Wednesday 19th July 2017

INEC Tackles Judge over Melaye’s Recall Insists process must be concluded in 90 days Tobi Soniyi The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has written to the

Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Ibrahim Auta, asking him to ensure that the court does not obstruct the commission

in the performance of its statutory duties.

INEC, in the letter signed by its Acting Chairman, Professor Okechukwu

Ibeanu, objected to the order granted by Justice John Tsoho stopping the commission from proceeding with the recall of Senator

Dino Melaye, who represents Kogi West Senatorial District in the Senate.

INEC said the order granted by the judge

was aimed at frustrating its constitutional duties, contending that it was in Continued on page 9

37 Reportedly Killed in Fresh Farmers, Herdsmen Clash in Kaduna… Page 12 Wednesday 19 July, 2017 Vol 22. No 8126. Price: N250

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In Second Tranche, Bayelsa, Delta, Kano Get Highest Paris Club Refunds FG releases N243.8bn to 36 states and FCT Obinna Chima in Lagos and Yinka Kolawole in Osogbo Of the N243.8 billion released on Monday by the federal

STATE 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

ABIA ADAMAWA AKWA-IBOM ANAMBRA BAUCHI BAYELSA BENUE BORNO CROSS RIVER DELTA EBONYI EDO EKITI ENUGU GOMBE IMO

government to the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) as the second tranche of Paris Club Continued on page 10

AMOUNT PAYABLE (NGN) 5,715,765,871.48 6,114,300,352.68 10,000,000,000.00 6,121,656,702.34 6,877,776,561.25 10,000,000,000.00 6,854,671,749.25 7,340,934,865.32 6,075,343,946.93 10,000,000,000.00 4,508,083,379.98 6,091,126,592.49 4,772,836,647.08 5,361,789,409.66 4,472,877,698.19 7,000,805,182.97 Continued on page 10

PDP to Hold Non-elective FROM ETISALAT TO 9MOBILE… weeks of uncertainty, 9Mobile (formerly Etisalat) unveiled its new logo, charting a new course for the telecoms Convention Aug 12… Page 49 After company and its customers (See story on page 12)

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STARTERS

Police Dispel Death Rumours of Abducted Igbonla Boys Say operation on course to rescue them Chiemelie Ezeobi The six male students of Igbonla Government College, Epe in Lagos State, who were kidnapped 56 days ago are alive and fine, the police said yesterday, dispelling rumours that they might have been killed by their abductors.

“We are on course to rescue the boys. The children are fine and we will continue to intensify efforts to ensure that they are returned home and reunited with their parents,” said Fatai Owoseni, the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Command.

Speculation has been rife that the kidnappers might have killed the boys, following a breakdown in the negotiation between the abductors and their parents over the ransom.

But Owoseni provided a glimmer of home to the abducted children’s families and friends yesterday, assuring them that efforts were being intensified to rescue them.

He refused to give details of the rescue efforts, explaining that it was a sensitive matter that could not be divulged to the public.

“This is a sensitive matter and our main objective is to successfully reunite them with their parents and that will soon be achieved,” the police boss said.

Peter Jonah, Isiaq Rahmon, Adebayo George, Judah Agbausi, Pelumi Philips and Farouq Yusuf were abducted on May 25, 2017.

The kidnappers who had initially demanded N50 million ransom,

NEWS NEITI Warns Nigeria’s Economic

Distress Could Persist NEITI yesterday, warned that Nigeria might continue to experience deep economic challenges unless urgent steps are taken to halt her propensity to generate…

Page 12

EDITORIAL Of Military and POlice duties

Yakubu Dogara recently raised an alarm about the increasing deployment of military personnel in the country. At the last count, no fewer than 28 of the 36 states are under one form of military ‘occupation’ or another.

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POLITICS What Next for Ize-Iyamu

he judgment of the Supreme Court rt upholding the election of Godwin Obaseki as Edo State governor dealt a fatal blow to the ambition of Osagie Ize-Iyamu to rule the state, writes Segun James Page 18

FEATURES Ambode’s Rescue Model Owoseni

then cut off communication after three of their gang members were arrested by the police last month, despite collecting N10 million from the parents of the students.

They resumed communication last week and after collecting another N20 million from the parents, they failed to release the boys at the

weekend as promised.

Instead the kidnappers made a demand for another N1.5 million to defray their transportation cost.

This latest demand caused a stalemate in the negotiations, leading to fears that the kidnappers might have dispensed with the students.

INEC TACKLES JUDGE OVER MELAYE’S RECALL violation of the provisions of the 1999 Constitution.

The commission noted that despite the fact that the judge knew that the recall process must be completed within 90 days, he decided to adjourn Melaye’s suit to September 29, effectively frustrating the process.

In the letter exclusively obtained by THISDAY, the commission said: “The conduct of referendum for recall is one of the constitutional duties of the commission, as stipulated in Sections 69 and 110 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, and Sections 2(c) and 116 of the Electoral Act 2010, as amended.

“Pursuant to the presentation of a petition for the recall of Mr. Dino Melaye, to the chairman of the commission on the 21st June, 2017 by petitioners alleging lack of confidence in the senator, the commission in accordance with its constitutional mandate issued a timetable and schedule of activities for the recall of the senator.

“My Lord, the commission by virtue of the provisions of Section 69 of the constitution is mandated to conduct a referendum for recall of the senator within 90 days from the date of receipt of the petition.

“Section 57(10) of the Electoral Act, 2010, also stipulates that courts are not empowered to stop the conduct of primaries or general elections or processes thereof under the act, pending the hearing and determination of a suit.

“The above order and adjournment of hearing of the motion on notice to 29th September, 2017 have clogged the performance of the commission’s constitutional duty having regard to the fact that the period for the conduct

Two-Minute Briefing

of the referendum in question shall lapse on 18th September, 2017.

“The commission will highly appreciate the intervention of your Lordship to ensure that courts do not grant orders capable of hindering the commission from carrying out its constitutional duties as required by the constitution.”

The commission attached copies of the order and the processes filed by Melaye to the court to the CJ. Justice Tsoho had on July 6 ordered the parties in the suit filed by Melaye against INEC to maintain the “status quo as it stands today, July 6, 2017 pending the determination of the plaintiff's motion on notice”.

He also ordered Melaye to file an undertaking to pay damages to the INEC as would be assessed by the court if it “turns out that this order ought not to have been made”.

Some aggrieved voters from Melaye’s senatorial district had collected signatures and filed a petition to INEC for his recall, citing lack of performance.

Not leaving anything to chance, the senator filed the case, seeking among others, to nullify the petition submitted to INEC. In the originating summons he filed through his lawyer, Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN), the embattled lawmaker prayed the court to declare that the petition presented to INEC for his recall was illegal, unlawful, wrongful, unconstitutional, invalid, null and void and of no effect in law.

He also prayed the court for a declaration that the petition purportedly forwarded to the INEC was invalid and of no effect, the same being signed by fictitious, dead and

none existing persons in his senatorial district, as well as for an order of injunction restraining INEC from commencing or further continuing or completing the process of his recall.

Melaye also asked the court to make an order stopping INEC from acting on the petition submitted to it.

In the suit, which he filed pursuant to Sections 36, 68 and 69 of the 1999 Constitution and Order 3, Rule 6 of the FHC Civil Procedure Rules 2009, Melaye begged the high court to stop the electoral body from conducting any referendum predicated on the fictitious petition allegedly submitted to it by his purported constituents on the basis of the fundamentally and legally flawed petition.

He specifically urged the court to determine whether by provisions of Sections 68 and 69 of the constitution, he is entitled to a fair hearing before the process of his recall, as envisaged by the provisions of Section 69 of the constitution can be triggered.

To determine whether the petition presented to the defendant is in compliance with the requirements of the constitution, same being heavily tainted with political malice, bad motive, personal vendetta and bad faith, which were initiated by top politicians in Kogi State, who wield enormous power over his senatorial constituency.

Likewise, to determine whether the process of a recall as provided for in Section 69 of the constitution can be initiated against him when the number of registered and qualified voters in the constituency who purportedly signed the petition was grossly less than the number required in Section 69(a) of the constitution.

Gboyega Akinsanmi writes that the Lagos State governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, has redefined the state’s emergencyy response framework such that there is now hope of victims surviving Page 20

BUSINESS Nigeria’s GDP to Hit $3.3 Trillion on in 2050, Says PwC Economists at PricewaterhouseC-oopers (PwC) have projected that Nigeria could emerge the 14th largest economy in the world by 2050 with Gross domestic product ct (GDP) of $3.3 trillion.

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CITYSTRINGS A Bloody Clash

Hammed Shittu writes on how a disagreement between two traditional rulers in the ancient communities of Ilofa and OdoOwa in Oke-Ero LG Area of Kwara State left four persons dead and property worth millions…

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INTERNATIONAL N Korea ‘Clearly’ Has Range to Hit US – General North Korea “clearly” has the range to hit parts of the United States with an intercontinental ballistic missile -- but not with much accuracy, a top US general said Tuesday.

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SPORTS Okagbare, Egwero Lead Team

Nigeria to Victory Blessing Okagbare-Ighoteguonor and Ogho-Oghene Egwero both inspiredTeam Nigeria to victories in the 4X100m Relays event sat the 2017Warri Relays & CAA Grand Prix held yesterday Page 53

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CBN Extends Support to Skye Bank by One Year Obinna Chima The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has extended its guarantee to Skye Bank Plc for another year, just as it continues to consider the bank’s recapitalisation proposal, the bank revealed yesterday.

In an advertisement jointly signed by its Chairman and Group Managing Director, Messrs. M. K Ahmad and Tokunbo Abiru, Skye Bank said as part of efforts to stabilise the bank, it had successfully implemented its cost optimisation initiative, which has enhanced liquidity and efficient service delivery to its customers since the regulatory-induced takeover of the bank one

year ago.

“The management of Skye Bank is very appreciative of the gracious support of the CBN by way of guarantees, support, waivers and other forbearances over the course of the last one year, which have also been extended by another year.

“The bank continues to require assistance from the CBN and government as it repairs the damage inflicted on the institution in the past and charts a sustainable path forward.

“We continue to be confronted by the antics of detractors who do not wish the bank well in hopes of escaping lawful debt obligations or accountability for misdeed.

“We will ensure that all those who committed

infractions against the bank restitute accordingly for their actions and all debtors meet their legitimate obligations to the bank,” the bank’s directors said.

The bank also noted that it has, as part of its aggressive recovery initiative, recovered over N60 billion of outstanding bad loans over the past one year.

“We have also reached settlement and restructuring agreements with many of the chronic bad debtors resulting in substantially improved payments and prospects of future recoveries,” they added.

They stated that through the support of the CBN, the bank successfully embarked on initiatives to

restructure and reposition Skye Bank based on its broad mandate which includes cost management and optimisation, as well as divestments to improve the institution’s financial position.

Such cost containment measures, according to them, included branch rationalisation, review of service contracts and cash management operations, which have resulted in hundreds of millions of financial savings.

Further noting some of its achievements, the bank stated that it successfully arrested and managed the post-intervention situation and has, to a large extent, stemmed the tide and reduced deposit losses, thereby restoring customer confidence and stabilising

the institution.

It further noted that the new management has successfully settled many matured trade and bilateral obligations and restructured outstanding balances with the relevant institutions and counterparties.

The bank also reported that it has fully divested from four local subsidiaries releasing a total cash value of N6.2 billion, and was in the process of divesting from others.

The CBN in July last year sacked the board of directors of the bank, including two of its longest-serving executive directors and immediately reconstituted a new board.

CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, had said that the central bank

took what he described as a proactive step in order to save the health of the bank from further deteriorating.

To correct the anomalies in the bank, he said the CBN held several meetings with the management and board of Skye Bank as part of its strategy of close engagement whenever a bank’s financial or governance situation poses potential threats to the overall stability of the financial system.

The CBN was forced to takeover Skye Bank after its costly acquisition of the defunct Mainstreet Bank and rising non-performing loans (NPLs), some of which was linked to insider lending, had substantially eroded its capital buffers below the regulatory threshold.

IN SECOND TRANCHE, BAYELSA, DELTA, KANO GET HIGHEST PARIS CLUB REFUNDS refunds, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa,

Delta, Kano and Rivers got N10 billion each, making the five states the highest recipients of the refunds for over-deductions on Paris and London Club Loans and multilateral debts between 1995 and 2002.

A statement yesterday by the Director (Information) in the Ministry of Finance, Salisu Na;Inna Dambatta, who confirmed that the second tranche of Paris Club refunds had been released to all states and the FCT, added that the funds were released on the premise that a minimum of 75 per cent of the funds would be applied to the payment of workers’ salaries and pensions by states that owe salaries and pension.

The statement said Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Delta, Kano and Rivers States got N10 billion each, and were closely followed by Lagos and Katsina which got N8,371,938,133.11 and N8,202,130,909.85.

Also, while Oyo got N7,901,609,864.25, Borno was paid N7,340,934,865.32, Imo - N7,000,805,182.97, Jigawa - N7,107,666,706.76, Kaduna - N7,721,729,227.55, Niger -N7,210,793,154.95, Ondo - N7,003,648,314.28, Benue -N6,854,671,749.25, and Cross River N6,075,343,946.93.

Abia was paid N5,715,765,871.48, Adamawa N6,114,300,352.68, Anambra - N6,121,656,702.34, Bauchi - N6,877,776,561.25, Ebonyi

-N4,508,083,379.98, Edo - N6,091,126,592.49, Ekiti - N4,772,836,647.08, Enugu - N5,361,789,409.66, Gombe - N4,472,877,698.19, and Kebbi - N5,977,499,491.45 Kogi was refunded N6,027,727,595.80, Kwara N5,120,644,326.57, Nasarawa N4,551,049,171.12, Ogun - N5,739,374,694.46, Osun - N6,314,106,340.62, Plateau - N5,644,079,055.41, Sokoto - N6,441,128,546.76, Taraba - N5,612,014,491.52, Yobe N5,413,103,116.59, Zamfara - N5,442,385,594.49, and the FCT - N684,867,500.04.

The ministry explained that the refunds were approved by President Muhammadu Buhari on May 4.

It said: “These payments which totalled N243,795,465,195.20 were made to the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory upon the approval of the president on May 4, 2017, in partial settlement of long-standing claims by state governments relating to over-deductions from their Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) allocation for external debt service arising between 1995 and 2002.”

It quoted the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun to have stressed that the debt service deductions were in respect of the Paris and London Clubs loans and multilateral debts of the FG and states.

“While Nigeria reached a final agreement for debt

relief with the Paris Club in October 2005, some states had already been overcharged. The funds were released to state governments as part of the wider efforts to stimulate the economy and were specifically designed to support states in meeting salary and other obligations, thereby alleviating the challenges faced by workers.

“The releases were conditional upon a minimum of 75 per cent being applied to the payment of workers’ salaries and pensions for states that owe salaries and pension.

“The Federal Ministry of Finance is reviewing the impact of these releases on the level of arrears owed by state governments.

“A detailed report is being compiled for presentation to the Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, as part of the process for approval for the release of any subsequent tranches,” the statement added.

Confirming payment, Osun, Ekiti and Abia State governments said yesterday that they had received the second tranche of the refunds.

A statement by Mr. Semiu Okanlawon, media aide to the Osun State governor, said N6.314 billion was paid into the state’s coffers on Monday, adding that the state government was committed to utilising the

resources of Osun in the best interest of the people.

He said the state government also restated its commitment to keep to its promise to meet its obligations to concerned stakeholders in the state.

Similarly, Mr. Lere Olayinka, spokesman of the Ekiti State governor, confirmed the state’s receipt of the money in a statement.

The statement said the amount would be shared between the state and local governments.

In Abia, its Commissioner of Finance, Mr. Obinna Oriaku also confirmed that his state had received the money, but said the state got lower than the N11 billion to N12 billion it was expecting.

Oriaku said despite the shortfall, the Abia State governor had directed that the released funds should be committed wholly to the payment of salary arrears.

With the latest release of N243.8 billion by the federal government, the total paid to the states and the FCT amounts to N766.53 billion as Paris Club refunds, having released N522.74 billion last December.

However, after the federal government released the first tranche of refunds, which was done to enable the states offset the outstanding salaries and pensions of their workers, it was trailed with controversy, as some state governors

17 JIGAWA 18 KADUNA 19 KANO 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37

KATSINA KEBBI KOGI KWARA LAGOS NASARAWA NIGER OGUN ONDO OSUN OYO PLATEAU RIVERS SOKOTO TARABA YOBE ZAMFARA FCT TOTAL

7,107,666,706.76 7,721,729,227.55 10,000,000,000.00 8,202,130,909.85 5,977,499,491.45 6,027,727,595.80 5,120,644,326.57 8,371,938,133.11 4,551,049,171.12 7,210,793,154.95 5,739,374,694.46 7,003,648,314.28 6,314,106,340.62 7,901,609,864.25 5,644,079,055.41 10,000,000,000.00 6,441,128,546.76 5,612,014,491.52 5,413,103,116.59 5,442,385,594.49 684,867,500.04 243,795,465,195.20

Source: FEDERAL MINISTRY OF FINANCE

were accused of corruptly diverting the funds into other uses and paying huge sums to consultants that they had contracted to assist them to recover the monies.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has since launched an investigation into the allegation.

The governors, under the auspices of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF), have since denied that the first tranche of Paris Club refunds were diverted.

TOP GAINERS NGN NGN HONEYWELL 0.15 1.96 UNIONBANK 0.27 5.67 JBERGER 1.63 34.30 UNILEVER 1.81 38.38 BETAGLASS 2.70 57.47 TOP LOSERS NGN NGN MAYBAKER 0.14 2.65 AXAMANSARD 0.11 2.12 CUSTODIAN 0.17 3.40 CONTINENTAL 0.06 1.26 CADBURY 0.56 12.00 HPE Nestle Nig Plc ₦ 920.00 Volume: 2.403 million shares Value: N21.613 billion Deals: 3,715 As at 18/07/17 See details on Page 40

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NEWS

Ă?ĂĄĂ? ĂŽĂ“ĂžĂ™Ăœ Davidson Iriekpen Ă—Ă‹Ă“Ă– davidson.iriekpen@thisdaylive.com, 08111813081

NEITI Warns Nigeria’s Economic Distress Could Persist

Recommends inclusion of ECA, stabilisation fund into SWF

Chineme OkaforËżĂ“Ă˜ ĂŒĂ&#x;ÔË The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), yesterday, warned that Nigeria might continue to experience deep economic challenges unless urgent steps are taken to halt her propensity to generate and spend almost all her revenue from oil and gas with very little left for savings.

NEITI also condemned the country’s repeated fall back on the little revenue saved in dedicated accounts whenever she experienced any economic shock, noting that between 1980 and 2015, Nigeria exported crude oil worth about $1.09 trillion, but had just $3.9 billion in savings as at June 2017.

In an, occasional paper entitled: “The case for a robust oil savings fund for Nigeria,� which it presented to journalists in Abuja, NEITI warned that a huge economic crisis was

staring at the country unless she realises and improves her oil revenue savings for tomorrow to overcome frequent commodity price volatilities and depletion of non-renewable resources like oil and gas.

Presented by NEITI’s Executive Secretary, Mr. Waziri Adio, the paper stated the need for Nigeria to adopt a robust policy to save portions of her oil and gas revenue for the rainy days and for the next generation.

It noted that parts of the urgent measures to be taken by the country on this would be the immediate transfer of all revenue savings in two of her three oil revenue saving accounts – the 0.5 per cent stabilisation fund and Excess Crude Account (ECA), which were established in 1989 and 2004 respectively, into the Nigeria Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) set up in May 2011. The ECA, it said, had a

current balance of $2.3 billion; the stabilisation fund, N29.02 billion ($95 million); while the SWF had $1.5 billion, an aggregate of which it explained was the lowest national oil savings account in the world, and only able to fund 16 per cent of Nigeria’s 2017 federal budget of N7.44 trillion. “Nigeria did not save enough oil revenues to sustain economic activities when oil prices began to ‘tank’ in June 2014. Also problematic is the level of consumption relative to non-oil exports. Nigeria typically responds to high oil prices with equally high but manifestly unsustainable level of consumption. “The absence of sufficient savings left Nigeria severely exposed when the price of oil, Nigeria’s main source of government revenues and

foreign exchange, started to plunge in 2014,� the occasional paper said.

It recommended that: “Different oil revenue saving funds should be consolidated and the legal framework harmonised. Specifically, the 0.5 per cent stabilisation fund and the Excess Crude Account (ECA) should be merged with the Sovereign Wealth Fund, (SWF) as this multiplicity of savings funds with different rules has led to uncoordinated and widespread extra-budgetary spending. “Apart from depleting the savings in each fund, such unrestricted spending defeats the purpose for which the funds were set up in the first place which is to shield the economy from revenue volatility.�

It noted that some resourcerich countries like Norway,

which has a population of 5.2 million people has a SWF worth $922 billion; Chile, $24.1 billion; Angola, $4.6 billion; and Botswana has $5.7 billion, adding that an amendment to Section 162 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, was necessary to accommodate the welfare of future generations. “The constitutional option is necessary to ensure that the ‘rules are not subject to political fluidity’. The negotiations need to be complemented with appropriate guarantees for transparent and accountable governance of the funds to reassure stakeholders especially at the sub-national level,� it explained, while recommending that government should stop spending from oil revenues; to support policy initiatives that pursue prudent macro-economic policies; better economic and

social environment for the next generation. “This is in addition to ensuring that there are constant savings whether oil prices are high or low and provide regular payouts from the returns on investments of the funds to compensate beneficiaries (the three tiers of government) for their sacrifice,� it added.

In his remarks at the presentation, Adio said NEITI had the mandate to ensure prudent management of extractive revenues in the country to reverse resource curse, hence, its decision to publish such policy papers.

He maintained that poor governance practices; structural defects and lack of trust and political will were some of the challenges obstructing robust saving of oil revenue in the country.

9mobile Represents 0809ja Heritage, Says Olusanya Emma Okonji

continue delivering excellent service.�

According to Olusanya; The Managing Director and Markets Chief Executive of 9Mobile, “Emerging Mr. Boye Olusanya, yesterday Te l e c o m m u n i c a t i o n in Lagos, clarified that the Services Limited (EMTS), new brand identity of the which previously traded telecommunications company, as ‘Etisalat Nigeria’ wishes 9Mobile, represents 0809ja to inform its over 20 million heritage, which is the 9ja- subscribers, government, centricity, and its evolution regulatory agencies and all over nine years of operations relevant stakeholder groups that the telecommunication in Nigeria. The former Etisalat Nigeria, company has changed which changed its brand its name to 9Mobile as a identity last week, following further testament of our the three weeks ultimatum unwavering commitment to given the Nigerian operations ensuring business continuity

by Etislat International to do as Nigeria’s fourth largest so, rolled out its commercial telecoms operator.�

In order to ensure the activities nine years ago on October 23, 2008, to become change of name is delivered the fourth entrant of GSM efficiently and responsibly, operators in the Nigerian we will take a measured approach to the migration telecoms space.

Boye who spoke for the to the new brand over the first time after the name next few months. Therefore as change, said in a statement we go through this transition, that “although our trading our esteemed subscribers we name has changed, we remain ask for your patience and true to the same values on reaffirm our commitment to which our company was built. remain a listening brand. We “A strong and resilient will continue to innovate, Nigerian spirit continues to support, and empower you reside in us, uniting us with to do more - whether as an you our subscribers and we individual or a business, are confident that you will Olusanya assured subscribers. “To our business partners, continue to believe in our new brand, which strongly your unwavering belief in reflects our innate creativity the strength of our brand inspires us to do more. and youthfulness. “Furthermore, this rebrand We will remain committed is a testament to our to working together and dynamism, responsiveness exploring possibilities to and agility as a business, achieve our mutual goals, and while we leverage the to our stakeholders, we thank power of technology to you for your abiding faith in deliver innovative products us. We will ensure that our and services that meet your core values of Innovation, needs. Our confidence in our Customer-centricity, and ability to continue to make superior service quality this happen is bolstered by remain the pillars upon which the sheer determination, we operate. The soul of our commitment and passion of business remains authentically our people to do more; and Nigerian,â€? Olusanya said.Â

CAMPAIGN FOR FEMALE EDUCATION

L-R: Borno State Governor, Alhaji Kashim Shettima; Pakistani activist for girl-child education and Nobel Peace Prize winner, Malala Yousafzai; her father, Mr. Ziauddin Yousafzai; and officials of the United Nations, . when the activist embarked on a female education advocacy visit to Maiduguri...yesterday

37 Reportedly Killed in Fresh Farmers, Herdsmen Clash in Kaduna John Shiklam Ă“Ă˜ Ă‹ĂŽĂ&#x;Ă˜Ă‹ Fresh violence between farmers and herdsmen in Kajuru Local Government Area of Kaduna State has reportedly claimed 37 lives with scores injured within two days.

It was learnt that the incident  started last Sunday when some Fulani youths allegedly  went to a village at Ungwan Uka to avenge the killing of a certain herdsman said to have been attacked and killed some days back by some Kadara youths at a farm in Banono village.

The herdsman  was said to be a known bandit who had been harassing people in the area.  He was said to have been killed by a mob while attempting  to escape.

Sources claimed that  the

Fulani community in the area, who also knew the man to be a bandit was briefed on the incident.  However, the Fulani youths were said to have protested against the killing, insisted on avenging the killing of the man. “The Chief of Kajuru even called them and spoke with them but we were surprised that on Sunday morning, they came and carried out the attack,� a sources said.  It was gathered that the Fulani youths killed five Kadara youths who they identified to have participated in the killing of the suspected bandit.

The action of the Fulani youths was said to have  angered the Kadara youths who allegedly mobilised themselves last Monday and launched an attack on the surrounding Fulani settlements, killing 12

people while tents and other property were burnt.

An eyewitness, Salisu Mohammed, said last Monday after the attack that some security agents were drafted to the affected communities and there was  calm adding that things got out of hand when the security personnel left as Kadara youths allegedly launched another attack on the surrounding Fulani settlement and killed about 10 people.  He said the victims were buried in a mass grave, adding that  while at the burial site, there was information about nine  more bodies recovered at various points in the surrounding bushes.

A Kadara youth who spoke on the issue on condition of anonymity however, said  efforts were being made by elders and community leaders in the

area  to calm the restive youths as tension mounts. “We have been hearing of several attacks but when I called people in some of the communities, they say they’re not true,� he said but added that no less than 10 persons including a seven month old baby died in the attack,� he said.

When contacted, acting Police Public Relations  Officer of the Kaduna State Police Command, Yakubu Sabo, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (DSP),  said the police were  aware of a misunderstanding among some individuals in the community which later led to a clash when some people took the laws into their hands.

He said the police and the army had however gone to the place and brought the situation under control.

T H I S D AY WEDNESDAY JULY 19, 2017

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T H I S D AY WEDNESDAY JULY 19, 2017

COMMENT

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

PARENTING THE PARENTS

Many young parents are not good role models for their children, writes Sonnie Ekwowusi

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ast week an incident occurred in a family well known to me.

I think what happened in this family is a matter of public interest worth sharing. It bespeaks today’s broken homes and the disintegration of families in contemporary society. If the family institution is said to be the fundamental unit of society; if the values which the family institution inculcates in a child eventually becomes the foundation upon which he/she builds the superstructure of his/her behaviour. If the family is still the cultivating ground and the building block of our national ethos and heritage, then it is proper and fitting that the family institution should be accorded a primordial place in our national development as enshrined in section 17(3) (f) (h) of our 1999 Constitution. We should be interested in knowing the things and gathering more information about the strength of the family because the strength of the family is the strength of the nation. Abstract democracy alone, it is consistently said, cannot save a nation. (Abstract democracy has not even saved the United States of America). Government does not possess the magic wand to solve all our problems. Consequently we would always have to fall back on the greatest pillar of society - the family institution - which in any case is a veritable safety net in Africa.

It is unfortunate that the family institution is suffering from serious deconstruction and decomposition. As I said earlier, this piece is inspired by the incident that occurred in one family last week. If by any chance the family in question comes across this piece they should be rest assured that this writer holds their names and identity in absolute confidentiality.

The family in focus is a family of five. The family owns and lives in a sprawling mansion in one of the porch areas of Lagos. The youngest in the family, a precocious girl, is only six years old. Although she is about graduating from the kindergarten, she is already waxing strong in adult wisdom. Being wealthy, her parents did not hesitate to enrol her and all her siblings in expensive private schools in town. But her parents are hardly at home. Her father hardly makes out time to provide that identity, safety, wisdom, comfort, and special kind of love which only fathers provide. When, for example, he travels to Abuja for business he does not return home until after two months. He is such an invisible father that he often forgets the names of some of his children. His wife is also hardly at home. She comes and goes. She has no time to attend to domestic issues. Domestic matters are attended to by housekeepers. There are two housekeepers employed in the house. They prepare the meals, carry out routine repairs in the house, accompany the children to school, wash the cars, take the children to church on Sundays and so forth.

However, the real tragedy is that this couple is cantankerous. They quarrel in front of their children. They fight in front of their children. They insult each other in front of the children. They even boast of their respective marital infidelities in front of their children. These had been going on for years until last week when the children of the couple decided to call their parents to order to bring peace to the family. Therefore, they decided to invite their parents to a family meeting. At first, the couple thought that the meeting was to review the activities of the two housekeepers who had been caught stealing in the house. But no sooner had the couple arrived for the meeting than it dawned on them that the meeting was solely

WHERE ARE THOSE CHERISHED FAMILY TRADITION AND VALUES WHICH BRING HONOUR AND RESPECT TO THE FAMILY? WE HAVE LOST EVERYTHING

scheduled to discuss their rascality and delinquency. Presiding over the meeting was the couple’s eldest daughter. “Daddy and Mummy, we want to beg you to please stop fighting. We want peace in this house,” she blurted out. “It is true, Daddy, is always travelling” said the couple’s only son. “Mummy, does not dress well”, uttered the fearless precocious daughter. Anyway, the meeting ended abruptly after the couple walked out on the children in annoyance.

Sad. Isn’t? The above clearly shows that some parents need to be parented to enable them parent their children. Therefore classes/ workshops/seminars/conferences should be routinely organised to teach parents, especially young parents (referred to by my consummate jocular lawyer friend as “baby parents) the art of parenting. We now live in the so-called post-truth age or global human rights age that permits all sorts of choices. Juvenile delinquency is no longer the only known vice holding us captive today: adult delinquency equally wrecks our society. The causes of most societal vices are traceable to poor parenting and dysfunctional families. Most young parents are not good role models for their children. Many modern women, for instance, now argue (although irrationally and illogically) that they are the owners of their bodies and therefore nobody should dictate to them how they should use their bodies. Some married women, with the greatest respect, dress like prostitutes. When, for instance, you see a 62-year- old married woman, who ordinarily should have been an exemplary grandmother gallivanting around in a revealing mini-skirt, know that we are enmeshed in a serious family crisis. Not to talk of married men who go about bare-chested in ordinary pant that end up exposing their protruding stomachs. Where are those dignity, respectability and candour that are synonymous with proper parenting?

What has happened to the age-old wisdom of parents admired in those days when men were men and women were won by those who deserved them? Where are those cherished family tradition and values which bring honour and respect to the family? We have lost everything.

And that is why some children can have the effrontery to summon their parents to a meeting to scold them, sorry, to advise them on why they should be good role models for their children and for society.

So we must begin to parent the parents. Parenting is an art. Only parents who have learned the art of parenting can become successful parents. It is not enough to bring children into the world. Even animals bring their offspring into the world too. Nobody can give what he/ she does not have. If most young parents do not have proper parental upbringing they cannot properly parent their own children to be responsible citizens. In the past, the family provided the bridge that allowed the youngsters to graduate from childhood to adulthood with a certain sense of security. Today, many youngsters cannot rely on the formation they are getting from their parents because their parents were not properly brought up. Our values are warped. In some homes, the parents shamelessly watch internet pornography with their children.

Therefore to reinvigorate the family, parents, especially young parents, should be parented to enable them parent their own children to be responsible citizens.

NIGERIANYOUTHS AND STATE OF THE NATION Gabriel Odunaiya argues that the country has failed in its responsibility to the youths

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n the book “Simple Guides To Philosophy”, Sophia Macdonald quotes the great British philosopher Bertrand Russell who taught that “To understand an age or a nation, we must understand its philosophy”. According to him, “Philosophies emerge from their particular society, but conversely, they feed back into those societies (even if in a very diluted form) and do much to determine their development”. He argues further that “moral or ethical concepts cannot be understood without knowledge of the society that generated them”.

Russell`s assertion automatically imposes on us the duty of unearthing and identifying those sets of philosophical constructs that underpin the national psyche. The questions would then be: who are Nigerians and what are Nigerians? Beyond the geographical confines or territorial determination of the Nigerian state, what are the fundamental and distinctive characters of Nigerians beyond their ethnic cleavages, religious inclinations and geo-political divides? It would appear, strangely, that while Nigerians in diaspora are known for their attitudes and beliefs that have seen them reach unbelievable positive heights in their host countries, the results of those committed Nigerians who strive within the country`s borders, most times, tend to have different outcomes. This is after due consideration of relevant socio-political and economic variables.

In making this proposition, we are aware that there are both good and bad Nigerians everywhere. While it would appear that there is a more favourable impression of Nigerians outside of Nigeria, the opposite would seem to hold true about how we are perceived at home. How come our policemen on peacekeeping duties perform well outside our country and return home only to be sucked in by the malaise of the Nigerian nation?

What is the influence of the prevailing national

philosophy or value in shaping the attitude of the average Nigerian? The philosopher, Aristotle once wrote in his ‘Politics’: “The good of man must be the objective of the science of politics”. In other words, politics should and must be done within the spectrum of providing man with all that should better his life, all that will play as pivots in his existence and quest for happiness. A contented man is generally one who has all that he needs for life at his disposal; he is not in want of the basic necessities for positive and meaningful existence. Cruising through the contours of the community of nations, one tends to see that the world is in upheaval, in a state of cataclysmic fluctuation. There is no stability with regard to man’s search for happiness and his getting it. Right now, the world is in disarray. There is violence everywhere. The Middle East has been in turmoil since the commotion of the Arab Spring in Tunisia. There are reports of wars all over.Terrorism now wears a new look as it seems to be swallowing up major parts of the West and East.

Our country Nigeria is not exempt from this burgeoning sense of crisis enveloping our globe.

There is hunger, insecurity, economic disturbance, corruption and mismanagement of the national treasury. Dictatorial practices at all levels of governance are still very much part of our polity as well as political naivety on the part of the law makers who pull up stunts which have accorded them the name “law breakers” a term they strive so hard to live up to. These men and women in political garb siphon public money with alarming gusto. Human rights issues and impunity are not abating and one is often made to believe human dignity is reserved only for the elite. Things have fallen together for them and things have fallen apart with respect to the nation and her teeming poor.

Our country’s state is one that is bereft of the happiness and the mindset of a people who do not

feel a sense of belonging. Mashed with this present existential banality, a fast diminishing segment of the denizens of this country remember a period that had signaled a very great future for the nation.

Alas! many years down the line, the promise of this period signaled by the oil boom had become the curse of the country. Biodun Jeyifo, exquisite and exceptional scholar had written with pain in his heart in his piece “Things Fall Apart; Things Fall Together, “out of our great opportunity, we have managed to create an equally great calamity.”

Jeyifo was obviously echoing the words of Chinua Achebe whose masterpiece book title bearing a similar name came out at the same period as our oil boom. While Achebe`s book has achieved unprecedented success, our nation has seen periods of sorrow and bitterness.

Rather than utilise our natural treasure, we have traded our wealth for sorrow, shame and disgrace.

Our nation is a terribly wounded one and those who bear the brunt are the youths.

Things have fallen apart for them as millions of them roam the length and breadth of this country without hope, inspiration, education and in many instances, on empty stomachs.

This is in spite of their country being the eight largest exporter of crude oil in the world, having earned about $1 trillion since independence from the black gold. The vast majority are unemployed, functional illiterates, with thousands, if not millions, graduating from tertiary institutions every single year without prospects for jobs.

As a result, they have resorted to a culture of crime, cultism, drug peddling, sexual immorality, and religious extremism. The issues militating against our country, from militancy in the Niger Delta to the terrorism of the Boko Haram, kidnapping, smuggling, robbery and political hooliganism [employed by the political elite for malicious intents]

reveal that a vast majority of their adherents are youths who feel betrayed, and forgotten by their country. They have been continuously and systematically eliminated from the national cake.

To these lot, the country has failed in her responsibility. The governments of this country have been so besotted to failure, almost as if failure of governance is a natural consequence of government.

A trip to the North or better still to the regions of the Niger Delta with a teeming number of youths peopling those zones will reveal the mess. It is easier to say that the governments over the years lost focus somewhere along the way. But if the truth be told, was there really any government that was really focused on the things that mattered? Paul O. Irikefe had argued in his work ‘Why Nigeria is not Working’ “that Nigeria is deficient of ‘the right institutions, formal and informal that would guarantee a self-correcting process….”

The situation in the country has been taken advantage of by all manner of people with mainly elitist cleavages exploiting the pitfalls of religion, ethnic frailties, geo-political jingoism and such other dangerous pastimes that keep our people permanently occupied and divided while the enemies feather their nests in the process. Modern religious populism and one of its by-product of ‘born againism’ is promoted by the beneficiaries of this religious distortion. The result is the continuation of an exploitative agenda hanging in the social spectrum of the nation, giving false hope where there is none and demobilising a vast majority of our people from the necessary social consciousness that inevitably leads to change The present state of things and their adverse effects on the youths inform us that we are standing on shifting sand and things are not well with us as a people. Our nation is sinking into a mire except something is done fast.

Rev. Fr. Odunaiya wrote from Lagos

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T H I S D AY Ëž ÍŻÍˇËœ Í°ÍŽÍŻÍľ

EDITORIAL OF MILITARY AND POLICE DUTIES The police should be well provided for

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he Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, recently raised an alarm about the increasing deployment of military personnel in the country. At the last count, no fewer than 28 of the 36 states are under one form of military ‘occupation’ or another. In expressing his displeasure with the growing trend of soldiers taking over civil and security duties that are constitutionally reserved for the Police, Dogara asked two major questions: how did we come to this sorry situation? What could be done to redress the anomaly?

To be sure, several recent studies by respected institutions over public conďŹ dence in the Nigeria police and satisfaction with their services have made damning conclusions. The ďŹ ndings had always revealed a general lack of conďŹ dence in the capability of the police to prevent and contain insecurity in the country. Therefore, the ‘’militarisation’’ of the country becomes a ready option, especially when armed robbers, kidnappers and terrorists choose when, where and how to carry WE NEED TO STRENGTHEN out their nefarious THE NIGERIA POLICE TO BE activities.

EFFECTIVE AND EFFICIENT However, what BOTH IN TERMS OF drafting soldiers to PROFESSIONALISM AND the streets for law STRUCTURE enforcement - a duty for which they are ill-equipped - has done is to reinforce the kneejerk approach to ďŹ ghting crimes which, more than anything else, deďŹ nes our lack of serious approach to basic issues. As we have always argued, the surest way to ďŹ ghting crimes remains equipping the police for the discharge of their onerous responsibility. But to do so effectively, the authorities must also sit up to the challenges of a global security system where high-tech ďŹ ghting techniques as well as intelligence sourcing of information, provide a basket of reliable and result oriented strategies.

Last week, the ‘Economist’ carried a report on

Letters to the Editor

how the Brazilian army’s remit has expanded to what it described as “mundane police workâ€? even while stating that such military troops that now patrol city streets enjoyed the conďŹ dence of the people. “Unlike politicians and police ofďŹ cers, servicemen are seen as honest, competent and kind. Despite the shadow of the dictatorship, conďŹ dence rankings of institutions often put the army at the top,â€? wrote the Economist which however added that “blurring the lines between national defence and law enforcement is perilous.â€?

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IKORODU AND THE FEAR OF BADOO

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o paraphrase the Holy Scripture, there’s darkness in Ikorodu and gross darkness upon the people of Odogunyan, Odonla, Rofo and Agbede which is the northern part of the city.

I woke up on Wednesday, June 28 and walked outside my gate and saw my neighbours discussing something. No one was smiling so I knew it was serious issue.

I walked up to them. An entire generation has been wiped out

by Badoo! What a feat! Even Hitler couldn’t achieve that with the holocaust. My phone was on fire, caller? Daddy! “Where are you? Have you heard?� Yes I said. “Please be careful and don’t go walking about like a jobless man that you are.� True I am jobless. Even an advanced degree in international relations after studying mass communication has not helped. “Close all doors and windows and stay at home,� he advised.

Still thinking about the call and his words, my Whatsapp message icon beckoned. It was a picture from the Badoo holocaust at Rofo. I couldn’t look more than a second. I have seen pictures of their abomination before and I pray for protection for all and heaven for the victims but not this time.

I was affected because Rofo is minutes away from my house. It was horror unleashed upon a quiet and industrial town.

All day long I couldn’t help but think of what the night holds, how do I sleep? I tried my best to enjoy the day but who sets fire on his roof and snores away? I tried some more to laugh away the fear but this calamity won’t be reduced to a joke. I resolved to run far away to the Island should it persist.

Fast forward to night. I was home alone with all doors closed as instructed by my Dad; all windows shut for the fear of their

igeria bears eloquent testimony to that as there were cases where soldiers have evidently overstepped their bounds and engaged in activities that highlighted signiďŹ cant tension and conicts between the military and the civil populace. There is therefore an urgent need to boost the capability of the police force.

For several reasons, majorly as a result of corruption, the Nigeria Police Force has abdicated its vital role in the society. But the blame goes round because when someone commits an offence in Nigeria today, there is no certainty of punishment and this has encouraged the impunity that now pervades the land.

To therefore readdress the threat posed by the swelling militarisation of the country and the long term effects, we need to strengthen the Nigeria police to be effective and efďŹ cient both in terms of professionalism and structure, so that it sustains the capacity to carry out its constitutional responsibility of maintaining law and order.

As the situation stands today, what the polity can boast of is a police force that is easy game for a more sophisticated world of crime. Even at the risk of sounding repetitive, we state that the best approach to ďŹ ghting crimes remains effective intelligence gathering that helps not only in pre-empting and disrupting criminal activity but is also indispensable for the investigations of crimes. But only a well equipped and professional police can gather the close-to-the-ground information that is necessary for such exercise.

magical powder that reminds one of sleeping beauty. Every movement around was suspicious. To make matters worse, men with ladder thought it best to take away the electrical supply.

It was all dark, dripping with evil and blood. My heart was pacing, I could hear the echo of me breathing.

In time my Dad drove in and we spoke about the whole Badoo thing and what he has heard about it all. He went to his room to sleep, but he couldn’t sleep. His mind was wide awake; he got up, came to the living room to ask for the third time if I had locked all doors and windows. I answered and he was like don’t sleep with your eyes closed. He went to his room for the final time and I went into mine drinking from a bottled water, not knowing what might happen next. The wordings of the song “Crazy World� by Luky Dube came to me saying ‘common now little boy say your prayers before you sleep, little boy went down on his knees and he said oh Lord now I lay me down to sleep I pray that lord my soul to keep and if I die before I wake I pray that lord my soul to take.’ I added forgiveness of sin to my little boy’s prayers .

At around 11pm I heard the sound of a whistle far away.

It was one I am familiar with but something unusual about tonight. It was a call and response signal, the vigilantes were around and were signaling to each other. This brought a little relief to my soul yet sleep continues to elude even as I close my eyes. Many thoughts ran through my mind when the whistle got quiet. To make matters worse we have an uncompleted building at the back of our house. What if they are hiding there?

Adedapo Ayooluwa, Kingzion4ever@yahoo.com

POPULATION, NOT CORRUPTION, KILLING NIGERIA

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he recent Financial Times of London sincere report on the socio-economic indices of Nigeria was not encouraging in the least. Basically, Nigeria’s economy is in stagnant-mode facilitated by ineptitude in high places. What was also troublingly obvious from that report was the fact that what little effort was made in terms of growing Nigeria’s overall GDP by the previous government was obliterated by a parallel population growth, thus the stagnation. If the population situation continues and international oil price does not improve markedly and flagrant ineptitude, nepotism, creedal-jingoism, political witch- hunt, etc., are not halted then there is zero hope of Nigeria getting out of poverty 50 to 100 years from now. That time window into the future would be when to be poor equates a kind of new-found slavery because poor countries then would lag behind in technology, food production, healthcare, and all. What we spend so much time and resources pursuing at the present time and one which is so hard to characterise and which we have demonised as “corruption� is much less an evil that wanton and uncontrollable population growth. It is even sad when the basis for a population boom is hinged on religious injunctions because, in actuality, religion should be in the forefront of poverty eradication.

Sunday Adole Jonah, Department of Physics, Federal University of Technology, Minna

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WEDNESDAY, JULY 19, 2017˾ T H I S D AY

NEWS

PDP to Hold Non-elective Convention August 12 Disbands illegal state chapters Sets up reconciliation/disciplinary committee Onyebuchi Ezigbo ÓØ ÌßÔË The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has approved August 12 as date for its non-elective convention.

At the end its National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting yesterday in Abuja, the party also resolved to disband all state caretaker executives set up by the former National Chairman, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, after the May 21botched national convention.

It also decided to set up two standing committees, the disciplinary committee and reconciliation committee expected to handle alleged wrong doings of the former executive led by Sheriff.

Before the NEC meeting, another meeting of the national caucus and the Board of Trustees (BoT) were held in which all the issues were presented and endorsement obtained.

While speaking with journalists on the outcome of the NEC meeting, the

spokesman of the National Caretaker Committee (NCC), Prince Dayo Adeyeye, said the party approved the removal of state caretaker committees in Jigawa and Benue States.

Adeyeye said: “You will recall that immediately after the Court of Appeal judgment on February 17and March in Port Harcourt, which gave our victory to Sheriff, he set about installing caretaker committees in some states of the federation, particularly in Jigawa and Benue States.”

He explained that the affected state caretaker committee were the ones set up by the Sheriff group during the crisis.

“So, we brought a motion before NEC today and the motion was duly passed.

NEC declared and affirmed the leadership of the party in the two states of Jigawa and Benue that emerged after the April/May 2016 congresses.

“All state caretaker committees and state parallel executives set up after the

Osinbajo: Nigeria Aiming to Be Among 16 Largest Economies Acting President Yemi Osinbajo has said that ‘Nigeria is fast moving toward becoming one of the 16 largest economies in the world.

Osinbajo made the statement yesterday at the palace of the Emir of Gusau, Alhaji Ibrahim Bello, as part of his one-day visit to Zamfara State.

He said the target could be achieved through unity and hard work by Nigerians.

Osinbajo, according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), said the unity of Nigerians was paramount to the economic growth of the country.

He said: “Our diversity as a people united is also our potential to transform our large deposits of mineral resources and use same for national development.”

The acting president commended the efforts of security agencies in the country in maintaining law and order.

While receiving the acting president, Bello thanked him for accepting all invitations to the state, adding: “You are now a son of the soil.”

The emir also commended the federal government for deploying security men to maintain peace in Zamfara State.

He said since the deployment, gunmen attacks, cattle rustling and kidnapping which threatened communities had become history.

The acting president was accompanied on the visit by the governors of Kebbi and Sokoto States, Alhaji Abubakar Bagudu and Aminu Tambuwal, respectively.

Court of Appeal judgment of February 17, 2017 in Port Harcourt are to be dissolved and the duly elected officers returned to the office forthwith.

That is to bring normalcy back to the party, installing legality and constitutionality,” he said.

On the tenure of the members of the NCC, Adeyeye said August 17, 2016 Port Harcourt convention had asked the committee to continue in office for 12 months, which would lapse in August 16, 2016 but that due to the prolonged litigation, it could not dispense of the mandate.

“We have been in court since May 2016. So, the prolonged litigation of the National leadership tussle ended only last week on 1st of July when the Supreme Court when the Supreme Court gave judgment

in favour of the NCC, leaving barely one month for the conduct of proper elective national convention, taking into account the relevant statutory notice that we need to give to INEC and the requirements of the PDP constitution 2012 (as amended).

“Practically, it is going to be impossible to have an elective national convention before August 16 because we need to give certain statutory notices to INEC. And our own has some special provisions that we have to meet and there is no time to meet up with those provisions.

“Therefore, NEC took a decision that in view of all the circumstances, NEC invoking the powers conferred on it under Section 31 (2a), decided to convene non-elective

national convention onAugust 12, 2017.

“NEC decided to set up a standing Disciplinary and Reconciliation Committees.

And the NCC has been directed to establish and inaugurate these committees immediately.

“Finally, we took a decision on important constitution amendments that we intend to effect at the next elective national convention that will come up later in the year. The constitutional amendment proposals have been circulated to relevant personalities and organs of the party.

While giving details of the proposed amendments to be effected by the party, Adeyeye said the party is out to address some of the issues that have affected its smooth operation

such as poor discipline and the issue of incessant litigation by party members without recourse to internal conflict resolution mechanism.

According to him, the amendments are aimed at ensuring more internal democracy within the party.

He said all the proposed amendments have been circulated to relevant party organs for their considerations and inputs before the convention.

On whether the disciplinary committee was targeting Sheriff and his loyalists who stood on his side throughout the crisis, Adeyeye said nothing of such is intended but that the committee being a standing one, can handle any issues presented before it.

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T H I S D AY WEDNESDAY JULY 19, 2017

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T H I S D AY ˾ WEDNESDAY, JULY 19, 2017

18

MIDWEEKPOLITICS

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

THE NEWSMAKER

What Next for Ize-Iyamu The judgment of the Supreme Court upholding the election of Godwin Obaseki as Edo State governor dealt a fatal blow to the ambition of Osagie Ize-Iyamu to rule the state, writes Segun James

A

fter a gallant battle which ended at the Supreme Court last week, the Peoples Democratic Party’s governorship candidate in Edo, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, finally accepted reality and congratulated the governor, Godwin Obaseki.

For someone who had worked for government for so long, many now wonder what life will look like for him outside government. Welcome to the world of Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, a politician who has been in the corridor of power in Edo state since the advent of the fourth republic and has been part and parcel of several uninspiring governments in the state.

After the Independent National Electoral Commission declared the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Godwin Obaseki the winner of the election, Ize-Iyamu put his hope on the electoral tribunal to overturn the commission’s declaration. He assembled a team of lawyers who filed a petition on his behalf seeking to nullify Obaseki’s election.

However, his hope of becoming the governor through a judicial pronouncement was dashed when on April 14, the Edo state Election Petition Tribunal ruled in favour of INEC and Obaseki.

The pastor, however, refused to lose hope. He quickly caused his lawyers to file an appeal against the tribunal’s verdict. Little did he know then that the appeal would also result come to nothing.

On June 9th, the Appeal Court sitting in Benin dismissed his appeal. It upheld the decision of the tribunal and affirmed the election of Obaseki.

The five-man panel led by Justice M.B DongbanMensem, in a unanimous decision, described Ize-Iyamu’s appeal as unmeritorious.

The court agreed with the Edo state Election Petition Tribunal led by Justice Ahmed Badamasi which returned Obaseki as governor of Edo state, saying that Ize-Iyamu and the PDP failed to prove before the trial court why Obaseki’s victory should be upturned. Other members of the panel are Justices S. Tom Yakub, M.O. Bolaji-Yusuf, U.A. Ogakwu and Mohammed Mustapha.

Contrary to claim by Ize-Iyamu and his loyalists that Obaseki was unpopular in Edo, the appeal court’s judgment elicited thunderous celebration in Benin City on the day it was delivered.

After the court of appeal judgment, many of Ize-Iyamu’s followers became weary but he remained undaunted and headed for the Supreme Court. But still he lost. That was when reality dawned on him.

In upholding the INEC’s declaration of Obaseki as the person who won the election, the apex court held that the appeal lacked merit and consequently dismissed it.

Justice Inyang Okoro, who read the lead judgment said: “After a careful consideration of all the arguments and processes filed by parties in this matter, I am of the firm view that this appeal is devoid of merit and deserves an order of dismissal and accordingly the appeal is hereby dismissed.”

That decision threw the PDP’s camp in Edo into mourning. But in a rare show of the spirit of sportsmanship, Ize-Iyamu put a call through to Obaseki and congratulated him. Commendable as that was, many are of the view that he would have done himself a greater favour if he had accepted the results of the election as declared by INEC and saved himself the trouble of going to courts.

An elated Obaseki, who was in Lagos on a retreat for the state’s top civil servants described the Supreme Court’s decision as a confirmation of the truth. He repeated his famous quote: “One thing you must always know is that the truth never changes.”

Ize-Iyamu..suffered several defeats in courts

Coincidentally, his mentor and immediate predecessor, Adams Oshiomhole was with him.

The former President of the Nigerian Labour Congress expressed the hope that Ize-Iyamu and his co-travellers would eventually accept the truth,”’as declared by INEC now that the tribunal, the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court have all said it”, he added.

In Benin, the people received the ape court’s decision with joy as they trooped to the streets of Benin in their thousand to celebrate with Obaseki. The judgment, they said, would now allow the governor to focus squarely on developing the state based on the promises he

But in a rare show of the spirit of sportsmanship, Ize-Iyamu put a call through to Obaseki and congratulated him.

Commendable as that was, many are of the views that he would have done himself a greater favour if he had accepted the results of the election as declared

by INEC and saved himself the trouble of going to courts

made to the people.

But for Ize-Iyamu, this is not the best of times politically. For a man who has been everywhere in the corridor of power in the state, his humbling

by Obaseki may indeed be the nail that seals his political coffin.

Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu emerged as Peoples Democratic Party flag-bearer for the Edo state gubernatorial during a controversial primaries that saw the two factions of the party presenting different candidates. He was born in Benin City on the 21 June 1962 to late Chief R.O. Ize-Iyamu (Esogban of Benin) and late Mrs. Magdalene Ize-Iyamu nee Obasohan. He is from Iguododo, Orhionmwon local government area of the state.

- He attended St. Joseph Primary School and Ebenezer Nursery and Primary School in Benin City. He had his Secondary education at Edo College the premier secondary school in Edo State and passed out with grade I in his West African Examination Council (WAEC) examinations. He attended the University of Benin where he graduated with an LLB (Hons) and proceeded to the Nigerian Law School, Lagos where he bagged the Bachelor of Law (BL).

Osagie Ize-Iyamu is a pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God and former Chief of Staff and Secretary to Edo State Government.

He was once a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and he was also the National Vice Chairman, South-South Zone of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). He returned to the PDP, his initial party before joining the APC. He was the Director General of Adams Oshiomhole’s Campaign Organisation when the later ran for the state’s governorship for the second term. Ize-Iyamu also served as the Coordinator of Goodluck/Sambo Campaign

Organisation in the state.

He had been a politician all his working life. He was at a time, the the Chief of Staff to a former governor of Edo state, Chief Lucky Igbinedion.

He was also appointed Secretary to the State Government under Adams Oshiomhole. But surprisingly, he defected to the PDP when he fell out with Oshiomhole over his gubernatorial ambition.

At the rally at which he declared his move to the PDP, Ize-Iyamu, urged the people of Edo state to forgive him for helping Oshiomhole to win the state’s governorship election in 2007 under the Action Congress of Nigeria umbrella.

Among others, he claimed that his decision to leave the APC for the PDP, was because the governor failed to keep to his promise to construct the road leading to his community as well as the failure to tackle erosion in the area.

Pastor Ize-Iyamu, however, said that his apology was necessary because the governor had turned truth upside town. “Edo people should forgive me for being one of those in the forefront that brought Mr. Oshiomhole to be the governor of the state. We now know who he is. Therefore, in the coming elections, Edo people should not repeat the mistake of the past.

“When I remember how we brought in Oshiomhole to contest the 2007 governorship election, I weep because we brought in a bad thing.”

Many believe that his penchant for jumping from one party to another is one his greatest undoing.

Osagie Ize-Iyamu is married to Pastor (Dr) Idia Ize-Iyamu, a Consultant Orthodontist with the University of Benin Teaching Hospital and a Senior Lecturer in the University of Benin.

They are blessed with four children.

T H I S D AY ˾ WEDNESDAY, JULY 19, 2017

19

PERSPECTIVE

MIDWEEKPOLITICS

Peter Obi at 56

At a time when leadership by example is a rarity, Peter Obi represents one of the best the country can boast of in terms of exemplary leadership, writes Valentine Obienyem

T

oday, the 19th day of July, 2017, the man regarded as one of the best in governance, Peter Obi, turns 56. As usual, drums would be rolled out by some of his admirers who believe excellence ought to be celebrated.

In this piece, I set out to re-examine, through the memories of his tenure, what good governance is all about and to encourage Nigerians to look up to him as the man who came into governance through entirely different route, with an entirely different mentality and left it as nobody has done in the history of governance in Nigeria.

Born on July 19, 1961, Peter Gregory Obi started his life in the rustic city of Onitsha, and obtained his formal education in Onitsha and Nsukka.

He has since attended some of the best tertiary institutions in the world in his thirst for knowledge to boost his competences.

How shall we rank him? Who among us possesses the ability so to understand him adequately?

As an experiment in perspective, let us see him through his dramatic entrance into government and what he did while there.

Before he became the governor, there were not many good stories to share about the state. It was always stories of intrigues, corruption and other crimes including kidnapping, rape and a host of others. All people of goodwill from Anambra were genuinely worried about the state of affairs in the state. The Bakassi boys and their co-predators worsened the situation as they turned the state into an epicenter of carnage, an arena for horror, with no regard for humanity.

Concerned like other decent people, Peter Obi decided not to just sit by and watch. Even though he was well aware of the danger associated with plunging into politics, especially in Anambra, he nevertheless took a decision to seek election into the office of governor. He was determined to turn barbarisms into civilization.

He campaigned vigorously and was seen as the best candidate for the job. In many respects he was different. He was softened to tolerance by education and experiences as a top boardroom man. He relied on persuasion and effective marketing of his programme of action to garner support and votes. Alas, his opponents, used to employing sheer force to take what did not belong to them, stole his mandate.

Evidently, God always has a special interest in Peter Obi’s affairs; and for every indignity he suffered, he came out stronger and became a reference point for the country. By regaining his stolen mandate through the courts, his case became a ‘locus classicus’ in that regard and establishing a precedent that others who found themselves in similar situation have had to rely on. A study of the circumstances that led to this unusual feat will easily show that it was due largely to the grace of God and his perseverance and ability to remain focused.

A few months into his tenure, some renegades in the state’s house of assembly led by Hon. Mike Belonwu contrived his impeachment. It was not hidden that the impeachment process that came to its peak on the visit of the then President Olusegun Obasanjo, had some of its root in the swelling resentment against his parsimony; how, rather than doing business as usual, he was using the resources of the state to work for the state and the people. One of the reasons why he was impeached was that he refused to adopt the usual ‘add and share’ approach where additional money is added to the contract sum to be shared among some privileged people. The house of assembly accused him of re-building the burnt government house with less than 50 per cent of the actual money budgeted for that purpose. This may sound incredible, but it is true.

It was at the height of rascality at the time that the house ended up impeaching him.

Convinced of the rightness of his conduct in office, Obi challenged the action of the house of assembly in court and set another record as the first state governor to come back into office from impeachment.

As governor, he had many challenges, but as customary with him, his usually calm and thoughtful temperament often saved him from unsavoury situations. Despite his convictions that the condition of Anambra required early

Obi... does what he preaches

decisions and quick implementation of policies, Obi, in the freshman year of his government, submitted himself to a robust debate over the ills afflicting the state. He started by establishing a ministry of planning.

He did not have to rush into new projects - mostly unplanned - when there were many projects started by his predecessor which needed to be completed.

As a board-room guru, he understood the importance of team work. In this wise, he subjected his decisions to the executive council for proper debate and consideration. He did this because he was the captain of the ship and was in control. Some of the commissioners who served under him, still recall with ease the exhilarating times spent with him. One of them is the highly-respected Dr. Patrick Obi who recalled that Obi would hold a very prolonged council meetings and would always ask the questions; Is this just? Is that useful? “He subjected each question to exact and elaborate analysis”, the former commissioner said.

On Obi’s capacity for work, the cerebral and forthright Professor Chinyere Okunna said: “I have never seen him tired, I never found his mind lacking in inspiration, even when weary in body. Never did a man more wholly devote himself to the work in hand, nor better devote his time to what he had to do.”

He was yet to conclude his first term when elections were conducted. As far as everybody was concerned, that was his end. Dr. Andy Uba was already sworn in as the governor before Obi’s erudite lawyer, Dr Onyechi Ikpeazu, SAN succeeded in getting the court to truncate Ubah’s unconstitutional bid to unseat him.

Apparently the most frugal governor the state had ever produced, Obi magically cleared debts owed pensioners which ran into over N37 billion.

He paid workers’ salaries consistently and would not owe contractors.Yet he left over N100 billion in the state’s treasury as at the time he concluded his tenure

One of the major challenges of his tenure was the issue of security. Though, the entire Southeast was having security challenges at the time he assumed office, the case of Anambra was horrendous. The situation was made worse by the fact that the state had little relationship with legitimate security agencies. In the first instance, he restored this strategic relationship with those agencies; supporting them with donations of over 500 vehicles, among which were Armoured Personnel Carriers and armoured patrol vehicles.

Reflecting on the far-reaching measures he took to secure the state, one has to admire Obi’s courage in compelling a society to improve its ways of protecting itself from crime and criminality, including armed robbery, kidnapping, and cultism.

For instance, he came up with a legislation which enabled the destruction of buildings used to keep kidnap victims. To further enhance security, his administration provided at least one security patrol van for each of the 177 communities in the state.

He also provided patrol vans for vulnerable institutions like markets and churches. When one of the dare-devil kidnappers, Evans, was caught recently, he confessed the truth that propaganda has held hostage for long: that it was Obi that made criminals to run out of Anambra because he made the place an operational hell for them.

At another event when Obi was asked about security in Anambra state during his tenure, he replied rather cryptically in Igbo: “Woke nuchaa ogu, nwanyi enweluakuko.” (After a man fights the battle, the woman takes on the story”).

With his overall achievements, the state, which until his tenure was treated as a pariah, was opened again to the world. It was at this time that several envoys in Nigeria started to visit the state for collaborative projects and programmes.

These include: United States, Britain, Russia, European Union, South Africa, Belgium, Israel, The Netherlands and Canada. In the same vein, Development Partners such as UNDP, UNICEF, The World Bank, DfID, and UNESCO. Hitherto, many of them had nothing to do with the Anambra.

Under the Obi, the state was consistently adjudged one of the best in development partnership and commitment to reforms for good governance.

Before his tenure, the manufacturing sector – not to be confused with commerce -- was comatose.

The few operators that hung on groaned under the debilitating effects of bad roads, low patronage, excessive taxation, insecurity, lack of government support, among others. The Obi administration resuscitated this critical sector by taking practical steps -- including development of an industrial policy for the state, consultations with operators and putting in place concrete enablement for them -- which yielded tremendous results and boosted the state economic development. Link roads, other relevant infrastructure and logistic support were

provided for such vibrant manufacturing outfits as Innoson Vehicles, Chikason, Cutix Cable, Juhel Pharmaceuticals, Krisoral, Orange Drugs, EkuloGroup, and many others. The administration also attracted other manufacturers.

Among others, Innoson Group has continued to acknowledge that the patronage of the Obi administration ensured the survival of its vehicle manufacturing company – with the purchase of billions of Naira worth of vehicles and introductions to the Presidency and other states.

One of Obi’s unsurpassed achievements was in education. Here, he achieved another first on January 1, 2009, with his return of schools to their original owners. This singular decision produced commendable results. While the management of these schools was transferred to the agencies, the state government retained responsibility for funding including capital projects, staff salaries and emoluments, and other recurrent expenditures.

Such was the impact of this momentous decision that Obi administration stabilized basic education in the state. Among other outcomes, Anambra state leaped from its usual 24th place among the 36 states to number one in many external examinations.

Under his tenure, Anambra became the first in the federation to procure and distribute over 30,000 computers to secondary schools. These included 22,500 from HP, which the Managing Director HP (Africa and Middle-East) described as their largest such procurement in the Middle-East and Africa. In the same vein, Internet access was provided to more than 500 secondary schools, which the CEO of Galaxy Backbone then (Mr. Gerald Ilukwe) characterized as incomparable to any other in the country. Microsoft academies were also established in secondary schools – a project the then Head of Microsoft in Nigeria (Mr. Ken Span) described as the biggest of such in Africa to date.

Similarly, secondary schools in the State got over 700 buses, while bore-holes were sunk and classroom blocks constructed in several schools across the state.

Having determined that partnership with the voluntary agencies/churches worked effectively, he steadily extended the formula to other critical sectors. In the health sector, for instance, the symbiotic relationship resulted in a tremendous boost in health care delivery across the state.

Trainer of health-care professionals similarly received serious attention. By the end of Obi’s tenure in 2014, over 12 health institutions, including two hospitals, had secured accreditation for their courses and programmes. Interestingly, prior to his assumption of office in 2006, no health institution in Anambra state was duly accredited.

For his achievements, Obi received several commendations and awards. Among others, he won the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation US$1 million prize for best-performing state in immunization in the South-east. With complementary funding from government, he used the money to construct ten maternal and child care centers across the state. Apparently the most frugal governor the state had ever produced, Obi magically cleared debts owed pensioners which ran into over N37 billion. He paid workers’ salaries consistently and would not owe contractors. Yet he left over N100 billion in the state’s treasury as at the time he concluded his tenure as governor. This is one of the features that distinguished him from others. How he did it will one day become a topical issue in the country.

Commenting on Obi’s inclination for hard-work, one of his commissioners, Chief Joe Martins Uzodike noted that “Mr. Peter Obi wore himself out as he did others. He crowded a life-time of events into twenty years because he compressed a week into a day. He came to his desk at about 7am. It is only those not in Nigeria that would not appreciate what he did for Anambra State and how he is sadly being repaid today. But like his other travails, he takes them with equanimity”.

On her part, his wife, the oil behind the strong engine, Mrs. Margaret Obi said that her husband remained the person he used to be: “He still eats well and sleeps like a baby. He could go to sleep at will, at any hour and in any place wherever he needs repose.”

Obienyem wrote in from Lagos

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20

FEATURES

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

Ambode’s Rescue Model Gboyega Akinsanmi writes that the Lagos State governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, has redefined the state’s emergency response framework such that there is now hope of victims surviving

E

arly last month, the Lagos State Government unveiled LASEMA Response Unit (LRU), Lekki. But the unveiling might not connote a true record of governance for millions of Lagos residents. Undoubtedly, the idea that culminated in the birth of the unit was solely structured to ensure public safety, not just private and public assets, but mainly lives of residents irrespective of their social status.

Nowhere has this vision ever been more demonstrated than at Richard Abimbola Street, Ilasa, where a three-storey building collapsed precisely on May 18. And this was evident in an account the General Manager of Lagos State Emergency Agency (LASEMA), Mr. Tiamiyu Adeshina shared with some journalists recently.

The three-storey building, according to the general manager, suddenly collapsed and claimed three lives instantly.

Consequently, distress calls from different concerned neighbours flooded the LASEMA office, which Adeshina said, was normal when disaster occurred. He, thus, said the calls did not emphasise those who have lost their lives, but sought intervention to save those who were trapped under the rubbles. Armed with details about the scene, he deployed rescue operatives just after the calls. And the rescue operation began amid hope and despair. At the scene, the relations of the victims were soaked with tears. Also, their neighbours were lost in thought, perhaps despairing thst no victim would come out alive again. But Adeshina revealed that the rescue operatives were able to establish contacts with one of the victims under the rubble, a development that gave some ray of hope. Subsequently, the victim provided useful information, which Adeshina said, made the rescue operation, perhaps the most successful in the history of Nigeria. Yet, he said the rescue team could not bring out those who were trapped under the rubbles the first two days. Even though the victims could not be rescued, he disclosed that the team was able to give them oxygen and food under the rubbles.

That was the first breakthrough. So, after three days of excavation, the general manager revealed that the victims were brought out of the rubbles one after the other. Aside the initial loss of three lives, Adeshina said no death was recorded again.

Rather, according to him, “19 lives were rescued from the rubbles. If it were to be in the past, those who were trapped could have lost their lives.� “The case of Ilasa was just one of our success stories,� he added. Likewise, the general manager said the state’s rescue team rescued 14 alive at Daddy Alaja Street, Oke Arin, Lagos Island. He said it was an outcome of paradigm shift in the disaster management in the state. Aside, he said it was a proof that this administration “is deeply committed to ensure prompt response to emergencies in a bid to save lives and property of Lagos residents.�

Although it is imperative to state that the intent is to prevent emergencies and mishaps across the state, we cannot or may not be able to completely eliminate them.

As a result we must be ready to swing into action and save lives and property whenever the unfortunate events occur.That is indeed one of the core reasons for which any government exists

A victim rescued at the scene of building collapse at Richard Abimbola Street, Ilasa ... recently

A victim rescued at the scene of building collapse at Daddy Alaja Street, Oke Arin on Lagos Island... recently

Created to Save Consistent with Adeshina’s narrative, Ambode’s decision to restructure the state’s emergency response system was informed by a well-defined mandate “to save, protect and sustain human lives.� This mandate, as the Commissioner for Special Duties and Inter-governmental Relations, Mr. Oluseye Oladejo said, is no doubt a testament to the premium the governor “places on human lives and the need to ensure the sanctity of lives.�

A number of compelling factors, according to Oladejo, explained the premium the governor placed on human lives. He, first, cited the state’s huge population, which according to him, currently stands at over 21 million. With over 21 million residents crammed within the land mass of 3,577 km2, their action and inaction are often reasons for frequent occurrence of emergencies in the state.

He, also, cited high concentration of companies and industries, among others, as another explanation for Ambode’s mandate “to save protect and sustain human lives in a megacity.� Like other megacities in the world, Oladejo said activities of

the industries, in one way or the other, contributed much “to a wide range of disasters that occurred within the state.�

Unlike most cities in the developed world, heavy presence and number of articulated vehicles – tankers, trailers and trucks in the state complicated the state’s emergency crises, which he argued, could have been prevented if the country’s rail system “is really functional. So, the resort to articulated vehicles will have been minimal if the railway is working.�

For these reasons, Oladejo said the state often “has a high record of emergency conditions when compared with other states in the federation.� In 2016 alone, according to him, the state recorded 988 cases of fire disaster; 242 incidents of road accident; eight incidents of fallen tankers; five cases of gas explosion and six incidents of flooding among others.

Undoubtedly, the commissioner said the sizable number of accidents recorded in the state “is no doubt disturbing.� However, he said the fact that the state “has been able to respond promptly,

in record time to these emergencies x-rays our commitment to human safety. As a result, we have been able to save hundreds of human lives and properties worth several billions of naira in properties alone.�

Prepared to Act Most times, Ambode said, disaster does not give any warning or signal before it occurs.

Consequently, he pledged his commitment “to act promptly whenever disaster occurs in the state.� But this commitment amounts to nothing without preparation, which the governor said, was the reason his administration reformed the state’s disaster management structure.

Under his leadership, Ambode said the state government was prepared “to manage any emergency condition or situation in whatever dimension it occurs and alleviate the level of trauma or destruction that may arise.� He said his administration had demonstrated high level of preparedness, citing huge resources and personnel deployed to ensure the safety of lives and property.

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FEATURES

In the last two years ago, Ambode mapped out diverse emergency initiatives he had rigorously pursued and executed. Specifically, he said the state government “has set aside a lot of resources and personnel for prompt activation of distress management initiatives by dedicated first responders with relevant equipment within the shortest possible time.�

First, He cited the procurement of heavy-duty rescue equipment, which he said, would accelerate the speed of saving lives; salvaging private property and securing public installations during emergency situations. As the Permanent Secretary, the Ministry of Special Duties, Mrs. Adebunmi Adekanye said, statistics showed that more lives “are now being saved.�

Ambode, equally, cited the construction of the LASEMA Rescue Centre, Cappa Oshodi and the subsequent inauguration of the Lekki Response Unit. He explained that the facilities “have been established to respond to all kinds of emergency conditions within the territory of Lagos State.

These are specially designed dispatch centres and first of their kinds in Nigeria. “Although it is imperative to state that the intent is to prevent emergencies and mishaps across the state, we cannot or may not be able to completely eliminate them. As a result we must be ready to swing into action and save lives and property whenever the unfortunate events occur. That is indeed one of the core reasons for which any government exists.�

As indicated in an address he presented at the unveiling of the Oshodi Rescue Centre, the governor said his rescue programmes “are categorised into two phases.� The first phase, according to him, is to significantly bring down response time by our responders. He said his administration had been able to address the issue of prompt response to distress calls relatively.

The second phase is the building of dispatch centres across the state, where according to the governor, rescue operatives could roll out from the nearest station to the scene of accidents. Even though the state has not began implementing the second phase fully, Ambode said much progress “has been made to respond with accuracy and prevent undue destruction of lives and property.�

Before this intervention, Ambode observed that many people “have lost their lives and sources of livelihood, not from the initial incident, but from the delay in the response time due to inadequate resources and training. We have now equipped the emergency agency with trained personnel and equipment to effectively carry out its objective- to save lives and livelihoods.�

Resolved to Sustain At the unveiling of the Lekki Response Unit, last month, the permanent secretary extensively spoke on the state government’s sustainability plan. As she put it, the plan is evident in Ambode’s resolve “to ensure prompt response to emergencies with one singular drive: Ambode’s passion to save lives and protect property of over 21 million residents in the state.� So, she pointed out a three-pronged plan. First, Adekanye said the state government had already provided an emergency line through which the state’s emergency agency could be reached seamlessly. She said the emergency line “is 112. It runs 24 hours, and any resident with accurate and genuine report put distress calls to us. We will response a minute after.�

Second, the permanent secretary disclosed that the state government “has introduced the use of new technologies to aid prompt response.�

Already, she explained that the state government “has deployed GPS technology and eventually CCTV coverage, we will trace the caller, locate the scene of the incident and subsequently send the nearest available trained responder.�

Ambode identified the third plan as the creation of dispatch centres in different strategic locations

We have now scaled up the activities of our monitoring and surveillance unit in order to equip our rescue teams to be able to prevent and mitigate against unnecessary loss of lives and property

L-R: Lagos State deputy governor, Dr. Oluranti Adebule Ambode his Kebbi counterpart, Alhaji Atiku Bagudu and the Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, during the unveiling of the LASEMA Response Unit at Cappa, Oshodi in 2016

Some rescue equipment the Ambode administration procured in 2016

L-R: Director of Lagos State Fire Service, Mr. Rasaq Fadipe, Adeshina, Oladejo and Adekanye, at the unveiling of the LASEMA Response Unit, Lekki ... recently

statewide. He said the Ambode administration “is committed to realising this commitment. We started with the LASEMA Response Unit, Oshodi.

We just inaugurated the Lekki Centre,� which he said, has become imperative due to the increasing rate of emergencies in Lagos Central.

From all indications, according to the governor, the Lekki Centre is strategic. He said the centre was strategically located at Lekki and a jetty was constructed alongside “to facilitate quick

response to emergency on the waterways and for proximity to riverine areas of the state. We put all these factors into consideration to ensure efficiency and improve on the response time.�

Also, Ambode said response units “are at different stages of completion. One is on Ikorodu Road and the other at Badagry. When completed, these facilities will complement existing dispatch centre located at the LASEMA Response Unit, Oshodi and the Lekki Centre. By the time we complete

all dispatch centres, we have no reason not to respond swiftly.� As a dynamic government, Ambode assured that the state government “is determined to imbibe a paradigm shift from the orthodox strategy of waiting for emergency to occur and then respond. We have now scaled up the activities of our monitoring and surveillance unit in order to equip our rescue teams to be able to prevent and mitigate against unnecessary loss of lives and property.�

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IMAGES

L-R: Attorney General, Osun State, Dr. Basiru Ajibola; Assistant Chief State Counsel, Mr. Abiodun Badiora and Director, Legal and Judicial Reforms Department, Mr. Bisi Babalola, during the interactive session wth Law Editors and Lawyer in the media in Ikeja...recently kolawole alli.

l-R; Company Secretary, Red Star Express Plc, Frances Akpomaka; Deputy Managing Director, Red Star Freight, Tonye Preghafi; Group Managing Director, Red Star Express Plc, Sola Obabori; Executive Director, Sales and Marketing, Red Star Express Plc, Victor Ukwat, and DMD, Red Star Express, Charles Ejekam, at the unveiling of Red Star Express logo in Lagos....recently

L-R, President Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE),Mr. Otis Anyaeji; Former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo; former Governor of Osun State, Olagunsoye Oyinlola and former Speaker House of Representative Hon Patricia Eteh during the celebration of Obasanjo’s 8oth Birthday by Nigeria Society of Engineers (NSE) in Abuja...recently julius atoi/thisdayimages

L-R: Glo subscribers, Richard Napoleon and Onayemi Oluwakemi; Glo ambassador, Inetimi Alfred Odon, aka, Timaya and Glo subscriber, Osunsanmi Olatunde, at the Ijebu Ode edition of the Glo Mega Music Nationwide Tour...recently

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Photo Editor ĂŒĂ“Ă™ĂŽĂ&#x;Ă˜ ÔËÖË Email Ă‹ĂŒĂ“Ă™ĂŽĂ&#x;Ă˜Ë›Ă‹Ă”Ă‹Ă–Ă‹ĚśĂžĂ’Ă“Ă?ĂŽĂ‹ĂŁĂ–Ă“Ă Ă?Ë›Ă?Ù×

L-R: Head, Strategy, Planning and Marketing Group, AXA Mansard Insurance, Kola Oni; Inventory Management Accountant, Sahara Group, Henry Nwobodo and Team Lead, CSR and Sustainability of FCMB, Temitayo Ade-Peters, all judges at the Enactus Nigeria National Competition held in Lagos....recently

L-R, Director, Corporate Communications & CSR, Airtel Nigeria, Emeka Oparah; President, Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON), Tony Okoroji and Minister of Information & Culture, Lai Mohammed during a reception organize by COSON in honor of Lai Mohammed in Lagos...recently

L-R: Country Partner, PwC Nigeria, Mr. Uyi Akpata; Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun and Head of Tax, PwC Nigeria, Mr Taiwo Oyedele at an interactive session on Voluntary Assets and lncome Declaration Scheme by the Minister and PwC in Lagos...recently abiodun ajala

L-R: Oyo State Governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, receiving the Industrial Policy document from the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation’s (UNIDO) Representative to ECOWAS and Regional Director, Nigeria Regional Office Hub, Mr. Jean Bakole, at the Governor’s office, Ibadan...recently.

Governor’s Office

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BUSINESSWORLD R A T E S NIBOR OVERNIGHT 1-MONTH

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NIBOR 21.3750% 21.0038 %

3-MONTH 6-MONTH

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NITTY 1-MONTH 3-MONTH

Group Business Editor Chika Amanze-Nwachuku Email chika.amanzenwachukwu@thisdaylive.com 08033294157

2 0 1 7 20.1827% 19.3855%

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EXCHANGE RATE N305.35//1US DOLLAR* *AS AT LAST FRIDAY

Quick Takes Transcorp Hilton Marks 30th Anniversary

Transcorp Hilton Abuja recently celebrated its 30th anniversary this year, having oďŹƒcially opened its door to its ďŹ rst guest on the 21st of April, 1987.The iconic hotel, which has through the years, hosted Royalty, Presidents, Global leaders, celebrities and other dignitaries, gathered friends, partners, clients, its board members and sta to commemorate its legacy and rich history as a pioneer in Nigeria’s hospitality sector.

Built on 20 hectres of land, the 670 bedroom 5-star hotel began operations as Nicon Noga Hilton Hotel, a member of the Hilton family of brands.To commemorate this milestone, Transcorp Hilton Abuja hosted a cocktail and dinner with an array of entertainment and activities, highlighting and celebrating the impact of Transcorp Hilton as an iconic landmark in Nigeria.

Speaking at the dinner, the President, Middle East and North Africa, Hilton Worldwide, Rudi Jagersbacher, commended the Transcorp Hilton stating that its contribution to the brand equity and perception of Hilton Worldwide has been recognised all over the world.Earlier, the Chairman of Transcorp Plc owners of Transcorp Hilton Abuja, Tony O. Elumelu, thanked guests and shareholders for begin a part of the journey so far.

FINANCIAL MARKET DEALERS MEET

L-R: Former Vice President, Financial Market Dealers Association(FMDA), Adebayo Adeyemo(left); President, Samuel Ochoho; and immediate Past President, David Adepoju at the 24th annual general meeting of FMDA in Lagos...recently

Nigeria’s GDP to Hit $3.3 Trillion in 2050, Says PwC Goddy Egene Economists at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) have projected that Nigeria could emerge the 14th largest economy in the world by 2050 with Gross domestic product (GDP) of $3.3 trillion.

PwC made this projection in a special report titled: ‘Boosting Investments: Nigeria’s path to growth’, obtained on Monday.

The company said to deliver sustainable growth with per capita gains, Nigeria needs to aggressively boost domestic and foreign investments over the next decade.

According to PwC, while nation’s economy fell into a recession for the first time since 1991 last year, recent string of economic releases suggest

ECONOMY that the economy might have bottomed out with fragile signs of recovery, driven largely by improved liquidity in the foreign exchange markets and policy measures to improve the business environment.

The company, which said foreign exchange regime remains the key to stimulating investment, explained that the report which examined Nigeria’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) identified two critical factors for unlocking private investment-improving the business environment, and having a sustainable foreign exchange regime. “We note that the country has made some progress towards improving the business environ-

ment through several reforms, including a 60-day action plan implemented over the past six months. However, more needs to be done, in particular, with respect to paying taxes, getting access to electricity and other infrastructure, which are critical to bolster investment,� PwC said.

The report added that while foreign exchange liquidity has improved in recent times as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) allows for more flexibility in the foreign exchange market, the existence of multiple exchange rates with significant variances poses a risk to investment. “In our view, a marketdetermined exchange rate, where all rates are harmonised, is fundamental to boosting domestic and foreign invest-

ments,� PwC said.

Speaking on impact of exchange rate flexibility on investment and economic growth, PwC said a number of academic literature have shown the positive impact of exchange rate flexibility on investment and economic growth. “Broadly, it has been argued that a flexible exchange rate regime has a positive effect on investment and economic growth compared to a fixed or intermediate regime. Ihnatov and Capraru (2012) using data from 16 Central and Eastern European Countries find that flexible exchange rate regimes have a superior positive effect on growth in per-capita GDP relative to intermediate and 4 Continued on page 24

Banking System Liquidity Seen Rising as FG Moves to Settle Contractors, Others Obinna Chima The move by the federal government to prevent further blemish to its credit rating by securitising and restructuring some long dated existing financial obligations of approximately N2.7 trillion is expected to strengthen banking system liquidity.

The Financial Derivatives Company Limited (FDC) stated this in its Economic Bulletin for July titled: ‘Rising public sector debt, a ticking time bomb’, obtained yesterday.

The Nigerian banking system has been vulnerable to commodity price and currency volatility

ECONOMY shocks. However, one of the weaknesses of the sector has been the high default rate of debtors.

According to the report, nonperforming loans in the banking system are now believed to be approximately 16 per cent of total risk assets.

Last year, Fitch Ratings reduced the Support Rating Floors of 10 Nigerian banks to “No Floor� on the backdrop of rising foreign debt and lack of institutions to cushion these banks in the event further shocks to the system. Major contributors

to the asset quality problem of the sector are government contractors as well as some government employees.

The banks now shun more loan requests by government and public sector contractors.

In the past two rounds of bank distress, government delinquency was a major catalyst of bank failure.

Crucially, many of the loans obtained by contractors affected by federal government loan default had been written off as non-performing loans by these banks leading to many rating agencies questioning the strength of the banking system in withstanding further shocks.

Also, most of the banks also sustained significant losses to their share values and as such increased liquidity is to facilitate a tapering in the speculation of a banking crisis, the report stated.

According to the report, Nigeria has a reputation of chronic indebtedness and financial delinquency dating as far back as the 1970s, when Nigerian debt was ruled as sub-standard by the London Club of Bankers.

It cited the case of the cement armada whereby defaulting on confirmed irrevocable Letters of Continued on page 24

Access Bank Hosts 10th Polo Day

Access Bank Group, along with 5th Chukker and The Access Bank UK recently hosted the 10th annual ‘Access Bank Polo Day.’ The annual event was part of the bank’s support of UNICEF and was the celebration of a decade of commitment to UNICEF projects.

The Access Bank/UNICEF Charity Shield Polo tournament was also aimed at reaching out to and highlighting the plight of vulnerable children and orphans and internationally displaced persons.

A statement explained that the Access Bank/UNICEF Charity Shield has grown to be the biggest charity polo tournament in Africa and generates interest and support from organisations and individuals across Africa for the UNICEF/Access initiative.

Access Bank’s Group Managing Director and Chairman ofThe Access Bank UK Limited, Herbert Wigwe explained the reasons behind the bank’s continued support for the Fifth Chukker UNICEF initiative. “We are conscious of our role as a change agent in Nigeria that can help institute socio-economic development through responsible business practice and environmental considerations,� he said. “In addition, we are continually seeking ways through which more resources can be pooled towards supporting the children. We are part of the community and as such should support its wellbeing.�

The UK event which was the culmination of the tournament was organised by

FICAN Organises Economic Review

The Chief Consultant of Biodun Adedipe Associates Limited, a ďŹ rm of Financial and Management Consultants, Biodun Adedipe will be addressing key issues on the economy at the forthcoming Finance Correspondents Association of Nigeria (FICAN) Half-Year Economic Review.The event, which holds at FICAN Centre, Onipanu Lagos on July 20, will give him opportunity to review developments in the economy in the ďŹ rst half of the year as well as highlight implications of such developments in the second half. Adedipe, who will be the guest speaker at the event, will be speaking against the backdrop of observed improvements in some economic indices, an indication that the on-going economic recession might end in the third quarter as had been predicted by some experts. While the general economic outlook seems cautiously optimistic for the remainder of ďŹ scal 2017, emerging indicators suggest that economic policy must remain cautious. Data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that the economy contracted marginally by 0.52 per cent in the ďŹ rst quarter of this year, a much more positive development since ďŹ rst quarter of last year.

The data also shows that about 18 economic activities recorded positive growth in ďŹ rst quarter of this year; indicating that the economy was ďŹ rmly on the path of recovery.

There have also been positive eects of improved foreign exchange management on the performance of the manufacturing sector

“Government believes that the lapses in the privatisation can be re-engineered, retrofitted or reformed to deliver�

Minister of Power,Works, and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola

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BUSINESSWORLD NIGERIA’S GDP TO HIT $3.3 TRILLION IN 2050, SAYS PWC fixed regimes . Levy-Yeyati and Federico Sturzenegger (2003) studied the relationship between exchange rate regimes and economic growth using a sample of 183 countries, and finds that median annual real GDP per capita growth for floaters was 0.7 percentage points higher than pegs. For developing countries, less flexible exchange rate regimes were associated with slower growth, as well as with greater 5 output fluctuations. “ Eregha (2017) also studied the impact of exchange rate regime on FDI in the West African Monetary Zone using data for the period of 1980 t0 2014 and finds that exchange rate uncertainty suppressed FDI inflows to the selected countries, and the magnitude of the impact was significantly high,� the report said.

BANKING SYSTEM LIQUIDITY SEEN RISING AS FG MOVES TO SETTLE CONTRACTORS, OTHERS Credit was the first time the government of Nigeria became a documented defaulter in the international arena.

Furthermore, it stated that the accumulation of arrears on trade finance then, resulted in a rescheduling of trade and payable debts in the 1980s.

Also, the cumulative effect of the piecemeal and unstructured approach to debt servicing (accounts for 66% of recurrent income) resulted in a choking debt trap. In the end, Nigeria’s accumulated external debt reached a level of $36 billion (HIPC – Heavily Indebted Poor Countries). A combination of deft negotiation and a payment of $18 billion comprehensive debt forgiveness were achieved in 2005.

On the domestic front, the report stressed that the delays and default in payment for bona fide transactions such as the JV cash calls have strained the financial reputation of the federal government.

To this end, the report described the securitisation of debt through promissory notes as a step taken by the government to address debt to ‘helpless creditors’ of the government such as FGN

Group Business Editor

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NEWS

Teachers Oppose Moves to Hand over Primary Education to Local Councils Solomon Elusoji Teachers across the country have rejected the proposed hand over of the administration of primary school education to local councils through constitutional amendment.

Delta State teachers, last week, took to the streets in Asaba to protest the move. The aggrieved teachers, led by the state Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Mr. Jonathan Jemiriyigbe, said that even with the joint allocation account committee, payment of teachers’ salaries was still not smooth and wondered what would be their fate should the payment be handed over fully to local councils.

Similarly, primary school teachers in Bayelsa State also took to the streets to protest against the move. The teachers, who also denied the claim that they were against the ongoing constitutional amendment on local council autonomy, want their salaries and other obligations to be handled by federal and state governments.

The state’s Chairman, Mr. Kalama Tonpre and Principal Secretary, Nigerian Union of Teachers, Mr. Johnson Hector, said the local councils lacked the capacity to pay the teachers’ salaries, subventions and welfare packages. They lamented that they had been subjected to untold hardship by the local councils, which owed them various arrears of salaries.

The wave of protests also reached Oyo state, where

members of the state’s NUT recently staged a peaceful protest against the move. They also said if local government autonomy was imperative for the federal and state governments, payment of primary school teachers, funding and management of the schools should not be the responsibility of the local councils. The rally, which took-off at the Agodi Secretariat of the NLC, was led by the state chairman, Niyi Akano and the state Trade Unions Congress (TUC) chairman, Waheed Olojede, to deliver their protest letter to

Governor Abiola Ajimobi.

The placards carrying teachers argued that granting political, financial or administrative autonomy to the local government, would mean transferring the management, equipping and funding of primary school education to the local government.

They said the burden would be too heavy for the third tier of government to bear. Some of the inscriptions on the placards read: “Nigeria Union of Teachers, Oyo State Wing says no to local government’s autonomy�; “Basic education is a right of

every child�; “Local government councils do not have the capacity to pay primary school teachers salaries�; “Foundation of education in Nigeria under threat again,� among others.

Akano said that the rally was not a protest against salary arrears but a fight for the soul of primary education in the state and the country at large. Olojede maintained that allowing the local governments to take charge of the primary school education in the country was a good way of sending the sector back to the woods,

saying that the teachers would not support local government autonomy in any way Meanwhile, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria, Ebonyi NUT chairman, Mr. Simon Ozo, also confirmed that the union was against the move. According to him, the union’s opposition to the planned handover of payment of teachers’ salaries to local government administration is hinged on the Supreme Court decision, which granted payment of salary of primary school teachers to states.

MUM OF THE YEAR

L-R: The Sales Director, FrieslandCampina WAMCO, Mr. Adewale Arikawe; Member, Panel of Judges, Celebrity Dancer, Kafayat Shafau (Kay); Grand Prize Winner, 2017 Three Crowns Milk Mum of the Year, Mrs. Oluwakemi Longe; Senior Brand Manager, Three Crowns Milk, Mrs. Omolara Banjoko and Member, Panel of Judges, Nollywood Actress, Chioma Chukwuka Akpotha, during the grand ďŹ nale of the 2017 Three Crowns Milk Mum of the Year Competition held in Lagos‌recently sunday adigun

NAICOM to Abolish Annual Licence Renewal By Insurance Brokers Ebere Nwoji Insurance brokers in Nigeria, may have seen light at the end of the tunnel in their quest to be issued with life operating licenses as the regulator, the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), has promised to abolish the regime of annual brokers’ licence renewing regime to replace it with longer life span licensing regime.

The brokers have been pushing to be put on the same pedestal with insurance underwriters in the area of life insurance licence issue.

But the NAICOM had turned down their request and insisted that the brokers must annually renew their operating

licences .

But at the just concluded National Insurance Conference held in Abuja, NAICOM, said the brokers’ annual licence renewal process is becoming cumbersome to the commission itself thus it has resolved to expand the process to a longer period.

NAICOM said the brokers’ annual operating license renewal, when abolished, would be replaced with longer life span licence regime if it cannot grant the life licensing for now.

The Deputy Commissioner for Insurance Technical, Sunday Thomas, who disclosed this at an interactive session between the operators and regulators

of insurance sector, said the issue of perusing through the brokers documents during the annual renewal of their operating licenses “is becoming too boring and burdensome to the commission.�

He said to reduce the work load for the commission in this regard, it was considering the brokers’ complaints on the cumbersomeness of the exercise and has resolved to give them a longer span licence.

He said: “In brokers’ licensing, NAICOM is ready to make changes where necessary. Life licensing for brokers may not be possible for now but there are challenges in annual license renewal for brokers. Therefore since the burden of carrying

out the task of annual renewal is glaring, we can consider licensing system that has longer life span�.

Thomas also said the regulator has resolved to take up the task of deepening g insurance penetration in the country. “There has been issue of penetration of the market. The regulator, has demonstrated what it thinks is good for the market by looking at recapitalisation of the market and also came up with what it thinks will fast track buying and patronage of insurance products. We have had micro insurance scheme all these while but it appears operators are not as enthusiastic as the regulator, so now we

have allowed people to come up from outside and we have created four different categories of licenses ,the unit operators, the regional operators, the state operators and national operators. This is to fast tract the process of reaching out to Nigerians and we have been receiving enquiries,� he stated.

He also said the commission is working on the alternative distribution channels, adding, while 80per cent of insurance business is done through brokers in the area of corporate business which is where the bulk of premium of the industry comes from, micro and retail insurance would be driven by theater alternative distribution channels.

AgriBusiness/Industry Editor

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Comms/e-Business Editor

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

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Senior Correspondent

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

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

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... Approves 2016 Accounts of Guinea Insurance Ebere Nwoji The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has approved 2016 financial accounts of Guinea Insurance Plc. This was confirmed in a statement issued by the Executive Director, Finance and Administration of the underwriting firm Mr. Pius Edobor .

According to him, the approval was contained in a letter dated July 6, 2017 and signed on behalf of the Commission by its Director (Supervision) Mr. Olufemi Oba. Edobor affirmed that the company was well–positioned to take advantage of the competitive terrain as it continued to progress on the directions and efforts of its board, management and staff.

“We are alive to our responsibilities of consolidating and strategically growing market share through decisive longterm investments and customer engagement initiatives. Against the background of a complicated national economic environment in the financial year ended December 31, 2016, the company delivered a relatively good underlying performance�.

According to him, the underwriting firm grew its Gross Written Premium by 4.18 percent from N870million in 2015 to N907million achieved in 2016. Shareholders’ fund in 2016 was N2.897billion and N2.899billion in 2015, representing a marginal drop of 0.08 percent. Profit before tax margin grew by 194.64 percent from N46.9million in 2015 to N138million in

2016. Profit after tax grew by 134.87 percent from N7.2million loss experienced in 2015 to N2.5millon profit recorded in 2016.

He explained that the company successfully overcame the challenge of solvency margin during the year as its solvency margin stood at N3,014,791,000 in 2016 as against the previous year 2015 when the solvency margin was N2,981,596,000.

T H I S D AY ˾ ˜ ͯͷ˜ Ͱͮͯ͵

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BUSINESSWORLD

NEWS

Shopnow.ng Set to Launch Bitcoin Payment Only Site Africa’s first online store that accepts Bitcoin (digital currency) as the only means of payment, Shopnow.ng is set to launch the first and affordable online store where Bitcoin can be traded for goods and services and exchanged with ease in Nigeria.

The firm said in a statement that the official launch, themed, ‘Redefining Online Shopping in Africa’ is scheduled for Saturday, July 29, 2017 at Ruby Hall (2nd floor) 103 Allen Avenue Ikeja, Lagos.

It will host top investors, business owners and other brands from Nigeria and the rest of the world to discuss the potential of digital currencies and how African entrepreneurs can leverage on the technology to make fortunes.

The firm explained that its choice of making it digital currency compliance followed the increase in digital currency

adaptation.

The statement added: “Digital currencies are finding their way into the market and everyday a lot of people see them as an opportunity to store wealth and exchange value. Bitcoin is becoming more popular in Nigeria and today the country has the highest volume of Bitcoin transactions in Africa and according to google trends, Nigeria is the country that searches the word “Bitcoin” the most on google.com in the whole world.”

It added: “Exchange companies have emerged to help Nigerians convert their Bitcoin to Naira and vice versa but there is a need that is yet to be met, there is a gap that needed to be filled and Nigerians need to be able to trade with their Bitcoin directly without having to convert it to Naira, Nigerians should be able to top-up their

mobile phones and pay with Bitcoin without having to convert to Naira. This need, this gap, this vacuum is what Shopnow.ng has come to fill.”

The company said that the website will not only be responsive, easy to use and very accessible but will have special features that will include on-site live support, mobile app that will allow customers shop on the go and a page dedicated to enlightening people about Bitcoin and its importance, making it easy for people to understand the new currency and subscribe to it.

According to the company, the event will host social media influencers including Bisola (BBN first runner up), Nollywood actor and TV presenter, Rekiya Yusuf among others will also be gracing the launch, thereby creating awareness and publicity.

BudgIT, Others Launch Online AntiBribery Platform Nosa Alekhuogie A web based platform,’ report yourself.org’ has been created and launched to assist Nigerians in curbing petty corruption and to also report scenarios of bribery and graft.

The platform was developed

by BudgIT with the support and guidance of the Religious Leaders Anti-Corruption Committee (RLAC), the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), the Social and Economic Rights Action Center (SERAC), and the U.S. Consulate in Lagos.

Speaking at the launch recently in Lagos, the Lead Partner, BudgIT, Oluseun Onigbinde revealed that the platform is available 24/7 and urged the public to leverage the platform to report cases of illegal charges.

The platform, he said, allows the public to report any action that resulted in either being asked to pay a bribe or actually

paying a bribe by anybody or to any government official.

Furthermore, he said: “Our target is to ensure that every Nigerian has the platform to report corrupt incidents in the community. The reports can be anonymous or can be submitted with one’s name and contact information. This site is only a place to gather reports about instances of bribery and is not at all connected with law enforcement.

There will not be any legal implications for officers who have been reported on this site as it is only a platform for collecting stories about instances of corruption in Nigeria. We would also reach out to the appropriate authorities in any sector concerning matters that relate to them.

“For example, when an official asks you for a bribe when you go to get a driver’s licence, a birth certificate, a marriage certificate, registering purchase of property, or common interac-

tions with law enforcement. This ‘extra’ cost is corruption and you shouldn’t be required to pay anything over the publicised fees associated with the service.

Text message to report such costs just N4.”

The charge d’Affaires, U.S. Mission to Nigeria, David Young stated: “I hope that Report Yourself starts a new movement in citizen engagement and I hope every Nigerian who is affected by corruption will feel empowered to share their experiences.

The tide will turn against the culture of corruption when Nigerians recognise that they must fight as one to stamp out this scourge that has hampered development and stifled prosperity. I urge Nigerians to demonstrate their commitment to the fight against corruption by making use of the innovative online platform which seeks to address the daily instances of corruption faced by millions of Nigerians.”

Anambra to Establish Agricultural Seed Multiplication Centre David-Chyddy Eleke in Awka Anambra State Government has said it will set up a seed multiplication centre in the state as part of efforts towards making the state certified seed producer.

The Commissioner for Agriculture, Mechanisation, Processing and Export, Mr. Afam Mbanefo announced this in his office in Awka while welcoming the fifth Federal Government/IFAD Supervision Mission to the State.

Members of the delegation, who were in the state on a two day inspection tour, were drawn from IFAD, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development as well as Federal Ministry of Finance.

Addressing the delegation, Mbanefo, who described Value Chain Development Programme VCDP IFAD

assisted as a well packaged programme, announced that its activities especially in rice and cassava value chain contributed immensely to the States’ position in the country in rice production capacity.

Mbanefo applauded the team for the series of trainings it organised for farmers on the best agronomic practices in rice and cassava farming, which according to him was evident in the achievement of seven point four tons per hectare as against one point one to two tons they were recording before VCDP intervention.

The leader of the team, Dr. Oyesola Oyebanji said they were in the state to assess the progress of the programme implementation aimed at identifying the policies that are working well, while those that did not work well, will

be captured and improved on for better results.

Oyebanji who said the team embark on the supervision mission twice in a year, while describing it as very critical. He announced that their mid-term review mission will take place in November when the six years programme will complete its first three years.

On his part, the State Programme Coordinator, Value Chain Development Programme IFAD assisted, Mr. Nnamdi Agwuncha, while appealing for more technical assistance, said the supervision mission will strengthen them towards more implementation progress and capacity building.

Highpoints of the courtesy visit were presentation of some IFAD journals to the Commissioner by the team leader and visit to the ministries’ ICT control room housing the co-ordinates and update of all the state farmers.

ELEVATING TO THE NEXT LEVEL Marie-Therese Phido

Your Relationship is Your Social Capital and Currency In every business relationship or tendering process, relationships are everything and I mean everything. By the time you have been called to the table or if a customer is considering you, it is clear that you have the technical ability to do the work or provide the service, usually the big difference and deciding factor on whether you get the job or not, is relationships. Your relationship is what will eventually make the difference for you in every business situation.

Ù×Ï ÍËÖÖ ÞÒÏÝÏ ÜÏÖËÞÓÙØÝÒÓÚÝ ÝÙÍÓËÖ ÍËÚÓÞËÖ˛ ÒËÞ ÓÝ ÝÙÍÓËÖ ÍËÚÓÞËÖˣ ÙÍÓËÖ ÍËÚÓÞËÖ ÓÝ Ë ÐÙÜ× ÙÐ ÏÍÙØÙ×ÓÍ ËØÎ ÍßÖÞßÜËÖ ÍËÚÓÞËÖ ÓØ áÒÓÍÒ ÝÙÍÓËÖ ØÏÞáÙÜÕÝ ËÜÏ ÍÏØÞÜËÖ˜ ÞÜËØÝËÍÞÓÙØÝ ËÜÏ ×ËÜÕÏÎ Ìã ÜÏÍÓÚÜÙÍÓÞ㘠ÞÜßÝÞ˜ ÍÙÙÚÏÜËÞÓÙؘ ØÙÞ ÐÙÜ ÙØÏÝÏÖÐ ÌßÞ ÐÙÜ ÞÒÏ ÍÙ××ÙØ ÑÙÙÎ ÙÐ ËÖÖ˛ ØàÏÝÞÙÚÏÎÓ˘ ËÖÝÙ ÎÏʨØÏÎ ÝÙÍÓËÖ ÍËÚÓÞËÖ ËÝ ËØ ÏÍÙØÙ×ÓÍ ÓÎÏË ÞÒËÞ ÜÏÐÏÜÝ ÞÙ ÞÒÏ ÍÙØØÏÍÞÓÙØÝ ÌÏÞáÏÏØ ÓØÎÓàÓÎßËÖÝ and entities that include people who trust and ËÝÝÓÝÞ ÏËÍÒ ÙÞÒÏܘ áÒÓÍÒ ÍËØ ÌÏ Ë ÚÙáÏÜÐßÖ ËÝÝÏÞ˛

ßÕßãË×Ë ËØÎ ÏØáÙÜÞÒã ÜÏÍÙÑØÓÝÏ ˫ÝÙÍÓËÖ ÍËÚÓÞËÖ ÞÙ ÌÏ Ó×ÚÙÜÞËØÞ ÞÙ ÞÒÏ ÏʩÍÓÏØÞ ÐßØÍÞÓÙØÓØÑ ÙÐ ×ÙÎÏÜØ ÏÍÙØÙ×ÓÏÝˬ˛ ÒÏã ÎÙ ØÙÞ ÞÒÓØÕ ÌßÝÓØÏÝÝ ËØÎ ÝÙÍÓÏÞã ÍËØ ÐßØÍÞÓÙØ ÏʥÏÍÞÓàÏÖã ËØÎ ÏʩÍÓÏØÞÖã áÓÞÒÙßÞ ÝÙÍÓËÖ ÍËÚÓÞËÖ˛ ÏÞ˪Ý ÞÒÓØÕ ËÌÙßÞ ÓÞ˛ Ý ÞÒÏÜÏ ËØãÞÒÓØÑ áÏ ÍËØ ÎÙ áÓÞÒÙßÞ ÝÙÍÓËÖ ÍËÚÓÞËÖˣ Ë× ÝßÜÏ ÞÒËÞ ÞÒÏ ËØÝáÏÜ áÓÖÖ ÌÏ ØÙ˜ áÒÓÍÒ ÓÝ áÒã áÏ ×ßÝÞ ÏØÝßÜÏ ÞÒËÞ áÏ ÎÙ ËÖÖ áÏ ÍËØ ÞÙ ÚÜÙËÍÞÓàÏÖã ÌßÓÖÎ ËØÎ ÎÏàÏÖÙÚ ÙßÜ ÝÙÍÓËÖ ÍËÚÓÞËÖ˛ Social capital is the international currency ÙÐ ØÏÞáÙÜÕÓØј ÏÝÚÏÍÓËÖÖã ÌßÝÓØÏÝÝ ØÏÞáÙÜÕÓØÑ ÙÜ ÜÏÖËÞÓÙØÝÒÓÚ ÌßÓÖÎÓØÑ˛ ÍÍÙÜÎÓØÑ ÞÙ ÒÜÓÝ ËØÍÓËÖÙÝÓ˜ ÒÏÜÏ ËÜÏ ÜÏËÝÙØÝ ÝÙÍÓËÖ ÍËÚÓÞËÖ ÓÝ ÞÒÏ ×ÙÝÞ Ó×ÚÙÜÞËØÞ ÜÏÝÙßÜÍÏ ãÙßÜ ÌßÝÓØÏÝÝ ×ßÝÞ ÒËàÏ˝

Þ ÝÞËÌÖÓÝÒÏÝ Ùß ËÝ Ë ÏËÎÏÜ ̎ ÒÏØ ãÙß ÝÞËÜÞ ÞÙ ÙʥÏÜ ËÎàÓÍÏ ÙÜ ÜÏÝÙßÜÍÏÝ ÞÙ ÙÞÒÏÜÝ áÓÞÒÙßÞ ÏâÚÏÍÞÓØÑ ËØ Ó××ÏÎÓËÞÏ ÌÏØÏʨÞ˛ ÒÏØ ãÙß ÎÙ ÝÙ˜ ãÙß ËÜÏ ÌßÓÖÎÓØÑ ãÙßÜ ÝÙÍÓËÖ ÍËÚÓÞËÖ˛ ÓàÓØÑ ÞÙ ËØÎ ÝßÚÚÙÜÞÓØÑ ÙÞÒÏÜÝ ÌßÓÖÎÝ ÞÜßÝÞ ËØÎ establishes your reputation as an upstanding ÚÏÜÝÙØ ÙÜ ÌßÝÓØÏÝÝ áÒÙ ÓÝ ÝÕÓÖÖÏÎ ÓØ ãÙßÜ ʨÏÖÎ ̐ ÞáÙ ÛßËÖÓÞÓÏÝ ÞÒËÞ ËÜÏ ÍÜÓÞÓÍËÖ ÐÙÜ ÌßãÏÜÝ ÖÙÙÕÓØÑ ÞÙ ÏØÑËÑÏ˛ Ù ÌßÓÖÎ ÞÜßÝÞ ÓØ ãÙßÜ ØÏÞáÙÜÕ˜ ÎÙ ÞÒÏ ÐÙÖÖÙáÓØÑ˝ ˾ ÏÍÙ×Ï ËØ ËÍÞÓàÏ ÍÙØÞÜÓÌßÞÙÜ ÞÙ ãÙßÜ ʨÏÖβ ˾ ÜÙàÓÎÏ àËÖßÏ ÞÙ ãÙßÜ ØÏÞáÙÜÕ àÓË ÝÙÍÓËÖ ×ÏÎÓË ËØÎ ÓØ̋ÚÏÜÝÙØ ÏàÏØÞݲ ˾ ÙØÞÜÓÌßÞÏ ÞÙ ÎÓËÖÙÑßÏ ËØÎ ÎÏÌËÞÏ˛ ˾ ÒËÜÏ ÞÒÏ áÙÜÕ ÙÐ ÙÞÒÏÜÝ áÓÞÒ ãÙßÜ ØÏÞáÙÜÕ˛

ÝÏÏ ×ËØã ÚÏÙÚÖÏ ÓÑØÙÜÓØÑ ÙÞÒÏÜ ÚÏÙÚÖÏ˪Ý work and then expecting theirs to be shared ÙÜ ËÍÕØÙáÖÏÎÑÏβ Þ ÓÝ Ë Ýã×ÌÓÙÞÓÍ ÜÏÖËÞÓÙØÝÒÓÚ˛ ˾ ßÚÚÙÜÞ ÙÞÒÏÜÝ˪ ÏØÎÏËàÙÜÝ áÒÏØ ÞÒÏã ØÏÏÎ ËÎàÓÍÏ ÙÜ ÝßÚÚÙÜÞ˛ Ï áÓÖÖÓØÑ ÞÙ ÒÏÖÚ ËÝ ×ßÍÒ ËÝ ÚÙÝÝÓÌÖÏ˛ ˾ Ï Ë ÚÏÜÝÙØ áÒÙ ËÎÎÝ àËÖßÏ ÞÙ ÙÞÒÏÜÝ Ìã ÍÙØØÏÍÞÓØÑ ÞÒÏ× ÞÙ ÚÏÙÚÖÏ áÒÙ ×Ëã ÒÏÖÚ ÞÒÏײ ˾ Ï ÒÙØÏÝÞ áÓÞÒ ãÙßÜ ÞÏËײ ÏÐßÝÓØÑ ÞÙ ÒÓÎÏ ÏàÏØ ÞÒÏ ÞÙßÑÒÏÝÞ ÞÜßÞÒÝ áÓÖÖ ÏËÜØ ÞÒÏ ÞÜßÝÞ ÙÐ ÞÒÏ ÚÏÙÚÖÏ ÍÖÙÝÏÝÞ ÞÙ ãÙ߲

Þ ÐÙÝÞÏÜÝ ÜÏÍÓÚÜÙÍÓÞã ̋ ʰÏÜ ãÙß˪àÏ ÚÜÙàÓÎÏÎ áÓÝÎÙט ÝßÚÚÙÜÞ˜ ËØÎ ÍÙØØÏÍÞÓÙØÝ ÞÙ ÙÞÒÏÜÝ ÓØ ãÙßÜ ØÏÞáÙÜÕ˜ ãÙß ÍËØ ÌÏÑÓØ ÞÙ ÍÙßØÞ ÙØ ÞÒÙÝÏ ÚÏÙÚÖÏ áÒÏØ ãÙß ØÏÏÎ ÝßÚÚÙÜÞ˛

Þ ÍÜÏËÞÏÝ ÝÞÜÙØÑÏÜ ÞÏË×Ý ̋ ÙÍÓËÖ ÍËÚÓÞËÖ ÎÙÏÝØ˪Þ ÝÓ×ÚÖã ÏâÓÝÞ ÏâÞÏÜØËÖ ÞÙ ãÙßÜ ÙÜÑËØÓÝËÞÓÙØ˛ Ùß ÍËØ ËÖÝÙ ÌßÓÖÎ ÝÞÜÙØј ÒÙØÏÝÞ˜ ËØÎ ×ßÞßËÖÖã ÌÏØÏʨÍÓËÖ ÜÏÖËÞÓÙØÝÒÓÚÝ áÓÞÒÓØ ÞÒÏ áËÖÖÝ ÙÐ ãÙßÜ ÍÙ×ÚËØã˛ ØÎ Ìã ÝÙ ÎÙÓØј ãÙß ×ËÕÏ ÝßÜÏ ãÙß ÍËØ ÍÙßØÞ ÙØ ãÙßÜ ÚÏÙÚÖÏ ÞÙ ÒËàÏ ãÙßÜ ÌËÍÕ áÒÏØ ÞÒÏ ÞÓ×Ï ÍÙ×Ïݲ ÒÓÝ ÓØÞÏÜØËÖ ÝÙÍÓËÖ ÍËÚÓÞËÖ ÓÝ ØßÜÞßÜÏÎ áÓÞÒÓØ ãÙßÜ áËÖÖÝ ÏàÏÜã ÎË㘠ÌßÞ ÓÞ˪Ý ËÖÝÙ ÐÏÎ Ìã ÙßÞÝÓÎÏ ÜÏÖËÞÓÙØÝÒÓÚݲ ÏÞ ÙÌÔÏÍÞÓàÏÝ ÞÙ ÏØÝßÜÏ ÜÏÞßÜØ ÙØ ÓØàÏÝÞ×ÏØÞ ̋ ØÖÏÝÝ ãÙß ÝÏÞ ÝÙ×Ï ÙÌÔÏÍÞÓàÏÝ ÐÙÜ ÌßÓÖÎÓØÑ ãÙßÜ ÝÙÍÓËÖ ÍËÚÓÞËÖ˜ ÓÞ áÓÖÖ ÌÏ ÎÓʩÍßÖÞ ÞÙ ÝÒÙá ÌÏØÏʨÞݲ Ùß áÓÖÖ ØÏÏÎ ÞÙ ÌÏØÍÒ×ËÜÕ ãÙßÜ ÝÙÍÓËÖ ÍËÚÓÞËÖ ÏʥÙÜÞÝ ËÞ ÖÏËÝÞ ÞáÓÍÏ Ë ãÏËܲ ÝÝÏÝÝ áÒÏÞÒÏÜ ãÙß ÒËàÏ ÜÏËÍÒÏÎ ãÙßÜ ÚÏÜÐÙÜ×ËØÍÏ ÞËÜÑÏÞݲ

How do you build your social capital?

Recognise that relationships are currency ̋ ÍÍÙÜÎÓØÑ ÞÙ àËØ ÓÝØÏÜ ËØÎ ×ËÎ ËÒÓט ÞÒÏ ÕÏã ÞÙ Ó×ÚÜÙàÓØÑ ãÙßÜ ÝÙÍÓËÖ ÍËÚÓÞËÖ ÓÝØ˪Þ ÞÒÏ Øß×ÌÏÜ ÙÐ ÍÙØÞËÍÞÝ ãÙß ×ËÕÏ˛ ÒÏã ÌÙÞÒ ÝËã áÒËÞ˪Ý Ó×ÚÙÜÞËØÞ ÓÝ ×ËÕÓØÑ ÍÙØÞËÍÞÝ ÞÒËÞ ÌÏÍÙ×Ï ÖËÝÞÓØÑ ÜÏÖËÞÓÙØÝÒÓÚÝ Ìã˝ ˾ ÓàÓØÑ ãÙßÜ ÍÖÓÏØÞÝ ÙÜ ÍßÝÞÙ×ÏÜÝ ÚÏÜÝÙØËÖ ÍËÖÖݲ ÖáËãÝ ʨØÎ ÙßÞ ÓÐ ÞÒÏÜÏ˪Ý ËØãÞÒÓØÑ ÏÖÝÏ ãÙß ÍËØ ÎÙ ÞÙ ÒÏÖÚ˛ ˾ ËÖÖÓØÑ ËÖÖ ÞÒÏ ÚÏÙÚÖÏ áÒÙ ÒËàÏ ÜÏÐÏÜÜÏÎ ÌßÝÓØÏÝÝ ÞÙ ãÙ߲ ÝÕ ÞÒÏ× ÒÙá ÞÒÓØÑÝ ËÜÏ ÑÙÓØÑ˛ Üã ÞÙ ÖÏËÜØ ×ÙÜÏ ËÌÙßÞ ÞÒÏÓÜ ÍßÜÜÏØÞ ËÍÞÓàÓÞÓÏÝ ÝÙ ãÙß ÍËØ ÜÏÐÏÜ ÌßÝÓØÏÝÝ ÞÙ ÞÒÏײ ÏÍÓÚÜÙÍÓÞã ÓÝ ÞÒÏ ÕÏã ËÝ ÓØÎÓÍËÞÏÎ ËÌÙàÏ˛ ˾ ÓÝÞÓØÑ Ͱͮ̋ͳͮ ÚÏÙÚÖÏ ÞÙ ÝÞËã ÓØ ÞÙßÍÒ áÓÞÒ˛

ØÍÖßÎÏ ËØãÙØÏ áÒÙ ÒËÝ ÑÓàÏØ ãÙß ÌßÝÓØÏÝÝ ÓØ ÞÒÏ ÖËÝÞ ͯͰ ×ÙØÞÒÝ ËÝ áÏÖÖ ËÝ ËØã ÙÞÒÏÜ ÚÜÙÝÚÏÍÞÝ ãÙß˪àÏ ÍÙØØÏÍÞÏÎ áÓÞÒ ÜÏÍÏØÞÖã˛ ÞËã ÍÙØØÏÍÞÏÎ áÓÞÒ ÞÒÏ× ÙØ ÝÙÍÓËÖ ×ÏÎÓ˘ áÒÓÍÒ ×ËÕÏÝ ÍÙØØÏÍÞÓÙØÝ àÏÜã ÏËÝã ËØÎ ×ËÕÏ ÝßÜÏ ãÙß ÝÏØÎ ÞÒÏ× ÝÚÏÍÓËÖ ÑÜÏÏÞÓØÑÝ ÎßÜÓØÑ ÞÒÏ ÒÙÖÓÎËãݲ ˾ ÙÖÖÙáÓØÑ ßÚ˛ ÙÖÖÙáÓØÑ ßÚ ÓÝ ÞÒÏ ÕÏã˛ Ù ØÙÞ áËÓÞ ßØÞÓÖ ÞÒÏ ØÏâÞ ÞÓ×Ï ÞÒÏÜÏ ÓÝ Ë ØÏÏÎ ÙÜ ËØ ÙÚÚÙÜÞßØÓÞã ÞÙ ÜÏËÍÒ ÙßÞ ÞÙ ãÙßÜ ÍÙØÞËÍÞ˛ ÙÜÕ ÙØ ÎÏÏÚÏØÓØÑ ÞÒÏ ÜÏÖËÞÓÙØÝÒÓÚ˜ Ìã ÞËÕÓØÑ ÓÞ ÌÏãÙØÎ ÞÒÏ ËÍÛßËÓØÞËØÍÏ ÖÏàÏÖ˛ ˾ ØÙáÓØÑ ÞÒËÞ ÞÙ ßÓÖÎ ÝÙÍÓËÖ ÍËÚÓÞËÖ˜ ãÙß ØÏÏÎ ÞÙ ÌÏ ÝÙÍÓËÖ˛ Ï ËÜÏ ØÙÞ ÞËÖÕÓØÑ ËÌÙßÞ ÔßÝÞ ÝËãÓØÑ ˩ÒÏÖÖÙ˪ ÒÏÜÏ ËØÎ ÞÒÏÜϘ àËØÓÝÒÓØÑ ÐÙÜ Ë ÐÏá áÏÏÕݘ ËØÎ ÞÒÏØ ÍÙ×ÓØÑ ÌËÍÕ áÒÏØ ãÙß ÐÏÏÖ ÖÓÕÏ ÓÞ˛ Ùß ÝÒÙßÖÎ ÐÙÜ×ßÖËÞÏ ËØ ÏʥÏÍÞÓàÏ ÜÏÖËÞÓÙØÝÒÓÚ building and networking strategy in which you ËÖÝÙ ÙÚÏØ ̎ ËØÎ ×ËÓØÞËÓØ ̎ ÚËÑÏÝ ÙØ ×ÙÜÏ ÞÒËØ ÙØÏ ÚÖËÞÐÙÜײ Þ Ë ×ÓØÓ×ßט ãÙß ×ßÝÞ ÒËàÏ Ë ÚÜÏÝÏØÍÏ ÙØ ËÍÏÌÙÙÕ˜ ÓØÕÏΠؘ ËØÎ áÓʵÏܲ ˾ ÎßÍËÞÓØÑ ãÙßÜÝÏÖÐ ËØÎ ÐË×ÓÖÓËÜÓÝÓØÑ ãÙßÜÝÏÖÐ áÓÞÒ ãÙßÜ ØÓÍÒÏ ÓØ ÙÜÎÏÜ ÞÙ ÏØÑËÑÏ ÏʥÏÍÞÓàÏÖã ̋ ÎßÍËÞÓØÑ ÙÞÒÏÜÝ ÓÝ ÑÙÙΘ ÌßÞ ÏÎßÍËÞÓØÑ ãÙßÜÝÏÖÐ ÓÝ ÌÏʵÏܲ Ë×ÓÖÓËÜÓÝÏ ãÙßÜÝÏÖÐ áÓÞÒ ãÙßÜ ØÓÍÒϘ ãÙßÜ ÓØÎßÝÞÜã ÙÜ áÒËÞÏàÏÜ ÓØÞÏÜÏÝÞÝ ãÙ߲ ÏËÜØ ËÝ ×ßÍÒ ËÝ ãÙß ÍËؘ ÜÏËÎ ËØÎ ʨØÎ ÙßÞ ÞÒÏ ÕÏã ÞÜÏØÎÝ ÞÒËÞ ËÜÏ ÝÒËÚÓØÑ ãÙßÜ ÓØÎßÝÞÜã˛ ÒËÞ ÕÓØÎ ÙÐ ÜÏÝÏËÜÍÒ áÓÖÖ ÚËã Ùʥ ÏâÚÙØÏØÞÓËÖÖã ÖËÞÏÜ ÙØ áÒÏØ ãÙß Ï×ÌËÜÕ ÙØ ãÙßÜ ÌßÝÓØÏÝÝ ÍËÜÏÏܘ ÌÏÍËßÝÏ ãÙß áÙßÖÎ ÕØÙá ÏâËÍÞÖã áÒËÞ áÙÜÕݘ áÒËÞ ÎÙÏÝ ØÙÞ˜ ËØÎ áÒËÞ ãÙßÜ ÜÓàËÖÝ ËÜÏ ÎÙÓØÑ˛ ˾ ßÖÞÓàËÞÓØÑ ÞÒÏ ÍÙ×ÚËØã ÙÐ ÚÜÙ×ÓØÏØÞ ÚÏÙÚÖÏ ̋ ÙØ˪Þ áËÝÞÏ ãÙßÜ ÞÓ×Ï áÓÞÒ ÞÒÏ áÜÙØÑ ÚÏÙÚÖÏ ̎ ÙØÖÓØÏ ËØÎ ÙʯÓØÏ˛ ˩ ÒÙá ×Ï ãÙßÜ ÐÜÓÏØÎݘ ËØÎ

áÓÖÖ ÞÏÖÖ ãÙß áÒÙ ãÙß ËÜϘ˪ ÝËãÝ ÞÒÏ ËâÓÙײ ÒÏ ÓÎÏË ÒÏÜÏ ÓÝ ÞÙ Ë×ËÝÝ ÝÙÍÓËÖ ÑÙÙÎáÓÖÖ Ìã ÐÙÜ×ÓØÑ ÝÙÖÓÎ ÞÓÏÝ áÓÞÒ ÚÜÙ×ÓØÏØÞ ÚÏÜÝÙØËÖÓÞÓÏÝ ÓØ ãÙßÜ ØÓÍÒÏ˛ ÒËÞ áË㘠ãÙß ÍËØ ÓØÎÓÜÏÍÞÖã ÌÏØÏÐÓÞ ÐÜÙ× ÞÒÏÓÜ ÝÙÍÓËÖ ÍËÚÓÞËÖ áÒÏØÏàÏÜ ÞÒÏã ×ÏØÞÓÙØ ãÙßÜ ØË×Ï ÙÜ ÜÏÐÏÜ ãÙß ÞÙ ÞÒÏÓÜ ÐÜÓÏØÎÝ ËØÎ ÌßÝÓØÏÝÝ ÍÙØÞËÍÞݲ ÙØ˪Þ ÜÏÓØàÏØÞ ÞÒÏ áÒÏÏÖ˞ ÔßÝÞ ÍÙÚã áÒËÞ ÞÒÏ ÌÏÝÞ ËÜÏ ÎÙÓØј ËØÎ ãÙß ÍÙßÖÎ ÌÏ ÙØ ãÙßÜ áËã ÞÙ ÌßÝÓØÏÝÝ ÝÞËÜÎÙט ÞÙÙ˛ ˾ ÝÞËÌÖÓÝÒÓØÑ ÞÒÙßÑÒÞ ÖÏËÎÏÜÝÒÓÚ ̎ ÌÏÍÙ×Ï ËØ ËßÞÒÙÜÓÞã Ìã ÝÚÏËÕÓØÑ ËÞ ÍÙØÐÏÜÏØÍÏݘ áÜÓÞÓØÑ ËÜÞÓÍÖÏÝ ÙÜ ×ÏØÞÙÜÓØÑ ÙÞÒÏÜݲ ÖÖ ÞÒÏÝÏ ËÍÞÓàÓÞÓÏÝ ÝÏÜàÏ ÞÙ ÝÏÞ ãÙß ßÚ ËÝ ËØ ÏâÚÏÜÞ ÓØ áÒËÞÏàÏÜ ÐÓÏÖÎ ãÙß ÍÒÙÙÝϘ ËÝ ÖÙØÑ ËÝ ÓÞ ÐÓÞÝ ØÓÍÏÖã áÓÞÒ ãÙßÜ ÐßÞßÜÏ ÌßÝÓØÏÝÝ ËÝÚÓÜËÞÓÙØݲ Ï×Ï×ÌÏÜ ÞÒËÞ ÚÏÙÚÖÏ ÑÏØÏÜËÖÖã ascribe expertise and intellectual authority ÞÙ ÝÙ×ÏÙØÏ áÒÙ áÜÓÞÏÝ Ë ÌÙÙÕ ÙÜ ÎÏÖÓàÏÜÝ Ë ÍÙ×ÚÜÏÒÏØÝÓàÏ ÝÚÏÏÍÒ ÙÜ ÚÜÏÝÏØÞËÞÓÙØ ÙØ Ë ÞÙÚÓÍ ̎ ËØÎ ÎÙÏÝ ÝÙ ØÙÞ ÔßÝÞ ÙØÍϘ ÌßÞ ÝÏàÏÜËÖ ÞÓ×Ïݲ Ù ÏØÝßÜÏ ÞÒËÞ ãÙßÜ ÏÛßÓÞã ÍÙØÞÓØßÏÝ ÞÙ ÓØÍÜÏËÝÏ ÓØ àËÖßϘ ÏØÝßÜÏ ãÙß ×ËÕÏ ÓÞ ×ËØÎËÞÙÜã ÞÙ ÍßÖÞÓàËÞÏ ãÙßÜ ÜÏÖËÞÓÙØÝÒÓÚÝ ÙÐÐÖÓØÏ ËØÎ ÙØÖÓØϘ ËÞ ËÖÖ ÞÓ×Ïݘ ËØÎ áÒÏÜÏàÏÜ ÚÙÝÝÓÌÖÏ˛ – Marie-Therese Phido is Sales & Market Strategist and Business Coach Email: mphido@elevato.com.ng tweeter handle @osat2012 TeL: 08090158156 (text only)

T H I S D AY Ëž Ëœ ÍŻÍˇËœ Í°ÍŽÍŻÍľ

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Unilever Consolidates Performance With a growth of 236 per cent in profit after tax for the half year ended June 30, Unilever Nigeria is consolidating and raising the prospects of higher returns at the end of the year, writes Goddy Egene

The year 2015 was a year that Unilever Nigeria Plc will not forget in a hurry. That was the year the food, personal and home care products companies were in the lime light for the wrong reason. In that particular year, Unilever Nigeria’s profitability fell by about 51 per cent.

Specifically, the company’s profit after tax (PAT) declined to N1.192 billion in 2015, from N2.412 billion in 2014. Like other manufacturing companies, Unilever contended with rising cost of operations, dwindling demand following the continuous reduction in disposable income of consumers. While many consumers cut down their demand for goods, other look for cheaper imported alternatives.

However, apart from the challenging environment, another major reason why Unilever’s bottom-line suffered significant decline was due to high financing costs. The company was paying heavily on bank borrowings to finance its operations.

But light came at the end of tunnel for Unilever in 2016 when the company recorded a PAT of N3.07 billion, an increase of 157 per cent from N3.07 billion in 2015. Based on the improved bottom-line, the company paid a dividend of 10 kobo per share, which was a 100 per cent increase above the five kobo per share paid in 2015.

And going by the results of Unilever for the half year ended June 30, 2017 released last week, the company is consolidating on its 2016 performance and raising the hopes of a better returns at the end of the year.

2017 Half year results Unilever posted a revenue of N45.105 billion in H1 of 2017, up 39 per cent from N32.278 billion in the corresponding period of 2016.

Cost of sales was up at N32.197 billion in 2017.

Sales and distribution expenses also went up from N1.502 billion to N1.942 billion in 2016.

However, marketing and administrative expenses reduced from N6.689 billion to N5.571 billion. The company ended with operating profit of N6.394 billion, a jump of 195 per cent from N2.161 billion posted in the first half of 2016. Finance cost rose from N895 million to N1.725 billion. Unilever ended the period with profit before tax of N5.044 billion, compared with N1.487 billion in 2016, showing a growth of 239 per cent, while PAT stood at N3.676 billion, up by 236 per cent from N1.093 billion in 2016.

A further analysis of the revenue by portfolio, showed that food products contributed the highest

of N20.725 billion, which is 45 per cent. The home care products segment followed with N12.255 billion or 27.3 per cent, while personal care products accounted for N12.124 billion or 26.8 per cent. In terms operating profit, food products segment accounted for N2.943 billion, followed by home care products, which recorded N1.741 billion, while personal products segment ended with N1.721 billion. It is believed that once Unilever can reduce its finance cost, its bottom-line will witness more growth. For instance, the N1.725 billion finance cost incurred in H1 of 2017 resulted mostly from interests paid on inter-company and third party bank loans.

The company paid interest of N682 million as against none in the corresponding period of 2016. The sum of N567 million was paid as interest on third party loan, which was a reduction compared to N729 million in 2016.

Another major contributor to the high finance cost was an exchange loss of N315 million in 2017, compared with N2.079 million in 2016.

The higher exchange loss stemmed from the United States dollar loan obtained last year.

Unilever had in the third quarter of 2016 obtained an inter-company facility of $59.7 million to refinance local short term bank over draft and other facilities.

Rights Issue to Rescue Apparently realising the negative impact of bank borrowings on its bottom-line, Unilever

is planning to raise up N58.851 billion in equity through a Right Issue.

Although the shareholders of the company had authorised the directors of the Unilever to raise about N63 billion, the company applied to raise about N58.851 billion.

In the application made through its stockbrokers, Stanbic IBTC Stockbrokers Limited, Unilever will be issuing 1,961,709,167 ordinary shares of 50 kobo each at N30.00 per share to shareholders on the basis of 14 new shares for every ordinary shares held.

If successfully raised, it will amount to N58.85 billion. The directors had proposed to shareholders at the AGM to approved that the authorised share capital of the company be increased to N5 billion (from N3.03 billion) by the creation of additional 3.95 billion new ordinary shares of 50 kobo and to raise up to N63 billion by way of Rights Issue, subject to obtaining regulatory approval.

Assurance for better performance The Chairman of Unilever, His Majesty Nnaemeka Achebe, the Obi of Onitsha had told the shareholders that the challenging operating notwithstanding, the company would deliver impressive results going forward.

He told that the company’s 2016 performance showed its commitment to grant shareholders returns on their investments “The company’s performance for the year

UNILEVER NIGERIA HALF YEAR FINANCIAL SUMMARY 50

JUNE 2017 N45.1Bn

ended 31 December 2016 shows sustained growth and resilience even under depressed economic conditions. Although Unilever Nigeria has not been insulated from the tough economic environment, we have remained focused on our short and long term growth ambitions with strong emphasis on operational intensity, cost efficiencies, growing market share across key categories as well as reinvesting behind our iconic brands,� he said.

Speaking further, Achebe said: “Even in this period of economic downturn, Unilever Plc. is dogged about ensuring sustained and steady growth in the company’s operations to achieve improved returns on investments. We are more resolute than ever to continue to forge ahead despite the business operating environment.� “As a company, we will continue to appreciate the resilience and unwavering commitment of all our stakeholders; shareholders, dynamic employees, loyal consumers, dedicated suppliers and other business partners for their unflinching support through these challenging times. We look forward to a better 2017 for our brands and our great company which you are all an important part of.�

According to him, in line with the company’s priority, Unilever remains committed to driving returns on investments to shareholders. “However, our company recognises that these are unusual times and prudence demands that we should continue to plough back into the business in the short term in order to secure a sustainable future. Unilever is a company that cares about humanity and value the environment, through our business practices, we continually demonstrate deep commitment to delivering products that meet the needs and aspirations of our consumers and align with the global goals of making our planet safe, beautiful and sustainable,� the chairman said.

45 40 35

JUNE 2016 N32.3Bn

JUNE 2017 N31.2Bn

30 JUNE 2016 N21.9Bn

25 20 15

JUNE 2017 N5.6Bn

10

JUNE 2016 N6.6Bn JUNE 2017 JUNE 2016 N1.7Bn N0.895Bn

05

JUNE 2017 JUNE 2016 N3.7Bn N1.1Bn

0

REVENUE

COST OF SALES

ADMIN. EXPENSES

FINANCE COST

PROFIT AFTER TAX

Analysts’ Projection Analysts at Afrinvest (West Africa) had said Unilever’s product portfolio has shown resilience amid rising domestic macroeconomic risks, pressured consumer income and changing consumer taste.

According to them, they are of the view that the company was devising strategies to weather the storms of FX challenge (a major drawback to re-stocking raw materials for its products) while price inelasticity of the products makes cost pass through to customers less herculean. “We adjusted our assumptions for Unilever in tune with recent realities and project revenue and PAT for 2017 to grow 10.0 per cent and 34.2 per cent to N76.8 billion and N4.1 billion respectively,� they had said.

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Rockwell: Greater Economic Integration Required for W’Africa to Attain Its Potential A Director at the World Trade Organisation, Mr. Keith Rockwell, in this interview with Obinna Chima, during a regional dialogue on challenges of the multi-lateral trading system in West Africa, stressed the importance of economic integration and multilateral trade for Nigeria as well as other countries across the globe What is the future of multi-lateral trade globally?

Multilateralism is essential because the problems of the world today are global in nature and requires global solution and global cooperation.

No country, no matter how big or powerful, can solve all these problems on its own. Whether it is trade or economic development, climate change, combating disease or whatever it might be, we need to have people working together.

For example, look at fishery. We know that global fish stocks are being depleted at a pace that is not sustainable and we know that part of the reasons for this is that the fishery capacity is too big. One of the reasons for this is that some governments have been giving subsidies to fishing fleets. We are not talking about small or artisan fisheries or people who have small vessels and go out with their net. That is not going to lead to a global depletion of fish stocks. We are talking about industrial fishing fleets. You can’t solve something like that bi-laterally; you can’t even solve it regionally or even continentally.

You need a global accord. That is an example.

Agricultural subsidy is a similar example.

Really, the only place to deal with that is the World Trade Organisation (WTO). That doesn’t mean there isn’t an important role for regional groupings like ECOWAS to play. Particularly in Africa, there needs to be a tremendous effort made to enhance regional cooperation.

Intra-African trade is only 15 per cent, which is so much lower than every other part of the world. And what is impressive to me is that the governments in all 55 African countries are fully aware of this. They know this! That is they are making big efforts, whether it is regionally or across the continent with the continental Free Trade Area (FTA), to try and bring people closer together. Our trade facilitation agreement is going to help with it because it eliminates a lot of the bureaucratic entanglements that have made it difficult for people to move things across borders –whether it is goods, services or people. And in the next part of the world, that is something that everyone recognises. The issues that are politically in Geneva, at the WTO, are also difficult regionally too. Agriculture is politically very sensitive and it is not just sensitive at the WTO. You talk about trade agreements within Africa and countries get very concerned about how one country’s agriculture policy may impact on their farmers. This being said, unless there is a greater push to have closer regional integration, it is hard to imagine West Africa reaching its full potential because there would be economies of scale. We have been talking about how to generate greater value addition from your products. There is an abundance of natural resources in Africa and that is fine.

The problem is that Africa exports these raw materials to industrial countries that turn them into finished products and sell them back to Africa. And when you do that, basically all the value added takes place somewhere else.

While not instead of focusing on harvesting timber for export, harvest the timber and then train people, get artisans, carpenters or even craftsmen to then them into planks. You can turn them into furniture, make tables, chairs and other things out of wood that can be sold in the domestic market or export it. Maybe the way to do that is to ensure that you have closer regional integration. Somebody producing clothing, there is lots of cotton around Africa.

You can use that to make suit and dresses for exports. African clothing is popular around the world. In the meantime, you can employ numerous people in the process of turning that cotton into shirts, suit or whatever it is. You can go down the line whether it is turning cocoa into processed products, whether it is

Rockwell

chocolate bars, coffee or whatever it is. The skills for these particular things are in different countries in the continent. Africa has been the fastest growing continent over the last six years and the projections are that it is going to be the fastest growing over the next 20 years. So, let’s see if we can find ways to channel this energy into a productive means that leads everyone to work together. That goes even beyond the economics and development experts. If you get people working together, you build stronger international relationship and that is the way to do things.

How would you rate Nigeria in terms of WTO Agreements?

In terms of the agreements, Nigeria has ratified all its elements of the trade facilitation agreements.

Nigeria was one of the first African countries and indeed one of the first WTO members to ratify its agreements and is putting in place already these provisions. Once the agreement came into force, Nigeria was right there and ready to take advantage of the rules and putting in place systems to make the Nigerian economy operate more efficiently. It is a question of removing barriers of all kinds, including psychological barriers or dimensions. If you make things difficult for people, they are not going to go into trade. Instead of 50 documents to move some goods, why not make it just 10? And it should be possible to get all the documents you need from one place and you should be able to do that in one hour and facilitate trade. No one should be limited by his locality. So, I think that everyone know that there are great talents within the Nigerian economy. You have a lot of young, brilliant and dynamic entrepreneurs, but the question is making sure that they have all the opportunities to thrive

What are the barriers to the growth of intra-African trade and how do you think they can be addressed?

Frankly speaking, West Africa is the most hindered. From what I can understand, language is part of the problem. In East Africa, everyone speaks English, but here (West Africa), you have English, French and Portuguese, which is a challenge. I think the legacy of colonialism is still a shadow over the way people operate.

Imagine, I learnt that the get from Lome to Abidjan, you have to go through Paris. There is also the currency issue. Nigeria of course is the biggest power in the region and closer integration would require, for sure, the leadership of Nigeria. Of course, if you are the big guy on the bloc, that has advantages, but it also has disadvantages, because everyone looks up to you. And the more there is integration, the more the power of Nigeria would be felt everywhere.

But it gives Nigeria the opportunity to reach into markets that it hasn’t been walking into and it gives you that broader perspective. By doing that, you create the synergy and dynamic situation, especially in this part of the world that the potential is fantastic. So, anything that we think we can do to help, we think it is important. e-Commerce appears to be changing the face of trade globally. How is the WTO responding to this in terms of regulation?

This is a very question because memberships are not on agreement on this. The African group and many individual countries are concerned about moving too quickly on e-Commerce.

Many countries – developing and developed countries –would like to see the WTO reach an agreement on a set of rules. That is because right now, the amount of trade being done electronically is huge and Nigerians are particularly brilliant

at knowing how to do things digitally. You can imagine the potential and you don’t have rules. Cross-border activity is always going to be complicated. So, there are rules about localisation of your data servers, some have expressed concern about privacy and consumer protection and there are different views from the United States to Europe. In Africa, the concern is about the digital divide and that they don’t have same capacity as the advanced countries and there is the concern and worry that they would be asked to participate in some agreement where they do not have the resources to be able to put in place any agreement that might emerge. So, the other side of that of course is that if others go ahead and negotiate something plural-laterally, then you have rules in place which African countries have not been involved in shaping. So, there are two sides to the story. But I think regardless of the position of a country, what is absolutely clear is that more resources need to be dedicated to the digital infrastructure in Africa. Talk of mobile phones for instance, if you think about 20 years ago, you wouldn’t have had one. I would have had to reach you on the landline and I wouldn’t have reached you.

Now, I call my friends in Nairobi, Cape Town, Dares Salam, and we talk all day. In Kenya, Nigeria, people use their phones to make payments, which is ahead of what most developing countries do. We do have such in Switzerland! The use of phones here (Africa) is really advanced. My own view is that a contribution from Africa, to the discussion on e-Commerce is very important. I think most people are prepared to discuss, but there is the concern of going the next step to law making. Africa is the centre of gravity for the WTO and nothing happens on a multilateral level in the WTO, without Africa.

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ANALYSIS

Completing Issuance of Nigeria’s Green Bond Goddy Egene writes on the efforts so far made by the federal government to issue a N150 billion green bond UNEP-CBI, & IFC), capital market stakeholders (Nigeria Stock Exchange, Capital Assets, Chapel Hill Denham & Stanbic IBTC). The GBAG meets frequently with its first meeting in January of 2017 leading to a conference on green bonds in Lagos in February of 2017 at which the Acting President was a key note speaker. The GBAG remains the interface between the development partners and the capital market in ensuring the pilot issuance of the green bond happens in the 3rd quarter of 2017.

The Paris Agreement assented to by President Muhammadu Buhari in May of 2017 has an often over looked provision. In article 2, it outlines the aims of the agreement, one of which is “Making finance flows consistent with a pathway towards low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development.� The Federal Ministry of Environment (FME) under the leadership of the Minister of State, Mallam Ibrahim Jibril has significantly progressed a process that started in September of 2016 with a stakeholders forum that attracted key development partners, capital market operators and public sector institutions. The initiative has resulted in a plan to issue a programme of N150 billion in green bonds over the next few months with a pilot issue of N12.384 billion in the third quarter of 2017 and the balance over the course of the budget year.

Collaboration between Ministry of Environment and Finance continues to pull together the institutional partners necessary to achieve what would be Nigeria and Africa’s first sovereign green bond and the world’s third.

Growth of Global Green Bond Market The global market for green bonds took off in 2007 with an issuance of $600 million by the European Investment Bank (EIB). Since then the market has grown significantly to an annual issuance market last year of $80 billion.

Green bonds are like regular bonds, with a slight difference – they can only be used to fund projects that have been identified to have environmental benefits and their contribution to emissions reduction clearly articulated. The global market for green bonds is expected to exceed last year’s amount and China remains a dominant participant in the market. Issuances to date have been largely by corporates and parastatals with the first sovereign issuance in November of last year for Eur750 million

by Poland. This was followed by France in January of 2017 which issued Eur7 billion.

However, commitments by signatory nations in the Paris agreement are expected to boost this market as resources are redirected toward development objectives that are sustainable from a climate perspective and contribute to global reduction in emissions.

Ministry of Environment’s Preparation The Federal Ministry of Environment (FMEM) as custodian of the nation’s commitments under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has provided considerable direction to the process of issuance to ensure that the key elements needed for identification of projects that will meet the green credentials are in place. For instance, in November of 2016 the ministry issued its Green

BeneďŹ ts to DMO Debt Strategy The DMO has disclosed its strategy to be restructuring the FGs debt portfolio to replace short tenured bonds with long tenor and high rates with lower rates. This strategy includes the tapping of the international and local capital markets through various financial products.

Sukuks, savings bonds, Diaspora bonds, Euro bonds and soon green bonds to provide options to achieve government’s funding objectives. The right framework for green bonds will provide a credible platform to tap into this fledgling global market. The London Stock Exchange (LSE) has indicated a willingness to participate in the green bond advisory group to provide necessary guidance to the FG to achieve its offshore ambitions.

Minister of State, Federal Ministry of Environment, Ibrahim Usman Jibril

Bond Guidelines drawing from the International Capital Market Association (ICMA) Green Bond Principles (GBP). Working through the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Climate Change (ICCC), it engaged various Federal Government Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to identify projects with green credentials that will provide the foundation for issuance of the green bond. In agreement with the Minister of Finance (MOF), the projects are required to be included in the budget approved by the National Assembly and assented to by the President.

the Federation (OAGF). Frequent engagement between FME and the Budget Office of the Federation (BOF) within the Ministry of Budget and National Planning (MOBNP), with the June 13, 2017 signing of the budget by the acting President, Professor Yemi Osibanjo, has affirmed the allocations to the identified projects. The projects are: Energising Education Programme (EEP) for N9.5 billion, the Renewable Energy Micro Utility (REMU) for N475 million and the FMEs Afforestation Programme for N2.3 billion, bringing it to a total of N12.3 billion.

Inter Agency Participation The Debt Management Office (DMO) as key issuer of federal government debt is the main liaison with the FME. A green bond account to hold the resources was recently created by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) after approval from the Office of the Accountant General of

The Green Bond Advisory Group To enable the federal government draw on a wide arrange of expertise in progressing and developing the issuance of the green bond, the FME and FMF established the Green Bond Advisory Group (GBAG). The GBAG is made up of development partners (World Bank, DfID, AfDB,

BeneďŹ ts to the ERGP The launch of the federal government’s Economic Recovery & Growth Plan (ERGP) has key objectives that are a catalyst for the issuance of the green bond. In addition to having as its objective the meeting of some of the targets in the UNs sustainable development goals (SDGs), it also has as an objective that is the issuance of a green bond to fund projects that have environmental benefits. Some of the objectives in the ERGP that have to do with identification of revenue flows to government, job growth &creation, population impact and improvement in livelihoods are articulated in the targets of the individual projects to be funded by this bond. Besides, the issuance of the green bond will begin the process of greening the federal budget and the capital market. It will also demonstrate to the global community Nigeria’s commitment to achieving its targets in the NDCs. For the federal government’s debt portfolio, it expands the universe of capital market products that are being explored in ensuring resources are available to fund the government’s annual budget. On a strategic level it provides a platform for DMO to achieve the objective of extending the tenor of the FG debt portfolio and also reduce interest cost. It would also establish a framework by which sub nationals and corporates can tap into the green bond market.

TruckIt Sets Innovative Path with App to Ease Deliveries Raheem Akingbolu Experts from diverse backgrounds and potential clients gathered recently at the unveiling of the TruckIt brand and the launch of the revolutionary U-TruckIt app designed to drive ease and convenience for the delivery and haulage sectors.

The event, which recorded an impressive attendance from broad based industries, including FMCG, Banking and Manufacturing, was organised to introduce new technologies that would be deplored by the promoters of the brand, to boost industry growth.

In his welcome address, the Chief Executive Officer of the company, Mr. Tom Roberts, introduced the company as an indigenous Technology firm set up to revolutionise the delivery

and haulage sector in Nigeria.

According to him, ‘’Truckit started as a dream that had been nursed for a very long time and today we unveil the brand and launch the new app that we hope will capture the core target market which cut across individuals and organisations and become a world class organisation. “Our new corporate name and the brand identity illustrate the deep and painstaking efforts we put over time in setting up this enterprise. As you shall see at some point tonight, our corporate logo is clean and contemporary, composed of strong distinctive lettering of the name TruckIt. The colour palette of the logo combines red and black to reflect the boldness and stability, which are our core driving forces. The

overall brand elements speak to the ingenuity, dynamism and innovation that our organisation embodies,� he said.

He pointed out that the new company would be delivering effective and efficient solutions in the transportation through integrated modern mobile technology application described as ‘U TRUCKIT’, which the company also launched at the event. ‘’We have developed our processes in line with ISO guidelines and global standards. Simplicity will be the key as we have mapped out easy steps that would leverage technology to deliver seamless haulage services just with any device on the hands,�

The keynote speaker, Dr. Doyin Salami, of the Lagos Business School, echoed the need for Technology in driv-

ing the much-desired national development. He highlighted the quantum growth and scale that technology drives and emphasised the need to encourage technology innovation both at enterprise, state and national level. Salami, “Technology has become arguably, the fastest growing sector in Nigeria. In 2016 alone, ICT accounted for 10% of total national revenue, the highest in a decade and half. By the year 2000, ICT in Nigeria contributed less than one quarter of 1% of GDP. Technology Innovations are therefore constantly brewed to revolutionize our life. More than ever before, prosperity depends on human ability to drive innovation and breakthrough that reaches every corner of the globe. This is what I believe TruckiT has

done with this ground breaking innovative solution created to positively change the service delivery model in the logistics and haulage sector�

Salami highlighted the impact of such breakthrough to overall productivity and economic growth. “Innovation is essential for sustainable growth and economic development.

Several core conditions enable innovation and encourage the drive towards sustainable growth and development. In today’s economy, innovation is crucial for value creation, growth and employment. These innovation processes may take place at the enterprise level, at regional or at national level. At whatever level this happens, it usually would lead to new businesses, new employment opportunities, increased

competitiveness, increased productivity and invariable a boost in the economy. We believe this is the opportunity that TruckIt is creating with this new breakthrough in delivery and haulage services�, he said.

In demonstration of how the app works, the Director for Technology of the company, Damilola Bamiro, expatiated on the service throwing more light on the usage. “TruckIt provides a service for individuals and companies with cost effective and secured technology solutions for the transportation of goods/cargo including fast moving consumer goods through trusted transporters via our platform. Independent transporters or carriers with credible goods-in-transit insurance sign up and register their vehicles to our platform�.

T H I S D AY WEDNESDAY JULY 19, 2017

/27 $ /27 % /27 & /27 ' /27 ( /27 ) /27 * /27 + /27 ,

3257 +$5&2857 '(327 $%$ '(327 (18*8 '(327 .$12 '(327 026,0, '(327 %(1,1 '(327 *20%( '(327 68/(-$ '(327 -26 '(327

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BUSINESSWORLD

ANALYSIS

When Promos are More than a Business Strategy Whilstmostcompanieschurnoutpromosforcheapfunds,FCMB’sunrivaledcommitment to satisfying customers’ needs is evident in its promos that offer fantastic prizes to customers beside encouraging the savings culture, writes Nosa Alekhuogie Today’s explosive economic environment has had a profound impact on Nigeria’s business world. The suddenly reticent consumer base has left many companies across the spectrum of Nigerian businesses, scrambling to make changes on their marketing plans. Regardless however, among the banked, underbanked and unbanked, money still basically exchanges hands either in the formal or in the informal space.

For the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), its financial inclusion initiative tailored towards encouraging these segments to look towards an organised system-the bank, is said to have been predicated on its focal promises held as a tool for economic development, particularly in the areas of poverty reduction, employment generation, wealth creation, improvement in welfare and the general standard of living. In the banking industry, who gets what and the scramble for market share, has now resulted in some level of stiff competition in the financial services sector.

It is a common notion the world-over that every business is in business to make profit.

And to a large extent, its strategy and execution, among other indices, determine how its set objectives are achieved towards making this profit and achieving expected return on investments (ROIs). Today, the market is awash in the contest for market share by the Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) whose products and services’ promotions seem to be the in-thing.

Many reasons have been put forward for the creation of this frenzy among the banks. To get the people’s attention, it has been, �open an account, and win millions, win a car, win a house, win a plot of land�, etc.

What could be responsible for this aggressive drive among Nigeria Banks? Many theorists have tabled a couple of reasons. While an anniversary celebration or a rebranding project can easily qualify as solid reasons to announce a promo by some banks, successful promotions have the ability to nurture relationships with consumers through retention and engagement. They often shape the characteristics of a brand. Another reason could even be just for the retention of existing customers or outright corporate image and branding. “It is assumed that one common ground is the drive to elicit more patronage out of customers in a collage of activities made manifest through different events utilising various platforms.

But when First City Monument Bank (FCMB), was 30 years, coming from its long years of merchant banking since 1983, to its recent transmutation to Retail Business, the lender said it just wanted to reward its long standing customers who had shown consistent loyalty and stood by it. The Bank gave out millions of Naira and some brand new Hyundai SUV vehicles to a number of its customers. While another banking executive spoke about promos as a quest for cheap funds, recognising it as necessary to recognize every customer and reward or appreciate their patronage and also to attract new ones, the Executive Director, Retail Banking at FCMB, Mr. Olu Akanmu said: “Our customers are the reason why FCMB exists. And as a Bank committed to continually satisfying their needs, this promo is to further empower them, encourage savings culture, engender the desire to establish small businesses capable of improving their living standard, and show appreciation through the fantastic prizes on offer. Our eyes have never been on the numbers. We want to touch lives and the chances to win are quite high�, Akanmu pointed out. “We are strategic in all our plans, while sensitising the populace as represented in our customers, FCMB wants to add value in the life of an average Nigerian. We want the individual to know why it is good to save a portion of his income. We want to inspire and teach them how to establish small and medium scale enterprises. We want life styles that experience prosperity through transparent commitment and sheer hard work. These are

Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun

some of the ingredients we embed in our model of promotions and corporate social activities which uniquely separate us from the pack.

Today, a number of FCMB prize winners, have established businesses that are flourishing, and we are indeed, very proud of them�, Mr. Diran Olojo who is the Group Head, Corporate Affairs

Our customers are the reason why FCMB exists. And as a Bank committed to continually satisfying their needs, this promo is to further empower them, encourage savings culture, engender the desire to establish small businesses capable of improving their living standard, and show appreciation through the fantastic prizes on offer.

Our eyes have never been on the numbers. We want to touch lives and the chances to win are quite high

at First City Monument Bank (FCMB), reiterated.

A review of various promotions in the Banking Industry in the recent time, indeed largely shows the empowerment of the customer as one of the objectives for which promotions have been organised. Many lucky customers have won a lot of money running into millions of naira. This financial windfall has enabled these customers to establish businesses. Brand new vehicles, including SUVs, houses, plots of land as well as other exciting prizes, have also been won by customers at draws conducted at these promos.

FCMB’s Millionaire promo described by Mr. Oluyomi Victor Temidayo is more of corporate social responsibility, the winner told THISDAY. “You are God-sent, who would have guessed correctly that today, I would be a proud owner of a car, an SUV for that matter. It can only be God Almighty. May our good Lord bless FCMB, its Board and Management�, he said with excitement.

When FCMB set-out to execute its 30th anniversary promo, it did not see the full weight of social value the exercise would present, as the project evolved into a tool used for actualising the dreams of many. What an observer described as an intervention that directly provided a platform which provided timely aid for Nigerians, across different psychographic spheres beyond gender, religious and geographical location and limitation.

Men and women who never in their wildest dreams expected to become millionaires and SUV owners, so soon and in this era of harsh economic difficulty, have thanked their stars, giving testimonies across the different parts of the federation.

Other winners who remain ever grateful to this bank include Dangero Adamu in Kebbi, Udo-Afa Gabriel Udoh in Calabar; Ajitena Saidat Mojirike, Dubge in Ibadan; Unuarhe

Onovughe Francis in Warri as well as Abubakar Adamu from Gombe.

Traced to the founding fathers of the establishment who built its foundations from City Securities Limited the precursor of the old and the first fully indigenous financial institution, First City Merchant Bank, the culture of excellence impacted on a team of people that does business with a strong sense of ethics and corporate governance, created the platform for FCMB’s present day operation. Really, can any business succeed without relating with people in the community within which it operates? The answer is no. The 34 year old financial institution’s adopted mantra is that consciously impacting the society to touch lives is not an option, but a business objective. Over 4,850 Nigerians have won millions of Naira and other exciting prizes in FCMB promos, our reporter, discovered.

As key players in the financial arena, the banking sector is uniquely positioned to advance economic growth and development in Nigeria through its lending and investment activities. However, the business environment is increasingly being destabilised by mounting challenges bordering on poverty, population growth, food insecurity, urban migration, energy and infrastructural deficit, human rights, labour and climate change issues amongst others.

It is in recognition of this myriad of challenges that members of the Bankers’ Committee adopted the Nigerian Sustainable Banking Principles (NSBPs) in recognition of the Nigerian banking sector’s role and responsibility to deliver positive development impact to society whilst protecting the communities and environments in which we operate. The principles aim to promote a development imperative in Nigeria which will not only be economically viable, but will also be socially relevant and environmentally responsible.

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EDUCATION Boosting Job Opportunities through Upgrading MAPOLY With the uproar generated last week, for the upgrading of the Moshood Abiola Polytechnic (MAPOLY), Abeokuta to Moshood Abiola University of Science and Technology (MAUSTECH), thetechnicalcommitteesetuptomidwifethetake-off,affirmedthatratherthanshrinktheworkforce of the institution, it will open new job opportunities. Funmi Ogundare and Sheriff Balogun in Abeokuta, report Penultimate week, precisely on July 3, the National Universities Commission (NUC), granted the approval for the upgrading of the Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Abeokuta, to Moshood Abiola University of Science and Technology(MAUSTECH) through a recognition letter to the Ogun State government.

The NUC Executive Secretary, Prof Abubakar Rasheed, who delivered the letter to Governor Ibikunle Amosun, at the NUC Headquarters, Abuja, said MAUSTECH is now the 45th state university and the 85th public university in the country, and that the take-off of the university will mean that Ogun State will now have three state universities.

According to him, “Ogun state is the intellectual capital of black Africa. From the NUC records, Olabisi Onabanjo University and Tai Solarin University of Education are two state universities but the addition of the University of Science and Technology will make it three. “What this shows is that the governor is really doing well as he has the education of the state at heart. Beginning from July 3, 2017, the polytechnic has now been recognised as the 45th state university in Nigeria.�

Rasheed also noted that the commission did not just create the institution for access alone, but the integrity and sanctity of the degree in Nigeria university.

He said an average graduate of Nigerian university with a very good average degree earned (2-2) in a good university in Nigeria and qualifies for any university in the world performs better. “Our qualities are of international standard, we have high standard in the quality of education in Nigeria. We are still working to review our curriculum to make it more competitive and ensure that it is of international best standards to solve our problems. “We want to graduates students who are familiar with our culture, tradition, history, science; and we want those graduates to be citizens of the world who can fit in anywhere.

We want to assure Nigerians that the quality of our degree is quite okay and we are working to improve on it,� he said.

He called on other governors to take a cue from Ogun state governor and advance the course of the university system in the country.

Amosun in his response said for any nation to get it right, the tertiary institutions must do well and that the upgrade of the polytechnic to a university was done through the enabling law of the Ogun State House of Assembly.

He said the university would be a reference point as the government of the state was committed to leaving no stone unturned to take it to greater height and that certain funds had been created for the funding of the university. “As we are upgrading the polytechnic to a university, we are earlier in Kaduna today to establish a new polytechnic because we don’t want the polytechnic to die like that, so we are relocating the Polytechnic to Ipokia area of the state. “The University Science and Technology will now be in Abeokuta.�

The governor said a technical committee had been brainstorming in the last six years on the way forward to bring this to fruition and the university would also help to develop the human capital that would improve the industrial hub of the state.

Entrance of Moshood Abiola Polytechnic (MAPOLY)

He, however, promised to provide science and technology solution to areas in health, security and environmental challenges bedeviling the country.

Just as the governor had stated, an 11-man technical committee was later inaugurated to midwife the take-off of the proposed Moshood Abiola University of Science and Technology, Abeokuta and the Ogun State Polytechnic, Ipokia.

The committee consisted of former Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC) who is Chairman, Professor Peter Okebukola, Prof. Oludele Itiola as the secretary, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, Prof. Rahmon Bello, Prof. Ganiu Olatunde, Prof. Femi Bamiro, Dr. Sabur Raji, Dr. Ebenezer Nkom, Chief Ronke Folarin, Mr. Bola Bankole, as well as Mr. Rahim Jimoh.

The governor at the inauguration ceremony, assured that his government would fully support and implement the recommendations of the committee.

According to him, the decision for the upgrade of the polytechnic to a university of science and technology and the establishment of the Ogun state polytechnic was to ensure that his administration leaves a lasting legacy in the education sector in the State.

He advised members of the committee to bring their wealth of experience in university management and administration to bear and fast track the establishment of the institutions, stressing the need for the committee to facilitate and obtain all necessary approvals for the take-off of the institutions.

Former Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC) and Chairman of the committee, Professor Peter Okebukola, in his acceptance speech, affirmed the determination of the committee to ensure that the institu-

tions become pacesetters for all universities of science and technology and polytechnics in the country.

He also promised to apply global best practices in the set up of the institutions, adding that high value researches from the institutions would aid socio-economic development of the State in particular and Nigeria in general.

Scared about the consequence of the upgrading of MAPOLY to MAUSTECH, the lecturers, last week, caused an uproar and paralysed academic activities shutting the entrance gate of the institution, to protest an alleged directive the chairman, transition committee of the polytechnic into MAUSTECH, Prof. Peter Okebukola, that they should resign their appointments and reapply.

The lecturers also alleged that, during a meeting with the institution’s ASUP executive members, Okebukola had referred to them as ‘road side teachers,’ unfit to teach at MAUSTECH. The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP), MAPOLY branch, after a congress , declared it would resist any move not to consider them in the arrangement for the university noting that the transition committee wanted to deprive them from what they had laboured for. Giving conditions for the conversion of a polytechnic into university of science and technology, Okebukola told THISDAY in a telephone conversation that , there has to be an enactment of an enabling law, availability of resources for delivering quality university education such as laboratories, workshops, lecture rooms and staff offices. Other conditions are; an academic brief which states the courses to be offered from take-off through to the next 10 years, a physical Master Plan, as well as availability of human resources (teaching and non-teaching) to deliver the curriculum.

He refuted in its entirety the report that the

technical committee on the newly-established MAUSTECH has ordered the sack of over 250 staff of MAPOLY, saying it is in complete contrast to the position of the committee that no member of staff will suffer job loss as a consequence of the upgrading and the establishment of Ogun State Polytechnic, Ipokia as the successor of MAPOLY According to him, “we held a meeting with all staff at the beginning of our assignment and conveyed our position on job security. This position has been re-echoed in subsequent meetings with staff unions. It is curious that some persons have taken undue liberty of misinforming the general public with the spread of such fake news. “We have given the good people of Ogun State a pledge that in the shortest possible time, MAUSTECH and Ogun State Polytechnic, Ipokia will be among the brightest stars in the firmament of quality higher education in Nigeria, indeed in Africa.� The chairman added that the committee will still go ahead with a roundtable discussion with the union, noting, “ dialogue is the answer and we will actively engage the unions and other stakeholders so that the two institutions take-off this academic session.�

Okebukola reassured that even the lecturers are unable to meet the criteria for the conversion, there will be no job loss. “Indeed, the committee has no power to sack anybody.

All staff should be rest assured. It will be a win-win situation for all.�

He expressed delight about the establishment of two institutions from MAPOLY saying it will open new job opportunities rather than shrink the workforce. “We urge all staff to be vigilant and shun misinformation that may be peddled in some quarters, “he said

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EDUCATION

TETFund Allocates N213B on Infrastructural Devt.

Ugo Aliogo and Hammed Shittu in Ilorin .

The Executive Secretary of TETfund Dr. Abdullahi Baffa, recently inaugurated the Yaba College of Technology Central Research Laboratory, Technology Building and Science Building, where he disclosed that N213 billion grant has been allocated for infrastructural development in some federal institutions in the country.

Baffa said a project proposal defence had been conducted , stating how all beneficiary institutions are to utilise the allocation given to them. He said each federal polytechnic was allocated N691 million, while colleges of education got N679 million and universities were given N1.9 billion.

He noted that the institutions have submitted their project proposals, and that they are

already receiving the funds and putting them to use. “ Research is crucial to the success of the country’s higher institution. There is need for those in the academia to convert their researches into policies and programme to ensure that institutions of higher learning grow. For us at TETFund, we don’t give individual researchers financial grants. We give the grants to the institutions. All we are requesting from scholars is to write ground breaking proposals which will help address economic issues and engender national development. We have supported the college to put in place the structure. We have also supported the college to procure the equipment needed to make the central laboratory world class standard. “One of our mandates is supporting beneficial institutions with learning resources

and equipment. This central laboratory is a clear attestation of the mandate to support tertiary institutions. Providing this equipment will help in no small way to assist students of the college to gain the practical skills needed to function and compete globally in their disciplines. We are happy that the college has judiciously used the funds allocated to it,� the executive secretary stressed.

Earlier, in her remarks, the Rector of the College, Dr. Margaret Kudi Ladipo, said the college has over the years embarked on a course of academic expansion through the introduction of new programmes which are relevant to the development of the nation’s economy.

She appealed to TETFund for assistance towards the development of the college, adding that the Epe campus is indeed the future of the college.

“It is a 45-hectare of parcel of land, out of which less than five hectares have been effectively utilised for physical development. There is vast potential for growth with the re-location of old departments and creation of new academic programmes and departments at the campus.

This will increase carrying capacity, enhance enrolment, boost development of technical and vocational education and training in Nigeria.�

In another development, the Executive Secretary of Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETfund), Dr. Abdullahi Bichi Baffa has explained why private tertiary institutions can not benefit from the fund’s intervention projects .

He said TETfund was conceived to carry out intervention projects in public institutions that were not charging tuition fees, noting that since private tertiary institutions are charging tuition

fees, they are not covered under the law that established TETfund and as such could not benefit from its interventionist projects.

Baffa who made the clarification, weekend, while commissioning five projects including; Prof Shehu Jimoh library, academic staff office complex, Auditorium, Stadium and the Centre for research and information technology, sponsored by his agency at the Kwara State Polytechnic, Ilorin, said TETfund had so far committed #678 to projects execution in Kwara State Polytechnic.

He commended the Rector of the polytechnic, Alhaji Mas’ud Elelu and his management team for judiciously utilising funds released to the institution for execution of projects, adding, “ “TETfund or ETF as it was then known, was introduced to stop the federal government from introduced tuition fees in public tertiary institutions.

How do you expect institutions that are charging tuition fees to benefit from TETfund projects? “ The law is very clear that intervention is only in public institutions. If you are charging tuition fees, then you should not ask for TETfund’s intervention. Stricter measures have been put in place by the agency to ensure that tertiary institutions across the country adhere strictly to specifications on projects execution.

Baffa hinted that a number of institutions are currently being investigated by ICPC, EFCC and similar agencies over shoddy execution of TETfund projects.

The Rector of the polytechnic, Alhaji Mas’ud Elelu, thanked TETfund for its support for the institution, while expressing optimism that the projects would further engender effective teaching and learning in the institution.

65% of Nigerian Schools Lack Electricity The United Nations Resident Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Mr. Edward Kallon has said about 65 percent of the 74,280 public primary and junior secondary schools in Nigeria lack electricity, and as a result cannot guarantee technology-based education.

This was as the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) also revealed that accounts of the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) in about five states have been suspended due to various reasons including diversion of resources, among others.

Speaking at the 9th edition of the annual Wole Soyinka Centre Media Lecture series, with theme, ‘Light up, Light in: Interrogating the Nexus between Electricity and Basic Education in Nigeria’, held at the Shehu Musa Yar’Dua Centre, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, stakeholders in attendance including the Executive Secretary of UBEC, Dr. Hamid Bobboyi; former Minister of Education, Dr. Obiageli Ezikwesili, among others, emphasised the importance of electricity to quality education delivery.

He said energy crisis in Africa has, and will continue to be a tragedy to the continent

of Africa, saying out of the 1.5 billion people who lack access to electricity globally, 57 per cent, amounting to 622.6 million are in Africa.

According to him, “but the facts have shown that students who have access to electricity have been confirmed to perform better because they have access to modern facilities. Nigeria needs, at least for now, about 11,000 megawatts of electricity to serve the nation’s needs.�

Bobboyi who craved the support of stakeholders in the implementation and monitoring of UBEC mandates, revealed that the pressure to pay salaries has forced some state governments to divert grants for basic education development to salary payment and other illegal spendings.

He said all the data flying around about the out-of-school students in Nigeria cannot be correct and may be grossly inadequate, saying the need for a technology-based data generation is required and must be done pretty soon.

Dr. Ezikwesilli lamented what she termed the gross neglect of education sector, saying there is a correlation between poverty and public school system.

A teacher in Corona Secondary School, Agbara, Ogun State, Ms. Mercy Onwunta and winners of the 2017 inaugural edition of the Nigerian schools enterprise challenge, receiving their award from the Managing Director of TeamMasters Limited, Mr. Olurotimi Eyitayo during the programme held in Lagos‌recently

WAEC Releases Results 2017 WASSCE The West African Examinations Council (WAEC), has released the results of the 2017 West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for school certificate candidates.

As a way of improving on its service delivery to its stakeholders, the council introduced ‘ #Project60’ in

March this year, to reduce the waiting period by candidates for the release of results from 90 to 60 days after the conduct of the examination for this diet, and to 45 days in subsequent West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) diets.

The Head of National Office of the Council in Nigeria, Mr.

Olu Isaac Adenipekun who disclosed this during its 65th anniversary celebration, said ‘Project 60’ was a huge success in its maiden edition with the conduct, marking, processing and release of the results of the WASSCE for school candidates, because all hands were on deck to ensure the achievement.

He thanked the entire staff, supervisors, invigilators, examiners and other ad-hoc personnel for their dedication, selfless service and immense contributions during the conduct of the WASSCE for School Candidates, 2017 and the marking of the scripts of the examination that guaranteed the success of ‘Project 60’.

Global Interns Outfit Holds Career Guidance Workshop for Students Global Interns Nigeria, a student-centred organisation, is set to hold the first phase of career guidance workshop tagged, ‘The Career Connect Series’, for students in high schools and universities.

The workshop, which will hold at Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos, on August 22, and aimed at enhancing the perception of students on the right career path and prospects associated with

them, will feature facilitators from various professions to address critical issues students encounter when making career choices.

The Chief Executive Officer of Global Interns Nigeria, Mrs. Olufunmilayo Modupe said there is need to groom and properly guide today’s youths on career paths, which is the overall objective of the workshop.

She said the workshop will

help teenagers understand the meaning of career choices through engaging sessions suitable for learning and networking. “It promises to be practical and interactive sessions between students and facilitators,� she said , noting that students are stereotyped when making career decisions, which are sometimes in line with the desire of their parents, without looking at

the prospects or satisfaction in their choices. “This workshop provides a platform for students to enable them understand the meaning of career choices.

This is to avoid the challenges faced by students who find it difficult to make proper career choices before entering tertiary institutions, leading to a large number of them losing interest in their course of study and also finding it difficult

to secure satisfactory job. In some cases, such people have their aspirations dashed and it becomes too late to reverse the trend.�

Modupe said this is where proper career guidance becomes very relevant to fill the gap, adding that career counselling has always been important but only recently got the recognition it deserves. “There should be an understanding of what course to

choose and whether capabilities match interests. This is what Global Interns career guidance workshop intends to achieve, to stop students from making such mistakes,� she added.

The workshop will help participants figure out who they are; the right career choice to make; identify factors that influence such career development; and help assess their interests, abilities, and values among others.

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EDUCATION

Foundation Advocates Sustainable Devt. Goal for Lifelong Learning Stories by Funmi Ogundare Walter Ollor Foundation, recently held its inaugural summit, as part of its drive towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal(SDG) four, which lays emphasis on inclusive quality education and lifelong learning.

The programme, which held in Lagos, with the theme, ‘Enabling Success in People and Organisations’, saw panelists emphasising on having the right attitude, behaviour and circumstance to achieve success.

In his remarks, the President of the Foundation, Prof. Walter Ollor expressed concern that the country’s educational system is decaying from bottom up adding that from inception, the sector has been neglected. “ Students are no longer ready to learn or study, rather they want to bribe, they want to even get people to write examinations for them and this mentality has also crept into the university. Students want to join cult groups to succeed rather than read their books and the economy is the worse off for it.�

He said the foundation would administer a survey to all participants and youths, as a way of helping them achieve their mission and vision.

Emphasising on the foundation, which is now in its fifth year, he said the primary objective is to fund the Walter Ollor University which will bring qualitative

education to the country and deliver things in a way that will enable graduates to have the problem solving skills and close cooperation with the industry. “We are in the process of actualising this, we are working with the National University Commission( NUC) to get accreditation. We found out that the main reason why people are not employed in Nigeria is that most of our graduates do not have problem solving skills, and also the universities are a little far away from industries, and they need a lot of university- industry collaboration and that is what we are doing,� Ollor said Asked about concerns over the number of universities springing up in the country, the professor of Economics said, “the universities are not enough, if you look at students who are seeking admission, you find that over a million students do not get admitted. Look at how many people are qualified to enter a university and how many were admitted, we have a data showing that only a few of them are admitted. So there’s need for more.

We want access, which means anybody who wants education should have it.�

The Managing Consultant of StarTeam Consult, Dr. Sam Ohuabunwa described success as the attainment of goal and objective, saying, “ If you set an objective and you accomplish it, you are confident of success. Success is relative, what could be success for me, may not be for you.

It must be measurable and you must set a target. Achievement of that is your

success, it should be a continuum , when you achieve a level of success, there must be new target to pursue.�

He affirmed that having the right kind of value also enables one to achieve success, while urging the youths to be determined, do a lot of sacrifice and defer gratification to achieve it.

According to him, “ sustainable success is built, you have to do a lot and even go through pain , but what is important is that you must know where you are going. It will have effect on your goal. For every action, there must be an equal and opposite reaction, so in normal life, there is consequence for every action and what is important is that to succeed there are principles. “ That is why I spoke about behaviour and attitude and values that can help one succeed. Behaviour is your ability to take certain decisions and certain principles to attain success.�

A Professor of Agricultural Engineering, and former Vice Chancellor, OAU, Ile-Ife, Michael Faborode said the discussion was coming at the right time, adding that we need to pursue our value system and ensure that the youths discover their purpose and redefine success. “The bane of the country today is that we are not doing the right things that will raise accountability, therefore you see huge problems among the youths. The purpose of the summit is to see how we can help them since they are the hope of this country. We have to change our understanding of what we do,� he said.

L-R:The Chief Executive Officer, Heckerbella Limited, Mrs.Yemi Keri; General Manager, Marketing and Corporate Communications, Coscharis Group, Mr. Abiona Babarinde; Managing Director, CoscharisTechnologies Ltd. Mr. Umukoro Emomine; and Sales Marketing Consultant, of the organisation, Mrs. Julie Eno, during the launch of CoscharisTechnologies, Mobile School in Nigeria, held in Lagos‌recently sunday adigun

Firm Inaugurates Mobile School Device Coscharis Technologies Limited, a subsidiary of Cosharis Group, recently, inaugurated a mobile school digital device designed to enhance the delivery of qualitative basic education at the primary and secondary school levels, in the country.

The device, in three modules, would also enable teachers to teach effectively.

The Managing Director of the organisation, Mr. Sunday Emomine Mukoro who briefed Journalist in Lagos, expressed excitement about the device saying that the installed software applications are customised to meet the needs of every user either for pupils in primary one to six, student in JSS one to three, SSS one to three, or their respective teachers in all subjects According to him, “the software runs on Android Operating System(OS) and functions as graphics virtual and video classroom in all subjects across all classes, providing opportunities for the users to

repeat and review each lessons as many times as possible before undertaking inbuilt exams for self-evaluations to determine the progress in learning.�

With 75,000 questions and answers embedded into it, Mukoro affirmed that the retention rate of students, will be high, adding that it will also act as a catalyst in the development of education in the country. The managing director said the device and installed software have been endorsed by the federal ministry of education, National Information Technology Agency(NITDA), among other agencies of government. “Every product integration is in total compliance with international digital best practices in education delivery for teaching experiences and learning.�

Emphasising on its benefits to users, he said the device has offline and online access, free offline videos and animations to aid teaching, over 75,000 past JAMB,

WAEC, JSCE, Common Entrance and A-level questions and answers, teachers e-teaching tools and curriculum for all classrooms as directed by NERDC. Other benefits, the managing director said include; quick summary of textbooks of more than 40 subjects , career counseling guide which will help students decide on a career and also teach them how to pursue it, competitive pricing and free training on use of content. “For the first time ever, you can have your wards sit for JAMB and WAEC exams everyday from the comforts of your home.

There is absolutely no reason why youths should fail or sit repeatedly for these exams, �Mukoro stressed. He expressed his organisation’s plan to engage polytechnics and universities in the country so that engineering students can have hands-on knowledge to maintain and be able to repair the device when necessary.

Prowess of the Nigerian Child I have in my past articles written about the ability of the Nigerian child that equals every other in the world. Every child deserves a healthy well balanceddiet.“Nochildshouldbetoohungrytolearnâ€?.Thesearetwovery common comments being made in the UK’s educational and political scenes since 2013 In 2013 the then Deputy Prime Minister and Liberal Democrat Leader, Nick Clegg announced that children in the ďŹ rst three yearsofPrimaryschoolinEnglandwillgetfreeschooldinner(lunch)from September2014.Thispresentlyapplaudedprovisionwouldbeforchildren intheReception,Years1and2ofagerangingapproximatelyfrom4+to7+ yearsold.Itisestimatedtocost600millionpoundsperyear. Thegovernment reckons that this move towards a universal system is a necessary investment for the future that would pay o by improving child health and ultimately raising educational attainment. Recent researches have shown that a good healthy meal at lunch time can help improve pupils’ attention and response during afternoon lessons. Even though some familiescanwellaordtopayforschooldinners,therearefundamental beneďŹ tsineverychildgettingfreeschoolluncheswhatevertheirparents’ income.Themillionaire’schild,themiddleclassparent’schild,theworking class parent’s child, the child from a family living on minimum wage and the child under the various types of social services’ care and protection, all get the same school dinner! My people it is indeed, great news from GreatBritain.Somepeopleareenthusingoverthenewsbecausetheycan see the social and communication beneďŹ ts it would bring to all children.

Picture it yourself teachers and my dear readers. It would be uplifting indeed to have a table of children from dierent social backgrounds all sitting around the table together being taught, teaching each other and covertlychallengingeachothertouseforks,spoonsandknivesproperly andbehaveattableproperly.Theseskillslearntearlygoallovertheworld with them and retain conďŹ dence in them.They would be skilled in table etiquettes enough to dine with both the great and small. They would indeed,astheAgelessTruthconďŹ rmsinthisquote:‘Showmeamanwho is skilled in his ways, he shall stand before kings!’ In the light of this news, and as delighted as I am to hear such a caring move by the government of its people, I cannot but ask whether the Nigerian child is not also ‘Every child’ deserving a healthy and balanced diet. Should any Nigerian child be too hungry to learn as well?

Let’spauseabitonthisreection.Dotakeacloselookwithmeatapresently used week’s menu that I randomly picked from a primary school here in the UK. Please do not be put o by some ‘oyinbo-ish’ words in them, just pick up a currently revised dictionary or go on line and look up their meaning. I did a little search about two words in them myself.

Let’s make it a learning curve and widen our knowledge!

Apresentlyusedprimaryschool’sweek’smenu:Monday:AllDayBreakfast, VegetableQuarterPounder,PotatoWae,BakedBeansandTomatoes, MandarinMeringues,CheeseandBiscuitsoryoghurtpots.Tuesday:Mild ChickenCurry,RoastVegetableBake,PilafRice,WholeGreenBeansand CucumberSlices,ChocolateSpongeandChocolateSauce.Wednesday: RoastGammon,ThreeBeanHotpot,RoastPotatoes,WinterVegetable Selection,FruitJelly,FruitpotsororganicyoghurtsThursday:Shepherd’s pie, Tomato and Basil Penne, Peas and Carrots, Autumn Fruit Crumble and custard, Fruit pots or yoghurt pots Friday: Fish Fingers, Vegetable Pinwheel, Chunky Chips, Sweet Corn and Diced Peppers, Fruit Pots or Yoghurt Pots In addition, the children are oered a selection of bread (granary, whole meal and white), choice salads and jacket potatoes. A school dinner costs 2 pounds or 2 pounds and 10 pence per day.

Omoru writes from the UK

Amazing Talents School Clocks 10, ReafďŹ rms Committment for Child Devt.

Peace Obi The Amazing Talents School, Idimu, in a colourful event that attracted professionals and key stakeholders in education sector, recently, celebrated its 10th year anniversary and its school’s graduation and prize-giving ceremony marking the end of the 2016/2017 academic session.

In his remark, the Proprietor and Chairman, Mr. Eddy Odviwri said so far it has been moulding characters, developing the total child and improving the stock of the next generation.

He described 10 years as a major milestone while listing some of its success stories to include impressive performances in academic and sporting competitions; the movement of the school from a rented building to a much more fitting environment for effective teaching and learning which didn’t come without

challenges.

He said despite the challenges, the management and staff have remained committed to its vision and particularly encouraged by the students’ outstanding performances in external exams as well as its products impressive achievements in the larger school environments. “As a school, we have set out to not only to contribute to the breeding of a new generation of Nigerians, but to also do so with precision and panache. Our products have continued to serve as beacons of decency and promise in the large Nigerian space. Yet, we have striven to improve our services every passing year. The proprietor said ATS has continued to improve the quality and its education delivery by exposing the pupils to 21st century skills like critical thinking, problem solving, IT skills on coding, among others.

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Ondo To Review Primary, Secondary Education Curriculum James Sowole in Akure Ondo State Governor, Mr. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu has expressed the state’s readiness to review its primary and post primary education curriculum with a view to building a solid foundation for the level which is the bedrock of the sector’s development.

Akeredolu who spoke at the inauguration of 165 furniture, comprising chairs, desks and tables for teachers and students of Aquinas College, Akure (ACA), donated

by MTN Foundation, noted that plans were underway by the government to renovate public primary and secondary schools in the state. According to him, “improving the school environment is very crucial

to learning. We have invited interested persons to ameliorate the acute infrastructural deficit occasioned by neglect,� he said.

While calling on corporate organisations to support his government by extending their corporate social responsibility gestures to Ondo State by way of providing learning and instructional materials, Akeredolu said government alone cannot shoulder the task of providing quality education.

The Chairman of MTN Foundation, Prince Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi said through the foundation, the people of Ondo State had benefited from various projects worth over N236 million in the last 12 years.

He explained that they had also invested over N96 million

on providing scholarships and school furniture to students in the state. “We remain determined to continue improving the quality of life of the people of our nation and bringing hope to our young ones, assisting them to scale hurdles in their path to learning and development. “I am particularly glad that the 150 students desks and benches, as well as 15 teacher tables and chairs being donated by the foundation, will enhance the learning experience for the current set of students. “They are our future and equipping them with the right tools needed to learn, grow and succeed is critical to their development which will in turn, act as a catalyst for our nations progress�, he stressed.

He advised the students of the school to use the new facilities properly and to take advantage of the enhanced environment to further enhance their learning.

Responding on behalf of the school community, the Principal of Aquinas College, Mr. Babalola Ayibiowu, commended the tecommunications outfit for its laudable and humanitarian gestures towards the development of public schools in Ondo State.

He added that the furniture donated would go a long way in making teaching and learning more exciting in the school. “No doubt, a viable seed sown into a fertile ground will give birth to gigantic trees with fruits for generations to harvest,� he stated.

Rev. Oluwole Akinyemi blessing the pupils and staff of Amazing Talents Schools, Idimu, during its thanksgiving service to mark the school’s 10th anniversary and graduation ceremony at St. Peter’s Anglican Church, Idimu, Lagos‌recently

Varsity Don Tasks Engineers on Nation Building Sheri Balogun in Abeokuta A senior lecturer at the Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), Ago Iwoye, Ogun State, Dr. Wale Oduwole has called on engineers in the country to revisit and adopt a new mission to contribute to the building of a more sustainable Nigeria.

He said with the myriad of problems facing the world today and problems expected to rise in the future, the engineering profession must adopt a new mission statement as a way of ensuring a stable and equitable Nigeria.

Oduwole who was a guest lecturer at the Annex Campus of the institution in Ibogun, said in the next two decades,

almost 50 million additional people are expected to populate the country, saying the growth would create unprecedented demand for energy, food, land, water, telecommunications, transportation, materials and infrastructure.

In his lecture titled, ‘Engineering Professional Practice in Development Economy: The Nigerian Experience’, he affirmed that their role would be critical in fulfilling those demands at various scales, ranging from remote small communities o large urban areas (mega cities) mostly in the urban centres. “If engineers are not ready to fulfil such demand who will? The emergence of large urban areas is likely to affect the

future prosperity and stability of the entire country�, he added.

He said engineers have collective responsibility to improve the lives of people around the world, stating that Nigeria is becoming a place in which human population is becoming more crowded.

He, therefore, identified three methods the engineers must embark upon, saying they must embark on a worldwide transition to a more holistic approach as the world entered the twenty-first century.

He said there must be a major paradigm shift from control of nature to participation with nature; an awareness of ecosystems, ecosystems services and the preservation and restoration of natural capital.

Teach-for-Nigeria Fellows Charged to Bridge Inequity in Education TFN fellowship, a two-year educational education system leading and effecting true Sunday Okobi

The Chief Executive Officer of Teachfor-Nigeria (TFN), Miss Folawe Omikunle has called on its fellows to bridge the gap created by policy somersault by successive governments in the country, to reposition the standard of education in schools. Speaking at the induction ceremony in Lagos recently, she noted that solving the problem of educational inequity in Nigeria, needs a critical mass of leaders working at every level of the

systemic change. “We need inspired and motivated young leaders from different academic disciplines to canvass and act for excellence in improving the standards in the country. We are convinced that by preparing and equipping these groups of future leaders to take responsibility for producing an impact in high-need schools, accelerated change is inevitable.�

Omikunle said TFN is committed to ensuring that every Nigerian child has access to an excellent education regardless of gender, economic or social background.

intervention and leadership programme, was launched in February 2017; it is a non-profit organisation working to expand educational opportunities in Nigeria through the deployment of exceptional graduates in underserved schools. According to her, “Over the course of the next two years, you will be experiencing the most challenging but rewarding journey of your lives, with a program that has been designed to challenge you and develop your leadership capacity to be successful leaders in the fight against educational inequality in Nigeria.�

RUNNING THE CLASSROOM CHIOMA ERUOTOR

Identifying And Nurturing Your Child’s Intelligence

ĂŁ Ă˜Ă‹ĂžĂ&#x;ĂœĂ?Ëœ Ă?Ă Ă?ĂœĂŁ Ă?Ă’Ă“Ă–ĂŽ Ă“Ă? ÚËĂ?Ă•Ă?ĂŽ åÓÞÒ Ă?Ù×Ă? Ă˜Ă‹ĂžĂ&#x;ĂœĂ‹Ă– Ă?Ù×ÚÙĂ?Ă“ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ă? ĂĄĂ’Ă“Ă?Ă’ ÙʰĂ?Ă˜ ĂŽĂ?ĂžĂ?ĂœĂ—Ă“Ă˜Ă? ÞÒĂ? Ă?Ă’Ă“Ă–ĂŽËŞĂ? Ă“Ă˜ĂžĂ?Ă–Ă–Ă“Ă‘Ă?Ă˜Ă?Ă? Ă“Ă˜Ă?Ă–Ă“Ă˜Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ë› Ă?Ă“Ă?Ă˜ĂžĂ“Ę¨Ă? Ă?ĂžĂ&#x;ĂŽĂ“Ă?Ă? Ă’Ă‹Ă Ă? Ă?Ă’Ă™ĂĄĂ˜ ÞÒËÞ Ă‘Ă?Ă˜Ă?ÞÓĂ?Ă? Ă“Ă? ĂœĂ?Ă?ĂšĂ™Ă˜Ă?Ă“ĂŒĂ–Ă? Ă?Ă™Ăœ Ͳ͎ ĚŽ ͎͜ ĂšĂ?ĂœĂ?Ă?Ă˜Ăž Ă™Ă? Ă“Ă˜ĂžĂ?Ă–Ă–Ă“Ă‘Ă?Ă˜Ă?Ă? ĂŽĂ?Ă—Ă™Ă˜Ă?ĂžĂœĂ‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ë› Ă’Ă?Ă?Ă? Ă‘Ă?Ă˜Ă?ÞÓĂ?Ă‹Ă–Ă–ĂŁ ĂŒĂ‹Ă?Ă?ĂŽ Ă?Ù×ÚÙĂ?Ă“ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ă? Ă?Ă‹Ă˜Ă˜Ă™Ăž ĂŒĂ? ĂœĂ?ĂŽĂ&#x;Ă?Ă?ĂŽ Ă™Ăœ Ă“Ă˜Ă?ĂœĂ?Ă‹Ă?Ă?ĂŽËž ÞÒĂ?ĂŁ Ă?Ă‹Ă˜ Ă™Ă˜Ă–ĂŁ ĂŒĂ? Ă?Ă˜Ă’Ă‹Ă˜Ă?Ă?ĂŽ ĂŒĂŁ Ă?ĂœĂ?Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ ÞÒĂ? ĂœĂ“Ă‘Ă’Ăž Ă?Ă˜Ă Ă“ĂœĂ™Ă˜Ă—Ă?Ă˜Ăž ĂĄĂ“ĂžĂ’Ă“Ă˜ ĂĄĂ’Ă“Ă?Ă’ ÞÒĂ?ĂŁ Ă?Ă‹Ă˜ ĂŒĂ? Ă?Ă˘ĂšĂœĂ?Ă?Ă?Ă?ĂŽË› Ă&#x;Ă?Ăž Ă‹Ă? ÞÒĂ? Ă?Ă‹ĂœĂ—Ă?Ăœ Ă?Ă‹Ă˜Ă˜Ă™Ăž Ă“Ă—ĂšĂœĂ™Ă Ă? Ă™Ăœ ĂŽĂ?Ă?ĂžĂœĂ™ĂŁ ÞÒĂ? Ă›Ă&#x;ËÖÓÞã Ă™Ă? ÞÒĂ? Ă?Ă?Ă?ĂŽ Ă’Ă? Ă’Ă‹Ă?Ëœ Ă’Ă? Ă?Ă‹Ă˜ Ă™Ă˜Ă–ĂŁ Ă?Ă˜Ă’Ă‹Ă˜Ă?Ă? Ă“ĂžĂ? Ă‘ĂœĂ™ĂĄĂžĂ’ ĂŒĂŁ ĂšĂœĂ™ĂšĂ?Ăœ Ă?Ă&#x;Ă–ĂžĂ“Ă Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ëœ ĂšĂ–Ă‹Ă˜ĂžĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă?Ă™Ă˜ĂŽĂ“ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă™Ă? ÞÒĂ? Ă?Ă˜Ă Ă“ĂœĂ™Ă˜Ă—Ă?Ă˜Ăž ̙ÞÒĂ? Ă?ÙÓÖ̚˛

Ă˜ ÞÒĂ? Ę¨ĂœĂ?Ăž ĂšĂ‹ĂœĂž Ă™Ă? ÞÒÓĂ? Ă‹ĂœĂžĂ“Ă?Ă–Ă? Ă?Ă?Ă‹ĂžĂ&#x;ĂœĂ?ĂŽ Ă“Ă˜ ÞÒĂ? Ă–Ă‹Ă?Ăž Ă?ĂŽĂ“ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ëœ Ă&#x;Ă?Ă?ĂŽ ÞÒĂ? Ă?âË×ÚÖĂ? Ă™Ă? Ă‹ ĂŒĂ&#x;Ă? Ă?Ă™Ă˜ĂŽĂ&#x;Ă?ĂžĂ™Ăœ ÞÙ Ă?ÒÙå ÒÙå Ă?Ă Ă?ĂœĂŁĂŒĂ™ĂŽĂŁ Ă“Ă? Ă“Ă˜ĂžĂ?Ă–Ă–Ă“Ă‘Ă?Ă˜ĂžËœ Ă™Ă˜Ă? ĂĄĂ‹ĂŁ Ă™Ăœ ÞÒĂ? ÙÞÒĂ?ĂœËœ ÞÒĂ? ĂĄĂ‹ĂŁ ĂĄĂ? Ă?Ă’Ă‹Ă˜Ă˜Ă?Ă– Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă?Ă˘ĂšĂœĂ?Ă?Ă? Ă™Ă&#x;Ăœ Ă“Ă˜ĂžĂ?Ă–Ă–Ă“Ă‘Ă?Ă˜Ă?Ă? ÒÙåĂ?Ă Ă?Ăœ ĂŽĂ“ĘĽĂ?ĂœĂ?Ë› Ă?Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă—ĂŁ ĂšĂ?ĂœĂ?Ă™Ă˜Ă‹Ă– Ă?ĂžĂ™ĂœĂŁËœ Ă‹Ă–Ă?Ă™ Ă?ÒÙåĂ?ĂŽ ÒÙå Ă?Ă’Ă‹Ă˜Ă‘Ă?Ă? Ă“Ă˜ ÞÒĂ? Ă?Ă˜Ă Ă“ĂœĂ™Ă˜Ă—Ă?Ă˜Ăž Ă?Ă‹Ă˜ Ă‹ĘĽĂ?Ă?Ăž ÞÒĂ? Ă“Ă˜ĂžĂ?Ă–Ă–Ă“Ă‘Ă?Ă˜Ă?Ă? ĂŽĂ?Ă—Ă™Ă˜Ă?ĂžĂœĂ‹ĂžĂ?ĂŽ ĂŒĂŁ Ă‹ Ă?Ă’Ă“Ă–ĂŽË› ÖÞÒÙĂ&#x;Ă‘Ă’ Ă‘ĂœĂ?Ă‹Ăž Ă?×ÚÒËĂ?Ă“Ă? Ă’Ă‹Ă? ĂŒĂ?Ă?Ă˜ ÚÖËĂ?Ă?ĂŽ Ă™Ă˜ Ùà Ă?Ăœ ÞÒĂ? ĂŁĂ?Ă‹ĂœĂ?Ëœ ĂœĂ?Ă?Ă?Ă˜Ăž Ă?ĂžĂ&#x;ĂŽĂ“Ă?Ă? Ă’Ă‹Ă Ă? Ă?Ă’Ă™ĂĄĂ˜ ÞÒËÞ ĂšĂ?ÙÚÖĂ? ĂĄĂ’Ă™ ĂŽĂ™ ĂĄĂ?Ă–Ă– Ă“Ă˜ ĂžĂ?Ă?ĂžĂ? Ă?Ù×Ă? ÞÓ×Ă?Ă? ĂŽĂ™ Ă˜Ă™Ăž ĂŽĂ™ ĂĄĂ?Ă–Ă– Ă“Ă˜ ĂœĂ?Ă‹Ă– Ă–Ă“Ă?Ă? Ă?Ă“ĂžĂ&#x;Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ă? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ÞÒËÞ Ă—Ă?Ă˜ĂžĂ‹Ă– ĂžĂ?Ă?ĂžĂ? Ă‹ĂœĂ? ÙʰĂ?Ă˜ Ă˜Ă™Ăž ĂšĂ?ĂœĂ?Ă?Ă?Ăž ĂšĂœĂ?ĂŽĂ“Ă?ĂžĂ™ĂœĂ? Ă™Ă? ĂœĂ?Ă‹Ă– ĂĄĂ™ĂœĂ• ĂšĂ?ĂœĂ?Ă™ĂœĂ—Ă‹Ă˜Ă?Ă? Ă™Ăœ Ă?Ă&#x;Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă?Ë› Ă˜ ĂœĂ?Ă?ĂšĂ™Ă˜Ă?Ă? ÞÙ ÞÒĂ?Ă?Ă? Ę¨Ă˜ĂŽĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă—Ă?ĂœĂ“Ă?Ă‹Ă˜ Ă?ĂŁĂ?ÒÙÖÙÑÓĂ?ĂžËœ Ă™ĂŒĂ?ĂœĂž ĂžĂ?ĂœĂ˜ĂŒĂ?ĂœĂ‘ ÞÙÙÕ Ă‹ ĂŽĂ“Ă Ă? Ă‹ĂĄĂ‹ĂŁ Ă?ĂœĂ™Ă— ÞÒĂ? ĂžĂœĂ‹ĂŽĂ“ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ă‹Ă– Ă&#x;Ă˜ĂŽĂ?ĂœĂ?ĂžĂ‹Ă˜ĂŽĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă™Ă? Ă“Ă˜ĂžĂ?Ă–Ă–Ă“Ă‘Ă?Ă˜Ă?Ă? ĂŒĂŁ ĂšĂœĂ™ĂšĂ™Ă?Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ ÞÒĂ? ĂžĂ’ĂœĂ?Ă? ĂšĂ‹ĂœĂž ÞÒĂ?Ă™ĂœĂŁ Ă™Ă? Ă“Ă˜ĂžĂ?Ă–Ă–Ă“Ă‘Ă?Ă˜Ă?Ă?Ë› Ă˜Ă‹Ă–ĂŁĂžĂ“Ă?Ă‹Ă– Ă˜ĂžĂ?Ă–Ă–Ă“Ă‘Ă?Ă˜Ă?Ă? Ě™ Ă?ÒÙÙÖ Ă—Ă‹ĂœĂžĚš ĂœĂ?ËÞÓà Ă? Ă˜ĂžĂ?Ă–Ă–Ă“Ă‘Ă?Ă˜Ă?Ă? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ĂœĂ‹Ă?ÞÓĂ?Ă‹Ă– Ă˜ĂžĂ?Ă–Ă–Ă“Ă‘Ă?Ă˜Ă?Ă? Ă?ĂœĂ? Ă“Ă? Ă‹ Ă?Ă&#x;Ă—Ă—Ă‹ĂœĂŁ Ă™Ă? Ă?Ă‹Ă?Ă’ ÞãÚĂ? Ă™Ă? Ă“Ă˜ĂžĂ?Ă–Ă–Ă“Ă‘Ă?Ă˜Ă?Ă?Ë› ÍŻË› Ă“Ă?Ă&#x;Ă‹Ă–Ëš ÚËÞÓËÖ Ă˜ĂžĂ?Ă–Ă–Ă“Ă‘Ă?Ă˜Ă?Ă? ĚŽ Ă’Ă“Ă? ÞãÚĂ? Ă™Ă? Ă“Ă˜ĂžĂ?Ă–Ă–Ă“Ă‘Ă?Ă˜Ă?Ă? Ă“Ă? ĂŽĂ?Ă—Ă™Ă˜Ă?ĂžĂœĂ‹ĂžĂ?ĂŽ ĂŒĂŁ ÞÒĂ? Ă‹ĂŒĂ“Ă–Ă“ĂžĂŁ ÞÙ Ă Ă“Ă?Ă&#x;ËÖÓäĂ? Ă?ÓÞÒĂ?Ăœ åÓÞÒ ÞÒĂ? ÚÒãĂ?Ă“Ă?Ă‹Ă– Ă?ĂŁĂ? Ă™Ăœ ÞÒĂ? Ă—Ă“Ă˜ĂŽËŞĂ? Ă?ĂŁĂ?Ë› Ă?ÙÚÖĂ? åÓÞÒ Ă’Ă“Ă‘Ă’ Ă Ă“Ă?Ă&#x;Ă‹Ă–ËšĂ?ÚËÞÓËÖ Ă“Ă˜ĂžĂ?Ă–Ă–Ă“Ă‘Ă?Ă˜Ă?Ă? ĂžĂ?Ă˜ĂŽ ÞÙ ĂŒĂ? Ă Ă?ĂœĂŁ Ă‹ĂĄĂ‹ĂœĂ? Ă™Ă? ÞÒĂ?Ă“Ăœ Ă?Ă˜Ă Ă“ĂœĂ™Ă˜Ă—Ă?Ă˜ĂžËœ ÞÒĂ?ĂŁ Ă‹ĂœĂ? Ă Ă“Ă?Ă&#x;Ă‹Ă– Ă“Ă˜ Ă–Ă?Ă‹ĂœĂ˜Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă?Ă‹Ă˜ ĂŒĂ? ÞËĂ&#x;Ă‘Ă’Ăž ĂžĂ’ĂœĂ™Ă&#x;Ă‘Ă’ ĂŽĂœĂ‹ĂĄĂ“Ă˜Ă‘Ă?Ëœ ĂšĂ’Ă™ĂžĂ™Ă‘ĂœĂ‹ĂšĂ’Ă?Ëœ Ă Ă“ĂŽĂ?Ă™Ă?Ëœ Ă?Ă’Ă‹ĂœĂžĂ?Ëœ Ă Ă?ĂœĂŒĂ‹Ă– Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ÚÒãĂ?Ă“Ă?Ă‹Ă– Ă“Ă—Ă‹Ă‘Ă?ĂœĂŁË› Í°Ë› Ă“Ă˜Ă‘Ă&#x;Ă“Ă?ÞÓĂ?˚à Ă?ĂœĂŒĂ‹Ă– Ă“Ă˜ĂžĂ?Ă–Ă–Ă“Ă‘Ă?Ă˜Ă?Ă?Ě‹ Ă’Ă“Ă? Ă“Ă? ĂŽĂ?Ă—Ă™Ă˜Ă?ĂžĂœĂ‹ĂžĂ?ĂŽ ĂŒĂŁ ÞÒĂ? Ă‹ĂŒĂ“Ă–Ă“ĂžĂŁ ÞÙ Ă&#x;Ă?Ă? ĂĄĂ™ĂœĂŽĂ? Ă?ĘĽĂ?Ă?ÞÓà Ă?Ă–ĂŁË› Ă’Ă?Ă?Ă? Ă–Ă?Ă‹ĂœĂ˜Ă?ĂœĂ? Ă’Ă‹Ă Ă? Ă’Ă“Ă‘Ă’Ă–ĂŁ ĂŽĂ?Ă Ă?ÖÙÚĂ?ĂŽ Ă‹Ă&#x;ĂŽĂ“ĂžĂ™ĂœĂŁ Ă?Ă•Ă“Ă–Ă–Ă? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ÙʰĂ?Ă˜ ĂžĂ’Ă“Ă˜Ă• Ă“Ă˜ ĂĄĂ™ĂœĂŽĂ?Ë› Ă’Ă?ĂŁ Ă–Ă“Ă•Ă? ĂœĂ?Ă‹ĂŽĂ“Ă˜Ă‘Ëœ ĂšĂ–Ă‹ĂŁĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ ĂĄĂ™ĂœĂŽ Ă‘Ă‹Ă—Ă?Ă?Ëœ Ă—Ă‹Ă•Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă&#x;Ăš ÚÙĂ?ĂžĂœĂŁ Ă™Ăœ Ă?ĂžĂ™ĂœĂ“Ă?Ă?Ë› Ă’Ă?ĂŁ Ă?Ă‹Ă˜ Ă?Ă‹Ă?Ă“Ă–ĂŁ Ă–Ă?Ă‹ĂœĂ˜ ĂĄĂ’Ă?Ă˜ Ă–Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă™Ă˜Ă? Ă‹ĂœĂ? Ă“Ă˜ Ă?ĂžĂ™ĂœĂ“Ă?Ă? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă˜Ă‹ĂœĂœĂ‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ă? Ă?Ă™ĂœĂ—Ă‹ĂžĂ?Ë› ͹˛ ÙÑÓĂ?Ă‹Ă–Ëš ËÞÒĂ?×ËÞÓĂ?Ă‹Ă– Ă“Ă˜ĂžĂ?Ă–Ă–Ă“Ă‘Ă?Ă˜Ă?Ă? ĚŽ ÞÒÓĂ? Ă“Ă? ĂŽĂ?Ă—Ă™Ă˜Ă?ĂžĂœĂ‹ĂžĂ?ĂŽ ĂŒĂŁ ĂœĂ?Ă‹Ă?Ă™Ă˜Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă?Ă‹Ă–Ă?Ă&#x;Ă–Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă‹ĂŒĂ“Ă–Ă“ĂžĂ“Ă?Ă?Ë› Ă?ÙÚÖĂ? åÓÞÒ Ă’Ă“Ă‘Ă’ ÖÙÑÓĂ?ËÖ˚×ËÞÒĂ?×ËÞÓĂ?Ă‹Ă– Ă“Ă˜ĂžĂ?Ă–Ă–Ă“Ă‘Ă?Ă˜Ă?Ă? Ă‹ĂœĂ? Ă‹ĂŒĂ?ĂžĂœĂ‹Ă?Ăž Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă‹ĂœĂ? Ă‹ĂŒĂ–Ă? ÞÙ Ă?Ă?Ă? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă?Ă˘ĂšĂ–Ă™ĂœĂ? ÚËʾĂ?ĂœĂ˜Ă? ÞÒĂ?ĂŁ Ă–Ă“Ă•Ă? ÞÙ Ă?âÚĂ?ĂœĂ“Ă—Ă?Ă˜Ăž Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă?ÙÖà Ă? ĂšĂ&#x;ääÖĂ?Ă?Ë› Ͳ˛ ÙÎÓÖã Ă“Ă˜Ă?Ă?ÞÒĂ?ÞÓĂ? Ă“Ă˜ĂžĂ?Ă–Ă–Ă“Ă‘Ă?Ă˜Ă?Ă? ĚŽ Ă?ÙÚÖĂ? åÓÞÒ Ă’Ă“Ă‘Ă’ ĂŒĂ™ĂŽĂ“Ă–ĂŁËš Ă•Ă“Ă˜Ă?Ă?ÞÒĂ?ÞÓĂ? Ă“Ă˜ĂžĂ?Ă–Ă–Ă“Ă‘Ă?Ă˜Ă?Ă? ÚÙĂ?Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă? Ă’Ă“Ă‘Ă’ Ă?Ă?Ă˜Ă?Ă? Ă™Ă? ĂŒĂ™ĂŽĂŁ Ă‹ĂĄĂ‹ĂœĂ?Ă˜Ă?Ă?Ă?Ë› Ă’Ă?ĂŁ Ă?Ù××Ă&#x;Ă˜Ă“Ă?Ă‹ĂžĂ? ĂĄĂ“Ă–Ă– ĂžĂ’ĂœĂ™Ă&#x;Ă‘Ă’ ĂŒĂ™ĂŽĂŁ Ă–Ă‹Ă˜Ă‘Ă&#x;Ă‹Ă‘Ă? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă?Ă‹Ă˜ Ă–Ă?Ă‹ĂœĂ˜ Ă?Ă‹Ă?Ă“Ă–ĂŁ ĂžĂ’ĂœĂ™Ă&#x;Ă‘Ă’ ĂœĂ™Ă–Ă?̋ÚÖËãĂ?Ëœ ÚÒãĂ?Ă“Ă?Ă‹Ă– Ă‹Ă?ÞÓà ÓÞã Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă’Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽĂ?Ě‹Ă™Ă˜Ě‹Ă–Ă?Ă‹ĂœĂ˜Ă“Ă˜Ă‘Ë› ͳ˛ Ă&#x;Ă?Ă“Ă?Ă‹Ă– Ă“Ă˜ĂžĂ?Ă–Ă–Ă“Ă‘Ă?Ă˜Ă?Ă? ĚŽ ÞÒÓĂ? Ă“Ă? ĂŽĂ?Ă—Ă™Ă˜Ă?ĂžĂœĂ‹ĂžĂ?ĂŽ ĂžĂ’ĂœĂ™Ă&#x;Ă‘Ă’ Ă’Ă“Ă‘Ă’ Ă?Ă?Ă˜Ă?ÓÞÓà ÓÞã ÞÙ ĂœĂ’ĂŁĂžĂ’Ă— Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă?Ă™Ă&#x;Ă˜ĂŽË› Ă?ÙÚÖĂ? åÓÞÒ Ă’Ă“Ă‘Ă’ Ă—Ă&#x;Ă?Ă“Ă?Ă‹Ă– Ă“Ă˜ĂžĂ?Ă–Ă–Ă“Ă‘Ă?Ă˜Ă?Ă? Ă‹ĂœĂ? Ă?Ă?Ă˜Ă?ÓÞÓà Ă? ÞÙ Ă?Ă™Ă&#x;Ă˜ĂŽĂ? Ă“Ă˜ ÞÒĂ?Ă“Ăœ Ă?Ă˜Ă Ă“ĂœĂ™Ă˜Ă—Ă?Ă˜ĂžĂ?Ë› Ă’Ă?ĂŁ Ă?Ă‹Ă˜ ĂŒĂ? ÞËĂ&#x;Ă‘Ă’Ăž ĂŒĂŁ ĂžĂ&#x;ĂœĂ˜Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă–Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă™Ă˜Ă? Ă“Ă˜ĂžĂ™ Ă–ĂŁĂœĂ“Ă?Ă?Ëœ Ă?ĂšĂ?Ă‹Ă•Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ ĂœĂ’ĂŁĂžĂ’Ă—Ă“Ă?Ă‹Ă–Ă–ĂŁ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ĂžĂ‹ĂšĂšĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă™Ă&#x;Ăœ ÞÓ×Ă?Ë› Ă’Ă?ĂŁ Ă—Ă‹ĂŁ Ă?ĂžĂ&#x;ĂŽĂŁ ĂŒĂ?ĘľĂ?Ăœ åÓÞÒ Ă—Ă&#x;Ă?Ă“Ă? Ă“Ă˜ ÞÒĂ? ĂŒĂ‹Ă?Ă•Ă‘ĂœĂ™Ă&#x;Ă˜ĂŽË› Í´Ë› Ă˜ĂžĂ?ĂœĂšĂ?ĂœĂ?Ă™Ă˜Ă‹Ă– Ă“Ă˜ĂžĂ?Ă–Ă–Ă“Ă‘Ă?Ă˜Ă?Ă?Ë› Ă’Ă?Ă?Ă? Ă?Ă’Ă“Ă–ĂŽĂœĂ?Ă˜ Ă–Ă?Ă‹ĂœĂ˜ ĂžĂ’ĂœĂ™Ă&#x;Ă‘Ă’ Ă“Ă˜ĂžĂ?ĂœĂ‹Ă?ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜ åÓÞÒ ĂšĂ?ÙÚÖĂ? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă?Ă‹ĂŒ ĂŒĂ? ÞËĂ&#x;Ă‘Ă’Ăž ĂžĂ’ĂœĂ™Ă&#x;Ă‘Ă’ Ă‘ĂœĂ™Ă&#x;Ăš Ă‹Ă?ÞÓà ÓÞÓĂ?Ă?Ëœ Ă?Ă?Ă—Ă“Ă˜Ă‹ĂœĂ? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ÎÓËÖÙÑĂ&#x;Ă?Ë› ;˛ Ă˜ĂžĂœĂ‹ĂšĂ?ĂœĂ?Ă™Ă˜Ă‹Ă– Ă˜ĂžĂ?Ă–Ă–Ă“Ă‘Ă?Ă˜Ă?Ă? ĚŽ ĂšĂ?ÙÚÖĂ? åÓÞÒ Ă’Ă“Ă‘Ă’ Ă“Ă˜ĂžĂœĂ‹ĂšĂ?ĂœĂ?Ă™Ă˜Ă‹Ă– Ă“Ă˜ĂžĂ?Ă–Ă–Ă“Ă‘Ă?Ă˜Ă?Ă? Ă&#x;Ă˜ĂŽĂ?ĂœĂ?ĂžĂ‹Ă˜ĂŽ ĂšĂ?ĂœĂ?Ă™Ă˜Ă‹Ă– Ă“Ă˜ĂžĂ?ĂœĂ?Ă?ĂžĂ? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ÑÙËÖĂ?Ëœ ÞÒĂ?ĂŁ Ă‹ĂœĂ? Ă“Ă˜ ĂžĂ&#x;Ă˜Ă? åÓÞÒ ÞÒĂ?Ă“Ăœ Ă“Ă˜Ă˜Ă?Ăœ Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă–Ă“Ă˜Ă‘Ă? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ÞÒĂ?ĂŁ Ă’Ă‹Ă Ă? ĂĄĂ“Ă?ĂŽĂ™Ă—Ëœ Ă“Ă˜ĂžĂ&#x;Ă“ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ëœ Ă—Ă™ĂžĂ“Ă Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜ Ă?ĂžĂœĂ™Ă˜Ă‘ ĂĄĂ“Ă–Ă– Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă?Ă™Ă˜Ę¨ĂŽĂ?Ă˜Ă?Ă?Ë› Ă’Ă?ĂŁ Ă?Ă‹Ă˜ ĂŒĂ? ÞËĂ&#x;Ă‘Ă’Ăž ĂžĂ’ĂœĂ™Ă&#x;Ă‘Ă’ Ă“Ă˜ĂŽĂ?ĂšĂ?Ă˜ĂŽĂ?Ă˜Ăž Ă?ĂžĂ&#x;ĂŽĂŁ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă“Ă˜ĂžĂœĂ™Ă?ĂšĂ?Ă?ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ë› Ăž Ă“Ă? Ă“Ă˜ĂžĂ?ĂœĂ?Ă?ĂžĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ ÞÙ Ă•Ă˜Ă™ĂĄ ÞÒËÞ Ă“Ă˜ĂžĂ?ĂœĂšĂ?ĂœĂ?Ă™Ă˜Ă‹Ă– Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă“Ă˜ĂžĂœĂ‹ĂšĂ?ĂœĂ?Ă™Ă˜Ă‹Ă– Ă“Ă˜ĂžĂ?Ă–Ă–Ă“Ă‘Ă?Ă˜Ă?Ă? Ă‹Ă? Ă?Ă&#x;Ă‘Ă‘Ă?Ă?ĂžĂ?ĂŽ ĂŒĂŁ Ă™ĂĄĂ‹ĂœĂŽ Ă?Ă™ĂœĂ—Ă?ĂŽ ÞÒĂ? ĂŒĂ?ĂŽ ĂœĂ™Ă?Ă• Ă?Ă™Ăœ ÞÒĂ? Ă—Ă™Ă?Ăž ĂœĂ?Ă?Ă?Ă˜Ăž Ę¨Ă˜ĂŽĂ“Ă˜Ă‘Ă? Ă“Ă˜ ÞÒĂ? ĂĄĂ™ĂœĂ–ĂŽ Ă™Ă? Ă“Ă˜ĂžĂ?Ă–Ă–Ă“Ă‘Ă?Ă˜Ă?Ă? ĂĄĂ’Ă“Ă?Ă’ Ă“Ă? Ă?Ă—Ă™ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ă‹Ă– Ă“Ă˜ĂžĂ?Ă–Ă–Ă“Ă‘Ă?Ă˜Ă?Ă?Ë› Ă˜ Ă—ĂŁ Ă˜Ă?Ă?Ăž Ă‹ĂœĂžĂ“Ă?Ă–Ă? ÒÙÚĂ? ÞÙ Ă?Ă’Ă?ĂŽ Ă—Ă™ĂœĂ? Ă–Ă“Ă‘Ă’Ăž Ă™Ă˜ Ă?Ă—Ă™ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ă‹Ă– Ă“Ă˜ĂžĂ?Ă–Ă–Ă“Ă‘Ă?Ă˜Ă?Ă?Ëœ Ă?âÚÙĂ&#x;Ă˜ĂŽĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă™Ă˜ ÞÒĂ? ĂĄĂ™ĂœĂ•Ă? Ă™Ă? Ă‹Ă˜Ă“Ă?Ă– ÙÖĂ?Ă—Ă‹Ă˜ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ÒÙå Ă“Ăž Ă?Ă‹Ă˜ Ă’Ă?Ă–Ăš Ă?ĂŽĂ&#x;Ă?Ă‹ĂžĂ™ĂœĂ? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ĂšĂ‹ĂœĂ?Ă˜ĂžĂ? Ă“Ă˜ ĂœĂ‹Ă“Ă?Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă—Ă™ĂœĂ? Ă?Ă&#x;Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă&#x;Ă– Ă?Ă’Ă“Ă–ĂŽĂœĂ?Ă˜Ë›Ë›

Eruotor writes from Lagos

Corona School Wins 2017 Enterprise Challenge Corona Secondary School Agbara, recently emerged the winner of the 2017 inaugural edition of the Nigerian schools enterprise challenge, which drew participants from benchmark schools. The programe was facilitated in Nigeria by SI-UK in partnership with Accelerated Learning System.

The competition afforded the participating students to exhibit their entrepreneurial skills by solving simulated business problems digitally.

In another development , a year 10 student of the school, Miss Nzube Okoye, has emerged the overall second best in the recently concluded 15th edition of Association of International Schools Educators of Nigeria

(AISEN) Art Competition League.

The knock-out stage of the competition which commenced at Avi Ceena International School, Ikeja, on October 15, saw the members of Corona team scaling through the quarter final; semifinal and the final.

The league final held at Temple School, Ilupeju on May 20 which saw Miss Nzube Okoye emerging second position in the senior category while Dinachi Mbanisi and Onaopemipo Adigun came fourth position, respectively.

The league attracted student participants from more than 35 AISEN member schools. The school congratulates its ambassadors for the laudable feat.

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CITYSTRINGS

Ă?ĂžĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă?Ă‹ĂžĂ&#x;ĂœĂ?Ă? ĂŽĂ“ĂžĂ™ĂœË? Ă’Ă‹ĂœĂ–Ă?Ă? Ă”Ă&#x;Ă˜ĂĄĂ‹ Ă—Ă‹Ă“Ă– Ă?Ă’Ă‹ĂœĂ–Ă?Ă?˛ËÔĂ&#x;Ă˜ĂĄĂ‹ĚśĂžĂ’Ă“Ă?ĂŽĂ‹ĂŁĂ–Ă“Ă Ă?Ë›Ă?Ù×

A Bloody Clash

Hammed Shittu writes on how a disagreement between two traditional rulers in the ancient communities of Ilofa and Odo-Owa in Oke-Ero Local Government Area of Kwara State left four persons dead and property worth millions of naira destroyed

I

mportance of peace in the socio-economic and political development of any society cannot be over emphasised. It has also remained a pedestal upon which a society is developed because it is peaceful environment that the government can plan for the people, boost and accelerate the well-being of the governed and thereby improve the standard of living in the society.

But, the recent development in the ancient communities of Ilofa and Odo-Owa in Oke-Ero Local Government Area of Kwara State was an opposite as the fragile peace in the two affected communities was threatened following the communal clash that ensued between the communities, leading to about four persons being killed and property worth several millions of naira destroyed by the irate youths of the two communities.

The clash, it was gathered, arose from disagreement over who has the right to first sell yams harvested from the farm of the traditional rulers of the two communities. The clash was the second in two years between the two communities.

It was gathered that one of the traditional rulers had felt offended that his colleague was already at the market selling his own yams without deferring to his own seniority.

The two communities, it was gathered, have a common market located to serve as border between them.

One of those reportedly killed was a young graduate who had escorted his wife to the market. Several houses were also razed during the clash while many residents fled the area into neighbouring communities.

The market itself was built as a buffer zone following series of clashes between the two communities.

They have been at loggerheads over seniority between the two of them and a recent upgrading of one of the traditional rulers to a first class chief status was said to have also angered indigenes of the other community.

The tradition, according to those familiar with the two communities, was that on any market day, the traditional ruler from one of the communities would have to first sell yams from his farm, under the supervision of the market leader, before any other person would display his or her own yams for sale. “That was what happened. One of the Obas (traditional rulers) was at the market selling his yams when his colleague got wind of it and walked straight to the market and challenged him and that was what led to the crisis. As I am talking to you, they are still shooting and burning houses,� a source in one of the communities told journalists on phone, lamenting that the recurring crisis between the two communities must be properly addressed by government.

A community leader in the local government who spoke with THISDAY lamented that almost all the houses in one of the communities had been razed. “It is as if the other side was well prepared for this,� the community leader said.

Spokesman for the Kwara State Police Command, Mr. Ajayi Okasanmi confirmed the development but said the command was yet to ascertain the level of casualties. He, however, explained that security operatives have been deployed to the communities to maintain peace and order.

As the crisis escalated on that fateful day it was gathered that some of the residents of the two communities also fled to other neighboruing towns that surrounded them in order to avoid being attacked.

Among the neighbouring towns said to be accommodating the fleeing people include Omu-Aran, Oko, Osi, Imode and some others in Ekiti State.

In order to stop the clash and prevent it from assuming a more dangerous dimension, the State Security Council led by Governor Abdulfatah

Some of the houses and vehicles burnt during the recent Ilofa Odo-Owa communal clashes in Oke-Ero Local Government Area of Kwara State.

One of those reportedly killed was a young graduate who had escorted his wife to the market. Several houses were also razed during the clash while many residents ed the area into neighbouring communities

Ahmed...restores peace between the two warring communities

Ahmed asked the Nigerian Army from Sobi Barracks, Ilorin and other security agencies in the state to deploy their men to the two communities in order to stop the crisis.

THISDAY further gathered that, despite the deployment of the anti-riot policemen on the first day of the crisis, the situation still subsisted which prompted the State Security Council to compel the Nigerian Army from Sobi Barracks, Ilorin to be deployed to the two communities to stop the crisis.

As the soldiers from Sobi Barracks took over the flash-spots of the two communities, the tension however eased as the soldiers ensured thorough checking of incoming and outgoing vehicles to the two communities.

Also, as this was going on, the State Police Command summoned the two royal fathers of the warring communities to Ilorin, His Royal Highness, Joshua Oloruntoba, the Adimula of Odo-Owa and His Royal Highness, Oba Samuel Niyi Dada, for questioning as a strategy to ensure the tension in the affected communities is subdued.

The two monarchs according to THISDAY

checks were summoned to the State Police Command to make statements on how peace will be restored to the two communities.

The meeting with the monarchs it was gathered was held behind closed door at the Police Command so as to know the cause of the hostilities after which the traditional rulers were cautioned after their release to return to their communities and ensure peace and tranquility.

The Commissioner of Police, Mr. Lawan Ado who directed the two monarchs to report to the Police Headquarters in Ilorin on Monday, July 3, 2017 to give update on the directive given them also visited the warring communities to personally access the extent of the damage.

The two monarchs were said to have left their palaces as a result of the crisis before soldiers were drafted to quell the crisis.

Ado also condemned the communal crisis saying that it was unwarranted fighting over who should sell yams first.

Speaking with journalists after his inspection tour to the two communities, Ado said that a suspect has been arrested in connection with the dastardly act.

His words, "This man (a suspect, Ibrahim Ganiyu) is one of the suspects that was apprehended by Ekiti State Police Command.

"We went there and brought him. We will use him and interrogate him and get other members that participated in this dastardly activity.

"In fact, we have gotten some names through intelligence and we are pursuing them and we will get them. The nabbed suspect was running away. He was escaping and police apprehended him and later he was interrogated. They later found out that he is one of those people who participated in the mayhem between the two communities. “We have gone round the two towns. Normalcy has been restored. We are on ground. There is police and joint patrol. Myself and some functionaries of the state government came this morning to assess the situation. We have seen it.

"We assure all the people here to go back to their normal businesses as we are on the ground.

We will ensure that this thing does not recur," he assured. Three contingents of soldiers from Sobi Barracks Ilorin were seen patrolling over the weekend at the flash points in the warring communities where they mounted road blocks searching passers-by to maintain peace in the areas. When THISDAY visited the two warring communities on the second day of the clash, normalcy has started returning to the affected communities and there was heavy presence of soldiers deployed to the communities.

However, the state government has imposed a curfew on both communities between 6pm and 6am. In a statement by the Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Isiaka Sola Gold, the state government barred all human and vehicular traffic in Iloffa and Odo-Owa during the curfew.

The government also ordered the suspension of any activities related to the yam festival in Oke Ero Local Government Area of the state.

While urging residents of both communities to comply with the order, the SSG said the curfew was designed to assist security agencies contain and prevent the escalation of the conflict as

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well as restore peace.

He urged residents of both communities to remain calm and continue to conduct their lawful affairs in peace as security agencies are on ground in both communities to secure lives and property.

The SSG restated the Governor's commitment to upholding the security of all residents in the state as well as to unraveling the perpetrators of the conflict in Ilofa and Odo-Owa. He also reaffirmed the government resolve to bring the full weight of the law to bear on any individual or group found to have initiated, participated or otherwise contributed to the recent violent conflict between the neighbouring communities under any guise.

Also, the state government said it wou;d set up a Judicial Commission of Inquiry to find out the immediate and remote causes of the recent communal clash between the two warring communities.

A statement issued by the SSG, said that, "the Kwara State governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed has directed the establishment of the judicial panel of inquiry following the receipt of the report of a government delegation deployed to the affected communities for on-the-spot assessment."

The SSG described as tragic and unfortunate the recent violent clashes between the two neighbouring communities and vowed that the state government will prosecute to the fullest extent of the law anyone found to have been remotely or directly connected to the crisis no matter how highly-placed.

The state governor has approved the composition of a Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Ilofa and Odo-Owa communal clashes.

According to a statement released in Ilorin, and signed by the Secretary to the State Government, the Commission is composed as follows: Hon. Justice Sulyman Durosinlorun Kawu, Chief Judge, Kwara State, Chairman, HRH, Alhaji (Dr.) Ndanusa Haliru Yahaya, Emir of Shonga-Member, Mrs. Funsho Dada Lawal, Solicitor-General/Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Justice-Member Barr. Taiye Oniyide, Professional Arbitrator, Bayo Ojo & Co. -Member, Representative of Commissioner of Police –Member, Representative of Director, Dept. of State Services (DSS)-Member and Elder David A. Adesina, mni, Permanent Secretary, Political, Cabinet and Special Services, Governor’s Office.- Secretary. The SSG listed the judicial commission’s terms of reference as follows: investigate and ascertain the immediate and remote causes of the violent communal clashes between Iloffa and Odo-Owa; ascertain the extent of loss and damage to lives and property following the eruption of the communal clashes; determine the conduct of any person(s), group of persons or associations that in any way contributed to violent clashes.

Others include, investigate and identify persons or group of persons other than security personnel who possessed and employed the use of firearms during the civil disturbances with recommendation of appropriate sanctions for such destructive actions; identify any external/ extraneous factors/involvement on the two sides during the violent clashes; determine the level of involvement or roles of traditional rulers of both communities in the violent communal clashes; make appropriate recommendations including sanctions if need be, to prevent the recurrence of incidence of this nature, any other issues or recommendations that will ensure lasting and peaceful co-existence between the two communities.

The Judicial Commission has been inaugurated

by Governor, Ahmed and work has commenced in earnest. Senator Rafiu Ibrahim representing

The Kwara State governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed has directed the establishment of the judicial panel of inquiry following the receipt of the report of a government delegation deployed to the affected communities for on-the-spot assessment

A man in shock over the level of destruction after the recent Ilofa Odo-Owa communal clashes in Oke-Ero Local Government Area of Kwara State

A torched house and vehicle during the recent Ilofa Odo-Owa communal clashes in Oke-Ero Local Government Area of Kwara State

A burnt house during the recent Ilofa Odo-Owa communal clashes in Oke-Ero Local Government Area of Kwara State

Kwara South senatorial district at the National Assembly in a statement by his media aide, Hon. Biodun Adegoolu also appealed for calm, adding that there would be no development in atmosphere of acrimony.

Calm has since returned to the two communi-

ties as the soldiers from Sobi Barracks, anti-riot policemen and men of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps are still parading the length and breadth of the two warring communities to ensure maintenance of law and order. By and large with the setting up of the Judicial Commission

of Inquiry into the communal clash between the people of Ilofa and Odo-Owa communities, it is believed that the underneath issues that led to the clash would be addressed and thereby bring a lasting peaceful co-existence to the two ancient towns.

T H I S D AY Ëž Ëœ ÍŻÍˇËœ 2017

38

BUSINESS/MONEYGUIDE

Experts Offer Recipe for Sustainable Economic Recovery for Nigeria Obinna Chima The Chief Executive Officer of the Economic Associates, Dr. Ayo Teriba, has advised the federal government to open up the economy to foreign direct investment opportunities in order to get Nigeria out of economic recession and keep it on the path of sustainable economic growth.

Teriba stated this at a breakfast session organised by the Financial Services Group of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) with the theme: “Economic Recovery and Growth Plan: Roadmap to a Sustainable Economy,� held in Lagos recently.

The event was sponsored by Sterling Bank.

Teriba, who spoke on “Nigeria’s economic outlook: Getting out of recession cycle,� as keynote speaker, cited an example with Saudi Arabia and India, saying

opening up the economy to investors would help unlock vast and latent opportunities in the country.

He urged the federal government to learn how to manage cyclical shock such as the remarkable drop in oil earnings which led to the depreciation of the naira in 2016, high level of inflation, among other economic challenges.

Also speaking at the event, the President of LCCI, Mrs. Nike Akande noted that with the Nigerian economy highly import dependent, consumption driven and undiversified, there was need for government to draw a roadmap for economic diversification that would drive sustainable growth and development. The President of the Chamber, who was represented by the Deputy President, Mr. Babatunde Ruwase also remarked that it has also become imperative for the federal

government to create initiatives that would restore growth, bring about a competitive economy and provide an enabling business environment that would empower the private sector in delivering its mandate towards the actualisation of the EGRP. Akande observed that while the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP)was perceived as a laudable initiative, commitment to its implementation was critical if the plan would foster growth in the economy within the next couple of years.

In her welcome address, the Chairperson of the Group and General Manager, Corporate Banking, Sterling Banking, Mrs. Mojisola Bakare, said they were keen on the resolution of issues affecting Nigeria’s economic development, remarking that it had become necessary to discuss the theme of the breakfast session.

Fidelity Bank Raises International Spend Limit on Naira Cards Fidelity Bank Plc yesterday became the third Nigerian bank to raise the monthly international spend limit on its naira Visa credit and debit card transactions to $1,000.

The move, which clearly was an indication of the improved dollar liquidity in the economy, is also expected to strengthen investors’ confidence.

According to Fidelity Bank yesterday, the initiative was in response to customer needs and the improved foreign exchange liquidity in the banking system, a fall-out of various economic recovery measures put in place by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

“We are pleased to remove the restrictions on International transactions on Fidelity Visa Naira Credit and Debit Cards.

It was important for us to take advantage of the slight ease in sourcing foreign exchange to do this in order meet with the yearnings of our teeming customers,� Fidelity Bank Chief Executive Officer, Nnamdi Okonkwo said.

Specifically, the bank in a message to customers said international transactions on Fidelity Visa Naira Credit and Debit Cards will be subject to the following limits: “Visa Naira Debit Cards (POS/Web only) equivalent of $1000 only; Visa

Naira Credit Cards (ATM/POS/ Web) equivalent of $1,000 only.�

Fidelity Bank explained that the window of opportunity with international transactions would only be available to Visa naira credit and debit cards and reminded customers that charges on credit cards are dependent on the acquirer and ATM used whilst POS/Web purchases attract no charges. “We encourage customers to always insist on being billed in the currency of the county in which the purchases are made especially, POS payments in order to avoid attracting additional charges,� Okonkwo further stated.

Flour Mills Raises Stake in Rom Oil Mills Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc. (FMN) Group, one of the market leaders in food and agro-allied products in Nigeria, has announced an increase in the shareholding of one of its subsidiaries - Rom Oil Mills Limited (ROM), Ibadan, from 90 per cent to 95 per cent.

With this development, the company remains the largest shareholder of Rom Oil Mills, while the Shahimi family collectively owns five per cent minority shares in the equity of ROM. According to a statement from FMN, the decision to increase the shareholdings in Rom Oil Mills was informed by Flour Mills’ strategy of continually investing in the development of quality foods and agro-allied

products for its consumers.

The Flour Mills Group had in November, 2014, announced the inauguration of an ultramodern edible oil refinery and margarine plant by ROM Oil Mills Limited (ROM Oil) as part of FMN Group’s expansion plans for ROM Oil. The refinery had the following installed capacities: A 500 TPD universal Refinery Plant; a 500 TPD Soya Beans Seeds Extraction Plant; 100 TPD fractionation Plant; 50 TPD Margarine with Packaging Plant (in various pack sizes); and 100 TPD Vegetable Oil Bottling Plant (in various pack sizes).

Announcing the increment in shareholding, FMN’s Group Managing Director/ Chief Executive, Mr. Paul M.

Gbededo, stated that FMN was fully confident that its new investment would help to strengthen the company in its drive for economic growth and industrial development of Nigeria. He further stated that the investment was a key feature in FMN’s strategic drive to grow its food and agro-allied value chains, in consonance with its developmental thrust and will help boost Nigeria’s Industrial Revolution Plan (NIRP) and Government’s Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA). “FMN strongly believes that the operation of ROM Oil will continue to significantly help to maximize local content, achieve foreign exchange savings and have a big impact on feeding the nation better,� he added.

Holcim to Wind Up Nigerian Company Holcim Nigeria plans to pass a resolution next month to dissolve the company after its Swiss-based parent firm merged with French rival Lafarge two years ago, the cement maker said on Tuesday. Holcim Nigeria is now part of Lafarge Africa following a mega-merger in 2015 to create the world’s biggest cement maker LafargeHolcim.

Reuters quoted LafargeHolcim Chairman, Beat Hess, to have said the company was still

adjusting its structures in big markets where both Lafarge and Holcim are present following the merger. The cement maker said it will present the final accounts of Holcim Nigeria as part of the voluntary winding up process at a meeting of shareholders on August 21.

Lafarge Africa expects to generate cost saving synergies of N9 billion ($46 million) by 2018 in Nigeria, following the merger, it has said.

The Nigeria-based business of the Franco-Swiss cement group is in the market to raise N140 billion in fresh equity and convert some loans into shares as part of a planned rights issue after it reported losses last year.

LafargeHolcim has said it would take part in a capital increase of the Nigerian unit to avoid diluting its nearly 73 percent stake, in a move which would also help simplify the ownership structure in Nigeria.

Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo

MARKET INDICATORS MONEY AND CREDIT STATISTICS

(MILLION NAIRA)

DECEMBER 2016 Broad Money (M2)

23,840,392.42

-- Narrow Money (M1)

11,520,166.67

---- Currency Outside Banks

1,820,415.90

---- Demand Deposits

9,699,750.76

-- Quasi Money

12,320,225.75

Net Foreign Assets (NFA)

9,353,504.03

Net Domestic Assets(NDA)

14,486,888.39

-- Net Domestic Credit (NDC)

26,774,684.47

---- Credit to Government (Net)

4,595,579.89

---- Memo: Credit to Govt. (Net) less FMA

7,436,917.79

---- Memo: Fed. and Mirror Accounts (FMA)

-2,841,337.90

---- Credit to Private Sector (CPS)

22,374,718.08

--Other Assets Net

-12,483,409.58

Reserve Money (Base Money)

5,837,322.41

--Currency in Circulation

2,179,174.28

--Banks Reserves

3,318,344.71 Ëž Ă™Ă&#x;ĂœĂ?Ă? Ě‹

MONEY MARKET INDICATORS (%) December 2016 Inter-Bank Call Rate

10.39

Monetary Policy Rate (MPR

14.00

Treasury Bill Rate

13.96

Savings Deposit Rate

4.18

1 Month Deposit Rate

8.53

3 Months Deposit Rate

8.80

6 Months Deposit Rate

10.23

12 Months Deposit Rate

10.76

Prime Lending rate

17.09

Maximum Lending Rate

28.55

Ëž Ă™Ă˜Ă?ĂžĂ‹ĂœĂŁ ÙÖÓĂ?ĂŁ Ă‹ĂžĂ? Ě‹ ͯͲϹ

OPEC DAILY BASKET PRICE AS AT MONDAY 17, JULY 2017

The price of OPEC basket of fourteen crudes stood at $46.80 a barrel on Monday, compared with $46.40 the previous Friday, 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), ZaďŹ ro (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)

39

˾ WEDNESDAY, JULY 19, 2017

Nigeria’s top 50 stocks based on market fundamentals

18-Jul-17

17-Jul-17

% Change

Capitalisation

EPS

P/E

P/S

Div. Yld

Price/ Book Value

Table 1 Market Statistics Mkt Indicators

Open 17-Jul-17

NSE All Share Index NSE Market Cap (N'Trillion)

33,301.43 11.48

33,436.61 11.52

0.41% 0.41%

140.25 10.92

140.77 10.96

0.37% 0.37%

01 Dangote Cement Plc

210.00

209.20

0.38%

3,578,506,555,050.00

10.95

19.08

5.79

3.83%

4.47

02 Nigerian Breweries Plc

159.11

157.38

1.10%

1,261,599,242,289.68

3.58

42.98

3.89

2.34%

7.36

03 Guaranty Trust Bank Plc

36.60

36.61

-0.03%

1,077,181,159,598.40

4.49

8.14

2.60

4.84%

2.13

920.00

904.00

1.77%

729,243,751,840.00

10.00

90.32

3.93

3.21%

23.18

Thisday BGL 50 Index Thisday BGL 50 Market Cap (N'Trillion)

21.53

21.93

-1.82%

675,966,511,212.58

4.13

5.31

1.36

8.21%

0.98

Table 3 Top 5 Gainers

06 United Bank for Africa Plc

8.80

8.80

0.00%

319,259,831,633.60

1.99

4.52

0.85

6.67%

0.73

Stock

07 Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc

31.50

31.50

0.00%

315,000,000,000.00

2.85

11.04

2.01

0.32%

2.24

9.65

9.73

-0.82%

279,154,926,239.15

13.18

0.75

0.75

5.56%

0.63

475.02

475.11

-0.02%

262,833,464,881.26 -82.02

-5.79

4.15

3.35%

0.70

10 Ecobank Transnational Incorporated

14.28

14.20

0.56%

262,031,591,350.20

0.68

20.89

0.44

4.39%

0.41

11 Presco Plc

64.54

64.54

0.00%

256,254,588,484.30

0.03

2,207.26

3.59

2.01%

6.13

12 Lafarge Africa Plc

52.00

52.00

0.00%

236,854,894,120.00

3.71

14.02

1.08

5.77%

0.95

13 FBN Holdings Plc

5.93

5.87

1.02%

212,859,086,256.56

0.21

29.11

0.41

2.48%

0.35

38.19

36.38

4.98%

144,484,083,787.50

0.81

40.64

1.79

0.15%

10.68

15 Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc

9.04

8.66

4.39%

108,480,000,000.00

1.20

7.50

0.64

5.56%

1.63

16 International Breweries Plc

30.00

30.00

0.00%

98,827,478,400.00

0.02

1,396.24

3.89

0.79%

9.45

17 Guinness Nig Plc

63.00

63.00

0.00%

94,870,955,844.00

-3.06

-20.60

0.92

5.08%

2.41

18 Mobil Oil Nig Plc

260.00

260.00

0.00%

93,754,768,120.00

22.61

11.50

1.00

2.77%

4.37

19 Total Nigeria Plc

260.00

260.00

0.00%

88,275,677,620.00

43.58

5.97

0.30

5.38%

3.75

6.81

6.83

-0.29%

81,955,754,668.14

0.29

26.00

0.20

9.93%

0.47

21 Forte Oil Plc.

57.96

60.50

-4.20%

75,491,804,729.88

2.22

25.31

0.49

6.14%

1.69

22 Flour Mills Nig. Plc

26.25

26.25

0.00%

68,886,226,158.75

-1.19

-20.95

0.16

8.00%

0.66

23 7-Up Bottling Comp. Plc

94.95

94.95

0.00%

60,824,054,966.85

-0.05 -1,953.58

0.61

2.47%

2.57

24 Okomu Oil Palm Plc

63.00

60.38

4.34%

60,096,330,000.00

5.15

11.56

3.95

0.17%

3.34

1.37

1.36

0.74%

53,047,766,472.25

-0.03

-47.76

0.91

0.00%

0.62

34.30

32.67

4.99%

45,276,000,000.00

-2.89

-11.30

0.31

4.59%

0.61

1.25

1.25

0.00%

36,203,232,115.00

0.39

3.25

0.24

12.70%

0.20

16.58

16.58

0.00%

31,847,931,536.46

3.37

4.92

0.42

6.03%

0.42

29 Diamond Bank Plc

1.27

1.25

1.60%

29,413,693,989.36

-0.29

-4.36

0.14

0.00%

0.13

30 Sterling Bank Plc

1.02

1.01

0.99%

29,366,226,488.52

0.18

5.69

0.26

8.82%

0.34

35.44

35.44

0.00%

24,808,000,000.00

2.29

15.47

3.64

3.24%

10.86

32 FCMB Group Plc

1.24

1.23

0.81%

24,555,361,368.44

0.72

1.73

0.14

8.00%

0.14

33 National Salt Co. Nig. Plc

9.03

9.03

0.00%

23,924,428,553.34

0.91

10.42

1.38

5.79%

3.13

34 Glaxo Smithkline Consumer Nig. Plc

20.00

20.00

0.00%

23,917,529,760.00

3.51

5.69

1.66

1.50%

1.40

35 Cadbury Nigeria Plc

12.00

12.56

-4.46%

22,538,424,480.00

-0.16

-79.59

0.79

10.35%

2.13

36 Mansard Insurance Plc

2.12

2.23

-4.93%

22,260,000,000.00

0.25

8.89

1.13

2.24%

1.16

37 Wema Bank Plc

0.55

0.55

0.00%

21,215,956,344.55

0.07

8.19

0.39

0.00%

0.44

21.00

20.65

1.69%

21,000,000,000.00

5.69

3.78

1.50

0.47%

0.58

39 Custodian And Allied Insurance Plc

3.40

3.57

-4.76%

19,998,338,263.00

0.91

3.94

0.54

3.92%

0.70

40 Honeywell Flour Mill Plc

1.96

1.81

8.29%

15,543,187,409.68

-0.40

-4.50

0.30

8.79%

0.43

41 Continental Reinsurance Plc

1.26

1.32

-4.55%

13,069,657,833.12

0.42

3.29

0.65

8.70%

0.77

42 Cement Co. Of North.Nig. Plc

9.70

9.70

0.00%

12,189,774,330.20

0.22

44.31

1.10

1.03%

1.13

43 Unity Bank Plc

0.76

0.76

0.00%

8,883,896,835.92

0.19

3.91

0.10

0.00%

0.10

44 Skye Bank Plc

0.60

0.58

3.45%

8,328,180,846.00

-2.93

-0.21

0.05

49.18%

0.08

45 Wapic Insurance Plc

0.50

0.50

0.00%

6,691,369,126.00

0.18

2.78

0.85

6.00%

0.41

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

3.00

2.90

3.45%

5,156,249,985.00

-0.90

-3.22

0.79

24.14%

0.15

48 Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Plc

2.85

2.98

-4.36%

4,629,023,437.50

0.36

8.36

0.61

6.69%

0.75

49 Fidson Healthcare Plc

3.00

3.00

0.00%

4,500,000,000.00

0.21

14.06

0.58

1.68%

0.68

50 AIICO Insurance Plc

0.57

0.58

-1.72%

3,950,216,553.60

1.48

0.41

0.16

8.20%

0.49

04 Nestle Nigeria Plc 05 Zenith Bank Plc

08 Access Bank Plc 09 Seplat Petroleum Dev. Co. Ltd

14 Unilever Nigeria 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

31 Cap Plc

38 PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc

TOTAL

10,960,672,049,180.80

TOTAL MARKET CAP

11,523,950,799,170.80

% OF MARKET CAP Annotation - MA* = Simple Moving Average

95.11%

Close 18-Jul-17

Open 17-Jul-17

Honeywell Flour Mill Plc Julius Berger Nig. Plc Unilever Nigeria Plc Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc Okomu Oil Palm Plc

1.81 32.67 36.38 8.66 60.38

Change %

Close Change 18-Jul-17 % 1.96 34.30 38.19 9.04 63.00

8.29% 4.99% 4.98% 4.39% 4.34%

Table 4 Top 5 Losers Stock

Open Close Change 17-Jul-17 18-Jul-17 %

Mansard Insurance Plc Custodian And Allied Insurance Plc Continental Reinsurance Plc Cadbury Nigeria Plc Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Plc

2.23 3.57

2.12 -4.93% 3.40 -4.76%

1.32 12.56 2.98

1.26 -4.55% 12.00 -4.46% 2.85 -4.36%

Market activities yield 0.41% appreciation Market pulse on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) today – Tuesday, July 18th, 2017 again ended on a positive note as the stock market closed green. This was further highlighted by positive performance from the NSE Subsectors: Consumer Goods (Save Banking, Insurance and Oil & Gas). Also, trading activities increased in volume as 21.61 billion shares worth of N2.40 billion in 3,715 deals exchanged hands today. This is an increase from 322.81m shares worth of N2.73 billion in 3,830 deals which exchanged hands on Monday. Topping in volume terms are: Continental Reinsurance Plc, FBN Holdings Plc and Oando Plc; Nestle Nig. Plc and Continental Reinsurance Plc ended trading as the most active stocks in value terms. Brent crude oil price increased to US$48.86 per barrel while its closing remains $48.42 per barrel the previous day.

The All Share Index (NSEASI) closed positive with 0.41% (+135.18) increase to close at 33,436.61 from 33,301.43 the previous trading day. Market capitalization appreciated in tandem to N11.52 trillion from N11.48 trillion of prior trading day. Similarly, the Thisday BGL 50 Index closes with an increase of 0.37% to 140.77 from 140.25 recorded at the end of the previous trading day, while its market capitalization stood at N10.96 trillion from N10.92 trillion of the previous trading day.

Market breath closed positive today as 25 stocks gained on the bourse while 19 stocks also declined leaving 57 stocks unchanged. Leading the pack was Honeywell Flour Mill Plc with a gain of 8.29% to close at N1.96 per share. It was followed by Union Bank of Nig. Plc with a gain of 5.00% to close at N5.67 per share. Others on the gainers’ list include: Julius Berger Nig. Plc, Unilever Nigeria Plc and Beta Glass Plc. On the decliners’ list, May & Baker Nig. Plc led with a loss of 5.02% to close at N2.65 share.

It was followed by Mansard Insurance Plc 4.93% to close at N2.12 per share. Others on the decliners list include: Custodian and Allied Insurance Plc, Continental Reinsurance Plc and Cadbury Nigeria Plc. Topping the Thisday BGL 50 Index gainers’ list Honeywell Flour Mill Plc as it emerged as the day’s toast of investors with a gain of 8.29% to close at N1.96 per share.

It was followed by Julius Berger Nig. Plc with a gain of 4.99% to close at N34.30 per share. Others on the gainers list include: Unilever Nigeria Plc, Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc and Okomu Oil Palm Plc; while on the decliners’ list, Mansard Insurance Plc again lead with a loss of 4.93% to close at N2.12 share. It was followed by Custodian And Allied Insurance Plc with a loss of 4.76% to close at N3.40 per share. Others on the decliners list include: Continental Reinsurance Plc, Cadbury Nigeria Plc and Nigerian Aviation Handling Company 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 Ëž Ëœ ÍŻÍˇËœ Í°ÍŽÍŻÍľ

40

MARKET NEWS

UBA Cancels Staff Investment Trust Scheme Shares Goddy Egene and Nosa Alekhuogie United Bank for Africa Plc yesterday crossed 2,080,104,955 units of its ordinary shares from the Staff Share Investment Trust Scheme (SSIT) to the Group, at a price of N9.47 per share on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange

(NSE).

This transaction implements the Special Resolution of UBA’s shareholders, passed at the annual general meeting (AGM) held last year, 2016, to cancel shares held under the SSIT. According to the bank, upon cancellation of the SSIT the outstanding shares of UBA will be reduced from 36,279,526,321

T H E

units to 34,199,421,366 units.

UBA explained that implementation will increase the annualised 2017 first quarter earnings per share (EPS) of the Group by 6.1 per cent , from N2.46 to N2.61, translating to a Price to Earnings Ratio of 3.4x. “This process is value accretive to shareholders, as the

N I G E R I A N

enterprise value of the Group remains unchanged.

The unit holding of all shareholders remains the same, whilst their respective percentage holding in UBA Plc will increase. For example, shareholder who owns 362.8 million units, which translates to one per cent of the bank’s equity before the cancellation

STO C K

of SSIT, will still own same number of units after the cancellation of SSIT, but the implied percentage holding will increase to 1.06 per cent of the bank’s equity, as the cancellation of SSIT shares reduces the outstanding shares and increases the percentage holding of all other shareholders on a pro rata basis,� the

E XC H A N G E

bank said.

The bank added that the cancellation of SSIT shares has no impact on its liquidity and capital adequacy ratio, noting that its continues to maintain strong liquidity and capital adequacy ratios, which stood at 41 per cent and 19.4 per cent respectively, as at March 31, 2017.

41

˾ WEDNESDAY, JULY 19, 2017

MARKET NEWS

DAAR Communications Records N2.14bn Operating Loss Ndubuisi Francis in Abuja Pioneer publicly-quoted broadcast group, DAAR Communications Plc has declared an operating loss of N2.139 billion in 2016, up from N1.515 billion loss in 2015.

Chairman of DAAR Group, Chief Raymond Dokpesi (Jnr.) told shareholders in Abuja at a combined 2015/2016 annual general meeting (AGM) that the economic recession in the country pushed the company’s operating loss from N1.515 billion in 2015

to N 2.139 billion in 2016.

“The adverse business environment together with the biting economic recession caused the 2016 turnover of the company to plummet to an all time low of N 3.733 billion representing 47 per cent decline over 2015 earnings. The loss after taxation in 2016 was N2.139 while in 2015 loss after taxation was N1.515 billion. As encapsulated earlier, the losses were as a result of the astronomical increase in cost of operations occasioned by the economic recession and the

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

severe devaluation of the naira which could not be matched with corresponding growth in earnings as the advert budget in the industry declined in the ensuing period,” he said The DAAR Group chairman, however, assured shareholders that there was a hope of the company returning to profitability in the nearest future following a conscious business restructuring and operations digitalisation and expansion project already at its final implementation stage.

As part of the initiatives,

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 17-July-2017, unless otherwise stated.

he stated that DAAR Communications had successfully resolved all litigation matters in several courts emanating from the 2015 general elections, adding that in the process a lot of funds were saved in litigation fees as some were settled out of court or struck out for want of evidence.

Convinced that the company’s future holds great prospects, the shareholders, in an uncommon display of selflessness, unanimously voted to return the share bonus offer declared by the company as

compensation for its inability to declare a dividend due to the poor result back to the organisation.

According to the shareholders, the gesture was part of their contributions to DAAR’s quick recovery and return to profitability.

In his address, the Group Managing Director of DAAR Communications, Mr. Tony Akiotu said that in view of the harsh operating environment and low business, the group did not shirk its corporate social

responsibility (CSR), adding that it offered free aired services to some 135 patients seeking assistance on their medical conditions from different locations across the country.

“In the years under review, on AIT alone, we have aired medical fund appeals for 135 patients. This is apart from our other initiatives and projects in our various locations such as donations, rural road construction, free medical tests in conjunction with some Foundations and medical institutions.

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 160.49 160.49 160.49 Nigeria International Debt Fund 225.90 225.90 225.90 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 0.75 0.76 7.69% 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 18.88% 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 15.69 16.16 27.07% ARM Discovery Fund 341.62 351.92 18.96% ARM Ethical Fund 24.40 25.13 9.19% ARM Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 17.62% 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 132.71 133.64 26.17% AXA Mansard Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 19.10% 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 10.91 11.19 16.56% Women's Investment Fund 92.18 94.54 8.96% CORDROS ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmgtteam@cordros.com Web: www.cordros.com, Tel: 019036947 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Cordros Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 18.64% 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 1,095.87 1,096.96 8.28% FBN Heritage Fund 132.61 133.72 18.94% FBN Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 17.96% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Institutional $108.82 $109.58 5.73% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Retail $107.84 $108.60 5.51% FBN Nigeria Smart Beta Equity Fund 142.08 143.87 26.07% 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 1.23 1.25 31.91% Legacy Short Maturity (NGN) Fund 2.79 2.79 8.74% 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 14.27% 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 17.50% Vantage Balanced Fund 1.99 2.02 18.63% Vantage Guaranteed Income Fund 1.00 1.00 18.31%

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 1.08 1.10 9.01% Lotus Halal Fixed Income Fund 1,020.91 1,020.91 6.28% 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 12.86 12.93 32.88% 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 1.16 14.62% PACAM Fixed Income Fund 10.68 10.74 2.75% PACAM Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 14.98% 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 151.22 153.48 49.03% 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 1.33 1.33 6.52% 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 2,075.94 2,087.63 13.37% Stanbic IBTC Bond Fund 163.18 163.18 5.99% Stanbic IBTC Ethical Fund 0.92 0.93 20.13% Stanbic IBTC Guaranteed Investment Fund 203.24 203.24 8.75% Stanbic IBTC Iman Fund 156.47 158.60 20.56% Stanbic IBTC Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 18.58% Stanbic IBTC Nigerian Equity Fund 8,910.47 9,011.07 17.48% 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 1.27 1.28 13.49% United Capital Bond Fund 1.36 1.36 11.58% United Capital Equity Fund 0.80 0.81 18.60% United Capital Money Market Fund 1.13 1.13 3.54% 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 11.92 12.11 22.91% Zenith Ethical Fund 12.61 12.75 15.28% Zenith Income Fund 18.30 18.30 10.67%

REITS NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

11.41 128.54

1.01% 3.69%

Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

10.02 96.65

10.12 98.44

14.04% 27.53%

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

3.95 7.65 15.50 19.83 130.66

3.99 7.73 15.60 20.03 132.66

42.86% 8.77% 29.92% 24.17% 1.36%

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

42

T H I S D AY WEDNESDAY JULY 19, 2017

UTILIZATION OF FOREIGN EXCHANGE AS AT 14TH OF JULY 2017 S/N 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203

CUSTOMERS CBN CBN GARBA SHEHU OGIRIMA S SHAIBU GRACE F OKEOWO VICTOR A EBUTE STANLEY N OBIA IBRAHIM C UMAR RASHEED A AJIBOLA AKPAN EMMANUEL OKON FEMAG BUSINESS VENTURES SERVICES AND INVESTMENT TRUST LTD AKINTUNJI E FATUNKE TOYIN K AYEDUN GREG O IGBINOMWANHIA OKEDEJI A OKEYOYIN BUSARI OMODARA AMINAT ASOMBA GODSWILL UCHE MADUKWE CHINEDU AKANNI EMMANUEL OLUFEMI ADEOTI MOSES LAYIWOLA OMOKHODION BOSE ENIVIE MRS ASUQUO INYANG MAURICE ETOKAKPAN MONDAY JIMMY FAJUYITAN HELLEN OREDOLA FAJUYITAN OLUSOLA EMMANUEL HADIZA HAFIZ EMELE NELLY NWANNE FLORENCE MARCUS IDJOKO OLAIDE ABOSEDE OGUNLEYE MARTINS BABALOLA OYESOMI KEHINDE OPEYEMI LAWSON-WOKOMA VIVIAN IBIYE METTEDAN HUDA MALAMI AMINA BELLO GANIYAT ATIUKE ONWUZULU NGOZI FLORENCE ALANI AYINKE IYABO OGOLA EMMANUEL YOUNG OLAOGUN OLUJIMI ANTHONY IWERIEBOR SAMUEL AIGBEKAEN EDOSA KENNEDY BALOGUN OLAYINKA ADEBANJO AYODELE EMMANUEL NWAEBILI CHINWE CLARE SODIPO NKECHI CHINEZE ODERINU KUNLE OMOTAYO ODERINU OLABISI HAJARAT EKUBO TARI AUSTINE ALABI RHODA M ALABI RICHARD A CHUKWUNEKE CHINEDU EMMANUEL IKPEAZU AKUDO EZINNE AISHA UMAR BUBARAM EBHOM OMOIGIADE ELLIS ANTHONY CHUKWUNENYE OKORO ADEBANJO OLABO RACHAEL EBOH KINGSLEY O NWEKE CHUKWUEMEKA NICHOLAS LEWIS -ALLAGOA QUEEENETTE ODILI THERESA BAGWAI ASHIRU MUSA SAMBO MUHAMMMAD FAROUK IYA ABDULLAHI MUSA USMAN SALMANMURTALA MUSA SULEIMAN MAIMUNA AHMED DALHA JAMILU SULEIMAN SHAMSUDDEEN UBA UBAKA LUCYNA IHEONU EMMANUEL CHUKWUNWEIKE OGBORO IMONIKHE AHONSI CHIGOZIE JERRY IDJOKO ONOVUGHE FESTUS ADEOLA CLARA YEMI SANI SUNUSI AMODA MOROUHUNMUBO OYINLOLA AMODA OLUWATOBILOBA TORITSEJU USORO LOUISA INIOBONG ARIGBABUWO VICTORIA O ADEGBITE ABENI ADERONKE GIWA-OSAGIE OSATOHAMWEN O ALFAIRED ZINA AKINSOLA FOLUKE ESTHER FAGBEMIGUN OLAKUNLE SOLANKE OLAGBALEKAN AYOOLA OLUWO YILKA SHWARJI AJAYI ADEDAYO OMOLOLU EZIKE EMEKA JOHN JOHNSON NENGI JULIET ITANG AKAMANWAM EFFIONG CHINDAH NGOZI JULIA DOM-NWACHUKWU IJEOMA HOSSANA AKPOYOWARE MARGARET OGHENEORUNA OFORDILE ALEXANDER NNAEMEKA EDEM ISUAMFON FRIDAY AYANTAYO DAUDA AYANDARE GLENZ METALS LTD UNILEVER NIG PLC AHA AGROVET LTD AMTRONIC LTD AMTRONIC LTD AMTRONIC LTD AMTRONIC LTD UBA PLC UBA PLC UBA PLC UBA PLC UBA PLC UBA PLC UBA PLC UBA PLC ZENITH BANK FLOUR MILLS NIG PLC UNILEVER NIG PLC HAANO ENTERPRISES DEEKAY AND SONS DEEKAY AND SONS DEEKAY AND SONS DEEKAY AND SONS NEXUS FORLIFE LTD NEXUS FORLIFE LTD NEXUS FORLIFE LTD NEXUS FORLIFE LTD NEXUS FORLIFE LTD TOTAL NIG PLC CBN CBN EDOBOR EBENEZER FRIDAY OLAYEMI AFOLABI OLUFISAYO EKIUGBO ALEX MARI FLORA CHRISTIE ENANG WISDOM PATRICK ANAEDO UCHECHUKWU ANTHONY OKOYE EUPHEMIA ASUQUO CHUKWUMA CHARLES O SHODEINDE GANIYAT OLAWUNMI UBAH-MGBOJIKWE CHINELO ABASILIM BENEDICT IFEDIORAH ABEL DANIEL OCHIGBO BASHIR ASABE VILITA OKUAGU FELLY REME ABBA MAIWADA BELLO N MOHAMMED MUSA HAWWA KULU ANTHONY AJUZIEOGU NLEWADIM CHARLES OBIOHA OGBONNAYA BILKISU H SULAIMAN WANIKO CHARITY MFON OKPARA CHINYERE CECILIA NWACHUKWU THERESA ONUABUCHI AKPALA THERESA HASSAN MORUFAT ABIOLA IGBALAJOBI DAVID OKEKE IFEANYICHUKWU DENNIS NWOSISI ANDREW OKAFOR OLATUBOSUN OLAWUNMI BOSEDE BOLARINWA BENJAMIN ATILADE AHMED ZUBAIR INUWA KANI SANI MUHAMMAD OGIDI OHUONU OGIDI ESSIEN SIFON DEBORAH OMEKEH VICTORIA EMETEBURE FELICIA ADENIKE OSIMEH ODEYEMI IMOLEFUNKE M GADO LOVETH NMABUGO SAID ADEWALE LAWAL OMOLAYO OLAWALE OLAJUMOKE NJOKU ADINDU LEMUEL SHITTU MUIDEEN ADEMOLA LATIFAT A AGORO AWOFISAYO PATIENCE MOSUNMOLA ILAWOLE OLUWATOSIN ISAIAH SAM OYOVBAIRE ELEGUSHI-ANIFALAJE ABIODUN SHERIFAT NJOKU ANTHONY PAUL CHUKWUDI IBE KENECHUKWU AZUBUIKE MADU CHIDI DANIEL AKINWALE AKINBODE OLURINDE STEPHEN OLUFEMI OSIFESO ADETOLA AFOLABI BANJO SAMUEL O ADEMOLA-ADEOYE FEYISAYO FEHINTOLA IKWUNZE PATIENCE CHINYERE UDE BENJAMIN CHUKWUDI ODO PETER EGWUONWU LYNDA OLUREMI ODUNMBAKU ABIODUN-FOWOWE TEMITOPE MARY OLALEKAN O BAKARE RACHEAL AYELESO DANGWARAM REUBEN BELLUM UMAR ABUBAKAR CHIKA CHRISTOPHER ORANU ONYEFORO ROSE ONYENACHI MANUEL AWERI OFOGBA KAREVU ONU CHIKA CHRISTIAN OKAFOR GABRIEL OFODILE JACOB ABIGAIL LANGS ABAFI ALEXANDER GAMBO MAWO OYEDUM GEORGINA UCHE MADUEKE OSAKWE MARTIN EZEOKE KENNETH CHIKWADO ONWUNZO BETHRAND EZIUZO

www.ubagroup.com

AMOUNT (US$) 182,679.38 243,320.13 7,900.00 2,500.00 3,203.30 15,000.00 900.00 29,300.00 3,950.00 1,560.00 1,258.84 6,844.11 390.00 3,900.00 4,693.00 390.00 2,600.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 1,790.00 3,500.00 1,200.00 2,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 3,100.00 1,500.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 1,120.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 3,420.00 4,000.00 3,000.00 4,000.00 3,600.00 4,000.00 1,500.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 2,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 5,000.00 5,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 5,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 3,900.00 4,000.00 2,400.00 2,200.00 1,487.72 3,959.97 497.86 3,900.00 1,040.00 3,900.00 1,950.00 3,900.00 3,900.00 1,950.00 4,940.00 1,105.00 3,280.00 176,580.00 22,466.40 109,000.00 41,178.61 17,549.88 11,138.13 20,133.38 11,513.89 92,689.18 25,169.96 61,052.05 93,767.40 41,409.13 43,999.85 32,105.81 1,849,965.00 1,159,997.10 55,500.00 65,040.00 127,389.60 172,810.00 106,967.50 23,401.84 132,241.41 26,729.21 157,830.56 33,979.81 53,610.07 5,000,000.00 194,378.31 258,365.23 4,000.00 2,500.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 5,000.00 4,000.00 3,800.00 1,800.00 4,000.00 5,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 300.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 2,777.00 4,000.00 5,000.00 2,200.00 4,000.00 5,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 5,000.00 2,000.00 600.00 1,500.00 1,500.00 2,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 2,500.00 4,000.00 1,500.00 4,000.00 1,600.00 4,000.00 1,500.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 950.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 650.00 2,000.00 4,000.00 2,500.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 550.00 1,000.00 4,000.00 5,000.00 4,000.00 1,120.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 1,200.00 4,000.00 1,100.00 4,000.00 2,200.00 3,500.00 5,000.00 5,000.00

PURPOSE IMTO TRANSFERRED TO CBN IMTO TRANSFERRED TO CBN SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES LIVING EXPENSES MEDICAL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES LIVING EXPENSES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES LIVING EXPENSES SCHOOL FEES PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA BTA BTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA BTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA BTA PTA PTA PLAIN ALUMINUM COIL ALLOY S.D LIME POWDER VETERINARY MEDICINES STAINLESS STEEL 2 BURNER TOP PANEL MASKING TAPE MASKING TAPE GLASS TOP 2 BURNER TOP PANEL INTEREST PAYMENT INTEREST PAYMENT INTEREST PAYMENT INTEREST PAYMENT INTEREST PAYMENT INTEREST PAYMENT INTEREST PAYMENT INTEREST PAYMENT INTERBANK BETTER CANAIAN WESTERN RED SPRING WHEAT POLYETHYLENE GLYCOL 1500 HAANO BRAND SAFETY MATCHES SECURITY DOOR BRAND : NEXUS PULP BOARD SECURITY DOOR BRAND : NEXUS WASHING MACHINE BOTH WASH AND DRY UNCOATED PLAIN PAPER IN SHEETS, BRAND: NEXUS UNCOATED PLAIN PAPER IN SHEETS, BRAND: NEXUS UNCOATED PLAIN PAPER IN SHEETS, BRAND: NEXUS UNCOATED PLAIN PAPER IN SHEETS, BRAND: NEXUS UNCOATED PLAIN PAPER IN SHEETS, BRAND: NEXUS PMS IMTO TRANSFERRED TO CBN IMTO TRANSFERRED TO CBN PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA BTA PTA PTA BTA PTA BTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA BTA PTA PTA BTA PTA PTA PTA PTA BTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA BTA BTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA BTA BTA

RATE 357.00 357.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 368.15 315.00 325.50 306.00 306.00 306.00 306.00 337.50 337.50 337.50 337.50 337.50 337.50 337.50 337.50 310.25 325.50 315.00 315.25 315.25 315.25 315.25 315.25 315.25 315.25 315.25 315.25 315.25 306.30 357.00 357.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00

DATE 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 10-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17

S/N 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361 362 363 364 365 366 367 368 369 370 371 372 373 374 375 376 377 378 379 380 381 382 383 384 385 386 387 388 389 390 391 392 393 394 395 396 397 398 399 400 401 402 403 404 405 406

CUSTOMERS EZEOFOR CHUKWUEMEKA STEPHEN EMELE SUSSAN NKECHINYERE IYAYI GRACE AIMENYA OGBULAFOR NKECHI MAUREEN NWAIZUGBU HAPPINESS OZIOMA ONYEABOR NWANI AJAKAIYE BAYO HENRY BUSARI BASIT BABATUNDE MURITALA ADENIYI TAOHEED ABDULLAHI RABIU MOHAMMED OLATUNDUN ORIOLA OMOSAIYE AKINTUNDE BOLAJI TIMOTHY TUNRAYO DAVID YAHWEH IFENDU MANG UBA SAADU ABBA EKEZIE RAPHAEL OKWUCHUKWU ANAGWU CHIGOZIE VICTOR ANAGWU BLESSING CHINENYE OSUMAH VICTOR UWAIFO UGBAJE ADEJO SAMUEL MOHAMMED MOJIRAYO IDIAT CHUKWU OKEY WILLIAM ONYEKACHI EBERECHI INNOCENT JOSIAH PROMISE NWANYIEZE ENEH UCHENNA CHIMEZIE OKEKE PAUL IKECHUKWU ORAKWUE NKIRUKA GERTRUDE OHAKAWA LILIAN NKECHI IGBINOVIA STEPHEN OYESIJI ABDLRASAKI OSIBOGUN ADENIYI OLUGBOYEGA FADAHUNSI OLUBUNMI ODOZI FELICIA NKOYELUM ERINOLUWA IKEOLUWAPO OMOLARA OYIOHA IFEANYI HYGINUS OYEKUNLE OYETUNDE AMEH SOTER SUNDAY WIN TEC AND CO LTD OSINOWO BABATUNDE OLAKUNLE BAKARE PIUS AKINYEMI OMOLOLA JEMIBEWON TEMIDAYO ANIOKE JONATHAN NDUBUISI ALI SANI CHIDI-ONUORAH LILIAN CHIOMA OGBO ANN IFECHUKWUDEBELU OGBO ADAOBI ANASTASIA DAKOLO PREYE ABOAJA UGOCHUKWU AGALA TONTE OYELUYI ADEBIMPE OKELUE TINA KWENGAI OLAIDE AREMU MUHAMMED MELVILLE EBO TOLUWALASE OLABIMPE ORUH GODWIN OKORIE GAIDAN AMADU ABDULLAHI DANIEL JOSHUA DOMINION ISOKRARI RICHARD SELEPIRI ANUNYUO KINGSLEY EJIKE ADEYEMI ADETAYO OLUWATOSIN AKINSATIMI, SOLA MARGARET ADEYEMI ADETAYO OLUWATOSIN AKINSATIMI, SOLA MARGARET ALABI SHUKURAH OLUWATOYIN LAWMANN NIGERIA LIMITED ABEL FADEBI MOJSH INVESTMENT LTD IFEOMA F OKAFOR SIR ENGR I OKEY OLUROPO OKEYA ADESEGUN A ADEJOKUN OGUNBIYI MODUPE ADEOLA ADEYEMI, SAMUEL OLADELE AZUBROS COMMERCIAL ENT. LTD DEJI OLAMIDE FASILAT OGIRIMA S SHAIBU ADEWUYI ENIOLA SIMON OSIM EKO EFFIOM MONDAY F USEH NGOZI G SCOTT LANRE S SONUBI SOLPIA NIGERIA LTD MTN MTN MTN TOTAL NIG PLC CBN CBN MAJEKODUNMI NOJEEM ABAYOMI TAUHIDA ALIYU GALANDACI EZEALA CHIDOZIE ALVIN ALAO ATUNDE SAKA ODUNAIKE ADEOLA FLORENCE PEDRO RICHARD KAMALDEEN OTITEH AKUDINOBI CORNELIUS PRINCE ALEX OTUENE IMARAH DE SOUZA BAMIDELE ENITAN OKWUOSA TITUS CHIDERA AARON OLELEKAN AKINLOYE ENI FUNKE OMOWUNMI HASSAN MOTUNRYO FADHILAT ONUNTUEI ENO JOHN IKWUETOGHU OBIAGELI NGOZI IKWUETOGHU AGHADI JAMES OYEKA OKWUDILI DIKE DOMINIC ASHAYE-YISAU BARAKAT GARUBA ANIRU MADUBUIKE FIDELIA IFEYINWA EZEANOCHIE CHUDI MICHAEL AGHAHOWA EGEYERE ETHELDREDA ALIU MOSES IYUKE SUNNY ESAYEGBEMU IRIOGBE FELICIA AITUAJEME ADEGBOYE ABIMBOLA OPEYEMI YUSUF BELLO AHMAD BELLO MUNTARI FATIMA ABDULLAHI BINTA TUKUR GWARZO UMAR NURA INUWA BUKOLA AYENU-AMU ANYANOR ELIZABETH N CHUKWURAH EJIKE FELIX ITORO USORO NNANA MAMUD ADAMU FATIMA EBOHON OMOIBO KARYN AIYEWUMI STEVEN ADEWUMI OROGUN EFERI FELIX OLADIJI OLUSOLA WUNMI MOSESTHER PETROLEUM CO. LTD OMIRIN FESTUS OLAWANDE DUROWOJU SIMBIAT ADEKEMI OJU SOTONYE TONYE OKAKA OGHENETEJIRI WILSON OTORI OMUYA SHUAIBU ADENIRAN M MORENIKE MANNUBIYA SHARIFF DANASABE TANKO MUJITAFAH KABIR OYOLOLA AKINTOLA ENIADE OGINNI OLAIDE ADEYEMI YUSUF KAZEEM BAMIDELE OLAREWAJU REBECCA RONKE MORAH OBIAJULU GIDEON ADEGBOYE OLUSEGUN ATIONU HENRY UKO OMOKUNMI ADEKOLA PETER ADEDINSEWO ETHEL OMOWONUOLA OKONKWO MONICA NGOZI EZEH ONYEBUCHI PROSPER AKINPELU OLUNIYI ABRAHAM SEGUN-OMOSEHIN MODUPE C DAVID RUTH AKINDURO MADUME ANELECHI KENNETH ULLO KASUWA OJIAKOR MICHAEL CHIDI OLALI SEIGHA UMEASIEGBU NNANYELUGO REMS OYELUYI ADEKUNLE IBANGA EYIBIO JOSHUA AKINBOBOLA OLUFUNKE OLAPEJU EHIEMOBI ADAORA OZIOMA JAHUN MUSTAPHA FALALU ONUORA NNEKA EBELE EKPE LORRETTA NKECHI MICAH-EKPE ARINZECHUKWU M# MICAH-EKPE IJEOMA PALMA EZURUONYE INNOCENT CHINONSO AROGUNDADE OYELAKIN BOLA OBOREVWORI JOSHUA ONORIODE ONUORA NNEKA EBELE UMUKORO PATIENCE BUNMI EKEH UDOCHI PRINCESS CATHERINE AMUCHE OZOUDE OLOWE RUFUS AYODEJI ONYEMIZE IFUNANYA FRANCISCA ELELUWOR EJIRO FIDELIS BATURE SIMON GREG JERRY ANSON OTU OZIGBU NGOZI MARY ADIOLE THERESA NWEKE UYAMADU SOWADE OLAJIDE FANIMOWO TAIWO OLUFUNTO ETAGA PAUL AGWAE JACOB ALERECHI ROSELINE IHUOMA C KAMALU IKENNA AKINDE MOBOLADE OLASUNKANMI EGBUTA OLIVE UGADIYA ERIMMA G ORIE FAMILY PRAYER FELLOWSHIP NJOKU LINUS CHINENYE BELL GAM TONYE JUHEL NIG LTD ABIMBOLA O ADEBAKIN ESTHER A KENGAB MTN CARAWAY VENTURES INT. NIG LTD TOTAL NIG PLC CBN CBN TIMOTHY A AKINNAGBE CHIKODILI SPENCER OBIANO

AMOUNT (US$) 4,000.00 4,000.00 1,600.00 4,000.00 2,050.00 3,000.00 4,000.00 450.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 3,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 5,000.00 4,000.00 5,000.00 5,000.00 5,000.00 4,000.00 850.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 2,500.00 5,000.00 3,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 1,100.00 4,000.00 2,350.00 2,000.00 1,500.00 5,000.00 800.00 4,000.00 2,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 800.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 3,700.00 3,000.00 1,500.00 3,000.00 430.00 5,000.00 5,000.00 1,450.00 5,000.00 4,000.00 2,000.00 990.00 256.80 2,991.72 2,645.60 7,821.00 4,734.67 6,461.51 6,946.13 1,080.66 1,286.17 3,300.00 6,650.00 1,388.00 2,030.00 1,840.50 5,000.00 14,300.00 14,300.00 7,150.00 9,841.00 174.53 500,000.00 178,052.34 59,850.00 400,000.00 5,052,800.00 243,051.51 326,670.19 5,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 800.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 700.00 1,400.00 3,750.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 2,500.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 2,000.00 300.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 500.00 1,500.00 500.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 3,500.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 300.00 3,000.00 4,000.00 5,000.00 2,800.00 4,000.00 5,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 2,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 555.00 1,200.00 1,500.00 5,000.00 3,850.00 4,000.00 100.00 5,000.00 4,000.00 5,000.00 3,000.00 5,000.00 572.25 3,706.58 1,926.00 770.52 5,000.00 3,000.00 3,866.40 3,866.40 3,872.08 1,290.69 962.00 3,907.58 651.65 3,999.84 3,999.84 3,999.84 3,999.84 1,954.96 2,606.64 2,219.07 3,915.90 261.06 3,915.92 3,915.91 2,610.61 3,915.92 3,267.50 1,667.73 3,986.35 3,285.76 4,000.00 3,951.92 2,504.57 1,977.29 3,954.58 1,451.33 1,121.48 1,428.63 3,988.99 10,173.56 920.00 5,000.00 2,000.00 12,074.03 13,053.00 3,263.25 825,000.00 223,586.87 1,562,250.00 154,570.86 195,814.07 4,000.00 3,800.00

PURPOSE PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA BTA PTA BTA BTA BTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA BTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA BTA PTA BTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA BTA BTA PTA BTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES DIVIDEND PAYMENT IFO DAVID PYUNG TELECOMMUNICATION EQUIPMENT TELECOMMUNICATION EQUIPMENT TELECOMMUNICATION EQUIPMENT PMS IMTO TRANSFERRED TO CBN IMTO TRANSFERRED TO CBN BTA PTA PTA BTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA BTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA BTA PTA PTA BTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA BTA PTA PTA PTA BTA PTA BTA PTA BTA PTA PTA PTA PTA BTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES TELECOMMUNICATION EQUIPMENT ALUMINIUM WINDOWS PMS IMTO TRANSFERRED TO CBN IMTO TRANSFERRED TO CBN PTA PTA

RATE 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 369.00 365.00 364.50 365.00 306.30 357.00 357.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 366.00 369.00 306.25 357.00 357.00 360.00 360.00

DATE 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 11-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 12-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17

S/N 407 408 409 410 411 412 413 414 415 416 417 418 419 420 421 422 423 424 425 426 427 428 429 430 431 432 433 434 435 436 437 438 439 440 441 442 443 444 445 446 447 448 449 450 451 452 453 454 455 456 457 458 459 460 461 462 463 464 465 466 467 468 469 470 471 472 473 474 475 476 477 478 479 480 481 482 483 484 485 486 487 488 489 490 491 492 493 494 495 496 497 498 499 500 501 502 503 504 505 506 507 508 509 510 511 512 513 514 515 516 517 518 519 520 521 522 523 524 525 526 527 528 529 530 531 532 533 534 535 536 537 538 539 540 541 542 543 544 545 546 547 548 549 550 551 552 553 554 555 556 557 558 559

CUSTOMERS ALABI SHUKURAH OLUWATOYIN ORJI JOY IJEOMA ESEYIN IBIYEMI UKAEGBU JULIET IJEOMA SANI MUHAMMAD ADAM ANAS SHUAIBU ADEGBOLA JAMES YAHAYA ISYAKA MOHAMMAD LAWAN SALISU AMINA UKPONMWAN OMOREGIE OSA NNAMA ADAEZE HELEN SALAWU SIDDIQ ADE IDOWU AKINOLA JOHNSON OMOLADE AIGBERAODION GAVIN WILLIAMS HENRIETTA M OKOCHA C JULIUS OKOCHA BOSE AGHOGHO AKPOREHE ROLI EMILY ADEWOLE ADEKANMI ADEOLA FURO HOPE TAMUNONENGIOFORI FURO MIEIBIBAM ELLIS AJABOR OCHADE SHABA YUSUF DAKARE OLAMITUNJI OSIMEN ISMAILA IBIRONKE OLUBUNMI OPEYEMI ADEDEJI AFUSAT OMONIKE OGUNNAIKE ESTHER KIKELOMO FOLORUNSHO OMOBONIKE R ANENE JACINTA NNEKA MRS ASUQUO INYANG MAURICE OCHULOR KENNETH CHUKWUDI MERCY E. OKOKO SADIQ MORENIKEJI OLUWATOYIN OKORONKWO CHUKWU GABRIEL TOGONU-BICKSTETH OLAWUMI UDEAGBALA CHINONSO NNAMDI AKINBOLA SAMUEL AYOBAMI UGWUEGEDE NEWTON I TUNJI -OLAYENI PATIENCE F NKECHIKA NDID ERNEST AGUELE AKOMU WBEHITA ORJI VICTORIA OLUTOBI OLUWAFERANMI MOSADOLUWA I LUCKY UMUKORO NNAMA ADAEZE HELEN INYANG ITA NSE ALIGASIM MODUPE OGBEN COMFORT CHINYERE ERESE UWUIGBE EGBEBALO OLEGHE RASHIDAT ABIODUN ABIODUN OLANIKE TITILAYO ALABI SHUKURAH OLUWATOYIN PORBENI FORTUNE ADEDAPO O ODUGBESAN FEYISAYO C OGOJI JOHN EMEGA MUHD S ZAURA LAWAL ILIYASU KEL-PROSIK AND SONS NIG. LTD OLUWOLE LANIYAN RAYMOND K AHUMIBE SAMUEL AHMADU SHUAIBU RAMATU ABDULLAHI GEORGE A SODJE MERJIKS INTER BUZ ARTHUR C KALAGBOR DIAMOND BANK UNIQUE PHARMACEUTICALS Ltd. UNIQUE PHARMACEUTICALS Ltd. UNIQUE PHARMACEUTICALS Ltd. UNIQUE PHARMACEUTICALS Ltd. MTN DHL INTERNATIONAL NIG LTD SOUTHWOOD RESOURCES & SERV. TOTAL NIG PLC CBN CBN NKECHI J ARIZOR NKECHI J ARIZOR NKECHI J ARIZOR NKECHI J ARIZOR NKECHI J ARIZOR OLUKOLA OSUNBUNMI & COMPANY ALI AHMAD AYANSOLA LASISI ALARAPE BABALOLA CHRISTIANA BUKOLA OMOTOSHO YUSUF OLOLADE ODULUKWE ALOYSIUS NWABA ADEWOLE ADEKOLARIN WONUOLA OJUKO DOYINSOLA OMOWUNMI GIDADO MUHAMMADU ASMA'U INKO-TARIAH EBITENYE DEBORAH OTIOTIO HELENA DIREFURO MUTU AGONOEM FIDELIA UDEH RICHARD ANAYO ENEH IFEANYI BASIL OGUNMOSUNLE OLAWUNMI ABOSEDE OLULOTO DAYO LOTO OLUMO-SAIDU MARIAM ADEJOKE AKABUSI ANTHONIA CHINYERE FOLORUNSHO RACHAEL FUNMI ABE OLUFUNKE TEMITOPE LABISI LATEF LALEKAN NWUDU NDUBUISI INNOCENT UWANDULU UMEADI MARY MAHMUD SANI ABACHA INEGBENOGHU CHRISTOPHER EHZOJIE TIZHE SAMSON APOLLOS TIZHE SAMSON TSAMARTI UMAR IBRAHIM CHATTA USMAN RAKIYA YUGUDA OGIE PATIENCE ZUWERETU UGWU NNENNA ANTHONIA AGBETUYI ABIODUN OLUWASEYI ESHO WILLIAMS ROTIMI OLUWALUSI EBENEZER OPEYEMI ISYAKU KABIRU YUSUF BABALLE ONAFOWOKAN WULAIMOT O OKOLIE CHIBUEZE ADEWUNMI OLUMUYIWA OLASENI MBABIE UZOMA CHUKWUDI ORDIA EHIBHOARE DORA OLUDE OLALEKAN OLUMIDE IMORU HELEN AJIKE ACHINULO ANTHONY IKECHUKWU OZEHOR BENSON YOUNG SONUGA IYABODE OLUBUKOLA ADENIJI AKIRINADE RAIMI NWABUNWANNE IFEANYI MOSES BAMIGBOYE KUNLE IBRAHIM ZAINAB OLAJUMOKE OMOTOSHO YUSUF OLOLADE DICKSON BENJAMIN MEREMIKWU ANNE NDIDI EHIGIE FELIX IGBINOMWANIHA ETALE MIEKOROMO LYNDON UKPONMWAN CATHERINE UFUMWEN LATEEF AYOTUNDE ABIODUN OSIYEMI KUTI ROTIMI AJIMATI AJOKE CHIEJINA LEO CHIEDU OLUJOBI TITUS FUNMINIYI KURFI AMINU MARYAM BELLO NANRE FAVOUR ADEWUNMI OLUMUYIWA OLASENI BAMIGBOYE KUNLE OSUNFISAN OLUYOMI OSUNFISAN DUROGBOLA OLAM NIGERIA LIMITED OLAM NIGERIA LIMITED OLAM NIGERIA LIMITED OLAM NIGERIA LIMITED

AMOUNT (US$) 500.00 4,000.00 5,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 2,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 1,250.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 1,100.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 2,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 1,750.00 500.00 5,000.00 2,090.00 4,000.00 1,200.00 1,300.00 1,950.00 3,909.00 1,500.00 3,909.91 3,910.00 3,988.71 3,999.13 690.86 782.10 2,645.60 2,673.61 3,609.62 12,202.07 976.17 3,510.00 2,432.00 3,368.72 11,839.50 15,000.00 8,000.00 700.00 2,750.00 4,808.88 3,151.38 326,220.00 164,725.00 8,483.50 18,384.00 33,407.50 116,885.30 300,000.00 56,391.50 1,258,700.00 145,673.04 232,261.51 3,251.24 9,753.72 4,064.05 812.81 4,064.05 4,203.00 15,000.00 4,562.25 4,000.00 4,000.00 5,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 5,000.00 4,000.00 5,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 2,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 5,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 2,100.00 1,400.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 5,000.00 1,200.00 1,250.00 2,000.00 1,000.00 1,600.00 300.00 4,000.00 2,000.00 450.00 4,000.00 2,000.00 2,300.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 1,000.00 1,600.00 4,000.00 2,500.00 4,000.00 1,163.00 3,910.50 3,995.22 1,443.08 2,754.96 2,886.15 2,000.00 4,000.00 26,723.20 295,335.12 124,679.68 53,262.00

PURPOSE PERSONAL PTA BTA PTA P.T.A PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA FAMILY REUNION PTA BTA PTA PERSONAL PERSONAL PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA BTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA pta PTA PTA PTA PTA PERSONAL PTA LIVING EXPENSES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES INTERBANK DATA PROCESSING STORAGE FOR PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRIES VARIOUS SPARES FOR PHARMACEUTICALS VARIOUS PHARMACEUTICAL PRODUCTS PART PRINCIPAL AND INTEREST INTERNATIONAL COURIER SERVICES HIGH SPEED CUTTER PERFECTA PMS IMTO TRANSFERRED TO CBN IMTO TRANSFERRED TO CBN SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES LIVING EXPENSES LIVING EXPENSES LIVING EXPENSES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES PTA PTA BTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA BTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA BTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA BTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA BTA PTA PTA BTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA BTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA BTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA BTA PTA PTA 180.5 MT FULL CREAM MILK POWDER 180.5 MT FULL CREAM MILK POWDER 180.5 MT FULL CREAM MILK POWDER 500 MT FAT FILLED MILK POWDER

RATE 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 365.50 365.00 365.00 365.00 365.00 365.00 365.00 365.00 306.30 357.00 357.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 365.00 365.00 368.93 368.93

DATE 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17

Africa’s global bank

43

WEDNESDAY, JULY 19, 2017 ˾ T H I S D AY

INTERNATIONAL

email:foreigndesk@thisdaylive.com

N Korea ‘Clearly’ Has Range to Hit US – General North Korea “clearly” has the range to hit parts of the United States with an intercontinental ballistic missile -- but not with much accuracy, a top US general said Tuesday.

Pyongyang on July 4 for the first time tested an ICBM that experts said could potentially reach parts of Alaska or Hawaii.

But General Paul Selva, who is vice chair of the Joint Chiefs of the Staff, testified he wasn’t confident North Korea has the capacity to strike the United States with any degree of accuracy.

“I do agree in principle with the assessment that the North Koreans are moving quickly

Turkey Court Orders UAE

Denies Hacking News Agency A Turkish court on Tuesday ordered that six human rights activists including Amnesty International’s Turkey director remain in custody for allegedly aiding a“terror”group, in a case the rights watchdog called a“travesty of justice.”

Idil Eser, head of Amnesty in Turkey, was detained on July 5 with seven activists and two foreign trainers during a digital security and information management workshop on an island south of Istanbul.

“Six were remanded in custody and four released on judicial control,” Amnesty’sTurkey researcher Andrew Gardner told AFP. Prosecutors accuse them of “committing a crime in the name of a terror organisation without being a member,” he said.

Their detention sparked international alarm and amplified fears of declining freedom of expression under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The ruling came a day after the activists, who have not yet been formally charged, gave statements to prosecutors at an Istanbul court for the first time since their detention.

Eight of the 10 initially detained are Turkish rights activists, including Ilknur Ustun of the Women’s Coalition andVeli Acu of the Human Rights Agenda Association. The other two are a German and a Swede who were leading the digital information workshop and they remain in pre-trial detention.

to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile capability,” Selva told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

“What the experts tell me is

that the North Koreans have yet to demonstrate the capacity to do the guidance and control that would be required,” he added, referring to the ability

of the North Koreans to steer a warhead toward a specific target.

When asked whether North Korea could now

reach the United States, he said: “On range, they clearly have the capability.”

US Sanctions Iran over Missiles, Despite Nukes Compliance The US slapped fresh sanctions on Iran Tuesday over its ballistic missile program, just hours after Washington admitted the Islamic Republic was complying with a landmark nuclear deal signed two years ago.

Iran’s parliament retaliated by voting for extra funding for the missile program, a move that speaker Ali Larijani said would show the Americans that Iran “will resist them with all its power.”

The heightened tensions came after President Donald Trump was forced to back off from a key campaign promise to withdraw from a 2015 nuclear accord with Tehran, which eased sanctions in return for limiting its ability to produce material for atomic

weapons.

Trump had described it as “the worst deal ever” and accused Iran of continuing to back terrorism in the Middle East. But on Monday the White House admitted that the Islamic Republic was sticking to the nukes agreement.

It noted, however, that while Iran might be meeting its requirements on paper, it was “unquestionably in default of the spirit” of the accord.

In announcing the new sanctions against 18 individuals and entities in Iran, the State Department said it “remains deeply concerned about Iran’s malign activities across the Middle East which undermine regional stability, security, and prosperity.”

It cited Iran’s support for Hezbollah, Hamas, the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Huthi rebels in Yemen fighting a US-backed coalition led by Saudi Arabia.

In addition to earmarking an additional $260 million for its ballistic missile program, Iran’s parliament also agreed Tuesday to allot a similar amount to the Revolutionary Guards’ foreign operations wing, the Quds Force, accused by Washington of fomenting unrest across the region.

The Pentagon has also repeatedly voiced concern over a string of high-profile incidents in waters off Iran involving Iranian vessels.

It has accused the Revolutionary Guards

of conducting risky maneuvers around US warships in the Gulf, some of which resulted in the Americans firing warning shots.

“These sanctions target procurement of advanced military hardware, such as fast attack boats and unmanned aerial vehicles, and send a strong signal that the United States cannot and will not tolerate Iran’s provocative and destabilizing behavior,” said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

Washington is also concerned about the fate of Xiyue Wang, a 37-yearold Chinese-American researcher at Princeton University who was recently sentenced to 10 years in Iranian prison.

SOURCES OF FOREIGN EXCHANGE AS AT 14TH OF JULY 2017 S/N 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52

SOURCE AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS CBN INVISIBLES CBN SME AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS IMTO IMTO IMTO IMTO AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS IMTO IMTO IMTO IMTO AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS INTERBANK

www.ubagroup.com

AMOUNT (US$) 137.00 235.00 7,000.00 1,750.00 1,500.00 3,680.08 2,000,000.00 3,000,000.00 72.68 1,000.00 593.40 179.73 2,000.00 3,441.43 320,985.41 2,585.31 240,987.20 1,090.00 131.97 2,530.00 80.00 291.49 250.00 2,043.27 348,387.09 619,354.84 800.00 2,440.48 3,080.00 4,847.07 870.00 600.00 9,000.00 350.00 10,000.00 336.49 28.08 200,000.00 480.00 3,702.57 340,784.40 2,879.83 256,291.25 330.00 4,281.97 3,350.00 1,500,000.00 255.64 400,000.00 5,000,000.00 59,850.00 77,966.40

RATE DATE 310.00 10-Jul-17 310.00 10-Jul-17 364.00 10-Jul-17 364.00 10-Jul-17 364.00 10-Jul-17 364.00 10-Jul-17 357.00 10-Jul-17 357.00 10-Jul-17 310.00 10-Jul-17 310.00 10-Jul-17 310.00 10-Jul-17 310.00 10-Jul-17 310.00 10-Jul-17 354.67 10-Jul-17 355.00 10-Jul-17 355.00 10-Jul-17 355.00 10-Jul-17 364.00 10-Jul-17 310.00 10-Jul-17 310.00 10-Jul-17 310.00 10-Jul-17 310.00 10-Jul-17 310.00 10-Jul-17 310.00 10-Jul-17 310.00 10-Jul-17 310.00 10-Jul-17 310.00 10-Jul-17 310.00 10-Jul-17 310.00 11-Jul-17 310.00 11-Jul-17 310.00 11-Jul-17 310.00 11-Jul-17 310.00 11-Jul-17 310.00 11-Jul-17 310.00 11-Jul-17 310.00 11-Jul-17 310.00 11-Jul-17 314.00 11-Jul-17 310.00 11-Jul-17 354.66 11-Jul-17 355.00 11-Jul-17 355.00 11-Jul-17 355.00 11-Jul-17 310.00 11-Jul-17 396.24 11-Jul-17 364.00 11-Jul-17 337.00 11-Jul-17 396.24 11-Jul-17 364.00 11-Jul-17 306.00 11-Jul-17 363.50 11-Jul-17 314.75 11-Jul-17

S/N 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104

SOURCE INTERBANK INTERBANK AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS IMTO IMTO IMTO IMTO AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS IMTO IMTO IMTO IMTO AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS

AMOUNT (US$) 900,000.00 50,000.00 1,849,965.00 1,731.73 1,700.00 1,981.00 72.66 483.47 210.75 112,970.00 173.00 4,708.65 4,844.37 430,715.88 3,655.73 320,412.95 400.00 200.00 40.00 5,052,800.00 7,449.05 300.00 137.88 275.00 98.50 153.02 600,000.00 225,000.00 224.20 71.21 1,150.00 225.94 384.00 235.00 1,656.63 1,000.00 500.00 7,980.00 600.00 725,000.00 2,839.07 258,246.35 2,446.41 203,648.07 100.00 36,462.47 943.06 170.00 294.93 1,020.00 1,896.38 137.60

RATE DATE 315.00 11-Jul-17 305.75 11-Jul-17 310.00 11-Jul-17 393.58 12-Jul-17 310.00 12-Jul-17 310.00 12-Jul-17 310.00 12-Jul-17 394.20 12-Jul-17 310.00 12-Jul-17 310.00 12-Jul-17 310.00 12-Jul-17 310.00 12-Jul-17 354.63 12-Jul-17 355.00 12-Jul-17 355.00 12-Jul-17 355.00 12-Jul-17 310.00 12-Jul-17 310.00 12-Jul-17 310.00 12-Jul-17 306.00 12-Jul-17 310.00 12-Jul-17 310.00 12-Jul-17 310.00 12-Jul-17 310.00 12-Jul-17 310.00 12-Jul-17 310.00 12-Jul-17 365.25 12-Jul-17 365.25 12-Jul-17 310.00 12-Jul-17 310.00 12-Jul-17 310.00 12-Jul-17 310.00 13-Jul-17 310.00 13-Jul-17 310.00 13-Jul-17 310.00 13-Jul-17 310.00 13-Jul-17 310.00 13-Jul-17 310.00 13-Jul-17 310.00 13-Jul-17 364.00 13-Jul-17 354.66 13-Jul-17 355.00 13-Jul-17 355.00 13-Jul-17 355.00 13-Jul-17 310.00 13-Jul-17 310.00 13-Jul-17 310.00 13-Jul-17 310.00 13-Jul-17 310.00 13-Jul-17 310.00 13-Jul-17 310.00 13-Jul-17 310.00 13-Jul-17

S/N 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147

SOURCE AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS IMTO IMTO IMTO IMTO AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS IMTO IMTO AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS IMTO IMTO INTERBANK

AMOUNT (US$) 723.01 1,000.00 150.00 1,562,250.00 5,078.76 360.00 45.10 80,000.00 281.58 101.37 443.00 3,163.37 306,518.64 2,361.06 191,869.65 1,182.81 94.00 21.59 1,258,700.00 5,530.00 295,335.12 563.15 304.68 65.00 7,600.00 112.63 6,116.80 300.00 12,903.23 2,831.26 235,861.36 1,128.67 1,600.00 337.90 15,000.00 1,218.40 580.00 600.00 190.00 142.14 2,252.98 176,702.46 862,000.00

RATE 310.00 310.00 310.00 305.95 310.00 310.00 310.00 310.00 310.00 310.00 310.00 354.67 355.00 355.00 355.00 310.00 310.00 310.00 306.00 310.00 364.00 310.00 395.44 310.00 310.00 310.00 310.00 310.00 310.00 354.73 355.00 310.00 310.00 310.00 310.00 310.00 310.00 310.00 310.00 310.00 355.00 355.00 365.00

DATE 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 13-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 14-Jul-17 7-Jul-17 7-Jul-17 7-Jul-17 7-Jul-17 7-Jul-17 7-Jul-17 7-Jul-17 7-Jul-17 7-Jul-17 7-Jul-17 7-Jul-17 7-Jul-17 7-Jul-17 7-Jul-17 7-Jul-17 7-Jul-17

Africa’s global bank

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Vol. 1 Issue 3 July 19, 2017

Nextier Power is a consulting firm that provides policy advisory, investment advisory, and support services to the electricity supply industry. The firm aims to use this weekly publication to educate Nigerians on the intricacies of the Nigeria electricity supply industry on the assumption that a more informed public would advocate for the right policies and programmes which, in turn, would lead to a robust market that delivers the electricity needs of Nigerians. This column will cover everything from the basics of the industry to the more intricate, sometimes, complex policies and programmes.

Understanding the NESI Ecosystem Last week’s instalment on the EmPower series explained the three segments of the electricity sector: generation, transmission and distribution. There are, however, key regulatory and operational institutions that provide and enable the operational framework for the various segments within the electricity sector. This essay profiles the major public and private institutions within Nigeria’s electricity supply ecosystem with a focus on their overall mandates and their critical roles. These institutions are the pillars upon which the power sector rests, therefore their success or failure will determine the fate of the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI).

that the power produced by the generating companies is supplied to the end consumers through the DisCos. TCN consists of two major departments: the Market Operator (responsible for the business side), and the System Operator (responsible for the technical side).

Rural Electrification Agency (REA)

About 100 million Nigerians (mostly in rural communities) are not connected to the national grid. REA has the mandate to provide electricity to these communities.

The core objectives are to leverage access to power to promote the economic and social activities in rural areas, improve living standards in rural areas, as well as assist in reducing rural-urban migration.

Ministry of Power, Works, & Housing

Renewable Energy Nigeria (REAN)

This is the agency of the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) mandated to provide the policy framework for the entire power sector. It is their role to determine the plan or a course of action, and to coordinate all activities to ensure the effective operation of the sector.

Nigerian Electricity Commission (NERC)

Regulatory

NERC can be regarded as the police for the sector because it regulates or controls the activities of the power sector. In essence, it ensures that operatives within the sector abide by the stipulated guidelines. It promotes competition within the sector, establishes operating codes and quality standards, and licenses and regulates organisations engaged in the generation, transmission, distribution, system operations, and electricity trading. It is best known for stipulating how much Nigerians pay for electricity.

Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc. (NBET)

NBET is an FGN company that buys electricity ‘in bulk’ from generation companies (GenCos) and sells to distribution companies (DisCos). Through a Power Purchase Agreement, it pledges to pay for the power produced by the GenCos. This way, the GenCos have the confidence to produce power knowing that the FGN will pay when the DisCos fail to pay. This is a stopgap measure until the Discos are able to engage in direct purchase arrangements with the GenCos. Advisory Power Team (APT)

The APT was set up by the Buhari administration to analyse power sector issues, recommend and design solutions to these issues as well coordinate the implementation of these solutions. It is the Programme Management Office for the reform activities in the power sector.

Nigeria Electricity Liability Management Company Limited (NELMCO)

NELMCO played a key role during the privatisation of power sector assets. It was set up to takeover and manage all existing

debts and obligations of the companies.

This provision was to ensure that the new owners of the privatised companies are not saddled with legacy debts incurred by the firms prior to their privatisation.

Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE)/ National Council on Privatisation (NCP)

The NCP is a think-tank set up by the FGN to assess the political, economic and social objectives of the privatisation and commercialisation of Nigeria’s public enterprises. Its Secretariat is within the BPE, which has an Electric Power Department that is responsible for the implementation of the reform and privatization of the Nigerian electric power industry. Hence, BPE was responsible for the privatisation of the power companies.

Nigeria Gas Company (NGC)/ Gas Aggregation Company Nigeria (GACN)

Both the NGC and GACN are involved with the generation segment of the power sector. NGC is a subsidiary of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation with a mandate to develop an efficient gas industry that is capable of meeting all the country’s gas needs through an integrated gas pipeline network. GACN, on the other hand, manages gas demand, calculates aggregate gas prices, coordinates the interface between gas buyers, suppliers, and transporters, manages the metering of gas flows, and reconciliation for invoicing and dispute resolution.

Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG)

NLNG is owned by the FGN and the oil companies with the mandate to harness Nigeria’s gas resources for supply to end users, including power generation companies. It is a major supplier of the natural gas used to power the thermal power plants.

River Basin Development Authorities (RBDA)

The RBDAs, which are under the Ministry of Water Resources, are tasked with the provision of water for various uses including for hydro-electric power generation. They are responsible for ensuring the hydro-power plants have enough supply of water.

Nigeria Coal Corporation (NCC)

NCC is a parastatal under the Ministry of Solid Minerals responsible for exploring, developing, and exploiting Nigeria’s coal resources for various uses including power generation. There are renewed efforts for power generation through coal with the first project in Itobe, Kogi State.

Niger Delta Power Holding Company Limited (NDPHC)

NDPHC is responsible for the implementation of the National Integrated Power Project (NIPP). These are the ten (10) power generation plants that were set up by the Obasanjo government to improve generation capacity in the country. The company also invests in transmission capacity as well.

Generation Companies (GenCos)/ Distribution Companies (DisCos)

GenCos produce electricity from a number of thermal and hydroelectric plants across Nigeria. The electricity is transmitted through the national grid to the DisCos for onward supply to the customers. (see EmPower Vol. 1 Issue 2) Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN)

TCN operates the transmission system or the ‘national grid’. Transmission is the only segment of the triad in the power sector that is still managed by the FGN. The company is responsible for ensuring

Association

of

Nigeria will have to rely mostly on renewable energy to electrify most of the rural communities, and also to provide power in the urban centres. REAN is the umbrella association of professionals, project developers and practitioners within the renewable energy space in Nigeria.

Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA)

NEMSA is responsible for ensuring that all materials used in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry are of an acceptable quality, standards and specification. For instance, NEMSA tests all electricity meters and transformers to ensure they are up to standards and safe for use. It also certifies technical personnel in the industry.

National Power Training Institute of Nigeria (NAPTIN)

NAPTIN was set up to solve the human capacity challenge in the power industry by providing training for power sector personnel and coordinating training activities by other agencies in the sector.

Conclusion

NESI operates within a complex ecosystem made up of agencies that facilitate and regulate its operations. These agencies must operate seamlessly and efficiently to deliver power to Nigerians. Therefore, blame for the power situation cannot be placed on any one agency. Hence, there is need to strengthen these institutions with the human capital required to develop NESI. Author: Teniola Tayo is a Senior Analyst at Nextier.

Column Editor: Patrick O. Okigbo III is the Partner at Nextier

Next Topics Jul. 26 Decoding Power Sector Lingo Aug. 02 Power Sector 102 Aug. 09 Social Service or Business? www.nextierpower.com y empower@nextierpower.com

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NEWSXTRA

NNPC Enlists Halliburton’s Innovation to Quicken Inland Basin Oil Search Chineme Okafor ÓØ ÌßÔË The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) yesterday disclosed that its Research and Development (RD) division has entered into a new partnership with United States-based Halliburton Corporation to use its innovative Neftex solution to exactly locate viable crude oil deposits in Nigeria’s inland basins.

NNPC explained that with its expected use of Halliburton’s Neftex solution, its ongoing search for commercial hydrocarbon in the inland sedimentary basins would be enhanced, adding that the solution would quicken exploration efforts in the basins.

It stated this at a time its May 2017 monthly financial report indicated that it has progressively continued to cut down on its monthly trading deficits in the last five months, with a N3.55 billion deficit representing 32.65 per cent

decrease from that of April.

A statement from NNPC’s Group General Manager, Public Affairs, Mr. Ndu Ughamadu, explained that the corporation’s Group General Manager, RD, Dr. Bola Afolabi, stated in Port Harcourt that the collaboration with Halliburton would help fast-track its inland basin oil exploration efforts using the Neftex solution designed to provide precision in drilling for crude oil.

Afolabi, was quoted to have said Halliburton’s Neftex solution would provide a geophysical mapping structure of Nigeria, and complement NNPC’s ongoing in-house efforts to develop what is known as Turonian Cenomanian Cretaceous source rock for all the basins in Nigeria.

“This essentially seeks to identify all the prolific basins in Nigeria by locating the cretaceous kitchen-areas where large crude oil deposits could be found,” said Afolabi.

He further stated: “If you take a football field for instance, there are technologies that will direct you to drill for oil within the whole field but we are using a software solution that will tell you with exactitude to drill for instance in goal post one and when you do that you find large crude oil. That is what we are seeking to achieve with Neftex solution.”

According to Afolabi, the collaborative research with Halliburton had crossed the 65 per cent expected threshold, and would take 18 months to complete.

He explained: “We are so excited about this project and with the assured support of the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Dr. Maikanti Baru, our projection is that by the turn of

Ejiofor Alike The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has denied the claims by the Nigerian exploration and production (E & P) operators that the federal government lost an estimated $6 billion as a result of its poor administration of the licenses of the oil blocks sold by the international oil companies (IOCs) between 2010 and 2015.

Citing the position of the Nigerian E & P operators, THISDAY had reported that the federal government lost an estimated $6 billion as a result of the agency’s poor handling of the expiring oil blocks, which were sold by the IOCs. Speaking in Lagos recently at the maiden edition of the Aspen Energy Roundtable, the operators had argued that the IOCs short-changed the federal government when they smiled home with over $10 billion for oil blocks, which were about to expire and be relinquished to the federal government.

They had also noted that the IOCs paid only very little amount as signature bonus for the oil blocks and had recouped their investments after over 20 years of operatorship.

“Some of us who have participated in this E & P business believe that there are issues on how we manage our oil and gas resources. In all the bid rounds the DPR on the Nigerian government had undertaken, I think the highest signature bonus was $210 million on OPL 245 and it was considered outrageous at that time. Before then, signature bonus was $1 million. So, it is wrong for the IOCs to pay $20 million as signature bonus and receive billions of dollars when the licenses are about to expire,” one of the operators had said.

According to the operators, 60 per cent of the over $10 billion

paid to the IOCs should have gone to the federal government if the DPR had managed the licences properly.

The Head of Upstream Monitoring and Regulation at DPR, Pat Maseli, had also admitted that the regulatory agency was not prepared for the divestment programme from the outset, as the exercise came as a “shock” to the agency.

But in swift response, DPR said in a statement yesterday that it did not at any time cause the federal government to lose any $6billion in divestment of oil blocks.

According to the statement, DPR is not involved in the tendering process for divestment of assets held by the IOCs or any other company and only requests for a premium from such transaction that is due to the federal government, which is determined by the Minister of Petroleum Resources pursuant to Paragraphs 14-16 of the First Schedule to the Petroleum Act, 1969.

“Assignment of interest in oil and gas asset is a process of transfer of a licence, lease or marginal field or an interest, power or right therein by any company with equity, participating, contractual or working interest in the said OPL, OML, or marginal field in Nigeria, through merger, acquisition, take-over, divestment or any such transaction that may alter the ownership, equity, rights or interest of the assigning company in question, not minding the nature of upstream arrangement that the assigning company may be involved in, including but not limited to Joint Venture (JV), Production Sharing Contract (PSC), Service Contract (SC) or marginal fields operation,” the statement explained.

gas condensate so that we don’t mismatch production of oil with condensate because if you do that you may short change yourself,” he said in the statement.

He further disclosed that the research centre of NNPC was working on a project to enhance production from existing assets by introducing a cost effective and reliable alternative to drilling new wells, adding that successful pilot scheme had been executed in collaboration with its strategic partners, Cypher Crescent Limited.

“With minimal cost, remarkable additional production potential was discovered. We are talking about a digital approach to wells and reservoir management.

We are applying a first of its

kind technology to easily reveal hidden opportunities and propose realistic well intervention programmes.

“We are seeking to improve the success rate of exploration and production well intervention activities, reduce operations and improve asset integrity, among others,” he said.

Meanwhile, the May 2017 monthly reports of the corporation have disclosed that the trading deficits recorded by NNPC in its activities have continued to drop in the last five months.

According to the report, NNPC recorded a trading deficit of N3.55 billion in May, representing 32.65 per cent decrease in its deficit of April which was N5.27 billion.

FIRS Projects N1.8trn VAT Revenue for 2017 Senate C’ttee faults agency’s claim on training 6m Nigerians, $5bn investment Damilola Oyedele ÓØ ÌßÔË

DPR Denies It Cost FG $6bn During Asset Sales

by IOCs

next year, we should be able to help the frontier basin team achieve a pin-point location of possible commercial oil finds for eventual drilling activities.”

He equally informed that research work had reached advance stage on the federal government inaugurated project assigned by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to classify Nigeria’s crude oil and natural gas.

Afolabi noted that the project would check Nigeria’s natural gas and condensate using the OPEC classification model to determine if it is within the upper limits or lower limits.

“The ability to do that well will enable Nigeria to properly classify its Natural Gas Liquids (NGLs) and also

The Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mr. Babatunde Fowler, has presented a projection of N1.8 trillion Value Added Tax (VAT) revenue collection for the 2017 fiscal year.

Speaking when he defended his agency’s 2017 budget before the Senate Committee on Finance yesterday, Fowler said the 2017 N7.441 trillion federal budget is expected to be driven by the proper collection of taxes.

The agency, in realisation of this responsibility and challenges of doing manual collection has therefore automated VAT collection, particularly for sectors considered critical, such as financial institutions, airlines, and telecommunications, Fowler said.

He however noted that the deployment of the automated platform is at no cost to the FIRS, as the service providers would be compensated on incremental revenue generated.

The 2017 projected cost of collection of N153.44 billion is higher than that of 2016, which was N143.90 billion, he noted, adding that it represented an increase of 6.63 per cent on overall projected non-oil revenue including VAT, stamp duties and levy.

Fowler urged the lawmakers to approve the surplus budget of “N848 million arising from an expected total revenue of N153.4 billion over expenditure of N152.6 billion.”

Speaking on the projection performance, Fowler disclosed that the agency already recorded an increase of N224 billion from January to June 2017, indicating an increase of 14 per cent from the corresponding period in 2016.

“We have therefore achieved 72.93 per cent of our half year target of N2.44 trillion for 2017 as against 74.2 per cent of N2.1 trillion for the corresponding period in 2016,” Fowler said.

He further disclosed that tax collection between January and June 2017 was N1,782,922,600.000 with variation of N224.1 billion indicating a 14 per cent increase from the corresponding period in 2016.

“The chairman may note that we attained this collection performance despite several challenges, as we have continued to vigorously pursued our strategies internally while improving collaboration with relevant stakeholders to boost our collections. The strategies put in place are on course and progressively yielding fruits. We are hopeful therefore that the efforts being made will translate to significant tax yields before the

end of 2017,” he added.

Chairman Senate Committee on Finance, Senator John Enoh, harped on the need for the agency to achieve its target as deficit would negatively affect the 2017 federal budget.

In another development, the Senate joint committee on Petroleum Upstream and Gas has faulted claims by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) that it has trained

about six million Nigerians since its establishment, and reinvested $5 billion of $20 billion funds in the oil and gas sector.

The Board Executive Secretary, Mr. Simbi Kesiye Wabote, made the claims while speaking at a public hearing on local content implementation and investigation on the utilisation of the Nigerian Content Development Funds, among other achievements.

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Former Governors Caution against Separatist Agitations Advise acting president to be more decisive MASSOB asks Igbos to leave North by August Iyobosa Uwugiaren ÓØ ÌßÔË ËØÎ David-Chyddy Eleke ÓØ áÕË Worried by agitations for the dissolution of the country by separatist elements in the South-east of the country, and the subsequent expulsion notice to Igbos in the North by some northern youths and elders, former state governors under the aegis of Forum of Former Governors (Class Of 99), have called on governors of South-east states to engage the separatists and diffuse the tension in the region.

They also advised Acting President Yemi Osinbajo to convene a joint meeting of the various stakeholders at which assurances could be given. ‘’No sacrifice is too much to avert chaos, prevent any further incidence of criminality, protect human lives and spare the lives of the country,” they said in a communique made available to THISDAY yesterday and signed

by Chief Lucky Igbinedion and Chief Niyi Adebayo, the forum’s chairman and secretary.

The former governors’ intervention came against the background of an advisory by the Movement for the Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) yesterday, asking Igbos in the North to leave the region by August ahead of the October 1, 2017 quit notice deadline given them by a coalition of Northern youth

groups.

But the erstwhile state helmsmen who met in Abuja called for restraint, pleading with the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) to urgently meet and rein in all antagonists of a united Nigeria. ‘’The elders and leaders of thought from both the South East and the North should jointly meet to state a common position; we further recommend that traditional rulers from the two areas should do same,’’ they said.

The meeting of the past governors, which was convened in an effort to add their voice, and lend support, to all the efforts that were being made to smooth down the rising tempo of threatening rhetoric that has occupied the public space recently, was attended

by Obong Victor Attah (Akwa Ibom); Chief James Ibori (Delta); and Alhaji Isa Yuguda (Bauchi) among others.

They expressed their appreciation to Osinbajo for quickly summoning various stakeholders in an effort to contain the looming danger.

Condemning the agitators for the breakup of the country and those who reacted by issuing the quit notice, the forum affirmed its belief in the continued existence of Nigeria as one indissoluble entity and also in the inalienable right of every citizen of this country to live securely, without fear or risk

of any form of molestation in whatever part of the country.

The forum also observed with concern the failure of the leaders and elders on both sides to quickly rein in their youths, emphasising the need for every effort to be made to ensure that peace and good order was maintained and that there was no incident that could trigger a violent reaction.

The forum appreciated individuals and groups that issued re-conciliatory statements and acted to avert danger, but felt that a lot more needed to be done, recommending that additional steps be taken to stem the agitations.

Meanwhile, MASSOB has

asked Igbos living in the North to leave and return to the South-east by August, 2017, saying this was necessary to beat the October 1 quit notice given them by a coalition of Northern youth groups.

In a statement sent to THISDAY by its Director of Information, Mr. Samuel Edesonu, MASSOB said the decision was reached at its National Executive Committee meeting presided over by its leader, Mr. Uchenna Madu.

It said August was chosen because it was an auspicious month that most Igbos return home for festive occasions, including New Yam Festival, saying it would give the

returnees an opportunity to relocate their families and quickly resettle.

It said: “In continuation of our earlier stand and position on the quit notice to the people of Biafra by Arewa people, which will elapse on Oct 1st, MASSOB insists and beckons on Biafrans living in Arewa land to intensify all their efforts in relocating their families back home.

“MASSOB also mandates all married Igbo women living in Northern Nigeria to start speaking to their husbands on the dangers of staying in Arewa land which no longer guaranteed their safety. They should also intensify their pressures on their husbands concerning the mass

return in August.”

MASSOB said part of its strategy to ensure compliance was to get all Eze Ndigbo in 19 Northern States to immediately commence the compilation of the names, residential addresses, villages and towns of all Igbo indigenes living in the respective northern cities where they lead.

It said MASSOB secret security, Biafra Intelligence Agency(BIA) are already in northern Nigeria monitoring the exercise, and that after the September 10th deadline for the compilation, MASSOB will embark on investigation of all the Eze Ndigbo in northern cities to ascertain their levels of participation in the order.

PIND, MADE Identify Green WORKING VISIT TO ZAMFARA Shoots as Nigeria Responds to ONE-DAY L-R: Kebbi State Governor, Abubakar Atiku Bagudu; Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo; and Sokoto State, Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, when the acting president was received at the Sultan Abubakar III International Airport, Sokoto on his way to Zamfara Tough Economic Times State for a one-day working visit....yesterday The Foundation for Partnership Initiatives in the Niger Delta (PIND) and Market Development in the Niger Delta (MADE) Programme have identified strategic policy initiatives in agriculture to address the current economic challenges confronting Nigeria, create employment and boost industrialisation.

In the joint report that was launched in Abuja last week, the development partners showcase the impact of the devaluation of the naira and emphasise the need for government and international organisations with a focus on agriculture to reshape interventions to reflect the prevailing economic realities, especially relating to the aquaculture, poultry, palm oil and cassava sectors.

The devaluation of the naira was occasioned by the drop in crude oil price from above $100 per barrel in early 2014 to below $30 per barrel, and has influenced market dynamics for most farmers and agricultural market actors, especially in the Niger Delta region where PIND and MADE are intervening.

“The devaluation has led to significant increases in costs of major inputs over the last two years which influence costs

across all the value chains, forcing farmers and processors to look inward,” the report says.

In the aquaculture value chain, for example, the report observed: “Catfish prices have increased, as consumers turn to it as an alternative to more expensive imported fish and poultry, meaning that the farmers who have stayed in business have seen their revenues increase.”

Additionally, the currency devaluation has made foreign feed more expensive, creating an opportunity for local producers to meet demand.

In the cassava value chain, the study finds that the increase in the prices that market actors in the Niger Delta receive for their products is higher than the increase in input prices, meaning that the naira’s devaluation has been positive for most market actors.

The report also explained that demand for cassava from the food sector has increased as the price of imported rice, a major substitute for cassava food products, more than doubled between 2015 and the beginning of 2017. Rice imports have dropped by about two million tons since the devaluation.

Neconde Targets Evacuation of 60,000bpd of Crude by Barges Ejiofor Alike Following the incessant vandalism of Trans-Forcados Pipeline (TFP), which feeds the Forcados export terminal in Delta State, Neconde Energy Limited, the exploration and production subsidiary of Obijackson Group, has unveiled plans to evacuate 60,000 barrels per day of crude via barges from Oil Mining Lease (OML) 42 by the end of 2017.

Speaking to journalists on the dispute between the company and the host community of Gbaramatu in Delta State, the Managing Director of the company, Mr. Frank Edozie stated yesterday in Lagos that the Trans-Forcados Pipeline has become unreliable for crude evacuation as a result of incessant vandalism.

According to him, Neconde bought OML 42 in 2012 with the objective of hitting a production target of 100,000 barrels per day of crude oil.

Edozie added that when

Neconde expressed interest to acquire the asset, the expectation was that it would also inherit the operatorship from Shell.

“That was the basis on which the bid was made and that was the basis on which the asset was acquired. But shortly after Neconde emerged the winner, the federal government changed the goal post and assigned the operatorship to the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC). It was only in February 2017 that Neconde and NPDC came together to form Asset Management Team that is responsible for the operatorship of the asset,” he explained.

Edozie also pointed out that the OML 42 could not produce crude from Trans-Forcados pipeline from February 13, 2016 to the first week of June 2017 because of the vandalism of the pipeline.

“The target during acquisition was 100,000 bpd but because there was no production from

February 13, 2016 to June 2017, all the projections failed. The pipelines were down but we had to service bank loans. So, we had to take unusual measures to service the loans. OML 42 sits on swamps. So, we developed a method of producing oil into barges, that is sea-going tankers that take the crude into ships where ocean-going tankers will go and lift the crude. So, instead of producing 100,000 bpd, we were producing between 15,000 bpd and 17,000 bpd,” Edozie said.

He said the company would evacuate 45,000 bpd in the next two months when its barging operation becomes fully operational and 60,000 bpd by the end of this year.

Edozie revealed that TFP has never evacuated crude for two weeks without any interruption, adding that the pipeline has failed several times since it came back on stream on June 7.

“What we have done is to look at the TFP as an unreliable evacuation line. Our target is to become independent of TFP

and Forcados export terminal,” he added.

He further stated that despite these challenges, the company still engaged the company to get Freedom to Operate.

“It came as a surprise to hear that Gbaramatu Traditional Council said that they are entitled to five per cent equity in the asset.

There was no such agreement; no such consideration and no such document assigning such equity to the community. The claim is totally unfounded and has no basis. We have invited the community or any individual with such document to come forward. We had a meeting with the community at Okporoza and what became obvious was that they have a number of grievances. The outcome of the meeting is that we now have a basis of understanding. We have ongoing dialogue and the dialogue with make them understand the realities and also help us understand their grievances,” Edozie added.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 19, 2017Ëž T H I S D AY

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NEWSXTRA

Confirmation: Go to Court, Senate Dares Presidency Tobi Soniyi and Damilola Oyedele The Senate has said it supports the executive’s decision  to go to court for interpretation of Section 171 of the Constitution.  In order to bypass the Senate in some appointments, the presidency has been relying on section 171 of the constitution to make the appointment.

This has resulted in a series of clashes between the Senate and the executive with the former threatening to stop screening other nominees of the executive.

But reacting to the decision of the executive to seek a judicial interpretation of the constitutional provisions, the Chairman Senate Committee on Media and Publicity, Aliyu Sabi-Abdullahi, who spoke on Channels Television programme, Sunrise, said the Senate was happy with the decision of the executive to go to court for an interpretation.

He said: “Section 171 is very clear. We must be sincere to the citizens. I mean both the executive and the Senate owe the citizens a duty to be sincere.  The issue of confirmation has been on many years. We are okay if the executive is ready  to go to court. That will resolve the

crisis once and for all.�  The presidency had last Sunday said it believed that only a judicial interpretation of Section 171 would resolve the dispute between it and the National Assembly on whether the appointment of the Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ibrahim  Magu and other appointments could be done without Senate’s approval.

Citing an advisory from ‘legal and judicial experts’, the presidency  said although it believed that its position was the correct one, it nevertheless agreed that only the courts could finally lay the dispute to rest.  The presidency further said that although it was the view of the the federal government that certain federal appointments should not require the confirmation of the Senate based on Section 171 of the constitution, the government would, nevertheless, continue to send some of such appointments to the Senate pending judicial interpretation of the matter.

It said: “Our position is based on a legal advisory prepared by judicial and legal experts as a working document in the presidency regarding the

differences in the constitutional interpretations on matters of certain federal appointments. “In fact, the advisory unearthed a ruling of the Supreme Court on the matter where the current Chief Justice of Nigeria, before his elevation as CJN had ruled in line with the view of the presidency on the matter.�

The presidency rejected the claim that all appointments by it were based on section 171. “This is because, even after the acting president, (who spoke when he was vice president in support of the view of some leading lawyers) the presidency has continued to send nominations to the Senate while the President

himself was around and while away by the acting president,� it added.

The presidency said  that section 171 was very clear that certain appointments did not require Senate consent, but added that the “presidency is not already behaving as if its interpretation of the law has become a policy. The presidency is persuaded that its interpretation is the correct one, but we are conscious and aware of the fact that only a proper judicial ruling on the matter would make it a settled policy that sits right with the rule of law.

That is why we have not stopped sending all manners of nominations to the Senate,

most of which the Senate has actually confirmed, even well after the acting president spoke.�

He said: “According to that legal advisory the divergent positions being held by the executive and then legislature on the subject of confirmation ...is one that requires timely and ultimate resolution.

Such resolution could only be reached through judicial process...Such interpretation would lay to rest the lingering crises between the two arms.�

The federal government also said the advisory affirmed the powers of the president to appoint in acting capacity into positions such as the EFCC chairmanship.

The advisory in question reads in part: “In the recent past, the ministerial nomination of the late Prof. Abraham Babalola Borishade (Ekiti State)

by President Olusegun Obasanjo was rejected repeatedly by the Senate.� In fact it would be recalled that this particular nomination was presented four times in 18 months before it was eventually confirmed by the Senate. “This position is because of the long established and entrenched principle of law that any legislation that is inconsistent with the provision of the constitution is null and void and of no effect whatsoever to the extent of such inconsistency.�

Experts Advocate A Generation of Peace-building Leaders for Africa Akinwale Akintunde Conflict resolution experts have agreed that there can not be a better time than now for Africa to start building peace leaders on the continent.

The experts spoke in Lagos yesterday on ‘Peace and Conflict Resolution in Society and Business Organisations’ at the fourth edition of Senior Executives Networking Session organised by Centre for Values in Leadership (CVL), founded by a renowned political economist, Professor Pat Utomi, in conjunction with Africa Peace Fellows.

The experts included Professor Ernest Uwazie, Director, Centre for African Peace and Conflict Resolution, Dr. Marlyn Jones, Professor of Criminal Justice at the California State University Sacramento, California, USA and Dr. Robin Carter, Associate Dean of the College of Health and Human Services and Interim Executive Director of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion.

According Uwazie, though conflict is inevitable,  prevention of conflict should be the desired goal. He said it was always better to prevent conflict as much as possible.

The conflict resolution expert urged everyone in the society to try as much as possible not to do harm to their fellow human beings, adding that in a situation where harm has been done, they should do their level best not to do further harm.

He said one sure way to

prevent conflict and build a culture of peace is to respect peoples’ interest.

Uwazie emphasised that wars are not good and the society should everything to prevent it. Â He also encouraged the use of dialogue to a large extent, adding that using dialogue may not resolve conflict over night but it would pay off at the end.

In her contribution, Carter noted that conflict is universal and the desire for peace is also universal.

She called for more collaboration, building of goodwill, having a trusted relationship and endeavour to get feedback as a panacea for conflict resolution.

For Jones, empowering the youths would go a long way in conflict resolution.

Earlier in his opening remarks, Professor Utomi noted that there could not be a better time than now to discuss the issue of conflict resolution especially in Nigeria.

Utomi said the paradox of conflict and progress was that prosperity and peace work hands in gloves.

According to him, the prosperity from adversity is largely one in which the new conflict is a conflict of competition of ideas, options on how to draw from man’s native genius to create wealth, mindful that externalities associated He said the place of the family, the ultimate school of values, is critical to a world that could better manage conflict.

RE-UNION MEETING

L-R: National Publicity Secretary, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dayo Adeyeye; National Secretary, Ben Obi; and Chairman, National Caretaker Committee, Senator Ahmed Makarfi, during the re-union meeting of the party at the party’s secretariat, Wadata Plaza, in Abuja....yesterday

Ë›

Crisis in Imo APC as NWC, Okorocha Head for Showdown Iyobosa Uwugiaren Ă“Ă˜ ĂŒĂ&#x;ÔË There were strong indications yesterday that the Chief John Odigie-Oyegun-led National Working Committee (NWC)) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State are heading towards a political showdown over intra-party dispute.  A member of the party’s NWC told THISDAY that the national leadership of APC was not happy with the Imo State governor over his refusal to obey the directiive of the national headquarters concerning the unlawful suspension of some state officials of the party.  According to the APC source, “Some time ago, the governor of Imo State directed the state branch executive of our party to suspend the chairman and the entire executive of Isiala Mbano Local Government Area and ward executive.  “Believing that the action of the governor was unlawful,

the national headquarters of APC wrote a letter dated June 13, 2017, and signed by the party National Legal Adviser, Dr. Muiz Banire(SAN), and addressed to the chairman of state APC, directing him to reverse the action. But as I speak to you, Okorocha has told the state’s party leadership not to carry out our directive.  “I am sure the governor knows that the constitution of our party has no provision for a state chairman to unilaterally suspend or remove any officer of the party. Consequently, we have advised our Imo State executive to continue to accord all the so-called suspended officials the recognition their offices deserve.’’  The APC national leader, who spoke to THISDAY in confidence, said he was not happy that Okorocha’s leadership in the state is setting a very treacherous precedence by exhibiting such high level of indiscipline, and rebellious activities against

constituted authority of the national leadership of the party, noting that party exco at all levels swore to an oath of allegiance at inauguration to uphold and abide by the dictates of the party’s constitution.  “Recently, during a meeting to discuss the processes for a mini congress and other party issues, scene of carnage was averted when more than 30 thugs stormed the state APC secretariat in Owerri in three buses; the thugs assaulted and beat up some members of the party exco, journalists and some party members. “At that meeting, all the elected local government chairmen were present, but when the APC state Chairman, Dr. Hillary Eke, sighted the Ezinihitte and Isiala Mbano chairmen, Stanley Onwukwe and Julius Asagwara respectively, whom he unilaterally suspended against the directive of the national headquarters of our party, he quickly

stood up, confronted and started pushing them out of the secretariat,� the NWC member further stated.  He added that “when they resisted him because of our letter, the thugs they brought, descended on some of our members, gave them a free rein of havoc and mayhem, with many people sustaining various degrees of injuries, while some lost valuable personal items.  “And there are strong evidence that the state government is behind these ostensible criminal and unhealthy activities; we are worried because if not properly handled, the actions of the governor will surely affect the fortunes of our party in the state.’’  The NWC member said the leadership of APC would not fold its hands and allow the selfish ambition of a few members to destroy the structures of the party in the state.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 19, 2017˾ T H I S D AY

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NEWSXTRA

Military Liberated over 25 Towns under Jonathan, New Book Reveals The newly released book ‘Boko Haram Media War: An Encounter with the Spymaster’ has listed over 25 major towns and cities recaptured by the Nigerian military during the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan before the final handover to President Mohammed Buhari.

“The book authored by award-winning public relations professional, Yushau Shuaib disclosed: “At the twilight of Jonathan’s administration, when Sambo Dasuki was the National Security Adviser, dozens of towns and cities in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe States were recovered and confirmed with video and pictorial evidence through military press releases.

“Some of the liberated towns include, but not limited to: Abadam, Askira, Baga, Bama, Bara, Buni Yadi, Damboa, Dikwa, Gamboru-Ngala, Goniri, Gujba, Gulag, Gulani, Gwoza, Hong, Kala Balge, Konduga, Kukawa, Marte, Madagali, Michika, Monguno, Mubi, Vimtim, among other communities with pictorial and video evidence provided by the Defence Headquarters (DHQ).

“In one day alone, April 30, 2015, at least 234 abductees including women and children, were rescued by the military who had stormed sections of the Sambisa forest.

“A clear testimony to some of the accomplishments was the official DHQ release dated March 16, 2015, with reference No: DHQ/ ABJ/901/32/DDI and titled: “Troops Finally Rout Terrorists from Bama and

Last Stronghold in Yobe.”

The book, in other sections, revealed glowing tributes paid to Dasuki by some current top officers of the Buhari administration.

It disclosed how a top Buhari’s adviser commended Dasuki in an opinion article on May 1, 2015, for ensuring successes of the military operation against Boko Haram.

In another chapter, the book disclosed how one of Buhari’s spokespersons had predicted that Dasuki would face stiff challenges as Fulani man from Northwest against Kanuri people of North-east who would frustrate him after his nomination by President Jonathan as NSA. In a written piece in 2012, the said Buhari’s spokesperson even recommended and listed some Kanuri people that should have been considered for the appointment rather than the Sokoto Prince.

The official had claimed that the appointment of Dasuki as a northerner might produce the direct opposite result of appeasement of the region. According to Buhari’s pubilicist “the Boko Haram terror movement is dominated by Kanuri boys, despite the recruitment of volunteers from areas outside Borno and Yobe States, adding that Dasuki’s appointment ignored the historical rivalries between the Kanuris and the Northwest or more directly, the Fulani hegemony.”

The book also discloses

how security and anticorruption agencies monitored movements of cash in local and foreign currencies by the two major political parties, APC and PDP to win primaries and main elections in 2015.

The book has been attacked by the presidency over a claim in its foreword

by Dasuki where he said Nigerian military intervention in the Northeast in 2015 enabled the last general election to be conducted in the area.

A statement by the presidential spokesperson, Garba Shehu, said: “The residents of the areas... were able to vote, not in their hometown but in refugee camps in other parts of Borno State under a special arrangement made

by INEC.” Garba who claimed that he had not fully read the book before making his official statement, said: “We will have to read the entire text to offer a full and adequate response” In his response to the presidential statement, the author, Yushau Shuaib said they should be ready to also deny all their official statements in the book.

“Everything I need to say is in the book. Probably when they finally read the text and respond to every fact, they should expect more revelations that are yet to be made to the public, especially on campaign funding by the two major political parties for the 2015 elections.”

Ganduje Has Already Lost 2019 Election, Kwankwaso Tells Tinubu Ibrahim Shuaibu in Kano Former Governor of Kano State, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, has disclosed that the incumbent Governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, has already lost the 2019 election.

Kwankwaso who is the senator representing Kano Central senatorial district, said this yesterday through his former Commissioner for State Affairs, Aminu Abdulsalam Gwarzo.

The former governor reacted to the last week’s endorsement of the governor for second term by the national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Bola Tinubu, when he visited the state on condolence visit on the death of the former Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Alhaji Maitama Sule.

According to him, “We don’t want to join issue with Tinubu but what I will say is that he came straight from the airport

to government house, he did not know what is happening in the rural areas or in the entire state.

“We know Tinubu to be an honest person but if he had known the situation in Kano, he would perhaps be restrained completely from that endorsement.

“If Tinubu knew the feelings of the people of Kano, he would have known that the governor has lost 2019 already.”

Aminu added that the governor has lost the battle and the people of Kano are also ready to disown him.

“If Tinubu had carefully observed the political trend in the state, he would not have drawn conclusion. Ganduje has distanced himself from the people, he deviated from the Kwankwsiyya foundation, principles and ideology which were the basic fundamental he was elected as governor.

He abandoned the promises he made to the people of the state.”

“If you visit the business

community in Kwari, Sabon Gari, Singa and other markets, you will see that people are tired and frustrated of government policies. You will record that were fire outbreak in some markets in Kano, till date, not a single kobo was given to the traders even the monies donated to them were nowhere to be found.”

“Look at the case of tuition fee, the parents are not happy with the level of things. The governor inherited free education, free feeding of our pupils in public primary schools, he reversed the policies.

Imaging the acute water situation in Kano. You will agree with me it has never been this bad and we don’t know how people cope.”

Abdulsalam said: “Like I said, I don’t want to join issue with Tinubu but I want to believe he did not conduct any research to find out the popularity of the governor. Perhaps, the assessment was only based on the face value.”

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WEDNESDAY, JULY 19, 2017˾ T H I S D AY

NEWSXTRA

Ex-Jigawa Gov, Turaki Gets Fresh N500m Bail Alex Enumah ÓØ ÌßÔË

The Federal High Court in Abuja yesterday granted a fresh bail in the sum of N500million with two sureties in the sum of N250million each to a former Governor of Jigawa State, Saminu Turaki.

Justice Nnamdi Dimgba granted the bail after Turaki pleaded not guilty to a 32-count charge slammed against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Yesterday would be the second time, Turaki would be admitted to bail in less than a week.

Justice Yusuf Halilu of the Abuja High Court had last Thursday granted Turaki bail from the custody of the EFCC. In granting the bail, Justice Dimgba held that the sureties should either be businessmen, private persons or civil servants not below the level of director and must have a landed property in within the FCT or any of the satellite towns within Abuja.

The judge added that the sureties must deposit their evidence of tax payment from the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).

He further held that the defendant must deposit his travel documents with the court’s registrar and must report to the headquarter of the EFCC every first working day of every month.

Justice Dimgba also held

that the defendant should be remanded in Kuje prison pending the satisfaction of the bail condition.

The court later adjourned the case till September 19, a date which the Federal High Court, Dutse had earlier fixed.

The matter would now be continued before Justice Sabi’u Yahuza of the Dutse Federal High Court.

Turaki was arraigned alongside three companies , INC Natural Resources Ltd, Apel Construction Ltd and WideHeart Construction Ltd over alleged 32-count charges bordering on money laundering.

When the charges were read to Turaki, he pleaded not guilty.

Counsel to the defendant, Ahmed Raji (SAN) however moved an oral application prayed the court to grant his client bail on grounds that the defendant is not an ordinary citizen as he had ruled a state for eight years.

Raji cited Section163 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), which entitle the defendant to bail unless the court sees the contrary.

He further submitted that the defence was not aware of yesterday’s arraignment as they would have come with a proper application and the defendant had spent two weeks in detention.

The prosecuting counsel, Mohammed Abubakar however

opposed the oral application on grounds that Section 163 cited by the defence is more rigid than Section162 of the ACJA. Mohammed told the court that the defendant was arrested pursuant to a bench warrant issued in September 2014 by Justice Sabi’u Yahuza and that since then, the commission have been making effort to get hold of him without success until July 4.

He added that the bail is to ensure that the defendant attend his trial, if he is release on bail he might not make himself available for the trial and this will defeat our effort.

Turaki was first arraigned before Justice Binta Murtala Nyako of the Federal High Court but had his case later transferred to Justice Sabi’u Yahuza of the Federal High Court, Dutse, Jigawa State after he objected to the jurisdiction of the court in Abuja.

He was subsequently rearraigned at the Federal High Court in Dutse, Jigawa on a 32-count charge of misappropriating N36 billion while in office.

However, after his rearraignment at Federal High Court Dutse, Turaki allegedly refused to attend trial a situation which resulted in the commission declaring him wanted in May, 2013.

BoI, Ebonyi to Fast-track Industrialisation with New N4bn Deal Jonathan Eze In a bid to fast-track jobs and wealth creation through entrepreneurship, the Bank of Industry (BoI) and the Ebonyi State Government have signed a N4billion memorandum of understanding (MoU) to promote agriculture and the setting up of industries in the state.

The ceremony which took place at the Government House in Abakaliki yesterday, is set to usher in economic boom for the state which has targeted to set up at least one industry in each of its 150 communities under the dispensation of the N4billion fund.

The state Governor, David Umahi, commended BoI for supporting the state’s economic growth initiative with 50 per cent of the fund, stressing that the bank was indeed not out to make money but to foster development.

He added that empowerment programmes have been proven to be more impacting when anchored with the BoI which

has competent personnel and an effective coordinating strategy.

He said: “Free money is not productive when it is not worked for and the way to go about empowerment is what we have done today with the BoI, which has made tremendous impact in recent times. If this is enacted across the 36 states of Nigeria it will lead to job creation on a massive scale.”

The governor added that the initiative was Nigeria’s solution to the economic recession currently plaguing the country following the crash of global oil prices.

Umahi explained that N2billion under the initiative will be dedicated to the agric sector while the other N2billion will go to the industrial sector.

He said beneficiaries of short-term loans would be charged five per cent, while long-term beneficiaries would pay back with a 6.25 per cent.

Umahi charged his cabinet members to drive awareness of the intervention fund across their constituencies and encourage would-be beneficiaries to set up

cooperative societies to enable them access the fund and attend entrepreneurship capacity building workshops to be hosted by BoI. Earlier in his remarks, the Managing Director of BoI, Kayode Pitan, noted that the bank has been involved in supporting entrepreneurs in the growth of large and small scale industries in the state before now in excess of N2billion.

“With this, we will now be able to help more people to get employed as well as enhance the growth of the solid minerals sector as the governor has also requested,” he said.

He added that the development finance institution is ready to finance more projects beyond the scope of the MoU. “We are partners with the state and are happy that this MoU has further strengthened that partnership,” he said.

Some of the projects financed by BoI include Ebony agro industries, Crystal Chemical Nigeria Limited, Hapelroadstone Nigeria Limited as well as Maxdove Foam and Chemical Industries Limited.

Trinity House Celebrates Anniversary The Trinity House Ministries International has concluded its arrangement to commence activities marking its seventh year anniversary.

The General Overseer of the church, Pastor Ituah Ighodalo, has highlighted the numerous activities to celebrate “its seven years of fruitful existence.”

At a press conference to usher in the anniversary, Ighodalo said the anniversary kicked off on July 16 with dedication of the Youth Church, which is for people between the ages of 18 and 30 at 9:30a.m. at the

Trinity House, Zion Centre.

According to him, “On July 19, we will have a very powerful welcome service, ‘the Power of His Strength’ by 6p.m. On Thursday, at 6p.m also, we have the ‘Breaking of Yokes’, because we do believe that for a man to fulfill his destiny, whatever yoke that might have been holding him down needs to be broken. Then on Friday, we will be thanking God for seven hours, one hour for each of our years; ministering will be the Trinity Voices, our in-house group; Frank

Edwards, Tope Alabi, Bolaji Sax, and by God’s Grace, Nathaniel Bassey. On July 23, we will be having our Thanksgiving Service, and it will be combined with an Ordination at 9a.m, at our Zion Centre.

“So we are expecting that the whole world will join us. We want the whole world to know that some people are thanking God. All our programs are going to be streamed via the internet.

God is doing a new thing and we are submitting ourselves to the work of God.”

WEDNESDAY, ͹΁˜ ͺ͸͹Ϳ ˾ T H I S D AY

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WEDNESDAYSPORTS

Group Sports Editor Duro Ikhazuagbe Email duro.ikhazuagbe@thisdaylive.com

WA R R I R E L AY S & C A A G R A N D P R I X

Okagbare, Egwero Lead Team Nigeria to Victory Blessing Okagbare-Ighoteguonor and Ogho-Oghene Egwero both inspired Team Nigeria to victories in the 4X100m Relays event sat the 2017 Warri Relays & CAA Grand Prix held yesterday at the mainbowl of the Delta State Polytechnic Ozoro.

While Okagbare led the female team to a comfortable win in a time of 43.92secs, the men were stretched by the Botswana quartet who came to Ozoro with the aim of getting a qualifying time for the World Championships in London.

The Nigeria men’s relay team returned a time of 40.17secs while Botswana finished with a time of 40.21secs.

There was more to celebrate for Nigeria in the Women’s 100 Hurdles event as U.S based Tobiloba Amusan continued her impressive run this season; winning the race in a time of 12.97secs while Grace Ayemoba finished a distant second in a time of 13.53secs and Efe Favour third in 13.63secs.

The Men’s 100m was won by

NPFL…

Egwero who clocked 10.33secs to leave the silver for Keene Motukisi in 10.41secs. Harry Chukwudike (10.47secs) finished third.

Isoken Igbinosun defeated national champions, Aniekeme Alphonsus, in the women’s 100m as she posted a time of 11.49secs. Alphonsus crossed the line in 11.51secs. Ntia Obong Mercy (11.66secs) placed third.

In the Women’s 800m, Agber Shimenge, claimed top position with a time of 2.11.29secs.

Ihekandu Philomena and Oluchi Offoma settled for 2nd and 3rd respectively with a time of 2.12.17 and 2.12.20 respectively.

In the 110 Hurdles for men, Martins Ogieriakhi who few days ago won the national title followed up with another sterling performance as he breasted the tape in a time of 13.82secs ahead of Abejoye Oyeniyi and Bashiru Abdullahi who picked second and third spot respectively.

NPFL…

Akande Counting His Blessings as Rivers Utd, Sunshine Clash Coalkeeper Abiodun Akande was originally Rivers United’s third choice goalkeeper behind Rotimi Sunday and Femi Thomas, but the former junior international has steadily wormed his way into the heart of the manager, Stanley Eguma, with brilliant outings, in recent matches.

Akande’s performance earned him man-of-the-match award against ABS as he frustrated efforts made by the home side to put the ball behind him to confirm his progress.

“I had a good game to emerge man-of-the-match at ABS. However, I am determined to

be at my best in any match I am fielded. I thank God for my progress at Rivers United,” he stated.

As Eguma prepares for today’s Match-day 30 clash against Sunshine Stars, Akande could just get the nod to continue from where he stopped at ABS. “There is nothing like former team to me as I don’t want to concede against any team,” he said.

Since exiting the continent, United defeated MFM at home and a point on the road at ABS to move to 13thposition on the log. The Eguma tutored side is unbeaten in three matches.

MMM/Lagos Karate Tourney Throws up Olympic Hopefuls The Lagos State / Mavrodi Mondial Movement (MMM) Under-18 Karate Championship ended at the weekend at the Rowe Park Sports Complex, Yaba, Lagos with Samchi Karate Academy of Lagos emerging champions.

Samchi Academy dazzled Karatekas from other states by winning 7 Gold, 5 Silver and 9 Bronze medals in the event which featured 16 categories.

The champions discovered at the event include gold medalists like; Jamal Akeem category 6 and under (male); Somelo Osielo category 7 to 8 (female); Odi Redah category 9 to 10 green belt (male); Hene Bassey category 7 to 8 green belt (female); Esther Ndukwe category 8 to 9 orange belt (female); Nwane Nnonye category 11 - 12 orange belt (female) and kumite.

Speaking after the event, winner in the under 15 category, Dauda Muba said: “I am very grateful to God for my victory. I am very passionate about karate and I want to thank the Lagos State government and MMM for giving me this opportunity.”

In the same vein, Organiser of the event and Founder of Samchi Karate Academy, Sensei Adejebe Samuel, stated that the objective of the tournament is to discover and nurture future talents.

“Today, Karate is an Olympic sport so the need to catch them young cannot be over-empahsised.

We need to start preparing them for the Olympics so that we can help them grow and win medals for the country,” remarked Samuel who is also the coordinator Japan (Nihon) Karate-Do Seikokai Suzuki-Ha Shito-Ryu Nigeria branch.

Neymar… Not available for transfer

Transfer: Barca Rejects PSG’s £190m Bid for Neymar Barcelona Vice-president, Jordi Mestre, insisted yesterday that Brazilian star Neymar will be staying in Spain despite speculations linking him with a move to Paris Saint-Germain.

Asked during a press conference if he could confirm Neymar would remain at Barca ahead of the 2017-18 season, Mestre replied: “200 percent”.

Reports in Spain have suggested PSG is looking to lure the 25-year-old to the Parc des Princes after snapping up

Neymar’s international teammate Dani Alves on a free transfer.

“PSG wants to finalise the signing of Neymar this summer”, wrote Catalan daily Sport, while the Madrid-based AS newspaper led with the headline “Neymar flirts with PSG”.

PSG is reportedly attempting to take advantage of Neymar’s desire to step out of Lionel Messi’s shadow, with the French club prepared to build a team around the Brazil forward.

“In the background of Neymar’s annoyance there’s always a concern, which has to do with his role in the team and his wish to become a leader,” wrote Sport.

“But you have to be aware that there are no shortcuts to leadership and it is something that is earned slowly, naturally and progressively,” it added.

According to Marca, PSG would be willing to stump up the 222 million euros ($256.8 million) required to trigger

Neymar’s release clause and would offer him a five-year deal worth 30-plus million euros a season.

However, a report in French sports daily L’Equipe yesterday quoted a PSG club source as saying: “We’re not going to repeat the Neymar show. There is a huge release clause and you have to be realistic.”

PSG was previously linked with Neymar only for the striker to pen a new five-year deal with Barca last October.

Organisers Name Kanu, Asare as Judges for Freestyle Football A former Super Eagles skipper, Nwankwo Kanu, is among the three judges to officiate the final of the first ever National Freestyle Football Championship in Nigeria slated for July 23 at the car park of the Ikeja City Mall.

The event being staged by Feet ‘n’ Tricks International Limited has GAC Motors, a product of Guangzhou Automobile Group Motor Company Limited and the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) as major sponsors.

Kanu was an active member of the Super Eagles from 1994 to 2010, and eventually went on to captain the senior national team of Nigeria. He has since retired from playing football.

After winning the U-17 World Cup in Japan with the Golden Eaglets in 1993, Kanu was signed on by Dutch Eredivisie AFC Ajax. He made his debut a year after and scored 25 goals in 54 appearances. He also led Nigeria’s Dream Team to win the men’s football gold at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games.

The other judge, Daniel Mikolaj, is also a former European champion who has consistently positioned himself as one of the

Top 8 freestyle football athletes in the world in the last five years.

He is the lead judge.

The third judge, Joel Asare,

represented Ghana at the Tokyo, Japan World Cup and at the Red Bull Street World finals in 2013.

The CEO of Feet n Tricks,

O’dyke Nzewi, said all arrangements have been concluded to stage a remarkable show on Sunday in Lagos.

CELEBRATING KWARA @50 WITH GOLF…

Kwara State Governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed (right), exchanging pleasantries with Business Executive, Sterling Bank Plc, Mr. Ademola Adeyemi, who represented Chairman of the bank, Asue Ighodalo, at the award ceremonies of the Kwara@50 Open Golf Competition held in Ilorin, Kwara State at the weekend

T H I S D AY WEDNESDAY JULY 19, 2017

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Wednesday July 19, 2017

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MISSILE

Senators to Presidency “Is it not contradictory that a presidency that said the EFCC chair does not need conďŹ rmation because the agency is not speciďŹ cally listed in the constitution, would send us a conďŹ rmation request for another nominee for the Director General of the National Lottery Regulatory Commission, whose proposed agency is not listed in same constitution?â€? – Senators accusing the Presidency of doublespeak on the conďŹ rmations of acting EFCC chairman, Ibrahim Magu and a nominee of the National Lottery Commission.

ISSAAREMU Bala Usman at Times Like This T GUEST COLUMNIST

he received wisdom has that it is a Chinese curse to say, “May he live in interesting times.� Interesting times are often defined as “times of danger and uncertainty� while conversely “uninteresting� times are times of uninterrupted peace and tranquillity.

Certainly all nations pass through both interesting and uninteresting times so defined. Nigeria cannot be different.

But unarguably very few countries parade citizens living in seemingly endless “interesting� times like Nigeria. What with almost a century long British colonial occupation, brutal exploitation and oppression (1861-1960)? Even much earlier, what with 16-18th centuries long inhuman Slave trade in which million Nigerians were forcibly kidnapped to the Americas to force labour on plantations?

What with a Civil (Biafran) War, (from 6 July 1967 – to 15 January 1970), between the Federal government and the secessionist state with 100,000 combatant casualties and as many as over 2 million civilian casualties? What with 30 years of military dictatorships (1966-1979) and (1983-1998), almost half the nationhood and almost twice 20 years of “democratic� rule? What with decade long economic structural adjustment (remember SAP?) with political regimentation? What with scores have communal and ethnic-religious feuds, militancy and insurgency? And endless constitutional / political debates and reports? What with mindboggling revelations of serial vertical and horizontal corruption? What about elections as wars of attritions? What with ever-predictable National Assembly versus executive wholesome confrontation and half-hearted cooperation amidst governance challenges on security, economy and fight against corruption? And what with the current political frustrations and shouting matches of unity and disunity, “restructuring� and self determination and even audacity of hysteria about disintegration in a country which witnessed avoidable civil war just 50 years ago?

Some nations certainly do have bagful of interesting issues, but Nigeria ever lives in interesting times with scores of interesting issues.

Paradoxically interesting times do throw up interesting historic figures that commendably turned adversities into national progress. Nigeria has had its fair share of historic figures, heroes and heroines of anti-colonialism, independence and democracy. Just as the country like any other nations had produced scores of rouge leaders and anti-heroes.

With so much media reportage of the rouge leaders, our interest here is to bring to the fore the fact that there was a country which indeed paraded notable leaders who symbolized dignity of labour. In an age in which leadership is becoming endangered specie and even scandalously and shamelessly synonymous with crass corruption, the point cannot be overstated until recently Nigeria had a fine tradition of popular earned leadership. Some of these great leaders include Herbert Macaulay, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Haji Gambol Sawaba, Alhaji Sir Ahmadu Bello, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Pa Michael Imoudu, Mallam Aminu Kano, Chief Anthony Enahoro, Funmilayo Ransome Kuti, Kudirat Abiola, Alhaji Balarabe Musa and Dr Yusufu Bala Usman among others. What marked Dr Yusufu Bala Usman (1945 - September 24, 2005) out was that he was a great historic participant figure as well as an academic and a leading scholar of Nigerian historiography. We are indeed living in an interesting times in which common sense is far from being common with cheap shut-down of communities and cheap quit -notices feverishly served to fellow compatriots, with even cheaper

Late Dr. Bala Usman social media proclamation of “Self determination� by misguided youths of various shades.

Obviously to be academic and seek for real knowledge in this interesting time in Nigeria is a luxury. All this negative development then raises the question; what would be the reactions of the philosopher-patriot that was Dr Bala Usman if he was alive today?

What would be the reaction of the late founder of the Centre for Democratic Development, Research and Training at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria to our collective scandalous return of the long discredited TINA mentality (There Is No Alternative-this time “Restructuring� but in the 90s SAP (Structural Adjustment Programme)?

What would be Bala Usman’s reaction to Prof.

Wole Soyinka’s band wagon seemingly uncritical new posturing that “Nigeria is negotiable� as if we have successively revisited Green-tree agreement on Bakkasi? There is no doubt that for sure, Dr Bala Usman would have audaciously taken the Centre stage to put issues in historic perspective making a passionate case for the unity of Nigeria and indeed Africa. He would have taken an exception to the recent fashionable insular shoddy analysis of a complex issue of development and good governance. He would have interrogated one-buzz word-solves-all Nigeria’s problems; “Restructuring�. He would have reminded all of the danger of the nostalgia for the old regions, the failings of which led to the old clamour for the old state’ creation. The power of memory eludes most Nigerians with the loud silence of historians. Dr Bala Usman would have gone ahead to profile the new emergency “reformers� “ re-structuralists� for

Nigerian unity is not an abstract thing existing in the minds of some people. It is not a ďŹ gment of somebody’s imagination. Like the unity of other countries, of other polities, and indeed of all communities at all levels, it is made up legal and constitutional enactments. It is made up of network of human relationships. These relationships are real

what they have always been; the wreckers of nation-building projects and warned the citizens against a renewed manipulation of religions and regions for selfish agenda.

Dr Bala would have thought outside the false box of restructuring and called for the “liberation of Nigeriaâ€? form wholesome state capture by the forces of corruption! We must revisit the brilliant historic engaging essay by the great African patriot and scholar at the sixth Bala Mohammed (his friend!) Memorial Lecture entitled; Nigeria unity and Nigeria History: the Basis of our self –determinationâ€? ably delivered at the conference Hall, Shukura Hotel, Sokoto, on the 10th July 1992. On national unity here is quotable Bala Usman, which is still relevant at times like this; “It is necessary to be very clear from the beginning as to the nature of what we are talking about here. Nigerian unity is not an abstract thing existing in the minds of some people. It is not a figment of somebody’s imagination. Like the unity of other countries, of other polities, and indeed of all communities at all levels, it is made up legal and constitutional enactments. It is made up of network of human relationships. These relationships are real. There are ecological relationships, economic relationships, social relationships, psychological relationships and political relationships. Right now, these relationships are being strained and battered by the intensity and scale of the decline in the living conditions of almost all the people lives of Nigeria, except a handful. This devastation of the lives of Nigerians is a direct result of the economic crisis the country fell into from the early eighties and particularly due to the policies of the structural Adjustment Programme imposed by the present regime, over the last six yearsâ€? r $PNSBEF "SFNV NOJ JT UIF (FOFSBM 4FDSFUBSZ PG UIF 5FYUJMF 8PSLFST 6OJPO BO BGĂ MJBUF PG UIF /JHFSJB -BCPVS $POHSFTT

Roadmap to Fiscal Restructuring Kelechi Je Eme

T

his is in response to Kayode Komolafe’s column in the THISDAY edition of June 28, 2017 entitled “The National Question and Its Perversion.�

The only route to restructuring is strict adherence to the provisions of the 1999 constitution. It could be through a constitutional amendment process initiated by the President or a National Conference backed by an Act of parliament. A sovereign Conference is not a solution but a highway to anarchy. We have entrusted our sovereignty already to the President and the National Assembly. The Jonathan’s conference was not representative of the entire political spectrum of Nigeria. My position on this is that constitutional amendment process through NASS will be cheaper, precise and also engender clarity in objective accomplishment.

Restructuring must be a gradual process that is designed to ensure stability of the polity, peaceful coexistence and economic development that is mutually beneficial to all the federating units.

The benchmark for revenue allocation should be 33% derivation, 47% for the states to be shared based on the current criteria and 20% for the

R I G H T O F R E P LY federal government.

Based on the need to avoid destabilization of the governance and to enable the federal government to thoroughly prepare the public service for the new dispensation, I suggest the maintaining following schedule in reducing its allocation: the present allocation till 2020; 40% allocation between 2020 – 2025; 30% allocation between 2025 – 2035; 25% of allocation between 2035 – 2045 and 20% of allocation permanently from 2045 Based on the need to prepare the states for economic sustainability as witnessed during the First Republic, I suggest the following schedule in increasing derivation: maintaining status quo until 2025; increasing derivation to 20% between 2025 – 2035; raising derivation to 25% between 2035 – 2040; increasing derivation to 30% between 2040 – 2045 and keeping derivation permanently at 33% from 2045 Based on the need for equity in the states, all revenue generating local government areas shall be entitled to the operating percentage of derivation from their state governments. This is based on the calibration as stated above. Example:

All the oil producing local government areas in Delta state shall be entitled to 33% (if the derivation regime is 33%) of oil derivation and this must be shared based on production levels.

All mineral-producing communities shall be entitled to 33% of derivation to local government areas. The same conditions are applicable in the relationship between the states and local governments.

VAT proceeds should from 2019 be based on 70% derivation and 30% for the federal government Important pre implementation Agreements: should include the following; r "MM GFEFSBUJOH VOJUFT M TJHOJOH BO BSUJDMF PG perpetual union prior to the implementation of the restructured parameters. r 5IF SFTUSVDUVSFE TZTUFN SFNBJOJOH JSSFWPDBCMF notwithstanding the political status of the country and r UIF USBOTJUJPOBM UJNFMJOF PG ZFBST OPU entertaining any form amendment either directly or indirectly.

I have no doubt that a focused restructuring process can take place within 25 years. Citizens of each state of the federation will have the incentive to make their state great. r .S &NF LFMFDIJ@FNF!ZBIPP DPN TFOU UIJT QJFDF GSPN . .CBJUPMJ *NP 4UBUF

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