Thursday 6th July 2017

BPE: FG to Divest 20% of Its Shares in Privatised Companies on Stock Exchange Chineme Okafor in Abuja The federal government will sell up to 20 per cent of its shares in some of the companies it has partially privatised on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), to allow Nigerians own shares in them,

the Director General of Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Mr. Alex Okoh has disclosed.

Okoh said the government’s share divestment programme would mostly affect privatised firms in the petrochemical sector of Nigeria.

He also stated that

privatised firms in the country would have to list in the country’s stock market because public listings were part of the strategic objective of the reform and privatisation programme of the government.

According to a statement yesterday from the Head of

Public Communications in BPE, Mr. Chukwuma Nwokoh, the director general made this disclosure in a paper titled: “Creating an Enabling Environment for Public Listings of the Economy’s Commanding Heights: The Case for Telecommunications

and Energy Sectors,” which he presented at the 2017 annual national workshop of the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS) in Abuja.

Okoh explained that the BPE was undertaking a quick assessment of the partly privatised enterprises,

especially in the petrochemical sector with a view to divesting the government’s shares on the capital market.

According to him, “The BPE is working with core investors in certain privatised Continued on page 8

Addax Petroleum to Pay $32m in Geneva to Settle Nigerian Bribery Charges... Page 10 Thursday 6 July, 2017 Vol 22. No 8113. Price: N250

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L-R: Independent Non-Executive Director (INED), Forte Oil Plc, Mrs. Salamatu Sulaiman; INED, Forte Oil, Mr. Anil Dua; Chairman, Forte Oil, Mr. Femi Otedola; INED, Forte Oil, Mr. Nicolaas Vervelde; and another INED of the company, Dr. Mairo Mandara, at the 38th Annual General Meeting of the major oil marketing firm, held at Muson Centre, Lagos… yesterday

Court Orders FG to Name Officials Who Have Returned Looted Funds Malami: Govt will comply with ruling Says FEC has no locus standi on Senate’s threat to stop confirmation of nominees House c’ttee to invite Jonathan to give evidence in Malabu Oil deal

Tobi Soniyi in Lagos, Omololu Ogunmade and James Emejo in Abuja

A Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered the federal government to immediately release to Nigerians information on the names of high ranking public officials from whom public funds

have been recovered and the circumstances under which the funds were recovered, as well as the exact amount of funds recovered from each public official.

Reacting to the ruling, the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister Continued on page 8

L-R: Chairman, LASACO Assurance Plc, Mrs. Aderinola Disu; Managing Director/CEO, LASACO, Mr. Segun Balogun; and Director, LASACO, Mr. Sani Ndanusa, at the 37th Annual General Meeting of the insurance company, held in Lagos… yesterday etop ukutt

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PAGE EIGHT COURT ORDERS FG TO NAME OFFICIALS WHO HAVE RETURNED LOOTED FUNDS of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami (SAN) said the federal government would comply with the judgment of the court by the publishing the names of public officials who have returned looted funds to the treasury.

Also while responding to questions from State House correspondents yesterday after the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting in Abuja, Malami said the cabinet has no position on the Senate’s rejection of the Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Ibrahim Magu, resulting in renewed hostilities this week between the executive and Senate and its decision not to consider new nominations from the executive.

Malami said no position was taken on the matter, describing it as a trivial issue that FEC would not dissipate its energy on, since it was not decided upon by council.

At the Federal High Court, Justice Hadiza Rabiu Shagari gave the order for the release of names of public official who had returned looted funds, while delivering judgment in a suit challenging the refusal of the federal government to disclose information to a civil society organisation, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), following a request made to it under the Freedom of Information Act. In her judgment, Justice Shagari agreed with SERAP that government had a legally binding obligation to tell Nigerians the names of all suspected looters of the public treasury, past and present.

The Minister of Information Alhaji Lai Muhammed and the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture were the defendants in the suit.

The judge also declared that by virtue of the provisions of Section 4 (a) of the Freedom of Information Act, government was under a binding legal obligation to provide the plaintiff with up to date information by disseminating, including on a dedicated website, information about the names of high ranking public officials from whom public funds were recovered since May 2015 and the circumstances under which the funds were returned.

In his reaction to the ruling, SERAP’s deputy director, Timothy Adewale, who argued the case said: “This is a victory for justice, rule of law, transparency and accountability in this country. The judgment shows the way forward in the fight against corruption and impunity.

“We will do everything within the law to ensure

full compliance by President Mohammadu Buhari and Acting President Osinbajo with this landmark judgment.”

The information ministry last year published details of the recovered funds, which showed that the Nigerian government successfully retrieved total cash amounts of N78,325,354,631.82, $185,119,584.61, £3,508,355.46 and €11, 250 between May 29, 2015 and May 25, 2016.

Also released were recoveries under interim forfeiture court orders, which were a combination of cash and assets, during the same period as follows: N126,563,481,095.43, $9,090,243,920.15, £2,484,447.55 and €303,399.17, while anticipated repatriation from foreign countries totalled $321,316,726.1, £6,900,000 and €11,826.11.

The ministry also announced that 239 non-cash recoveries were made during the one-year period.

The non-cash recoveries were farmlands, plots of land, uncompleted buildings, completed buildings, vehicles and maritime vessels.

Subsequently, SERAP submitted an FOI request and gave the Minister of Information 14 days to disclose the names of all suspected looters.

The request read in part: “While we believe that suspects generally are entitled to be presumed innocent until proven guilty by a court of competent jurisdiction, SERAP opposes blanket non-disclosure of names of high-ranking public officials from whom some of the funds were recovered.

“SERAP insists that the public interest to know is greater than any other legitimate interest that the government might wish to protect. The Nigerian government has an obligation to balance whether the risk of harm to the legitimate aim (that is secrecy of ongoing corruption investigation and presumption of innocence) from disclosure of the names of public officials is greater than the public interest in accessing the information.

“According to public interest test, even if the government demonstrates that the publication of the names of public officials would substantially harm a legitimate interest, it is nevertheless obliged to disclose the requested information if, as it is the case here, the public interest in disclosure is sufficient enough to overweigh the harm.

“SERAP believes that the recoveries, specifically from high-ranking public officials (and not private individuals), are matters of public interest.

“Publishing the names of those public officials will provide insights relevant to the public debate on the ongoing efforts to prevent and combat

a culture of grand corruption and the longstanding impunity of perpetrators in the country.

“The gravity of the crime of grand corruption, the devastating effects on the socially and economically vulnerable sectors of the population, and the fact that recovery of huge funds from high-ranking public officials entrusted with the public treasury raise a prima-facie case and therefore amount to exceptional circumstances that justify naming those high-ranking officials in the public interest.

“SERAP also argues that Nigerians are entitled to the right to truth derived from the obligations of the government to carry out an investigation of violations of human rights and crime of corruption committed within its jurisdiction; to identify, prosecute and punish those responsible; and to ensure that victims have the simple and prompt recourse for protection against violation of fundamental rights, as well as to ensure transparency in public administration.

“SERAP believes that the right to truth allows Nigerians to gain access to information essential to the fight against corruption and in turn development of democratic institutions as well as provides a form of reparation to victims of grand corruption in the country.

“Publishing the names of public officials involved could go a long way in preventing senior public officials from turning the public treasury into a private cashbox. SERAP argues that the public interest in publishing the names of the high-ranking government officials from whom funds were received outweighs any considerations to withhold the information, as there would be no prejudice against those whose names are published as long as the information is appropriately framed and truthful.

“There is a general public interest in promoting transparency, accountability, public understanding and involvement in the democratic process. While the government in some limited cases can legitimately place restrictions on the public’s right to access certain information, attempts of the Nigerian authorities to justify the total closure of information related to the names of public officials from whom funds were recovered on the basis of “ongoing criminal investigation” and “presumption of innocence goes far beyond the limitations allowed under international law, and would promote secret recoveries.

“The information being requested is not related to

detailed investigatory activities of anticorruption agencies regarding the recoveries so far made. Similarly, the mere fact that the information being requested is related to ongoing investigation does not necessarily mean that the information could not be disclosed. In addition, governmental agency has the obligation to prove that the disclosure of the names of public officials would disrupt, impede, or otherwise harm the ongoing or pending investigations or presumption of innocence.”

In his reaction to the judgment, Malami said that the federal government would comply with the ruling to publish the names of treasury looters.

Malami, however, said the move would be subject to certain conditions.

“The disclosure will definitely be made but it is contingent on reconciliation of associated considerations as they relate to sub judice principles; as they relate to concluding, reconciliation and confirmation of figures,” he said.

Malami: Names Will be Published In his reaction to the judgment, Malami, after the weekly FEC meeting, said that the federal government would comply with the ruling to publish the names of treasury looters.

Malami, however, said the move would be subject to certain conditions.

“The disclosure will definitely be made but it is contingent on reconciliation of associated considerations as they relate to sub judice principles; as they relate to concluding, reconciliation and confirmation of figures,” he said.

He also revealed that council gave approval for a new anti-corruption policy called “Anti-corruption Strategy”, to provide fresh impetus to the federal government’s anti-corruption drive.

Malami said the new policy would among others, establish a new commission to be saddled with the responsibility of managing all corruption proceeds seized from looters.

According to him, the policy was spurred by the necessity for a consensus and collaboration among various institutions of state on the anti-corruption war, pointing out that the policy was aimed at providing guidance to such organs of state including the legislature, judiciary and ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) by spelling out sanctions and their enforcement on anti-corruption.

Malami who further described the anti-corruption war as one of the major drives

of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, said that notable progress had been made in the anti-graft war as a result of various policies churned out by the government to aid the fight.

He listed such policies to include the Treasury Single Account (TSA), whistle blowing and government partnership with relevant institutions, explaining that such policies were geared towards promoting accountability and transparency under the anti-graft drive.

“We realised that there is need for more enforcement of sanctions in the anti-corruption war. The anti-corruption strategy approved today is intended to strengthen the enforcement of sanctions, hence this national anti-corruption strategy.

“It is also intended to be a guide to enhance the enforcement of sanctions.

As part of this policy, an asset management commission will be established to manage all the seized assets gotten from corruption proceeds,” he stated.

Answering questions on the position of FEC to the threat by the Senate to stop the consideration of executive nominees, following its failure to remove Magu and Acting President Yemi Osinbajo’s stance that the acting EFCC chairman did not require the confirmation of the Senate, Malami said no position was taken on the matter, describing it as a trivial issue that FEC would not dissipate its energy on, since it was not decided upon by council.

He clarified that the issue of nominations is the prerogative of the presidency, not FEC, so it has no position on it.

“Although the issue came up for discussion at the cabinet meeting, since the cabinet was not particularly connected or reached a consensus to maintain a particular position, it cannot begin to defend what it did not decide on.

“The fundamental consideration about the alleged statement is the fact that at no point ever did the Federal Executive Council sit down to arrive at the decision in one way or the other as far as the issue of nomination or otherwise is concerned.

“So I do not think it constitutes an issue for the Federal Executive Council to make any clarification on because it has never been considered by the FEC. The Minister of Information will throw more light on the matter,” he said.

In his response, the Minister of Information and Culture said even though the matter came up for discussion in the meeting, both the National Assembly and the executive

BPE: FG TO DIVEST 20% OF ITS SHARES IN PRIVATISED COMPANIES ON STOCK EXCHANGE enterprises sold by deferred public offering to ensure that they sell at least 20 per cent of such entities to the market via public listing.”

He also stated that the bureau would henceforth ensure that the right core investors with the financial, technical, and managerial competences are selected in future privatisation exercises to ensure that they are capable of moving privatised entities to the desired level and make them attractive for public listings.

Okoh equally stated that the BPE would develop policies to attract additional

private sector capital into the privatised companies to eventually provide confidence for the business and encourage their listings.

He noted that the BPE would also ensure that technical partners are retained in the privatised enterprises over the long-term and that there would be continued engagement with the relevant authorities to seek certain waivers where required to make public listings more easily achievable for them.

The statement noted that Okoh called for the establishment of an institutional framework to

reach targets in both public and private sectors and to identify quick wins, medium term goals, and long term achievements.

It also quoted a former director general of the bureau, Mr. Benjamin Dikki, to have called on the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the NSE to set up a committee to persuade the telecommunications companies in the country to go to the capital market.

Commenting further of the proposed listings of privatised enterprises, Okoh informed THISDAY that the companies being targeted

would not immediately include the electricity distribution companies (Discos) and generation companies (Gencos), which were hived off from the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), and in which the federal government still holds 40 per cent in each of the Discos and in some of the Gencos.

He explained that the electricity operators were underperforming and posting losses, which would not make them attractive propositions for the capital market.

Although he declined to disclose the assets that the

BPE was considering for the initial public offers (IPOs), he said the rational behind the listings stemmed from the need to give the Nigerian public a sense of inclusion in the ownership of national assets.

“As you know, several Nigerians have argued in the past the enterprises privatised

by BPE were cornered by a few individuals, but as part of the reform and privatisation strategy many of them were supposed to be listed on the stock exchange in the long-run.

“So listing them on the stock exchange will engender a sense of ownership in the assets by more Nigerians,” he said.

have a mechanism for the resolution of their conflicts.

“Clearly, it came up. The fact of the matter is that we have a very excellent mechanism for resolving whatever issue is between us and the National Assembly. That is being addressed.

“Whatever may be the problem between the executive and the National Assembly, we have an excellent mechanism for resolving it. I don’t think we need to go to specific statements as to what was said by A or B. “We believe that government is not one arm but the legislative, executive and judiciary arms.

Whatever might be the problem, we are resolving it and we are addressing it,” Mohammed said.

In his own briefing, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Malam Muhammad Bello, said FEC approved memoranda on four projects aimed at boosting commerce, infrastructure development, economic growth and employment generation in FCT. He listed the projects to include the N242 million development of Phase II of Abuja city and a N241 million sewage project.

House to Invite Jonathan In another high profile corruption probe, the House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee investigating the alleged malpractice and breach of due process in the $1.1 billion sale of Oil Prospecting Licence (OPL) 245 by Malabu Oil and Gas Limited to Shell and Agip in 2011, yesterday resolved to invite former President Goodluck Jonathan to give evidence regarding his role in the controversial transaction.

Addressing journalists shortly after a meeting of the committee to appraise the progress of its work and the next steps to be taken, the chairman of the committee, Hon. Razak Atunwa said the secretariat will formally write the former president to demand his response and submissions.

He said the committee has conducted extensive investigations into the OPL 245 saga and was already drawing the probe to a close.

However, Atunwa said the committee was of the view that Continued on page 9

TOP GAINERS NGN NGN UNITYBANK 0.06 0.67 FIDSON 0.13 2.84 BERGPAINTS 0.31 7.15 CONTINENTAL 0.05 1.24 SKYEBANK 0.02 0.68 TOP LOSERS NGN NGN FLOURMILLS 2.49 23.14 NEIMETH 0.06 0.69 TRANSCORP 0.09 1.29 C & I LEASING 0.03 0.57 JBERGER 1.69 32.14 HPE Nestle Nig Plc N901.50 Volume: 311.381 million shares Value: N2.974 billion Deals: 4,312 As at yesterday 05/07/17 See details on Page 42

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T H I S D AY • THURSDAY, JULY 6, 2017

Why is Africa So Poor?

Now here’s a question that demands an answer. Why is it that arguably the world’s richest continent – in terms of natural resources – has some of the world’s poorest people? To answer it, we’d need to take a trip down memory lane. Already I can sense you rolling your eyes deep into the back of your head.

“If I hear one more time about slavery in Africa …”

We often seem to be a people with little patience for history or interest in the impact of past events on present realities. But time isn’t linear and we aren’t always moving forward. There is no other way to understand Africa today without considering the history of the continent.

In the 1400s the Portuguese were the first European nation to use African slave labour to cultivate sugar plantations off the coast of West Africa, in São Tomé.

From then on, through its peak in the 18th century and until its staccato abolition in late 1800s, the barbaric and dehumanising trade in Africans would be the primary economic activity through which Europe’s early globalisation efforts were funded.

An estimated 11 million people were forcibly taken into slavery in the New World, but comparable numbers were for centuries also sold across the Sahara, the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. The professor of economics, Nathan Nunn, in his study of Africa’s slave trades on subsequent economic development, was unequivocal in his assessment: “The African countries that are the poorest today are the ones from which the most slaves were taken,” he wrote in the Quarterly Journal of Economics.

The sordid story doesn’t end there. The enslavement of the black body made way for another equally brutal system, but one that elicits even less public sympathy.

In 2002, our now foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, wrote of Britain’s colonial legacy in Africa: “The continent may be a blot, but it is not a blot upon our conscience.

The problem is not that we were once in charge, but that we are not in charge any more.” In 2016, 44% of respondents in a YouGov poll agreed with him, stating that Britain’s colonial history was “something to be proud of”.

Because this system of oppression, based on greed and white supremacy, was not a lived experience for the inhabitants of this fair isle – as segregation in the US was, for example – and because it is still not taught in our schools, we delude ourselves into believing that empire was a noble cause, and we are charmed by the promises politicians make to take us back to the good old days. What period exactly are we trying to get back to?

All of Africa’s colonial masters left behind a way of life completely decimated, a people traumatised and taught in colonial schools to loathe everything about themselves: their skin, their languages, their dress, their customs. Even their gods were replaced. As the psychoanalyst and revolutionary writer Frantz Fanon put it this way in his 1961 book, The Wretched of the Earth: “Colonialism is not satisfied merely with holding a people in its grip and emptying the native’s brain of all form

Two-Minute Briefing NEWS Addax Petroleum to Pay $32m in Geneva to

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NEWS

Settle Nigerian Bribery Charges China’s state-owned Addax Petroleum has agreed to pay a 31 million Swiss francs ($32 million) fine in Geneva, Switzerland, to settle charges of suspected bribes given to Nigerian officials, thus ending a four-month old investigation, which uncovered the illegality in the payments. Page 10

and content. By a kind of perverted logic, it turns to the past of the oppressed people, and distorts, disfigures, and destroys it.”

So a people seemingly with no past were now free to determine their own future.

Except, in most – if not all – cases, they weren’t. Postcolonial Africa was caught in the middle of the cold war battle for ideological dominance, then crippled by structural adjustment policies of the World Bank and IMF and is now at the mercy of multinational corporations whose bank balances (many times the size of many African economies) give them power to act in ways that are, if not always above the law, certainly outside of the moral maze.

In May, a report into reso urce flows in and out of Africa revealed that the continent loses more money each year than it receives in aid, investment and remittances. According to Honest Accounts 2017 more than three times the amount Africa receives in aid was taken out mainly by multinational companies deliberately misreporting the value of their imports or exports to reduce tax. Along with these illicit financial flows, brain drain, debt servicing, and the costs of climate change – caused predominantly by the west but played out on the world’s poorest people – all make Africa a net creditor to the world.

These examples speak to the way in which the global economic, trade and information systems are set up, and screw over African countries: from unfair intellectual property laws, to trade deals that force African countries to open up their markets to the rich world’s surplus production, destroying local agriculture and manufacturing in the process. But this shouldn’t be read as a get-out-of-jail-free card for African leaders.

In the half-century since independence, while economies have grown and, in the broadest sense, governance has improved, democracy on the continent is still faltering.

The lack of transparency, accountability, safety and the rule of law; the often

at the material time, Mohammed Bello Adoke, has recently instituted proceedings in court, wherein he pleaded that all his actions were as instructed by former President Goodluck Jonathan.”

Atunwa said pursuant to the provisions of the constitution, the committee decided to request that the former president should explain his role in the transaction.

The invitation provides Jonathan with the option to either appear in person and give evidence or send in his written submissions, Atunwa added.

However, a representative of the Southsouth lawmakers in the House, Hon. Henry Ofongo told THISDAY that they were awaiting the outcome of the invitation to the former president.

Ofongo, representing the Southern Ijaw Federal Constituency of Bayelsa State, told THISDAY that they considered the invitation as a witch-hunt because no

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Nigeria, Liby a

The drop was attributed to increases in oil The investigation production from China’s state-owned Nigeria had Addax added and Libya, said to have the arrest of the company’sled to internal anti-corruptio Petroleum has to agreed to pay n procedures.

With this settlement, million Swiss a 31 crude the volumes of light, sweet executive officer of its Geneva chief the price had francs ($32 million) looking for buyers Office, Zhang Yi, and fine in Geneva, the legal director, against the CEO and the cases straight sessionsclimbed for eight saying in the Atlantic Switzerland, to legal director that there are to have also been charges of suspected settle cut led Basin, despite a supply who were also charged over at least 40 United States’ Monday. closed, a spokesman several millions of dollars by the Organisatio West Texas unsold August-loading Nigerian to Nigerian officials, bribes given Petroleum Intermediate in payments to for the prosecutor said. n of an unnamed cargoes looking (WTI) crude Exporting Countries thus ending Addax a four-month company and for (OPEC) several statement said in an emailed were also down $1.35, futures equivalent of almost buyers, the old or 2.8 per which uncovered investigation, excess aimed at reducing the lawyers in Nigeria. cent, at $45.72 half of daily that its world demand. inventory in the illegality in Reuters a barrel. his duties, while CEO had resumed the payments.

Oil exports by The Geneva the oil market. Prosecutor’squoted the Geneva its Lingering cargoes OPEC climbed retired on June chief legal officer for a Prosecutor’s Office as saying This is coming of crude second month 30. from Nigeria a statement in as oil prices Office, which investigated in June, is said to have “Addax Petroleum yesterday fell yesterday Addax Petroleum, had been more is committed the cartel exporting 25.92 with a feature of the oil market also confirmed four-month investigation that the to conducting its cent to end their than two per the million weighing barrels per day this year, found that criminal investigation the payments (bpd) in June, on prices since highest level business with the 450,000 more than five longest rally in allegations were not sufficiently up Nigeria’s into of integrity, years. documented and concerning its and in million bpd from May and 1.9 crude is sold in relation operation on doubts remained full compliance with to Brent, in Nigeria. bpd more than the global applicable their legality. laws, regulations benchmar a year earlier.

The rise Nigerian exports k.

The statement, standards,” the and industry OPEC’s in exports comes despite are set however, a company said to exceed 2 vow to rein in added that statement. production in until March million barrels no per day (bpd) was established criminal intent 2018.

In a in August, Nigeria and a 17-month Petroleum, whichagainst Addax prices related development, oil Libya, which high, and fell on in 2009 by China’s was bought yesterday,more than two per cent exempted from the output are Tuesday the Damilola Oyedele head of the pact, Internation have continued ending state-owned Sinopec, Asia’s to pump more in Abuja bull-run in more their longest al Energy Agency oil.

Nigerian crude that when they than five years, and third largestlargest oil refiner as climbing take on issues for August (IEA) said further increases Serving senators loading in the world. in the OPEC exports by from the southern North, we will also take The Geneva Prosecutor’s and a to find is said to be proving slow key producers could stronger part of the country on dollar issues hamper in said that reversed buyers the rebalancin Office made have revived the southern Nigeria. From Addax acknowledg the Southern g. in recent days. the gains as an increase amid rising supply, Traders were Nigeria Senators’ will have a united voice there, we possible organisationa in ed Benchmark Brent Caucus, which also quoted and front in two countries, production in the saying l shortcomings order to as during the fifth was first formed country consolidate the unity of this and had taken measures to improve were down $1.14, crude futures in the global is adding to the glut grades that some Nigerian crude assembly under and bond together for August were at $48.47 per barrel or 1.3 per cent, OPEC-led market, despite the leadership of the selling well, more.

“So the especially the distillate-rich then yesterday after cut.

Ken Nnamani. Senate President decided Senate today has also Reuters quoted Forcados that there is the oil traders as crude, which has only 10 Announcing need to birth a new cargoes remaining for the creation July loading. the caucus yesterday of Southern cacus, which is called Nigeria Senators’ at a media briefing, Senate Caucus, just like Senator Godswill Minority Leader, the end we have in the North. At of the day, whatever Akpabio, said caucus is a response the discuss we as Senators’ Forum to the Northern will also South that affects us, we listen to our brothers has ensured unitywhich he observed the North and bring them from from the North. among the senators floor to the of the Senate Headdedthatthe treatment,” Akpabiofor expeditious out of the need caucuswasborne The caucus was said. to non-existent in among senators ensure cohesion the sixth from the South, and seventh enhance unity. and Executive officers assemblies. of the caucus “Today, we have the Northern are Senators Hope Uzodimma Senators’ Forum (Chairman/South-east), and they have having meetings been (Vice Chairman), Lanre Tejuoso and discussing Mathew issues (Secretary connected with the North. But General/South-east),Uroghide have not had concerted we Olamilekan Solomon (Treasurer/South-west), views from the southern Ovie Omo-Agege part of the country (Financial Secretary/ Akpabio said. ,” South-south) , Mao Ohuabunwa “We have not (Publicity Secretary/So total unity; so thatbeen able to ensure Duro uth-wast), Faseyi with our brotherswe can sit at a go and Stella (Auditor/South-west) in the North; Oduah (Welfare so South-east).

Officer/

Lawmakers Revive South ern Nigeria Senat ors’ Caucus

Former IG, Arase Allays Fears over State Police

A MINUTE SILEN CE FOR MAITA MA SULE

Probe Panel on A’Ibom Chur ch Collapse Submits

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) systems are I now as basic to our lives as water and electricity. Many individuals, corporate organisa- tions and government agencies depend on ICT and computer networks to perform simple as well as complex tasks - from social networking and research to business and commerce. Page 15 A

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CURBING C There

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YBERCRIME S IN NIGERIA

is need to enforce nformation and Commun the cybercrimes systems are ication Technolo act now gy (ICT) electricity. Many as basic to our lives as water and individuals, tions and governm corporate organisaent agencies computer networks depend on ICT email scammer to perform simple and tasks - from social networki as well advantage of s, the fraudsters are increasin and commerc ng and research as complex the rise in online gly taking e. However, shopping, e-comme to business transactions, while many the cyberspa electronic businesses, systems to engage rce and the electroni agencies and ce is vulnerable being increasin c messaging in all manner individua gly threatene The Central of crimes. only within d by cyber criminalsls are the country that 70 per cent Bank of Nigeria (CBN) not but around So endemic reported last of attempted the world. cases in the year or successfu said Nigeria is the problem that the Nigerian banking l fraud/forgery Senate recently has lost about via the electroni system were attacks on its $450 million c channels.

Information to 3,500 cyber banks in the Between 2000 perpetrated nology (ICT) and country and 2013, space, represen Communications Techfrauds and cybercrim lost N159 billion to electroni hacking attempts ting e. In 2014, bank c about N6 billion in the country. about 70 per cent of on ICT and customers lost In asking its cybercrime loss amounte in Nigeria while in South committee to convoke a ers’ conferen d to Africa, about national ce N8 billion. In the age to business stakeholdbroad-based on the malaise, the Senate addition, the from the theft approach to damexceedingly of intellectu tackling what advocated a national security high. al property has become is a Cybercrimes, threat. n 2015, the Cybercrim to those criminalas most people are already es Act was passed aware, refer to address the frauds facilitated acts such as identity challenges. into law theft and through the variety of offences The law criminali use of the internet.bank ses – from ATM THERE IS NEED identity theft card skimmin a most Nigerian But as to possessio g and imposes, for IMPROVE THE TO instance, seven n of child pornography. know, to our s also fenders of all It OF RELEVA CAPACITY years imprison collective kinds and additiona NT shame, our ment for ofcrimes that country AND CYBERS ICT l seven result is often cited PACE ment for those in physical harm, and years for online as STAKEHOLDERS life that lead to breeding grounda law in the country, death. But like imprisonFOR for THE TRAININ almost every T H I S DAY most of these there is The “yahoo EDITOR nefarious DEPUTY EDITORS IJEOMA NWOGWUGW SUPPORT OF G AND boys” still dailythe problem of enforcem practices because BOLAJI ADEBIYI, U ent. to CYBER throng “transact MANAGING JOSEpH USHIGIALE of cybercafé ” their business SECURITY OFFICIA the activities DEPUTY MANAGINGDIRECTOR ENIOLA away. Yet the with the owners premises BELLO of DIRECTOR CHAIRMAN law AND THE SHARIN LS KAYODE KOMOLAfE of our citizens. some looking EDITORIAL knowingly allow criminalises internet BOARD OLUSEGUN EDITOR NATION’S café ADENIYI last few years, In the their CAPITAL IYOBOSA owners CYBER SECURI G OF premises to who crimes.

UWUGIAREN many be used to commit TY BEST criminal elements PRACTICES In response in to the apparent Nigeria have address the been failure of the telecommunication growing using these law to challenge, the nications, Alhaji modern networks such mobile phones Minister T H I S DAY as the internet N E W S PA to improve the Adebayo Shittu, is canvassinof CommuEDITOR-IN-C PERS LIM and us a bad image to commit all manner ITED GROUP EXECUTIVE HIEF/CHAIRMAN g the need of crimes that NDUKA OBAIGBENA globally. stakeholders capacity of relevant ICT DIRECTORS give Indeed, there for and ISRAEL IWEGBU, ENIOLA BELLO, KAYODE security officials the training and support cyberspace is an upsurge IJEOMA NWOGWUGW KOMOLAfE, GROUP FINANCE The country of cybercrim U DIRECTOR OLUfEMI DIVISIONAL is practices from and the sharing of cyber of cyber e in Nigeria.

DIRECTORS after the Unitedranked third in global Internet pETER IWEGBU, ABOROWA security best building the across the globe. These States of America fIDELIS ELEMA, ANTHONY crime DEPUTY DIVISIONAL OGEDENGBE while 7.5 per are in capacity of local DIRECTOR cent of the world’s and United Kingdom According to law enforcem addition to OJOGUN VICTOR SNR. ASSOCIATE be Nigerian ASSOCIATE hackers are the minister, DANBOYI ent.

DIRECTOR s. Committed DIRECTORS cybercrimes ERIC OJEH said to CONTROLLE called “Yahoo” mostly “requires a robustan effective response RS ABIMBOLA HENRY NWACHOKOR, SAHEED ADEYEMO TAIWO, UCHENNA boys, a precurso by the young, often ing appropria network security to GENERAL MANAGER DIBIAGWU, te network architect r of the infamous includpATRICK EIMIUHI NDUKA MOSERI of encryptio GROUP HEAD ure and software ‘419’ n, data protectio DIRECTOR, fEMI TOLUfASHE PRINTING PRODUCTIO , use security standard n legislatio N CHUKS ONWUDINJO n, information TO SEND EMAIL: s and other and detection first name.surnam tools of threat .” e@thisdayliv protection e.com The time to do that is now.

Poverty stricken floating slums in Lagos

PERSPECTIVE

THURSDAY JULY 6, 2017 • TH

Addax Petrole um to Pay $32 m in Geneva Nigerian Briber to Settle y Charges Oil prices fall 2% on

Former Inspector (IG), Soloman General of Police the report Arase, R-L: Acting President of the committee for the decentralisa has called at the Yemi Osinbajo, how the police looked Winifred Oyo-Ita; police force, saying tion of the more Chief of Staff could be efficient and to the President, meeting at the and National Security Adviser not be fears over there should Council Chamber (NSA), Major General Mallam Abba Kyari; According to robust. of the Presidentia him, Head of Civil Service establishment the calls for the the l Villa in Abuja....yesBabagana Mongonu (rtd), of state police. main decisions one of Arase, who during the Federal of the Federation, Mrs. by the terday committee Executive Council News Network, spoke on ARISE decentralisatiwas that there should (FEC) a THISDAY sister on of company, yesterday State House.

“When you say police functions. Okon noted that Bassey in Uyo decentralsiation, the establishme you say allowed after would not makent of state police sits in the top is too heavy. The IG written approval.

Abuja to superintend the formal police After eight months, The governor, irrelevant. race or colour. over 36 the commission states plus Abuja, the report, restatedwhile receiving which is 37. He of inquiry constituted “When you “It was a tragedy deploys the resources to look into have his readiness the community December that affected all. commission for accepting policing, it does both capital 10, 2016, Reigners implement the recommend to It’s unfortunate and overheads. serve in the Bible Church that people decided So why can’t ations to politicise as contained committee and to of formal police. not mean absence restructure building collapse in the report painstaking effort the The police officers, a tragedy of this the police in you Akwa Ibom State, in of the Such who are on ground in nature. their such a its has submitted probe panel into the disaster. people do not deserve responsibilities, carrying out are supposed way that the DIGs will report.

“I to organise to want express acknowledg now be opinion in the the governor in charge of to thank you that community public,” No fewer than for this great job ed such a way in So that you six geopolitical zones.

He cited the recent he said. showed much that they have that the reporting officially confirmed 27 people were to assure that you have done and allow them clampdown system is also commitmen on a you once again through the formal of some municipal issuesto take care wounded includingdead and many recommend that the in criminal gang by the police the service of the people. t to policing apparatus that top which to have ations do with the states, government some well-placed Presenting of this report would be taken the police don’t you have. So and overseeing like posting officials. persons the report, seriously. We would have been painting a The commission wrong picture the Chairman of the do everything they will lose have to fear that commission the activities of the of the arrest by to implement relevance. Instead, chaired by retired ers telling the world Commission of Inquiry, Judicial there are crimes at the buildingsof police, looking Umoekoyo Chief Judge, Justice prevent future occurence and that it was targeted Justice of at members of Essang, commiserated with that are already tragedy. May in communitie that are committed dilapidated Essang, with this affliction this a political party, maintaining government and s the other members six occur the and allow never such are not supposedthe formal police restrict people of the state inaugurated that over the second time,” act does not himself. Because the IG to December on he said The governor with,” he said. to concern itself of IG 16, 2016, submitted the concept growth of the contribute to the thanked unfortunate incidence, and is inspecting its condemned state. report God insinuations by for to ensure that yesterday to Arase, who was The governor, standards are critics who the state the governor in sparing the life of Governor, Mr. maintained. of the committee the secretary the church building Udom Emmanuel, the tragedy, saying disaster politicise with families again commiserated collapse.

“But now you set of those who lost does not byDformer over burden the at the Government House select T HupI S President Olusegun IG, you asking AY •THURS in Uyo. or anybody, political party, tribe loved ones in the tragedy their He expressed Obasanjo On being to oversee many headed by Dan region. and functions.DAYhim appreciation JULY6, constituted, thanked President and 2017 the Muhammadu state government for trustingto the “Things to reform the Mandani on how charge The DIGs, who are in committee was asked to commission with Nigeria Police, of submit beyond of this nature should go Buhari, Minister of the said not firing various departments are its report in three weeks Health, without the assignment politics. When governors’ forum, from the on all cylinders,” date the he said. such of its first sitting or within occured it did not select incidence and organisations the state team insinuationsinterference despite members community in the international extended period of a political party, from uninformed as may be members for their support affect a particular it did not only the incidence. during committee of the public, saying the denomination, carried Thanking members with inputs from out it assigned task a team of the and members of the of engineers public.

EDITORIAL Curbing Cyber Crimes in Nigeria

I

Letters to the Editor

bloated public sectors and squeezed small businesses; patriarchy masquerading as religion and culture; high unemployment rates and, recently, jihadism destabilising the Sahel region – all these factors are keeping Africans poor.

But of course, that statement is a sweeping generalisation – the kind you have to make when writing about 54 countries in 1,000 words. That every day millions of internet users are seeking to understand a continent rather than a specific country or a region is itself telling. The question about why Africa is so poor is loaded with bias, and presumes two things: the first is that there’s a homogeneous place called Africa, and that Google’s search algorithm will find some pithy yet succinct quote to explain 54 distinctive trajectories.

The second assumption is that there is something exceptional about Africa, that while other continents and peoples have got or are getting richer, Africans, for reasons we can think but no longer speak in polite company, choose to remain in poverty. Our capacity to see Africa as divergent lets us off the hook so we don’t have to understand our own complicity in the challenges various African countries face today. It also means we rarely rage, as we should against the actions of the corporations and governments that profit from instability, corruption or even inexperience (African negotiators at the climate talks have historically been disadvantaged by their lack of experience and the expectation among western negotiators that they should be grateful with whatever they get).

If there is, then, no innate propensity for corruption, violence or poverty in Africa, then the narratives that fuel the stereotypes need questioning. One possible explanation comes from the Nigerian author Chinua Achebe, who said: “The West seems to suffer deep anxieties about the precariousness of its civilisation and to have a need for constant reassurance by comparison with Africa.” Perhaps it’s not Africa that needs saving, but us.

• Culled from The Guardian, UK

COURT ORDERS FG TO NAME OFFICIALS WHO HAVE RETURNED LOOTED FUNDS in the interest of thoroughness, natural justice and fair play, it had become imperative that evidence be taken from the former president whose government oversaw the transaction that has led to corruption trials in Italy and Nigeria.

In arriving at its resolve to invite Jonathan to make submissions after taking into account a number of facts, he explained: “Mr. Jonathan was the president at the material time the ministers brokered the deal that led to the allegation of diversion of funds of $1 billion; Mr. Jonathan’s name featured in the proceedings initiated by the Public Prosecutor of Milan in Italy.”

He added: “A UK court judgment in relation to an application to return part of the money being restrained, castigated the Jonathan administration as not having acted in the best interest of Nigeria in relation to the deal.

“The Attorney-General of the Federation

STARTERS

other president had been summoned in such a fashion.

According to him, “Given that all former presidents have had questions to answer at one point or the other and none has ever been invited, the South-south people take serious exception to the invitation extended to the former president (Jonathan), who is from a minority section of the country.”

Following the corruption probe instituted by the public prosecutor in Milan into the involvement of Italy’s Eni, the parent company of Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC), in the $1.1 billion oil block acquisition, the Nigerian government launched a similar probe in the country this year.

Nigerians being prosecuted by the EFCC include Adoke, former Minister of Petroleum Resources and shareholder in Malabu Oil and Gas, Chief Dan Etete, and Malabu Oil and Gas, among others.

POLITICS Buhari’s Ill-health Has Affected

Letters in response to specific readers may TO OUR READERS send such letters publications in THISDAY opinions on topical along with their should be brief local, national 1000 words).

(150-200 words) and internatiocontact details to opinion@ They should and straight be sent to opinion@nal issues provided thisdayli to the point.

Intereste thisdaylive.com they are well-writt ve.com. We also welcome en and should along with the comments andd also not email address and phone be longer than (950-

CRIMINAL A

CTIVITIES A T OSHODI

couple of days numbers of the writer. back, an incident tised. I was left me very coming back angry and from right in front traumaof me at Oshodi, work, and there was the brunt than 20’s attacked heavy traffic, a group of seek justice, a man. three young ent shabby and the Police The man struggled men in their way most victims is not even would be complainan with them helping matters. of these violent other side of for some time, to rob him. the road, yet The apparcrimes are treated t. he swerved Eventually When I shared these guys one of really discourage to the side window followed him, confirmed that the experience on Facebook of the passenger the miscreants went determined smashed the to the other wall, Many someone. Only they have been harassed side, smashed driver’s window seat, took the man’s of my friends iPad or witnessed one person the What really either intervention said he was the miscreants irked me was and took the man’s phonewhile the other two of shouting as also harassing the cool way and wallet. ased on recompolicemen did, plain-clothed policemen. almost attacked but for if it is their they went about the timely right to have intervene.

When I asked he said they it despite all mendation solve the problem, I prayed a those items just scared him what the our that your police man and yet nobody them away. would have plain-clothed they will only would browsing network can’t they arrest But scaring shot them, had the nerves go and come at least to maim just show up. I also them?

I think it is to back with greaterthem away won’t has the capacity wished I had My aunt was now pertinent them. a gun; I ferocity. Why have a weapon once attacked to always drive and browsing such attack with you. with some, on several occasionsat Mile Two. According speed one in that and if possible, required to attack was man’s shoes. I couldn’t sleep last night to her, she had but never knew please similar to the surf the internet, most because it could This is not witnessed one one smashed but Nigerians eagerly the have been any subscribed why hers was I witnessed at Oshodi, day it will be her turn. day, a woman first time. I had almost to your network. off from her Her both side windows was attacked been a victim Recently, however, ear ring holes, peculiar was that the yesterday’s in my front. last year and were ear rings she left a her necklace I feel the police I the next your network has wore was yanked was But I thought lasting impression, I kept have seen a couple of All they need might be culpable because also yanked off . such attacks the police seeing how piggledy. It’s been higgledyexperience but to do is to set this is a minor and making is a new level. have succeeded in tackling they swooped on not up a number crime to solve. that man. calls, since If the bandwidthhelping us.

They took their I eventually the menace of baits they usually this periodicall levelled up but last night is no longer attack women like a woman driving sufficient for for possible with him and time and nobody could alone the total numbers woman and y with different kinds documenta stop suggested he of baits, while driving alone. They can of subscriber tion but he wait for any change. makes a report them. brushed my s, do those attack. they why take hawkers not Another to the positions stop suggestion subscriptio know them way is to raid I think a lot n pending aside, that nothingPolice and will squeal We obviously of crimes go those hawkers; around the issues are resolved? when your idea, the quantum will unreported if arrested and I am sure hesitate to shoot can’t go on like this.

Why do threatened. of crime committed and I think the police continue to I am certain subscribe more you they are armed upon the police if anyone had dared don’t even every day. Most have to users?

We implore intervene. I and won’t to rise to the a fair grow people would am using this occasion because to become rather bear lasting solution you to find a medium to these set Okeke Afem, the likes of Godogodo call doing business for us to continue , Vampire, etc. of criminals will eventually Lagos with you.

Assurance Ovie, ANEEJ. City Benin

SMILE E ARE NO :LW GER SMILION NG

B

Governance, Says Gwarzo Your assessment of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration in the last two years? I am very impressed with the way and manner the administration has dealt with the issue of security with utmost seriousness.

Everyonecan attest to the fact that on coming on board... Page 18

FEATURES Nigerian Makes History

Already leading in First Class category, right from his first semester examinations in Babcock University, an unassuming 20-year-old, Olukayode Mobolaji Oluwasona, was among the 17 briliant students of the university that left Nigeria at the beginning of their 200-level programme in 2014 to continue their undergraduate studies in Poland... Page 20

BUSINESS ALTON, ATCON Back Etisalat’s New Board

Stakeholders in the telecommunications industry have applauded the appointment of a new board of directors for troubled Etisalat Nigeria, describing the development as a step in the right direction.

Page 23

HEALTH Achieving FG’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan for Healthcare On March 7, 2017, the Nigerian Government, in its bid to strengthen the economy and end the present recession, launched the long-awaited plan to restore macroeconomic stability in the short term...

Page 36

INTERNATIONAL North Korea Missile Launch: Trump Berates

48

INTERNATIO NA

L North Korea Mi China on Tra ssile Launch: Trump Be rates de

China on Trade DonaldTrump has criticised China following North Korea’s test of a long-range missile, condemning it for increasing trade with Pyongyang. “So much for China working with us,” the US president tweeted. Page 48

SPORTS Kanu, Cambiasso Honoured with

Invites to FIFA U-17 World Cup Draw Even with the absence of Golden Eaglets from the defence of the FIFA Under-17World Cup, the game’s governing body and Local Organising Committee (LOC) of India 2017 yesterday invited Nwankwo Kanu to attend the Official Draw ceremony scheduled for tomorrow, July 7, 2017.

Page 54

THURSDAY JULY 6, 2017 • TH

email:foreigndesk@

I S D AY

thisdaylive.com

Donald Trump has following North criticised China with us,” the US president Korea’s test of long-range missile, a tweeted.

The US and South Korea both sides to stop flexing it for increasing condemning conducted military their referring a ballistic missile trade with Pyongyang. to [United exercise in the fire oppose muscle and said they Nations] Sea of Japan Security Council any attempts “So much for in change at resolutions are Russian Foreign Minister China working response to the North. in North Korea. regime unacceptable, Sergei a ban Lavrov said.

China and Russia and will lead “It is perfectly by the UN Security to have urged clear to Russia unpredictable consequence “Attempts to strangle Council.

The US has asked and China s in the that any attempts this region which for an urgent borders both [North Korea] economicallDPRK meeting of the to justify the the Russian Security Council use of force y are to discuss equally unacceptable Federation and

by People’s the Republic of The missile launch,,” he added. door sessionthe issue. A closedChina,” a the latest of the 15-member series of tests, was in defiance in body will take place Iraqi forces battled of Wednesday later on the last Islamic .

State group holdouts More than eight in Mosul on months since Wednesday, a the start of the day after the country’s Arab states that have operation, IS premier feted gone from has cut the Earlier over the jihadists “major victory” to holding fully controlling Mosul with Qatar held talks in ties Egypt foreign on Wednesday, the Saudi in on Wednesday In neighbouring the northern city. City on a limited area in the Old its western side. next move in to discuss their received ministry said they had outlook to negative over the Syria, US-backed forces gained ground the crisis. list The countries But Iraqi troops crisis, as Doha Gulf diplomatic demandsQatar’s response to their of in by the international after air strikes faced called for dialogue list of demands issued the 13-point and demands “is unrealistic -- which tough fighting Mosul have to resolve is not actionable”. on June 22, giving ending support include Doha Qatar the dispute. and punched holes anti-IS coalition suicide 10 days to respond. for the Muslim in the wall of bombings in a spike in Qatar has denied Egyptian Foreign Old City in Raqa, recent the commander any support The for extremism Minister Sameh Brotherhood and closing broadcaster deadline was s have said. days, Shoukry welcomed extended by waging a parallel where they are and accused hours on Sunday his counterparts Al-Jazeera -- and would 48 countries The jihadists the from Saudi offensive against respond of of seeking to the jihadists. infringe on Kuwait, which at the request its sovereignty strategy in which“are using a new Emirates Arabia, the United Arab “at the right time”. Saudi Arabia the is mediating and its allies and Bahrain . The other demands “Today, our advance in houses and when they wait inside at a crisis, have not said ministry buildingfor the talks steps they was easier what response and Qatar handed in the include Qatar downgradin the soldiers enter than yesterday,” could take the houses in central g ties with Iran -- Saudi on Monday.

Colonel Haidersaid Lieutenant themselvesthey fire bullets or blow Cairo, a month after the countries are fears of a wider next, but there Arabia’s regional The contents arch-rival embargo that severed ties with up,” Hussein Hussein, a commander in have not been of the response Turkish -- and shutting down a Qatar, accusing would hurt the Qatari said.

The body of Iraq’s Doha of supporting economy, military base in disclosed, but a woman said with credit ratings Terrorism Service. elite Counter- have the emirate. extremism. to been suicide agency Moody’s Qatari Foreign Minister Meanwhile, restrictions announcing it bomber shot of more than “We took control before Sheikh will Mohammed on Qatar was changing 200 she continue after bin Abdulrahm Qatar’s Al-Thani today and there metres (yards) in the could blow herself earlier it rejected the an ultimatum day said Tuesday metres remaining are less than 200 the house lay in the street near that the neighbours,made by its Middle East The toward where perpetrators of the Tigris the Saudi Arabia River,” Hussein a recent cyberhas said.

Decaying corpsesofficer spoke. attack that disrupted the Bitcoin address the waterway said, referring to stench gave off a businesses marking the eastern of death that across the world listed in the edge of remaining permeated appear to have blackmail demand that And it seems accessed the IS-held territory some streets, and a pool appeared they on have in the city. hacked ransom payments made a fresh now the police of half- they dried blood spread PCs. ransom raised.

One expert However, analysts demand. second managed to prevent a door of one house. out from the Just over £7,900-worth little doubt the said there was the move suggest down wave of attacks by shutting of virtual tapped funds had is intended to currency has confuse serversand confiscating computer been moved by those responsiblebeen investigations from the crime. into used by for In other related the matter. company, which a local software is thought to have Ukraine’s interior developments, unwittingly minister has said helped virus to spread. the Petya-variant

Iraq Forces Battle IS in Mosul after PM Fetes ‘Victory’

Qatar Crisi s Rivals Look to Next

Petya Hackers

Issue Fresh

Move in Cairo

Talks

Ransom Dem and

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THURSDAYSP ORTS Kan

T H I S D AY •

THURSDAY JULY 6, 2017

Group Sports Editor Duro Ikhazuagbe Email duro.ik hazuagbe@th isdaylive.com

u, Cambiasso Honoured with Invites to FIFA U-17 World Cu p Draw

Duro Ikhazuag be title, I won the Even with and from there,Olympic gold and the absence was part of Golden Eaglets as I would of from the like to believe, there wasn’t team at the 2010 Argentina’s tomorrow defence of the any FIFA .

World Cup, FIFA Under-17 Kanulooking back,” stressed Cup will be joined by World Chhetri to FIFA.com Indian football is India’s national India’s finest athletes governing bodythe game’s yesterday local legends Sunil at the team captain moment and The former and Local and allmade waves podium finish in an Organising Committe Inter Milan. and PV Sindhu, Chhetri time top goalscorer and individual . Twenty- after winning the Olympic event at the Olympics e (LOC) that Arsenal great stressed take part as draw who will one-yearof India 2017 old assistants the competitio . badminton silver medal at the 2016 A total of 52 Nwankwo yesterday invited young player PV Sindhu n provides games will be players the opportuni is one of Olympics, becoming Rio played to decide the Official Kanu to attend to express youngest Indian the the winner ty scheduled forDraw ceremony develop. themselves and to make a of the FIFA U-17 World tomorrow, July India 2017.

Cup 7, 2017.

“This tourname nt provides Nigeria is youngsters the necessary stage champion ofthe back-to-back for developm ent and I believe 2015 editions the 2013 and this year’s edition held in UAE and Chile respectiv (India 2017) will provide ely.

Kanu won the us all with 1993 edition exceptional talent – much in Japan with the like previous the Golden tourname Eaglets to set off a career that concludes the two-time nts,” has made him of African Footballe winner the game today. a legend of Year r of the award.

Three years later, Kanu Africa Dream Team led Nigeria’s India is to be represented in 1996 Olympic to the Atlanta Ghana,by the quartet of Mali, Games to claim Guinea and the men’s football Niger Republic. gold for Africa for the Mali was the runners-up He played first time. at the Eagles at the for the Super Chile FIFA U-17 World Cup 2015. The junior 2010 editions1998, 2002 and retained Eagles World Cups of the FIFA Africa the CAF Under-17 before bowing Cup in Gabon out of the round be at the to top of African Speaking on leather game. represent the Under-17 his invitation to October atives in India in World Cup Draw when hostilities in India, Kanu begin.

Interestingly, Nigeria’s victoryadmitted that star another of the competitipast World Cup really at the cadet Esteban on, spurred his Cambiasso career to the played who attained beforelofty heights he 1995 for Argentina at the edition was calling it quits. also invited “The FIFA U-17 World Cup to join Kanu at the Draw 1993 really spurred in my career New Delhi.

– within years Cambiasso of winning the who won the R-L: FIRS FIFA U-20 World Cup 1997 IfeanyiUb Tax Controller, Nnewi, Mrs. S. N Obiora presentin ah Chairman , Chukwuma g VAT Wonder Ubah sharing Goal prize to the moment Pascal Seka of glory with of FC IfeanyiUb his player ah with FC

Udom Emmanue l Brand New Stad Okays I A A F W O R L D C H A MPIO ium for Eket Oka gbare Jumps 6.77 N S H I P S m to Secure Bert h in London 2017

Okon Bassey in Uyo completed before In furtheran the end of Blessing May 2018. commitment ce of his Okagbare“We are going Ighoteguonor to by the development leapt to the and expansion a stadium that willconstruct second place finish to a 6.77m where IAAF at the meeting of sports infrastruct she ran her in the long take at jump at only sub 7m mark is now the ures across least 10,000 spectator 11 the Istvan the state, the s going by the Gyulai in seconds run (10.92 seconds) leader in addition to African who came enthusiasm and Memorial in the Hungarian the booking a second and Akwa Ibom Governor of the governor that of Székesfeh respectively third city with 100m last season albeit spot in London for the State, Mr. Udom Emmanu event.

Local athletics projects the attaches to his to secure érvár on Tuesday to a massive following wind Meanwhile, buffs believe el has be qualificati stadium should render it illegal. approved the Okagbare’s chances Reigning able to attract event at the 16th on for the Okagbare came of making Commonwealth Games of a 10,000-se construction matches. international Champio the final of an IAAF long to the individual event jump champion, nships next World Hungary with stadium in ating capacity month season’s “It will also and Africa’s Ese Brume a 6.52m in London and making help the sports in London.

Government Eket Local ministry podium undisputed best achieved a The Area. to decongest 2008 Olympics Eugene, in are highappearance thereafter sprint hurdles queen, The state’s the state medalist sponsore bronze month Oregon, USA last Amusan Tobi in for Sports, Mr Commissioner mostly d football teams secured in the event and as than in the the long jump at the will have their debut money-spinning who disclosedMonday Ukoh, provide based in Uyo and 100m qualification in had two ranked longthe number struggled sprints where she Diamond IAAF the jumper this yet and another training League in and is for form last season 200m last month Africa so far this while inspecting yesterday facility and was struggling yet to run inside the duo failed debut after for internatio compatriot Ese term behind seconds Town Stadium, the old Eket teams to hit nal 6.75m entry Brume whose and break 22.4 11 list of confirmedto make the facility would said the new at the that are playing the standard set the 6.64m was, until season. this the eighth athletes for the by IAAF be evening Godswill complete of for Tuesday July leg of the meeting, before the end the Akpabio Meanwhile 4, 2017 was The Sapele-bo long jump. the best of May 2018.d International Stadium Okagbare- the Athletissima tonight Accordin Ighoteguonor mark rn sprinter Uyo,” he declared. in cum jumper however Lausanne, Switzerlan in also in the event. by an African 100m new sportsg to Ukoh the banished d.

The event at the won the fears Both Brume Okagbare would have facility which that commissioner hinted the she could be missing meeting made and Amusan in medal in who won a silver with an 11.11 seconds long jump event for athletics, a tartan track the athletes, who excelled at London her second run, athletesthe provisional list of the event at the a football practice last state youth fastest time 14th Worlds whenat the edition of the pitch in addition games, leapt of releasedinvited for the meeting would IAAF World the season. she Champio by organisers bowl, would to the main- in the represent the state the two centimetres above nships in Moscow, She won ahead of the be a boost forthcom qualification of Remona event on Tuesday the state’s sports to youth games ing national Burchell of standard set Russia in 2013 and is Jamaica (11.15) website but when on their policy. only two Nigerians one of and Likely to be the strategy to at Ilorin as a Nigerian-born to hit the continue with American, list and start list for the final as part of commissioned their Morolake Akinosun event was released developm Democracy the May 2018 (11.19) Nigerians yesterday The sports ent. failed to meet , the commissi commissionerDay event, the maintain the cut. said the facility ed that the oner Returnee President when completed governme state of the Nigeria Golf would help nt Captain of decongest Federation to intensify would continue (NGF), the host club, state sponsore Olagunsoye football teams d the gains efforts to sustain is parts of the country Oyinlola, Akeem Afolabi, said yesterday one of made in the that the event well as offer from Uyo as Youth again and last expected the key players accommo is planned to we are looking forward the residents of the Games at the Honoura the area opportuni of to would course, the players Represen in the state. ble golfers, date all classes of doing so with pride; be put to a good topflight football ty to watch communi tatives of Eket Golf Tournament scheduled thanks to the support especially those test ty at the inspection for this weekend of our sponsor, of the game of golf”. have been yearning that Internatio “We are not matches.

Already, over to have making nal Breweries going to commended the timely MiCCom Golf and at the a feel of the inherit anything for from 80 golf it happen.” from the intervention of the governor Club, Ada, Osun Country different golf players “We are aware course. old stadium.

Amateur golfers on the stadium courses The three-day State. is a golf hub that our club the Honourab here will giveEvery thing the and assured will begin have signed up for the in this part event. is to featuretournament the country. state They are way for a le brand new adequate government of have slowed of Saturday July title chase on Course, from Ibadan Golf invited down Ilorin Golf by the grace stadium which security maintenance and professional today for in the past and that up on Sunday8th and round Benin exhibition game of God will an working we are Golf Club, IboriClub, July 9th. be completeof the facility when the and Country Golf d. weekend o to tee-off this way to bring activities “ The Captain added C

Oyinlola to Head line

Honourable Golf Tourney

at MicCom

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THURSDAY JULY 6, 2017 • T H I S D AY

NEWS

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

Addax Petroleum to Pay $32m in Geneva to Settle Nigerian Bribery Charges Oil prices fall 2% on surplus supply from Nigeria, Libya

Ejiofor Alike with agency reports China’s state-owned Addax Petroleum has agreed to pay a 31 million Swiss francs ($32 million) fine in Geneva, Switzerland, to settle charges of suspected bribes given to Nigerian officials, thus ending a four-month old investigation, which uncovered the illegality in the payments.

This is coming as oil prices yesterday fell more than two per cent to end their longest rally in more than five years.

The drop was attributed to increases in oil production from Nigeria and Libya, said to have added to the volumes of light, sweet crude looking for buyers in the Atlantic Basin, despite a supply cut led by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) aimed at reducing the excess inventory in the oil market.

The Geneva Prosecutor’s Office, which investigated Addax Petroleum, had also confirmed the criminal investigation into allegations concerning its operation in Nigeria.

Lawmakers Revive Southern Nigeria Senators’ Caucus Damilola Oyedele in Abuja Serving senators from the southern part of the country have revived the Southern Nigeria Senators’ Caucus, which was first formed during the fifth assembly under the leadership of then Senate President Ken Nnamani.

Announcing the creation of the caucus yesterday at a media briefing, Senate Minority Leader, Senator Godswill Akpabio, said the caucus is a response to the Northern Senators’ Forum which he observed has ensured unity among the senators from the North.

Headdedthatthecaucuswasborne out of the need to ensure cohesion among senators from the South, and enhance unity.

“Today, we have the Northern Senators’ Forum and they have been having meetings and discussing issues connected with the North. But we have not had concerted views from the southern part of the country,” Akpabio said.

“We have not been able to ensure total unity; so that we can sit at a go with our brothers in the North; so

that when they take on issues in the North, we will also take on issues in the southern Nigeria. From there, we will have a united voice and front in order to consolidate the unity of this country and bond together more.

“So the Senate today has also decided that there is the need to birth a new cacus, which is called Southern Nigeria Senators’ Caucus, just like we have in the North. At the end of the day, whatever we discuss as South that affects us, we will also listen to our brothers from the North and bring them to the floor of the Senate for expeditious treatment,” Akpabio said.

The caucus was non-existent in the sixth and seventh assemblies.

Executive officers of the caucus are Senators Hope Uzodimma (Chairman/South-east), Lanre Tejuoso (Vice Chairman), Mathew Uroghide (SecretaryGeneral/South-east),Solomon Olamilekan (Treasurer/South-west), Ovie Omo-Agege (Financial Secretary/ South-south), Mao Ohuabunwa (Publicity Secretary/South-wast), Duro Faseyi (Auditor/South-west) and Stella Oduah (Welfare Officer/ South-east).

The investigation had led to the arrest of the company’s chief executive officer of its Geneva Office, Zhang Yi, and the legal director, who were also charged over several millions of dollars in payments to an unnamed company and several lawyers in Nigeria.

Reuters quoted the Geneva Prosecutor’s Office as saying in a statement yesterday that the four-month investigation found that the payments were not sufficiently documented and doubts remained on their legality.

The statement, however, added that no criminal intent was established against Addax Petroleum, which was bought in 2009 by China’s state-owned Sinopec, Asia’s largest oil refiner and third largest in the world.

The Geneva Prosecutor’s Office said that Addax acknowledged possible organisational shortcomings and had taken measures to improve

internal anti-corruption procedures.

With this settlement, the cases against the CEO and legal director have also been closed, a spokesman for the prosecutor said.

Addax said in an emailed statement that its CEO had resumed his duties, while its chief legal officer retired on June 30.

“Addax Petroleum is committed to conducting its business with the highest level of integrity, and in full compliance with applicable laws, regulations and industry standards,” the company said in a statement.

In a related development, oil prices fell more than two per cent yesterday, ending their longest bull-run in more than five years, as climbing OPEC exports and a stronger dollar reversed the gains made in recent days.

Benchmark Brent crude futures were down $1.14, or 1.3 per cent, at $48.47 per barrel yesterday after

the price had climbed for eight straight sessions to Monday.

United States’ West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were also down $1.35, or 2.8 per cent, at $45.72 a barrel.

Oil exports by OPEC climbed for a second month in June, with the cartel exporting 25.92 million barrels per day (bpd) in June, up 450,000 bpd from May and 1.9 million bpd more than a year earlier.

The rise in exports comes despite OPEC’s vow to rein in production until March 2018.

Nigeria and Libya, which are exempted from the output pact, have continued to pump more oil.

Nigerian crude for August loading is said to be proving slow to find buyers amid rising supply, as an increase in production in the two countries, is adding to the glut in the global market, despite the OPEC-led cut.

Reuters quoted oil traders as

saying that there are at least 40 unsold August-loading Nigerian cargoes looking for buyers, the equivalent of almost half of daily world demand.

Lingering cargoes of crude from Nigeria is said to have been a feature of the oil market this year, weighing on prices since Nigeria’s crude is sold in relation to Brent, the global benchmark.

Nigerian exports are set to exceed 2 million barrels per day (bpd) in August, a 17-month high, and on Tuesday the head of the International Energy Agency (IEA) said further increases by key producers could hamper the rebalancing.

Traders were also quoted as saying that some Nigerian crude grades for August were selling well, especially the distillate-rich Forcados crude, which has only 10 cargoes remaining for July loading.

Former IG, Arase Allays Fears over A MINUTE SILENCE FOR MAITAMA SULE State Police R-L: Acting President Yemi Osinbajo, Chief of Staff to the President, Mallam Abba Kyari; Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs.

Former Inspector General of Police (IG), Soloman Arase, has called for the decentralisation of the police force, saying there should not be fears over the calls for the establishment of state police.

Arase, who spoke on ARISE News Network, a THISDAY sister company, yesterday noted that the establishment of state police would not make the formal police irrelevant.

“When you have community policing, it does not mean absence of formal police. The police officers, who are on ground are supposed to organise that community in such a way that the reporting system is also through the formal policing apparatus you have. So the police don’t have to fear that they will lose relevance. Instead, there are crimes that are committed in communities the formal police are not supposed to concern itself with,” he said.

Arase, who was the secretary of the committee set up by former President Olusegun Obasanjo and headed by Dan Mandani on how to reform the Nigeria Police, said

the report of the committee looked at the how the police could be more efficient and robust.

According to him, one of the main decisions by the committee was that there should decentralisation of police functions.

“When you say decentralsiation, you say the top is too heavy. The IG sits in Abuja to superintend over 36 states plus Abuja, which is 37. He deploys the resources both capital and overheads. So why can’t you restructure the police in such a way that the DIGs will now be in charge of six geopolitical zones.

So that you allow them to take care of some municipal issues that have to do with the states, like posting and overseeing the activities of the commissioners of police, looking at the buildings that are already dilapidated and allow the IG to restrict himself. Because the concept of IG is inspecting to ensure that standards are maintained.

“But now you over burden the IG, you asking him to oversee many functions. The DIGs, who are in charge of various departments are not firing on all cylinders,” he said.

Winifred Oyo-Ita; and National Security Adviser (NSA), Major General Babagana Mongonu (rtd), during the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting at the Council Chamber of the Presidential Villa in Abuja....yesterday State House.

Probe Panel on A’Ibom Church Collapse Submits Report Okon Bassey in Uyo After eight months, the commission of inquiry constituted to look into the December 10, 2016, Reigners Bible Church building collapse in Akwa Ibom State, has submitted its report.

No fewer than 27 people were officially confirmed dead and many wounded including top government officials.

The commission chaired by retired Chief Judge, Justice Umoekoyo Essang, with six other members inaugurated on December 16, 2016, submitted its report yesterday to the state Governor, Mr. Udom Emmanuel, at the Government House in Uyo. On being constituted, the committee was asked to submit its report in three weeks from the date of its first sitting or within such extended period as may be

allowed after written approval.

The governor, while receiving the report, restated his readiness to implement the recommendations as contained in the report of the probe panel into the disaster.

“I want to thank you for this great job that you have done and to assure you once again that the recommendations of this report would be taken seriously. We would do everything to implement and prevent future occurence of this tragedy. May this affliction never occur the second time,” he said The governor condemned insinuations by critics who politicise the tragedy, saying disaster does not select anybody, political party, tribe or region.

“Things of this nature should go beyond politics. When the incidence occured it did not select members of a political party, it did not only affect a particular denomination,

race or colour.

“It was a tragedy that affected all.

It’s unfortunate that people decided to politicise a tragedy of this nature.

Such people do not deserve to express opinion in the public,” he said.

He cited the recent clampdown on a criminal gang by the police in which some well-placed persons have been painting a wrong picture of the arrest by telling the world that it was targeted at members of a political party, maintaining that such act does not contribute to the growth of the state.

The governor, again commiserated with families of those who lost their loved ones in the tragedy and thanked President Muhammadu Buhari, Minister of Health, governors’ forum, the state team and organisations in the international community for their support during the incidence.

Thanking members of the

commission for accepting to serve in the committee and the painstaking effort in carrying out their responsibilities, the governor acknowledged that they have showed much commitment to the service of the people.

Presenting the report, the Chairman of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry, Justice Essang, commiserated with the government and people of the state over the unfortunate incidence, and thanked God for sparing the life of the governor in the church building collapse.

He expressed appreciation to the state government for trusting the commission with the assignment without interference despite insinuations from uninformed members of the public, saying the committee carried out it assigned task with inputs from a team of engineers and members of the public.

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T H I S D AY THURSDAY JULY 6, 2017

COMMENT

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

AFFLICTIONS OF A CONVULSING SOCIETY Nigeria must give its young people hope and sense of purpose, writes Emmanuel Ojeifo

“Nigeria is balanced on a knife edge between demographic dividend and disaster.”

– British Council Report, Nigeria: The Next Generation (2010).

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igeria today is in a state of convulsion. We find ourselves in a nation at the crossroads, where we are unable to make sense of what is happening to us, or why we cannot find solutions to our problems. The spate of violence, bloodshed and destruction of lives and property is shocking even to the most disinterested bystanders. As such, it would seem true today that Nigeria is a perfect illustration of the woman with the issue of blood in the Bible. We are haemorrhaging from all sides. From the North to the South and from the East to the West, Nigeria is soaked in a deluge of blood. Whether it is kidnapping, armed robbery, social restiveness, terrorist insurgency, farmers and herdsmen clashes, ethnic skirmishes, religious violence, the abuse, exploitation and decimation of children, or the rising tide of mysterious murders, Nigeria is losing so much blood and so many lives on a daily basis. If this is happening in peacetime, we can imagine what would have happened if we were at war.

The newspapers, television and radio are all full of bad news.

Even the social media does not spare us the nauseating onslaught of blood, tears and death. From all corners of our country there are agitations of all kinds and species. Young people are complaining about the state of the country, which has blighted their opportunities to realise their potential and their right to self-determination.

And because the Nigerian state has failed to listen to their cries and hearken to their pleas, many young people have taken to violence, crime, drug abuse and senseless destruction of lives and property. All of these disruptive behaviours are only symptoms of a larger national disease: the epidemic of hopelessness and helplessness that is ravaging and decimating the lives of our young people. Many young people in Nigeria are unable to find meaning, purpose and fulfilment in life; and because society pays no heed to them, they vent their anger and frustration in purposeless violence.

We may ask the question: Who is to blame for the inability of our young people to find meaning and purpose in life? The government? Parents? School? The Church? The Mosque? Or the young people themselves? I do not presume that I have the answer to this question, but one thing I know for sure is that when the children of our nation are planning their funerals instead of preparing their future, it is a sure sign that as a society we have missed our way. In 2010, the British Council published a commissioned report on Nigeria’s demographic transition titled, Nigeria: The Next Generation. The report noted that Nigeria is experiencing a remarkably huge growth in the number of young adults in its society, and that this growth will continue throughout most of the twenty first century. According to the report, this demographic change could position Nigeria “at the threshold of the greatest

MANY YOUNG PEOPLE IN NIGERIA ARE UNABLE TO FIND MEANING, PURPOSE AND FULFILMENT IN LIFE; AND BECAUSE SOCIETY PAYS NO HEED TO THEM, THEY VENT THEIR ANGER AND FRUSTRATION IN PURPOSELESS VIOLENCE

transformation in its history” if it is properly harnessed for more productive benefits.

Making a case for this demographic transition, the report noted that in the best case, if Nigeria harnesses this demographic dividend, the country would enjoy a substantial boost to its development, becoming an economic engine for the whole of Africa. If these young people are healthy, well educated and find productive employment, they can boost the country’s economy and reinvigorate it culturally and politically. But if its potential is not harnessed, it will become an increasingly disruptive force.

Calling political leaders to urgently develop a thorough plan of action for Nigeria’s next generation, the report stated that, “Demographic factors are steadily elevating Nigeria’s risk of conflict. If Nigeria fails to respond appropriately over the next decade, it could well face a demographic disaster.”

With young Nigerians increasingly frustrated by their lack of opportunities, there are signs of this huge youth population becoming an increasingly disruptive force. As things stand today, the risks are multiplying far beyond the opportunities. Growing numbers of young people are frustrated by lack of employment opportunities. Competition for jobs, land, natural resources and political patronage is already fuelling conflicts. As unemployment levels continue to rise, so many young people will become combustible materials for social explosion. This increased risk of violent conflict is one of the fall-out of failing to properly manage and harness the demographic transition. A recent research by Population Action International shows that youth bulges are so often volatile because there are “too many young men with not enough to do. When a population as a whole is growing, ever larger numbers of young males come of age each year, ready for work.” When there is no work, they are driven to the doorsteps of idleness, which then translates into despair and lends itself to violence and destruction.

Our country must give its young people hope, sense of purpose and the drive for a meaningful life. For us to collect the dividend of the demographic youth bulge, Nigeria requires an effective government, a strong society and relatively high levels of peace and security. If these factors are in place the country will catch in on the demographic change to boost its economy.

Diversifying away from oil and creating jobs in industries such as communications, manufacturing and mineral resources will create wealth and better equality for the upcoming generation.

We need to invest the wealth generated from oil in the future into diversifying the economy in order to prepare ourselves for the post-oil phase. Failure to enact the right policies that will capitalise on this demographic opportunity will only hasten our arrival at the threshold of demographic disaster. As the report stated, “The choice between success and failure rests on Nigeria’s ability to harness the power of its single greatest asset: not oil, but youth.”

Ojeifo is a Catholic priest of the Archdiocese of Abuja

SARAKI, TINUBU AND THE APC

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Abdulwahab Oba enjoins Bola Tinubu and Bukola Saraki to join forces for the good of the party

he discharge and acquittal of Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, of all cases of alleged corruption and false assets declaration charges for which he stood trial for two years by the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) must have come as a huge relief to his followers. But more importantly to members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) party and the National Assembly (NASS) members, who, understandably, have been on the edge as the nation’s number three citizen and its public face, faced a trial with the potential of ruining his political career, as well as hugely casting doubts on the integrity of the NASS. Notwithstanding the doubt on who the plaintiff was; whether it was actually supposed to be the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) as required by the law or the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for political exigencies as some believe in this Senator Saraki case, the trial worsened and deepened the obvious divide in the party such that it remained a sore point in selling the APC change mantra.

Saraki, a two-time governor of Kwara State and a political god-head of the Saraki political dynasty, has over the years become one of Nigeria’s emerging political tacticians following in the footsteps of his late father, Olusola Saraki, who also then occupied a plum political position at the National Assembly in his days. Saraki’s two years’ track record as Senate President speaks volume of his enigmatic and uncanny leadership qualities. In two years, the 8th Senate under his leadership has broken a 17-year jinx by passing into law a record 95 bills; 50% above two previous Senate combined.

Interestingly, Saraki seems to be one of the most misunderstood and misrepresented politicians in the APC power family. This probably explains why his trial affected nearly everything the APC represented. The trial almost pitched the National Assembly against the presidency, as well as against presumed power brokers in the party. But Saraki remained calm and focused.

Perhaps, Saraki’s trial evoked so much emotions and passion following the belief that he was being punished for working his way into the Senate presidency as opposed to perceived party arrangements. Or, punished by some political hawks who see him as a potential threat to their political ambitions and so starting out with him in an intriguing kick-start of arm-twisting politics ahead of 2019 political permutations.

In the wake of the trial, for instance, fingers were pointed in the direction of former governor of Lagos State, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who, many believed played an instrumental role in the electoral victory of the APC and therefore sought to determine who becomes what regarding the party’s appointments.

No matter what, it cannot be denied that Asiwaju is a political colossus, generalissmo of the progressive forces and a man of great vision, who has continued, and still pushes for the united Nigeria project. The eight years of his administration in Lagos marked a new beginning for the Centre of Excellence. This explains, perhaps, why, he could hold his own and continued developing Lagos State through the creation of Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) to meet the needs of its large population in the state at a time the-powers-that-be insisted he must not.

He suffered for it, but today, it all counted for

blessing as Lagos did well through that initiative.

Tinubu knows what Nigeria needs and he is never afraid to go for it.

With Saraki’s discharge and acquittal, there could not have been a better opportunity for these men of astute political knowledge to come together in the larger interest of the APC and for Nigeria. Both men see beyond and across the present and possess huge understanding and knowledge of humanity. It cannot be forgotten how Tinubu and Saraki’s presence in Kano influenced the choice of Emir Sanusi Lamido Sanusi.

Or, in Abuja, where the Saraki-led new PDP deferred to Asiwaju and other elders of the party in the choice of Jhn-Odigie Oyegun and other exco of the party and things changed dramatically. It is still fresh what happened when Saraki teamed up with Tinubu and other forces for the emergence of the then Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, as the presidential candidate of the APC, for which some still hold against the Senate President. It cannot be cheaply waved aside that Dr. Saraki sacrificed his personal comfort for the success of the APC; rarely at home with his people during and after the campaigns despite the obvious threat of opposition at home. Today, it is clear to every one that the desperation to “flush out” Saraki from Kwara State led to a mindless frittering of huge sums of money in what we know, today, as the Dasuki Gate by the PDP in the state.

Saraki and Tinubu have worked together and can still work as a team, which would only point to one thing: a chance of a fresh start, especially as the party looks ahead to the 2019 general elections. This, perhaps, underscores the significance of the Saraki acquittal more

than anything else and the need for Saraki and Tinubu to bury whatever real or perceived political differences they have in order to salvage the APC. There is no doubt that a Tinubu and a Saraki political ships have the potential of a laser speed sail and high deliverables not just for the party, but also for Nigerians and country at large. With Tinubu’s political clout and achievements as a former governor of Lagos State and Saraki, who, himself, delivered every single vote in Kwara State and massive votes in the north central and performed the miraculous as governor, including delivering the state from the opposition to the ruling party, APC would galvanise itself to retain power at the centre, as well as competing for space in some of the few states controlled by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

This has become even more auspicious in the face of the growing unrest, disaffection and division amongst ethnic poles across the land, worsened by the growing hopelessness, poverty and unemployment in the land. Let Saraki and Tinubu demonstrate passion for the unity of party and country by working together in the interest of peace and general development, but more than anything else, so as to reassure Nigerians that there is still hope in the ability of the APC leadership to deliver on its promises to Nigerians.

My submission, therefore, is that only a coalitional consciousness where everybody and every interest are brought together can revive the unity in the APC and sustain its electoral victory for the benefit of all and sundry. abdulwahaboba@gmail.com

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EDITORIAL CURBING CYBERCRIMES IN NIGERIA There is need to enforce the cybercrimes act

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nformation and Communication Technology (ICT) systems are now as basic to our lives as water and electricity. Many individuals, corporate organisations and government agencies depend on ICT and computer networks to perform simple as well as complex tasks - from social networking and research to business and commerce. However, the cyberspace is vulnerable while many businesses, agencies and individuals are being increasingly threatened by cyber criminals not only within the country but around the world.

So endemic is the problem that the Senate recently said Nigeria has lost about $450 million to 3,500 cyber attacks on its Information and Communications Technology (ICT) space, representing about 70 per cent of hacking attempts in the country. In asking its committee on ICT and cybercrime to convoke a national stakeholders’ conference on the malaise, the Senate advocated a broad-based approach to tackling what has become a national security threat.

Cybercrimes, as most people are already aware, refer to those criminal acts such as identity theft and bank frauds facilitated through the use of the internet. But as most Nigerians also THERE IS NEED TO know, to our collective IMPROVE THE CAPACITY shame, our country OF RELEVANT ICT is often cited as a AND CYBERSPACE breeding ground for STAKEHOLDERS FOR most of these nefarious THE TRAINING AND practices because of the activities of some SUPPORT OF CYBER of our citizens. In the SECURITY OFFICIALS last few years, many AND THE SHARING OF criminal elements in CYBER SECURITY BEST Nigeria have been PRACTICES using these modern telecommunication networks such as the internet and mobile phones to commit all manner of crimes that give us a bad image globally.

Indeed, there is an upsurge of cybercrime in Nigeria.

The country is ranked third in global Internet crime after the United States of America and United Kingdom while 7.5 per cent of the world’s hackers are said to be Nigerians. Committed mostly by the young, often called “Yahoo” boys, a precursor of the infamous ‘419’

Letters to the Editor

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email scammers, the fraudsters are increasingly taking advantage of the rise in online transactions, electronic shopping, e-commerce and the electronic messaging systems to engage in all manner of crimes.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) reported last year that 70 per cent of attempted or successful fraud/forgery cases in the Nigerian banking system were perpetrated via the electronic channels. Between 2000 and 2013, banks in the country lost N159 billion to electronic frauds and cybercrime. In 2014, bank customers lost about N6 billion in Nigeria while in South Africa, the loss amounted to about N8 billion. In addition, the damage to business from the theft of intellectual property is exceedingly high.

I T H I S DAY

EDITOR IJEOMA NWOGWUGWU DEPUTY EDITORS BOLAJI ADEBIYI, JOSEpH USHIGIALE MANAGING DIRECTOR ENIOLA BELLO DEPUTY MANAGING DIRECTOR KAYODE KOMOLAfE CHAIRMAN EDITORIAL BOARD OLUSEGUN ADENIYI EDITOR NATION’S CAPITAL IYOBOSA UWUGIAREN

T H I S DAY N E W S PA P E R S L I M I T E D

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF/CHAIRMAN NDUKA OBAIGBENA GROUP EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS ENIOLA BELLO, KAYODE KOMOLAfE, ISRAEL IWEGBU, IJEOMA NWOGWUGWU GROUP FINANCE DIRECTOR OLUfEMI ABOROWA DIVISIONAL DIRECTORS pETER IWEGBU, fIDELIS ELEMA, ANTHONY OGEDENGBE DEPUTY DIVISIONAL DIRECTOR OJOGUN VICTOR DANBOYI SNR. ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR ERIC OJEH ASSOCIATE DIRECTORS HENRY NWACHOKOR, SAHEED ADEYEMO CONTROLLERS ABIMBOLA TAIWO, UCHENNA DIBIAGWU, NDUKA MOSERI GENERAL MANAGER pATRICK EIMIUHI GROUP HEAD fEMI TOLUfASHE DIRECTOR, PRINTING PRODUCTION CHUKS ONWUDINJO TO SEND EMAIL: first name.surname@thisdaylive.com

n 2015, the Cybercrimes Act was passed into law to address the challenges. The law criminalises a variety of offences – from ATM card skimming and identity theft to possession of child pornography. It imposes, for instance, seven years imprisonment for offenders of all kinds and additional seven years for online crimes that result in physical harm, and life imprisonment for those that lead to death. But like almost every law in the country, there is the problem of enforcement.

The “yahoo boys” still daily throng cybercafé premises to “transact” their business with the owners looking away. Yet the law criminalises internet café owners who knowingly allow their premises to be used to commit crimes.

In response to the apparent failure of the law to address the growing challenge, the Minister of Communications, Alhaji Adebayo Shittu, is canvassing the need to improve the capacity of relevant ICT and cyberspace stakeholders for the training and support of cyber security officials and the sharing of cyber security best practices from across the globe. These are in addition to building the capacity of local law enforcement.

According to the minister, an effective response to cybercrimes “requires a robust network security including appropriate network architecture and software, use of encryption, data protection legislation, information security standards and other tools of threat protection and detection.”

The time to do that is now.

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

CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES AT OSHODI

couple of days back, an incident left me very angry and traumatised. I was coming back from work, and there was heavy traffic, right in front of me at Oshodi, a group of three young men in their 20’s attacked a man.

The man struggled with them for some time, he swerved to the other side of the road, yet these guys followed him, determined to rob him. Eventually one of the miscreants went to the other side, smashed the side window of the passenger seat, took the man’s iPad while the other two also smashed the driver’s window and took the man’s phone and wallet.

What really irked me was the cool way they went about it despite all our shouting as if it is their right to have those items and yet nobody had the nerves to intervene. I prayed a police man would just show up. I also wished I had a gun; I would have shot them, at least to maim them.

I think it is now pertinent to always drive with some, and if possible, please have a weapon with you. I couldn’t sleep last night because it could have been any one in that man’s shoes.

This is not the first time. I had almost been a victim last year and the next day, a woman was attacked in my front. I have seen a couple of such attacks but yesterday’s left a lasting impression, I kept seeing how they swooped on that man.

But I thought the police have succeeded in tackling the menace but last night experience is a new level. They took their time and nobody could stop them.

I eventually levelled up with him and suggested he makes a report to the Police for possible documentation but he brushed my suggestion aside, that nothing will change.

I think a lot of crimes go unreported and I think the police don’t even have a fair idea, the quantum of crime committed every day. Most people would rather bear

the brunt than seek justice, and the Police is not even helping matters. The apparent shabby way most victims of these violent crimes are treated really discourage would be complainant.

When I shared the experience on Facebook wall, Many of my friends either confirmed that they have been harassed or witnessed the miscreants harassing someone. Only one person said he was almost attacked but for the timely intervention of plain-clothed policemen. When I asked him what the plain-clothed policemen did, he said they just scared them away. But scaring them away won’t solve the problem, they will only go and come back with greater ferocity. Why can’t they arrest them?

My aunt was once attacked at Mile Two. According to her, she had witnessed such attack on several occasions but never knew one day it will be her turn. Her attack was similar to the one I witnessed at Oshodi, both side windows were smashed but why hers was peculiar was that the ear rings she wore was yanked off from her ear ring holes, her necklace was also yanked off .

I feel the police might be culpable because this is a minor crime to solve.

All they need to do is to set up a number of baits like a woman driving alone and making calls, since they usually attack women driving alone. They can do this periodically with different kinds of baits, while they take positions around the woman and wait for any attack. Another way is to raid those hawkers; I am sure those hawkers know them and will squeal if arrested and threatened.

We obviously can’t go on like this. I am certain they are armed and won’t hesitate to shoot if anyone had dared to intervene. I am using this medium to call upon the police to rise to the occasion because these set of criminals will eventually grow to become the likes of Godogodo, Vampire, etc.

Okeke Afem, Lagos

SMILE: WE ARE NO LONGER SMILING

B

ased on recommendation that your browsing network has the capacity and browsing speed required to surf the internet, most Nigerians eagerly subscribed to your network.

Recently, however, your network has been higgledypiggledy. It’s not helping us.

If the bandwidth is no longer sufficient for the total numbers of subscribers, why not stop subscription pending when your issues are resolved? Why do you continue to subscribe more users?

We implore you to find a lasting solution for us to continue doing business with you.

Assurance Ovie, ANEEJ. Benin City

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T H I S D AY THURSDAY JULY 6, 2017

T H I S D AY THURSDAY JULY 6, 2017

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T H I S D AY • THURSDAY, JULY 6, 2017

POLITICS

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

PERSONALITY INTERVIEW

Buhari’s Ill-health Has Affected Governance, Says Gwarzo In an interview with Ibrahim Garba, a chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress in Kano, Aminu Abdulsalam Gwarzo, posits that the illness of President Muhammadu Buhari has denied the nation a coherent response to sectional agitations across the country

Y

our assessment of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration in the last two years?

I am very impressed with the way and manner the administration has dealt with the issue of security with utmost seriousness. Everyone can attest to the fact that on coming on board, the president confronted the issue of the much dreaded Boko Haram insurgency with vigour to the extent that Nigerians are now heaving a sigh of relief.

The president knew that the security situation in the country was shaky and precarious at the time he assumed the mantle of leadership.

He quickly mobilized forces to act on the front line by boosting the morale of the Nigerian army to coffront the insurgency head on.

We all knew that we were in a terrible mess before Buhari came on board to change the status quo by addressing the issue of the insurgency in the northern part of the country. This eplains the peace we now enjoy in the north. Normalcy had since returned to the north-eastern part of the country in particular and the entire north in general.

Many of the territories captured by Boko Haram elements had been recovered with the number of the so-called ‘gallant Boko Haram fighters’ almost reduced to the minimal.

Many of the internally displaced people had returned to their towns and villages and started living like before. To me, Buhari had achieved a lot and really lived up to his billing as a leader.

But one issue that had to be taken into account, is the issue of addressing the economic rot he inherited from the immediate past government.

At the time he came on board, he met the economy in a serious bad shape. But the major issue of contention is his inability to form a strong and cohesive economic team to take the gauntlet. That is why we still remain where we are.

If there is a strong economic team formed to face the challenge squarely, something remarkable would have been done to inject sanity into the economy and make every citizen to live happily.

The issue of budget had been a course for serious concern to all Nigerians, considering the frosty relationship between the National Assembly and the executive arm, what do you think is responsible for the sour relationship?

We have to consider the fact that we are operating a purely democratic government based checks and balances. That principle must be respected for genuine and vibrant system to prevail. Avoiding a systemic failure is what we want achieve as an APC-led government.

The issue of having a frosty relationship between the National Assembly and the executive arm of government does not arise. We should also take into cognizance the fact that there is a constitutional way of electing the leadership of both chambers of the National Assembly.

Leaders of both chambers had to emerge in line with the wish of the majority votes and the leaders should not be stampeded into doing the bidding of the executive arm by hook or crook. It is not expected that leaders of both chambers should be voted on the prodding of the executive.

Talking about the issue of budget, we need to have a strong institution to prepare the ground of setting a formidable agenda for an all encompassing budget to hold sway.

Ministries and key institutions of the govern-

ought to begin to think out of the box for us to have a conducive environment to live together without ill-feeling or bad blood.

Gwarzo...Buhari’s economic team is weak

ment should also meet such an obligation even beofre the budget proposal is made.

But the major issue of contention is his inability to form a strong and cohesive team to tackle the economic challenges.

That is why we still remain where we are.

If there is a strong economic team formed to face the challenge squarely, something remarkable would have been done to inject sanity into the economy and make every citizen to live happily

The issue of padding is all about corruption, because of the innate desire of some vested interest to manipulate things to their parochial advantage.

The clamour for a Biafra sovereign nation is widely considered as a threat to the peaceful coexistence of Nigeria as one indivisible entity, what is your take on this?

To me the issue of Biafra nation at this material point in time does not arise. We have taken so much pain to cross the thorny path to peace after fighting the Biafran warlords for almost thirty months. Those agitating for cesession are ignorant of history. We have almost reached a stage where Nigeria’s unity must be kept sacrosanct. We have learnt a great lesson in our match to break away at that time.

The issue is; if other part of the geo-political zones, have the resources and means to live on their own what of the Igbos? They have nothing to fall on. What is becoming a serious problem to us at present is lack of coherent leadership on ground because of the illness or rather the failing health of the president.

He is the one to take charge and address the issue in consultation with all the stake holders involved. Even at the National Assembly, we have the Igbos as representatives of every shred of political opinion within the Igbo race. They can take the bull by the horns to address the issue. Look at the issue of the recent ultimatum given to the Igbos by some youths in Kaduna to leave, we are not comfortable with this development.

The Igbo leaders should swing into action and call the agitators to order and make them to comprehend the simple fact that cesession is not something that can just be actualized without a price. It is bad. We

What is Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje’s major score-card in two years?

The issue of appraising governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje’s performance is something that should be analyzed within the confine of how he was voted to power as governor in 2015. We sat at a party level and deliberated extensively. We first considered three factors in choosing him for the plum job.

One, we considered the fact that his excellency governor Ganduje was the most senior in Kwankwaso’s cabinet. Second, he was the most experienced person better to handle the job and thirdly, he was part and parcel of all the major accomplishments recorded by Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso. So he was expected to be an off-shoot of the Kwankwasiyya movement, but he had derailed from the path of such an ideology.

To us in the movement, Ganduje had been only preoccupied with the business of casting a slur on the integrity of the man he succeeded and deputized for two terms. Look at the way and manner he began to destroy and dismantle the edifices built by Kwankwaso, destroying his achievements on education as a clear case in point.

But, what is most alarming at present is the crude tactics he had adopted in concocting figures to embellish the debt profile of the state in order to paint his predecessor’s administration black. We are certainly worried by the degree of indebtedness he is subjecting the people of the state at the end of which such an outrageous backlog would be inherited from him.

Look at the Paris Club refund from the federal government and the billions of the monthly statutory allocation accruing to the state from the federation account, and yet the administration is taking heavy loan in the name of paying workers’ monthly salaries.

Look at the manner he is cajoling members of the state’s House of Assembly to support his covert design to take loan from many sources with heavy interest attached?

Take the issue of the controversial rail project and the memorandum of understanding signed for the project that is expected to gulp a whooping sum of $1.8 billion and only to cover a negligible size of our land mass it is a white elephant project which could not in anyway be justified. With a government having the lump sum ofN100bn in its kitty, how can one be convinced that the administration has the legitimacy to incur a loan? He had also entered into various deals with commercial banks to secure loan in addition to entering into another deal on agric loan running into billions of naira. in fact all these cannot in anyway be justified.

It is my candid opinion that Ganduje had allowed his administration to be consumed by political crisis instead of concentrating attention on what he is supposed to be doing to build on the good legacy of the man he succeeded. We are making our case for him to understand our stand that we are opposed to those loans.

Seeking redress in a court of law would be our next line of action for these issues to be tackled. This is the only way we as stakeholders in the APC can clear the rot and set the stage for an administration that needed to be called to order. This is the crux of the matter.

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T H I S D AY • THURSDAY, JULY 6, 2017

POLITICS

Osuntokun: Every Part of Nigeria Will Benefit from Restructuring A former Director General of the News Agency of Nigeria, Akin Osuntokun, has dismissed claims that only southerners will benefit if the country is restructured. He spoke with Tobi Soniyi and Segun James

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he call for the restructuring of the nation has become strident. With the call for a Biafran republic and the ultimatum from the northern youth to the Igbos to quit the north, what is your take?

Yes, I have always been an advocate of restructuring. What is happening now is the momentum that has been generated by those two circumstances you refer to. This makes an adequate response more urgent. There is no doubting the fact that Nigeria needs a shock therapy. Personally, I don’t see any option available other than restructuring. But, deliberately, wittingly or unwittingly, people chose to misunderstand or politicise the call for restructuring.

Let’s make it clear. Restructuring for me is not that I want to be apart from the Igbos or the northern people. No. I am looking at the configuration of the present structure. The states for instance, are not viable units of development. I will like anybody to take me up on that proposition; and I’m inviting challenges from anybody to tell me that those 36 states we have are viable units of development. A very significant indication that they are far from being units of development is that they are not self-sustaining.

States that have been created for years are lacking in total capacity for self-sustenance through internally generated revenue. How can anybody tell me now that Ekiti state is a viable unit of development? I’m from Ekiti state, as a matter of fact, when it was being carved out of Ondo state, the voice of reasons made this argument that there was no need for the creation of the state, instead you are just adding to the liability and burden of the people. The point I’m making is that, once these states are created, they will start asking for take-off grant. What we have is a feeding-bottle kind of federalism. It is an absurdity. This is not how Nigeria or any society that aims to develop should function; the lack of autonomous capacity for self-sustenance argues against those states remaining as units of government or development. The other side of course is the centre; the obsession with the power at the centre. The political instability that has plagued this country since 1966 has to do with the obsession for the power in the centre.

That is one aspect of the restructuring call we have to attend to. The powers, the functions and the resources that have been lumbered with the powers at the centre are too enormous.

The federal government is not in a capacity to perform those roles effectively. What we are asking for, is the optimal and most effective way to utilise our resources; that is all what the struggle for restructuring is all about.

So the call is not about anybody or people.

The call applies to everybody including Ekiti state where I come from as it does to Anambra or Yobe state. Take Yobe state for instance, it is in the northeast, but if those six states in the northeast were to come together to form one unit of government, that potential zonal government will be far more efficient in the utilisation of the resources that are available. First, it will cut down on recurrent expenditure, duplication, replication and wastage of resources in running the government. I heard the minister of finance say it the other day that the ratio of recurrent expenditure to capital expenditure is 90 to 10 percent. Is that a formula for development?

These are the things that we are talking about.

For me, Biafra is of no essence. I see it as an extreme act of frustration with the system. Every Nigerian, one way or the other, is frustrated with the status quo.

So, what we are proposing, is to demonstrate good faith and goodwill with one another, and every part of this country stands to gain from it.

The only area that is not fair is the centre. The centre we have now is only useful for nepotism and discriminatory support. It is designed for arbitrariness, for lack of accountability in the application and utilisation of Nigeria’s resources.

and decentralisation of power.

Osuntokun...insists the present arrangement is not sustainable

This lack of accountability is why they should be privatised. Today, you appoint one managing director and in six months you appoint another.

These appointments have become instruments of patronage. That is all they are useful for.

But there is a counter argument that the problem of the country is not restructuring but corruption. For instance, if we have a regional government as you suggested and the zonal governor ends up stealing what six governors were stealing before, it will still end up the same way?

No. It will not end up in the same way. The point you are making can be addressed proactively.

In any case, the simple answer to your question is that the structure will make it impossible or constrain the hands of whoever wants to steal from doing so. First and foremost, the level of

I think it is the resistance to restructure or any constitutional review of the state that is breeding secessionist agitation. That is all.

The only way to preempt these agitations is to address these issues in a comprehensive and meaningful manner that takes the views of everybody from every part of the country into consideration.

scrutiny and accountability and oversight on the resources of the potential northeast region will be higher than the present structure. Presently, each of the 36 states in the country can be easily manipulated. There is no way you will have six states coming together and people will not demand higher level of scrutiny and accountability. It will result in greater political competitiveness. The political leadership that is going to result from that level of coming together is going to be superior to what you have now. The application of resources is going to be more efficient. Today you have University of Ekiti, you have University of Osun. But when you come together, you merge all of these mushroom universities together and make them satellite campuses of a greater university. The problem now is that each of the states does not have the capacity, and it has been proven, to make a university what it should be. What you have now are glorified secondary schools being paraded as university.

I’m not saying that corruption is going to evaporate into the air; we are still going to have it, but the structural constraints within that level of government will constrain anyone disposed to corruption. Look, if the average population of each state is six million, then you are going to contend with more people, that will be a source of pressure on you not to be corrupt.

Secondly, if the source of the revenue of the state is internally generated, the people will compel you to be accountable, but if it is from the federal purse in Abuja, then people are not bothered because it is not their money.

How will this be structured?

The restructuring we are going to have surely will be as a result of compromise. I am not going to impose my view on anybody. Along the way, we are all going to come together in goodwill to determine what will be. For without goodwill it will not work. Don’t let me re-invent the wheel. The report of the 2014 Confab set up by the Jonathan’s government is there. Very elastic! It is the height of the instrument of compromise. The good thing about the report is that all the resolutions there-in were adopted by consensus. It got a buy-in from all sections of the country, it accommodated everybody’s position. I’m not in opposition to impose my own view on restructuring on anybody but the meaning of restructuring is not more than true federalism. Be what you say you are; and of cause, the issue of devolution

That brings me to the question of resources. If six states from a region come together to form a unit yet they still end up sharing money from the resources from the Niger Delta, won’t we be back at the same situation?

Let me tell you the reason why I want to deemphasise that aspect. It is one of the most contentious aspects. Realistically, if you had done fiscal federalism right from the word go, it will lead to a reduction in what they get presently.

This is the contentious point, but there should be a compromise somewhere; a give and take situation. My own proposition for that is this; you might have a ten year window in which you retain the revenue allocation as it is today. The only one you will tamper with is the allocation to the centre. Take away from the centre and give it back to the states. What the states are getting presently, let them continue to get for the next 10 years in order to acclimatise and develop the internal capacity of the states to be self sustaining.

What I am proposing will require the spirit of sacrifice from the people and states of the Niger Delta. Well, not only Niger Delta alone, but also Lagos state. It will be a spirit of compromise and reasoning together in good faith as it was done at the confab.

Don’t you think that embarking on restructuring when some section is calling for secession is very dangerous, most especially at this time?

I don’t think so. I think it is the resistance to restructure or any constitutional review of the state that is breeding any secessionist agitation. That is all. The only way to pre-empt these agitations is to address these issues in a comprehensive and meaningful manner that takes the views of everybody from every part of the country into consideration. Like as I said, we are not re-inventing the wheel, this was what happened at the National Confab about three years ago. Restructuring will not lead to secession but as a matter of fact, it will end it. So there is no basis for that kind of fear.

But to refuse to do anything about the present status quo is what in itself that is fuelling the agitations.

Let’s now talk about politics. There is this news making the rounds that you may be going for the governorship in Ekiti. How true is this and under which platform?

Well, I think that news is being peddled by people who believe that I should be contesting. But the truth is that there are lots of factors that you should take into consideration before going for that position. For me, the best position to adopt is to de-emphasise individual ambition. For me, people see governorship like a coronation. If all you want to do by becoming the governor is to serve, then all this inordinate ambition on the part of many shouldn’t be there. But as we know it, even though it is part of the problem, becoming the governor of a state under the present system is like becoming an emperor who can dish out patronage the way he wants while indulging in epicurean lifestyle to your heart’s desire. You can acquire as much money as you can. But, as of today, I have no such ambition.

But of course, I cannot wish it off. If the stars are aligned together for me to proceed along that path, surely I will contest. I am available to do so. But I’m not crazy about anything.

For me, it’s no big deal.

Ekiti governor, Ayo Fayose has said that he is headed for the courts over his unjust removal from office during his first term and that he may also contest for president. What is your reaction?

Well, it is now a legal issue. You will have to go and fight that one out at the courts. But I know people say it that once you are sworn in twice you cannot be sworn in again

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THURSDAY, JULY 6, 2017 • T H I S D AY

FEATURES

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

Nigerian Makes History One of Nigeria’s brightest young scholars recently graduated with a Cummulative Grade Point Average of 5.0 in Computer Technology from the University of Computer Sciences And Skills, Lodz, Poland. Kasie Abone writes

The award given to Mobolaji

Mobolaji...a shining star

A

lready leading in First Class category, right from his first semester examinations in Babcock University, an unassuming 20-year-old, Olukayode Mobolaji Oluwasona, was among the 17 briliant students of the university that left Nigeria at the beginning of their 200-level programme in 2014 to continue their undergraduate studies in Poland under a special degree exchange programme arranged by Babcock University with the University of Computer Sciences And Skills, Lodz, Poland. They were to remain ‘international students’ until the end of their four-year course, as, even when they had to return to Babcock University for their last and final year in 2016, they remained completely under the monitoring, supervision and mentorship of their lecturers in Poland. Mobolaji who enrolled for Computer Technology and his colleagues were the pioneers in the four years old exchange programme between Babcock and the Polish University.

At the 15th Convocation Ceremonies

Mobolaji

of Babcock University on Sunday, June 4, 2017, Mobolaji drew a thunderous round of applause when he, alongside 12 of his colleagues that successfully completed the programme, were presented to the mammoth crowd, and he was announced to have

Achieving such remarkable academic feat did not come easy to Mobolaji. He confessed that it took hard work, sleepless nights and determination to attain such enviable height

made a clean grade of 5.0 and emerged with the best result in the programme.

The Chancellor of the University of Computer Sciences And Skills, Mrs. Aniela Bednarek, was on hand to witness the presentation to Mobolaji, of a Special Achievement Award for his superlative academic performance. Mobolaji and the other 12 graduands who benefited from the exchange programme were in a class of their own at the school’s convocation as they were classified as international students.

Achieving such remarkable academic feat did not come easy to Mobolaji. He confessed that it took hard work, sleepless nights and determination to attain such enviable height.

However, an incident in his secondary school days he confessed firmed his determination to excel in university academics.

According to him, “In primary school, I was the best graduating pupil. In secondary school, however, I was basically an average student. I attended Redeemers International Secondary School, Maryland, Lagos, and it

was just as if the guys there were unbeatable.

I must admit, though, I let down my guard, and I was just doing enough to get by. I came to myself only at the Valedictory/ Prize Giving Ceremony, when I did not get a single prize in academics. I felt so bad. That was the reason I decided and became determined to rewrite the story by regaining my original position when I resumed for undergraduate studies.”

He went further to say that though he was not prepared for the remarkable result he achieved but he set out to make a mark from his first day at Babcock University. “I would say since I resumed in my first year at Babcock, I’d always been on top of my class with a First Class grade. I recall my CGPA at the end of my 100 level studies in Babcock, before departing for Poland, was 4.74. Getting to Poland, I doubled up efforts, maintained my focus and was able to build up on my CGPA. By the time I was writing my final overall examination and defending my final year project, my CGPA was already at 4.79. It was my final overall examination, which is a rigorous assessment

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• T H I S D AY THURSDAY, JULY 6, 2017

FEATURES of the totality of what a student could have learnt in all the four-year course of study, as well as the grading of my final project, which was acclaimed to be the best in the whole of the programme, and in the whole school, that shot me beyond the regular First Class. The Examination Committee was so impressed, and that earned me the 5.0 CGPA in my last semester, which was acclaimed to be the highest in the whole school during the year.”

Asked what the experience was like being amongst the chosen to pioneer Babcock’s exchange programme with the Polish school, he enthused “I am one of the 17 lucky Babcock University undergraduate students, who got the opportunity to be in the first set of the special exchange degree programme between Babcock and the university in Poland. We departed Nigeria for Poland in October, 2014 to resume our 200 level studies, and we were there for two straight years. We returned to Nigeria at the end of July 2016 to complete our programme in Babcock. During this last/final year, however, we continued to be supervised from Poland for our final projects and thesis.

The exchange programme is now in its fourth year. It really feels good being in the pioneer set, although it came with its huge challenges.”

Mobolaji dedicated his award and academic excellence to his parents, Mr. And Mrs. Kayode Oluwasona whom he said mentored him well and set his feet on the right path.

Reacting to his son’s outstanding performance, Mr. Kayode Oluwasona Snr, who is the current President of Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN), said he was proud and excited about his son’s performance. Even though he said his boy has always been a very brilliant student, he said he was surprised he could make a 5.0 CGPA. In his words, “Kayode has been a brilliant, diligent young man. I am not surprised he did very well though I was not expecting he will come up with excellent 5.0 grade point. I am confident he will be a success person when he comes out.”

While thanking God for the divine opportunity that came his son’s way to study in Poland through an exchange programme

by Babcok University, Ilishan, Remo in Ogun State a year after assumption of studies, he added that the overseas study has given his son practical experience that could not be compared.

“My interaction with him, his exposure is invaluable. He told me that the practical aspect of his study in Poland can’t be compared with what obtains in Nigeria.

The experience can’t be compared. I thank God for the opportunity. He has placed Nigeria in enviable heights in a place like Poland. They now see Nigerians as very brilliant people.”

Oluwasona who is also the Managing Partner/CEO at Harmonee Concept, charged government to fund education as not doing so would increase the level of illiteracy in the country. In his words, “Those managing our educational system should pay more attention to funding education properly. The opposite of not funding education properly is funding illiteracy and mediocrity.”

In her response, Mobolaji’s mother, Mrs. Oluwasona described her son as Mobolaji, as ‘a unique boy.’ She noted that right from his growing-up days, he had defined himself as not only studious, but responsible. “He

L-R: Vice Chancellor Babcock University, Prof. Ademola Tayo, Best Graduating Student, Mobolaji Oluwasona and the Chancellor of the University of Computer Sciences And Skills, Lodz, Poland, Mrs. Aniela Bednarek, after Mobolaji received a Special Achievement Award at Babcock University convocation...recently

Mobolaji dedicated his award and academic excellence to his parents, Mr. And Mrs. Kayode Oluwasona whom he said mentored him well and set his feet on the right path

is the first born of the family and he played his leadership role excellently. He mentored his younger brother, helping them in their academic work and guiding them in their daily domestic chores. He never delighted in beating or taking advantage of them.”

Speaking about his academic excellence she said Mobolaji had demonstrated his academic wizardry right from primary school adding that despite being smaller in stature than most of his classmates in Basic Six at Mind Builders School, Omole,

Lagos, he was unanimously selected as Head Boy, a role he played very well. He eventually graduated from this school as the best graduating student.

“When it comes to academics, and how he has sojourned through secondary school and the university, he is the best in telling his own story. What I knew of him however, is that he is a very focused young man. Once he sets his mind on doing or achieving something, you can be sure he would most likely do it.

“I see a lot of his friends and colleagues around him, giving me the impression; they interact well and learn from each other. The bond between him and all his colleagues who left Babcock University for Poland in 2014 is unbreakable.

“His superlative academic performance did not surprise me, as he has always been blessed with far above average intelligence.

“Bolaji is humane, considerate and easygoing. He is loved by all of us,” she said.

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IMAGES

CEO Greenfield Assets Limited, Paul Obanua discussing Brazillian Partnerships for the Aba Footwear Manufacturing Cluster with Abia State Governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu in Nova Serrana, Brazil...recently.

L-R; Managing Director, Neo Media and Marketing, Ehi Braimah; winner of the 2016 Nigerian Breweries Golden Pen Reporter of the Year Award, Oluwatobi Aworinde; Corporate Affairs Adviser, Nigerian Breweries Plc, Kufre Ekanem; winner of the 2016 Nigerian Breweries Golden Pen Report of the Year, Gabriel Dike; and Corporate Communications and Brands PR Manager, Nigerian Breweries Plc, Patrick Olowokere, at the flag off of the 9th edition of the Nigerian Breweries Golden Pen Awards in Lagos,..recently SUNDAY ADIGUN

L-R: Partner / Head, Transfer Pricing Unit, KPMG, Nigeria, Mr. Tayo Ogungbenro; Head,International Tax Department, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mathiew Olusanya Gbonjubola; Partner/ Head, Global Transfer Pricing Services, KPMG, US, Mr. Sean Foley; Partner / Head, Tax Division, KPMG,Mr. Wole Obayomi; and Head, Transfer Pricing, FIRS, Mr. Sunday Okeowo, during the KPMG Tax Breakfast Seminair in Lagos... recently ETOP UKUTT

R-V; Managing Director, McVities Biscuits, Kwame Wiafe; Marketing Director, McVities, Toyin Nnodi and Associates Director, All Seasons Zenith, Raphael Agidi at the 125th anniversary of McVities Biscuits in Lagos...recently ABIODUN AJALA

T H I S D AY • THURSDAY, JULY 6, 2017

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

L-R: A Class Leader, United African Methodist Evangelical Church, Abule Ijesha, Yaba, Mrs, Ann Diya; her husband, Damola Diya; Patron of the Church, Chief Toyin Oyewoga; and the celebrant, Lt, General, Oladipo Diya (rtd) at the thanksgiving service over the fire inferno at Diya’s resident in LagosÖrecently

L-R: Beneficiary, Hope for Widows Empowerment Programme (HOFOWEM), Mrs. Iyabo Olaniyi; CEO, Hope for Widows, Ms. Oyefunke Adeleke; Head of Service, Lagos State, Mrs. Olabowale Ademola and Founder/ Initiator and Wife of Lagos State Governor, Mrs. Bolanle Ambode, during the presentations of Cash and working equipment to widows, at Oregun Lagos...recently KOLA OLASUPO

L-R: General Manager, Mobile Financial Service, MTN Nigeria, Usoro Usoro; Matron, Pacelli School for the Blinds and Partially Sighted Children, Agnes Onwudiwe; Chief Operating Officer, MTN Nigeria, Muhammad Zia Siddiqui; Principal, Pacelli School for the Blinds, Jane Onyeneri and General Manager, Customer Experience, MTN Nigeria, Andrew Esemezie, during a donation of Educational materials to the School as part of activities to mark its annual staff volunteerism programme in Lagos...recently

L-R: Managing Director, SLOT, Mr Nnamdi Ezeigbo; Winner, Slot Lagos at 50 Photo contest, Mr. Arabi Abayomi and , Business Head, West & Central Africa. Lenovo, Mr Manoj Rajasekharan at the prize presentation to winners of Slot-Lagos at 50 contest in Lagos, recently.

T H I S D AY • THURSDAY, JULY 6, 2017

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Quick Takes Three Crowns’ ‘Mum of the Year’ Search

Three Crowns Milk, a leading dairy brand has commenced the search for the 2017 Mum of the Year, its annual competition for mothers in commemoration of the Mothers’ Day celebration.

According to the Brand Manager, Miss Mina Georgewill, the competition is aimed at recognising and celebrating the unique role a mother plays in the family especially by ensuring a healthy nutrition for the family.

She reiterated that the campaign is the brand’s way of appreciating and celebrating mothers who are the core target of the product for their loyalty and patronage to the brand and also for making the brand their most preferred milk brand for their families. ‘’As a brand, Three Crowns Milk cares for mothers and in turn they care for their families. this is essence of the Mum of the Year campaign” she said and that’s why the winner of the 2017 Three Crowns Mother of the Year would be rewarded with an all-expense paid trip for herself and 3 members of her family to Dubai plus one year supply of Three Crowns Milk while others would win consolatory prizes including Standing Refrigerator, Washing Machine, and Shopping Vouchers.

Layer3, MDAs Discuss Data Analytics

SEALED AND SIGNED

L-R: Non-Executive Director, Prof Joe Irukwu; Managing Director, Mr. Peter Ndegwa; Non-Executive Director, Ambassador Sunday Dogonyaro; and Non-Executive Director, Ms. Ngozi Edozien; all of Guinness Nigeria Plc, during the signing ceremony of the company’s N40billion rights issue in Lagos .. recently

ALTON, ATCON Back Etisalat’s New Board Say Olusanya is good choice for MD/CEO

Stories by Emma Okonji Stakeholders in the telecommunications industry have applauded the appointment of a new board of directors for troubled Etisalat Nigeria, describing the development as a step in the right direction.

Some of the stakeholders spoken to yesterday, expressed the hope that with the reconstitution of the five-man board of directors, the financial management crisis rocking the telecom company, may soon be over.

The five-man board of directors, who had since resumed work include Dr. Joseph Nnanna, an economist, a central banker and a former consultant to the federal government, as Chairman of

TELECOMS the Etisalat Board; Mr. Boye Olusanya, the former acting CEO of Econet Wireless now Airtel Nigeria, as the new Managing Director/CEO of Etisalat. Other members of the board are Mrs. Funke Ighodaro as Chief Finance Officer; Mr. Oluseyi Bickersteth and Mr. Ken Igbokwe.

Olusanya was confirmed as the Chief Executive Officer, to replace the former CEO, Mr. Matthew Willsher, while Ighodaro takes over from the former Chief Finance Officer, Mr. Olawole Obasunloye.

All the former board members, including its chairman, the CEO and the CFO, had resigned their appointments in the heat of the crises, to pave

way for the reconstitution of a new board.

Etisalat became engulfed in the crisis, following its inability to pay the $1.2 billion loan it took from a consortium of 13 local banks in 2013, for its network upgrade and expansion.

Speaking on the reconstitution of the board, the Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Mr. Gbenga Adebayo, told THISDAY in Lagos that he was happy that the financial management crisis rocking Etisalat has been resolved amicably in the interest of all stakeholders.

Although he said it would be too early to ascertain the managerial capacities of the reconstituted board members,

he however said ALTON has confidence in the managerial capacity of Olusanya as the newly appointed managing director and chief executive, based on his pedigree in the telecoms industry. Olusanya has a long and outstanding experience in the telecoms industry, having operated at the helm of affairs of Econet Wireless and Celtel that was later transformed to Airtel Nigeria. “Our interest as an association is in the issue that has been resolved amicably in the interest of all stakeholders involved and we will continue to support the management of Etisalat and its new board members,” Adebayo said.

While commending the Continued on page 24

Duke: Britain Must Explore Business Opportunities in Nigeria A former Governor of Cross River State, Dr. Donald Duke, has called on the United Kingdom (UK), especially the British government, to take advantage of the business opportunities that abound in Nigeria.

Duke who was a guest speaker during the 40th anniversary dinner of the Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce (NBCC), which held recently in Lagos, said there are lots of untapped opportunities in the Nigerian gas sector, which the United Kingdom could take advantage of, especially in the area of gas flaring.

ECONOMY According to Duke, “Nigeria is currently witnessing a lot of wastage in gas flaring, instead of embarking on gas piping, which is a huge business that the Britain should shine their eyes to and take advantage of, since there is an existing business relationship between Nigeria and Britain, under the platform of NBCC.” He explained that Nigeria has intelligent people spread all over the world, but lacks the proper infrastructure to turn opportunities into money spinning ventures, hence the need for Britain to see huge

opportunities in the challenges facing Nigeria as a country.

He said over 10 per cent of people in top positions in the UK, are Nigerians who are turning opportunities into money ventures across globe, but could not do so in their country Nigeria because of poor infrastructure.

Duke also called on the NBCC to diversify its trade business with the UK, insisting that Nigeria could become one of the largest non-oil export goods countries, if given the opportunity.

President and Chairman of Council, NBCC, Dapo Adelegan said: “As the second

largest trading partner to the UK, Nigeria looks forward to assist the UK navigate Brexit and NBCC looks forward to further trade and investment expansion with the UK under the emerging economic regime.”

Between 2010 and 2014, NBCC played a critical role in doubling trade between both countries from £4 billion to £8 billion as envisaged by the governments of both countries.

In 2014, we set the record as the only bilateral chamber of commerce in the world to celebrate a centenary of Continued on page 24

Heads of government ministries, department and agencies (MDAs) as well as representatives from the defense headquarters, other security agencies and the armed forces gathered last week to discuss the benefits of data analytics in organisational transformation. The workshop, organised by Layer3 through its new division, Blacksentry, was tagged “Using Analytics to Drive Change in the Public Sector” and was held at the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja.

The event, which was co-sponsored by SAS Technologies, the global leader in big data and analytics, enlightened the participants on the importance and the great potentials of harnessing the value of big data existing in these agencies using analytics.

The keynote speaker at the event was the Director General of National Identity Management Commission, Aliyu Aziz, who emphasised on the need for better collaboration among the various agencies on data sharing, which will be a means of better efficiency and cost cutting. According to him, “Collaboration among MDAs is stronger now as we have seen a lot of progress in the harmonization of data in Nigeria.”

Layer3’s CEO, Oyaje Idoko stated that “Data is the new oil and it’s our hope that the government and its agencies don’t get left behind in harnessing the huge gains that resides in this data. Layer3, through our culture of continuous improvement and innovation, birthed Blacksentry, to journey with you as you start your analytics and big data journey. Blacksentry is a new division in Layer3 focused on Data Analytics and Cybersecurity.”

Africa Domains Open to Registration

The .africa is the top-level domain name system for the continent of Africa. It is now open to all individuals and entities in Africa.

The .africa domains are available from Web4Africa, an accredited .africa domain name registrar, said Managing Director,Web4Africa (www.web4africa.africa), Mr. Oluniyi Ajao.

According to him, from 4 July 2017, the domains are available on a first-come-first-served basis.

Premium .africa domain names would however attract premium pricing, Ajao said Speaking on the general availability phase launch, Ajao, emphasised that the .africa domain name system offers companies, organisations and individuals to apply for domain names containing keywords valuable enough to pay a premium for. Domain names with single words that attract heavy everyday use are very typical during this Phase.

The .africa has already demonstrated serious interests from global brands and entities within Africa who are trademark owners as about 1,000 domains were successfully secured during the Sunrise Phase, making it one of the top ten largest number of domain name reservations during the sunrise phase of the new geographic Top Level Domain (gTLD) ‘s launch process.

Advertising practitioners owe consumers the responsibility to create responsible campaigns that will guide them in making discerning choices

APCON Registrar, Bello Kankarofi

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T H I S D AY •THURSDAY, JULY 6, 2017

BUSINESSWORLD ALTON, ATCON BACK ETISALAT’S NEW BOARD Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for their efforts in resolving the issue amicably, the President of the Association of Telecoms Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Mr. Olusola Teniola, also welcomed the choice of Olusanya as the new CEO. According to him, “Boye Olusanya is experienced in the telecoms industry, both as the Deputy Managing Director of Celtel and Managing Director of Dancom, a subsidiary of Dangote Group. He has knowledge of the fiber transmission and mobile services segment of the industry and I strongly believe that he brings much transformative experience having spent the last few years in this area.

DUKE: BRITAIN MUST EXPLORE BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES IN NIGERIA economic relations with the UK, and we look forward to celebrate a second centenary as we work towards diverse milestones, Adelegan said.

“We are now building the NBCC plaza at Lekki, Lagos, to further cement our commitment to drive sustainable economic relations between Nigeria and the UK,” Adelegan added.

In his welcome address, the Chairman, NBCC 40th anniversary committee, Mr. Akinola Akintunde, welcomed all dignitaries and thanked members of his committee for making the anniversary dinner a huge success.

Part of the highlights of the anniversary dinner, were investiture of patrons and the recognition of new members of NBCC. Some of the patrons that were decorated included Founder, Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote; Capital Market Icon, Otunba Michael Olasubomi Balogun; the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr. Paul Thomas Arkwright; Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State and Duke.

Group Business Editor

Chika Amanze-Nwachuku AgriBusiness/Industry Editor

Jonathan Eze

Comms/e-Business Editor

Emma Okonji

Capital Market Editor

Goddy Egene

Senior Correspondent

Raheem Akingbolu (Advertising) Correspondents

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

Nume Ekeghe (Money Market) Nosa Alekhuogie (Cap Mkt)

NEWS

NLNG Upgrades Three Jetties in Lagos to Boost Cooking Gas Supply Ejiofor Alike The Managing Director of Nigeria LNG Limited, Mr. Tony Attah has stated that the company has invested N150million to upgrade three jetties in Lagos to boost Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) supply to domestic market.

Speaking when he visited cooking gas terminal facilities in Lagos yesterday, Attah said the money was used for the refurbishment and upgrading of the Petroleum Wharf Apapa (PWA), North Oil Jetty (NOJ) and Bulk Oil Platform (BOP) to increase cooking gas supply to domestic market.

He said the NLNG team decided to visit the facilities to take a look at the infrastructural challenges inhibiting the free flow of the product into the market.

Attah added that the company had committed to supply 350,000 tonnes of cooking gas into the market, but supplied only 262,000 in 2016 because of these challenges.

“NLNG will refurbish some of the jetties and upgrade them so that they can have more capacity to receive and operate optimally and safely.

Once supply increases into the market it will reduce the ability of people to play foul. As part of NLNG’s constant advocacy on helping to build a better Nigeria, we are focusing on supply of LPG,’’ he said.

The NLNG boss said the company was committed to

the development of Nigeria, adding that part of its vision is to help build a better Nigeria.

“We focused on energy, bringing energy into the country; today most of it is within the domestic. But the future that we see is an industrialised aspect powered by LPG. In 2007, when there was a shortage of LPG in the market, NLNG intervened and we are glad to say that as a result of NLNG’s intervention volume consumed

has scaled up to over 250,000 tonnes. And we are looking to scale the volume up more as the company has set aside 350,000 tonnes for the market,’’ he added.

Speaking when the NLNG team visited NIPCO Plc, the Group Managing Director of the company, Mr. Venkataraman Venkatapathy said the company had commenced construction of 5,000 metric tonnes LPG storage tank to boost domestic

gas supply to the market.

Venkatapathy said that the tank, which is the largest storage facility in African, will improve access, and facilitate gas evacuation across the nook and crannies of the country by ensuring quick turnaround of NLNG vessel.

He commended NLNG for playing a big role as the biggest producer of LPG for domestic consumption.

“We have excellent relation-

ship with off takers who for obvious reasons (proximity to jetty, enduring LPG business operations, improved loading and weighing facilities to ensure accuracy of product loaded. We thank NLNG for proving LPG receipt facilities in BOP follow by that in PWA, this will help for easy berthing of the vessels.

Now NLNG can vessels can pump simultaneously in two different pipelines to PPMC and another to NIPCO,’’ he said.

BUSINESS HANDSHAKE

L-R: Chairman, Cloud Exchange, Dr. Akindele; CEO, Cloud Exchange, Glad Dibetso; Executive Director, Huawei Nigeria Enterprise Business, Welsion Yang and Vice President, Global Partner Business Department of Huawei, Todd Liu, at the signing of a partnership deal by both companies in China...recently

Mortgage Financing: APCON Eyes N13bn Earmarked for Civil Servants Raheem Akingbolu The newly inaugurated Chairman of the Radio, Television, Theatre and Arts Workers Union of Nigeria (RATTAWU), APCON chapter, Ahmed Yelwa, has promised members of staff of the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON), of easy access to the Federal Civil Servants Mortgage Refinancing scheme.

Yelwa, who spoke during the chapter’s inauguration, emphasised that the struggle for better condition of service was a continuous one in the life of public servant.

According to Yelwa, top on his agenda would be that APCON chapter will facilitate corporate registration with the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, without which the chapter cannot enjoy any federal government welfare pack.

He said: “To the best of my knowledge, I am the only staff in APCON that currently leaves in government financed housing estate on owner occupier bases and assess a loan of N8.4 million from Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria to pay for the property. I would do my best to ensure as many as possible enjoy the same before the end of our tenure.’’

While receiving the chapter executives of the union, the APCON Registrar and Chief Executive, Garba Bello-Kankarofi, pledged his

support to the chapter. He called on various individuals who aspired to be in one position or the other during the election to close ranks and work together as team.

He urged the chapter to work hard to elevate the standard of the union in APCON and commended the council’s workers for being humble and hardworking individuals.

Bello-Kankarofi however advised the newly-elected officers and other APCON workers to respect constituted authorities. Earlier, the National President of RATTAWU, Comrade Kabir Garba Tsanni, had advised the chapter’s members to display highest level of professionalism in the discharge of their functions in their organisation. Tsanni, who inaugurated the APCON chapter, stated that, members should not hide under the umbrella of RATAWU to display indolence.

He said: “As a trade union, it has always been our desire that members should be of good behaviour in the discharge of their primary assignments in their respective establishment and should also respect constituted authority.”

Speaking further, the union leader said the Union and management are to see themselves as partners in progress in a bid to achieve the organisational goals and objectives. According

to him, “The coming up of the Union in APCON should not be seen as a threat but to work in synergy with the authority for the progress of

the organisation.

“I urge all members of RATTAWU in APCON to uphold the tenets of the Union.

The executives should conduct

the business of the Union in Line with set down rules and principles as entrenched in the Union’s Constitution.”

He said.

Cloud Exchange, Huawei Sign Exclusive Tier 1 Partnership Deal Emma Okonji Cloud Exchange West Africa, formerly known as Dimension Data Nigeria Limited, has signed an exclusive partnership agreement with Huawei Technology Company Nigeria Limited, a subsidiary of Huawei International.

With the partnership deal, Cloud Exchange becomes Huawei’s only Tier 1 Value Added Partner (VAP) in Nigeria and West Africa.

Cloud Exchange West Africa is the leading West African systems integrator and virtual computing IT company with the ability to provide end to end world class IT solutions adapted to the local terrain.

It is a fully indigenous West African company.

This partnership is a major milestone for both Cloud Exchange and Huawei, as it now positions Cloud Exchange for significant growth by leveraging Huawei’s technology and ICT infrastructure expertise. It is also the first long-term strategic deal

that Huawei has struck with a local company in West Africa.

The agreement was signed by the CEO of Cloud Exchange, Mr. Glad Dibetso, and the Executive Director of Huawei Nigeria, Mr. Welsion Yang, recently in China.

The Cloud Exchange management team, led by the Chairman, Dr. Akintoye Akindele and the CEO, Glad Dibetso, were at Huawei’s headquarters in Dunguan, China to inspect Huawei’s mega factory and to sign the agreement.

Huawei is a Leading Global ICT solutions provider, also recognised as the fastest growing and most innovative company in the world. Huawei products and solutions have been deployed in more than 170 countries, serving one third of the world’s population, with a ranking of 128th in the Global Fortune 500 list in 2015. As one of the three major business groups of Huawei Technologies, its Enterprise Business Group (EBG) has a clear vision and a well-defined

business strategy and promotes a technical concept called “Leading New ICT.” According to Dibesto, “Our partnership with Huawei as the very first and the only Tier 1 partner in West Africa will unlock value to our clients who are currently looking for quality, agility and different financing models to accelerate their ambitions in challenging economic times.”

Commenting on the agreement, Yang said: “Cloud Exchange and Huawei’s mutually beneficial partnership, will indeed create value that will exceed our customers’ expectations.”

Also commenting on the agreement, the Director of Huawei Nigeria Partner Business Department, Ken Zhao, said “Cloud Exchange is a major player in the Nigeria ICT industry and a ValueAdding Partner with Huawei, hence we believe that our business collaboration will surely promote fast growth and sustainability in ICT business in Nigeria”.

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BUSINESSWORLD

ANALYSIS

ElectricityChallenges: Y’elloBoxtotheRescue The partnership between MTN and Lumos Mobile Electricity Service to provide uninterrupted electricity to Nigerians could be a sure way to address Nigeria’s perennial electricity challenges, writes Emma Okonji Since the introduction of the Y’ello Box initiative

by MTN Nigeria and Lumos Mobile Electricity Service, early this year, the initiative has helped to power homes, offices, and business centres, with 24/7 electricity supply. The Y’ello Box has also helped many homes and businesses to address epileptic power supply across the country.

The service, which comes with full electricity supply for Nigerians, is already transforming lives in the country. The Y’ello Box is a solar electricity system that was officially launched earlier this year and allows families and business owners to harness the power of the sun cheaply and efficiently.

In homes, clinics, schools and businesses across Nigeria, people are running fans, charging phones, watching television and lighting rooms, all using affordable, reliable, clean electricity. The Y’ello Box is already powering the lives and businesses of more than one hundred thousand Nigerians, according to Lumos Mobile Electricity, the driver of the initiative.

The power of Y’ello Box Designed and operated by Lumos Mobile Electricity Service, the Y’ello Box provides electricity to customers 24 hours a day, and seven days in a week, by using the MTN mobile phone.

According to Lumos, it has proved itself to be the most reliable and affordable service in the market. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Lumos Mobile Electricity Service, Yuri Tsitrinbaum, said: “People don’t have access to the power they need. Fuel is very expensive and other services are unreliable. The Y’ello Box saves customers money all while providing better and more reliable electricity. As Nigeria modernises, our demand for power increases.

It is high time we did more to harness the power of the sun. That is why the Y’ello Box is changing so many lives. It is affordable, it is reliable and paying by mobile phone makes it easy.”

According to him, “Lumos is growing rapidly across Nigeria, as we invest more money, create business opportunities for Nigerians and employ more and more people. Equally important is the fact that the service is improving the everyday operations of community centres like schools, health clinics and religious institutions.”

The Commitment Working in partnership with MTN and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation of the United States (US) Government, Lumos said it has committed over $80 million for the deployment of its solar-based electricity in Nigeria, half of which has already been invested.

“In Nigeria Lumos employs more than 450 people, including technicians, engineers and a large sales force. There are ambitious plans to grow and provide power to one million Nigerians by the end of 2017,” Tsitrinbaum said.

The partnership Lumos and MTN have partnered to offer clean, affordable solar power to a market of 1.3 billion potential customers who live within and off the electricity grid areas. Lumos and MTN believe that everyone has the right to enjoy better quality of life and we are proud to provide access to clean and affordable energy for our customers all over Africa and the world. The partnership deal enables people to replace hazardous and expensive fuel generators and kerosene lanterns with modern solar electricity that can power lights, cell-phones, fans, computers, TVs and other small electronic devices, all at once, 24 hours and for every day.

By offering solar power as a service, Lumos and MTN provide homes and small businesses with a smart, simple and affordable way to pay for electricity in small installments using

MTN Nigeria CEO, Ferdinand Moolman

their mobile phones.

Since the introduction of the Y’ello Box initiative

by MTN Nigeria and Lumos Mobile Electricity Service, early this year, the initiative has helped to power homes, offices, and business centres, with 24/7 electricity supply. The Y’ello Box has also helped many homes and businesses to address epileptic power supply across the country.

The service, which comes with full electricity supply for Nigerians, is already transforming lives in the country

Connectivity and accessibility Speaking on how Nigerians can get connected to Y’ello Box and have full access to electricity, the Marketing Manager, Lumos Nigeria, Mr. Franklyn Okotie, said: “Currently the product is accessible for acquisition at designated MTN Stores across the country. As at today, joining the service requires a setup fee of N26,000 and a monthly subscription fee of about N 4,500. Our customers can power compatible AC devices, and connect appliances (up to 60 w) they already have at their home and business.”

power lighting, cell phone charging, laptops, fans, radios and even televisions and many other small appliances– all together, every day.

It operates with solar energy and comes with solar panel.

The solar panel converts sunlight into electricity that is stored in the indoor unit.

The system requires at least six hours of direct sunlight on the solar panel to charge the system to 100 per cent. This electricity can be used day and night to power lights, mobile phones, fan and other small electronic devices.

Service terms With as low as N26,000 initial payment and a monthly subscription of N4,500, a customer can get connected to the Y’ello Box with full electricity supply.

Customers are required to pay a one-time commitment/set-up fee of N26, 000 only, but payments for the service need to be made monthly via your mobile phone. Customers will purchase the payment plans, which have eight packages, by sending a simple SMS to 317.

Every month, a minimum of 20 days must be paid for, whether the customer uses the system or not. After 1,800 paid days and five years have elapsed, the system will automatically unlock and the customer will become the owner enjoying 24/7 electricity – absolutely free.

In the area of repair and maintenance services, Lumos will provide repairs and support service for the system for five years ensuring that the customer has 24/7 electricity all year round.

Huge benefits Speaking on the benefits, Okotie said the Y’ello Box electricity supply was designed to give peace of mind to all its users, since they will have uninterrupted power supply 24/7.

It replaces fuel, engine oil, kerosene and batteries with a modern 24/7 solar electricity that is reliable consistent and available. It eliminates smoke, dirt and danger of generators and kerosene lamps, as it comes with fumeless, noiseless and safe electricity.

How it works Lumos Mobile Electricity Service provides safe, reliable, affordable and clean solar electricity. It enables customers to substitute kerosene, candles and generator with modern green electricity to

Compatibility Even as attractive as the Y’ello Box device is to customers, it, however, cannot work effectively with some domestic appliances that are not compatible with the Y’ello Box mobile electricity.

Some known devices that are incompatible with the Lumos mobile electricity are: air conditioners, water heaters, desktop computers, microwave ovens, electric cookers, refrigerators, ceiling fans, blenders, washing machines, and deep freezers.

Okotie explained that appliances that cannot be used with the Y’ello Box mobile electricity are devices that need more than 60W, 220V -240V AC current to power them.

us nd

he in de lio, ces

26

T H I S D AY •THURSDAY JULY 6, 2017

BUSINESSWORLD

E-BUSINESS

Ogundeyi: Kudimoney Will Complement Cashless Policy Founder of Kudi Capital Management Ltd., a FinTech company that is currently driving the Kudimoney initiative, Mr. Babs Ogundeyi, spoke with Emma Okonji on how the initiative could accelerate the CBN’s cashless policy, while addressing online security issues. Excerpts: banking not just in Nigeria but also in Africa.

We are creating a bank that will cater for all your needs, by connecting people to their money more quickly, accurately and efficiently with innovative uses of technology - both on the deposit side as well as the loan side. We are creating a bank with digital platforms that will allow customers to open accounts instantly, 247 by the click of a button, with easy access to loans for both individuals and SMEs. Ultimately, the fundamental principles behind what we are building is a bank that understands the need for speed and convenience in all aspects of banking.

What is Kudi Capital Management all about?

Kudi Capital Management is a FinTech company focused on using technology in making financial services more accessible. We are currently working on a full online service for Nigerian banks, called Kudimoney.

You recently announced the launch of kudimoney.com - an online lending platform.

Tell us about it?

The online lending platform is a key component of what we are building at Kudimoney.com , lending is a key pillar of what a bank does, as such we took the bold decision to commence with this side of the business. The first loan product is a lending product for salary earners, to those we describe as HENRYs – High Earners Not Rich Yet. So you have a reasonable salary, but because everything in Nigeria is paid for upfront, sometimes one to two years for rent for example, there is no way of meeting such obligations. I am yet to meet anyone that collects their salary one month upfront let alone two years upfront. Our technology enables us to automate most of the processes involved from origination, to disbursement, to setting up repayment, therefore allowing us to speed up the issuance of loans. We currently issue short-term loans of 6months maximum, that is up to N1 million, with same day disbursement.

If there are no issues or if you are a repeat customer we can disburse cash within minutes of application. We are working on several other loan products that cater for other demographics, such as business people and SMEs, with the core emphasis still being on speed and convenience.

We will release more of these innovative loan products over the coming months as well as the full garment of banking products being offered by Kudimoney.com.

How will Kudimoney complement CBN’s cashless policy?

The CBN’s cashless policy is all about curbing excesses of handling cash in Nigeria. We are still a few years away from making non-cash financial instruments the go to mode of payments for all goods and services. Until infrastructure for payments become wholly reliable people will still feel more comfortable with holding cash. Just think how many times the Point of Sakes (POS) machine has let customers down because of network issues. Although Kudimoney is not a payment company, our philosophy still promotes a cashless society. Our lending product is totally cashless, we credit accounts directly and repayments are done directly from a customer’s bank account or debit card. Our core banking platform, when it is launched will encourage alternative modes of payments over cash payments.

Agency banking is coming up to drive cashless in rural areas of the Nigerian economy.

How will Kudimoney collaborate with agency banking to further drive cashless policy?

Agency banking is a key driver of the cashless policy in Nigeria, and Kudimoney is already in discussions with them and it is actively seeking additional partnership opportunities with organisations in that space. We are already witnessing a significant shift in the usage of smart phones, even in rural Nigeria. With the various initiatives aimed at reducing and in some cases eradicating the cost of data, Kudimoney is positioned to serve even more Nigerians.

Online security has always been an issue to address among most customers who still see the cashless policy as a threat to business. What is your advice for such kind of customers?

Online security is always a hot debate, and will always be a concern, particularly for the older generation. However great strides have been made by online companies, not just banks in promoting and putting to bed some of these concerns. There are various security

Will the digital bank be focused only on millennials and the younger generation?

Kudimoney.com is a bank for anybody that is comfortable using their phones and computers for making life’s daily decisions. Be it grocery shopping, to hotel and flight bookings, or even where and how to work out. We strongly believe that with the continuous reduction in the cost of the internet and the ever increasing use of mobile devices, Kudimoney.com is positioning itself to be a banker for the emerging generation.

Ogundeyi

features to protect customer data and assets.

At Kudimoney, we use encrypted codes and secret one-time passwords to ensure that we are giving access to the right customer. We also have biometric features for certain devices. In fact, I would argue that it is now more difficult to penetrate a bank account online, due to the various levels of security that need to be met. Walking into a bank branch and forging a signature is distinctively easier to execute than forging someone’s biometric data.

Most global banks are pursuing some form of digital or mobile strategy. Why is this necessary?

It is not just the global banks that are pursuing a digital or mobile strategy, Nigerian banks are doing the same also, and they have been

“The bank of the future is about connecting people to their money more quickly, accurately and efficiently. However, the fundamental principles of banking will remain – transparency, keep my money safe, give me a loan when I need it, and let me pay my bills with ease”

doing so for a couple of years now. We cannot ignore the rise in the usage of mobile devices and increased access to the internet, it would be imprudent not to jump on this wagon and look for ways to take advantage of the growth in that sector. However as a bank, simply providing an online banking facility or having a sexy website does not actually equate to making the perks of banking accessible to all.

What has been the most important new development for digital banking in the past year and why?

In Nigeria, it has to be the introduction and enforcement of Bank Verification Number (BVN).

This goes a long way in ascertaining identity, a key component of risk management in any area of banking. The BVN cuts out a significant portion of the manual processes required for ‘Know Your Customer’ (KYC), for both credit and deposit customers.

How is the consumer appetite changing and how can banks adapt to the change?

The world is shifting towards instant service delivery and customers of many industries are demanding more and more instant gratification for services being rendered to them, and rightly so. There is now a generation of consumers who are tech savvy and highly adapted to the online world. Customers also want an alignment with their existing lifestyles as well as more transparency. These are some of the key elements we work with at Kudimoney. com whilst delivering service to our customers.

How can SMEs take advantage of Kudimoney and how cost-effective is it?

We have products we have designed for SMEs, which will give them access to much needed credit when they need it. We are already running a small pilot, but I will be able to reveal more once tests have been concluded. There is a lot we have planned for SMEs, some of which they will start witnessing as the year progresses.

What are some of the key features of Kudimoney digital banking solution?

As a full service online, bank in Nigeria, Kudimoney.com is looking to change the perception of

How would Kudimoney help to enhance customer banking experience?

Our current loan customers can already testify to a user-friendly customer experience, with a multi communication channel, and an ability to deliver fast and convenient loans. These attributes will also be evident with our deposit customers once we launch our current and savings account products. Without giving too much away, our current and savings account holders can expect a bank that will double up as a personal financial adviser, so not just a place of safely of money, but also a place where customers receive regular money management advice.

What is the biggest change that will take place in the banking sector in the next five years?

We will not witness one big change but a series of changes and enhancements to the changes already occurring. It is no longer a secret that banks will need to take full advantage of the global digital revolution, but much more than this, the successful banks will be the ones that continuously put the customer first and have a full appreciation of customer needs. This means banks will need to have deeper understanding of the data available to them and find new ways of obtaining accurate customer data. Speed of delivery will become an essential commodity in all areas of banking. Digitalisation and automation will no longer be the exception but will become the norm, traditional banks will either need to revamp their old structures and legacy systems or partner/acquire emerging players in the financial services sector.

What does the bank of the future look like?

We are already seeing a semblance of the bank of the future today, with less emphasis on brick and mortar and more emphasis on data. Successful banks of the future will have the ability to open 24 hours a day attending to whatever issues that customers may have at any given time and resolving those issues on the spot. The bank of the future is about connecting people to their money more quickly, accurately and efficiently. However, the fundamental principles of banking will remain – transparency, keep my money safe, give me a loan when I need it, and let me pay my bills with ease.

How will the future of digital bank engage with the consumer?

Consumer engagement is a critical success factor and there are now many ways to talk to customers. Social media is now a must have for any serious company, not just the banks, and this will only grow going forward. We will probably see the rise of robotics and artificial intelligence with regards to consumer communication. In essence the future of banking is digital.

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Lits:TechnologyWillDriveFuturePublicTransport Systems The General Manager, Uber Business in sub-Saharan Africa, Alon Lits, spoke with journalists on how the application of simple technology can drive future public transportation in Nigeria and beyond. Emma Okonji brings the excerpts: As technology provider in the transport business, do you foresee any technology that can decongest Lagos traffic?

The power of technology and collaboration is vital in building the transport systems of the future. Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode has reinforced this sentiment in his plans to restructure the activities of ‘Danfo’ yellow buses on Lagos roads. This landmark decision reveals an intention to reduce congestion and pollution, as well as pave the way for an efficient mass transportation system that would make it easier to move around a technologically savvy, smart city. This matters, because Nigeria is a country at the forefront of urbanisation, with over 200 million people expected to live and work in its cities in the next 40 years, more than tripling the size of its current urban population. Only China and India surpass this rapid rate of urbanisation. This rapid change presents a serious challenge for the country’s transport system. As the African Development Bank notes, the average commuter in Lagos now spends over three hours in traffic every day. While a new system would require significant time and investment to implement, the technology required to power the Lagos transport of the future already exists today.

Is Uber the solution to the challenges in Nigeria’s transport system?

Uber applied the philosophy of ride-sharing in cities across the world, effectively reducing congestion and environmental impact in the process. We have experienced the benefits that technology can bring to public transport. With GPS systems and constant communication, technology can make it safer for both the driver and the passenger. Every aspect of every trip becomes transparent – this provides the data to make transport more efficient and enables drivers to grow their own businesses. Passengers

Lits

can rely on getting to their destination on time and paying a set and transparent fee.

Government and business can effect change in the short term. However, lasting change lies in the hands of the consumer. It is believed, according to the Ministry of Transportation that as of 2015 that there are close to one million registered vehicles on Lagos roads. Now is the time to request public transport that works and is affordable. It is also the time to change personal habits to assist in reducing congestion.

Many Nigerians have long commutes to and from the office each day, which has made a private car a necessity. Sharing transport to and from the business hubs in a smart city could turn this on its head.

So what technology does Uber intend to deploy to achieve this smart city you talked about?

Although we are yet to roll out Uberpool in Lagos, this could become an attractive solution for Lagos commuters, as it is in over 29 other cities across the globe, including emerging economies such as Jakarta and Mumbai. Routes such as Ikeja to Ikoyi, Ikoyi to Ajah and Victoria Island to Ajah are popular, and could potentially benefit from a ridesharing solution like Uberpool, making these routes more efficient. Uberpool is simple, riders going in the same direction are matched with one another to share a ride, giving them the convenience and quality of Uber at a reduced price that fits the everyday commuter. Unlike buses, an Uberpool vehicle gets the rider all the way to their destination. Because sharing is not the issue; it’s price and convenience that matters most to people.

The Lagos Ministry of Economic Planning and Budget has concluded that with the average Lagos commuter spending over three hours on increasingly congested roads, the city has experienced losses in terms of economic efficiency and other negative social effects like road accidents.

Do you think the challenge is about too many vehicles in circulation?

Not at all, cars are not the challenges; it is how we use them that is problematic. Many vehicles on the road only have one passenger; through technology we can change every ride into a shared ride. The Uberpool solution has successfully reduced congestion in San Francisco, Paris and London. In San Francisco people are choosing Uberpool up to 50 per cent of the time. In cities that have Uberpool today, over 20 per cent of passengers are choosing to share their ride. And the impact on cities is clear. In the first half of 2016, Uberpool has reduced the number of miles driven by 312 million—that’s more than the distance between Earth and Mars.

When getting a ride is as easy as walking

into your garage and putting your keys in the ignition, there is no longer a need to own a private car at all. Combined with changed consumer habits, this could have a remarkable impact on reducing traffic congestion in Lagos.

How has Uber changed the Lagos transport system, since its launch three years ago?

We have facilitated over one million trips and partnered over 3000 driver-partners. We have worked with PriceWaterhouse Cooper (PwC) to ensure that each of our driver-partners knows their tax requirements and has access to the records of their net income made through the application. Through smart-technology, we have introduced the ability to easily calculate and collect fares through the app. This and other applications of advanced technology to Lagos transport system, perfectly positions us to roll out transport solutions on a larger scale.

Real change will take time. It will require investment and the adaptation of existing transport structures. However, if business and government work together, we can create world-class, affordable systems that create jobs, improve efficiency and reduce emissions. Our time operating in Lagos has reinforced to us, that this is a high-growth smart city, with an important role to play in the African economy.

Lagos is a mega-city, an innovation leader and a powerful driver for Africa’s largest economy. It is only fitting that the city has a smooth-running, world-class public transport system to match.

Governor Akinwunmi Ambode’s sentiments on the public transport system, combined with the passing of a ride sharing resolution by federal state representatives, illustrates that there is an appetite for smart transport in the country. We are confident that with an improved public transport system and reduced congestion, Lagos’ economic growth and influence will be exponential.

Etisalat’sStrategytoProtectCustomers’Interest The restructuring strategy adopted by the management of Etisalat Nigeria to resolve its debt crisis, raises hope for stakeholders’ interests, writes Emma Okonji Since the threat to take over Etisalat’s telecoms business by a consortium of 13 local banks, led

by Access Bank, following company’s inability to repay the $1.2 billion it took from the banks in 2013, the management of Etisalat has continued to engage key parties in order to resolve the matter. The engagement level, coupled with the restructuring strategy, have been commended by Nigerians who strongly believe that it would protect various stakeholders’ interests, including that of subscribers, employees, trade partners and the Nigerian economy.

The crisis Etisalat Nigeria, in 2013, took a medium-term seven-year facility loan of $1.2 billion in dollar and naira denominations from a consortium of banks. Citing economic downturn of 2015 and consequently sharp devaluation of the naira, which negatively impacted on the value of the loan, Etisalat had to halt the installment payment of the loan, a situation that compelled the banks to issue takeover threat notice to Etisalat.

As the threat lingered, one of Etisalat’s core investors, Emirates Telecoms Group Company, Abu Dhabi, last month pulled out of the Etisalat Nigeria shareholding structure and approved a complete transfer of 100 per cent of its shares in Etisalat to the United Capital Trustees Limited, the legal representative to the consortium of banks.

This was closely followed by the resignation of six of its directors who were on the board of Etisalat Nigeria, all from United Arab Emirates (UAE). Last week, the Board Chairman, Hakeem Bello-Osagie also resigned in order to pave way

Olusanya

for the reconstitution of a new board.

Crisis management Since the debt issue came up, the management of Etisalat has been engaging all parties involved in order to resolve amicably. According to an official statement from the company, “Etisalat has made efforts to repay as much as 42 per cent of the debt owed the banks.

We can categorically state that the outstanding loan sum to the consortium (of banks) stands at $227 million and N113 billion, a total of about

$574 million if the naira portion is converted to US Dollars. This, in essence, means almost half of the original loan of $1.2bn, has been repaid.”

Stakeholders hold the views that Etisalat has given a great account of itself as the fourth largest telecoms company with millions of subscribers and should be accorded every necessary support along the pathway to sail out of the troubled waters.

A telecommunications analyst, Mr. Tolu Ogunbiyi, said: “It is in the best interest of all parties, particularly, the struggling Nigerian economy that investors are not scared away and employees are not offloaded to the already overwhelmed unemployment band.

The manner with which Etisalat has handled the very challenging situation was commendable and raises hope for a considerable ending.”

According to Ogunbiyi, “We have a tough situation at hand but we should also commend how this issue was handled by the management of Etisalat Nigeria, led by Bello-Osagie, a calm and focused businessman.”

Restructuring strategy It was learnt that Bello-Osagie had to resign his appointment following the approval of a restructuring plan for the telecommunications firm. With this development, the new board is expected to assume control of Etisalat and should hit the ground running with some plans jointly agreed by stakeholders.

Although the board chairman had planned to leave immediately the banks made the take-over move, he opted to wait until a road map for the

company was finalised, THISDAY gathered.

It was said that the timing of the resignation was strategically delayed until when stakeholders have agreed on a plan and comes more than a week after Mubadala Development Company directors tendered their resignation.

The development also reflects Bello-Osagie’s deep commitment to protecting the interest of all stakeholders.

It is now expected that Etisalat Nigeria, under its new shareholding structure will navigate through its current loan repayment challenge with minimum impact.

Mitigating the impact The chairman has worked extensively with critical stakeholders in the previous months to prepare clearly articulated strategies and robust road maps that will mitigate the impact of the new shareholding restructuring and realignment on the operations and management of the telecoms company.

This, it was gathered, became successful following series of interventions from regulatory agencies, including the Nigeria Communications commission (NCC) and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and other stakeholders to ensure that the best decisions were taken in the interest of the subscribers, employees and the Nigerian economy.

With the recent announcement of the composition of the new board, experts and industry stakeholders remain hopeful that the diligence of Etisalat will definitely see the telecoms giant through its challenges.

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T H I S D AY • THURSDAY, JUNE 29, 2017

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Bursting a Long-held SME Funding Myth SMEs have long argued that they don’t get adequate support from financial institutions, but the recent testimonial campaign by Stanbic IBTC, which featured neighbourhood SMEs from across the country, seems to puncture such claims, writes Raheem Akingbolu

CEO, Stanbic IBTC, Demola Sogunle

The SME funding myth If one were to interview the 37 million small and medium scale enterprises (most recent figures from Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (SMEDAN) and the National Bureau of Statistics) in the country, it is most likely that more than 80% of them will lament a lack of access to funding as a major drawback. Many will certainly complain that financial institutions are not supporting them well enough.

Unfortunately, many have come to believe this to be true. Financial institutions may have unwittingly helped to perpetuate this belief. In time past, the communication one sees about banks’ loan facilities and customer base are those represented in their financial reporting; usually, some uncompromising figures that stare right back at the reader from the pages of the reports. These figures, which tell the story of the loan facilities a financial institution has committed to businesses in a calendar year and the number of customers it has, are grossly inadequate in telling a complete compelling story. Indeed, not many stakeholders have the time and the required patience to pore over those figures and not many see the need to.

And so the myth that financial institutions do not support businesses but would rather back a cash-and-carry venture continues.

Correcting a long-held perception However, the myth may be getting worn at the seams with the recent bold move by Stanbic IBTC Bank to feature in a testimonial campaign some of the businesses across the country it has supported with banking solutions, facilities and advisory services over time. In essence, the financial institution is giving a voice and a face to each one of those key customer or loan figures represented in its financial reporting.

The Stanbic IBTC testimonial campaign The campaign, which broke early this year, features real and known businesses across the country to have benefitted from Stanbic IBTC Bank’s support and partnership. The holistic marketing campaign includes both online and offline bits on digital, radio, press and outdoor, and is expected to run all-year long. On radio, owners of featured businesses were engaged in short interviews on their relationships with Stanbic IBTC Bank and their impression of the bank. The business owners were glowing in their praises while

highlighting some of the beneficial traits that endeared them to the bank. “We’ve been together with Stanbic IBTC for the past 10 years. Stanbic IBTC actually takes the time to sit down to get to know the customer,” says Ibrahim Bayero, managing director, National Trucks Manufacturers Limited, a leading truck and agricultural machinery assembly plant based in Kano. On his experience with Stanbic IBTC Bank, Bayero says it has been “a remarkably positive experience” and that “Stanbic IBTC is a listening bank.”

According to Alhaji Sabitu Mohammed Yahaya, managing director of Jifatu General Enterprises Nigeria Limited, of all the banks he had approached, Stanbic IBTC Bank understood his need for business perpetuity and it was easy for him to make it his bank. Also, Alhaji Munzali Muhammed, managing director of

Perhaps the most significant element in the testimonials is the demonstration of the assurance that Stanbic IBTC is a partner in progress.

There is a feeling of pride the testimonials project, which shows the level of confidence Stanbic IBTC Bank has in the businesses it supports, much like a mother will brag about and showcase a successful child.

The interviewees used terms such as ‘know the customers

Mazafmini Depot Limited, a commodity distribution merchant, may very soon wish to consider a name change for his business, with the removal of the word ‘mini’ from ‘Mazaf’. He says with the support from and expertise of Stanbic IBTC Bank, he has grown “from a mini depot to a mega commodity distributor merchant,” adding, “Whatever support you need you can always count on Stanbic IBTC Bank.” Mrs Omoyemi Chukwurah of Seams and Stitches, who is featured on outdoor billboards, says “Stanbic IBTC gave me wings to fly.”

The testimonials cut across sectors and industries, from manufacturing, distribution, communications to trading, investment and agriculture, among others. The various industries featured underline Stanbic IBTC’s value proposition as an end-to-end financial services solutions provider and its pledge to assist businesses and individuals realize their latent potential and accomplish their goals through financial solutions that deliver outstanding value.

A commitment to partnership for SME growth Perhaps the most significant element in the testimonials is the demonstration of the assurance that Stanbic IBTC is a partner in progress. There is a feeling of pride the testimonials project, which shows the level of confidence Stanbic IBTC Bank has in the businesses it supports, much like a mother will brag about and showcase a successful child.

The interviewees used terms such as ‘know the customers’, ‘listening bank’, ‘support’, ‘care’ while describing their relationship with Stanbic IBTC Bank. These terms are indicative of a partnership which transcends mere bank-customer relationship. A partner has a deeper and genuine interest in the growth of the other partner, well beyond pecuniary needs, and is willing to go the extra mile to make the relationship worthwhile. Supporting local businesses and ensuring their growth is an article of faith with Stanbic IBTC Bank.

The financial institution has undoubtedly spent a good sum of money to give free advertising and publicity to its partner SME businesses. The massive impact of the testimonials, in terms of leads and new businesses, on the featured SMEs can only be imagined.

Testimonial campaigns may not be entirely new in the financial services industry and in other industries in the country, but the scale of Stanbic IBTC’s ongoing testimonials has

certainly pushed the boundaries.

Pushing the boundaries for better service Stanbic IBTC is not new to pushing the boundaries of service quality and delivery, customer relations and satisfaction. Indeed, the Stanbic IBTC Group is a bellwether of innovation across the entire spectrum of financial services: from retail and corporate banking, pensions, assets management to trusteeship, insurance brokerage, stockbroking and custodian services. It continues to simplify its processes to ensure that customers are better served. Only recently, the bank expressed its willingness to digitize its entire operations when it launched the first self-service digital bank branch in the country. “We have long embraced digitalization to strengthen our operations and processes, make them more accessible, efficient and cost effective,” says Chief Executive of Stanbic IBTC Bank, Dr Demola Sogunle.

Other SME-focused initiatives SMEs and other businesses have continued to benefit from a number of key initiatives by the bank targeted at helping them achieve growth. Stanbic IBTC Bank says the SME sector is pivotal to the economic growth and development of any nation and as such, must ensure that operators get the right support in terms of infrastructure, financing and capacity building for sustainability. It is such thinking that drove the bank’s establishment of a unique digital banking platform, the SME BizDirect, to support small businesses with transactional products; savings and investment solutions; lending products; and wealth protection solutions. A yearly SME training series was equally conceived to provide innovative marketing, financial and management skills that are useful to small businesses and which will provide the skills set needed for their businesses to grow.

Even as Stanbic IBTC continues to demonstrate its readiness to promote SMEs, it is incumbent on business promoters, no doubt, to ensure capacity building. Experts have said capacity building and not finance, as wrongly believed by many business owners, is the major impediment to their growth. The Stanbic IBTC Bank testimonial campaign has shown clearly that there is a bank willing not only to provide funding for SMEs but ready to travel on the journey with them to ensure business success and continuity.

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Boyson: HR Business Decisions Should be Factbased The Managing Director, SHRM, Middle East and Africa, Mr. Brad Boyson, spoke to journalists on the need for human resource professionals to be ready to contend with the role technology is playing across sectors in the current global economy. Raheem Akingbolu brings the excerpts: This conference is holding in Nigeria at a time when the economy has been challenging and experts tell us it is beginning to recover.

Is there a silver bullet HR can use to help the country back at on its feet?

Around the world, when economic times are difficult, usually, the first activity organisations cut is training or reduced investment in skilling people. But business history shows that the organisations that go against this trend and sustain or increase their people investments during times of economic downturns, eventually turn out to be better positioned and take advantage of newly emerging opportunities when the economy turns for the better. The significance of an event such as this, therefore holding in Nigeria, is its timeliness, with the right content to help HR prep their organisations to deal with the challenges of operating in Nigeria today. For instance, HR people need to be the advocates for sustained investment in the area of talent development, even in difficult economic times as the country is currently passing through. This will ensure their organisation’s competitiveness as things take a turn for the better.

The focus of this 2017 conference is around future-readiness of HR professionals. What does it take to run a HR department that is truly future-ready?

It starts with the HR talent running your HR department or division. At SHRM, we believe that the foundation of professionalism in the Human Resource function is an ability to demonstrate mastery in core HR disciplines while being able to translate these into real value for the business or organisation you work in. To demonstrate mastery, you need HR Competence and the universal depicter of HR mastery and competence today is experience, supported with the right professional qualifications because with these two, you are proving to the professional community that you understand the right ways, tools, processes and methods to make HR work for the organisation, not the other way round. SHRM’s emphasis on demonstrable competence can also be understood from the perspective that the HR world is fast evolving. Today every single business decision generates a corresponding HR action or reaction.

What is needed to be a success in HR today is different from what was needed in the past.

To be a success in HR today and in the future, you need to be able to use data and analytics, you need to understand technology; you need to understand cultural changes in talent and the dynamics of people generally, you need to collaborate more across non-HR boundaries, you need to use metrics and benchmark more often. These are some of the things that are indicative of a Future-Ready HR professional of HR department.

Coming to your presentation at the conference with the title: ‘Business and Human Capital Challenges Now and in the Future’, can you provide a recap of the key issues you discussed in the course of your presentation?

Often we HR people use a lot of clichés and clichés can sometimes undermine. Non-HR people don’t often connect with clichés. So, at this conference, I have tried to present some of the issues without the cloak of clichés such that delegates are able to focus on the real issues that prepare people working in HR as future-ready HR professionals. Sometimes, we HR people use buzz words, meaning nothing to the people in the business that we support, this leads to HR being seen as a cost rather than a value adding function. So, in my presentation, I tried to give examples of things that are evolving, not to scare people but to let them know how the dynamics of HR profession is changing very fast. I have discussed some of the things that are changing and some of the things that will happen in the future. There is no speculation

had great people skills. Others arrive on the wings of exposure and how kind-hearted the person could be without doing any real job. That is the universal approach to people working in HR 20-30 years ago. Organisation cannot afford that any more. Things have changed.

The key attributes and competencies you need to succeed in HR are now known.

As SHRM executive, what would you consider the topmost trend in the Human Capital Management space that C-level executives should track together with HR? I am not answering this based on just evidence.

I am drawing from the multitude of interactions I make at the C-level and with a lot of different experts on the subject. I think technology is the trend to embrace and watch if you run a business and if you work in HR. It is changing the landscape in ways that humankind has never before thought possible. Whether it is Artificial Intelligence (AI), social media, blockchain technology, machine learning, etc. AI has reached such levels today that certain work done by humans can now be done by machines with a high degree of accuracy. It is no longer the future; that future is here now. At SHRM, we are investing heavily in how HR can be at the fore front of figuring out the implications for a business in the new frontiers of man-machine interaction at the workplace. HR is an essential part of managing all of these changes.

Boyson

about this and professionals need to focus on those issues. Today, so many HR people are reactive when they should be proactive. They are reactive to employee issues; they react to funding issues among others, which should not be. HR people need a change for the future they want to develop and we need HR people that will be thinking and making forecast on what will happen in that future. We need HR people to be able to make statements that are evidence or empirically-based. Today, a good indicator of HR that is working well is one that doing things that affect productivity, like doing away with traditional performance reviews and yet achieving better employee engagement with people, causing overall productivity to rise. That is creative HR; that is what we call future-ready HR. What are the opportunities SHRM is offering for its members?

SHRM welcomes HR professional from all cadres.

Our members are from the Executive suite as Chief HR Officers (CHROs) and HR Directors, to entry level positions, even non-HR people whose jobs contain a bit of HR, are already embracing SHRM membership in great numbers. A good example is Administrators. SHRM members come with different backgrounds, many are in the different industry segments in Nigeria, and most serve in organisations of 50-100 staff size, and some are in organisations with 500 or more staff strength. As you can expect, their needs vary so we work very hard to meet the needs of many of our members globally. SHRM advocates for the profession, stressing the importance of human resources. Through our programs and initiatives we act as ambassadors for HR people, setting the agenda for developing standards in the practice of the profession. We are the go-to resource for everything human resources.

When our members and HR professionals need professional guidance, we provide that, they want resources? We provide resources. It is just like a partnership in the career journey.

We are a global association with support for the full spectrum of the HR value chain. We do one thing only and do it well. We do not focus on IT, finance or the likes. We focus just on the HR practitioner. SHRM opens doors.

Our research, knowledge base and intellectual

properties help our members give their best today while at the same time being ready for the changing landscape in HR practice. If you are an employer of labor and you employ someone with SHRM Credentials the difference shows immediately. Our members consistently deliver value to the organisations they work for; this is what our research continues to show.

What is your perception on the use of data analytics in Middle East and in Africa?

One fascinating thing about data analytics is that it has nothing to do with technology but today, we have to incorporate technology into doing it. Analytics has been important before the technology was important. Data analytics give facts, objective opinions and figures.

When applied in HR, it is not an accounting or mathematical procedures. One of the easy examples is insights to common questions as: do we recruit some roles internally or use outside recruiting firm? And how do you know which option is right or wrong? For data and analytics to work for you, you have to start with collecting data, you measure activities. What is happening to HR now with data and analytics is that just by introducing a little science into HR, we are getting a lot of AHA! moments, we can see reasons why certain things work, and also achieve some levels of predictability that wasn’t there before for HR. Google is a fascinating case study. In anything it does, it involves data & analytics. No one makes decision in business based on just instinct anymore, but more of facts and insights.

Is it easier today to be an HR professional than it was 20 years ago when it was simply referred to as personal management?

Interesting question! I think it is more difficult now because HR practice is now very diverse and the environment very complex. Successful HR practice would require you to be first, a business person, then a counselor, an advisor, activist, finance specialist, a bit of a parent, also an advocate - all rolled into one. And of course being passionate about people makes it worthwhile and enjoyable. Twenty years ago, being in HR for many was largely accidental, some people ended up in HR because they had no where else to go, or simply because they

Globally, automating HR processes is replacing the old way of practicing HR. How best do you think practitioners can brace up to this trend brought about by advancement in technology?

This is my personal answer to that question.

Anything that can be automated was probably never HR in the first place. That thing could possibly be classified as administration, albeit HR Administration. Just because an HR person did some work doesn’t just make that work HR work. HR embracing technology is not even an option, it is a do it or suffer kind of scenario, which is why SHRM is supporting our members with resources on how to start and sustain the technology journey. From having a HR Technology strategy, to selecting and implementing a Human Resource Information System (HRIS), the best professionals pride themselves in the systems they have put in place to handle routine administrative HR tasks, freeing them up to do more creative and strategic HR work, which is where value is best delivered to our organisations. So do not fear technology, get guidance on what will work best for your organisation and start the journey. If you don’t have technology employed in your HR environment certain productivity aspirations may not be possible.

Nigeria has humongous human resources that can be adequately harnessed to make us a competitive nation. What are your thoughts on how to activate the power of our human capital for national advantage?

I live in a region that is probably more challenged than Nigeria - The Middle East. The Middle East has the largest ratio of young people unemployment in the whole world even more than Africa.

In the United Arab Emirates, the government has embraced the youth. Embracing, sort of a more open attitude towards globalisation and soco-cultural revitalisation of the youth.

Nigeria is a unique country, her people are some of the most talented the world over. And I think there are a lot of opportunities to see that the vast amount of youthful talent the country is blessed with can be harnessed for national advantage. I feel that government should enable more people in the youth segment to turn their creativity into capital because they have proven with music, entertainment and the movie industry for instance, that without government intervention certain productive work can be birthed. But this is just one aspect.

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T H I S D AY •THURSDAY, JUNE 29, 2017

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BUSINESSWORLD

ANALYSIS

Preparing for Standardised Derivatives Market The Nigerian Stock Exchange is preparing to launch Exchange Traded Derivatives later this year. Solomon Elusoji writes on what the financial instruments mean and how they will impact the capital market Derivative instruments always come with controversies. Many analysts and pundits claim that derivatives increase systemic risk and blame it for the economic recession of 2007 to 2009, when credit-default swaps in the derivatives market incurred massive losses that sent the United States(U.S) and in fact the global, financial system into a meltdown.

But there are also those, who see derivatives as a powerful tool to reduce risk and hedge bets against an uncertain future. The negativity attributed to derivatives, they argue, is not inherent in the tool, but in those who use it.

One cannot, for example, say a knife is evil because it was used to kill a man because it is the same knife that is used in surgery to save lives.

In Nigeria, derivatives are new. The local derivatives market exists mainly within the Over-The-Counter (OTC) segment of the market.

But this is in sharp contrast to the global derivative market. According to investopedia. com the derivatives market is gigantic and often estimated at more than $1.2 quadrillion.

Some market analysts estimate the derivatives market at more than 10 times the size of the total world gross domestic product (GDP).

The reason the market is so large is because there are numerous derivatives available on virtually every possible type of investment asset, including equities, commodities, bonds and foreign currency exchange The Origin of Derivation Derivatives are simply securities with a price that is dependent upon or grafted from one or more underlying assets. This means that these are securities with no inherent value save for the assets which back them. Put in

CEO of NSE, Oscar Onyema

Now the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) has taken on the challenge of launching Exchange Traded Derivatives in the country, later this year. This is expected provide some structure and transparency, compared to the OTC version, which is a lot riskier due to lack of information, the lifeblood of financial speculation.

Between June 12 and 15, the NSE held training on the legal and risk aspects of derivatives and Central Counterparty Clearing (CCP) transactions in Lagos, as part of its efforts to educate market professionals

more practical terms, the derivative itself is a contract between two or more parties based upon certain assets. Its value is determined by fluctuations in the underlying asset. The most common underlying assets are stocks, bonds, commodities, currencies, interest rates and market indexes. Derivatives can either be traded OTC or on an exchange. It is generally believes that OTC derivatives, which are unregulated, constitute the greater proportion of derivatives in existence, but they are less risky when traded on exchanges, which have standardised requirements and possess less risk for the counterparty.

There are different kinds of Derivatives, but futures contracts is one of the most common.

A futures contract is an agreement between two parties for the sale of an asset at an agreed price. One would generally use a futures contract to hedge against risk during a particular period of time. For example, suppose that on July 1, 2016, Ajibola owned 10,000 shares of Dangote stock, which were then valued at N82 per share. Fearing that the value of his share would decline soon, Ajibola decides that he wants to arrange a futures contract to protect that value of his stock. Nneka, a speculator predicting a rise in the value of Dangote stock, agrees to a futures contract with Ajibola. The contract stipulates that in one year’s time, Nneka will buy Ajibola’s Dangote shares at their current value of N82.

It is reasonable to view the futures contract as a sort of bet between the two parties. If the value of Ajibola’s stock declines, his investment is protected because Nneka has agreed to buy them at their 2016 value, and if the value of the stock increases, Nneka will be better off as she is paying January 2016 prices for stock in January 2017.

Defining Standards for Derivatives Now the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) has taken on the challenge of launching Exchange Traded Derivatives in the country, later this year. This is expected provide some structure and transparency, compared to the OTC version, which is a lot riskier due to lack of information, the lifeblood of financial speculation. Between June 12 and 15, the NSE held training on the legal and risk aspects of derivatives and Central Counterparty Clearing (CCP) transactions in Lagos, as part of its efforts to educate market professionals.

Speaking at the training was the first Vice President of the NSE, Mr. Abimbola Ogunbanjo, who noted that while the concept of derivatives was relatively novel in the Nigerian financial market space, the frontiers of the market has the potentials to grow exponentially due to enhanced liquidity arising from the development of new and intricate financial instruments like derivatives.

“From a customer perspective in Europe,” he said, “exchange trading is approximately eight times less expensive than OTC trading, hence we hope the immense opportunity for improved efficiency via the launch of ETDs in Nigeria will mirror their popularity experienced globally.”

Ogunbanjo also pointed out that the imperatives for a truly functional derivatives markets are evident in the need to improve safety, ensure effective risk mitigation, provide innovation and encourage efficiency.

“Risks, such as counter party risks, operational risks, liquidity risks, systemic and legal risks could be implicit in even the most developed markets. The financial global market was shaken to its very foundation in the wake of the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) between 2007 and 2010 when it became

apparent that the underlying assets securing collaterised mortgages had suddenly become delinquent,” he said.

Ogunbanjo noted that the NSE believes the local ETD initiative will eventually develop into a robust market place that can support Nigeria’s growth ambitions, using South Africa as an example of Africa’s first derivative market.

“South Africa’s derivatives market has grown rapidly in recent years, which has supported capital inflows and helped market participants to price, unbundle and transfer risk,” he said.

According to him, their market comprises two broad categories of derivatives, namely options and futures.

He said: “Within these two categories, a wide range of instruments may be identified: warrants, equity futures and options, the agricultural commodity futures and options, interest rate futures and options, currency futures and fixed income derivatives.

The fixed income derivatives are made up of bond futures, forward rate agreements (FRAs), vanilla swaps, and standard bond options. Notwithstanding the foregoing, South Africa has had to manage the risks associated with misuse of complex financial products via continuous improvement and enhanced enterprise risk frameworks. Accordingly, as innovation drives interest in any product, the market will require continuous advancement to risk frameworks, technology and critical thinking to bringing about competition which is a basic driver towards development and growth in the market. As such, this is the first training of many others, which we will continually promote to enhance Nigeria’s global positioning as a thought leader in the African derivatives space.”

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BUSINESSWORLD

DEVELOPMENT

Lake Chad: Unveiling a Strategy for Sustainable Devt Abimbola Akosile unveils a strategy to ensure improved development in the countries around the Lake Chad basin (Chad, Cameroon, Niger, and Nigeria), which is being spear-headed by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Regional Office for West and Central Africa headed by the Regional Director, Mr. Mabingue Ngom, and other development experts; with focus on the Demographic Dividend and the need to address the security and humanitarian crisis in the area All countries surrounding Lake Chad are prone to security and humanitarian crisis, accentuated by regular attacks perpetrated by terrorist groups, according to reports and analyses by experts.

From kidnappings to summary executions, through the systematic destruction of schools and health centres, the asymmetric conflict brought by terrorist groups has not only resulted in several millions of displaced persons and the impoverishment of the most vulnerable populations - especially women and youth.

The document titled ‘From Crisis to Development Around Lake Chad: Strategy for an Integrated, Holistic and Sustainable Response’ aims to bring clarity on the multiplicity of the underlying dynamics, which gives pertinence to this alternative and which justifies the implementation of a targeted action that extends beyond military action, within which demography is an essential and structuring variable.

This strategy is based on the situation analysis of the same countries mentioned in ‘Demographic Dynamics and the Crisis of Countries around Lake Chad’, produced in-house by the UNFPA Regional Office for West and Central Africa.

In particular, the notion of the demographic dividend was brought to the fore as a paradigm likely to structure the action, not only within a perspective of conflict resolution but also of development.

The relevance of population in the specific context of the countries around Lake Chad was explained and the strategic considerations concerning the action taken were proposed.

Here, the objective is to attract the attention of decision-makers on the necessity of a continuum between humanitarian action and strategy for development, in line with the integrated vision of the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development.

Devt Challenges Like the sub-region of the Sahel, the countries around Lake Chad are within an area of high demographic growth. The region’s demographic growth is indeed one of the highest in the world. In 50 years, the population of those countries has more than quadrupled from 60 million in 1960 to more than 243 million inhabitants in 2017.

Furthermore, the region is facing climatic changes, which aggravate the pressure on the land, agriculture, fisheries and water resources.

The size of Lake Chad is only a tenth of what it was fifty years ago. With its surface being only 2,500 square kilometres in 2017, fishing and agriculture has been reduced drastically.

In a context of an economy that barely transformed itself, is reliant on extensive subsistence activities like fishing and agriculture, these pressures result, once again, from a very high population growth rate, reinforced by the fact that the border area around Lake Chad is also a stopover zone for aspiring migrants towards Europe.

The depletion of farmland and water resources, coupled with the lack of evolution in the structure of the local economies and of a non-sustainable demographic growth over time, is an expected source of tension.

Vital Foreword In a foreword to the strategy document, the UNFPA Regional Director for West and Central Africa, Mr. Mabingue Ngom noted that “The response to humanitarian crises and its relation with general issues of economic and social development, have been on the agenda of several meetings that I was part of while in the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) first as the Director of the Division of the programmes in charge of emergency issues and development at the global level, and subsequently as Regional Director for West and Central Africa.

“The meetings of the inter-agencies committee

On the bank of Lake Chad coordinated by Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) also offered an opportunity to reflect on the initiatives implemented as a response to recent humanitarian crises in the world, specifically in the countries around Lake Chad.

“On all these occasions, we advocated to have issues related to the dynamics of demography to be given greater consideration by those concerned about the security environment in West and Central Africa, that is, in countries around Lake Chad where the demographic growth is still high. We specifically supported this approach during the Oslo 24 February 2017 donors’ roundtable on Nigeria and region around the Lake Chad Basin, which was a success in the mobilisation of resources”, the development expert added.

However, according to him, “despite the general consensus that emerged regarding the need to tackle the root causes of the conflicts, one cannot help but notice that progress remains constrained. Clearly, to date the prescribed solutions to stamp out the crisis are far from optimal.

“Much of the funding continues to be directed towards humanitarian response (65%) and

UNFPA recovery (30%) at the expense of prevention, which comprises only 5 per cent of the allocated funds. This allocation will continue being inefficient given that it does not guarantee durable solutions to the crisis. Thus, there is a clear need to envisage a balance in the allocation of the humanitarian funds.”

Ngom noted that a more balanced, more strategic and less costly response, through interventions that better target the root causes of the crisis rather than the symptoms would in the long run be best.

“The document elaborating this strategy was produced with the support of Professor Alioune Sall with collaboration from colleagues of the UNFPA Regional Office for West and Central Africa.

“It is the result of an open reflection on the crisis in countries around Lake Chad (namely, Chad, Cameroon, Niger, and Nigeria) and is based on an analytical situation of these countries.

It gives us the opportunity to cast a critical eye on the efficiency of the response that affects the countries surrounding Lake Chad.”

To the UNFPA chieftain, “the data, evidence and our experiences compel us to think that peace, security, stability and the development

of the countries around Lake Chad remain essentially dependent on the acceleration of a demographic transition, without which we will continue to see rapid increases in social demand.

“The strategic approach proposed in this document shows the need to move towards a more holistic and integrated approach, collectively with all the stakeholders including the governments of the affected countries, to order to attain sustainable development. Such an approach based on a theory of change will help to reduce the verticality of the humanitarian and development programmes in this region as well as deliver an efficient, concrete, comprehensive and more durable response to the inherent needs of the affected populations.

“Potentially as an innovation of the 2030 Agenda, this strategy could begin around the « One UN » approach--through the implementation of a joint programme between the agencies of the United Nations system. Later, while continuing to work with the four countries surrounding Lake Chad in the experimental phase, it could broaden up to other partners in support of the United Nations Integrated Strategy for the Sahel (UNISS)”, Ngom added.

RANDOM THOTS

Conflicting Scenario Something is wrong. There is no real reason why any Nigerian should feel unsafe or unwanted in any part of the country. At least, to this reporter, that was the focus of the National Youth Service Corps scheme which was launched in the seventies. Under the scheme, when bribery for favoured posting was not rampant, young graduates fresh out of universities and polytechnics were sent to places outside their immediate home or educational environment, to assimilate the culture of their location for a period of one year, while imparting their newly-acquired skills to beneficiaries at their service locations.

This reporter’s best friends during his

secondary school days at the Federal Government College, Warri (in then Bendel State) comprised Hausa, Ibo and Itsekiri guys. He also didn’t feel out of place among his Hausa and Igbo colleagues during his service year in 1992 in the rustic community of Ajaka in Idah Local Government of Kogi State. The NYSC and other related schemes have always sought to promote integration among Nigerians, notwithstanding ethnic, social, economic or educational backgrounds or differences.

These schemes encouraged inter-marriages and lasting friendships across ethnic, religious and cultural divides.

But now, the chants of separation are

louder; many citizens are now apprehensive of stepping outside their ‘home’ zones for fear of discrimination or exposure to danger. All these are affecting the norms of mutual respect and total freedom to subsist in any corner of the country, with a ripple effect on the development process. The fear now is that the bonds binding all citizens into a compact, focused whole, do not snap in the face tribal or ethnic antagonism and mutual suspicion. Nigeria can allow boundaries between states, but she cannot afford demarcations between her citizens…stark reality -Abimbola Akosile

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BUSINESSWORLD

DEvELOpmENT/ISSUESINBOx

Map of Nigeria showing the states

Your Best Restructuring Tip for Nigeria?

After a former military ruler and an ex-Vice-President called for restructuring of Nigeria, among other recent calls from personalities and analysts, restructuring of the country appears imminent.

Although each analyst and advocate has different suggestions for their calls based on various reasons including location, religion and even availability of natural resources, what is your best suggestion concerning the peaceful restructuring of Nigeria into mutually beneficial and unified structures?

Abimbola Akosile

THE FEEDBACK

* The clarion call for restructuring Nigeria based on location, resources, religion e.t.c is apt, patriotic and commendable. But regionalism is an easy way to gradually split Nigeria. We must beware and mop up small arms still in circulation, and no more lethal hate speeches from the major ethnic regions. Check smuggling and intensify farming. Export only excess harvest to avoid inflation and starvation especially among the poor.

- Miss Apeji Patience Eneyeme, Badagry, Lagos

Top tip:

Empower the States

Second:

Bottom-to-top governance

Third:

Make the centre weaker

Radical tip:

Mop up small arms!

No of respondents:

15

Male:

12

* My best restructuring tips are: The North, having the Middle Belt carved out of it; the East, leaving the Ibos alone; the West as it is; and the South West and South South, to make six regions. They are to be supported by the Centre to be viable, independent and competitive so as not to be left behind. If that is done, then we shall have a country that would attract foreign partnership in our development.

- Hon. Babale Maiungwa, U/Romi, Kaduna

Female:

3

Highest location:

Lagos & Abuja (5 each)

* How about defining ‘restructuring’ first before plunging into the unknown? IBB and other elites have different and ‘funny’ ideas about that word.

- Mr. Yomi Oni, Paris, France * This generation has grown cold in giving praises to God, while at the same time burning churches and mosques and causing hate.

There is no true love from such hearts and this government should take a decision on the religious, tribal and other recommendations before it. There is no section in Nigeria that is not blessed with mineral resources either gold, agriculture, etc.

- Mr. Dogo Stephen, Kaduna State * Restructuring ought to lead to an effective well-run and stable federation with visible developments in the long-term; but that is if all Nigerians are on the same page in its pursuit rather than the mere chant of the concept.

- Ms. Nkeiruka Abanna, Lagos State * Our respectable former ruler and Vice-President have said their minds on restructuring, but their body language does not show it. There is need for consultations and meetings with

stakeholders and our representatives from the National Assembly have to say something about this. We need to also organise town hall meetings to receive inputs from the stakeholders, and learn from successful nations that were able to carry out restructuring. But I wonder whether we can exercise patience to do this. We must take it slowly. Nigerians are not ready - Mr. Michael Adedotun Oke, Founder Michael Adedotun Oke Foundation, Abuja * While I wasn’t born during the regional government era, I learnt that most of the feats achieved were during that period. There was healthy rivalry amongst the leaders which contributed to the development of each region. Each region tried to edge out the other development wise.

If it worked then, it cannot work now.

- Mr. Akinwale A.A. Adeniyi, Abuja * Empowerment needs to start from the grassroots by listening to the people, find out what they want, and how do they want to be supported.

We don’t need restructuring actually; what have we achieved so far with how we are?

Restructuring can’t be achieved because we still have the same people but we need to change our orientation about life. Whether you put different people with same ideas in the same place, it won’t change things. We need a new set of people with new ideas.

- Alhaja Adeyinka Lawal, London, United Kingdom * Although it is not easy to restructure Nigeria

at this stage, if it must be done then let the restructuring be done on economic and social levels. Those who have wealth should be subjected to more taxes to provide safety nets for the poor masses. Also, the local government and regions should be made stronger and with access to more natural resources and allocations from a weakened centre. Let development spread to every corner of Nigeria.

- Mr. Olumuyiwa Olorunsomo, Lagos State * The best suggestion now is for leaders of the recognised six geo-political zones to consider themselves as already restructured. Let them assemble their best brains and resources, choose their priority programme and project that will be beneficial to the masses, develop it and make life richer for their people in present-day Nigeria, Let’s apply wisdom here; restructuring is not too far from secession and can hardly be achieved through peaceful means in a country like ours.

- Mr. Ikpa Matthew, Asokoro Abuja * Join the federalist agenda; start from creating governance at local level. The localities create their local government, which then create their state and the state the federal government.

At each stage the homogeneity of the people especially in terms of culture and language should be paramount. Ownership of land would be vested in the localities and the individual.

- Mr. Oge Igwe-nnaji, Lagos State * Talking about restructuring, where are you going to start from? To me, Nigerian people should be restructured first before anything else because a country cannot grow without until its leaders grow within.

- Mr. Bitrus Waziri, Durumi, Abuja * All types of illegal arms importation and violation must be investigated and outrightly prosecuted. Only peace, love and unity speeches must be aired and or printed in any news media. Deviant media staff must be checked always. Regionalism and ethnicity are complex issues and must be handled with caution, for patriotic restructuring. The youth must unite to lift up Nigeria with wisdom, technology, growth and development as obtained in other climes. God bless Nigeria.

- Mr. Apeji Onesi, Lagos State

* Let us have a civilian government, successfully execute state creation for once. As for budgeting, strong legislation should come into force to enthrone capital expenditure-led money bills.

- Mr. E. Iheanyi Chukwudi, Brainchild Academic Resources, Trademore Estate, Apo, Abuja * Regional autonomy is expensive. Restructuring may not be possible because some states and regions cannot sustain themselves economically at the moment. Restructuring should only take place at a certain level of our socio-political and economic maturity. At this time, most of the regions are nowhere close to this. Southern Sudan has shown that autonomy alone is not enough to ensure the desired development of a people. More responsibilities should be devolved to the states and a larger percentage of federal allocations given them. This is the only restructuring we need at the moment.

- Mr. Buga Dunj Jos, Plateau State

Next Week: How Can Nigeria Tackle Marginalisation?

The new catchword in Nigeria appears to be marginalisation with nearly every ethnic group from all corners of the nation alleging marginalisation by others, even with quota system still in place in almost every sector or level of government. Aside from the efforts of the Federal Character Commission (FCC), how can such agitations be adequately addressed, to allow the country move forward in her development process? please make your response direct, short and simple, and state your full name, title, organisation, and location. Responses should be sent between today (July 6 & monday, July 10) to abimbolayi@yahoo.com, greatbimbo@gmail.com, AND abimbola. akosile@thisdaylive.com. Respondents can also send a short text message to 08023117639 and/or 08188361766 and/ or 08114495306. Collated responses will be published on Thursday, July 13

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BUSINESSWORLD

DEVELOPMENT

Local block-making factory, vital for the construction industry

ABIMBOLA AKOSILE

AfDB Urges Credit Providers to Increase Lending to Boost African MSMEs Abimbola Akosile The African Development Bank (AfDB) has called on financial markets to increase affordable loans and provide more diverse and innovative financing instruments to Africa’s micro, small and medium-sized enterprises.

Industrialisation is one of the highest priority areas of the Bank. Credit providers need to increase their lending by at least $135 billion in order to meet demand by African Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs).

In a statement released in the bank’s headquarters in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire to mark the recent United Nations’ MSMEs Day on June 27, AfDB noted that firms with fewer than 20 employees and less than five years’ experience provide the most jobs in Africa’s formal sector.

“The entrepreneurial culture is vibrant with about 80 per cent of Africans viewing entrepreneurship as a good career opportunity. The continent has the highest share in the world of adults starting or running new businesses, but often in sectors where productivity remains low.

New industrialisation strategies should focus on leveraging this

dynamism and targeting the continent’s fast-growing private enterprises which have potential to create quality jobs,” said the President of the African Development Bank Group, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina.

According to the UN, micro, small and medium-sized enterprises represent around 90 per cent of global economic activity and are on the front lines of embracing transformative technologies and new business models.

In 2016, AfDB provided financial services to 156,000 individual owner-operators and MSMEs through financial intermediaries, addressing a key constraint to starting up and growing businesses.

The Bank also worked with USAID, the Fund for Africa Private Sector Assistance and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) to build the capacity of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Zambia and enable national financial institutions to become efficient at lending to smaller business.

AfDB is also launching a number of new programmes that are designed to help move Africa toward its industrialisation goals.

In 2016 the Bank launched Fashionomics (the economics

of fashion) initiative to increase Africa’s participation in the global textile industry supply chain. Fashionomics is an AfDB initiative to support the development of MSMEs operating in the textile, apparel and accessories (TA&A) industry in Africa, with a focus on women and youth empowerment.

Given Africa’s potential for increased involvement in this sector, AfDB is also increasing its efforts to promote access to finance for entrepreneurs to create start-ups and expand existing businesses.

But a holistic policy approach is needed to strengthen entrepreneurship for Africa’s industrialisation and tackle the multitude of constraints.

The first is improving skills of entrepreneurs and of workers in general and aligning them with labour market needs. While governments can promote learning, engaging the private sector is necessary. The second policy area relates to grouping firms in business clusters, such as industrial parks and special economic zones. Clustering can support start-ups and increase existing firms’ productivity and growth, assuming adequate infrastructure is available.

Many African countries need

to improve women’s rights to make decisions about their own lives and enterprises with adequate, flexible and affordable financial services and business education.

According to the 2017 African Economic Outlook, many women entrepreneurs find financial services inaccessible due to high interest-rates and inflexible repayment schemes.

Women entrepreneurs face additional constraints which affect their firms more than those of men. Often women endure harassment and discrimination in the market place and from government and financial institutions. In Uganda, 28 per cent of women own land compared to 53 per cent of men; but only 10 per cent of female landowners can use land as collateral compared to 95 per cent of male.

African governments in July 2016 endorsed the AfDB’s Industrialisation Strategy for Africa 2016-2025. It identifies “competitive talents, capabilities and entrepreneurship” as a key driver of the strategy.

The AfDB’s fourth flagship programme aims to realise the strategy’s objectives by focusing on “Promoting and Driving Enterprise Development”, particularly small and

medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

The African Guarantee Fund for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (AGF) provides a successful example of the financial viability of a credit guarantee scheme. AGF was set up in 2011 by the AfDB, the Danish international development agency (Danida) and the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation; the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) joined more recently.

By the end of 2015, $230 million worth of guarantees had been signed. Commercial banks increased this amount, by leveraging the $230 million in guarantees to lend out $460 million to SMEs. The credit guarantee scheme has benefited more than 1,300 SMEs, generating over 11,000 jobs.

The fund operates in 35 African countries, with 54 per cent of the credit guarantee capacity spent in West Africa and 22 per cent in East Africa.

After only three years of activity, the fund became profitable and reached break-even point.

Revenues quadrupled between 2013 and 2015, from $2 billion to $9.1 billion.

The Boost Africa Initiative - a joint collaboration between the

AfDB, the European Investment Bank and the European Commission- is expected to help create and grow 1,500 innovative businesses, create 25 000 direct jobs and 100,000 indirect jobs, and improve environmental, social and management practices in African youth-owned SMEs. The Boost has an initial budget of Euros 150 million to deliver innovative, additional and long-term financial capacities in Africa; provide business advisory services and skills transfer for youth entrepreneurs to help them grow in an efficient and sustainable way; and improve knowledge, information, and networks regarding the development of entrepreneurship and of SMEs in Africa.

Indeed, MSMEs are vital in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, in particular in promoting innovation, creativity and decent work for all. But better policies are required to help MSMEs to help increase productivity and income via microfinance programmes and education in Africa. The continent also needs to validate skills acquired in the informal sector through certification, according to the statement.

FG Distributes 45m High-yield, Disease-resistant Cassava Stems to Farmers James Sowole in Akure The Federal Government has begun the distribution of high yielding and disease resistant cassava planting materials including Vitamin A cassava stems to the beneficiaries of December 2016 Vocational Training in Sustainable Production Techniques.

The Provost of the Federal College of Agriculture, Akure (FECA), Ondo State, Dr. Samson Odedina, who flagged off

the distribution of the cassava materials at the college ground in Akure recently, said over 90,000 bundles each consisting of 50 cassava stems would be distributed to beneficiaries.

Odedina disclosed the FECA would handle the distribution of the high-yielding stems to beneficiaries in four other states including Edo, Ebonyi, Delta and Kaduna. He disclosed that the federal government through the FMARD provided fund used in the training of farmers

and that the distribution and training was done in partnership with an international donor organisation involved in the development and delivery of Vitamin A cassava and maize globally. According to him, the cassava variety can yield up to 40 to 50 tonnes per hectare depending on good recommended agricultural practices.

Other beneficiaries of the cassava distribution apart from those that participated

in the December training were farmers from the three adopted villages of the college namely Eleyowo, Owode and Ibulesoro; value chain project students of FECA and selected commercial farmers in partnership with the college.

For proper monitoring, the provost asked beneficiaries to set aside a portion of their farm for the variety as the college team would come on inspection of the performance.

He said the college was ready

to make the variety available to more farmers that are interested urging interested person to visit the college shop for arrangement.

Speaking on behalf of the minister, Mrs. Omagbemi advised the beneficiaries to plant the stem the way they were taught saying that the federal government embarked on community outgrowers to ensure that the Vitamin A Cassava stem is multiplied.

She said farming was one

of the major ways through which poverty can be tackled, and expressed delight that the government at all levels had allowed civil servants to embark on farming.

Responding on behalf of the beneficiaries, the Olu of Owode in Akure North Local Government Area, Oba Samuel Ifedayo Fapohunda, commended the federal government and the college for distributing the materials to farmers directly.

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BUSINESSWORLD

DEVELOPMENT QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“Prosperousnationshavehighlevelsoftaxcompliance while poor nations have lowrates.Nigeriaaspiresto beaprosperousnation,sothis problem mustbe solved.

Technologyhasbeenkeyinenablingusto buildanaccurate financial profile for Nigeriansandbasedontheinformationwegathered,we sawthatthe level of noncompliancewasveryhighandweknewwehadto do somethingaboutit” - MINISTER OF FINANCE, MRS. KEMI ADEOSUN, SPEAKING IN ABUJA Sahara Reaffirms Commitment to Sustainable Devt with ‘Hanatu’ Tope Omabegho

SDGs Realisation in Africa Receives Boost with First Mobile App Abimbola Akosile Some members of the private sector on the continent have made a remarkable valueaddition to the efforts and actions towards realising the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Africa.

Marine Platforms, led by Mr. Taofik Adégbìt , and Africa Shapers Initiative, chaired by Mr. Lekan Fatodu, have developed and delivered the first mobile application on SDGs in Africa called ‘Africa on SDGs’, which according to the brains behind the app, was designed to help in accelerating the realisation of the SDGs in Africa. Speaking on the significance of the digital tool, Fatodu, who is the project coordinator of Africa on SDGs said, “Importantly, it is fulfilling to emphasise that Africa on SDGs is the first mobile application from the continent on the SDGs and an outstanding device driven by the continent’s business community in support of the SDGs. “It is an innovative intervention that seeks to help in accelerating the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals through facilitation of useful information on SDGs, assessment of progress, knowledge sharing, updates on global activities and accentuation of the endeavours of African corporate organisations and individuals on SDGs. “This dynamic app is presented as a positive response to the important call of the UN to the global business community to be more engaged and proactive on the agenda of SDGs for the quick realisation of these goals. It’s actually meaningful to reiterate the critical roles the private sector has got to play in this laudable development agenda”, he added.

According to Fatodu, “The business people are the best wealth creators, innovators, funders, thinkers, employers, strategists and lots more; and that’s the reason the UN is focused on the business community to effectively fill the gap left by the last global development aspiration - the Millennium Development Goals “Talking about the many strategic activities

The SDGs app

www.vegan.hr

of the business community in elevating the development objectives and bringing it to life, it would be of great interest to many to know that the idea of the app was made possible through the special SDGs-CSR effort of a wholly Nigerian organisation, Marine Platforms and by all-Nigerian IT buffs that worked assiduously on the development of the app, which is a vital reference on the potential success of the Nigeria’s government Made-in-Nigeria policy.

“Of course there are international collaborations across the continent and at the level of the United Nations built towards the propagation of the app in many relevant circles for wider use,” the development advocate added.

To him, even with all its challenges, the world is widely adjudged a good place.

However, its sustenance and betterment

must be a responsibility to be shouldered by all and sundry.

It was in the quest of finding enduring solutions to the myriad problems faced by the world that the 194 member states of the United Nations (UN) along with global civil society rose to adopt a new agenda for global development famously known as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The SDGs, containing 17 goals and 169 targets set for attainment by the year 2030 are ultimately seeking to end poverty, fight inequality and tackle climate change around the globe.

Since the adoption of these lofty goals by the UN in September 2015, a number of governmental and non-governmental stakeholders around the world have stepped forward with interventions that are geared towards their achievement.

Buoyed by its passion to spread hope and provide platforms for dreams to blossom, Sahara Group is set to premiere a short film - Hanatu - which was produced and directed by ace film maker, Kunle Afolayan.

Hanatu is a Sahara Foundation inspired short film which tells the story of how a young youth corps member named Preye helps a little girl (Hanatu) in a village rediscover her confidence and hope for a bright future when he helps her secure a prosthetic leg following a dastardly accident which claimed her father’s life.

According to Head, Corporate Communications, Sahara Group, Bethel Obioma, Hanatu epitomises Sahara’s commitment to sustainability, responsibility and extrapreneurship.

“It is an expression of who we are and what we do - providing opportunities for aspirations to blossom into fruition. It is the mantra of hope; the demystification of impossibilities; a clarion call for sustainable development across climes and times,” the company’s spokesperson said.

Obioma explained that the world is replete with “Hanatus” who deserve a shot at realising their dreams and rekindling their hope with the right support. “At Sahara, Hanatu is more than a film, it is the gold standard we believe should drive all interventions geared towards sustainable development – an unwavering desire to support the less privileged. With a Hanatu orientation as our driving force, we are constantly seeking partnerships and opportunities for giving wings to hope and enhancing the achievement of the SDGs across the globe.”

He said the African conglomerate which has operations in over 10 countries across four continents would use Hanatu to reiterate the need for a global commitment to accelerated developmental programmes through collaboration involving governments, global development agencies, civil society organisations and the private sector.

Hanatu will be premiered on Friday, July 7, at Terrakulture in Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria V/I to a select audience. Thereafter, the film would be made available to the general public on Sahara’s website (www.sahara-group.com) and social media platforms, several leading news websites and entertainment channels.

At the heart of Sahara’s business objectives, lies an unflinching commitment to promoting good corporate citizenship across the globe. This is achieved through Sahara Foundation - the vehicle for the Group’s Personal and Corporate Social Responsibility (PCSR) initiatives. The activities of the Foundation are aimed at empowering individuals and communities in a sustainable, transparent and efficient manner.

Sahara Foundation has in the past implemented its Personal and Corporate Social Responsibilities (PCSR) initiatives in the areas of Health, Education & Capacity Building, Environment and Sustainable Development. However, in 2016, the interventions of the Foundation were streamlined to focus our activities in line with the concept of Extrapreneurship. This concept involves creating platforms that connect young entrepreneurs in emerging markets to enhance shared expertise, wealth creation and preservation.

Over the next four years (2017- 2021), Sahara Foundation plans to directly impact 12,000,000 Nigerian youths and also create value through the identification, development and maintenance of relevant stakeholders through which beneficiaries can grow and sustain businesses.

36

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

HEALTH & LIFESTYLE

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

Achieving FG’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan for Healthcare Following the road map for the health sector, as captured in the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan of the federal government, major stakeholders in the sector at a round table by the Healthcare Federation of Nigeria and the Health in Africa Initiative, said prioritisation, impact and implementation of the plan will go a long way in revamping the sector. Martins Ifijeh writes

O

n March 7, 2017, the Nigerian Government, in its bid to strengthen the economy and end the present recession, launched the long-awaited plan to restore macroeconomic stability in the short term, and the structural reforms and investments in the social sector in the medium and long term, which it termed the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP); a plan for 2017-2020, broadly targeting restoration of growth, human development and globally competitive economy.

The plan, which the government said was an ambitious move to achieve a seven per cent economic growth for the country by the year 2020, represents a policy and reform framework to boost productivity in all sectors and achieve sustained diversification and inclusiveness.

According to the document, which was midwifed by the Presidency and the Ministry of Budget and National Planning, 60 critical initiatives have been outlined to form the strategy the government said represents the blueprint for the type of foundation it wants the country to follow.

A critical look at the 60 listed strategies showed that at least five of such strategies give a clear design to what President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration has in stock for the healthcare sector. The federal government, in the document said it would invest in health and education to fill the skills gap in the economy, and meet the international targets set under the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Adding that it will improve the accessibility, affordability and quality of healthcare, and expand coverage of National Health Insurance Scheme across the country.

It is in discussing this document, as it relates to healthcare, that the Healthcare Federation of Nigeria (HFN) and the Health in Africa Initiative of the World Bank Group organised the ERGP Stakeholders Consultative Forum in Lagos where major players in the healthcare industry were brought together to brainstorm on the role of the private sector in achieving the strategies, and how on a broader perspective, the ERGP can change positively the abysmally poor health indices of the country.

Among plans listed in the ERGP for healthcare is that the federal government will give a new lease of life to primary healthcare system through revitalising 10,000 Primary Healthcare Centres (PHC) and establish at least one functional PHC in each ward to improve access to healthcare; fully implement the PHC refinancing programme to mobilise domestic resources; drive progress to meet UN SDG’s health targets; and reduce infant and maternal mortality rates.

The ERGP says the federal government will roll out universal health coverage through expanding the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS); enforce the Tertiary Institutions Social Health Insurance Programme for students in tertiary institutions; pilot the Public Primary Pupils Social Health Insurance Programme to provide quality health services to pupils in middle-and lower-income socio-economic levels who are less likely to have insurance; and scale up the Mobile Health Insurance Programme to provide coverage for the poor. The government economic document also shows that the federal government will strengthen delivery beyond the PHC system through provision of anti-retroviral medication to people living with HIV/AIDS; ramp up projects to eradicate polio, measles and yellow fever; make strategic investment in tertiary healthcare institutions in collaboration with the National Sovereign Investment Authority

President Muhammadu Buhari (m); Vice President Yemi Osinbajo (l); and Senate President Bukola Saraki, all showcasing the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan during its launch in March

(NSIA) and other relevant stakeholders; and develop and adopt an e-health scheme to connect specialised hospitals to rural communities via mobile tele-medicine.

The ERGP suggests the federal government will partner with the private sector to construct model mega-health centres through partnership with private sector to develop at least one mega-health centre in each state to provide high quality preventive and curative healthcare.

The strategic document also shows that the federal government will build the capacity of healthcare personnel to improve service delivery through the provision of rural service allowance and basic amenities to health workers in rural areas to retain qualified personnel; identify and fill gaps to optimise the health worker-to-population ratio by recruiting and training more health workers and attracting talent from abroad; and develop the Diaspora Medical Assistance Programme to attract and encourage Nigerian medical professionals abroad to provide volunteer health services in Nigeria.

While the healthcare strategies are laudable, and represents steps in the right direction if the sector must be at par with those of developed countries, grey areas needing answers are whether the issues noted in the strategies were being prioritised accordingly, whether the government has the capacity to implement the strategies, whether there is the political will to make drastic-but-important decisions for the sector to achieve its desired goal, as well as whether there is capacity to monitor all players responsible for achieving the goals?

It is in providing answers to these salient questions that the roundtable brought together major healthcare players and institutions across the country to discuss how best the healthcare strategies in the ERGP can best make maximum impact in the lives of the over 180 million Nigerians, many of whom have lost faith in the country’s healthcare system.

Speaking during the roundtable, the Country Manager, International Finance Corporation in Nigeria, a member of the World Bank, Ms Eme Essien Lore, said the successful implementation of the ERGP calls for adequate public and private financing and on strong coordination with the sub-national governments.

She stated that the implementation capabilities of the private sector will be useful in ensuring strategies are delivered to the population that needs healthcare the most and in good time too. Adding that the principles enshrined in the ERGP are also consistent with the twin goals of the World Bank Group as it supports the drive to ending extreme poverty and promoting shared prosperity. She also urged Nigeria to take advantage of the new IDA allocation to the country. Also contributing to the discourse, IFC’s Regional Industry Head for Manufacturing, Agribusiness and Service in sub-Sahara Africa, Ms Mary-Jean Moyo, stated that MSMEs were the elixir of private sector participation in healthcare across the continent.

To buttress this point, she announced that, “IFC made an investment of $4.5 million in the Medical Credit Fund (MCF), part of the PharmAccess Group, to increase access to quality healthcare in Africa. This investment allows the MCF to deploy its extensive training programme to improve both business and clinical performance for healthcare SMEs, using internationally accredited SafeCare standards.

“The ERGP needs to place emphasis on this kind of investments in order to address the participation of the private sector in Nigeria and showcase that SMEs must be supported. The Nigerian Government must be able to attract other financing institutions who are able to replicate this kind of investment if the country wants to rapidly improve the health outcomes of our women and children,” she added.

Moyo acknowledged efforts by the government in setting up the new Development Bank of Nigeria and efforts by the local financial institutions like the Bank of Industry who are making available financing for SMEs in Nigeria.

She asked that the health sector needs to take advantage of the opportunities provided by these institutions. Olumide Okunola of the World Bank informed the audience that with the limited financial and operational capacity in the public sector and with the private sector already responsible for more than two thirds of the healthcare delivery in Nigeria, especially to the lower-income population, it was imperative that those responsible for the implementation of the ERGP provides the enabling environment

for the private sector to deliver more healthcare especially to poor populations.

He stated that the recent signing into law of the Collateral Registry Act was a significant victory for MSMES in the health sector who can now use their movable assets as collateral for raising capital.

One of the panelists, Dr. Afolabi Ogunlesi suggested that the availability of Project Development Finance will be critical to the success of the strategies especially the Mega model health centres listed in the ERGP. He was of the opinion that there has been far too many laudable initiatives either interminably delayed or have to be outright voided because of the lack of Project Development Finance. To address this issue he urged development institutions like the World Bank to support the implementation of the ERGP with transaction advisory support to enable the upstream aspects of such projects to be funded with partner support.

According to the President, HFN, Clare Omatseye, the reason behind the roundtable was to dissect policy objectives and strategies articulated in the ERGP document, which she said was designed to drive a structural economic transformation with emphasis on improving public and private sector efficiency in key sectors, including health.

She said the ERGP was a laudable one with an all inclusive, affordable and accessible healthcare objective, but added that the private sector has a big role to play in actualising the initiative in revamping the country’s healthcare system.

According to her, one area the government must focus on is primary healthcare, which remains a big part requiring priority. “If Nigeria can get primary healthcare right, the country would have saved the secondary and tertiary hospitals from treating diseases such as malaria.

“If government can provide the enabling environment, private sector can drive some of the primary issues at the primary care level,” adding that the federal government has no business building new health centres but can get private sectors involved in revitalising, reequipping and more importantly running the existing ones.

“A good strategy for this to work is when government partners with private sector which comes with a lot of efficiencies and know-how,” she added. Continuing, Omatseye said, “We don’t have enough doctors in the country; we can get midwives, clinical health extension workers to help man some of the centres. We can be more preventive in our approach as against waiting for people to walk through the hospitals. These are the things we think can be done in a short term. We think this is a perfect mix where you have the existing building partnering with the private sector to take over the centres as well as providing human resources and alternative resources to man the centres.”

On the proposed mega hospitals, Omatseye said the idea of a mega hospital was a brilliant strategy but needs to be articulated. “Government shouldn’t be building hospitals. Partnership with private sector can make a difference. We want to make a difference. Nigerians need and deserve high quality healthcare and that access is what we are here to do.”

At the end of the roundtable event, stakeholders agreed that the Nigerian private health sector can play a big role in the implementation of the health strategies listed out in the ERGP. They also urged the government to contract private providers to make existing public PHCs functional.

Continued on next page

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

NEWS

EU, UNICEF to Upgrade 162 Menstruation: Poor Guidance Contributes to Teenage Healthcare Centres in Bauchi Mismanagement, Report Shows Segun Awofadeji in Bauchi As part efforts towards strengthening primary healthcare and community resilience for improved Maternal, Newborn and Child Health and Nutrition (MNCHN) in Bauchi State, the European Union (EU) in collaboration with the United Nations Emergency Fund (UNICEF) has completed plan to renovate and upgrade 162 Primary Healthcare Centers in Bauchi State.

This was disclosed by UNICEF Chief of Field Officer, Dr. Abdulai Kaikai, during the EU-UNICEF MNCHN Media Orientation held at the Destination Hotel, Bauchi.

The activity, which included a field visit to a maternity clinic is funded by the EU and implemented by UNICEF in partnership with the Bauchi State Government.

Kaikai said renovation of the health facilities which is a four-year programme was aimed at improving maternal, newborn and child health in all the 323 wards across the state, adding that they plan to support the state government to renovate and provide hospital equipments to strengthen health system in the state.

According to him, “we want to ensure functional health facilities in all wards, LGAs and communities in Bauchi State. We are supporting with resources and equipments to ensure that every ward in has a functional PHC.” The four year project on strengthening PHCs will be carried out in three states of Bauchi, Adamawa and Kebbi at the cost of 54 million Euros.

EU contribution to the project is 50 million Euros, while UNICEF contributes 1 million Euros and Bauchi, Adamawa and Kebbi state governments will contribute 1 million Euros each.

A Health Officer with the UNICEF, Mr. Olosunde Oluseyi said “the European Union (EU) and UNICEF in collaboration with the Bauchi State Government are to improve 162 health facilities across the state in the next four years representing 50 per cent of the 323 wards in the state.”

Oluseyi assured that within the four-year period of the programme, the United Nations organisations in collaboration with the state were to ensure the establishment of one functional PHC in each of the 323 wards in the state.

Yinka Kolawole in Osogbo Lack of adequate guidance has been identified as the major cause of mismanagement of menstrual periods by beginners.

This is the report of findings of the National Research on Menstrual Hygiene Management, conducted in three geo-political zones of the country; Katsina State- North-west, Anambra State- South-east and Osun State- South-west.

At a media engagement on menstrual hygiene management in basic schools in Nigeria held in Osun State, Dr. Femi Aluko who is part of the research team disclosed

that lack of adequate guidance, facilities and materials for girls lead to mismanagement of their menstruation in school.

According to Aluko, “girls capacity to manage their periods is affected by lack of access to affordable hygiene sanitary materials, disposal options for used materials, adequate water supply, clean toilets, washing facilities and access to changing rooms.

“According to United Nations Children Emergency Fund UNICEF in 2011, most of the toilets/ latrines observed were dirty with broken doors and poor ventilation. The ratio of latrine compartment to

students was 1:297 for girls and 1:1216 for boys compared with global recommended latrine to student ratio of 1:25 and 1:50 for girls and boys respectively.

“The overall average ratio of toilets/latrine in the urban schools for girls was 1:214 and for boys 1:374 while the ratio was 1:168 and 1:272 for girls and boys respectively in rural schools,” he added.

The researcher said studies showed that none of the schools assessed met up with World Health Organisation’s standard of pupil to toilet ratio.

He lamented over what he described as “culture

silence and shameful act’ regarding issues of sexuality and menstruation, which according to him attributed to cultural restrictions and as well preventing sufficient information from reaching girls and women.

Speaking at the occasion, Senior Special Assistant to the Governor Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, Hon. Adesegun Olanibib, while delivering his welcoming address said that, “The human body is made of various parts and the reproductive parts are of importance in recreation. However discussing male and female reproductive system is a sensitive issue that must be approached with care.”

ACPN Calls on Nigerian Youths to Shun Drug Abuse Martins Ifijeh The Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria has called on Nigerian youths to shun use of hard drugs if they must live to their full potentials in life.

Stating this in Lagos during the commemoration of the International Day Against Drug Abuse, the Chairman, Lagos State chapter of the association, Mrs. Abiola Paul-Ozieh said the use of cocaine, tramadol, codeine, dexamethasone, marijuana, and other types of mind altering substances have a far more negative effect than it seem on the surface.

She said, “many of those engaged in such practices will not only have their lives’ dreams cut short, they also become less contributory to the society. A man who is degraded due to hard drugs will of course be unable to add value to the society.

“Hard drugs cause a number of vices, including armed robbery, kidnapping, raping, prostitution, and even health challenges like madness. There is also a high risk of liver and kidney diseases, including cancer, and other terminal illnesses. According to her, parents and members of the society should not stop creating awareness among their children and youths respectively on the dangers of drug abuse, adding that parents should monitor their children closely if they

must effectively tackle drug use in them.

“We understand some of our youths now device various unconventional methods of addiction that are difficult to detect, including inhaling latrine smell, use of methylated spirits, and the likes, but some of the signs parents and the society should look out for are their behaviours, their reactions to scenarios, their eyes, lips, general coordination, how they smell, the way they talk, among others.”

She said the government also has a role to play by making sure these abused drugs are not sold over the counter or anyhow. “Sometimes when these youths approach a pharmacy for the drugs and they are rejected, they simply go to another shop (most often quacks) and buy them. So it’s becoming too easy to get these drugs. Codeine, tramadol, rehypnol, are becoming too easy for them to get. When people are not accessible to drugs, it will be easily controlled.

“In our health facilities, we focus more on curative health.

Issues of drug abuse is preventive, and that is one area we should focus on, so that the vices and the ills associated with the habit will be nipped in the bud. Truth is a lot of people are dying everyday from drug use in Nigeria, but because we don’t have a good data system, so we do not know how many.”

INITIATING DRIVE AGAINST CANCER

L-R: Marvelous Olusegun; Ridwan Ogunbela; Stephen Aribatise; Bayode Oke, all radiography students of the College of Medicine, University of Lagos, during the quartet’s Invasion 2.0 Campaign Against Cancer in Lagos recently

NSE Corporate Challenge: 850 Participants Defy Rain, Run against Cancer Martins Ifijeh More than 850 participants braved the rain to support the fight against cancer at the 4th edition of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) Corporate Challenge on last weekend at the Onikan Stadium, Lagos.

The NSE Corporate Challenge is an annual, highly competitive and fun-filled five kilometre walk, jog and run competition designed to raise awareness and funds for the purchase of 37 Mobile Cancer Centres (MCCs), valued at $613,000 each.

Speaking at the event, the Chief Executive Officer, NSE, Mr. Oscar Onyema, said “It’s amazing and emotional to see a lot of people turn out in the pouring rain to save lives.

Cancer doesn’t care about the weather, and neither do we.

This year’s event attracted over 200 partner companies who are all in massive support for the cause to tackle the cancer scourge in Nigeria.”

Onyema lauded the listed

companies, non-listed companies, organisations, notable Nigerians and celebrities for their continuous support for the NSE Corporate Challenge since inception.

“We remained focus in one of our CSR efforts of mobilising funds for the purchase of Mobile Cancer Centres in the country.

Through this initiative, we want to provide access for early detection and treatment of cancers so that people can live to their full potentials.

With your support, we believe we can save lives.”

The Ondo State First Lady and founder of Breast Cancer Association of Nigeria (BRECAN), Mrs. Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu, commended NSE for galvanising efforts to raise awareness and mobilise funds for the purchase of Mobile Cancer screening centres, across the 36 states in the country.

She called for increased investments through a publicprivate sector partnership that

will improve the screening process for cancer in Nigeria, considering the huge costs involved.

She used the occasion to call on the federal government to effect policies that will attract private capital investments into the healthcare sector, to tackle diseases like cancer.

The Acting Head, Corporate Services Division, Ms. Pai Gamde, stated that “the inconvenience of the rain cannot be compared to the pain of cancer.

We are indescribably grateful and awestruck by the love and support shown by all who came to participate: our walkers, teams, sponsors, donors, volunteers, everyone who made this day possible.

“This year, we worked in close partnership with various sponsors, partners and volunteers. Our sponsors include, Dangote Cement Plc, Diamond Bank Plc, Eterna PLC, FBN Holdings, FCMB, Fidelity Bank PLC, Lafarge Africa Plc, Nestoil

Limited, Nigerian Breweries PLC, Stanbic IBTC Holdings, Unilever Plc, Union Bank Plc and Wapic Insurance PLC, X3m Music, Nuli Lounge, Aquadana, Emergency Rescue, among others.

Anokue Uzochukwu from Cutix Plc emerge the overall winner of this edition of Challenge, winning a return ticket to London, courtesy of Medview Airline Plc, a tablet and Gym membership from Bodyline.

Austin Ani from Stanbic IBTC and Igiriogun John Bosco from Cutix Plc came second and third respectively winning a smartphone and gym membership each.

Okorie Chisom Favour from Dangote Group Plc emerge the fastest female winning a return ticket to London, courtesy of Medview Airline Plc, a smartphone and Gym membership from Bodyline.

Graeme Bride from Lafarge came first in the senior citizen category, wining a smartphone and Gym membership.

ACHIEVING FG’S ECONOMIC RECOVERY AND GROWTH PLAN FOR HEALTHCARE They also agreed that there was need to fast track the expansion of pro poor risk pools in Nigeria which will further incentivize the delivery of services by public and private providers

empaneled under the NHIS. The stakeholders, while commending the government for business friendly policies like collateral registry act, investor friendly

executive orders and the recent proposal to set up a diaspora commission which will allow for overseas based Nigerian professionals in the health sector to relocate back to Nigeria,

they urged development partners like the World Bank, DFID and others to support the implementation of large health projects with transaction advisory support.

38

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

HEALTH MATTERS

goketakinrogunde@gmail.com

HEALTH

By Goke T. Akinrogunde 07036777348; 07029126776

Heart Attack: Risks from Food Intake

H

Protein Soy is proving to be a particularly excellent source of protein. It is rich in both soluble and insoluble fiber, omega-3 fatty acids, and provides all essential proteins. It has estrogenlike compounds that might be as effective as estrogen therapy itself in slowing progression of heart disease without increasing triglycerides or the risk for breast cancer (as estrogen therapy does). Much evidence suggests that eating fish two or three times a week, particularly oily fish is protective.

armful life style remains a major point to consider when it comes to triggering factors in heart attack and coronary artery disease in general.

Prominent among the factors for consideration are eating habits, excess salt intake, cigarette smoking, exercises, alcohol intake, psychological factors among others.

We are what we eat Experts now believe that fats can have both harmful and beneficial effects.

Harmful fats Everyone should limit and try to avoid saturated fats, predominantly in animal products, including meat and dairy products.

Among these are trans-fatty acids, which are created during a process aimed at stabilising polyunsaturated oils to prevent them from becoming rancid and to keep them solid at room temperature. Hydrogenated fats are used in stick margarine and in many fast foods and baked goods. (Liquid margarine is not hydrogenated.)

Beneficial oils Public attention has mainly focused on the possible benefits of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats found in vegetables oils.

Researchers are most interested, however, in the smaller fatty-acid building blocks contained in these oils called essential fatty acids. Studies indicate that in a healthy balance, all of these fatty acids are essential to life: Omega-3 fatty acids This is further categorised as Alpha-linolenic acid (sources include canola oil, soybeans, flaxseed, olive oil, and many nuts and seeds).

Indications that it is heart protective Extra virgin olive oil in one study was associated with lower blood pressure. Many studies have singled out nuts, which contain omega-3 fatty acids, fiber, as being particularly beneficial for

Salt Studies now indicate that sodium (the major constituent of table salt and common sauces) intake may be a major contributor to heart disease in overweight people. Its effect on people with normal or low weight may not be as severe, although everyone would do well to keep salt intake to a minimum.

Heart attack is preventable

the heart by lowering LDL and total cholesterol without increasing triglycerides.

Docosahexaenoic and eicosapentaneoic acids (sources are oily fish). May not have much effect on cholesterol but they may benefit the lining of blood vessel (the endothelium) and therefore improve blood flow.

Omega-6 fatty acids This is further categorised as linoleic, or linolic, acid (sources are flaxseed, corn, soybean, and canola oil). Omega-9 fatty acids: (Source is olive oil).

Some experts recommend maintaining a relatively high intake of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats (about 32 per cent of calorie intake), with saturated fats representing no more than eight per cent. Others believe that a very trim diet, 20 per cent fat with as

little as four per cent saturated fat, is ideal.

Still others recommend fat intake somewhere in between these extremes.

Carbohydrates Meals overly rich in carbohydrates tend to set off angina attacks, possibly because they raise insulin levels.

One study suggested, in fact, that in women, sugar may pose an even higher risk for heart disease than fats do.

Whole grains and fresh fruits and vegetables (particularly dark-coloured ones), however, are very important.

They are rich in fiber, vitamins, and other important nutrients that are heart-protective.

Natural chemicals in cooked tomatoes, garlic, nuts, apples, onions, wine, and tea also appear to offer protection for the heart.

Vitamins and Supplements B Vitamins: Sufficient amounts of folic acid, B6, and B12 are certainly important to prevent high levels of homocysteine (abnormally high blood levels of the amino acid homocysteine are strongly linked to an increased risk of coronary artery disease and stroke). Vitamin E: A number of small studies have found an association between a lower risk for coronary artery disease with doses of vitamin E between 100 and 400 IU. Vitamin C: Little evidence has emerged to prove any protective effects from taking vitamin C. Of interest, however, is a study suggesting that long term administration of vitamin C may improve endothelial function, a factor affecting blood flow.

Beta Carotene: Studies have reported that a high intake of beta-carotene and other carotenoids from dark coloured fruits (tomatoes, cherry fruits) and vegetables (but not from supplements) may reduce the risk of heart attack. By and large a combination of appropriate intake of appropriate food, salt and other addictive organs with regular physical exercises remain uncontroversially beneficial to our heart.

Inside the Hospital A Patient’s Concern: Any Risk Being a Virgin at 29?

Doctor, I need your help to clarify an issue, which has been giving me sleeplessness night.

I am a virgin of 29 years and single. Please let me know if being a virgin at 29 years is risky.

If yes, what are the risks?

I got this information through a friend that it is very risky for a woman to remain a virgin for this long, and since then I have been very worried.

Thanking you for your anticipated understanding and early response.

K Dear K, I commend your courage for bringing up this very personal issue for the attention of this

column. However, my approach to your questions will flow from a strict scientific outlook and understanding of the issues at hand.

On a general overview, my answer will be both a direct “No” and an indirect “Yes”.

For one, medically speaking, there is no special risk attached to being a virgin at age 29 years just as it does not necessarily put you at a better position per future reproductive activity.

On a positive note, however, is the fact that it puts you in a position of purity as per the impossibility of contacting the many sexually transmittable infections. Notable among these are the major ones like HIV/AIDS, Syphilis, Hepatitis B, Chlamydia and Gonococcus infections. Other sexually transmittable infections that you are protected from while you maintain the “virgin

status” include herpes simplex virus (type 2), genital warts, Lymphogranulomavenerum.

Aside from these, it can be inferred that you are better protected from the possibility of developing cancer of the cervix (the cervix is the entrance canal into the womb or uterus). This is so because research findings are pointing to the fact that very early first sexual (especially before the age of 16 in ladies) and subsequent recurrent sexual intercourse put such ladies at a higher risk for the development of cervical cancer later in life.

Cancer of the cervix gets matured later in life and hence it is commoner in elderly women in their mid-fifties onward.

Also interesting to note is the relevant information that HIV/AIDS is a major risk

factor for the development of cancer of the cervix in women of younger age group.

Thus, since sexual intercourse is a major avenue that HIV is contacted from, abstaining from sexual intercourse via “virginity maintenance” is also a double protection from HIV/AIDS and by inference early on-set cancer of the cervix.

Social wise, especially in cultures close by, it is worthy of note that it is the desire of some men to meet their wife “intact” on their first night together after their wed-lock. Although, the gender ‘disadvantage’ here is rather on the side of the woman, where the persistence of the hymen (the virgin’s membrane-covering of the vagina) is a sure sign of virginity maintenance, however, no such equivalent sign exist in the male.

Imo’s 27 General Hospitals will Redefine Healthcare in Nigeria, Says Ihejirika The Special Adviser on Health to the Governor of Imo state, Dr Edward Ihejirika has said the redesigning of 27 general hospitals in the 27 local government areas of Imo State by Governor Rochas Okorocha will not only turn the state into a medical hub, but will redefine healthcare in Nigeria.

He said the hospitals, which are built to international

standards and have the same outlook across all LGAs, have at least 100 bed space capacity each, and would be driven by a public private partnership arrangement; a difference from what obtains mostly in the country.

Dr. Ihejirika, who spoke in Lagos during the Healthcare Federation of Nigeria round table on the healthcare strategies

in the federal government’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP), said with most of the hospitals ready, plus an enabling environment, investors were required to key into it, design the kind of services they want and then run the facilities at no profit to the government.

“We know investors are often worried about getting

involved with government, as they prefer to do their thing, but Gov. Okorocha saw this, and then decided to put political will to this project, by first removing it from the State Ministry of Health, and put it directly under the government house.

“So we then made sure we put in a tax rebase, liaise with the Federal Ministry of Finance

so that if perhaps our investors are foreign they will not have issues in terms of remittance of whatever profit they make.

‘We don’t demand anything from the investor, instead we ask them to build what ever they have for the government into their corporate social responsibility and give back to the society, Nothing like signature bonus or bidding fee

is asked of investors. All investors need is to come in, see the infrastructure and decide what kind of services they need to provide,” he added.

He said the investors were also at liberty to recruit their staff as long as such staff are also from the state, adding that, this on its part will be a source of job creation for the locals as well.

39

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

NEWS

How Reddington is Transforming Healthcare in Nigeria In an industry prone to stories of what has gone wrong and what is not working, there seems to be a breathe of fresh air with the myriads of innovations from Reddington Hospital Group. Its recent addition, the LIFESCAN Medical Checkup Centre, marks another first in the country. Martins Ifijeh writes Whenever the Nigerian healthcare system becomes a topic of discussion, what often comes to mind is stories of how the sector has not met the expectations of the citizens, especially in areas of accessibility and affordability; a sorry situation that has encouraged those who could afford medical tourism to patronise healthcare abroad, while the poor are left at the mercy of the system.

But Reddington Hospital Group, a privately owned multi specialist treatment hub is changing the narrative with the provision of myriads of specialist centres aimed at giving world-class treatment to Nigerians, the type seen in developed countries like the United States and Germany.

October last year,the hospital group established the Maxi Specialty Centre in Lagos, a one-stop medical facility for dental care, Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) treatment, eye treatment, endoscopy, dialysis, physiotherapy, EEG, sleep studios, audiology, speech therapy, sleep management, among others.

The establishment followed the group’s resolve to provide primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare in many specialties under one roof. A first of its kind in Nigeria.

Two months ago, it also established two more world class specialty centres, the Breast and Gynae Centre and the Gray Cardiology Centre to carter for everything woman, and everything that relates to cardiovascular system respectively. The centres were established as different facilities and at different locations in Lagos.

The Breast and Gynae Centre, which was inaugurated by the Vice-President’s wife, Mrs. Dolapo Osinbajo boasts of cutting edge technological support never before seen in West Africa. The Grays Cardiology centre also boasts of world class facilities.

But like an institution determined to right the wrongs of a nation in dire need of healthcare for all facet of treatments, Reddington, again established the recently launched LIFESCAN Medical Service Centre, first of its kind total body health screening service for early detection of critical conditions, life threatening illnesses, as well as for combating terrorism in Nigeria.

The LIFESCAN, a common test in the developed world such as the United States and Europe, provides comprehensive screening to identify health problems before the symptoms are evident. It is also used in detecting dangerous materials at airports and other sensitive areas.

The service provided by Reddington uses

One of the LIFESCAN machines being used by a patient

advanced medical scanning technology including Nigeria’s GE Signa Explorer Digital MRI, which has advanced capabilities to produce the highest quality images suitable for the purpose of life scan. This is coupled with the highly versatile, speedy and low dosage computerised tomography CT scanner that produces outstanding images for clinicians to report.

Speaking during the launch of the state of the art facility, Reddington Group Medical Director, Dr. Olutunde Lalude said the idea for its establishment was to promote wellness as a better alternative to having to endure expensive and lengthy treatment options.

“Screening services can provide early warning of a potential problem before they are evident, especially for those with risk factors. It is a simple, non-invasive and pain free screening,

which includes diagnostic imaging of the head, brain, neck, chest, abdomen and pelvis. And each patient will get report on the outcome of the screening along with any findings.

“The LIFESCAN full body, high quality, low dosage, digital imaging scan delivers another first for the Reddington Healthcare Group which has a history of being in the forefront of pioneering breakthrough in the healthcare industry in Nigeria,” he added.

The Business Development Director, Andy Cunliff added, “Medical research has consistently shown that early detection increases survival rate. Early diagnosis is the most critical strategy for avoiding a heart attack, stroke or advanced cancer diagnosis. We are looking at ways to make this accessible to as many people as possible.

“We are therefore giving a 25 per cent discount

until September 30, 2017 for individuals and institutions alike interested in using the latest technology.”

He explained that the Reddington Healthcare Group has in the past 12 months launched the Maxy Centre which provides specialist care in Dentistry, Ear, Nose and Throat, Ophthalmology, and Endoscopy service.

“The Group also launched the Breast and Gynaecology Centre; Nigeria’s first state-ofthe-art medical centre dedicated to women’s health. We also opened the Gray’s Cardiology to offer high cardiology care. There was also the opening of the MRI Centre, which is the first facility in sub-Sahara Africa to have a signal Explorer 1.5T MRI with ‘Silent Suite’ for reducing ambient noise,” he added.

Cunliffe added, “Our entire team is committed to continuously improving standards of healthcare delivery and access to it. Full body scans are widely available abroad and LIFESCAN provides further support to our patients. Our team has a collective determination to provide healthcare services as good as any overseas healthcare provider.”

According to the Chief Executive Officer, Reddington Hospital Group, Dr. Yemi Onabowale, the hospital has been in the forefront of pioneering many breakthroughs in healthcare in Nigeria, including the first digital cardiac catheterisation facility in Nigeria and the first closure of a hole in the heart in a child using non-surgical modern technology.

“The Reddington Hospital, the flagship hospital of the Reddington Healthcare Group, has since inception continuously maintained professional and qualitative standard of healthcare delivery, with a mission to deliver first world medical service. The hospital’s pioneering achievements and quality in healthcare delivery is evidenced by the awards won,” he said.

Reddington became the first independent hospital in Nigeria to achieve the COHSASA quality award in July 2012. This award, according to the Group, conferred upon them the status of being compliant with international healthcare standards and patient safety. They also scooped the award for Best Private Healthcare Provider at the Nigerian Healthcare Excellence Awards in 2014, 2015 and 2016.

The launch of the LIFESCAN service is a product of the partnership between Reddington Healthcare Group and GE Healthcare.

Association Demands Subsidy for Patients with AXA Mansard Joins Race against Cancer Diabetes Segun Awofadeji in Gombe The Diabetes Association of Nigeria (DAN) has appealed to the federal and state governments to subsidise diabetes drugs and injections in order to enable teeming citizens living with the disease, especially the poor ones, to afford and take their medications regularly as a way of managing the illness.

Bauchi State Coordinator of the association, Dr. Bathnna Sule who is a visiting consultant on diabetes at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital (ATBUTH), Bauchi made the appeal recently during the DAN’s state monthly enlightenment lecture held at the hospital.

Sule, who revealed that diabetes drugs ‘are expensive’ requested that government should either put subsidy on

them or include all diabetics in the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS0 where they would be paying only 10 per cent of their medical bills like their tuberculosis counterparts.

According to him, diabetes was categorised into four types (1, 2, 3 and 4) that affect children, adults, pregnant women and the one which is being caused by other diseases respectively pointing out that there was no better treatment for the disease than frequent taking of medication according to prescription and eating the right foods.

He recommended that diabetic patients should eat more vegetables, fruits in small quantities as well as shun all foods and drinks produced with sugar such as cakes, ice creams, soft drinks and other juices to avoid complication.

Also speaking, the DAN National President, Dr. Mohammed Alkali who doubles as the Chief Medical Director (CMD) of the Abubakar Tafwa Balewa University Teaching Hospital, Bauchi, lauded the state chapter for organising the monthly event asserting that it was educative.

He stated that the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) has admitted three of his members into its school of diabetes to undergo various online courses on diabetes education.

Aside from that, Alkali said plan was under way to assist 20-year-old and below type 1 diabetic patients across the nation with free insulin injections adding that the association would soon issue national identity cards to all registered members nationwide.

Martins Ifijeh

AXA Mansard joined over 200 organisations to race against cancer at the Nigerian Stock Exchange organised Corporate Challenge tagged “e-Race Cancer 2.0” at Onikan Stadium, Lagos.

The NSE Corporate Challenge is an annual five km race that aims to create awareness on cancer and raise funds for the purchase of 37 Mobile Cancer Centers (MCCs), valued at $613,000 each.

This year’s event attracted participants from listed and non-listed companies alike, as well as non-governmental organizations, celebrities and many other notable Nigerians.

Speaking on AXA Mansard’s participation at the event, Mr. Kola Oni, Group Head, Strategy, Planning and Marketing at AXA Mansard noted that,

Cancer cell

“AXA Mansard is a strong supporter of initiatives on prevention, detection, and treatment of this disease responsible for the death of millions of people each year.

As a leading insurer, our key expertise lies in understanding and managing risk and our key responsibility is protecting people. This means that we have an essential and active role to play in making sure the

ever-evolving risk landscape is brought to the fore and is understood by the society as a whole.

Mr. Kola Oni, commended the Nigerian Stock Exchange on the initiative and emphasized the need for concerted efforts in the early detection and treatment of cancer.

He also congratulated Suliat Giwa of AXA Mansard Insurance Plc and Naomi Aduku of AXA Mansard Pensions Limited who clinched the 2nd and 3rd positions respectively in the female category, for their active participation in the race and for making the company proud by emerging as the fastest females from the financial services sector.

The AXA Group is a worldwide leader in insurance and asset management, with 166,000 employees serving 107 million clients in 64 countries.

40

T H I S D AY • THURSDAY, JULY 6, 2017

BUSINESS/MONEYGUIDE

CBN Goes Tough on e-Fraudsters, to Unveil Watch-list Obinna Chima As part of efforts towards ensuring financial stability, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), in collaboration with the Bankers Committee, has put in place a Framework on Watch-list for the Nigerian Financial system.

The move is to address the increasing incidence of frauds and other unethical practices with a view to engendering public confidence in the financial system. The central bank stated this in its exposure draft “Regulatory Framework for BVN Operations and Watch-list for Nigerian Financial System,” posted on its website.

It explained that the 16-page framework, without prejudice to existing laws, would be to guide the operations of the WatchList in the financial system.

The Watch-list is a database of bank customers identified by their Bank Verification Numbers (BVNs), who have

been involved in confirmed fraudulent activities.

It further stated that the framework would be to provide database of watch-listed individuals and guide financial institutions in their operations.

Banks and other financial institutions are expected to render returns to the Nigerian Interbank Settlement System for enlisting individuals involved in confirmed fraudulent activities signed by Chief Audit Executives; and file monthly returns of all customers recommended for inclusion in the watch-list shall be forwarded to the Director, Banking Supervision Department, not later than the 5th day after the month end.

“However, where the 5th day happens to be weekend or public holiday, returns should be submitted the previous day.

“A nil report should be rendered in the event that no customer was recommended for watch-list inclusion within the month.

“Where a bank needs to watchlist a customer of another bank, the Chief Audit Executive of the customer’s bank shall be notified. Delisting of individuals from the watch-list after due clearance,” it added.

The central bank in collaboration with the Bankers Committee embarked upon the deployment of a centralised Bank Verification system and launched the BVN in February, 2014. This was part of the overall strategy of ensuring effectiveness of Know Your Customer (KYC) principles, and promotion of safe, reliable and efficient payments system.

The BVN gives each customer of Nigerian banks, a unique identity across the banking Industry.

The BVN has the ability to identify a person by a physical characteristic such as fingerprints, facial, voice or retinal scans. This has had several applications in security and has been used by several organisations.

FSDH Merchant Bank Raises N14.40bn via Commercial Paper Nume Ekeghe FSDH Merchant Bank Limited said it successfully raised N14.40 billion from its Series 3 and Series 4 Commercial Papers (CPs) issuance. Collectively, Series 3 and 4 represent FSDH Merchant Bank’s second issuance under its N30 Billion CP Programme established in 2016.

In a statement yesterday, it revealed that Stanbic IBTC Capital Limited acted as Lead Arranger/Dealer while United Capital Plc and FSDH MB acted

in the capacity of co-arrangers/ dealers, and FSDH MB as issuing, calculation and paying agent. The CPs offer, which closed on 26 May 2017, were open to investors at a discount rate of 18.50% for the Series 3 and 18.80% for the Series 4.

It further stated that the offer was received with considerable investor interest, and a high subscription level despite the persistent lack of liquidity and less than favourable market conditions so far experienced in the first half of 2017.

“This result is testament to investors’ confidence in FSDH MB as a credible institution with sound management and corporate governance practices, and an enviable track record of successful business operations in the domestic financial market,” the statement added.

The Managing Director, FSDH MB, Mrs. Hamda Ambah emphasised that the success of the bank’s most recent CP Issuance reaffirmed the confidence placed by the market in the bank’s brand and its strategic intent.

Diamond Bank Gives out Car, N25m in Promo Ademola Babalola in Ibadan The on-going 9th year rewards promo for customers of the Diamond Bank Plc nationwide, recorded massive prize awards yesterday in Ibadan, Oyo state capital as one lucky customer and 40 others went home with brand new Hyundai Accent Car and N25 million respectively.

The Ibadan show which held at Mokola roundabout of the city witnessed large turnout of the bank’s customers with some publicly testifying to the 8th edition of such rewards promo held in 2016.

The bank’s management said the ongoing “Diamond Xtra Corporate Draw” was in furtherance of its policy of encouraging culture of saving money and rewarding customers that bank with it.

Grace Oluwatoyin Adegbite from Abeokuta became the latest owner of Hyundai Accent with others smiling to the bank with various cash awards totalling N25 million. In about three weeks’ time, another draws have been slated for Ibadan where lucky customers would be rewarded with lifetime salary of N100,000 monthly.

Those rewarded so far and others to be eligible for the monthly salary, are those with at least N5,000 account balance.

The said 30 persons who had deposited a minimum of N5,000 with the bank were given N500,000 each and N1m each went to 10 people.

Speaking with newsmen, Head, Consumer Banking of the bank, Mrs Aisha Ahmad said: “What we are trying to achieve is to ensure that

Nigerians secure their future.

If you look at every economy that is vibrant, they usually have a very large saving culture.

“We go through a very transparent, open process that is vetted by KPMG, our regulating agent. As customers continue to win these prizes, they get used to this saving culture, and this is only for Diamond Bank customers all over the country.

“Through this, Diamond is fostering development, Diamond is encouraging growth, and Diamond Bank is enabling families. “The concept of ‘salary for life’ is very interesting in that if anybody wins the ticket, he or she gets a monthly salary of N100,000 for twenty years.

It is the same process of what we have been doing for the past nine years,” she explained.

Standard Chartered Bank Chair Tasks Professional Bodies on Ethics Ugo Aliogo The Chairman of Standard Chartered Bank of Nigeria, Remi Omotoso has lamented the gap between declaration and real practice in the code of ethics of many professional bodies.

Omotosho, who disclosed this yesterday at the New Members’ Induction ceremony of the Institute of Directors (IoD) with the theme: “Professional:

Oaths and Ethics in Nigeria,” in Lagos, noted that the reasons for the yawning gap include corruption, incompetence, impunity and others factors.

He explained that if the professional bodies live by the standards they set, the level of development in the country would grow faster, adding that this could improve foreign direct investment and boost the greater level of productivity in domestic

investment.

Omotosho called on the leadership of various professional bodies to abide by set standards and not compromise, noting that erring members of professional bodies should be disciplined when found guilty.

“There is a large scope for Code of Conduct Bureau established by law in Nigeria to enforce adherence to best practice in the Civil Service.

MARKET INDICATORS MONEY AND CREDIT STATISTICS

(MILLION NAIRA)

DECEMBER 2016 Broad Money (M2)

23,840,392.42

-- Narrow Money (M1)

11,520,166.67

---- Currency Outside Banks

1,820,415.90

---- Demand Deposits

9,699,750.76

-- Quasi Money

12,320,225.75

Net Foreign Assets (NFA)

9,353,504.03

Net Domestic Assets(NDA)

14,486,888.39

-- Net Domestic Credit (NDC)

26,774,684.47

---- Credit to Government (Net)

4,595,579.89

---- Memo: Credit to Govt. (Net) less FMA

7,436,917.79

---- Memo: Fed. and Mirror Accounts (FMA)

-2,841,337.90

---- Credit to Private Sector (CPS)

22,374,718.08

--Other Assets Net

-12,483,409.58

Reserve Money (Base Money)

5,837,322.41

--Currency in Circulation

2,179,174.28

--Banks Reserves

3,318,344.71 • Source - CBN

MONEY MARKET INDICATORS (%) December 2016 Inter-Bank Call Rate

10.39

Monetary Policy Rate (MPR

14.00

Treasury Bill Rate

13.96

Savings Deposit Rate

4.18

1 Month Deposit Rate

8.53

3 Months Deposit Rate

8.80

6 Months Deposit Rate

10.23

12 Months Deposit Rate

10.76

Prime Lending rate

17.09

Maximum Lending Rate

28.55

• Monetary Policy Rate - 14%

OPEC DAILY BASKET PRICE AS AT TUESDAY 4, JULY 2017

The price of OPEC basket of fourteen crudes stood at $47.57 a barrel on Tuesday , compared with $47.17 the previous day, according to OPEC Secretariat calculations.

The OPEC Reference Basket of Crudes (ORB) is made up of the following: Saharan Blend (Algeria), Girassol (Angola), Oriente (Ecuador), Zafiro (Equatorial Guinea), Rabi Light (Gabon), Iran Heavy (Islamic Republic of Iran), Basra Light (Iraq), Kuwait Export (Kuwait), Es Sider (Libya), Bonny Light (Nigeria), Qatar Marine (Qatar), Arab Light (Saudi Arabia), Murban (UAE) and Merey (Venezuela)

41

T H I S D AY • THURSDAY JULY 6, 2017

Nigeria’s top 50 stocks based on market fundamentals

5-July-17

4-July-17

% Change

Capitalisation

EPS

P/E

P/S

Div. Yld

Price/ Book Value

01 Dangote Cement Plc

202.01

202.00

0.00%

3,442,352,900,884.05

10.95

18.72

5.68

3.90%

4.38

02 Nigerian Breweries Plc

158.35

158.05

0.19%

1,255,573,125,614.80

3.58

44.29

4.01

2.27%

7.59

03 Guaranty Trust Bank Plc

34.00

34.00

0.00%

1,000,660,093,616.00

4.49

7.94

2.53

4.96%

2.08

901.50

901.00

0.06%

714,579,611,178.00

10.00

91.02

3.97

3.19%

23.36

05 Zenith Bank Plc

20.20

20.20

0.00%

634,209,174,477.20

4.13

5.06

1.29

8.61%

0.93

06 Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc

32.00

32.01

-0.03%

320,000,000,000.00

2.85

11.37

2.07

0.31%

2.30

07 United Bank for Africa Plc

8.38

8.20

2.20%

304,022,430,578.36

1.99

4.75

0.90

6.34%

0.77

67.93

67.93

0.00%

269,714,505,666.85

0.03

2,496.60

4.06

1.78%

6.93

9.00

9.12

-1.32%

260,351,744,679.00

13.18

0.72

0.72

5.76%

0.61

460.05

460.05

0.00%

254,550,409,495.65 -82.02

-5.67

4.06

3.42%

0.68

11 Lafarge Africa Plc

50.00

50.00

0.00%

227,745,090,500.00

3.71

13.48

1.04

6.00%

0.91

12 Ecobank Transnational Incorporated

12.36

12.88

-4.04%

226,800,453,017.40

0.68

19.68

0.42

4.66%

0.39

6.05

5.91

2.37%

217,166,521,391.60

0.21

29.88

0.42

2.42%

0.36

14 Unilever Nigeria Plc

35.03

36.87

-4.99%

132,528,867,637.50

0.81

50.31

2.21

0.12%

13.22

15 International Breweries Plc

30.57

30.57

0.00%

100,705,200,489.60

0.02

1,356.74

3.78

0.82%

9.18

16 Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc

8.36

8.79

-4.89%

100,320,000,000.00

1.20

7.50

0.64

5.56%

1.63

17 Guinness Nig Plc

63.00

64.54

-2.39%

94,870,955,844.00

-3.06

-23.38

1.04

4.48%

2.73

18 Total Nigeria Plc

266.00

266.00

0.00%

90,312,808,642.00

43.58

6.24

0.32

5.15%

3.92

19 Mobil Oil Nig Plc

236.55

237.53

-0.41%

85,298,809,226.10

22.61

11.06

0.96

2.88%

4.20

7.04

7.11

-0.98%

84,723,717,013.76

0.29

25.94

0.20

9.96%

0.47

21 Forte Oil Plc.

49.40

49.40

0.00%

64,342,566,488.20

2.22

23.75

0.46

6.55%

1.58

22 Flour Mills Nig. Plc

23.14

25.63

-9.72%

60,724,848,507.18

-1.19

-23.46

0.17

7.15%

0.74

23 Okomu Oil Palm Plc

58.00

58.00

0.00%

55,326,780,000.00

5.15

11.36

3.88

0.17%

3.28

24 7-Up Bottling Comp. Plc

78.21

78.21

0.00%

50,100,572,290.23

-0.05 -1,992.33

0.63

2.42%

2.63

1.29

1.38

-6.52%

49,950,086,678.25

-0.03

-50.16

0.95

0.00%

0.65

32.14

33.83

-5.00%

42,424,800,000.00

-2.89

-13.64

0.37

3.80%

0.74

1.23

1.29

-4.65%

35,623,980,401.16

0.39

3.41

0.25

12.12%

0.21

17.36

17.36

0.00%

33,346,205,758.32

3.37

5.34

0.46

5.56%

0.46

29 Sterling Bank Plc

1.05

1.06

-0.94%

30,229,939,032.30

0.18

5.91

0.27

8.49%

0.36

30 Diamond Bank Plc

1.19

1.21

-1.65%

27,560,862,871.92

-0.29

-4.43

0.14

0.00%

0.13

31 National Salt Co. Nig. Plc

9.30

9.30

0.00%

24,639,776,915.40

0.91

10.19

1.35

5.92%

3.06

32 Glaxo Smithkline Consumer Nig. Plc

20.00

20.00

0.00%

23,917,529,760.00

3.51

5.82

1.70

1.47%

1.43

33 Cadbury Nigeria Plc

12.64

13.30

-4.96%

23,740,473,785.60

-0.16

-86.50

0.86

9.52%

2.32

34 Mansard Insurance Plc

2.24

2.24

0.00%

23,520,000,000.00

0.25

8.53

1.08

2.34%

1.11

35 PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc

23.14

24.35

-4.97%

23,140,000,000.00

5.69

4.04

1.60

0.44%

0.62

36 Cap Plc

33.00

33.00

0.00%

23,100,000,000.00

2.29

13.97

3.29

3.59%

9.81

37 FCMB Group Plc

1.15

1.21

-4.96%

22,773,117,398.15

0.72

1.77

0.14

7.81%

0.14

38 Wema Bank Plc

0.54

0.54

0.00%

20,830,211,683.74

0.07

8.19

0.39

0.00%

0.44

39 Custodian And Allied Insurance Plc

3.40

3.49

-2.58%

19,998,338,263.00

0.91

4.04

0.56

3.83%

0.72

40 Honeywell Flour Mill Plc

2.09

2.12

-1.42%

16,574,113,105.22

-0.40

-4.35

0.29

9.09%

0.42

41 Continental Reinsurance Plc

1.24

1.19

4.20%

12,862,202,946.88

0.42

2.95

0.58

9.68%

0.69

42 Cement Co. Of North.Nig. Plc

9.70

9.70

0.00%

12,189,774,330.20

0.22

46.64

1.15

0.98%

1.19

43 Skye Bank Plc

0.68

0.66

3.03%

9,438,604,958.80

-2.93

-0.21

0.05

49.18%

0.08

44 Unity Bank Plc

0.67

0.61

9.84%

7,831,856,421.14

0.19

3.91

0.10

0.00%

0.10

45 Wapic Insurance Plc

0.50

0.50

0.00%

6,691,369,126.00

0.18

2.89

0.89

5.77%

0.42

46 Resort Savings & Loans Plc

0.50

0.50

0.00%

5,664,866,202.00

0.03

17.71

3.72

0.00%

1.94

47 UACN Property Development Co. Limited

2.80

2.80

0.00%

4,812,499,986.00

-0.90

-3.10

0.76

25.00%

0.14

48 Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Plc

2.80

2.90

-3.45%

4,547,812,500.00

0.36

8.59

0.63

6.51%

0.77

49 Fidson Healthcare Plc

2.84

2.71

4.80%

4,260,000,000.00

0.21

12.55

0.52

1.89%

0.60

50 AIICO Insurance Plc

0.59

0.62

-4.84%

4,088,820,643.20

1.48

0.41

0.15

8.33%

0.48

04 Nestle Nigeria Plc

08 Presco Plc 09 Access Bank Plc 10 Seplat Petroleum Dev. Co. Ltd

13 FBN Holdings Plc

20 Oando Plc

25 Transnational Corporation Of Nigeria Plc 26 Julius Berger Nig. Plc 27 Fidelity Bank Plc 28 U A C N Plc

TOTAL

10,560,738,430,004.80

TOTAL MARKET CAP

11,133,017,344,788.70

% OF MARKET CAP Annotation - MA* = Simple Moving Average

94.86%

Table 1 Market Statistics Mkt Indicators

Open 4-July-17

NSE All Share Index NSE Market Cap (N'Trillion)

32,410.20 11.17

32,302.32 11.13

-0.33 -0.33

136.05 10.59

135.63 10.56

-0.30 -0.30

Thisday BGL 50 Index Thisday BGL 50 Market Cap (N'Trillion)

Close 5-July-17

Change %

Table 3 Top 5 Gainers Stock

Open 4-July-17

Unity Bank Plc Fidson Healthcare Plc Continental Reinsurance Plc Skye Bank Plc FBN Holdings Plc

0.61 2.71 1.19 0.66 5.91

Close Change 5-July-17 % 0.67 2.84 1.24 0.68 6.05

9.84 4.80 4.20 3.03 2.37

Table 4 Top 5 Losers Stock

Open 4-July-17

Flour Mills Nig. Plc Transnational Corporation Of Nigeria Plc Julius Berger Nig. Plc Unilever Nigeria Plc PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc

Close Change 5-July-17 %

25.63 1.38

23.14 1.29

-9.72 -6.52

33.83 36.87 24.35

32.14 35.03 23.14

-5.00 -4.99 -4.97

NSE Index drops further by 0.33% Market pulse on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) today – Wednesday, July 5th, 2017 again ended on a negative note as the stock market closed red as investors’ risk appetite wanes. This was further highlighted by negative performance from the NSE Subsectors: Banking, Insurance, Consumer Goods and Oil & Gas. However, trading activities increased in volume as 311.38m shares worth of N2.97 billion in 4,312 deals exchanged hands today. This is an increase from 206.18m shares worth of N1.70 billion in 4,294 deals which exchanged hands on Tuesday. Topping in volume terms are: Niger Insurance Co. Plc, FBN Holdings Plc and Transnational Corporation Of Nigeria Plc; Zenith Bank Plc and Nestle Nigeria Plc ended trading as the most active stocks in value terms. Brent crude oil price sheds 3.48% to US$47.91 per barrel from $49.66 per barrel the previous day.

The All Share Index (NSEASI) closed negative with 0.33% (-107.88) decrease to close at 32,302.32 from 32,410.20 the previous trading day. Market capitalization depreciated in tandem to N11.13 trillion from N11.17 trillion of prior trading day. Similarly, the Thisday BGL 50 Index closes with a decrease of 1.12% to 136.05 from 137.59 recorded at the end of the previous trading day, while its market capitalization stood at N10.59 trillion from N10.71 trillion of the previous trading day.

Market breath closed positive today as 12 stocks gained on the bourse while 33 stocks also declined, leaving 52 stocks unchanged. Leading the pack was Unity Bank Plc with a gain of 9.84% to close at N0.67 per share. It was followed by Fidson Healthcare Plc with a gain of 4.80% to close at N2.84 per share. Others on the gainers’ list include: Berger Paints Plc, Continental Reinsurance Plc and Skye Bank Plc. On the decliners’ list, Flour Mills Nig. Plc led with a loss of 9.72% to close at N23.14 share. It was followed by Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals Plc 8.00% to close at N0.69 per share. Others on the decliners list include: Transnational Corporation Of Nigeria Plc, C&I Leasing Plc and Julius Berger Nig. Plc. Topping the Thisday BGL 50 Index gainers’ list Unity Bank Plc as it emerged as the day’s toast of investors with a gain of 9.84% to close at N0.67 per share. It was followed by Fidson Healthcare Plc with a gain of 4.80% to close at N2.84 per share. Others on the gainers list include: Continental Reinsurance Plc, Skye Bank Plc and FBN Holdings Plc; while on the decliners’ list, Flour Mills Nig. Plc lead with a loss of 9.72% to close at N23.14 share. It was followed by Transnational Corporation Of Nigeria Plc with a loss of 6.52% to close at N1.29 per share. Others on the decliners list include: Julius Berger Nig. Plc, Unilever Nigeria Plc and PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc. REQUIRED DISCLOSURE This report has been prepared by BGL Plc. BGL Plc does and seeks to do business with companies covered in its research reports. As a result, the firm may have a conflict of interest that could affect the objectivity of this report. Investors should use this report as one of many other factors in making their investment decisions.

For more details go to www.thisdaylive.com

T H I S D AY • THURSDAY, JULY 6, 2017

42

MARKET NEWS

No Dividend as Seven-Up Records N11bn Full Year Loss Goddy Egene and Nosa Alekhuogie Shareholders of Seven-Up Bottling Company Plc will be without dividend as the company has recorded a loss of N10.7 billion for the year ended March 31, 2017. The shareholders had received a dividend of N1.60 per share for the year ended March 31, 2016, when the company posted a

profit after tax of N3.34 billion.

However, this time around, Seven-Up Bottling Company has recorded a negative bottom-line.

The company posted a revenue of 108.227 billion in 2017, up by 26 per cent from N85.6 billion in 2016.

Cost of sale went up from N60.6 billion to N95 billion, while gross profit stood at N12.9 billion, compared with N25 billion in 2016. Selling and

distribution expenses rose from N11.8 billion to N13.9 billion, just as administrative expenses inched up marginally from N6.6 billion to N6.7 billion.

Finance cost rose from N3.2 billion in 2016 to N4.02 billion in 2017. Consequently, Seven-Up ended the year with a loss of N10.7 billion, compared with a profit of N3.34 billion in 2016.

Meanwhile, trading at the stock market yesterday remained

bearish for the third consecutive day as investors continue to rebalance their portfolio following end of the first half of the year and the commencement of the second half.

At the close of trading, the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All-Share Index (ASI) fell by 0.33 per cent to close at 32,302.32, market capitalisation ended at N11.13 trillion.

The depreciation recorded in

the share prices of Guinness, PZ Cussons, Flour Mills, Unilever, Access Bank Plc and ETI Plc contributed to the decline recorded yesterday.

In all, 33 stocks depreciated led by Flour Mills (-9.7 per cent), trailed by Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals Plc (-8.0 per cent). Transcorp Plc shed 6.5 per cent, just as C & I Leasing Plc and Julius Berger Nigeria Plc went down by 5.0 per cent

each.

On the positive side, only 12 stocks appreciated. Unity Bank Plc led with 9.8 per cent, followed by Fidson Healthcare Plc with 4.8 per cent, while Berger Paints Nigeria Plc chalked up 4.5 per cent.

Investors staked N2.97 billion on 311.38 million shares up by 74.8 per cent compared with N1.70 billion invested in 206.183 million shares the previous day.

DAILY STOCK MARKET REPORT T H E

N I G E R I A N

STO C K

E XC H A N G E

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T H I S D AY • THURSDAY, JULY 6, 2017

MARKET NEWS

Guinness Nigeria Gets Regulators’ Nod for N40bn Rights Issue

Goddy Egene Guinness Nigeria Plc has received clearance of the issue documents from the Securities and Exchange Commission and approval from the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) to go ahead with its Rights Issue to raise N39.701billion.

The brewing firm is to raise the funds by way of right issue to existing shareholders on the basis of five new shares for every 11 shares at an issue price

of N58 per share.

All parties have already signed the agreement with the company to facilitate the issue. According to the company, the funds will support in executing its strategy in the context of ongoing external economic challenges.

Commenting on the issue, Managing Director of Guinness Nigeria Plc, Mr. Peter Ndegwa, said: “This rights issue will allow the company to deliver on its strategic objectives and give

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

all our shareholders a unique opportunity to increase the number of shares they hold.

Our expectation is that funds raised will help mitigate the impact of increasing finance costs, optimise our balance sheet and improve the company’s financial flexibility.”

Before now, the MD had expressed confidence that the rights issue would be successful, saying, “we believe that shareholders want to support this business because we have

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 04Jul-2017, unless otherwise stated

a great future and Nigeria would overcome its present challenges that the economy faces because it is still the largest economy in Africa and most attractive from a consumer goods point of view.”

Speaking in the same vein, Chairman, Guinness Nigeria Plc, Babatunde Savage, stated that this process is part of the company’s long-term plans to continue to invest in its business in Nigeria.

“We have been here in

Nigeria for 67 years and while it has been challenging in recent times for many Nigerian businesses, we remain committed to this market as evidenced by our decision to offer this Rights Issue. We are grateful for the support that we have received from our shareholders and other stakeholders up to this point,” Savage said.

Stanbic IBTC Capital Limited is acting for Guinness Nigeria Plc as issuing house for the rights

issue.

As part of efforts to improve on its performance and deliver returns to shareholders, Guinness Nigeria Plc last year became the first total beverage alcohol company in Nigeria by acquiring the rights to distribute international premium spirits like Johnnie Walker whisky and Baileys liqueur in Nigeria.

It also inaugurated a N4.7 billion line for locally manufactured spirits at its Benin plant, Edo State.

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 157.54 158.78 24.29% Nigeria International Debt Fund 224.36 225.99 5.87% 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 0.74 0.75 5.29% AIICO CAPITAL LTD ammf@aiicocapital.com Web: www.aiicocapital.com, Tel: +234-1-2792974 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AIICO Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 18.92% 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 15.61 16.08 26.46% ARM Discovery Fund 339.67 349.91 18.28% ARM Ethical Fund 24.23 24.96 8.44% ARM Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 0.00% 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 132.03 132.95 25.52% AXA Mansard Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 18.71% 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 10.78 11.05 15.14% Women's Investment Fund 91.41 93.75 8.05% 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 19.11% 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 1,092.65 1,093.73 7.98% FBN Heritage Fund 130.56 131.65 17.10% FBN Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 17.99% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Institutional $108.58 $109.56 5.60% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Retail $107.76 $108.74 5.54% FBN Nigeria Smart Beta Equity Fund 151.36 153.53 34.42% 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 1.22 1.24 30.85% Legacy Short Maturity (NGN) Fund 2.79 2.79 8.45% 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 2,606.19 2,649.36 18.25% Coral Income Fund 2,304.07 2,304.07 9.50% GREENWICH ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmanagement@gtlgroup.com Web: www.gtlgroup.com ; Tel: +234 1 4619261-2 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Greenwich Plus Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 15.52% 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 17.49% Vantage Balanced Fund 1.96 1.99 16.94% Vantage Guaranteed Income Fund 1.00 1.00 18.30%

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 1.07 1.09 8.41% Lotus Halal Fixed Income Fund 1,043.75 1,043.75 6.03% MERISTEM WEALTH MANAGEMENT LTD info@meristemwealth.com Web: http://www.meristemwealth.com/funds/ ; Tel: +234 1-4488260 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Meristem Equity Market Fund 12.44 12.54 28.71% Meristem Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 19.08% 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 1.13 1.15 14.19% PACAM Fixed Income Fund 10.64 10.69 2.31% PACAM Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 16.98% 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 120.18 121.17 18.04% SFS CAPITAL NIGERIA LTD investments@sfsnigeria.com Web: www.sfsnigeria.com, Tel: +234 (01) 2801400 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn SFS Fixed Income Fund 1.32 1.32 6.16% 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 2,054.61 2,066.09 12.20% Stanbic IBTC Bond Fund 161.47 161.47 4.88% Stanbic IBTC Ethical Fund 0.90 0.91 17.53% Stanbic IBTC Guaranteed Investment Fund 202.27 202.27 8.23% Stanbic IBTC Iman Fund 155.76 157.85 20.00% Stanbic IBTC Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 18.44% Stanbic IBTC Nigerian Equity Fund 8,777.73 8,876.13 15.73% 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 1.29 1.30 9.19% United Capital Bond Fund 1.36 1.36 15.17% United Capital Equity Fund 0.82 0.84 2.68% United Capital Money Market Fund 1.16 1.16 11.18% 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 11.80 11.99 21.71% Zenith Ethical Fund 12.62 12.76 15.38% Zenith Income Fund 18.19 18.19 10.02%

REITS

NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

11.41 128.34

1.01% 3.53%

Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

9.77 94.09

9.87 95.84

11.21% 24.15%

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

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS

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

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

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

funds@vetiva.com Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

3.92 7.89 15.29 19.10 130.43

3.96 7.97 15.39 19.30 132.43

41.79% 12.16% 28.20% 19.63% 1.18%

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

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T H I S D AY THURSDAY JULY 6, 2017

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THURSDAY JULY 6, 2017 • T H I S D AY

48

INTERNATIONAL

email:foreigndesk@thisdaylive.com

North Korea Missile Launch: Trump Berates China on Trade

Donald Trump has criticised China following North Korea’s test of a long-range missile, condemning it for increasing trade with Pyongyang.

“So much for China working

with us,” the US president tweeted.

The US and South Korea conducted a ballistic missile fire exercise in the Sea of Japan in response to the North.

China and Russia have urged

Iraq Forces Battle IS in Mosul after PM Fetes ‘Victory’ Iraqi forces battled the last Islamic State group holdouts in Mosul on Wednesday, a day after the country’s premier feted the “major victory” over the jihadists in the northern city.

In neighbouring Syria, US-backed forces gained ground after air strikes by the international anti-IS coalition punched holes in the wall of the Old City in Raqa, where they are waging a parallel offensive against the jihadists.

“Today, our advance was easier than yesterday,” said Lieutenant Colonel Haider Hussein, a commander in Iraq’s elite CounterTerrorism Service. “We took control of more than 200 metres (yards) today and there are less than 200 metres remaining toward the Tigris River,” Hussein said, referring to the waterway marking the eastern edge of remaining IS-held territory in the city.

More than eight months since the start of the operation, IS has gone from fully controlling Mosul to holding a limited area in the Old City on its western side.

But Iraqi troops in Mosul have faced tough fighting and a spike in suicide bombings in recent days, commanders have said.

The jihadists “are using a new strategy in which they wait inside houses and when the soldiers enter the houses they fire bullets or blow themselves up,” Hussein said.

The body of a woman said to have been suicide bomber shot before she could blow herself earlier in the day lay in the street near the house where the officer spoke.

Decaying corpses gave off a stench of death that permeated some streets, and a pool of halfdried blood spread out from the door of one house.

both sides to stop flexing their military muscle and said they oppose any attempts at regime change in North Korea.

“It is perfectly clear to Russia and China that any attempts to justify the use of force by

referring to [United Nations] Security Council resolutions are unacceptable, and will lead to unpredictable consequences in this region which borders both the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China,”

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.

“Attempts to strangle the DPRK [North Korea] economically are equally unacceptable,” he added.

The missile launch, the latest in a series of tests, was in defiance of

a ban by the UN Security Council.

The US has asked for an urgent meeting of the Security Council to discuss the issue. A closeddoor session of the 15-member body will take place later on Wednesday.

Qatar Crisis Rivals Look to Next Move in Cairo Talks Arab states that have cut ties with Qatar held talks in Egypt on Wednesday to discuss their next move in the Gulf diplomatic crisis, as Doha called for dialogue to resolve the dispute.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry welcomed his counterparts from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain for the talks at a ministry building in central Cairo, a month after the countries severed ties with Qatar, accusing Doha of supporting extremism.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Saudi foreign ministry said they had received Qatar’s response to their demands -- which include Doha ending support for the Muslim Brotherhood and closing broadcaster Al-Jazeera -- and would respond “at the right time”. Saudi Arabia and its allies have not said what steps they could take next, but there are fears of a wider embargo that would hurt the Qatari economy, with credit ratings agency Moody’s announcing it was changing Qatar’s

outlook to negative over the crisis.

The countries issued the 13-point list of demands on June 22, giving Qatar 10 days to respond. The deadline was extended by 48 hours on Sunday at the request of Kuwait, which is mediating in the crisis, and Qatar handed in the response on Monday.

The contents of the response have not been disclosed, but Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said Tuesday that the

list of demands “is unrealistic and is not actionable”.

Qatar has denied any support for extremism and accused the countries of seeking to infringe on its sovereignty. The other demands include Qatar downgrading ties with Iran -- Saudi Arabia’s regional arch-rival -- and shutting down a Turkish military base in the emirate.

Meanwhile, restrictions on Qatar will continue after it rejected the ultimatum made by its Middle East neighbours, Saudi Arabia has said.

Petya Hackers Issue Fresh Ransom Demand The perpetrators of a recent cyberattack that disrupted businesses across the world appear to have accessed the ransom payments they raised.

Just over £7,900-worth of virtual currency has been moved from

the Bitcoin address listed in the blackmail demand that appeared on hacked PCs. One expert said there was little doubt the funds had been tapped by those responsible for the crime.

And it seems they have now made a fresh ransom demand.

However, analysts suggest the move is intended to confuse investigations into the matter.

In other related developments, Ukraine’s interior minister has said

the police managed to prevent a second wave of attacks by shutting down and confiscating computer servers used by a local software company, which is thought to have unwittingly helped the Petya-variant virus to spread.

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THURSDAY JULY 6, 2017 • T H I S D AY

NEWSEXTRA

NBA Condemns Agitation for Breakup of Nigeria Gboyega Akinsanmi The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has condemned the heightened agitation by individuals, groups and organisations calling for the violent breakup of Nigeria, stating that advocacy for violent breakup of the country is misguided.

The NBA, in a statement signed by the association’s President, Abubakar Mahmoud (SAN), stated that it rejected these tendencies

unequivocally and condemned all such threats to the sovereign existence of Nigeria and the peaceful co-existence of our communities.

The association also stressed that it recognised that Nigeria is going through difficult economic times, a direct product of the failure of successive governments to diligently tackle the myriad challenges bedeviling our country.

However, the NBA said it was confident that Nigerians can and

APC, Budget Minister Meet on Economic Recovery Plan Udoma insists recession will end this year Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja The National Working Committee (NWC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday met with the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udoma Udo Udoma, for several hours on the state of the economy and to seek ways of redeeming promises made to the people.

The minister met with the party leadership for hours behind closed doors and at the end told journalists that he had just given assurances to the party that the federal government is doing everything possible to see that the country exit from recession this year.

Speaking on the state of the economy, the minister said from available indices, the country would surely come out of recession this year.

On the issued budget implementation especially as it related to the recently launched economic growth plan, Udoma said: “Implementation of the 2017 budget will be targeted at achieving the objectives of the ERGP and delivering on the promises of the APC and of Mr. President.

“As a ministry, we will continue to strengthening our monitoring and evaluation framework - covering physical inspection/verification as well as Impact Assessment of projects/programme implemented

by MDAs. In terms of ERGP implementation, the minister said much of the capital provision in

the 2017 budget is directed at projects that are aligned with the core execution priorities of the ERGP. He called on the party’s hierarchy support to ensure delivery of the plan’s objectives starting with the 2017 budget.

Speaking earlier, the APC National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, in his remarks before the meeting went into a closed-door session, noted that the 2017-2020 Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) is fundamental in rebuilding and strengthening of the foundation of country, particularly the economy.

He said the idea behind the invitation was to update members of the national leadership of the party on the situation concerning the economy and specifically when the country will come out of recession.

Oyegun said the economic plan is fundamental because it is the basis for which the rebuilding and strengthening of the foundation of this nation is going to be based.

“We will benefit from his presentation today because what he will tell us is very important message of what we will tell Nigerians. We want to tell people about how soon the recession will ending or whether we are out of it already.

“What we will tell Nigerians must be based on first hand knowledge and facts. With the presentation, we will be in position to say that this is where we are likely to be three years from now,” he said.

NAF Jets Bombard Terrorists’ Solar Panels, Facilities in Alagarno Camp Paul Obi in Abuja As part of its clearance operations, the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) Component of Operation Lafiya Dole conducted an Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) mission of the Sambisa general area, the former spiritual headquarters of the Boko Haram terrorists.

Air Force Director of Public Relations and Information, Air Commodore Olatokunbo Adesanya, said: “During the ISR mission, a gradual convergence of Boko Haram elements at some buildings in Alagarno Camp 1 was noticed.

“The sight of several solar panels on the rooftops of the buildings, and the obvious attempt to conceal the buildings, gave out the plans of the terrorists.”

Adesanya explained that “a confirmatory ISR mission indicated that the structures were most likely a budding command and control facility, which could also house High Value Targets.

“Accordingly, on July 3, 2017, the air component detailed three aircraft namely, two Alpha Jet and one F-7Ni aircraft, to conduct Air Interdiction strikes on the buildings in succession.

“Subsequent Battle Damage Assessment revealed that the structures with the solar panels as well as other adjoining Boko Haram structures were damaged.

“Furthermore, a suspected Boko Haram technical vehicle, which was attempting to make a run from the vicinity, was struck by subsequent waves of attack.”

would resist the tendency to turn on one another during these difficult times.

“The NBA reaffirms its belief in unity and sovereignty of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. We believe that the peoples of Nigeria, irrespective of diversities of identity, face common and shared everyday challenges and desire a stable and secure country based on justice, equity and the rule of law.

“The NBA is convinced that our various peoples have consistently shown the capacity and desire to live together in a federation under democratically elected government, which alone can guarantee the conditions for addressing the imperfections that ail our country.

“The NBA is convinced that our people are better off in a united

Nigeria run and managed in accordance with the principles of justice, equity and the rule of law, and capable of harnessing our diversities in a manner that strengthens our historic bonds of coexistence. Any advocacy for violent breakup of the country is misguided.

“The NBA uncompromisingly affirms that all citizens of the Federal Republic of Nigeria have the constitutional and legal right to live, travel to and own or acquire movable or immovable property in any part of the federation.

“No individual, group or organisation under any guise can lawfully issue any form of notice to Nigerians with the goal of diminishing the enjoyment of these rights.

“The NBA reaffirms that Nigerian citizens everywhere have a constitutional right to free expression and to robustly debate issues affecting our country. It is however clear that the constitutional right to free speech does not extend to or protect hate speech.

“The NBA commits to working with the appropriate security agencies to ensure accountability for such acts.

“Accordingly, I have today directed the Section on Public Interest and Development Law (SPIDEL) and the Human Rights Institute of the NBA (NBA-HRH to collaborate with the National Secretariat of the NBA in a unit to monitor and liaise with security agencies to ensure accountability for hate speech and incitement to

identity-based hatred in Nigeria.

“The NBA appeals to media houses, publishers, broadcasters, opinion leaders, politicians, faith and community leaders, intellectuals, social media influencers and on air personalities (GAPS) to exercise responsibility and utmost professionalism in the content they publish or distribute through their platforms.

“The NBA urges Nigerians to unite in isolating and shaming opportunists that have decided to put the co existence and well being of our people at risk for their narrow ends. Such a step will further affirm the resolve of the Nigerian people to live in peace and harmony under a democracy founded on justice, equity and rule of law.”

SIGNED AND SEALED

General Manager, Kenana Engineering and Technical Services Ltd (KETS), Mulhim Eltayeb (left), and President/CE, Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, during the signing of agreement between KETS and Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc for engineering and project management consultancy services to Dangote Sugar plants in various locations in Nigeria in Lagos....yesterday

Group Alleges Plan to Declare State of Emergency in Taraba Wole Ayodele in Jalingo A pro-democracy group, Good Governance Group (GGG), has accused the All Progressives Congress (APC)-controlled federal government of planning to declare a state of emergency in Taraba State following the crisis that occurred in the Mambilla plateau.

The group, in a statement signed by its Public Relations Officer (PRO), Ahmadu Sale, said it has information from reliable sources within the military that plans to execute the plan has reached advanced stage.

The group noted that the visit of the Minister of Interior, General Abdulrahman Danbazau (rtd), to the state and Mambilla in particular penultimate week was an ill wind and a harbinger, saying it was a reminiscence of how his visit to Jos prelude the declaration of state of emergency in Plateau State many years back.

According to the group “ever since Senator Yusuf A Yusuf made

a call for an emergency rule in Taraba State, he and his cohorts in the APC have been busy. As we write this, plans have reached an advanced stage to slam our dear state with an emergency rule.

Yusuf made that call and now it is being seriously followed up.

“In fact, it has been finalised already by some top politicians and retired/serving generals of Fulani extraction. Even Senator Aisha Jummai Alhassan, Minister of Women Affairs, condemned the call recently at her press briefing where she said ‘an emergency rule would bring untold hardship to the people.’

“But despite her opposition to the move even as a prominent member of APC, the surreptitious move had continued unabated and this sinister plan informed the boycott of the public hearing on the anti Open Grazing Bill by Miyetti Allah on Tuesday as well as the seven day ultimatum given to the federal government by Yusuf Dankofa, a professor of law.”

Condemning the move and maintaining that those planning the evil would not succeed, the group insisted that no government can impose a state of emergency on a peaceful state, saying this is not the first time there has been crisis in Mambilla or anywhere else without a resort to a declaration of a state of emergency Appealing to all people of goodwill to save the state from the impending invasion and plan to steal Governor Ishaku’s mandate through the back door, the group stressed that the plan of those behind the move is to take Taraba by force and by all means necessary as well as embarrass General TY Danjuma (rtd).

Meanwhile, the Taraba State Government has condemned the Monday, July 3, editorial comment of a national newspaper in which it tagged the Mambilla clash as genocide and ethnic cleansing.

In a statement signed by Bala Dan Abu, Senior Special Assistant to Ishaku on Media and Publicity,

the government lampooned the newspaper editors for choosing to believe the outrageously partisan and fraudulent figures of death of people and cows as given by Fulani leaders who were party to the crisis rather than conduct independent investigation through their reporter or other field men.

Condemning the editorial comment as highly unprofessional, Abu stated that it was a confirmation of widely held belief that the newspaper cannot be trusted to show balance and fairness on matters affecting entrenched Hausa/Fulani interests.

“The newspaper’s curious silence and failure to label the massacre a few months ago of indigenes of Southern Kaduna by Fulani as a case of genocide and ethnic cleansing has apparently exposed its partisan direction on issues in which the interests of its pay masters are involved. The Mambilla crisis is no genocide and can never be no matter how much they try to make it so.”

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Fayose Blasts EFCC for Subjecting Yari to Media Trial Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, has accused the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) of bias and vindictiveness for allegedly accusing Zamfara State Governor and Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF),

Alhaji Abdulaziz Yari, of looting N500million and $500,000 from the Paris Club refunds allocated to his state.

It has been widely reported in the media that the anti-graft agency had accused Yari of diverting the monies from the NGF’s bank account to build a hotel in Lagos.

IjebuYouths Disagree with Akinrinade on Referendum The Ijebu Youth Congress (IYC), the umbrella body of youths in the old Ijebu province, has accused the Gen. Alani Akinrinade (rtd)-led Yoruba Assembly of misrepresenting facts in its purported resolution calling for a referendum as a basis for the continued peaceful co-existence of Nigeria as indivisible entity.

The group in a statement issued to THISDAY by its President, Adedoyin Banjo-Adeniyi, has distanced itself from the position of the Yoruba Assembly, which recently called for a referendum as a basis for the continued existence of Nigeria.

The group expressed confidence in the initiatives of the Acting

President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, to douse the inter-ethnic tension in the country, while reaffirming confidence in Osinbajo’s ability to steer the ship of the nation in the absence of President Muhammadu Buhari. The group in the statement added that the people of old Ijebu province have not mandated anybody or group to speak on its behalf regarding the continued existence of Nigeria or otherwise.

“The Ijebu nation is an autonomous community before the 1892 Imagbon War and so will not need anybody to make a case for us in respect of our relationship with other ethnic nationalities cohabiting in the Nigerian space.”

Commenting on the EFCC’s position yesterday in Ado Ekiti, Fayose said: “The EFCC has become a lawless organisation.

They are fond of destroying people’s reputation. This is most uncharitable. How would you compensate the man if at the end of the day, those allegations, are found to be untrue.

“The EFCC is now being used for settling personal scores. A cabal has hijacked the commission and the fraud in EFCC is second to none.

“Rather than doing the right things, they are muzzling the judiciary and blaming it for losing cases in court when they have no concrete evidence.

“Today, none of the governors has been called or questioned

because of the immunity. A man you have not listened to his own side of the story, you are accusing him and engaging him in media trial because he has an independent mind.

Nigerians are not gullible; they would ask questions.”

Fayose said he was not surprised at the activities of the commission because of the antecedents of President Muhammadu Buhari, whom he accused of imposing the EFCC Chairman, Ibrahim Magu, on Nigerians.

“I warned Nigerians about this government. They started with politicians and moved to breaking houses of judges and lawyers.

“That was why I said Buhari

did not deserve to lead Nigeria.

When a wicked man is leading, a lot of evil will be perpetuated under his watch,” he said.

Fayose said the NGF would meet soon to review the situation to save Nigerians from further harassment and political witchhunt in the hands of the operatives of the commission.

“This is humiliation and character assassination of our chairman. We reject it. The governors’ forum is a reputable organisation. Why not keep your gun powder dry and wait for hearing, and confront him with evidence.

“This is why they are asking for special courts so that they can shop for compromised judges that will do their bidding and

be jailing people for them. Now those judges have also had bad experiences in the hands of the commission, which will serve as an eye opener to the rot in the agency - an organisation that does not obey court order.

“Yari remains our chairman, and we will meet and discuss this. Most of the people in EFCC are not educated. Some civil rights lawyers are now collecting bribe on behalf of the operatives.

“The EFCC must be tamed. They are pursuing vendetta. What do you expect when their chairman is not cleared by the Senate? Currently as constituted, the EFCC does not exist in principle because their chairman has not been cleared.

Their activities remain a nullity,” the governor declared.

Restructuring:Yoruba in Kogi Want Reunion with South-west Yekini Jimoh in Lokoja Following the call to restructure the Nigerian polity, Okun Development Association (ODA), the umbrella socio-cultural group of the Yoruba people in Kogi State, has set up a committee comprising eminent Okun sons and daughters to among other oversight functions, chart a new course for the Okun nation.

Prominently, the committee which is headed by the immediate past ODA President, Chief Emmanuel Otitoju, is to work out modalities that would lead to the people achieving their age-long agitation to be carved out of the North-central geo-political zone and reunited with their kith and kins in the South-west zone.

The ODA National Executive Committee meeting which was held in Kabba recently, was conveyed by ODA National President, Babatunde Fadumiyo, and had 15 members of the executives in attendance.

After an extensive deliberation, ODA resolved among others that the Okun people would support any form of restructuring of the polity that would see the “Okun nation occupies its rightful place in the comity of nations.”

It was further resolved that “there is the urgent need to evolve a throw-back mechanism into the workings of the Okun people whereby genuine people’s needs, liberty, self-determination through national and global development, hard work, transparency and accountability which are veritable

virtues associated with the Okun people are brought back and better refined; that there should be deliberate and concerted efforts at driving out the negative virtues of social marginalisation, abject poverty, mutual distrust, tension, segregation, rancour and acrimony as these are negative virtues which impede the economic and political growth of Okun land.”

The group expressed appreciation to the administrations of President Muhammadu Buhari and the Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, for considering the people of Okunland to serve in key positions in the present dispensation.

The ODA NEC appraised the lingering political crisis in the state, and resolved that it was a creation of factions within the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), adding that in the interest of peaceful co-existence of all Kogi people, members of the APC at the national level should as a matter of expediency bridge the lacuna that occasioned the imbroglio between Governor Yahaye Bello and Senator Dino Melaye and create a veritable platform for an amicable resolution.

It condemned “vituperations, unsavory utterances and violent activities of some political office holders which are meant to drag the good name of Okun people into the mud.

The executives believed that such unguided activities, if not checked, could tarnish the most cherished culture of honesty, dedication and hard work which are characteristics of the Okun people.”

Emeka Okafor Loses Mother-In-Law The death has been announced of Mrs. Cecilia Ifeoma Dunkwu, nee Okafor, of Okpanam, Delta State. Dunkwu died on May 9, 2017 at the age of 83.

She will be buried on Friday, July 14, 2017, after a funeral mass

at St. Michael’s Catholic Church, Okpanam. She is survived by her husband, Chief P. A. Dunkwu, seven children and many grandchildren and in-laws, among them, Mr. Emeka Okafor, a Lagos-based legal practitioner.

WORKSHOP FOR STOCKBROKERS

L-R: Former Director General, Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Mr. Benjamin E. Dikki; Director General, BPE, Mr. Alex A. Okoh; and former Director General, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Dr. Suleyman Ndanusa, at the 2017 annual national workshop of Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers in Abuja....yesterday

Stowaway Exposes Poor Security at Lagos Airport Chinedu Eze It has been confirmed that a 22-year-old man from Nnewi in Anambra State stowed away in a spare compartment of Boeing B747 aircraft operated by Medview Airline and travelled to London from the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, and returned unharmed.

Security operatives who are confounded by the successful access of the stowaway to the aircraft have admitted that the Lagos airport and other airports in the country are porous and that if the stowaway were a suicide bomber, he would have destroyed the aircraft along with the passengers while airborne to London.

Contrary to earlier reports that the stowaway hid himself in the nose wheel of the aircraft, THISDAY gathered yesterday that he sneaked into the spares compartment of the aircraft, where engineers keep their equipment, spares and tooling in case they want to work on the aircraft on the tarmac.

Only Boeing B747 aircraft has that special compartment.

THISDAY also gathered that the compartment is as pressurised as the aircraft cabin and it is close to the cockpit, but when the stowaway

sneaked into that compartment in the night of last Saturday, nobody saw him accessing the aircraft, including the security officials paid by the airline to secure it; the aviation security officials of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and the police at the protocol area through which he sneaked to the tarmac of the terminal.

THISDAY investigations revealed that the stowaway who has been cooling off at the airport police station since he was arrested on his return with the same flight last Sunday, had admitted that he took the advantage of the lax security details to make his way to the aircraft.

Industry experts have admitted that if the stowaway had travelled in the nose wheel or the wheel-well of the aircraft, he would not have survived because it is usually extremely cold while airborne, just as others in the past who attempted to stowaway through the wheel –well had died.

Inside sources told THISDAY that the stowaway confessed that he accessed the airport terminal through the protocol area that is usually manned by the police through the bush area between the Hajj/Cargo terminal and the international terminal.

“He said when he came near

the aircraft, he watched the security personnel manning the aircraft and waited for him to look the other way before he sneaked into the aircraft. On arrival in London, he thought that the passengers would disembark and the aircraft would stay another night so that he could sneak out into the city, but when he saw that after the passengers who arrived from Lagos had disembarked and passengers travelling to Lagos had started boarding, he decided to stay back and that was how he came back to Lagos in the same spares compartment.

“On arrival, he was noticed because he started pushing the door of that compartment and airline officials who were surprised that the door was being pushed from inside went to open it. When they opened the compartment door they were surprised to see somebody there.

They caught him and handed him over to the police.

Security operative who was privy to the incident told THISDAY that the stowaway breached four levels of security to access the aircraft.

“The first is the perimeter fencing, the second is the close circuit television (CCTV), the third is the aviation security operatives (AVSEC) who are supposed to man the tarmac 24 hours and the

fourth is the security in charge of the aircraft. He breached these four levels of security. The question is, supposed he was a suicide bomber, can you imagine the damage he would have done? So what happened was a major security breach,” the source said.

The spokesman of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Sam Adurogboye, and his counterpart at the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Mrs. Henrietta Yakubu, said the two agencies have started investigation into the incident.

Aviation security agent who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told THISDAY that until AVSEC officials fully take over the security apparatus of the airports and until they are allowed to carry guns, these security breaches “will be a regular narrative at the airports because the police and other security operatives are not trained on how to secure the airports so they are more of a distraction. I hope that government should take a critical action now by arming the aviation security agents who are endorsed by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) as the recognised airport security; or they train the police on aviation security.”

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Senate to Investigate NPA’s $3bn Expenditure in JVCs East-West road contract Damilola Oyedele in Abuja The Senate yesterday mandated its Committee on Marine Transport to investigate an alleged expenditure of $3 billion by the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) in a public private partnership (PPP) with some joint venture companies (JVCs).

The committee is also expected to investigate the dredging activities, books and records of the NPA and the JVCs. The companies are Lagos Channel Management (LCM) Limited, Bonny Channel Company (BCM) Limited and Calabar Channel Management Company (CCMC) Limited.

The resolution of the Senate followed a motion of urgent public importance sponsored by Senator Ovie Omo-Agege (Delta Central) who accused the NPA of monumental financial recklessness and economic waste.

Omo-Agege expressed worry that although the companies were conceived to reduce financial burdens on the federal government, the NPA has spent over $1billion and $2billion on LCM and NCC respectively from 2005 to date.

In spite of the expenditure, significant dredging is yet to commence on the Calabar channel, notwithstanding that it is an economic gateway to the North central and North-east geopolitical zones of the country, Omo-Agege said.

“In continuation of NPA’s manifestly questionable and reckless financial commitments, LCM and BCM, through the NPA, have respectively requested for the sums of N23billion and N20billion

in the NPA’s 2017 budget.”

“The NPA has failed, refused and or neglected to ensure the JVCs’ compliance with the Marine Environment (Sea Dumping) Regulations, 2012, made pursuant to the Merchant Shipping Act, 2007; the Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matters 1972 otherwise called the ‘London Dumping Convention’ and the 1996 Protocol to the London Dumping Convention,” he said.

These contraventions, OmoAgege observed, were because there are no dump sites for the management of hazardous dredged wastes removed from the Lagos, Bonny and Calabar navigation channels, thereby leading to sustained severe pollution of the country’s marine ecosystem.

“In spite of the so far unjustified huge financial commitment of the NPA to these supposed PPP joint ventures, empirical facts, evidence and data, including current Admiralty Charts from Lloyds of London, clearly confirm that the depth profiles of the channels, particularly the Lagos and Bonny channels, remained significantly the same at 13 metres between 2005 and 2016, notwithstanding the purported claims of daily maintenance dredging of the channels by the JVs- a curious situation which should not be no matter any form of siltation,” Omo-Agege added.

The Senate yesterday also resolved to probe the circumstances leading to the non-completion of the East-West Road, 11 years after the contract was awarded.

Goje urges Fashola to resign if overwhelmed by portfolio The development, the Senate observed, was worrisome as the road is a major one which links multi-billion naira investments and multi-national infrastructure.

It therefore urged the Ministry of Niger Delta to ensure the completion of the road within the 2017 budget year.

Senator George Thompson Sekibo (Rivers East) moved a motion on the need for the completion of the road with contract sum of N726 billion.

Sekibo lamented that the road, which was an outcome of negotiations with the agitating Niger Delta youths, still suffers neglect and disdain by the government.

“Particularly more worried about the section that links Aba road to Onne road junction in Rivers State, which links other parts of the country to multi-billion, multi-national investments via Port Harcourt Refinery 1, Port Harcourt Refinery 2, Indorama Petrochemicals, Notoire Fertilizer Company, Federal Ocean Terminal

1 and 2, Onne/Ikpokiri Oil and Gas Free Zone and Nigeria Naval College,” he said.

The senator added that due to the concentration of the economic establishments, thousands of trailers, tankers and other heavy duty machineries ply the road on a daily basis for evacuation of products.

In another development, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, Senator Danjuma Goje, has urged the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, to resign his appointment if he is overwhelmed by his responsibilities.

He said this in response to criticisms by Fashola who accused the lawmakers of slashing the proposed appropriation for critical infrastructural in the 2017 budget, a development which he said would stall the completion of such projects.

Goje, raising a point of personal explanation at plenary yesterday, expressed satisfaction that the House

of Representatives has already summoned Fashola over what he (Goje) described as misleading comments.

“I will like to seize this opportunity to advise the minister that he should remember that he is now a minister and should behave like a minister. He is not a governor anymore and this National Assembly is not Lagos State House of Assembly. This is an assembly composed of very patriotic Nigerians, very experienced Nigerians; many had done his job and many were governors before him.

“If the job is too much for him - the ministry is too big; it comprises three ministries, which are works, housing and power; if he cannot adjust, then he should do the honourable thing. He should so the needful.

No amount of blackmail by him; no amount of propaganda by him or his surrogates will stop this National Assembly

from discharging its duties in accordance with the provisions of the constitution.

“For now, I will cease fire and watch to see how the House will handle him. If he is well handled there, we will leave him with them. But if we are not satisfied and they pass him to us, then, we will take him over,” he added.

Commenting on the matter, Senate President Bukola Saraki urged members of the cabinet to consider issues in the interest of all Nigerians.

“I am happy that the House of Representatives are also taking up this issue. It is a matter that we must be responsible, especially those at the cabinet, to look at issues from a national point of view in the interest of all Nigerians,” Saraki said.

He added that the Senate would await the outcome of the minister’s summon by the House of Representatives before “further contributions.”

Oil Communities Demand Direct Allocation of 13% Derivation Emmanuel Addeh in Yenagoa Oil-bearing communities in the Niger Delta have again demanded the direct payment of the 13 per cent derivation to affected local communities, rather than the political arrangement that currently obtains.

The National Chairman of the Host Communities of Nigeria (HOSCON) Dr. Mike Emuh, in an interaction with journalists yesterday, said unless the monies go directly to the communities, agitations would continue to persist.

“We strongly advocate the direct allocation of the 13 per cent derivation fund to the oil and gas producing communities as the panacea for social economic development and permanent security for sensitive national oil/ gas facilities in the Niger Delta area.

“Added to this is the payment of gas flare penalty money to the host communities of Nigeria as obtains in other nations of the world that are oil producing who suffer the same environmental and ecological challenges like Nigeria,” he maintained.

He insisted that HOSCON as a “grassroots mass movement” believes in the efforts being made

by President Muhammadu Buhari and the Acting President, Prof.

Yemi Osinbajo , but noted that they needed to be advised on the right step to take.

“Therefore, we will do everything to give the government the needed support and the right advice that can help to reposition things for the better.

“Section 162(2) of the 1999 Constitution as amended is very clear as to the usage and control of 13 per cent derivation funds.

“That section of the constitution recognises the oil and gas producing communities as the rightful owners of 13 per cent derivation results.

All effort to pay such money through the respective governors of the oil and gas producing states has not yielded the desired result and HOSCON is confident it will never yield such results,” he stated.

The group insisted that if development must come to the Niger Delta, the president who has the power over such issues must act fast.

“HOSCON is very ready to partner the federal government and notable foreign partners to take off the streets of the Niger Delta over 10,000 young men and women into the talked about pipeline security surveillance, modular refineries initiative and agro-business initiative.

“The federal government should as a matter of urgency identify sustainable local initiatives that can create jobs in the Niger Delta to address the huge abundance of qualified and employable army of youths that sometimes take to crimes,” HOSCON said.

PROPAGATING THE GOSPEL

L-R: Theological Editor, University of Jos, Professor Danny McCain; Supervising Editor, Africa Study Bible (ASB), Professor John Jusu; Coordinator, Nigeria Launch Committee ASB, Mrs. Modupe Ehinrim; and President, OASIS International Publishers Dr. Matthew Elliot during the official presentation /launch of the ASB at the Christian Worship Centre in Abuja... recently Kingsley Adeboye

Senate Demands Increased Security in Taraba, UNIMAID Wants monument named after Maitama Sule Damilola Oyedele in Abuja The Senate yesterday urged the federal government to establish a formidable military base, and ensure increased security surveillance in Sardauna Local Government Area of Taraba State, following the recent crises which resulted in destruction of lives and property, as well as cattles.

It also called for the set up of a judicial panel to investigate the immediate and remote cause of the crises which has displaced over 100,000 persons.

This is as the lawmakers urged the federal government to immediately put in place extraordinary measures to ensure the restoration of peace and tranquility to the University of Maiduguri, following constant attack by suicide bombers, on the institution in recent times.

Senator Yusuf Abubakar Yusuf (Taraba Central) in a motion cosponsored with 13 others, noted

that the crises which occurred in Sardauna Local Government of Taraba, between June 17 to 25, 2017 is the most devastating and barbaric to ever occur in the area.

“Due to the barbaric killings, wanton and arsenic destruction of settlements and other properties by the militia, many have been rendered homeless and are presently in various internally displaced persons (IDP) camps in Nguroje, Gembu, Mayo, Ndaga, Dorofi in Niget, and as refugees in the Republic of Cameroon,” he said.

Yusuf urged the government to take urgent steps to secure and protect lives, animals and properties of the citizens, and to also prevent further breakdown of law and order.

“The killing of any citizen of Nigeria under any guise amounts to serious violations of the right to life, right to security of persons, right to the respect of the dignity inherent in human beings, the right to property ownership, the

right of animals to decent life, not only guaranteed by the 1999 Constitution, but also by the African Charter on Human and People’s Right and International Conventions on Civil and Political Rights, to which Nigeria is a party,” he argued.

Senator Baba Kaka Bashir (Borno Central) who cosponsored the motion on the need for enhanced security at the University of Maiduguri with 45 others, expressed concern that the school has become a soft target and signature battle point in the fight against Boko Haram terrorists.

He added that the institution which can be considered the last institution standing following the advent of Boko Haram insurgency in the North-east, is on the verge of caving in to the relentless assault.

“The Boko Haram insurgent have adopted the tactics of unbridled suicide bombings targeted at the institution with a view to bringing the university

down to its knees; this is a situation that must never be allowed to happen in our generation,” he said.

Adopting the prayers of the motion, the Senate called on security agencies to submit a comprehensive plan of action to contain, maintain and assure the constant security of the university and its host community.

It also called on the Minister of Education, through Tertiary Trust Fund, to take measures to revamp the security infrastructure by immediately embarking on fencing the school.

In another development, the senators called on the federal government to immortalise the late elder statesman, Maitama Sule, by naming a national monument after him.

The Senate described his death as the demise of a precious gem, which is a loss not only to the people of Kano State and Nigeria, but to Africa and the international community.

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FEC Approves New Policy to Give Nigeria More Value from Gas Projects Chineme Okafor in Abuja The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the National

Gas Policy with which the federal government plans to turnaround commercial operations and benefits due to Nigeria from her gas

House Probes Alleged Connivance of Immigration in Abuse of Expatriate Quotas Directs police, army to contain deadly communal clashes between Abia, A’Ibom communities James Emejo in Abuja The House of Representatives yesterday passed a motion mandating the Committee on Interior to investigate the abuse of expatriate quotas due to alleged connivance of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) with some foreign companies in the country.

The lower House noted that the desire of the country to keep pace with global trend in science, technology and economic development had necessitated the grant of quotas for expatriates to come into the country and take up jobs that Nigerians lacked the requisite skills to undertake.

It. however, expressed displeasure that owing to the failure of the NIS ervice to effectively police the nation’s borders, expatriates illegally enter the country, while some others use official entry points in the guise of being expatriates and take up jobs that Nigerians have the skills to undertake.

The green chamber, in the motion sponsored by Hon. Johnson Egwakhide Oghuma on the need to investigate the abuse of expatriate quotas by the NIS, said

the development had worsened the unemployment situation in the country as the trend was unlikely to abate unless the illegal entry points were closed and the failure of the Immigration Service to monitor the borders is addressed.

It noted that NIS is empowered to issue entry permits and expatriate quotas and monitor the entry of expatriates in other to ensure employment of foreigners only in the areas where Nigerians lack skills, so as to ensure transfer of technology and skills to Nigerians.

The House therefore, handed the committee four weeks within which to report back for further legislative action.

Also yesterday, the House passed a motion urging the Chief of Army Staff to direct the military commander stationed in the border between Ariam and Abama communities of Abia and Akwa Ibom States to arrest the deteriorating security situation in the area.

It further urged the InspectorGeneral of Police to ensure the arrest and prosecution of the people who killed Mr. Ikeakachi Uche and Ezeji Emenike Nkaulor to serve as deterrence.

resources.

The policy, according to a statement from the Ministry of Petroleum Resources yesterday in Abuja, was approved by FEC at its cabinet meeting presided over

by Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo, a week ago.

The statement stated that FEC’s approval was done after the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, presented the policy at the meeting.

Signed by the Director of Press in the ministry, Mr. Idang Alibi, the statement explained that the approval represented a major win for Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.

It said it was developed by the ministry, and noted that the policy represented the vision of the government for the gas sector of the country.

It said it has in it, goals; strategies; and an implementation plan for the development of a gas sector that is commercially driven with all the required institutions in place.

“It is intended to remove the barriers affecting investment and development of the sector. The policy will be reviewed and updated periodically to ensure consistency in government policy objectives at all times.

“The gas policy intends to move Nigeria from an oil-based to an oil and gas based industrial economy which will be driven by core principles,” the statement explained.

It listed these core principles to include separate roles and responsibilities for the government and the private sector; creation of a single independent petroleum regulatory authority; execution of full

legal separation of the upstream from the midstream; implementation of full legal separation of gas infrastructure ownership and operations from gas trading; and more recognition of the value of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) international downstream market.

Other core principles of the policy as listed by the statement are pursuance of a project-based, rather than a centrally-planned domestic gas development approach; prioritisation of a strong maintenance and safety culture; implementation of international best practice for environmental protection; establishment of strong linkages with electric, agriculture, transport and industrial sectors; establishment of payment discipline throughout the energy value chain; respect for stability of contract terms; assurance on security of assets; and

strict compliance with the Nigerian Content Act. Kachikwu, was quoted in it to have said that Nigeria needs major changes in policy to make gas a hub of her economy.

He also highlighted the need to have a stream of revenues between oil and gas in order to improve Nigeria’s economy and leverage opportunities from the sectors.

The policy which the statement said covered key aspects that include governance; industry structure; development of gas resources; infrastructure; building of viable gas markets; developing Nigeria’s national human resources, was initiated to tie into the government’s ‘7 Big Wins’ initiative for the oil and gas sector, and the National Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP).

FOR COMING Runsewe Mourns Maitama THANKS Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu (left), presenting a souvenir to the new Country Director of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Mr Samuel Byalya, who visited the commission’s headquarters in Abuja...yesterday Sule Congratulates FTAN on inauguration Senator Dispels Plot to Make Saraki Acting President Damilola Oyedele in Abuja

of executives The Director-General of National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC), Segun Runsewe, has commiserated with the family of the late Yusuf Maitama Sule over his demise.

In a statement yesterday in Abuja, Runsewe said the late Sule would be remembered for his contributions towards the development of Nigeria, especially in the area of arts and culture.

According to him, as the pioneer Chairman of NCAC Board in 1975, Sule laid a solid foundation for the development of the arts and culture sector of the nation, adding that he was at the forefront of the promotion of Nigeria’s cultural values.

He further recalled that the late Sule stood against cultural imperialism and spent his entire life promoting African cultural values as the bedrock for national unity, integration, and development.

“Sule was a true patriot, a moralist who spoke openly against the vices of corruption, bad governance and discrimination along religious, political and ethnic divide.

“He was a true democrat, an apostle of the rule of law and championed the cause of democratic

good governance based on the principles of free, fair and peaceful elections.

“He will be remembered as one Nigerian who spent his entire life fighting for the unity, peace and development of the Nigeria nation, Runsewe concluded.

He also congratulated the Federation of Tourism Association of Nigeria (FTAN) on the successful inauguration of it executives at the just concluded annual general meeting.

Runsewe further commended the likes of Alhaji Saleh Rabo, Alhaji Nura Kangiwa, Mr. Okorie Uguru, among others on their new positions, saying that their election is well deserved.

He expressed confidence that this new executive will justify the confidence reposed in them and urged them to bring their immense wealth of experience to bear in the running of the association.

He noted that most of those elevated to the executive positions have been at the forefront of driving tourism activities in Nigeria and that the inauguration of the new executive is coming at a time the industry was in dire need of people with passion and drive to stir the ship of FTAN to the next level.

Senator Olusola Adeyeye (Osun Central) has dispelled what he called rumours that the Senate is plotting to impeach the Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, and make Senate President, Bukola Saraki, Acting president.

He said this in reaction to speculations that the Senate is deliberately working to cause a conflict between Osinbajo and Saraki, exacerbate tensions and impeach the acting president.

Rumours swirled following the resolution of the Senate on Tuesday, announcing the suspension of the consideration of all executive requests for confirmation of nominees, pending the clarification on the Senate’s power of confirmation, which was called into question by Osinbajo.

The acting president in April, while reacting to the rejection of the nomination of the Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Ibrahim Magu, had said the nominee does not require confirmation by the Senate, and that his name should not have been sent in the first instance.

The Senate on Tuesday, following the transmission of a letter from Osinbajo seeking the confirmation of the nominee for the position of Director General of the National Lottery Regulatory Commission (NLRC), Mr. Lanre Gbajabiamila, said the acting president is being inconsistent.

They also resolved that before considerations of nominees resume, Osinbajo must withdraw his statements regarding Magu, and

sack him as EFCC helmsman.

Adeyeye, in an article yesterday, however lamented that the development as being misconstrued.

“Sadly, rumours are being peddled that senators are being steered in a ploy to heighten a Saraki-Osinbajo conflict to a point where the acting president can be impeached so that Saraki can take over as acting president. I am not aware of such a ploy within the senate,” “More importantly, I dare say that were such a ploy to exist, it would woefully and precipitously fail. What matters therefore is that Osinbajo must not be misled into siding with those talking as if their own views are the views of the Supreme Court of Nigeria,” Adeyeye added.

Adeyeye, who is the Majority Whip of the Senate, added that

while he remains a firm supporter of President Muhammadu Buhari and Osinbajo, reiterated that he voted in favour of Magu at the screening exercise.

He, however, stated that since Magu was rejected by the Senate, he cannot continue to function as EFCC boss.

“Pundits bellowing as if the ongoing saga is purely a legal matter are wrong! Even if they are right, legal matters are not finalised by the opinions of the loudest lawyers; they are concluded by the ruling of a court of competent jurisdiction! Celebrated lawyers do not constitute a court! In any case, the issues at stake are as much matters of politics as they are of law.

The earlier the frontline dramatis personae grasp and internalise this, the better,” Adeyeye said.

Okowa’s Aide, Ossai Wins Guilds Award The Delta State chapter of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN) has honoured Ovie Success Ossai, the political aide to the state Governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, for his support and commitment to service delivery in the state.

The guild described him as a young man that is passionate, dedicated, and focused and an

inspiration to youths in the state.

While presenting the award, the state Chairman of the guild, Ovie Idu Alex, urged the youths to be courageous and exemplary wherever they find themselves.

An elated Ossai, while receiving the award at the Ebenezia Hotel Asaba, venue of the gala and award nite,

expressed gratitude to God, Okowa and the guild for finding him worthy.

He told the gathering that he was surprised at the recognition but humbled and is determined to continue to shine as a model to the youths.”

According to him, “This award is a testimony to the

fact that no matter what you are doing and where you are, people are watching. Hence, it’s imperative that we create good name and be passionate with whatever we are doing. I am also using this opportunity to advise the youths to desist from violence and to embrace peace n dialogue for a better tomorrow

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NEWSEXTRA

Oil Communities Give NPDC/Neconde 21 Days to Honour Agreement Sylvester Idowu in Warri The targeted 70,000 barrels per day of crude oil production by the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) and its joint venture partner, Neconde, is under threat following a 21-day ultimatum handed over by the host communities’ forum to honour their five per cent equity share.

They also called on the federal government and the management of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to immediately revoke the lease licence issued to Neconde Energy Limited to operate the OML 42 field comprising Batam, Egwa 1, Egwa 2, Odidi 1 and 11 and Jones Creek Flow Station.

THISDAY recalled that the

OML 42 host communities are threatening the operations of NPDC/Neconde activities barely a week after a similar threat by kinsmen of ex-militant leader, Chief Government Ekpemukpolo, over allegations of under employment of locals in line with the local content act.

But OML 42 host communities, at the end of a peaceful protest yesterday, alleged that since the inception of oil exploration by Neconde Energy Limited, the company has deliberately refused to fulfill the five per cent equity share to host communities.

They also alleged that the company has been recruiting non indigenes contrary to the Local Content Act as well as frustrating local contractors

from accessing contracts from the company.

“In pursuance of its efforts to exclude legitimate and recommended host community contractors for Neconde oil exploration activities, the Group Managing Director of the company recently influenced the replacement of most sectional heads through the Minister of State for Petroleum within NPDC management attached to OML 42, with his

kinsmen for the purpose of relegating and screening out recommended host community contractors and replacing them with his owned registered companies and his kinsmen within Neconde.

“This treatment of host communities contractors is so poor to the extent that the payment terms of service Local Purchase Order are delayed, thereby making the host community contractors to incur undue overdraft charges

which in turn take away p the whole of their contract profits and huge parts of their projects capital,” they lamented in a statement made available to journalists.

The statement was signed by Chief Johnny Aribogha, Felix Eyengho for Odidi Flow station; Sheriff Mulade, Kingsley Oturubo, Daniel Edende and Isaac Oluba for Jones Creek Flow station; Momotimi Guwor and Chief Clement Tekedor for Egwa Flow station and Don

Dickson Ogugu, Wellington Bob Igetei for Batan Flow station.

Reacting to the development, the Chief Operating Officer, Neconde, Chief Olajide Ishola, dismissed the allegations, saying there was no five per cent equity share with the host communities.

He challenged them to come up with documents relating to the agreement and proof that indigenes of the area were not employed by the company.

LUTH Disowns Fake Recruitment Site for Doctors The Chief Medical Director of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Prof. Chris Bode, yesterday raised the alarm on a fake recruitment platform for doctors.

He said the management of the hospital had contacted the Inspector-General of Police (IG) to assist it in fishing out the culprits.

Bode, who made the clarifications in a statement, said LUTH had nothing to do with the site.

The statement said: “Our attention has been drawn to an online platform purporting to recruit fresh House Officers for the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) through Medimail247 E-Parcel Service. Intending applicants have been asked to

buy forms for N5,000 and pay a parcel charge of 1750. The email address used is medimail247@ gmail.com.

“The public is hereby advised that this service is a SCAM intended to defraud unwary doctors and fleece them of their money. The Lagos University Teaching Hospital has nothing to do with this site and we implore that nobody should patronize the fraudsters.

“We are asking that the IG should kindly assist in fishing out the culprits involved in this nefarious activity and anyone with information about this group should report any such activity to the security services.”

Titi Atiku Tells Court How Her Errand Boy Sold Her Property for N918m Akinwale Akintunde Mrs. Titi Atiku, wife of the former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, yesterday narrated how one Nsikak Akpan-Jacobs, who she described as her errand boy, sold her property for N918 million after making him the Managing Director of her company, THA Shipping and Maritime Services Ltd. Mrs. Atiku testified before Justice Oluwatoyin Ipaye in a suit instituted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) against Akpan-Jacobs, Abdulmalik Ibrahim and Dana Motors.

The defendants are facing a 14-count charge of conspiracy, stealing and fraudulent conversion of properties belonging to THA Shipping Maritime Services Ltd. According to EFCC, the company was formed in 2000 with 49 per cent shares to Mrs. Abubakar, 25 per cent to Holmes and 25 per cent to Akpan-Jacobs.

The commission also accused Akpan-Jacobs, who doubled as the company’s Managing Director and Secretary of going to the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) to alter the share arrangement in his favour.

He was alleged to have forged

a company board resolution re distributing the shares ownership giving himself 70 per cent, 15 per cent to Atiku and 15 per cent to Holmes.

With the shares re-distribution, Jacobs was alleged to have fraudulently assumed full ownership of THA Shipping and subsequently sold a property worth N918 million belonging to the company to Dana Motor Nigeria Ltd. The wife of the former vice president in her testimonies told the court that she made Jacobs the Managing Director of her company because he was a pastor and someone she trusted.

She also accused him of using THA Shipping as collateral for a loan he obtained from First Bank.

“He did this without the knowledge of the Board of Directors. He started selling the company’s properties when the bank started asking for their money.

“I did not know that it would turn out like this or I would have documented all our transactions.

“I admit I don’t have any documents to prove that I invested money into the company, Jacobs cannot deny that I did not invest money. He is guilty from head to toe,” Atiku added.

GOOD CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP

L-R: Senior Special Assistant to the Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Adekunle Adeyinka; General Secretary, Isolo Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Dr. AdebayoAdeniji; ArcbishopFadeyi; andSoleAdministrator,IsoloLocalCouncilDevelopmentArea(LCDA),Hon.AbimbolaOsikoya,attheinaugurationof theChristianfellowshipbuilding donated totheIsoloLCDAatthecouncilsecretariatinLagos.....recently

A’Court Reserves Ruling on Metuh’s Suit Alex Enumah in Abuja The Court of Appeal yesterday reserved ruling indefinitely on the interlocutory appeal filed by former National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olisa Metuh, challenging the refusal of the Federal High Court, Abuja, to issue a subpoena on the former National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd) to appear in court to testify for him.

The court reached the decision after taken submissions of counsel in the matter. Chief Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN) had argued Metuh’s motion seeking to upturn the decision of the trial court while Sylvanus Tahir, in

a counter motion, urged the court to dismiss Metuh’s application.

After listening to their submissions, the panel however announced that it had reserved ruling to a date that would be communicated to parties in the matter.

Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court had in a ruling dismissed Metuh’s application that sought an order of court to compel the DSS to release Dasuki to give evidence in his trial.

Abang, in rejecting the application, held that Dasuki was not a compellable witness, and ordered that Metuh seeks other ways of getting the DSS to

produce Dasuki to testify for him.

According to Metuh, his resolved to approach the trial court to issue the subpoena was predicated on his inability to get the DSS to produce Dasuki to no avail, after several efforts.

Not satisfied with the decision of the trial court, Metuh then approached the Court of Appeal for intervention, insisting that the evidence of Dasuki is needed to establish his innocence.

This is because Metuh is principally charged to reasonably ought to have known that the N400 million paid into his account forms part of the proceeds of alleged illegal

activities of Dasuki. The defence therefore holds that the appearance and testimony of Dasuki is crucial for the establishment of the justice of the case.

Metuh is therefore seeking the Court of Appeal to upturn the dismissal of the ruling by the trial court so that DSS will be compelled by order of court to produce Dasuki to testify in the case in which his name featured in five out of the seven charges preferred against Metuh.

It is the argument of the defence that Dasuki’s statement is vital to the determination of the justice of the matter.

Macarthur Awards $9m to Advance Accountability, Reduce Corruption in Nigeria The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation yesterday announced nearly $9 million in funding to advance accountability and anti-corruption efforts in Nigeria.

The grants are part of the foundation’s On Nigeria grantmaking, which seeks to reduce corruption by building an atmosphere of accountability, transparency, and good governance in the country.

The grants will support nonprofits working to advance criminal justice reform or fight corruption in Nigeria.

The organisations will collaborate with other foundation-supported partners in Nigeria, including

several that are focused on enhancing investigative journalism and reducing corruption in the electricity and education sectors, two services that Nigerians report as being critical but difficult to access due to corruption.

“Addressing corruption requires action and partnership among a wide array of people and groups, including those in government, the media, civil society, communities, and consumers,” said Kole Shettima, Director of MacArthur’s Nigeria Office.

“These grants will reinforce and expand the growing network of organisations partnering across disciplines to contribute to a culture of investigation, advocacy,

accountability, and transparency.”

Grants in support of criminal justice organisations seek primarily to further state-level adoption and implementation of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), which aims to ensure that administration of criminal justice in Nigeria promotes efficient management of criminal justice institutions, speedy dispensation of justice, protection of society from crime, and protection of the rights and interests of the suspect, defendant, and victim.

Agencies to benefit from the grants include: CLEEN Foundation, International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA)/Nigeria: Nigerian

Bar Association (NBA), Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, Rule of Law and Empowerment Initiative, Youth Initiative for Advocacy, Growth and Advancement, African Centre for Leadership, Strategy & Development, African Centre for Media & Information Literacy and Arewa Research & Development Project.

Other are: Center for Transparency Advocacy, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, Connected Development, Connected Development, Human & Environmental Development Agenda, Social Development Integrated Centre and Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Foundation.

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THURSDAYSPORTS

Group Sports Editor Duro Ikhazuagbe Email duro.ikhazuagbe@thisdaylive.com

Kanu, Cambiasso Honoured with Invites to FIFA U-17 World Cup Draw

Duro Ikhazuagbe Even with the absence of Golden Eaglets from the defence of the FIFA Under-17 World Cup, the game’s governing body and Local Organising Committee (LOC) of India 2017 yesterday invited Nwankwo Kanu to attend the Official Draw ceremony scheduled for tomorrow, July 7, 2017.

Nigeria is the back-to-back champion of the 2013 and 2015 editions held in UAE and Chile respectively.

Kanu won the 1993 edition in Japan with the Golden Eaglets to set off a career that has made him a legend of the game today. Three years later, Kanu led Nigeria’s Dream Team to the Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games to claim the men’s football gold for Africa for the first time.

He played for the Super Eagles at the 1998, 2002 and 2010 editions of the FIFA World Cups before bowing out of the round leather game.

Speaking on his invitation to the Under-17 World Cup Draw in India, Kanu admitted that Nigeria’s victory at the cadet World Cup really spurred his career to the lofty heights he attained before calling it quits.

“The FIFA U-17 World Cup 1993 really spurred my career – within years of winning the

title, I won the Olympic gold and from there, as I would like to believe, there wasn’t any looking back,” stressed Kanu to FIFA.com yesterday.

The former Inter Milan and Arsenal great stressed that the competition provides young players the opportunity to express themselves and develop.

“This tournament provides youngsters the necessary stage for development and I believe this year’s edition (India 2017) will provide us all with exceptional talent – much like the previous tournaments,” concludes the two-time winner of African Footballer of the Year award.

Africa is to be represented in India by the quartet of Mali, Ghana, Guinea and Niger Republic.

Mali was the runners-up at the FIFA U-17 World Cup Chile 2015. The junior Eagles retained the CAF Under-17 Africa Cup in Gabon to be at the top of African representatives in India in October when hostilities begin.

Interestingly, another past star of the competition, Esteban Cambiasso who played for Argentina at the 1995 edition was also invited to join Kanu at the Draw in New Delhi.

Cambiasso who won the FIFA U-20 World Cup 1997

and was part of Argentina’s team at the 2010 FIFA World Cup will be joined by Indian local legends Sunil Chhetri and PV Sindhu, who will take part as draw assistants

tomorrow.

Chhetri is India’s national football team captain and alltime top goalscorer. Twentyone-year-old badminton player PV Sindhu is one of

India’s finest athletes at the moment and made waves after winning the Olympic silver medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics, becoming the youngest Indian to make a

podium finish in an individual event at the Olympics.

A total of 52 games will be played to decide the winner of the FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017.

R-L: FIRS Tax Controller, Nnewi, Mrs. S. N Obiora presenting VAT Wonder Goal prize to Pascal Seka of FC IfeanyiUbah with FC IfeanyiUbah Chairman, Chukwuma Ubah sharing the moment of glory with his player

Udom Emmanuel Okays I A A F W O R L D C H A M P I O N S H I P S Brand New Stadium for Eket Okagbare Jumps 6.77m to Secure Berth in London 2017 Okon Bassey in Uyo In furtherance of his commitment to the development and expansion of sports infrastructures across the state, the Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Udom Emmanuel has approved the construction of a 10,000-seating capacity stadium in Eket Local Government Area.

The state’s Commissioner for Sports, Mr Monday Ukoh, who disclosed this yesterday while inspecting the old Eket Town Stadium, said the new facility would be completed before the end of May 2018.

According to Ukoh the new sports facility which would have a tartan track for athletics, a football practice pitch in addition to the mainbowl, would be a boost to the state’s sports policy.

Likely to be commissioned as part of the May 2018 Democracy Day event, the commissioner said the facility when completed would help decongest state sponsored football teams from Uyo as well as offer the residents of the area opportunity to watch topflight football matches.

“We are not going to inherit anything from the old stadium. Every thing here will give way for a brand new stadium which by the grace of God will be

completed before the end of May 2018.

“We are going to construct a stadium that will take at least 10,000 spectators and going by the enthusiasm that the governor attaches to his projects the stadium should be able to attract international matches.

“It will also help the sports ministry to decongest the state sponsored football teams mostly based in Uyo and provide yet another training facility for international teams that are playing at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo,” he declared.

The commissioner hinted that athletes, who excelled at the last state youth games, would represent the state in the forthcoming national youth games at Ilorin as a strategy to continue with their development.

The sports commissioner maintained that the state government would continue to intensify efforts to sustain the gains made in the last Youth Games in the state.

Representatives of Eket community at the inspection commended the timely intervention of the governor on the stadium and assured the state government of adequate maintenance and security of the facility when completed.

Blessing OkagbareIghoteguonor leapt to a 6.77m second place finish in the long jump at the Istvan Gyulai Memorial in the Hungarian city of Székesfehérvár on Tuesday to secure qualification for the event at the 16th IAAF World Championships next month in London.

The 2008 Olympics bronze medalist in the event had secured qualification in the 100m and 200m last month and was struggling to hit the 6.75m entry standard set by the IAAF for the long jump.

The Sapele-born sprinter cum jumper however banished fears she could be missing in the long jump event at the London Worlds when she leapt two centimetres above the qualification standard set

by the IAAF at the meeting where she ran her only sub 11 seconds run (10.92 seconds) in the 100m last season albeit with a massive following wind to render it illegal.

Okagbare came to the Hungary with a 6.52m season’s best achieved in Eugene, Oregon, USA last month and as the number two ranked long jumper in Africa so far this term behind compatriot Ese Brume whose 6.64m was, until the evening of Tuesday July 4, 2017 was the best mark by an African in the event.

Okagbare who won a silver medal in the event at the 14th edition of the IAAF World Championships in Moscow, Russia in 2013 and is one of only two Nigerians to hit the

7m mark is now the African leader in addition to booking a spot in London for the event.

Local athletics buffs believe Okagbare’s chances of making the final of an individual event in London and making a podium appearance thereafter are high in the long jump than in the sprints where she struggled for form last season and is yet to run inside 11 seconds and break 22.4 this season.

Meanwhile OkagbareIghoteguonor also won the 100m event at the meeting with an 11.11 seconds run, her second fastest time of the season.

She won ahead of Remona Burchell of Jamaica (11.15) and Nigerian-born American, Morolake Akinosun (11.19)

who came second and third respectively Meanwhile, Reigning Commonwealth Games long jump champion, Ese Brume and Africa’s undisputed sprint hurdles queen, Tobi Amusan will have their debut at the money-spinning IAAF Diamond League debut after the duo failed to make the list of confirmed athletes for the eighth leg of the meeting, the Athletissima tonight in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Both Brume and Amusan made the provisional list of athletes invited for the meeting released by organisers of the event on Tuesday on their website but when the final list and start list for the event was released yesterday, the Nigerians failed to meet the cut.

Oyinlola to Headline Honourable Golf Tourney at MicCom

Returnee President of the Nigeria Golf Federation (NGF), Olagunsoye Oyinlola, is one of the key players expected at the Honourable Golf Tournament scheduled for this weekend at the MiCCom Golf and Country Club, Ada, Osun State.

The three-day tournament is to feature invited professional today for an exhibition game to tee-off the weekend of golf for amateur players.

Captain of the host club, Akeem Afolabi, said yesterday that the event is planned to accommodate all classes of golfers, especially those that have been yearning to have a feel of the golf course.

“We are aware that our club is a golf hub in this part of the country. have slowed that down in the past and we are working to bring activities this way again. This event is an opportunity to host our fellow players from different

parts of the country again and we are looking forward to doing so with pride; thanks to the support of our sponsor, International Breweries for making it happen.”

Amateur golfers will begin the Honourable title chase on Saturday July 8th and round up on Sunday July 9th.

The Captain added that “Ladies, Gentlemen and Veterans would all be competing in the events and we believe with the condition

of the course, the players would be put to a good test of the game of golf”.

Already, over 80 players from different golf courses have signed up for the event.

They are from Ibadan Golf Course, Ilorin Golf Club, Benin Golf Club, Ibori Golf and Country Club Asaba, among others.

The event would be rounded off with a presentation ceremony after the game on Sunday July 9th.

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New Bumper Barca Deal for Messi

Lionel Messi has agreed to stay at FC Barcelona until 2021 in a deal that all but commits the star striker to playing out the rest of his top-flight career at the Spanish giants.

The megastar who joined Barcelona as a teenager 17 years ago will remain at the club until he is 34 under the new deal, the Catalan club announced yesterday, ending months of speculation about the future of the five-time Ballon d’Or winner.

“The deal will be signed in the coming weeks, when Messi returns to the team for pre-season training,” the club said in a statement, as the 30-year-old enjoyed his honeymoon just days after he wed his childhood sweetheart in Argentina.

Messi has hinted in the past that he would like to return in the future to Argentina to play for his very first club, CA Newell’s Old Boys in his hometown of Rosario, where he wed last week. But he has also said that his priority is to win more honours with Barca, the club he has called his home since he was 13.

Messi

No financial details of Messi’s new contact were disclosed, but Spain’s Marca sports daily reported on Tuesday that the deal included a €300-million termination clause.

Under his current contract, due to run out in June 2018, Messi earns around €20 million a year in salary, according to Spanish media -- and this didn’t include millions of euros in revenues earned from ads and performance-linked bonuses.

Messi joined FC Barcelona in 2000 when he was just 13 years old in the youth training centre.

“He made his first team debut at just 16 years of age in a friendly against FC Porto, before making his debut the following season against Espanyol at 17,” the club said in a statement.

“Shortly after, he scored his first senior goal with a clever lob against Albacete at the Camp Nou.” The deal announcement is likely to reassure fans and members of FC Barcelona, which has had a disappointing season by the club’s own high standards.

The club was eliminated from the Champions League in the quarter finals by Juventus, and came second behind arch-rivals Real Madrid in La Liga, though Barca did win the Copa del Rey. Messi’s contract extension consolidates the much-feared “MSN” striking trio which also includes Brazil’s Neymar and Uruguay’s Luis Suarez.

Both have also renewed their contracts until 2021.

With 507 goals scored

WIMBLEDON 2017

Azarenka Sets up Watson Tie Former world number one Victoria Azarenka reached the third round at Wimbledon with a 6-3 6-3 win over 15th seed Elena Vesnina. Azarenka is to play Heather Watson in the third round.

In the men’s draw, Murray, the world number one, defeated Dustin Brown of Germany 6-3 6-2 6-2 while his fellow Briton, Aljaz Bedene, 27, won 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-3 against Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Damir Dzumhur.

Watson, 25, matched her best SW19 run with a stunning 6-0 6-4 win over 18th seed Anastasija Sevastova. This is Watson’s first Round of 32 qualification since 1986.

Azarenka, 27, is playing only her second tournament of 2017 after giving birth to her son Leo in December.

The Belarusian, ranked 683rd, broke the Russian’s serve in the sixth game on her way to taking the opening set.

Azarenka broke Vesnina’s serve twice more in the second set to secure a Vesnina, a Wimbledon semi-finalist in 2016, needed medical attention in the second set as she was struggling with a hip injury, but was able to complete the match.

Sixth seed Johanna Konta, 26, won 7-6 (7-4) 4-6 10-8 against Croatia’s Donna Vekic in a tense battle on a hot Centre Court.

Watson and Konta’s victories mean they have become the first two British women to appear in the same third-round draw since Jo Durie and Anne Hobbs three decades ago.

Konta faces Greece’s Maria Sakkari, ranked 101, in the third round.

Five-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams survived a scare to beat China’s Wang Qiang and move into the third round of the women’s singles.

Tenth seed Williams, 37, lost the opening set against the world number 55, but recovered to win 4-6 6-4 6-1.

American Williams led 4-2 in the first set on Court One but then lost four consecutive games to fall a set behind.

However, she broke Wang’s serve late in the second set and twice more in the deciding set for the victory.

Williams, who last won the Wimbledon title nine years ago, will play unseeded Japanese player Naomi Osaka in the last 32 after she defeated 22nd seed Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic 1-6 6-0 6-4.

Eighth seed Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia, who reached the last eight last year, also moved into the third round. The Slovakian defeated unseeded American Jennifer Brady 6-4 6-4 on Court 18.

in 583 official matches, Messi is the club’s all-time leading scorer and is widely considered the world’s best player along with Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo, his Real Madrid rival.

“He’s the best player I’ve ever seen on the pitch,” said Ernesto Valverde, Barcelona’s new coach, of Messi.

Now 30, Messi could have been tempted by

other horizons -- having been courted by clubs like PSG and Manchester City -- particularly as he was found guilty last year of tax fraud in Spain.

But he has lived in Catalonia since his early teens, and currently resides in Barcelona with his now-wife Antonella Roccuzzo, their son Thiago, four, and Mateo, one -- both of whom were born

in Spain.

And Messi himself said in May that his aim as a footballer was to “try and win the most titles possible” with FC Barcelona.

FC Barcelona, on its official twitter handle (@FCBarcelona) announced yesterday:??

BREAKING ?? Leo Messi will remain at @FCBarcelona until 2021.#Messi2021pic.twitter. com/Ee0KZIse59

Alexandre Lacazette displaying his Arsenal jersey yesterday

Iheanacho in Man City’s Pre-season Squad Super Eagles striker Kelechi Iheanacho will be included in Manchester City’s squad for their pre-season tour of the United States despite reports he might depart from the Etihad.

Iheanacho is reportedly on the radar of West Ham United and Leicester City as Pep Guardiola plans for a massive clear-out as City.

The Nigerian star announced his arrival on the big stage during City’s pre-season tour three years ago and has been part of the first team squad since then.

He has scored 21 goals in 64 appearances for the Citizens but has found playing time under Guardiola difficult to come by last season.

His inclusion in the City team for the tour of America does not give a clear indication on his future at the Etihad Stadium yet to mean Pep has had a change of heart.

The former Premier League champions have however dropped England goalkeeper Joe Hart from their pre-season squad.

Others who were left out of the trip include Wilfred Bony, Samir Nasri, Eliaquim Mangala and Jason Denayer.

Lacazette Completes Arsenal Switch Arsenal agreed a deal to sign France striker Alexandre Lacazette from Lyon for a clubrecord fee that could rise to €60 million, the two clubs confirmed on Wednesday.

The transfer fee is also a new record sale for the Ligue 1 outfit, worth an initial 53m euros, according to a statement on the Lyon website.

Arsenal said the 26-yearold had signed a “long-term contract”.

“We are very happy to have Alexandre join our group. He

has shown over a number of years that he can score goals and that he is a very efficient finisher,” Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said.

“As well, he has very interesting technical qualities and a strong character.

“So he is a guy who is a great addition for us, and someone who will help us challenge at the top level this season.”

He had been at Lyon since the age of 12, and scored 129 goals for the senior team, including 100 in Ligue 1.

Lacazette, who has made 11 international appearances for France, last season became the first player to score 20 goals or more in three successive French top-flight seasons since Jean-Pierre Papin in 1992.

“I am very pleased with the success of Alexandre, who, besides being one of Olympique Lyon’s best-ever strikers, is a charming player who I became very close to,” said Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas in his club’s statement.

Lacazette will be hoping that

the move to Arsenal can help boost his hopes of cementing a place in the France squad ahead of next year’s World Cup, having only played one international in the last two years.

The north London club will be expecting Lacazette to add some much-needed firepower up front, after a disappointing fifth-placed finish in the Premier League last term that saw them miss out on the Champions League for the first time in 19 years.

NSA Salutes Aruna Quadri over ITTF Feat The Nigeria Sports Awards (NSA) has sent congratulatory messages to Nigeria’s International Table Tennis player, Aruna Quadri for winning the ITTF African Cup and qualifying for the ITTF World Cup billed for France later in the year.

The two-time winner of the prestigious Nigeria Sports Award defeated his continental rival, Egypt’s Omar Assar 4- 3 in the Men’s Singles final on Monday to book a place in the World Cup having thrashed Egypt’s Mohammed El-Beiali 4-0 in the semi-finals.

The Chairman of the award panel, Dr. Kweku Tandoh, saluted the brilliant performance of the Nigerian International for remaining

consistent and flying the flag of the country high in the last four to five years.

Tandoh noted that the Nigerian Sports Award is proud to be associated with Aruna Quadri stating that his performance is a testimony to the vision of the awards in honouring and recognising excellent performance.

“Nigerian Sports Award acknowledges the ‘Can- Do’ Spirit of Aruna Quadri for making the country proud by qualifying for the ITTF World Cup despite his challenges. We salute his courage, resilience and passion for excellence which represents the ideals of the Nigerian Sports Award” Dr. Tandoh said.

He then charged the

ITTF star to go all out and make the country proud by winning ITTF World Cup later in the year, while also calling on the Nigerian Table Tennis Federation, corporate organisations and sports loving individuals to support him in his quest to become the ITTF World Cup winner.

Meanwhile, the award panel Chairman Tandoh, has pledged to take the award to the next level as one of the most revered awards for sports, not only in Nigeria but also in Africa and the rest of the world.

He revealed that part of the immediate task for the panel is to improve the visibility of the brand as well as engagement with stakeholders in the Nigeria sporting industry while also

attracting more corporate sponsorships and partnerships for the award.

Tandoh also disclosed that the new panel would strive to increase the numbers of awards gradually to cover the full spectrum of the sporting activities and also partner with the awardees to embark on charitable causes that will bring about sports development in Nigeria.

While commending the organisers of the award and the past award panel for successfully piloting the affairs of the award for the past 5 years, he promised to improve on the content and the quality of the award night, in line with international best practice.

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Thursday, July 6, 2017

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MISSILE Olusola Adeyeye to Osinbajo

“For the record, I want to say here that I voted ‘yes’ for Magu, but this is not about my views. The Senate voted Nay. I stand with the Senate because if a republic must choose between strong leaders and strong institutions, it is wiser by far to choose strong institutions. We must not allow any branch of government to be weakened to the extent where the laws of the land can be flagrantly disregarded” – Senate Majority Whip, Prof Olusola Adeyeye, on the ultimatum given Acting President Yemi Osinbajo by the Senate.

OLUSEGUNADENIYI THE VERDICT

olusegun.adeniyi@thisdaylive.com

Nigeria and the Ghosts of 1966 F

or a long time, I had held the notion that principal actors in the events that led to the collapse of the First Republic and its aftermath should document their accounts so that our generation and those after us can learn useful lessons. After reading “The First Regular Combatant: Brigadier General Zakariya Maimalari”, I feel inclined to believe that the scars may be too deep to engender dispassionate introspections and that Nigeria may be better off if the poison of that era is not passed to future generations by yesterday’s men of power.

However, the biggest lesson from the book, as far as I am concerned, is that whatever may be our challenges as a nation, and regardless of the upheavals we may currently experience, the military offers no solution.

In fact, Nigeria is where we are today, essentially because we allowed the military to dabble into political affairs with disastrous consequences. Incidentally, both Generals Yakubu Gowon and Olusegun Obasanjo admitted as much on Tuesday. But many of the contributions and interpretations of the unfortunate events of January 1966, as contained in the book on Maimalari, also reveal that mutual ethnic suspicions still pervade the country.

For instance, former Chief of Army Staff, Lt General Salihu Ibrahim, who said the killing of Maimalari almost broke up the country, is still pointing fingers. “There are remnants still of the crisis we had in the beginning. If you observe, we still have some funny movements in the South-east. At the recently concluded national conference, they expressed demands that they should be paid several trillions of naira! It may sound funny, but actually they believe that they are expressing their genuine feelings. One side was responsible for that war, and of course, as with any war, consequences and repercussions must follow” said Ibrahim.

That military mind-set of “consequences and repercussions” carried to the political arena by politicians with garrison mentality is perhaps the reason for the current convulsion in our country today. And that is where the book on Maimalari is very revealing in that it opened a new vista into the crisis of the First Republic and the role of the military in it. In fact, there is a way in which the coup of January 1966 and the counter-coup of July of the same year can be located in the appointment of the first Nigerian General Officer Commanding (GOC) the Army.

According to Obasanjo, either Maimalari or Aguiyi Ironsi could have been picked as GOC of the Army by the Tafawa Balewa government but “the political leaders of the era did the wise thing by not rocking the boat of the subsisting Army seniority structure”. Yet, Obasanjo also added: “If those of us who were junior officers at the time Aguiyi Ironsi became the first Nigerian GOC of the Army were asked our opinion on the issue, I think our points of view might have differed. I have come to believe that junior officers are always better placed to assess their superiors”.

Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai Another former Chief of Army Staff, Lt General Alani Akinrinade, did not dissemble on an issue in which most of the retired Generals seem to have agreed: “If the selection was based on voting, Zakariya Maimalari would have been the first Nigerian to head the Army after Welby-Everard. His popularity was not in doubt. He related well with the officers and men and was well liked throughout the Army.” To Akinrinade, the coup of January 1966 killed spirit de corps in the Army. “I am sure till today, the scars of January 1966 is still in the Army. The officers of today were not participants in that event, but they are inheritors of that marred spirit of 15th January, 1966” he said.

Reading between the lines, it is evident from the book that there was rivalry between Aguiyi Ironsi and Maimalari. What is also not in doubt is that most of the officers at the time preferred Maimalari. According to the late Brigadier Sam Ogbemudia, “all the British officers who worked with Maimalari believed that he was the best and right person to command the Army.

Unfortunately, the politicians of the day thought otherwise.”

While I believe Balewa made the right call on Ironsi, I don’t think it was well received within the military. Such was the esteem in which Maimalari was held among the officers and men that Tony Eze, a retired colonel and Sandhurst trained officer who was commissioned into the Army in 1958 said “even if Aguiyi Ironsi as the GOC told me something that was different from what Maimalari said, I would go by what Maimalari told me”. This was perhaps because, as far as he and many of his colleagues were concerned, “Zakariya Maimalari was our Number One! Forget about the fact that a few were commissioned before him in the Army, like Wellington Bassey, Aguiyi Ironsi who became the first Nigerian GOC, Samuel Ademulegun, and so on. To us, Maimalari was the first Nigerian to attend a military academy and undergo the proper training of an Army officer. So,

Zakariya Maimalari did not belong to that class of Other Ranks who were Sergeants or Sergeant-Majors but later attended three or four month short courses to become commissioned officers in the Army.”

From Eze’s insight, which can be glimpsed from that of others, the preference for Maimalari was based on class arrogance, or superiority complex, essentially because, unlike Aguiyi Ironsi who rose through the ranks, Maimalari was the first Regular Combatant and the most educated among the top echelon of the military at the time. He was therefore the one the new crop of officers looked up to. “We got to understand that at the time the last British GOC Commanding the Nigerian Army, Major General WelbyEverard, was formally leaving the country, he did not recommend Aguiyi-Ironsi as his successor. But Ironsi had the favour of the Prime Minister at the time, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa”, said Major General Paul Tarfa (rtd).

In a remark that suggests Tarfa may still be bitter, he admitted being part of the July 1966 counter-coup: “Ironsi was an accomplice in that coup of January 1966, so he wasn’t able to take any decision and try the officers who carried out the abortive coup. That was why we reacted in July of the same year. Maimalari was a father figure to us.

Nobody would see his father slain at night and then just say ‘ok, we forgive it’.”

Ahmadu Ali, a medical doctor and retired Colonel--who has at different times been a Senator and PDP National Chairman--shares a similar view. “It was a one-sided coup and it looked to us that a particular group in the country wanted to hijack political power at all costs. And that coup of 15th January 1966 is what snowballed into the multiplicity of problems that Nigeria has been grappling with. Some of us have always said that any major event that does not carry along all the three major ethnic groups is bound to give us problem forever” Ali said in the book.

Captain Ben Gbulie, who was close to Maimalari and admitted being part of the January 1966 coup targeted at political leaders of the era, had harsh words for the most vilified character in the book, Major Emmanuel Ifeajuna, the “Judas” who killed Maimalari before he was eventually upended by the late Biafran leader, Dim Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu. But Gbulie was also critical of Maimalari to whom he was very close. “What I saw and thought of Zakariya Maimalari, when he was the second-in-command at NMTC Kaduna, was not the same thing when he rose to be a Brigadier commanding the 2nd Brigade in Apapa, Lagos. He started doing certain things which I thought he would never do, such as accelerating the promotions of some officers from a particular part of the country” said Gbulie.

As one would expect in a book of such nature, everybody spoke glowingly of Maimalari but it is very clear that beyond being charismatic, Maimalari was also an ambitious officer. The late Alhaji Lawal

Kaita told a very revealing story in the book: “I was very close to the late Major General Hassan Usman Katsina, who was privy to top secret information surrounding the selection of the first General Officer to Command the Nigerian Army. He told me that Maimalari was not appointed in place of Aguiyi Ironsi because of a prevailing fear; that if Maimalari was appointed the General Officer Commanding the Nigerian Army after Welby-Everard, he would have staged a coup….Nobody could control Maimalari in the Nigeria of his time.”

In fact, there can be no better testimony to Maimalari’s temperament than the one supplied by Akinrinade: “I remember an incident in 1964 when we were having an Army celebration in Ibadan, and Zakariya Maimalari as Brigade Commander of the 2nd brigade attended. There were senior army officers and top politicians present, including the Defence Minister, Alhaji Muhammadu Ribadu and the premier of the Western Region, Chief Ladoke Akintola.

Midway into the party, Brigadier Maimalari called the Battalion Commander, and to everyone’s amazement, said to the Battalion Commander: ‘You know, if I had a chance, I will shoot all these politicians with their fat stomachs!’”

Ordinarily, the subordination of the military hierarchy to the political authority ought to be the most fundamental requirement of a democracy but it was evident that Maimalari and other military officers saw themselves as superior to the First Republic politicians. Indeed, from the disparate reactions to his unfortunate death from a cross section of retired army officers who served in Maimalari’s time, it is clear that most of them differed from the political establishment in terms of succession to the leadership of the army. This indicates the beginning of a dangerous ideology of mutiny against political authorities in the country.

Therefore, it can be argued that both the military officers who opposed (directly or indirectly) the appointment of Aguiyi Ironsi as first GOC and the misguided and blood-thirsty coup makers who toppled the First Republic politicians were guilty of the same offences of indiscipline and insubordination. To that extent, the military as an institution must carry the burden of our national derailment. Even the latter day protestations and hypocritical preachments of key military actors cannot absolve them as individuals or indeed the institution of the sad heritage of that initial hubris.

Meanwhile, the current threats to our national survival--as a result of secession threats by some ‘Biafra’ fantasists and quit notices by some Arewa irredentists--remain potent and hinge majorly on the unhealed wounds of 1966 (the January coup, the July counter-coup and the civil war that broke shortly after). But with a nationalistic leadership, it is not too difficult to rally the whole country together and begin the urgent task of addressing the challenge of development without which any enduring peace will continue to be a mirage.

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