion worth of on-going projects; reform the governance systems to ensure that as an organization, we comply with extant rules and regulations and prevent mistakes of the past from recurring; restore the core mandate of the commission by ensuring we have a properly prepared set of Master Plans for the nine states, and reaffirm our commitment to doing what’s right and proper.”

Though he noted that the goals are “ambitious” and that the time at his disposal “is limited”, he expressed the confidence that the right first steps had been taken and that his team will remain focused on set objectives.

“The reforms planned will also affect how we prepare our budget to ensure we are able to deliver high impact social welfare programmes that really touch the people and help us change the present negative narrative.

“Specifically, we shall collaborate with our stakeholders including the federal government, National Assembly, state governments and LGAs of the region, and most important, the oil and gas firms, who directly fund our budget. For this later group, we shall deliver interventions in host communities that address their specific needs.”

Good as these may sound, just as in the larger Nigerian society, if Ekere must achieve his desired goals, he must tackle the problem of corruption that has attained an endemic dimension in the NDDC and that exactly is what he has been doing. But it is not without a fight. In fact, on Tuesday, April 4, 2017, over 100 militants

disrupted the inaugural sitting of a six-man investigative panel set up by the management of the NDDC in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.

The Ekere leadership had set up the investigative panel, chaired by Dr. Ekanem Princewill, Director, Special Duties in the office of the Managing Director, to hear and unravel cases of allegations of corruption and racketeering concerning the commission but the hoodlums beat the security arrangement at Hotel Presidential, Port Harcourt venue of the panel’s meeting, and made their way forcefully to the inaugural sitting, forcing members of the panel, contractors and journalists to abandon the hall and run for their lives.

Not deterred, the NDDC has vowed to complete the investigation and unearth those behind alleged corruption in the commission.

Ekere has maintained that under his watch, the NDDC will adhere strictly to due process and not consider political patronage as a criterion for awarding contracts. He also promised to be frugal with funds.

“We will take measures to safeguard the funds expended on projects. When contractors claim to have a capacity they don’t have, they give the NDDC a bad name. Henceforth, projects will no longer be awarded as political patronage. With measures being put in place, such incidences will not happen in the new NDDC. We will invite the full weight of the law on erring contractors,” Ekere stated during a working visit to Ondo State last month. Continuing, he said “When we convince ourselves that we have not done well, then we can take off from this point.”

For many, the Commission is a failure. And the major challenge before the new board is how to turn things around. The new board must work to win back confidence of people of the Niger Delta on the commission.

Attesting to the previously pathetic state of affairs in the NDDC and the relative improvement in how contracts are now being awarded, a politician and registered contractor with the commission, Mr. Gabriel Jaja, said in an interview that “Ethics governing the award of contracts in NDDC has been thrown into the dustbin. Look, I am a registered contractor with NDDC, during this period nothing is happening in that commission rather than corruption. Contracts were being sold outright to the public after they have finished selling it to their brothers and sisters.

“I am not saying it to destroy the image of anybody, but that was part of the findings of the probe committee, they also discovered that qualified and registered contractors beg for contract from the staff of NDDC not permitted to lobby for contract. Most of the contractors have been with NDDC for many years yet they cannot get direct contract except the one already awarded to others.

“In fact, brothers and sisters of the staff of NDDC move around with letters of award of contracts and they sold them on the streets.

However, this has somehow reduced, compared to two years ago. I can say we have better NDDC today compared to yesterday.

During this period I am telling you about, if you go to any Niger Delta states, you will see a poor man in possession of letter of award of contract worth millions of naira. If you don’t know the game, you will think the man is a 419. He is not, it is happening everywhere in the region and if you take such a man serious, he will turn around your life. They are staff, brothers and sisters or political friends of those in NDDC. They don’t have company or registered business name but contracts were being awarded in their names and they sell it.”

There is no gainsaying that Ekere has a lot on his hands especially that Nigerians are watching to see how he would get the commission back on the track. But truth is, he must take heed of the advice of a keen watcher of his fast growing political fortunes, Osondu Ahirika, who said “Ekere must be wary of those, who will suddenly flock to him with the ‘come and chop mentality’.

They will start selling political proposals to him and of course, some will want to play the sorcerers, picking political battles for him.”

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SUNDAYINTERVIEW Olufemi Okunnu

Okunnu...Ethnicity is a destructive political weapon

Photos: Sunday Adigun

Only a New Race of People Can Successfully Fight Graft in Nigeria At 84, Alhaji Olufemi Lateef Okunnu still boasts an incredible presence of mind. Nifty and witty, his capacity for recollection is exceptional. A former federal Commissioner for Works and Housing in 1960, a position he held till the late 60s, Alhaji Okunnu is a lawyer of note and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria at that. He once served as the pro-chancellor and chairman, governing council of the University of Agriculture, Makurdi in Benue State. Best described as an encyclopedia on the history of Lagos and Nigeria, the proud alumnus of the prestigious Kings College, Lagos, was later appointed Deputy Legal Adviser to the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) in 1981. But he has since his public service engagement returned to private practice, where he has continued to offer invaluable legal expertise, even at his old age. Gracious to grant this audience even at the shortest notice, Alhaji Okunnu evidently has a lot to talk about concerning the state of affairs in the nation and his beloved Lagos, which is still in the mood of celebration of its 50 years of creation. He was deep, thoughtful, precise with dates and names, and blunt about where he stands on all issues, especially the state of affairs in the country. Taking the duo of Olawale Olaleye and Anayo Okolie through his pent up disappointment on today’s Nigeria, Alhaji Okunnu soon dropped the bombshell: ‘only an entirely new race of people can successfully combat corruption’. His reasons are not far-fetched and they can be located in this interesting interview. Excerpts: Continued on Pg.74

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• APRIL 23, 2017

CICERO/INTERVIEW • Only a new Race Of PeOPle can SucceSSfully fight cORRuPtiOn in nigeRia•

L

agos is 50 and as a former federal commissioner for works and housing, you played a major role in the development of the state.

Are there reminiscences that share closely with the 21st century Lagos?

Before I come to my appointment as federal commissioner for works and housing, I think we should go back to history about Lagos State Movement. First of all, I will like to say that the British had three colonies in Nigeria as at 1st January 1900: the colony of Lagos, which was established in 1861, the protectorate of Northern Nigeria, established 1st January 1900 and the protectorate of Southern Nigeria, also established on 1st January 1900. At that time the British had three distinct colonies in Nigeria. In 1906, the colony of Lagos and the protectorate of Southern Nigeria were merged, but not administratively. It was a merger really more on paper, just like the amalgamation of 1914, which was also a merger largely on paper headed by one person, the Governor General, Lord Lugard.

The administration of the three British colonies remained distinct; they were separate by and large. Lagos, in 1947, the time of Richard’s Constitution, remained a distinct administrative unit under the British government. I remember vividly that the administrator for Lagos colony was one Mr. E.A Carr and his deputy was Major J. C Allen, who used to coach the students cricket at CMS Grammar School. So, the administration of Lagos colony had remained intact not only integrated into the Nigerian administration.

In effect the three units had three separate administrations even as at 1947. So, the Lagos colony remained distinct and all those who were born in Lagos remained British Citizens until independence. They had full rights of citizenship like any Briton anywhere in the world. That distinction is very important to show the distinctiveness of Lagos since it was colonised by the British in 1861. People talk loosely as if Lagos had been fully integrated into Nigeria. I read recently a few days ago, that Lagos remained part of the Western Region until its creation as a state.

That is not true.

Lagos remained a distinct colony until 1920, under the Macpherson constitution. The colony of Lagos is about the same size as the present Lagos State. Lagos colony was merged with the Western region in 1950 and in 1954 after the Gedegbe l’Eko wa (Lagos is standing alone) agitations by Lagosians, that they were not really a part of Western region and that they were distinct, so, the city of Lagos was excised from the colony province, which was incorporated under the Western Province under the Macpherson Constitution. John Macpherson was the governor from 1948 to 1954 (Governor of Nigeria), so the city of Lagos was a town at that time. It was taken out of the Western region and made the federal territory and the regional government of the federal territory of Lagos became the federal government. The remaining part of the colony province, that is the Epe, Badagry and Ikeja divisions remained as colony province until 1967, when Lagos State was created.

Quickly, let me go back to the gedegbe l’Eko wa slogan. The first serious advocacy for Lagos to become a state was in 1960. There was Lagos State Movement created by some young men at that time, all of them now deceased. They included Mr. H.M. Ali Balogun, a lawyer and a member of the Ali Balogun family at Victoria Street.

Kasali Kotun was a brilliant lawyer, who incidentally paid my fees for admission to practice law in Nigeria. He lived at No. 6 Ido Oluwo Street and my father’s house was No 1. Ido Oluwo Street. He saw me saw me grow up as a child. A brilliant lawyer, KK was a popular appellation for him. His father, Ajiroba, after whom this street (Alhaji Okunnu’s office address) was named, was Karimu Ikotun.

Another person I will like to remember, because it is good to remember the past and the people who were there should be honoured. We are honouring those of us who are living, forgetting about the dead, who made Lagos State possible. The third person was popularly called “Black Prince”, Prince Akintoye, one of the sons of Oba Kunle Akintoye II. He became Oba when Esugbayi Eleko was exiled by the British. He, however, won his case in the British council later and that led to his return at about 1932 (he was exiled about 1925).

So, Black Prince was one of the founders of the Lagos State Movement. The fourth one was known by everybody when he was alive, TOS Benson. There were others but these were the moving spirits. Before I became commissioner, there had been follow-up of what started in the early ‘50s. After the war, I was very much involved with the movement for the creation of Lagos State, especially after the coup. Bolaji Johnson was made the administrator of Lagos, at that time the country was in asunder. Whether we remained as one or different countries, Yakubu Gowon’s government, you remember, took over in July 1966, because of the chaos in the country, with the Eastern region threatening to secede; now one thing led to another, Major Bolaji

Johnson added another thing, he set up two bodies as it were; the group of elders and the group of young people.

For the purpose of the ad-hoc constitutional congress, they were composed of five Nigerians from each region (western, eastern, northern and mid-western), five delegates and five advisers. Lagos was given the slot of two delegates and two advisers. From the elders group was Dr. Teslim Elias, who later became commissioner for justice and Lateef Jakande. What followed was deliberation to see whether Nigeria would stand still as a nation or break away to separate bits. The idea of Lagos being a state occupied that part of our deliberation until the life of the conference was terminated.

Very quickly, by early 1967, Gen. Gowon was still the head of state and the agitation for states was still very much alive, so was the issue of dividing the country into confederate states. The East was still very much agitating for a separate country. The declaration of succession in May 1967 led to Gen. Gowon declaring the makeup of Nigeria in administrative terms from regions to states, and it painted a choice structure. It is significant to say that Lagos State in geographical term remained as it was 100 years ago.

Let me pay tribute to Gen. Gowon, he created Lagos State.

People don’t honour him for that, even a street named after him – Broad Street – was changed by another regime, which I think is spite – lack of appreciation of history as it were. He created Lagos State and I haven’t heard much about him in the celebration of

So, corruption fight is going to take many years; it will outlive Buhari. Until we create a new race of people with civic education for people at schools at the grassroots and for those of us, who are grownups to have extra mural classes and turn us into Nigerians and not Igbos, Yorubas or Hausas; to love one another, to love our country, to work for our country and not to work for our pockets, not to steal public funds but to regard public funds as sacred

Continued on Pg.73

the state at 50. Two, other people, who were very much associated with the creation of Lagos State and who are still alive are Allison Ayida and Philip Asiodu. These two people and a few other people made the creation of Lagos State possible. They are Nigerians like me, but when you now talk about indigenes of one state or the other, which I don’t really buy, they are not indigenes of Lagos State, though they lived and are still living in Lagos State.

Asiodu married one of us and he is still alive. Without them, there will be no Lagos State, so, let’s celebrate them. At the beginning of the conference, only mid-Western region opted for a federal system of government. Lagos State was split because Jakande wanted the regional system, but Teslim Elias and my humble self were inclined to the federal system of government.

The North was for confederation like the East, so also was the West. So, towards the end of the conference, when the North embraced the federal system of government, Lagos State and Western region followed suit immediately. The Mid-Western region had always been for the federal system under Tony Enahoro, it was only the Eastern region that stood its grounds on confederation or nothing. One thing led to another and on 27th May, 1967, Gen. Gowon abolished the regions and created a 12 State structure, which included Lagos State.

How does someone like you feel when people say that there are no true indigenous citizens of Lagos State?

I am a Nigerian. There are a very few of us, who are Nigerians now, every other person is either an Ijaw, Urohobo, Igbo, Idoma, Tiv, Hausa or Yoruba. But that wasn’t the Nigeria of my youth.

There was nothing like all these new found Urhobos, Igbos, Yorubas and so on. We were all one. Nigerian politics equated Lagos politics. Lagos was Nigeria in those days; no politics in Kaduna, Enugu, Ibadan or any other part of the country; it was Lagos, which was cosmopolitan. There were two major political parties: the Nigerian Youth Movement and Democratic Party of Nigeria and NCNC which was created in 1944, following the strike action by the students of Kings College.

Lagos or Nigerian politics at that time did not entertain ethnic-

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• APRIL 23, 2017

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Continued on Pg.74

ity, so where you came from was irrelevant. The people living in Lagos elected Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe in Lord Milverton (Arthur Richards) legislative council, under the platform of Democratic Party/NCNC alliance. From the same platform, Prince Adeleke Adedoyin, a son of Akarigbo of Shagamu, Ijebu Remo was elected 2nd Lagos member. Dr. Yinka Olorunimbe, who you can say is indeed an indigenous Lagosian was elected 3rd Lagos member.

So, Zik, born in Zungeru in the Northern part of Nigeria, while his parents were from Onitsha in the Eastern part, became the 1st elected member of the legislative council in Lagos. That was the Lagos I grew up in.

Mallam Umaru Altine from Northern Nigeria became the first Mayor of Enugu and Dr. Ajibade, whose roots were in Lagos, was a councillor in Port Harcourt. I pray that Nigeria would go back to those old days and not these days of ethnicity.

Since the return to civil rule in 1999, what is your impression about the administration of Lagos?

Brigadier Bolaji Johnson laid a sound foundation upon the creation of Lagos State. It was not easy to move from one part of Lagos to another. To get to Badagry, the Western part of Lagos State, you had to travel 1st to Otta by road because there was no road directly linking Badagry from Lagos. So, his first achievement was to actualise the plan of Lagos Executive Development Plan (LEDP) between Lagos and Badagry. There were others, who laid good foundations for Lagos before 1999. Bolaji stands out clearly as one of them.

Well, there have been rapid developments in the state since 1999.

A clear example is where we are today, Victoria Island. By clear regulation, Victoria Island consisted of buildings of not more than two floors - the ground and first floors, except for the commercial area. Commercial areas in Victoria Island at that time comprised Sanusi Fafunwa, by Ademola Alakija by Hopewell Street back to Sanusi Fafunwa. Those were the only areas that could have more than two floors. But they were not more than four floors at best.

If you compare it with what we have today, with the 30 storey office blocks at Akin Adesola, Victoria Island was purely residential, but now it is wholly commercial with sky rise buildings, and if you go down from Victoria Island to Lekki, Ajah, you will see the physical evidence of developments. So, in terms of developments, yes there have been developments over the years since the return to civil rule.

Let’s go to the national front. Two years of the administration of the APC government, do you think the narrative is actually changing?

There has been little change. APC is a collection of likes and unlikes, so there is no cohesion in party policy and execution of policies. APC, remember, was an amalgam of AC, CPC, ANPP, PDP – all the disgruntled members of these other parties coming together with opposition party, it has not really changed colour because the dispute among the leadership still reflects their earlier background and that makes governance of the country impossible. Evidence of that was soon after the election, there was a problem as to who would become the leader of the Senate, and we landed with a divided Senate, and we ended up with a Senate leader, who had support from opposition party and the ruling party, that is not how it should be.

So, the house is not in order yet, the same thing happened in the House of Representatives and to make matters worse, the Legislature assumes the role of not only the legislature but also of the Executive. They have invaded the Executive areas of government. They are not just legislating; they are also executing projects and they dabble into Executive functions. That is utter confusion at Abuja. A clear example is constituency projects. There should be nothing like constituency projects. The Executive is to execute the works not the legislators, and it amounts to a clear abuse. So who is governing, executing or legislating? There is some confusion.

But what the lawmakers do most of the time is to identify projects that their people need and ask the executive to execute it.

It is not their business. There is nowhere in the world that practises a federal system – South Africa, Canada, Ghana, Australia even the Soviet Russia or Germany – there is nowhere, where the legislators involve themselves with execution of works.

I know what I am talking about. I was federal commissioner of works for almost eight years, although that was during the war years and military rule. Legislators don’t execute works.

One of the promises of this administration while canvassing for votes in 2015 was to battle corruption and that is almost becoming a mess now if it is not already in that state. What can you make of the fight against corruption?

I wouldn’t call it a mess. The President has spent only two years in office and I believe only two or three of his promises are to fight corruption, combat insecurity and to revive the economy. In the area of corruption, I think he is making some leeway. Corruption is fighting back but he is making effort. The legal process slows down the fight on corruption. To pronounce someone guilty when the court says he is not guilty and not before – all these processes slow down the fight against corruption. There are other aspects that you can be a bit critical about. We hear of all these huge sums of money. You can’t even believe when you hear about $21billion, it is just unimaginable! You begin to wonder if Nigeria has that much money, but they found that amount cash in some places.

So, the fight against corruption is not a fight for four years, it will take quite a long time because Nigerians don’t learn lessons.

We made corruption something to be proud of. We don’t learn from those that had been charged with corruption in the past and

Alhaji Okunnu reading relevant sections of the Nigerian Constitution in defence of the Executive over the non-confirmation of the EFCC Chairman, Ibrahim Magu by the Senate disgraced. These days corruption is a matter of pride. Somebody sentenced to prison and comes out of prison, goes straight to the church to worship and dances with people celebrating with him.

Someone charged on corruption abroad returns to Nigeria and people are happy to welcome him back? Corruption is now like a badge of honour, which people now proudly showcase round the society.

So, corruption fight is going to take many years; it will outlive Buhari. Until we create a new race of people with civic education for people at schools at the grassroots and for those of us, who are grownups to have extra mural classes and turn us into Nigerians and not Igbos, Yorubas or Hausas; to love one another, to love our country, to work for our country and not to work for our pockets, not to steal public funds but to regard public funds as sacred, entrusted to you to manage for our general good.

Today, it is just me and me alone. So, it is a huge battle. We haven’t even started civic education, so, the children that are in primary and secondary schools and see the man, who has been charged with corruption, been to prison and comes out to still be heartily accepted by the society, will also want to join the cue. So, until you go down and start huge civic education for young and old, corruption will not disappear.

As a lawyer of note, how did you feel when some justices and judges were put up for trial?

I felt very sad. It hardly happened in my time as a young lawyer. It was rare. Even before I was born, we didn’t read about what we now have here today. Judges, in my younger days, hardly lived in societies. You won’t see them; they won’t attend parties – very rarely, grudgingly close friends. But you will see judges dancing before the musician in public now. Nigerian judges, who followed up British judges kept to themselves. They were anti-social, for obvious reasons not to be contaminated by the society, and not to be seen with people who might appear before them next morning in court.

So, they became what more or less you call Eleha (women in purdah) in Muslim community to themselves alone. Unfortunately, you find some of the young persons on the bench now all over the place. That is part of the problem, and then societal problem of corruption is eating into the bones of average Nigerians. Well, I do hope that some of them who don’t answer to the description of the old time judges I met – the bad eggs will break, leaving the good eggs to produce the golden eggs.

Do you think the judiciary can bounce back from this?

I think they can bounce back, if society also bounces back at least, a little to what it used to be. Things were not that bad as they are today. I wouldn’t think that any judge that has the tendency to be corrupt will develop that tendency now. You see the sad sight of judges being hounded like thieves, who normally appeared before them. That sad sight I hope would pull those who have the tendency to be corrupt to desist.

Still talking corruption, what can you make of the recent discovery of a total sum of N13.3billion at a flat in Ikoyi?

When I remember the salary of a federal commissioner in my time, this huge figure, I can’t fathom. The salary of a commissioner in my time was 3000 pounds per annum. It is really a huge dent on the society that huge sums were hoarded by some persons/ organisations in residential buildings, apparently for corrupt practices. Anyone with any huge sum or sums like that should keep his money in the bank.

But when such monies were not found in the bank, they must be there for corrupt practices. I hope that after this initial sanitation, which Buhari is carrying out, such incidence will be reduced

to the barest minimum, because such corruption cannot be wiped out entirely. We can only hope, fight and pray that such corruption will be reduced to the barest minimum. It is unbelievable and I hope that whistleblowers will blow more to expose such corrupt practices. It is mind boggling!

One of the debates that have come up on the political turf is the confirmation of the chairman of the EFCC, which has been put forward before the Senate twice and turned down the two times. We have also had lawyers come up to say that the Senate does not really need to confirm these persons before they can do their job; that they can actually go on in acting capacity. This has remained one of the things that the Senate has taken seriously as an encroachment on their rights as an institution.

Well, maybe both sides have not read their constitution appropriately, but if it is the same constitution, which Abdulsalam put together in 1999; if it is the same constitution, I can’t find anywhere in the constitution which enjoins the presidency to submit the name of chairman of the EFCC to Senate for confirmation. Section 153 of the constitution lists a large number from code of conduct bureau to revenue mobilisation, allocation and fiscal commission; it is the chairmen of these bodies who must be confirmed under section 154 of the constitution by the Senate.

Section 171 also contains this information about presidential appointments. That section 171 makes no reference to confirmation by the Senate. I understand that there was amendment or is it pronouncement, that the Federal Executive Council approved the number of government agencies, whom the appointment of their chairmen must be approved or screened by the Senate.

Now, if this list approved by the FEC was not made part of the constitution, it is of no consequence whatsoever. If you want to amend the constitution, you go by the normal process of 2/3 of the State Houses of Assembly, 2/3 of the National Assembly to amend the constitution. Even if the pronouncement was passed by the National Assembly, until section 153, 154 and 171 are amended to include these agencies of government, they are invalid. The constitution prevails. So, it is not even law yet. Approval by the FEC is approval by the FEC, nobody can enforce such decision of the FEC unless it is made into law, and if it is made into law, it will still be included in the constitution to have that effect. So, to me submitting the list of the chairman for confirmation is an exercise.

But the EFCC, being a creation of the Obasanjo administration, is also an act of the National Assembly?

That doesn’t matter. For approval, it must be included in the list in section 153 of the constitution before the Senate can confirm or deny the appointment of the chairman, whose name has been submitted by the presidency. The constitution is supreme; it overrides any law. If there is any conflict, precedent belongs to the constitution. So, for the president to submit the list, maybe he was not properly legally advised. And incidentally, the childish instruction by the Senate that one of these officers for invitation must wear uniform, I find it to be unworthy of the Nigerian Senate.

Presidents in the world now wear shirts without ties. Watch the numerous television stations and you will find presidents casually dressed. So, must you say that if one is not in uniform, you won’t attend to him? Is he a primary school boy? As long as the man is decently and properly dressed, you don’t need to put on a tie let alone put on a uniform. Is it the uniform that you want to address or the man himself? That shows the level of education of these young men and women in our various legislatures and the level of exposure to the civilised world.

(See the concluding part on www.thisdaylive.com)

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• APRIL 23, 2017

CICERO/REPORT

Aregbesola’s Assemblage of Election Team A few days ago, the Governor of Osun State, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola, sent his cabinet list to the State House of Assembly, three years after he was sworn in for a second term in office. But the simplest interpretation many have adduced to this is that he has only constituted an election team. Yinka Kolawole writes

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ot a few considered as development-driven, the recent appointment of commissioners and special advisers by Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State, nearly three years after he assumed office for a second term. Indeed, a majority of the people of Osun considered the development a sheer waste of expectations because the commissioners are not likely to make any significant impact in terms of governance and delivering on the state’s change agenda, before electioneering begins.

As a result, the cheapest interpretation of this “late night initiative” has been that these newly appointed cabinet members have been brought on board, essentially to serve the political interest and agenda of Aregbesola, who is not only winding down his reign as an elected governor, but also rumoured to be nursing a senate bid.

Thus, the question of how effective the commissioners are likely to be for the overall good of the state and her people have been largely dismissed for the obvious assumption that they might have been handed their brief ab initio and that is – political.

There is also the swirling speculation that a majority of All Progressives Congress (APC) members and stakeholders alike are not particularly happy with the governor for his refusal to make the appointments in good time.

The state assembly, on Tuesday, confirmed receiving the list of commissioners and special advisers by Governor Aregbesola for confirmation. Speaker of the assembly, Hon Najeem Salam, who read Aregbesola’s letter on the floor of the assembly, said the governor forwarded 39 names for confirmation. He did not however specify who was appointed where.

On the list are Mr. Adelani Baderinwa, a former Chief Press Secretary to former governor Bisi Akande; Dr. Basiru Ajibola, former Commissioner for Regional Integration and Special Duties; Remi Omowaiye, former Senior Special Adviser to the governor on electronic broadcast and Mr. Bola Ilori, former Special Adviser on Environment and Sanitation.

Also on the list are former Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Mr Ismaila Jayeoba; former commissioner for Women and Social Affairs, Mrs. Folake Adegboyega; former commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Mr. Kolapo Alimi, and former Assistant Chief of Staff, Mr. Gbenga Akano.

There are on the list Mr. Akintunde Akinajo, Yidiat Babalola, Mr. Muhideen Olateju, Mr. Mudasiru Toogun, Mr. Kunle Ige, Mr. Bola Oyebamiji, Mrs. Taiwo Oluga, Mrs. Latifat Giwa, Mrs. Tohun Adegboyega, Dr. Rafiu Isamotun, Mr. Bola Oyebamiji, Mrs. Taiwo Oluga, Mrs. Latifat Giwa, Mrs. Tohun Adegboyega and Dr. Rafiu Isamotun.

Others are Dr. Olalekan Yinusa, Mr. Babatunde Ibirogba, Mr. Femi Popoola, Hon Yemisi Akinola, Mr. Remi Kolajo, Mr. Tunde Ajilore, Mr. Kazeem Salami, Mr. Opatola Rasheed Olajide, Mr. Bisi Odewumi, Dr. Adebisi Obawale, Dr. Gbenga Oyinlola, Dr. Gbenga Awosode and Mr. Adeola Tejumola.

However, since the list was announced by the state assembly, the development has been greeted by different reactions from across the various divides and interests, and with mixed feelings.

Bishop Seun Adeoye remarked that it was unfortunate that it took Aregbesola two years and five months into his second term to constitute his state executive council, because “In essence, he has ruled the state for that period as a sole administrator, adding: We should remember that it took him nine months into his first term before coming out with names of members of his cabinet.

“I am sure too that he was forced to announce the names because of pressure. Don’t forget the public outcry and the suit filed against him over this matter by a human rights activist and lawyer, Kanmi Ajibola. As it is, he has just 19 months to end his tenure and who knows how long it will take the state House of Assembly to ratify his list.

“How was he running the state without the state executive?

Some sycophants will say he was doing that because of his administrative acumen but I totally disagree. He was simply a despot in a democrat’s garment. What new thing or new idea did he bring into governance since his second term? None! He has no commissioner or adviser. Was he an expert in all fields?

“The nation’s constitution is clear. There are some key things he cannot do except such are approved by the executive council.

Commissioners are expected to bring memos to the SEC meetings but for over two years now, there was nothing. As it is, virtually all ministries in the state are on the verge of total collapse. Our governor is the one who prepares memo, approves and awards contracts and even approves payment. He single highhandedly sits on the state and local government funds and disburses same the way he likes.

“The costs of lack of cabinet to the welfare of the state and good governance are more than whatever the governor says he has saved if any. Unfortunately, we have a state assembly that consists of ‘yes men’. I wondered why they kept mute seeing the lawlessness of the executive arm.

“The list of names I saw as commissioners and advisers are what I considered as ‘boys’ except three or so. I can’t see what much they can contribute now. Don’t forget that the governorship

Aregbesola...Ending the one-man show election is next year, I mean in about 15 months and we will soon see campaigns by those, who want to succeed Aregbesola coming on. So, attention will soon be shifted to election and not on governance,” he said.

A civil rights group, the Civil Societies Coalition for the Emancipation of Osun State (CSCEOS) has also described the Aregbesola as not qualified to rule the state, saying he has destroyed the governance of the state beyond redemption for all his unconstitutional actions and inactions with impunity.

Chairman of the group, Comrade Adeniyi Alimi Sulaiman, while speaking to THISDAY, stated that the governor has breached the Oath of office as stipulated by the amended 1999 Constitution of the country, describing his action as unconstitutional, illegal, ungodly, abomination, deceitful, anathema and undemocratic.

Sulaiman said the orchestrated excitement that greeted the announcement of the new cabinet members was a mere propaganda to celebrate the great wrong perpetrated by Aregbesola in a democratic setting, stating that “if we were in sane society, Aregbesola should have been impeached for breaching the oath of office as enshrined in the Constitution.”

He also lambasted the state assembly for allowing the governor to continue to rape the sanctity of democracy for the period of 29 months, describing them as rubber stamp of the executive and suggested that all the lawmakers should be recalled for this singular undemocratic action and for failing to act as checks and balance to the executive.

Quoting Section 192 of the amended 1999 Constitution, which stipulates that ‘there shall be offices of Commissioner of the Government of a State as may be established by the Governor of the State through the confirmation by the State House of Assembly in conformity with the provision of section 14(4) of this Constitution, which is based on the principle of democracy and social justice.

Sulaiman, who also doubles as the Executive Chairman, Centre for Human Rights and Social Justice (CHRSJ), explained that although the Constitution did not stipulate the time to constitute the cabinet but argued that it was forbidden for any important decision relating to the governance of a state to be taken without the State Executive Council ratification, which shows the importance of the cabinet members in the governance of a state in Nigeria.

“It is a shame on Mr. Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola for celebrating the rape of democracy and undemocratic tendency with impunity, for calling the list of his cabinet members recently sent to the House of Assembly as exclusive list after 29 months of second term in office. Mr. Aregbesola has shown to the people of Osun State that voting for him as a democratically elected governor on Saturday 14th April, 2007 was as an aberration of the highest order and mistake of the century. He has destroyed the state beyond redemption with gargantuan debt, which it will radiate for almost 25 years after leaving office in November 2018.

“All the members of the House of Assembly under the headship of Mr. Najeem Salaam should be blamed for the undemocratic

tendency of the present administration of Aregbesola in Osun State. The current state assembly failed to be alive to their constitutional role of checking the excessive of the state executive arm of government as we are currently experiencing at the national level by the 8th National Assembly. If we are in a sane society, where genuine democracy is thriving in the real sense of it, all the current members of the state House of Assembly would have been recalled for failing to perform their constitutional functions”.

In a related development, spontaneous protest has trailed the recent nomination of local government caretaker committee members. Some APC members in the state, on Tuesday, protested alleged irregularity in the appointment of the caretaker committee members by Aregbesola.

Reports had it that a majority of the aggrieved APC members, who carried placards with various inscriptions, were from OdoOtin Local Government Area of the state. The protesters, who took their case to the state assembly were said to have been angered by the alleged removal of names of their preferred candidates and replaced with other names.

Spokesperson for the protesters, Mr. Alayo Adelani said the protest was to express their displeasure over happenings in the party, accusing the assembly of being the brain behind the illegal removal. Adelani further explained that the assembly had clandestinely removed one Seyi Oke, who was the preferred candidate from Odo Otin local government.

“Nine candidates expressed interests and all of them participated in the primary, out of which Seyi Oke was nominated. His name was sent to the state secretariat and endorsed by the party chairman and party elders in the local government. Weeks later, APC Chairman, Gboyega Famodun congratulated us on the choice of Oke. The name was later forwarded to the governor for final approval.

“When the list got to the assembly, Oke’s name was replaced with one Akeem Sikiru. Sikiru is not known in the party at local government, he did not participate in the primary, he was not even part of any activity of the party in the local government, since he practically resides in Lagos state,” he said.

Adelani however accused Mr. Tope Adejumo, Special Adviser to the Governor on Security matters and one Hon Olaolu for conniving with the assembly to perpetrate the act. They demanded the reinstatement of Oke for peace to reign and threatened that failure to comply would result in crisis that could tear the party apart.

But the Deputy Speaker, Mr. Akintude Adegboye appealed to the protester to remain calm and toe democratic path in resolving the perceived anomaly. He also cautioned them to always consider the interest of the ruling party in any decision they take at any point in time, because they must not put the party in crisis.

The Speaker, Salam, had on Monday read on the floor of the assembly, the list of the newly appointed local government caretaker committee members sent by the governor. Other local governments affected are Osogbo West, Iwo, Ede North, Ife South and Irewole.

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R

• APRIL 23, 2017

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CICERO/REPORT

On the Podium, Adesina Grabs Attention The Editor-in-Chief of The Guardian newspapers and renowned columnist, Mr. Debo Adesina, was the unassuming speaker at the public interest lecture series organized by The Island Club, Lagos. But his understanding of issues left his audience awestruck long after he had gone. Olaseni Durojaiye reports

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he atmosphere had the air of an academic inaugural lecture. The audience, indeed, included renowned academics, captains of industry, businessmen, renowned lawyers, other professionals and the movers of Lagos’ social scene.

It was the Public Interest Lecture Series of Nigeria’s highly influential premier club, The Island Club of Lagos, and to deliver the third in the series was Debo Adesina, Editor-in-Chief of The Guardian and columnist.

As guest speaker, Adesina had been preceded by a highly distinguished cast: The first guest speaker six months earlier was Major General Ajibade, formerly the Director of Military Intelligence. Legal scholar and current chairman of the Presidential Advisory Council Against Corruption, Professor Itse Sagay, delivered the lecture at the second outing.

As Adesina took quick steps to the podium to deliver his paper on that third occasion, with ‘The Buhari Administration: The Economy and The Polity’ as the theme, the audience went into a frenzy of murmurs, fuelled by the simplicity of the guest speaker and his impeccable manners. Many knew the self-effacing journalist largely by reputation and were seeing him for the first time.

He took the microphone and delivered what was considered a very brilliant diagnosis of the problem of the nation and proffered profound far-reaching solutions.

“By the time he took over on May 29, 2015, Nigeria was a wounded nation with a deep physical gash on her body, inflicted by Boko Haram terrorists in their rampaging killings.” This, according to Adesina, was compounded by the moral wound on the nation’s soul inflicted by mindless corruption and inept management of resources. To cap it all, he said, a sense of disconnection and disaffection had set in to the extent that Nigerians felt only a distant relationship with their country. ”When he won the election therefore, what President Buhari got was a unique mandate: To heal Nigeria, renew her essence and be the architect of a national renaissance.”

He recalled how Buhari had run for President three times before over a period of 11 years and had even once said he was through with the quest. “In 2015, he came along just when the nation needed a figure of discipline and integrity most. And for the office of President, the man and the moment met.”

On the real job of governance, however, Adesina lamented the government’s slow pace and indecisiveness in some cases. He commended the war on corruption and acknowledged that only a person like Buhari could have taken the battle to the looters the way he has.

The renowned journalist then went on to sketch the way out for Nigeria, a country he said would never prosper without a functional truly federal structure of governance. “For some strange reasons, federalism in its purest form, restructuring, fiscal federalism and many more have become feared words to some people in Nigeria. Yet they are words we must not only live with, they are ideas without the implementation of which Nigeria cannot thrive!”

He lamented the fact that the administration is yet to fully appreciate its true mandate at this particular time in Nigeria’s history. The power sector, roads, the dams, the rails and the schools must be built but, according to him, those, as important as they are, are ancillary to the real assignment before this administration. “The real assignment of the Buhari/Osinbajo administration is the re-birth of Nigeria, not just its repair!”

According to Adesina, no one should need any persuasion that a situation in which the individuality of the different groups in Nigeria is denied and dubious unitarism is forced on a federal state is fraudulent and can only breed injustice and, of course, discontent.

He then bemoaned what he called “our rulers’ dexterity at the entombment of opportunities for redemption.”

“History has shown that Nigerian leaders have always been adept at making the best coffin or digging the deepest graves for the blessings divinely, freely bestowed on the country. I can only hope this administration would be different.”

The greatest efforts at undermining Nigeria, Adesina

Adesina

said, are made by those Nigerian leaders who find comfort in the existing wobbly structure that suits their hegemonic fantasies but takes the country on a downward slide into the fourth grade in the comity of nations.

Fast-forward to a few days ago. The audience was smaller but it was just as illustrious as the first one.

Accountants, medical doctors, architects and many other successful professionals sat with business leaders and entrepreneurs. This time, however, everybody in the gathering had one thing in common: they were all indigenes of Oyo State. And this body of stakeholders, though gathered for the celebration of one of them who had just been elevated to a higher level in his profession, had asked the speaker to chart a path to the future for the state.

Adesina acknowledged the challenges of governance in Oyo and gave appropriate credit to those who had led the state so far. With poor revenue and over-dependence on the federal allocation, he said, it was only a matter of time before states like Oyo went into such crises of non-payment of wages and inability to appropriately fund infrastructural development as they are in now. But Oyo can prosper. “It will not happen overnight. But Oyo can prosper if the people and the governments, at the state and local levels,

do not go to sleep.” First, he said, the laws must be changed by the government of Nigeria to allow a state like Oyo take full advantage of the many mineral resources embedded in its soil. He listed them as they exist in each local government area. He also suggested creativity in tapping into the state’s tourism potentials in different locations which he also listed.

Agriculture, using to maximum advantage the abundant and rich land in his native Oke Ogun and Ibarapa zones of Oyo State, Adesina told the gathering, is also key to the economic prosperity of the state.

“There must be a strategic but massive investment by both the local and the state governments, not only in input but also in high-yielding products” if Oyo would ever prosper beyond the monthly federal allocation which has now proven hardly enough to cover government expenses.

The state, he said, according to studies, has one of the lowest utilization rates of agricultural input and this must be increased if a real economy would be created in the state. He cited the examples of China and Vietnam, with facts and figures, as countries that lifted more than 40% of their populations out of poverty within 10 years by aggressively and creatively investing in agriculture.

“If Thailand’s agriculture could enable it have one of the lowest unemployment rates in the world, about 1%, there is hope for the people of states like Oyo.” He referred the audience to the Ikere Gorge Dam, near Iseyin, Oyo North, which was abandoned ages ago but, if revived, has the potential to revolutionize power supply, water supply and even agriculture on a massive industrial scale in Oyo State.

The journalist also delivered a long and detailed plan for education, urban renewal and rural renaissance. In the new global order, education, he said, must receive priority attention in order to prepare the children of Oyo “for places beyond here and times beyond now.”

The thunderous applause that greeted each point Adesina made was then capped by a long standing ovation at the end of the speech.

He took a few questions and, self-effacing as ever, he made his way quietly out of the arena in Lekki where the event held. Expectedly, the discussions and speculations have begun.

A native of Okaka in Itesiwaju Local Government area in the north of Oyo State, having made editorship of a major publication at the age of 27 on the stable of The Guardian group of newspapers, Adesina has never looked back as a journalist. He has won many things winnable in the profession and distinguished himself as a manager. Even when he was appointed a Federal Commissioner in the Fiscal Responsibility Commission in 2008 by the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, he soon gave the appointment up, saying he thought he was serving Nigeria better as the Editor/Deputy Editor-in-Chief of a major newspaper then.

Adesina has always been popular on the lecture circuit but as the invitations keep pouring in and he honours them, a pattern appears emerging.

His passion for the people and love for country are not in doubt. His commitment to the well-being of the people of his own state, on whom he’s known to have invested whatever resources he has through scholarship, employment and empowerment programmes, is never in question. His vast network of friends across Nigeria and in various areas, including politics, is well known. His ideas are genuine and fresh. And he is never reluctant or afraid to share them with anyone who cares to listen. Is he about to end his aversion for public office? No one knows. Or, those who know are not telling.

But one thing is certain: wherever Adesina appears, whether it is on the lecture podium or on the political circuit, he is one man to watch and listen to.

Many knew the self-effacing journalist largely by reputation and were seeing him for the first time…He took the microphone and delivered what was considered a very brilliant diagnosis of the problem of the nation and proffered profound far-reaching solutions

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R • APRIL 23, 2017

PERSPECTIVE

Ambode’s Development Strides Amid Recession Mobolaji Sanusi

“Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it” --Mark Twain

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overnance, in most parts of the Third World of which Nigeria is a prominent one, has been turned into a platform of propaganda; an aegis through which the ego of whoever is in power can be massaged. The political turf, even in the advanced countries of the universe, has witnessed politicians making hollow declarations; the seats of power in several states/countries have witnessed leaders making pledges that mean nothing to them; such leaders make empty promises that are ab initio meant to be broken. When one lives in such inauspicious climate of mostly political deceit, it is always a delight to see a governor of exception, albeit one from our country’s centre of excellence, justifying public’s expectations in giving him the mandate to serve them. This writer is happy to be identified with the government of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode that is restoring integrity, rather than vainglorious superciliousness, back to governance in this commercial nerve centre. Ambode is never a pretender of politics of development unlike lousy bootlickers that surreptitiously engage in politics of boorishness.

Recently, l went on our Agency’s routine inspections across the state and per chance, we were at Abule-Egba, a Lagos suburb. Before then, we had, during a similar routine inspection around Ajah area of Lagos state, seen the over-head bridge that the governor is constructing.

If we thought what was seen at Ajah was scintillating, what we encountered in Abule-Egba was marvelous. That is without delving into the beauty of that newly commissioned bridge/link road in Ayobo area of our dear state. These three overhead bridges, without equivocation, would stand their own against any of their type in developed countries of the world. This writer only imagined what the soon-to-be-commenced Fourth Mainland Bridge will look like when eventually delivered.

Without political sentiments, Governor Ambode has done a yeoman’s job in almost two years of his assumption of office, including the completion of over 114 internal roads in one year and over a hundred more waiting to be commissioned; institution of a graduate empowerment scheme; rigorous pursuit of The Eko Atlantic project; that of Smart City Lagos and operation Light Up Lagos, among others were some of the initiatives currently put in place to serve present and future generations of Lagosians, other Nigerians and foreigners at large.

Lest I forget, the panoramic view of Berger Bus stop at Ojodu, on the LagosIbadan Expressway, is a beauty to behold.

The aesthetics and security benefits of the project cannot be underestimated.

Thanks to the ‘Ambode standard’ in infrastructural rebirth.

This space is certainly not enough to tell the story of the landmarks that Governor Ambode is doing across the state. In Epe for instance, the ancient town is practically under construction.

The truth is that if someone has not been to Epe in the last one or two years, he/ she will probably miss the way. Aside the road linking the town from Ketu, the road linking it with Ijebu and some other internal roads are all undergoing admirable upgrade. The shape of what to come at its beach side is still being unveiled. So many things are just evolving in this Island town, while Badagry, Ikorodu, Agege, Alimosho, Ibeju-Lekki

Ambode and other once forgotten parts of the state are also seeing wonders through commendable implementation of projects that are not below the ‘Ambode standard.’

One needs to see the transformation that is happening in Lagos Island. The TBS Bus Terminus is likely going to make someone screech Lagos wonder, courtesy of the ‘Ambode standard’ that has made Lagos a model of envy, not only amongst opposition parties, but even in the midst of other governors across the country. In a few months time, this golden man will unveil a new Oshodi in Lagos golden era.

It is presently at the teething stage and at the end of a few months to come, the public will scream for bliss.

All these point to one thing - that Ambode was able to think, plan and now that he is acting, the dividends are all open for the public to salivate. Thanks to the ‘Ambode standard’ in the governance of Lagos State. Again, this is happening at a time when most of his fellow governors are still grappling with teething challenges or engaging in needless political bickering.

As a journalist/columnist of over two and a half decades’ standing, one was trained to exercise self-restraint in getting directly involved in analyzing/ praising a government of which you are a part of. For objectivity/credibility sake, it has been argued that any member of a government should allow outsiders do the duty of independent public appraisals of a government he/she is serving.

Today’s piece should be considered as an exception to that rule. Since l assumed duties, today is the second time l will be doing this; the first being when ‘The Economist of London’ did a grossly incorrect and biased report on Lagos barely over a year ago. Then l did a response titled: ‘London Economist’s neo-colonial journalism’. l rarely want to comment,

leaving the beat for those credible hands appointed by our humble governor for such assignments, minding my managerial job and striving to make a success of it.

However, there are periods of necessary interventions when it always dawned on me that it was my writing exploits in the field of journalism over the decades, far above my modest academic credentials in Law/Managerial Psychology, and my loyalty to the worthy political cause of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Akanbi Tinubu and; my unwavering sincerity of purpose, steadfast and implicit unswerving belief in the Akinwunmi Ambode political trajectory from the word go and above all, the grace of God, that earned me the position that l hold today.

For that reason, one may be pardoned, in the face of overwhelming empirical positive evidence, to publicly unveil one’s identity, as was done in the past regarding the towering achievements of Governor Ambode. After all, that great American writer, Samuel Langhorne Clemens, known worldwide by his pen name, Mark Twain, once observed: “Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it” So, there is nothing wrong if yours sincerely rolls out the drum to celebrate his boss and high performing governor of the centre of excellence for shaming doubting Thomases and taking governance beyond the realm of rhetoric. I am not surprised by his doubled successes on this exalted seat because from a few close encounters, l can comfortably say that Ambode sleeps, dreams, eats and talks passionately every day about the progress and upliftment of the centre of excellence. In the course of yours sincerely’ journalistic sojourn, one, in all modesty, had encountered some sitting governors and from close quarters - most of them like to dominate discussions but few of them really make much sense;

Ambode is one of the few exceptions to this personal observation. Any meeting l had with him without my pen and papers to make jottings ends in regret.

Even from afar, the most ardent critics of the APC in Lagos, including Chief Bode George, have publicly professed the laudable achievements of the Lagos governor. He was reported in virtually all newspapers of February14, 2017 to have said on Ambode’s performance: ‘I have never met this young man but I must say that I am impressed with his performance so far especially in the area of infrastructural developments.’ So much has been done and much more to be done. The governor has shown that he is capable of surpassing his current achievements in the distant future.

The popular governance culture in the country is to equate flattery with realism. What Nigerians are reading in this piece is nothing but the realism of empirical developments of monumental standards in the commercial nerve centre of the country. Unlike the usual practice in the country and elsewhere, this is not a piece of flattery nor mass propaganda that we regrettably considered in our clime as knowledge.

The reality is that lies do not have the purity of truth. The purity of Ambode’s achievements, so far, is incontrovertible.

One political icon of our epoch that will be happy wherever he is today is Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Jagaban of Borgu land, for the scintillating landmarks being witnessed in Lagos today. His discernible eye for talent remains unparalleled. William Shakespeare once declared: “When a father gives to his son, both laugh; when a son gives to his father, both cry”. This highly hearth-shattering observation of inimitable Shakespeare sums up how the Jagaban will be feeling today in view of the giant strides of Governor Ambode who has shown uncommon humility, loyalty in service and admirable level of competence.

Rather than be spoon-fed like several other godsons, Ambode has set the right pace in governmental focus and this is more valuable than any other gift that a son might give to his father. Perhaps, it won’t be immodest to state that Asiwaju will be shedding tears of joy for the gifts of performance that his protégé is according him today. He only has to bother less about how to politically straighten things; his political son is loyally deft in his provision of good governance in our state. Jagaban said this much while unveiling the AyoboAboru Bridge, which Ambode planned to coincide with the political icon of our time’s 65th birthday.

Mark Twain, in recognition of remarkable performance in all spheres of human endeavour once memorably declared: “There are basically two types of people. People who accomplish things, and people who claim to have accomplished things”. Ambode belongs to the former category because of his self-effacing posture within his short period of leading this mega-city state.

Ambode is not just a man of success, but also a man of value. He is an achiever and not a propagandist. To many Lagosians, he is a “smooth operator” and silent Achiever in view of his systemic style of governance and in the process achieving his set developmental objectives without harassing the people; even as the various laudable projects roll on across the length and breadth of the state.

Going forward, Lagosians are already assured of more golden infrastructure from our golden governor; after all, he has deployed the right courage, ability, zeal and focused direction to do more for our dear state, and the country.

--Sanusi, a journalist on sabbatical, is CEO of Lagos State Signage and Advertising Agency (LASAA).

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R • APRIL 23, 2017

PERSPECTIVE

PDP, Sheriff and the Poisoned Chalice Tony Amadi

D

oes anyone still need evidence that Senator Modu Sheriff, Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party, according to the courts is a ruling party planted mole in the PDP, a party he spent most of his political life opposing. His sensational workout of a planned conciliatory meeting under the aegis of former President Jonathan was the final evidence needed to show that the podgy politician from Borno state is the poisoned chalice responsible for the deadly cancer ravaging the party that once held sway in its 18-year-old life.

While everyone was busy looking for the way to get the party out of its seemingly unending chemotherapy treatment for malignant cancer, Sheriff was out to administer more deadly poison that will lead the party to the cemetery and final rites. And these antics was coming two years to a crucial national election. Walking out of the meeting with his bloated ego in tow, the former governor said: “The party as of today has one national chairman, which is Ali Modu Sheriff. There is no PDP meeting that will take place under any arrangement that I will not make the opening remarks as the national chairman”.

How can you make opening remarks in a peace meeting you are invited as a factional leader in which the final legal decision still remain to be decided by the Supreme Court? It was like asking General Odumegwu Ojukwu to make opening remarks at Aburi rather than General Ankrah, the Ghanaian leader who called the peace meeting between Gowon and Ojukwu to resolve the Nigerian civil war before it generated into full scale war.

Sheriff had been holed up in Ndjamena, Chad and close to the Chadian President Idriss Deby long before he decided to re-enter Nigerian politics after he unwittingly opened the way to Boko Haram to reduce his former political fiefdom to ruins. He has a private jet with which he shuttles around, but had a good eye on the issues of Nigerian politics following the end of his reign as governor of Borno State. Having lost his stranglehold on Borno ANPC, the former ruling party in the state and following the formation of the APC, Sheriff quietly romanced the PDP at the heights of its glory days and joined them as a leading moneybag who can turn the fortunes of the party.

He carried the air of a very wealthy politician with a lot of money to throw around and got attracted to some PDP governors and top politicians in the former ruling party. Everyone saw Sheriff as the shining star who will take the PDP to the next level and flocked around him before the bubble burst on his so called riches.

This was just happening when the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission became interested in his affairs. The governors found that he didn’t even have the kind of money he was touted to have and that he was simply a gold digger who depended on them to boost his private fortunes.

At the bungled Port Harcourt convention, the party chieftains decided that it was time to call Sheriff’s bluff and remove him as party chairman. But Sheriff fought his corner and refused to bulge and precipitated a major infighting that was to tear the party into two factions. The credentials of the other factional leader and former Governor of Kaduna State, Senator Ahmed Makarfi, was more widely acceptable to the majority of party men and women, but the courts were unconcerned with any of that belief.

If the highly anticipated final judgement by the Supreme Court favours the Sheriff wing of the party, it will clearly be nunc dimitis

for the former great party, but if it goes to the faction run by Makarfi, it will be seen as a breath of new life to the party which held sway for one and a half decade in the affairs of Nigeria.

As short sighted as most Nigerian politicians are, many leading politicians are caught in a vicious quagmire as the 2019 elections creeps in and the PDP is neither here nor there.

Obviously, it is in the interest of the new ruling party, the APC, that the PDP remain incapacitated so that it can sweep through the 2019 polls even with its so far questionable performance. And as long as Sheriff continues to play the tune of the ruling party, his EFCC problems could be swept under the carpet not to mention the advantage of his in-law status in the presidential mansions.

Meanwhile most politicians are confused as they fashion out a strategy for their future after 2019. Many PDP legislators are worried about their future and wondering which way to go, join the ruling party or remain in a balkanized PDP. Even the APC legislators are quite uncomfortable themselves, because of the lack of leadership in their party and as usual, Mr President’s taciturn approach to party politics. He is not prepared to give anyone any clue about his political future even with the 30-page El Rufai private memo which was leaked in desperation by the author last month.

After over a decade of trying to become the president of the federal republic of Nigeria, it will be un-Buhari to bow out mid-term for any reason, so that the issue of a second term for the President rests in the innermost precincts of his heart which only the Almighty God has access. So the APC young Turks who dream of taking over from Mr President are indeed on a wild goose chase which the end might find them getting into some

trouble for daring an accomplished general.

The road to 2019 is obviously littered with pot holes of an incredible nature. The PDP will be as good as dead if Sheriff ends up as the authentic chairman after the Supreme Court judgement, but if Makarfi wins, the ruling party will be in real trouble not only because many PDP decampees to the APC will seek a return to their former party but because the reasons that made PDP lose in 2015 have become the reasons that will make the ruling party potentially lose in 2019.

But since both parties will focus on Northern presidential candidates and southern vice presidential candidates, the North will have to seek for a man or woman who can assure Nigerians that the events of May 2015 to May 2017 when hunger gripped the nation because of the apparent lack of good governance by the ruling party does not repeat itself again in our history.

Incidentally, one powerful group known as Build Nigeria Global, BNG, came up with an interesting list of Nigerian leaders one of who it believes could be president in May 2019 with Modu Sheriff making the list. The group led by Godspower Bello named the following as Nigerian politicians who can win the presidential elections. They are as follows: President Muhammadu Buhari, Sule Lamido, Abubakar Atiku, Ghali Umar Na’abba, Bukola Saraki, Ahmed Tinubu, Rabiu Kwankwaso, Rochas Okorocha, Nasiru El Rufai, Ibrahim Dankwanbo, Rotimi Amaechi, Aminu Tambuwal, Ibrahim Shekarau, Ken Nnamani, Orji Uzo Kalu, Peter Obi and Modu Sheriff. Newspaper reports say that President Olusegun Obasanjo wants an Igbo candidate but the BNG leader thinks that zoning should be discarded so that Nigerians can vote for who they want to give them a decent leadership which has been lacking for too long now.

Senator Sheriff who has hinted that he won’t count himself among those that will contest for the PDP chairmanship, already has his sights on becoming the presidential candidate of the PDP since he insists that his faction should produce the next national working committee of the party and help rubber stamp his presidential plans. Unfortunately, not many party men rate him highly for the presidency, especially as he would be exceeding the mandate of his paymasters in the ruling party with such a dream.

As for who emerges president from the Build Nigeria Global list, I will not be surprised if the incumbent retains his seat not because he has done very well all things considered, but he has shown that the security of the nation and anti-corruption fight he has waged are in good hands. These are probably the most crucial problems facing the nation apart from the economy at this point in time but the President must note that it is not only PDP members that are corrupt. His party men are much more deeply involved in the Nigerian corruption index and his goals will not be achieved unless he deals with all of them irrespective of their party affiliation.

Finally, the President’s democratic credentials may have improved marginally, with his religious obedience of the constitution in relation to the National Assembly and the non-interference with who produces their leaders unlike the national leader of his party who insists on not recognizing Senator Bukola Saraki as President of the Senate despite his strong leadership of the upper chamber and the chairman of the national legislature. The obedience of court orders has been a sticking point against the administration as well but crucially, he must achieve success with the economy in the remaining two years to 2019 or no one will take a second term ambition very seriously.

Amadi, a veteran journalist, writes from Abuja

producing the desired results. There is steady and continuous production of crude oil at the refineries and supplies to the various outlets has been very smooth.

Under the watch of Kachukwu, the oil and gas sector, particularly the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, is beginning to live up to its mandate of producing fuel for local consumption and export.

The speed at which Kachikwu is going about delivering on his responsibility leaves no one in doubt about his focus and clear vision of changing the ugly narrative associated with the production and supply of petroleum products in the country.

On the global scene, the influence and connections of Kachikwu have brought the much desired respect and regard to Nigeria in the comity of nations. Right now, he is a personality to be reckoned with in the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

A cursory analysis of the performance of ministers in the federal executive council point in one direction: that is, Kachikwu is undoubtedly ranked as one of the best performing ministers in the Buhari administration.

As for the NNPC, the solid foundation laid by Kachikwu when he held sway as Group Managing Director has taken the organisation to the next level of utmost efficiency, accountability and profitability. After six years of the comatose state of the nation’s crude oil pipelines, it took his bold intervention for the federal government to engage the professional expertise of an indigenous oil and gas outfit to successfully remediate, repair and maintain and provide security services on the Bonny to Port Harcourt and Excravos to Warri pipeline segments.

It would be recalled that before now, it cost the country a huge chunk of resources to sustain the engagement of marine vessels to transport crude oil to the refineries; more so, when there was a

sharp drop in the price of oil at the international market. At the moment, there is seamless and continuous pumping of crude oil through the aforementioned pipelines. The only interruption till date has been the criminal activities of some faceless militant groups, including the illegal bunkering activities being undertaken by oil thieves and other economic saboteurs.

Kachikwu should be applauded for the unpopular but plausible decision he took to partially remove fuel subsidy in 2016. This was one painful reality that Nigerians never wanted to experience. But today, the Nigerian people are happier for it as they can now drive into any petrol station of their choice with ease and get products without stress or having to wait endlessly on queues to be served.

It is heart-warming to note that at present, the build-up of tension and hostilities in the Niger Delta is beginning to give way for constructive dialogue. This cheering news can only be attributed to the untiring efforts of Kachikwu to ensure that there is sustainable peace and stability in the Niger Delta.

The confidence and peace-building initiatives embarked upon by the federal government through the engagement of relevant stakeholders in the Niger Delta and the recent visit of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo to the creeks and other Niger Delta communities has gone a long way in providing a formidable platform for the federal government and concerned interests to discuss the issues. Without doubt, this is a noble idea of the Buhari administration facilitated by Kachikwu.

Indeed, to the glory of God, Kachikwu is working, the petroleum sector is becoming more efficient, while Nigeria is moving towards economic progress and prosperity – for the good of all and sundry.

–––Odoigbe is of the Joint Professionals Training and Support International.

Sheriff

Kachikwu: Working Hard to Ensure Stability in Oil Sector Justus Odoigbe

T

he survival of Nigeria as a sovereign country is largely dependent on the petroleum sub-sector, as it derives its revenue mainly from crude oil exports.

Indeed, Nigeria runs a monocultural economy whose economic lifeline is basically predicated on the exploration and exportation of black gold, popularly referred to as crude oil. As it stands, the most critical national infrastructure of Nigeria are pipelines that have been designed to ensure uninterrupted supply of crude oil to various refineries across the country.

Over the years, particularly during the Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan administrations, there has been a consistent threat to oil and gas installations in the country arising from the activities of Niger Delta militants. The militants have been advocating resource control. But there are also criminal elements who engage in malicious vandalism of the oil assets in furtherance of their illegal bunkering business.

However, the advent of the present administration under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari has ushered in a new dawn in the petroleum sub-sector of the Nigerian economy.

The appointment of Dr. Ibe Kachikwu as Minister of State for Petroleum Resources has turned out to be the magic wand needed for the stability and effective sustenance of crude oil production in the country. If the truth must be told, Buhari deserves commendation for the meritorious appointment of Kachikwu. Mr. President, in his determination to ensure that round pegs are put in round holes, was not in any way swayed by sentiments or emotions in assigning the petroleum portfolio to Kachikwu.

So far, the comprehensive reforms undertaken by Kachikwu in repositioning the petroleum sector has been very far-reaching and

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THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER • APRIL 23, 2017

PERSPECTIVE/TRIBUTE

Lessons From Julius Nwalimu Nyerere Banji Ojewale

G

bolabo Ogunsanwo, Nigeria’s most captivating columnist of the 1970s who rewrote history as editor of Sunday Times of that era, once returned from Julius Nyerere’s Tanzania and thrilled his compatriots with an account of the stoic exploits of this illustrious African leader. Just like his staid gait, Ogunsanwo said, Nyerere had no airs about him to suggest he was the president of Tanzania.

This picture of an abstemious statesman sharply contradicted the Nigerian paradigm. Here, our leaders, even at the local government scene, would loot the public till to build personal empires, to satisfy their palatial palate. The predilection of our leaders for financial rape has always been there and Ogunsanwo was among a small circle of ethical journalists who railed against this evil. So the Tanzania experience had to excite this colourful columnist. Through his celebrated style of writing that nettled bad leaders and won applause from the public, Ogunsanwo said that if he placed the lifestyle of Nyerere side-by-side with what we had in Nigeria, the weight of the East African leader wouldn’t surpass the wealth of a level 9 officer in the Nigerian Civil Service. A shocked Ogunsanwo said something to the effect that the home of Nyerere had uninspiring furniture compared to what a middle level civil servant in Nigeria might offer. Nyerere’s was a study in Spartan decor.

Years later in 1999 when the beloved Tanzanian leader died at 77, New York Times correspondent Michael Kaufman wrote what has gone into the books as a most charitable essay by a Western reporter on an African president who mercilessly chided capitalism as a curse on humanity, thus confirming Ogunsanwo’s point. He admitted Nyerere’s “habits of modesty and ethics.”

Kaufman wrote in the influential New York Times on October 15, 1999: “He (Nyerere) never received more than 8,000 dollars (about 8,000 naira then) a year as president. He appeared both abroad and at home wearing a grey or black safari shirt over his trousers and a white crocheted skull cap… In contrast to many African leaders who often raced their capitals in motorcades with phalanxes of motorcycle outriders, he moved around Dar es Salam (the old capital of Tanzania) in an old car with just his driver, who stopped for red lights… When he stepped down as president… he was only the third modern African leader to relinquish power voluntarily… He went neither to jail nor to exile but to a farm in Butiama, his home village near the shore of Lake Victoria.”

Julius Kambarage Nyerere was born on April 13, 1922 in

Nyerere a settlement in the hills of southeast of Lake Victoria. His father was 61 when he married his mother at 15. He went to Uganda’s famous Makerere University and the UK’s Edinburgh University where he earned the Master’s degree in History and Economics. He went into politics after a teaching tenure on his return from Scotland. He led Tanzania into independence from Britain in 1961, becoming the youngest of a group of Africa’s “triumphant” nationalists among them the legendary Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah whose country, Ghana, attained sovereignty in 1957.

Tanzanians called Nyerere Nwalimu (Teacher), for he led a paternalistic life, an exemplary one that taught them to disavow the corrupting influence of cloying opulence and capitalism.

Why should a leader not identify with the sufferings of his compatriots? Why would a leader be seen only through the prism of affluence and not through sacrificial service that should leave him no time to amass wealth or go into so-called business?

Why would public office be a showroom of pomp, pageantry and perquisites? Why would you be richer after holding public office than before? A true leader ought to be poorer (lighter) after

Pa Adeniran, Quintessential Citizen, at 93 Ferdinand Ekechukwu

“H

i Ferdinand, where have you being I had wanted to reach you.” The normal voice at the other end of the phone had announced, as I made to reach him same week. “My birthday is on Thursday 23rd of March, it’s going to be in my house here.” But just then I had thought to myself that I need not be reminded that it’s his birthday. Neither do I need to be informed of the venue nor the form it will take. Based on my knowledge and understanding of the celebrant, there’s this tradition of how he celebrates his birthday, which he has maintained overtime.

But his typical unassuming nature compels him to remind his acquaintances. For those familiar and close to the celebrant, especially his immediate lovely family, his wife, Dr. Mrs. Florence Abiola Adeniran, a retired director of medical services, Lagos State, his children Abiodun and Oyinade, and his retinue of aides and protégés, it’s always a day to look forward to. It’s always a day to celebrate with Pa Adedapo Aderibigbe Adeniran Esq., fondly called Baba.

Notwithstanding, every other day spent with the King’s College Lagos Old Boy is worth celebrating as much as valued, for the work of God is made manifest in the life of the quintessential senior citizen. Pa Adeniran is a man so dear to me, and to so many others, far and wide.

It was, therefore, worthwhile on the occasion of his birthday anniversary recently and, as it has always been, guests from all walks of life, as a mark of honour and respect, came to felicitate with the man of letters.

Prior to the arrival of visitors, a special prayer session had been conducted to usher in the ceremony. Dignitaries who graced the day cut across banking, through to the business sector, on to the judiciary, to politics, academia, and health.

Among the high society guests at the event, were: Otunba Subomi Balogun, whose entourage had caused a pleasant scene on his arrival, momentarily halting vehicular movement on Bamgbose Street and it’s adjoining roads; a two time minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Engineer Olawale Ige; Prof. & Prof. Mrs. Emmanuel Elebute; Mr. & Mrs. M. A. Fashanu; Engineer C. O. Idowu; Barrister Segun Munis; Mrs. A. Gbajabiamila; Dr. Mrs. Abimbola Holloway of Quality Medicare and a host of other important personalities, as well as friends of the celebrant’s children. Such was the caliber of persons who turned up at the occasion with other esteemed guests, friends and family members, relatives and well wishers that the low key event was almost upturned. But then, there was enough refreshment for all who attended and even more that some had to take home. And there were offerings in moderate sum to the celebrant in appreciation. In return, the celebrant handed out copies of his

two well known books: The Futility of The Land Use Decree 1978, and Nigeria: The Case for Peaceful and Friendly Dissolution.

Those who could not make it, due to their busy schedule, been that it was a work day, sent in their goodwill messages with their gifts in tow.

Others called in through phone to extend their heartfelt wishes. Even the heavens sent in blessings and angels showered the guests with drizzle.

The air of affection given to the celebrant by those around him, young and old, was palpable.

A man of many parts that he is, he never ceases to amaze. It’s like he seizes every opportunity to regenerate. On this occasion he was completely without his walking stick as he paced about exchanging pleasantries with close friends, family members and well wishers.

His doggedness and energy at 93 is a pleasant surprise. He goes out to visit friends and still attends functions. He still finds time to discuss happenings within and outside the polity, especially developments in the judiciary and updates in the legal system. He had favoured Donald Trump during the campaigns and build up to the US Presidential election.

On one occasion in recent past, he had called me past midnight, asking for a particular story in the dailies involving Justice Adeniyi Ademola and that two editions of the Punch newspaper be brought to him. He’s always quick to broach major and minor incidents of human interests within the society that in the week of his birthday he had discussed the unfortunate suicide of Dr. Allwell Orji, the man who killed himself in the Lagos lagoon. He wondered, as at the time sketchy details were available, what exactly could have induced him to take his own life.

He’s peeved by the numerous frequent killings attributed to elements of Boko Haram and the rampaging Fulani herdsmen that hardly a day passes without his thoughts on the shenanigans. His newly reprinted critical book on the way for Nigeria’s peaceful settlement, or restructuring, as is recently canvassed, had foretold some of the current situations. He is never bored as he fascinates you with talks, regaling you with stories of old Lagos, and his relationship with his mates and Alma mater - Baptist Academy and King’s College Lagos – always almost on every encounter.

The celebrant, Pa Adedapo Aderibigbe Adeniran is an accomplished lawyer, humanitarian, prolific writer and a classical historian. Indeed, he is an unrivalled encyclopedia on the pedigree and antecedents of all the leading families in Lagos and its environs, according to someone very close to him. And the ultimate arbiter in virtually all disputes within his vicinity on Bamgbose Street and, by extension, it’s axis on Lagos Island.

A particular case that played out not long ago involving one Engineer X and his tenant, one Ms. X, comes to mind. The former, allegedly, evicted the latter through a judgement obtained at a purported Magistrate Court 13, Igbosere Lagos State. Upon getting wind of the

shedding weight, giving away part of you in order to serve!

These considerations led Nyerere inexorably to the conclusion that Africa did not need the deadly grab-it-all spirit of capitalism and exploitation of man by fellow man. He came up with Ujamma (familyhood) socialism, which emphasised what he called “cooperative brotherhood”. Then came, in 1967, Arusha Declaration, named after a northern town where Nyerere unveiled the new deal to party leaders and faithful. The programme, a follow up to Ujamma “called for a commitment to self-reliance while establishing the leadership code, which obligated government and party officials to give up all sources of income for their salaries.”

The enforcement of this law started right in the president’s household. His wife, Maria, was the head of a woman’s organisation running a poultry business. She abandoned it immediately, to give moral armament to this campaign against corruption and rabid love of power and money. He lived by this declaration he made in Ujamma : “In acquisitive societies, wealth tends to corrupt those who possess it. It tends to breed in them a desire to live more comfortably than their fellows, to dress better and in every way to outdo them.”

On public buildings in Tanzania, Nyerere had these slogans inscribed in his war against ostentation, greed and corruption: Work is the foundation of progress. A poor country cannot rule itself if it relies on foreign help. We must run while others walk.

He invested heavily in the education of his people such that under his rule literacy “rose phenomenally and 83 per cent of Tanzanians were able to read and write.” It was also in Nyerere’s time that Swahili became a recognised national language.

He took an unbending stand on the struggle against apartheid rule in South Africa and on the fight for independence in Mozambique, Angola, Zimbabwe and Namibia. It earned him much global respect.

So what is Nwalimu teaching us as we mark his posthumous 95th birthday on April 13, 2017?

First, African leaders, as a result of their insatiable greed for power, money and office, are responsible for their citizens’ poverty, misery and death. Secondly, Africa wouldn’t need foreign aid if its leaders and elite don’t corner our wealth to feed their sickening sacerdotal taste. In addition, we should stop blaming Europe for Africa’s underdevelopment: it is African leaders and the elites who are under-developing the continent!

Finally, change in the society does not begin with the citizen; it begins with the leader.

––Ojewale is a journalist and writer in Ota, Ogun State. incident, through a good citizen who had just mentioned the incident to him, Pa Adeniran in his magnanimity, had painstakingly ran through his contacts and obtained a comprehensive list of Lagos Magisterial District.

After perusing the document it was discovered that the said Court 13 where the order was obtained was cloned! The case was reported to the DPO at Lion Building on Lagos Island, investigation was carried out, and the culprit was eventually arrested after a failed attempt. He was subsequently released when he pleaded to settle out of court.

Born on the 23rd of March 1924 at 191 Bamgbose Street, Lagos Island of Lagos State to Mr. Samuel Adegun Adeniran and Princess Lydia Adeoti Adeniran. He attended Baptist Academy Primary School on Broad Street before proceeding to King’s College, Lagos in 1938, where he passed the Cambridge School Certificate exams with a Grade 1 distinction and exemptions from London Matriculation, Cambridge Previous and Oxford Responsions. This gave him the privilege of gaining an automatic admission to any British University.

He left the shores of Nigeria to Britain in 1949. There, he enrolled in the Inns Court of Law School at Lincoln’s Inn London, and was called to the English Bar on February 7, 1956. He distinguished himself by being the only Nigerian to get Second Class pass in what was considered to be the most difficult subject of the curriculum, Real Property. His favourite subjects are Biology and Latin.

Some of his remarkable feats and moments are worth highlighting in this piece. For one, he’s one of Nigeria’s distinguished lawyers, with illustrious legal practice spanning well over four decades, with an exceptional specialisation in criminal law, property law, and constitutional law, the latter he occupied with the affairs of government, and was influential in shaping it’s policy.

Two, by dint of his sociopolitical sagacity, he moved the landmark motion that facilitated the disengagement of expatriate (foreign) lawyers from legal practice in Nigeria, during an Annual Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association in Kaduna in August 1963.

Three, by virtue of his sterling performance during his active days, he held brief for the Action Group political party. And he is “a distinguished author who thrives on venturing where others fear to tread.

The titles of two of his most well known books provide confirmation that he is not one to dodge controversy”.

Four, and just for the sake of space, he is a social critic and political commentator. The likes of Anthony Enahoro, David Garrick and George Garrick, Reverend Osinulu, David Soremekun, Henry Omenai, Olu Apata, R. O. Okagbue, B. C. Nwosu, and L. O. V. Anionwu are his contemporaries from King’s College. He actively took part in the pre-independence national discourse. He handled celebrated cases.

It was with utmost respect and immense admiration that I joined friends, family, relatives, well wishers, associates and members of King’s College Lagos Old Boys to wish Pa Adedapo Aderibigbe Adeniran Esq. a most resounding birthday and many more celebrations to come in good health. Cheers!

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R • APRIL 23, 2017

PERSPECTIVE

Anohu-Amazu: An Amazon Bows Out of PenCom

Pension Departments). The Federal Universities Pensioners Association (FUPA) hailed this section of the law as a form of financial autonomy for pensioners. The body said it “freed suffering pensioners from the heavy yokes of untimely death and massive hardship brought Pension Departments as it is the shortest possible journey between us and our money”.

Other major breakthroughs in PRA 2014 include the creation of new offences regime and provisions for stiffer penalties against infractions on pension law or mismanagement or diversion of pension funds and assets under any guise. PRA 2014 even criminalises attempt to commit an offence and imposes the same penalty as committing the offence.

Also penalties for misappropriation of pension funds have been increased such that operators who mismanage pension funds will be liable to a term of 10 years imprisonment upon conviction and also pay a fine equal three times the amount misappropriated. That is to say that anyone who misappropriates or steals N100 million will pay N300 million plus at least 10 years imprisonment. The convict will also forfeit any property, asset or fund with accrued interest or the proceeds of any unlawful activity under this Act in his/her possession, custody or control to the FG.

Hadiza Mailafia

A

lthough the recent leadership changes by the Federal Government (FG) affected 23 of its agencies, the removal of the DirectorGeneral (DG) of the National Pension Commission (PENCOM), Mrs. Chinelo Anohu-Amazu, and PENCOM commissioners has raised a lot of dust.

Unlike in most organisations where staff go on wild jubilation to celebrate the removal of their Chief Executives, the removal of the DG and her team has cast gloom and elicited a spell of anger among the staff of PENCOM, the labour, pensioners, and other industry stakeholders who have described the action as waste of 16 years of pension reform, politicization of pension administration, and a breach of Sections 19, 20, and 21 of the Pension Reform Act 2014.

Pre-Pension Reform

Prior to the pension reform, the Nigeria pension industry was stinking with roguery, mindless looting, incompetence, and unparalleled hardship by senior citizens who gave their prime to the nation. Not only was the Defined Benefits Scheme (DBS), which promised to pay gratuity and lifelong pension to retirees unrealistic and not working, available funds were stolen through brazen embezzlement and ghost pensioners, while the real pensioners died of heartbreak, preventable/curable diseases, and hardship.

The Pension Reform

It was, however, during the privatisation of pubic enterprises under former President Olusegun Obasanjo that the stack realities and burdens of the nation’s moribund pension system dawned on the FG. Every enterprise the government wanted to sell had huge pension deficits. All the investors wanted the pension deficit removed from their liabilities or have the companies for chickenfeed.

It was at that point that the then DG of the Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE), Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, and Chief Obasanjo, took the initiative that gave birth to the pension reform.

Obasanjo empaneled the Pension Reform Committee led

by Fola Adeola, with Mrs. Anohu-Amazu as a member. The Committee received ideas from various stakeholders, which it combined with global best practices and came up with a Bill that resulted in the Pension Reform Act (PRA) 2004.

She received a presidential Letter of Commendation for her service on that Committee.

The efficacy of the PRA 2004 showed in the lifting the nation’s pension liability from over N2 trillion deficit inherited at the takeoff of the reform, to over N6.5 trillion of assets it boasts of today.

The former President painted a more vivid picture of Mrs. Anohu-Amazu’s role in pension reform during the World Summit gala event at the Presidential Villa in 2014.

He said: “The first lesson I have to draw (from pension reform) is that within and outside Nigeria, there are Nigerians of world class that we can (hire) do world-class work for Nigerians. All the members of the (Fola Adeola) Committee were Nigerians. And the work they produced is of world class. And the way it has been managed is of world-class management”. The present DG is one of those that we had to go out to headhunt for. What a man can do, a woman can do better”.

Innovative and courageous leadership

Anohu-Amazu

PenCom Odyssey

Following the enactment of the Pension Reform Act 2004, Chinelo Anohu-Amazu was drafted to PENCOM to play key roles in translating the letters and spirit of the Act into action. She served as the Commission Secretary and Legal Adviser.

She was later appointed the Acting DG of PENCOM in 2012. Among her major achievements was the innovative leadership and strict regulations and enforcements, which saw to the growth of the pension assets from N2.9 trillion as at her appointment as the Acting DG in 2012 to over N6.5 trillion in 2017.

It is worth stating that the alleged looting in the pension industry, such as the N273 billion looting for which Abdulrasheed Maina, John Yusuf, Atiku Kigo, etc. were in the news were restricted to the old pension scheme or Defined Benefit Scheme (DBS). But these could have been curtailed if Section 20 (2)(a) of the Pension Reform Act 2004 (as it was then), which provided for the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD)had been activated to checkmate the activities of the various Pension Departments.

But who would dare the cabals and their source of slush fund but Anohu-Amazu. One of the major steps she took as Acting DG was to get President Goodluck Jonathan to activate that important provision and appoint an Executive Secretary for PTAD in 2013.

Another key achievement was the successful amendment of the Pension Reform Act in 2014. The PRA 2014, properly establishes PTAD and makes it law to directly transmit the benefits of pensioners under the old scheme to their accounts without the involvement of a third party (the

Mrs. Anohu-Amazu met the pension assets at N2.9 trillion in 2012 as Acting DG, but through strict regulation with her team, left it at over N6.5 million in 2017. She has also waged wars against any form of fraudulent practice in the industry. She refused to capitulate to cheap blackmail.

Equally, PenCom under her watch has shored up the Retirement Savings Accounts (RSAs) subscriptions from 5.39 million to 6.89 million within a period of three years.

Her leadership successfully completed the establishment of PENCOM offices in the six geopolitical zones to save Nigerians the stress of travelling all the way to Abuja when they have issues or needed to make enquiries on the pension industry.

This high-flying performance, coupled with her global reach, has helped open up the Nigerian pension industry to the world. In 2014, Nigeria became the first and only African country to host the World Pension Summit (Africa Special) on the continent. The event, which brings together over 400 professional, investors, and industry stakeholders from five continents, has been additionally hosted by Nigeria in 2015 and 2016 with tremendous impact on the nation’s pension industry.

She was specially invited in 2016 to speak at the World Bank’s 7th Global Pension and Savings Summit in Washington DC to share the story of Nigeria’s pension turnaround, which the World Bank termed “Nigeria: The Pension Big Bang.”

Anohu-Amazu was one of the few high-level experts from Africa appointed as pioneer members of the prestigious London Stock Exchange’s Africa Advisory Group.

She took the President’s drive for foreign investment a notch higher. For instance, at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom where she delivered the inaugural lecture of the Scottish Business in Africa Forum (SBIF) entitled, “Pension Funds: Opportunities for Infrastructure Support in the Development of African Economies”.

––Mailafia, an Economist, wrote from Abuja (See concluding part on www.thisdaylive.com)

A Good Friday for Edo and Obaseki Onaivi Cephas

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n significance, the ‘Good Friday’ nomenclature, which has been assigned to the day of Christ’s crucifixion, is an attestation to the spiritually and socially redemptive sacrifice undertaken by God the Son to free humankind from self-imposed bondage on account of sinfulness and its bedamning effects.

For Christians, Good Friday is an important day of the year because it marks a most momentous weekend for the religion. Well, it is also a good holiday for schoolchildren, workers and other such people as would have been otherwise occupied.

The name Good Friday is entirely appropriate because the suffering and death of Jesus, terrible as it was, marked the dramatic culmination of God’s plan to save his people from their sins.

Coming on the heels of the commemoration of Good Friday this year, the victory of God-Win (notice the pun?) Obaseki at the Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal would seem a coincidence. However, a scrutiny of the circumstances around it, especially within the context of the affairs of the larger Edo society, reveals an aura of divinity in the ‘coincidence’ as not a few parallels could be readily identified

Obaseki between it and the Good Friday of the Christian faith.

It would be recalled that on the country’s return of democracy in 1999, Edo State was particularly unlucky as the only distinguishing features between the new civilian administration birthed in the state and the preceding military regime were the attires worn by the actors. The corrupting influence of civilians whose images loomed large in the protracted military era had

metamorphosed into the scourge of godfatherism, which was transmitted to the compromised democracy being ushered in. Against these glaring democratic negatives, people were promised that it was not going to be business as usual.

However, in Edo State, given the odious governance of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) that immediately took the stage, it soon became a question of whether people actually understood the not-business-as-usual promise.

For eight years, it was a narrative of a state ruled and misruled by a caucus of political Goliaths, who institutionalised godfatherism at the expense of genuine people-based democratic processes of choosing mandate holders. The side effect was a gradual drift into a non-viable state status. It was at that point that Adams Oshiomhole emerged, who, like the Biblical David, scorned the self-aggrandising threats and schemes of the ruinous Goliaths, on whom the people had quite given up.

It was reminiscent of the despondency into which Goliath’s rhodomontade had thrown the Israelites. But Oshiomhole weathered the storm against the behemoths and won the trophy for the long-traumatised Edo people.

Nevertheless, despite the defeat and unlike the Biblical Goliath who died in that encounter and

his soldiers dispersed, the Edo political goliaths went into a short recess and soon reappeared on the frontiers.

Battered with humiliation, they mounted an ego-driven propaganda of the prospect to take back Edo State. At the expense of common sense and reliance on antecedence and track record, they asserted their hopes on the puerile assumption that Edo State is a PDP State. However, towards the end of Oshiomhole’s tenure, the evil forces reared their heads again, complete with horns, steaming nose and bared fangs, without a progressive manifesto, but with the unsympathetic slogan that the “South-South is PDP and PDP is South-South”.

Added to it was the “Simple Agenda” which was a euphemism for non-existent quick fix solutions to the fallouts of their misrule at the national level. All that has petered into insignificance today in the face of the Tribunal’s verdict, which has once more affirmed the victory of God-Win (yes, the pun remains valid) Obaseki over the evil forces that held humanity captive in Edo State.

Obaseki will take the redemptive work started by the Comrade Governor to a new level. The Good Friday component of the verdict is a stamp of divine approval of the mandate.

Comrade Onaivi Cephas sent in this piece from Zamfara

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R • APRIL 23, 2017

SUNDAYSPORTS

Edited by Demola Ojo Email demola.ojo@thisdaylive.com

Barca Battle Madrid in Season-Defining Clasico •Kick-off: 7:45pm

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eal Madrid can take a leap toward securing this season’s La Liga title when they host Barcelona in the second of this season’s El Clasico meetings today at the Santiago Bernabeu. Los Blancos lead second-placed Barca by three points with a game in hand heading into the showdown, where victory for the hosts could see the crown’s destination decided considering only a few games remain in the season.

After exiting the UEFA Champions League in midweek following a 0-0 stalemate at home to Juventus—completing a 3-0 aggregate defeat in the quarter-final clash—Barca will be motivated to resurrect their league chances.

Meanwhile, manager Zinedine Zidane’s side can advance their prospects of a double this season, having progressed to the semi-finals of the Champions League following their 6-3 aggregate hammering of Bayern Munich in the last eight.

Messi streaks away from Madird tackles during a past El Clsico

No matter the circumstances, an El Clasico collision never fails to entertain, and you can find all the necessary viewing information, complete with a match preview.

Unfortunately for Barcelona’s chances of stealing a win in the Spanish capital this Sunday, Brazil maestro Neymar doesn’t look as though he’ll be available to feature for the visitors.

Spanish daily Marca reported on Thursday that an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) was his only hope of having his suspension overturned.

The league campaign is of particular importance for Neymar and Co. following Wednesday’s Champions League exit, where the forward was left distraught in the face of defeat. The Blaugrana are a much more threatening beast with Neymar in their lineup, and the Brazilian has at times outshone the likes of Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez this season.

It’s just Barca’s luck that while they’ll likely be without their wing wizard, Real’s Gareth Bale made his return to training on Thursday and could be rushed back from his calf injury in time for todsy’s blockbuster.

In Real’s last home league clash against Barca, they were thumped 4-0 in November 2015. Barcelona have scored four times in each of their last two league trips to the Bernabeu, but without Neymar, and manager Luis Enrique entering his last derby before leaving the Blaugrana, the guests will struggle to uphold that pattern.

FA Cup: Chelsea Beat Spurs in Thriller to Reach Final

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den Hazard came off the bench to make the decisive contribution as Chelsea won an FA Cup semifinal classic against Tottenham at Wembley yesterday. Hazard had been rested, along with Diego Costa, as Chelsea manager Antonio Conte shuffled his pack against a Spurs side high on confidence after closing to within four points of their London rivals in the Premier League title race. But the Belgian emerged as substitute to help settle an enthralling encounter.

Willian, in for Hazard, gave Chelsea the lead with a fine free-kick after five minutes but Harry Kane levelled for Spurs with an instinctive stooping header before the Brazilian put Conte’s side back in front from the penalty spot just before the break - Son Heung-min penalised for a foul on Victor Moses.

Spurs seemed to have the momentum after Dele Alli converted Christian Eriksen’s brilliant pass seven minutes after half-time - before Hazard was introduced as Chelsea’s trump card, along with Costa, on the hour.

Hazard drove powerfully past Spurs keeper Hugo Lloris after 75 minutes and Nemanja

Matic set up an appearance alongside Arsenal or Manchester City in the FA Cup final with a spectacular drive five minutes later.

Conte raised eyebrows with a team selection that saw Belgian outcast Michy Batshuayi given a rare outing on this huge occasion. It led to suggestions Conte was prioritising the Premier League title race with Spurs after last weekend’s jaded performance in the 2-0 defeat at Manchester United.

The winner takes the spoils, though, and Conte has every right to accept the plaudits as Chelsea won a magnificent game of football to reach the FA Cup final. Conte used Hazard and Costa at a crucial juncture - on the hour, with Spurs building up a head of attacking steam and looking the more assertive side - after Alli had equalised for the second time.

Hazard, a scourge of Spurs having scored the goal that effectively ended their title chances last season, was involved in what turned out to be the defining moment 15 minutes after coming on, hitting a low drive that gave Chelsea a lead they would not surrender.

It was also an illustration that the strength

Iheanacho Ready to Fight for Place at Man City

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anchester City striker Kelechi Iheanacho says he is ready to fight for his place in the team, amidst competition from Gabriel Jesus and Sergio Aguero. The Nigeria international, 20, has scored seven goals this season but has found first-team chances harder to come by than during his debut campaign.

Despite only five Premier League starts this season, Iheanacho welcomes the extra competition and insists he is improving by playing alongside great players.

“I cannot pretend that I don’t hear what people back home [in Nigeria] say about my lack of regular football but I will continue to fight,” Iheanacho told BBC Sport. “I don’t worry about those comments. All I need to do is to keep working, keep doing well and keep improving every day.

“Sergio Aguero and Gabriel [Jesus] are really really great players that we need in our team. As a young player, I’m happy playing alongside these fantastic players because I learn and get better every day.

“It’s a big thing for my career to compete with these players.

I’m okay with the way things are going and I wish Gabriel a quick recovery to return and help the team.”

Iheanacho scored 14 times and produced seven assists last season even though 25 of his 36 appearances were as a substitute. That feat saw him finish as City’s third-highest scorer in all competitions, behind Sergio Aguero and Kevin de Bruyne.

At international level, Iheanacho has scored five goals in eight appearances for Nigeria since making his senior debut against Swaziland in November 2015.

of Chelsea’s squad runs deeper than Tottenham’s as they were able not only to bring

on Hazard and Costa but also Cesc Fabregas to change the face of the game.

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R • APRIL 23, 2017

High Life

83 wIth LANRE ALFRED 08076885752

...Amazing lifestyles of Nigeria’s rich and famous

The Secret Bone in Gbenga Ashafa’s Back

•Why Lagos politician and socialite plans big for wife, Folasade’s 60th birthday

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here is harmony in the heart of Folasade Ashafa; bliss activates and runs her soul amok as sweet nectar intoxicates the twotailed pasha. The beautiful wife of Lagos politician and veteran socialite, Gbenga Bareehu Ashafa, will clock 60 in a few weeks. To this end, her husband is planning a grand birthday soiree in her honour.

Lagos will list the day Ashafa fetes his wife no doubt. The coastal city will burst at the seams with pomp and elegance as friends and family of the Ashafas troop out to celebrate one of their own.

It promises to be celebration galore in the home of

the popular Lagos politician, as he is eager to leave no stone unturned to celebrate his wife of 38 years. Enthusing about the forthcoming celebration, Folasade relived how she met her husband. “I met my husband in far away America over 38 years ago. He had finished schooling and I was almost rounding off my course. We got married when he was 24 years and I was 22 years old,” she said. Ever since, Folasade has been a pillar of support to her husband, Ashafa.

The latter gleefully tells every listening ear that she has been instrumental to the success of his noble exploits. About the date and venue ?

Please stay glued to this page.

Angela Jide Jones

AFTER THE STORM...THE ENVIABLE SWAGGER OF ANGELA JIDE JONES

Fame is alluring. Money is tempting. Glamour is fascinating and Angela Ebagua-Omokore basks in the hub of these guilty pleasures. The wife of oil magnate, Jide Omokore, has got the glamour habit and no degree of bad press would sully her enviable reputation. Until her husband became a person of interest to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Angela’s passion for expensive necklaces and trinkets sparkled like a blazing ember, bright as the sun, and glittering like super-charged neon light.

But soon after the EFCC swooped on her husband and allegedly

recovered a staggering N407 million (£1.4 million) worth of jewelry from their residence, not a few people have begun to wonder if Angela’s obsessive love for expensive jewelry would continue to fluorish or die. The top corporate player watched wistfully as her husband was forced to cede the jewelry to the EFCC. The anti-graft agency recovered the jewelry from their residence during a raid in Lagos.

However, sources close to the Omokores revealed that the seized jewelry hardly matters to her and her husband. It would be recalled that when Omokore married Angela as his trophy wife and second wife, the Lagos high society buzzed with speculations about the billionaire oil magnate’s capacity to keep her given her high tastes and lust for expensive jewelry. Angela is undoubtedly a big spender and classy woman. During the immediate past administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan, her husband’s closeness to Jonathan and the country’s former Minister of Petroleum, Diezani AlisonMadueke, accorded her certain benefits including easy access to private jets, exclusive parties and guilty pleasures. But immediately Jonathan and the PDP got booted from the country’s power corridors, the rest is history.

Angela, a former beauty queen, acquired a B.Sc. Degree in Economics at the University of Benin. She earned an MBA in Marketing at the Enugu State University and an MSc in Investment Management at

Gbenga Ashafa

Cass Business School of City University, UK. She is also an alumnus of the Harvard Business School’s Program for Management Development and the Institute for Management Development (IMD) Lausanne, Switzerland.

OVER ONE BILLION DOLLARS WONDER ON WHEELS! ROLLS ROYCE GHOSTS, PORSCHES, FERRARIS, AVENTADORS...

EFCC STILL ABANDONS SEIZED LUXURY CARS TO RUST AND ROT

At first glance, the Rolls Royce Phantoms, Porsches, Ferraris, among other luxury cars cluttering the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) car dump in Abuja, look like used cars put up for sale. But the expensive automobiles are not for sale. Rather they are part of the luxury items and property seized from persons of interest in the EFCC’s anti-corruption campaign. We can reveal that the vehicles were confiscated from oil magnates, bank chiefs and other individuals currently undergoing investigation by the EFCC for various types of embezzlement and financial fraud.

Many of the cars were allegedly surrendered to the anti-graft agency by its owners in their frantic bid to give up property and account for money looted from state coffers often with the connivance of shady public officers.

As President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-corruption campaign intensifies, the EFCC is set to add more bullet-proof

vehicles and expensive, custom built automobiles to the fleet of cars confiscated from subjects of its investigation. Owners of the seized cars are in the anti-graft agency’s dragnet for alleged money laundering, bribery, advance fee fraud and various other forms of corruption. As you read, the vehicles are caking with dust, cobwebs, bird droppings, and rodent infestation. This is no doubt ironic given the luxurious nests of the vehicles in their former owners’ massive mansions.

Many of the culprits acquired the vehicles for prestige, to boost their social profiles. Others acquired it to tie down capital and many more simply bought it for want of better things to do with money. Some of the owners of the seized vehicles have been visiting the spot where the vehicles are parked to stare wistfully at the machines that erstwhile distinguished them as men of class and stature.

Today, those expensive toys they acquired on a whim or out of desperation to be acknowledged as the rich upper class, are rotting away in EFCC custody.

ON THE TRAIL OF TONY IFEDIBA…

Tony Ifediba nurtures a robust interest in the humane.

He was never brought up to savour bluster by finding pleasure in what is so commonly condemned neither was he given to pessimism at an early age. He chooses only to see the sunny spokes behind the darkest pall.

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HIGHLIFE

O’Tega Emerhor Throws Grand Wedding for Daughter

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t is often said that it is easier for a father to have children than for children to have a real father. But O’Tega Emerhor is a real father.

Ask his daughters. They will gladly tell you that O’Tega, their father, exudes that fatherly aura that soothes like a comforting shoulder to all daughters.

Yes, Otega loves all his daughters. And that fatherly love is borne of a deeper wisdom. O’Tega understands that a father’s calling is eternal and its importance transcends time. He understands that the bond and comradeship between father and daughter lasts a lifetime and it is ever more robust than the bond between a man and his belle or his innate love for affluence. This is why the Chairman of Standard Alliance Group is pulled all

stops to ensure that his daughter, Onajite’s wedding to her beau, Ekechi, was a ceremony to remember. The event which took place in Lagos yesterday attracted the crème of Nigeria’s high society.

The white wedding is set to hold on April 29, 2017. As they put together their very private and classy wedding ceremony, the invitation letters sent out to some privileged invitees is very beautiful that not a few invitees have enthused that its quality could make the royal family of London go green with envy. A cursory look at the invitation cards reveals the degree of meticulousness and preparedness of O’Tega and his family for the event. Predictably, many people are eager to be part of the memorable celebration.

Under his support scheme not a few indigent students have been granted scholarship, widows have got sustainable helping hands and others vulnerable members of the society have been made to keep hope alive.

Hopefully, Ifediba’s extraordinary feat would provoke sincere act of humanitarianism in a country that is in need of collective support for better advancement.

THE BLISS MERCANTILIST: SUJIMOTO BOSS, SIJI OGUNDELE, EXCITES LAGOS HIGH SOCIETY WITH AVANT-GARDE PLEASURE PROJECT Tony Ifediba

In a clime where the practice of giving is usually tied to taking political advantage and undercutting the system, having a man with selfless and genuine commitment to magnanimous gestures is a reassurance of the possibility of the appearance of sanity in a polluted society.

Anthony Ifediba, a successful US-based attorney and natural giver, is a classical case study in true altruism. The graduate of Appalachian School of Law in Grundy, Virginia has impressively conditioned his life to just two major things - love for law and passion for humanity. In law, the dashing and articulate legal practitioner has strongly asserted himself with the massive portfolio of successful and jaw-dropping cases under his law firm and has continued to position his Ifediba Law Group as a frontrunner in the delivery of excellent legal services, both in the US and internationally. On philanthropy , Ifediba’s long standing and exemplary proclivity for giving is showing that kind offering can be made with no strings attached.

There is something unusual about Sijibomi Ogundele; everything is unusual about him. Where his peers stay content in being ordinary, Sijibomi a.k.a Sujimoto seeks to be extraordinary. He does not wish to appear the best, he seeks to be the best. But despite his predilection for excellence, the handsome dude with tiny frame and mammoth reputation does not seek to become a Nigerian

O’tega Emerhor

Voltaire or Gibbon, neither does he intend to model his exploits after the great deeds of mankind’s deceased heroes, Sujimoto simply wishes to be his own man; a 21st century hero cut from a rare stock.

Until he happened upon the Nigerian construction landscape a couple of months ago, not a few people thought he was a fantasist.

Back then, Sijibomi was a nobody; nonetheless, he was able to make a grand entry into the country’s construction sector.

Sujimoto is planning a 25-storey building, which currently stands as the tallest residential building model in Lagos. Known as Lorenzo By Sujimoto, the building is intended to revive the magnificence of Florence as a symbol of structural mastery thus bringing ancient grandeur into 21st century architecture.

The dashing and suave construction guru said that: “Lorenzo by Sujimoto will be the tallest residential building in Lagos.

CALM DOWN! HALIMA FERNANDEZ IS NOT READY TO MARRY

Siji Ogundele

Idleness is the play field of the mischievous; it presents a paradise to the spiteful and devious at heart. Thus when a man or woman becomes idle for too long, he or she becomes inclined to the disparaging and hideous. This is why the rumours going round about Halima Fernandez shouldn’t be taken serious. Mischief makers are at it again; they are behind the malicious rumour about Halima’s purported newfound romance with an undisclosed hunk.

Contrary to the rumours being circulated about her, sources close to Halima, the beautiful widow of late Ambassador Plenipotentiary, multi-billionaire and international

Halima Fernandez

businessman, Chief Dehinde Fernandez, argue that she is not set to wed any time soon.

When her husband died, many thought that his demise would leave her desolate for a very long time. And the reason was not far-fetched: it was a widely known fact that Halima’s love for her husband was inestimable, defying reason and every cliché about affection. So strong was the bond between them that Halima was grief-stricken for so long.

Today, all that has been confined to history as the mother of three children is getting her groove back. Halima recently stepped out, looking radiant and stunning after months of mourning her late husband. It can be recalled that Halima Fernandez cried her eyes out at the demise of her husband.

Thus mischief makers, on sighting the new, reinvigorated Halima, went to town with what her closest friends and associates have dismissed as a spiteful and unfounded rumour about her impending marriage to a newfound hunk.

Though rumour mongers have

T H I S D AY, T H e S u n D AY n e w S pA p e r • APRIL 23, 2017

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HIGHLIFE

Invader from Hell...Death Snatches the Joy of Ex-Delta Commissioner, Magnus Onyibe

•How PR guru lost his beautiful 18-year-old daughter to medical complication

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agnus EbiyeOnyibe built his world around his daughter, Kikaose. Then death came calling. The grim reaper snatched the 18-year-old from his world thus reminding him that his love and care are never enough shield against the ravage of death. At his beloved daughter’s death, Magnus found out that he was merely a speck twirling in the fringes of fate’s curl. These are indeed not the best of times in the household of the quintessential PR guru and former Commissioner for Information, Delta State, during the regime of Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan. The softspoken man, who is very well respected by all, lost his adorable, very beautiful and highly cerebral 18-year-old daughter to the very it that Halima is set to marry another man, reality is arguably different from their claims as Halima allegedly promised her late husband that she would never marry another man after him.

AND OLUFUNKE FINALLY LAID TO REST…MUTIU SUMONU’S WIFE INSPIRES, EVEN IN DEATH

Nobody makes lovely corpse.

But Olufunke Sunmonu, the beautiful wife of the Chairman of Julius Berger, Mutiu Sunmonu, did. Even in death, she cuts a perfect portrait of loveliness and humanity at its finest. Few people get to transit from being utterly indispensable to “eternally

Mutiu Sunmonu

cold hands of death on Wednesday, April 12, 2017. Her untimely demise occurred due to complications from a ruptured appendix, and unsuccessful surgery at a private hospital, Gold Cross Hospital, Bourdillon Road, Ikoyi, Lagos. Kikaose, fondly called Kika by family and friends prior to her death, was a second year undergraduate of Law at the University of Birmingham in the United kingdom. She was described as a God fearing lady, whose good passion for God inspired her to lead a fellowship, comprising her mates. If not for death, Kika would have been celebrating her 19th birthday come April 29, 2017 being born April 29, 1998.

She’s survived by her parents, Magnus and Helen and two siblings, Sopuluchukwu and Ebubechukwu. unforgettable.” A real wife does.

And if she is a wife to treasure, she may be succeeded but she can never be replaced. Like the brightest daffodil amid a bouquet of flowers, she exudes enviable humaneness even in her wake.

Olufunke who passed away after a long battle with cancer, was buried last Thursday in a grand funeral ceremony.

Like a renaissance artist intoxicated by the muse, Mutiu chose to paint beautiful and everlasting pictures in memory of Olufunke, the mother of his children. The beauty is in the detail. In a precedent-shattering ceremony that was at once sorrowful and uplifting, Funke was remembered as a woman of unimpeachable nobility whose life of compassion and style transcended the familiar and often pedestrian vanities of humanity. The ceremony attracted the crème of Nigeria’s high society. They trooped out in large numbers to honour the family at City of David Church, Victoria Island, Lagos. There was service of songs on Wednesday and burial service on Thursday at the same Redeemed Church.

Despite the pain of remembering, no one wished to let go the brilliant memories of Madam Olufunke, particularly Mutiu, her loving husband. Hovering by her side as she was borne toward an enchanted future, Mutiu rued the final departure of his wife, struggling in his grief to deal with the humbling reality that his sweet, chaste wife had finally set out alone into eternity. The flood of despair that poured forth

Magnus Onyibe

frequently resulted in cascade of tears. By the funeral, Mutiu no doubt, delivered a remarkably personal and pointed tribute to his wife’s memory. He noted that though it was not enough to canonize his wife’s memory, it was the least he could do to venerate a woman and mother who was passionately inured in her desire to do good for others so she could contribute her quota to improving humanity.

FROM JAZZ TO THE PULPIT...AT 70, TUNDE KUBOYE QUITS BOP FOR THE BIBLE

•Why he Will continue to support jazz music

It is comparatively easy to achieve a certain unity in marriage by allowing one partner to dominate or by having both parties play dumb. The Kuboyes’ did neither. They clashed their character and personality together, like cymbals and the effect boomed like a lullaby. The Kuboyes’ marriage was filled with music which was quite profound, as Kuboye and his late wife, Frances, sought to elevate Jazz music to its lyrical apogee in Nigeria. Together, they dished out tunes that untied the hidden soul of harmony.

There is no gainsaying that the Kuboye name is synonymous to local jazz music. It is at the backdrop of this reality that jazz enthusiasts wonder what might have happened to Tunde Kuboye.

For quite some time now, many people have been wondering what has happened to this ruggedly handsome owner of Jazz 38, a popular Jazz Club in Lagos. Since

his wife, Frances died 20 years ago, Tunde Kuboye, was one of the big names in Entertainment in Lagos, especially when it came to promoting Jazz. Then, he and his wife ran Jazz 38 located on Awolowo road, Ikoyi, Lagos.

They later relocated the club to a permanent site at Lekki Phase 1. But then his wife passed on 20 years ago. But over the last 20 years, a lot has happened to Tunde Kuboye. He turned 70 last year and he has become a bornagain Christian. He actually runs a church at his Lekki location.

And even though he has stopped performing Jazz music, he still remains a big fan of Jazz and would continue to support Jazz for as long as he is alive.

Tunde Kuboye

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R • APRIL 23, 2017

NEWSXTRA Melaye Accuses Kogi Governor of Plot to Assassinate Him

Yekini Jimoh in Lokoja

Senator Dino Melaye has alleged that the reason why Kogi State governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello wanted to kill him was because of his stand on the plight of Kogi workers and Pensioners in the state.

But the officials of the State government countered that they would not join issues with the controversial senator over his allegations, instead asking the Police to wade and do justice to the allegation, to determine if it is true or not.

Addressing women of Kogi West Senatorial District who embarked on peaceful protest at Aiyetoro-Gbede, country home of Senator Dino, he noted that workers and pensioners in the

state are dying and suffering following the alleged refusal of the governor to pay salary and pensions in the last 15 months.

“Alhaji Yahaya Bello collected N20 billion from federal government as bail-out fund, still he refused to settle workers. He also collected N11 billion from Paris fund, still he refused to pay workers and pensioners.

Children can no longer go to school, tenants can no longer pay for house rent, enough is enough; the people of Kogi State are tired of this government”, he noted.

Melaye pointed out that he would continue to speak the truth for the sake of his people, saying no amount of intimidation would stop him from fighting for the course of his people.

FG, Stakeholders Brainstorm on SDGs in Nigeria, to Present Status Development Partners, and the Report to UN Parliament, amongst others.

Abimbola Akosile

With about 16 months into the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, stakeholders in Nigeria are set to critically evaluate the implementation efforts of the global agenda with a view to producing an outcome document on the progress with the implementation of the SDGs in the country.

The report will feed into the National Voluntary Reviews that will be presented during the High Level Segment of the 2017 High Level Political Forum under the auspices of the United Nations Economic and Social Council in July.

The National Consultation on the National Voluntary Report, being convened by the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on SDGs, OSSAP-SDGs and partners, will hold on Tuesday, April 25 in Abuja and will have in attendance representatives from the Federal MDAs, State Governments, Civil Society Organisations, the Private Sector, Academia, International

According to a statement issued by the Head of Communications in OSSAP-SDGs, Janet McDickson, the stakeholders’ consultation will critically examine the implementation efforts along the following pillars: the current intervention efforts through policies and strategies towards achieving the Goals, how resources for the SDGs are being mobilised, challenges, key successes recorded so far on the efforts, as well as the emerging issues for attention on the goals.

The Consultation will also consider existing partnerships for accelerating the achievement of the Goals, lessons learned from efforts of key players, scalable good practices, implementation gaps and plans to address the gaps.

In considering the implementation gaps, issues bothering on financing, capacity development, data and statistical knowledge, performance management, results tracking, technology and partnership gaps, amongst others, will also be reviewed.

Gunmen Kill Police Inspector in Anambra Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City Two armed men operating on a motorcycle yesterday shot dead a police inspector in Ogidi, near Onitsha in Anambra, police authorities have confirmed.

The Divisional Police Officer (DPO), Ogidi Police Station, Mr Hassan Musa, who confirmed the incident, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the hoodlums collected the AK47 riffle the deceased was carrying.

He said the incident occurred at about 2.45 p.m. at a police road block near Ugwunwasike Roundabout in Ogidi, where a police team was conducting “stop and search”.

An eyewitness had told

NAN that the armed men took the policeman unawares as they rode straight and shot him at a close range while he was flagging down a vehicle for a search. “Other policemen who were with him took cover on hearing the gun shots while the armed men escaped,” the source said.

NAN gathered that the incident, which happened within minutes, caused people in the vicinity, including motorists and commuters, to abandon their vehicle and scamper for safety.

The DPO said the remains of the late inspector had been deposited at Iyi-Enu Hospital’s mortuary. He said the police had commenced investigation into the incident.

The Chairman, Senate Committee on Federal Capital Territory, expressed deep shock over the assassination attempt on his life, as he described the situation as unfortunate, regrettable, highly disturbing and very strange to the socio-political culture of the people of Kogi West.

“In the history of Kogi West, various political gladiators have, at various times, had their differences but none had ever been escalated to the level of attempt on life. Chief Awoniyi and Chief Daniyan (both of blessed

memory) had their strong differences. Senator Dino Melaye and Prince Olusola Akanmode also had their differences.

“Arc. Stephen Olorunfemi and Prince Olusola Akanmode and Tunde Ogbeha, also had their differences. Senator Dino Melaye and Senator Smart Adeyemi had their serious political differences, none of these differences was ever escalated to the horrendous level of assassination attempt.

“The recent incident is alien to Okun people and to Kogi

West. The advent of Yahaya Bello as Governor and Taofiq Isa as Local Government administrator in the political firmament of Kogi state has brought this unfortunate socio-political paradigm shift,” he lamented.

Earlier, the spokesperson of the women, Mrs. Jalon Ekushemoro said the women in Kogi West are fully behind Senator Dino. She noted that no amount of threat by some group of people would stop him from fighting for the masses. The women advised

him to continue to represent them without fear.

However in his reaction, the Kogi State governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello has said he does not want to join issues with Senator Melaye.

The governor who spoke through his Director General on Media and Publicity, Mr. Kingsley Fanwo while reacting to the allegations, said Senator Dino Melaye is an adult and can explain the path he has chosen to tread.

T H I S D AY SUNDAY APRIL 23, 2017

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MISSILE PDP to FG

“Now, the APC-led federal government has suddenly realised the corruption allegation levelled against the SGF; and instead of arresting and detaining him as the government has been doing to PDP members and other Nigerians, he was suspended and a committee set-up to investigate him. This is to say the least, double standards.”

– Markarfi faction of the PDP accusing the federal government of double standard in the handling of the alleged contract scam involving the suspended Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal.

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simon.kolawole@thisdaylive.com, sms: 0805 500 1961

Sanusi’s Home Truth Deserves Introspection

T

he time has come, I propose, for the expression — “Sanusi stirs controversy” — to be officially classified as a cliché.

It would appear each time Alhaji Muhammad Sanusi II, the emir of Kano, talks, there must be an outbreak of controversy. Whenever he discusses economics or politics, passions are always inflamed, opinion is sharply divided and a free-for-all often ensues . You can accuse Sanusi of many things, but you can never accuse him of not speaking his mind — and brutally. You may say he is being honest, direct and radical. You may also say he is being hypocritical and out to gain attention by shedding crocodile tears. Pick your choice — it’s a free world.

Speaking a couple of weeks ago in Kaduna, Sanusi said what you would hardly hear from northern leaders. The typical northern leader boasts of “our huge population” and how “we will always determine who rules Nigeria”. Many make snide remarks at Niger Delta agitations, some even postulating that the oil down there was geologically formed from up north. We have been told, most recently, that there is no oil-producing state or region in Nigeria, and that because the north constitutes 72% of the country’s landmass, then the offshore oil belongs to the north. That is the impression we usually get when northern leaders speak “on behalf” of the north.

But Sanusi bucked the trend at the Kaduna summit by asking, as it were: Excuse me, what is the “is equal to” of all these postulations?

How has that made life better for northerners?

Take the issue of healthcare. Recently, there was an outbreak of cholera and meningitis in some northern states, with Zamfara the worst hit. Alhaji Abdulaziz Yari, the governor, said outbreak of diseases is clearly a punishment signal from God for the sins of the people. Sanusi immediately took him headlong, declaring that the statement is “horrendous” and “Islamically incorrect”. He then added the clincher: 90% of the problems around the north are self-inflicted and can be solved.

I will illustrate his point. There are 24 state hospitals in Zamfara, but there are only 22 doctors in those hospitals attending to “our huge population” of two million people. You will notice that this has nothing to do with fornication. A governor who cares so much about the wellbeing of the people he was elected to lead would not go and sit down in Abuja while they are being ruined by preventable diseases.

I reckon that the first case of meningitis was recorded in Zamfara in November 2016. The state neither handled it nor alerted the federal authorities until February 2017 when it had gone out of hand. To quote Sanusi, this is self-inflicted and can be solved.

In Sokoto, the state government regularly pays health surveillance officers to go round, incognito, and find out if there are threats of disease outbreaks in order to act promptly. Money was collected but job was not done. Meningitis broke out and killed poor people. Technically, who fornicated in this instance? The looters or the hapless people? Conversely, Kaduna state was able to contain and tackle the meningitis outbreak and thus recorded minimal casualty.

It has a fairly responsive system, and kudos must go to the governor, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai.

But don’t they also fornicate in Kaduna? The Kaduna story, unfortunately, is an outlier.

Sanusi broke down the problems, simple enough for a fair-minded leader to understand and take action. I quote him: “We are in denial. The north-west and the north-east, demographically, constitute the bulk of Nigeria’s population, but

Muhammad Sanusi II look at human development indices, look at the number of children out of school, look at adult literacy, look at maternal mortality, look at infant mortality, look at girl-child completion rate, look at income per capita, the north-east and the north-west Nigeria are among the poorest parts of the world.” True. Take away the depressing statistics from the far north and you get a different picture of Nigeria.

The fact is that while there is a general problem of bad governance all over Nigeria, the northern states are evidently the most afflicted. Statistics from the north-west and north-east are pathetic and heartbreaking. Primary healthcare has virtually collapsed and the states are not doing much to address this, leaving the federal government to be fighting the fire of epidemics all the time. It

Northern leaders love to say they are fighting for northern interests when the power game is being played in Abuja, yet you have to struggle to point out how much impact they have made on the lives of the ordinary people in the areas that matter the most: access to potable water, education, healthcare, electricity, motorable roads and such like

is not as if the federal government has resolved the issues around its own tertiary hospitals. I do not suggest that there are no good governance stories coming from the north, but what we usually see is the dishing out of handouts, not a genuine attempt to make the people productive.

Northern leaders love to say they are fighting for northern interests when the power game is being played in Abuja, yet you have to struggle to point out how much impact they have made on the lives of the ordinary people in the areas that matter the most: access to potable water, education, healthcare, electricity, motorable roads and such like. Educating the girl-child is still a big deal. While the elite send their daughters to the best schools in the UK and the US, they contrive to keep the daughters of the lowly and poor people from receiving quality education that will enhance their skills and make them contribute meaningfully to the society.

Sanusi further addressed the cultural mindset that has left the north partially fossilised. He said: “We need to understand the roots of the problem of northern Nigeria. Burning books, it happened in Kano, what is the crime of those books? They were writing about love, and love apparently is supposed to be a bad word. In a society where you don’t love your women and you don’t love your children, you allow them to beg, you beat up your women, why should anyone talk about love? We have adopted an interpretation of our culture and our religion that is rooted in the 13th century mindset, that refuses to recognise that the rest of the Muslim world has moved on.” Spot on!

To strengthen his point, the Sarkin Kano gave the example of Malaysia and their cultural practices. “Today in Malaysia,” he said, “you wake up and divorce your wife, that is fine.

But you give her 50% of all the wealth you acquired since you married her. It is a Muslim country. In Nigeria, you wake up after 20 years of marriage, you say to your wife, ‘I divorce you’ and that’s it. Other Muslim nations have pushed forward girl-child education. They’ve pushed forward science and technology. They have pushed forward the arts. We have this myth in northern Nigeria, where we try to create an Islamic society that never existed.” Again, I find enormous commonsense in this.

There are many other issues that the emir has been speaking about in recent times which I think northern leaders would do well to ruminate over before jumping on the defensive. Introspection may just be the key that will unlock the massive potential of the north. What I am seeing, however, is an attempt to discredit Sanusi rather than address the issues. Suddenly, documents of Kano palace finances are being leaked to curtail his “excesses” — as if the budgets for education, healthcare, roads and rural electrification are controlled from the palace. There are already reports that he could be deposed, as if that is what will address the self-destruction going on in the north.

In my opinion, what Sanusi has done is to hold up the proverbial mirror to the face of northern leaders. If they don’t like what they see, they can react anyway they like. They can grab the mirror and smash it on the ground and remove the turban from Sanusi’s head. If that will address the gross underdevelopment of the region, they should do it quickly. But I can assure them it won’t change anything.

However, they can choose to take a hard look at themselves in that mirror and begin to do things in a new way. Indeed, it is in the interest of every Nigerian that the far north makes progress in every sphere of life. Nigeria will, by far, be the better for it. Home truth.

And Four Other Things...

SHOCKING DEATHS When a “high tension” wire fell on a Unilag undergraduate in September 2015, I wrote an article asking: is this God’s will? I also said if Nigeria was a country that learns lessons, such a tragedy would never occur again. But, of course, we never learn anything here. On Thursday evening in Calabar, Cross river state, 30 football fans were electrocuted while watching a match. Cause? A “high tension” wire fell on them at the viewing centre. Is that going to be the last? No, I’m afraid. There are many “high tension” cables hanging dangerously on people’s heads all over the country, and we are just waiting for the next “God’s will” to kill them. We learn nothing. Never.

SUSPENSION SNAG Mr. Babachir Lawal, secretary to the government of the federation, was suspended during the week by President Buhari over allegations of impropriety in certain contracts. Ambassador Ayo Oke, the DG of the National Intelligence Agency, was also suspended pending investigation into the huge cash find at a private residence in Ikoyi, Lagos state. I don’t know what to think: if these men are not found guilty eventually, it will be a big PR problem for Buhari to recall them. They won’t even be able to function in office, morally, again. Yet Buhari cannot ignore public opinion on these grievous allegations.

But except they are found culpable, Buhari will be in a tight corner. Snag.

SECURITY VOTES Did you enjoy the recent banter between Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna state and Speaker Yakubu Dogara? In case you missed it, el-Rufai took up the challenge of Dogara and published his security budget, and then challenged the speaker to publish details of what federal legislators earn. Dogara released his pay slips and said el-Rufai did not release details of security votes but just the security budget. El-Rufai fired back, saying he does not have security votes. That was all about it. You didn’t miss much, really. I cannot make head or tail out of all the figures that were published. But it provided the needed entertainment in these tough times.

Distraction.

RIP KIKA My chairman, Mr. Nduka Obaigbena, once told me that when God says someone’s time is up, you would see a litany of errors. He referred to the cases of Michael Jackson and Stella Obasanjo who died because of basic medical mistakes. This is what came to mind on the death of Kika, 18-year-old daughter of Magnus Onyibe, former information commissioner in Delta state. She complained of lower abdominal pains for months, and her doctor in UK did not consider a scan nor suspect appendicitis. By the time she came to Nigeria, the appendix had ruptured. The hospital rushed her into surgery. Another error. Life support was also allegedly poor and she died. Depressing.

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