Friday 21st July 2017

Luxembourg Bank’s Lien May Impede US Bid to Seize Aluko’s Cash Ejiofor Alike with agency report U.S. prosecutors trying to recover proceeds from an alleged $1.7 billion Nigerian fraud perpetrated by one of the directors of Atlantic Energy

Drill Concept and Atlantic Energy Brass Development Ltd (AEBD), Mr. Kolawole Akanni Aluko, may have to wait their turn.

A plum penthouse condominium in one of Manhattan’s most expensive

buildings is among the cash, real estate and luxury yacht the U.S. moved last week to seize from Aluko, whom it accuses of laundering money and bribing a foreign official. That’s where it gets complicated.

The apartment in the One57 building was scheduled to be sold at a foreclosure auction on Wednesday.

But the sale was delayed at the last minute after a new creditor claimed Aluko owes it about $83 million for gasoline

and jet fuel.

Yet as things stand now, the first and likely largest chunk of the proceeds from any condo sale won’t go to the Justice Department’s effort to claw back the allegedly illicit funds, Bloomberg reported yesterday.

It would be bound instead for Banque Havilland SA, a small Luxembourg bank that wrote a mortgage against the property shortly before Continued on page 12

Nigeria Financial Intelligence Agency Bill Passes First Reading… Page 49 Friday 21 July, 2017 Vol 22. No 8128. Price: N250

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In Ex Parte, Court Orders Seven Banks to Remit $793.2m to TSA, Banks Deny Davidson Iriekpen and Obinna Chima Ten months after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) suspended nine commercial banks from trading in the interbank foreign exchange (IFEX) market for failing to remit a total of $2.33 billion belonging to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation/

Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas Company to the federal government’s Treasury Single Account (TSA), a Federal High Court in Lagos yesterday ordered seven of the banks to temporarily remit a total of $793.2 million allegedly still domiciled with them in contravention of the TSA policy.

Continued on page 10

Restructuring: Govs Constitute Panel on State Police, Others IG: Country not ripe for decentralised policing Omololu Ogunmade in Abuja with agency report As the clamour for the restructuring of the country continues, governors on the platform of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) yesterday in Abuja constituted a committee to interface with the Nigeria Police on crucial security matters such as state police.

Rising from a meeting held at the old Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa and attended by the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, the governors mandated the committee to explore issues bordering on challenges confronting both the police and policing in the country.

Continued on page 10

Appeal Court Reverses TAKING IN THE SIGHTS AND SOUNDS OF OSUN… State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode (middle), with his Osun and Oyo State counterparts, Rauf Aregbesola Sentencing, Acquits Ngilari…Page 12 Lagos (left) and Senator Abiola Ajimobi, when the trio were being bussed around on an inspection tour during Ambode’s visit to Osun State… yesterday

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NEC Begins Consideration of 2018-2020 MTEF Wants 50% of FG’s share of ecological fund reserved for emergencies Omololu Ogunmade in Abuja In line with the federal government and National Assembly’s recent resolution to return to the JanuaryDecember budget cycle, the National Executive Council (NEC) yesterday began consideration of the 20182020 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP).

MTEF and FSP provide the medium-term framework for the federal government’s financial projections for the next three fiscal years.

Components of the document usually include the exchange rate, inflation rate, oil benchmark, revenue target, review of the previous year’s expenditure and revenue performance, as well as the global economic outlook.

At its monthly meeting held at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, the

Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udo Udoma, briefed NEC on the need to return the budget cycle to the January-December calendar year, submitting that the 2018-2020 MTEF would be anchored on the recently launched Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP).

Highlighting factors that will influence projections in the proposed document, Udoma said the current global economic outlook shows that the country was expected to grow, even though there are some challenges that may negatively impede the expected growth between 2018 and 2020.

He listed factors such as policy changes in the United States, Britain’s exit from the European Union (EU), climate change, oil price fluctuations as some of the uncertainties confronting the global economy, but assured his audience that despite the downward slide

in oil prices, Nigeria was already exiting the recession.

Udoma who also said the non-oil sector was growing, disclosed that recovery was being witnessed in some sectors of the economy including manufacturing, agriculture and services, adding that efforts made to achieve peace in the Niger Delta were producing results.

He added that the key objectives and execution priorities of the ERGP would return the country on the path of growth.

In his presentation, the governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasiru el-Rufai, said the Committee on Ecological Fund chaired by him, submitted its final report to the council with recommendations which among others, stated that henceforth, 50 per cent of the federal government’s share of the ecological fund or N20 billion must be reserved for emergencies based on the president’s discretion.

He said the committee also recommended that monitoring and evaluation strategies must be built into the application of the ecological fund to serve as a roadmap for measuring the performance of the fund, adding that a team that will review the report of the disbursement of funds must be put in place.

Other recommendations as highlighted by the governor included publicity on ecological disasters with a view to creating awareness and consciousness in the citizenry to avoid a future occurrence of a particular disaster.

He also harped on the committee’s recommendation that the disbursement of funds must be dictated by certain criteria such as visitation by the Ecological Office to the affected area for on-thespot-assessment, verification of an ecological disaster, technical evaluation of the disaster by experts,

community involvement, evidence of advocacy, evidence of existing prompt response, and existence of emergency response mechanism before the disaster.

Also, the Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, said the Implementation Monitoring Committee (IMS) that she chaired to monitor the implementation of the 71 resolutions reached in the last NEC retreat, noted the challenges of rural banking.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and participant banks, she said, should be tasked to find innovative, efficient and sustainable means of handling bank verification number (BVN) registration and other non-traditional banking services for informal groups as part of their financial inclusion strategies.

Following the presentation of a

memo to the council by the Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu on the need for harmonisation of “the right of way charges” on telecommunications and related public utility infrastructure by local governments, states and federal highways, the council mandated the minister to liaise with the states and relevant stakeholders for smooth implementation of the right of way levies, noting that the tiers of government currently charge different rates.

Finally, the council was briefed by the Accountant General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris on balances in different Federation Accounts as of July 19, 2017.

The balances were: Excess Crude Account (ECA) – $2.303 billion; Ecological Fund Account – N27.466 billion; Stabilisation Account – N2.553 billion; and Development of Natural Resources Account – N77.922 billion.

“The state governments are doing well, they are trying to bring communities closer and I think it takes a long time but by and large, with the cooperation of community members and all the security agencies we have met to synergise,” he said.

The IG, however, expressed his reservation about a decentralised police force, saying Nigeria was not ripe for state police.

Instead, he said the country should improve funding for the police under the current arrangement.

Idris, who also claimed that he was not unaware of the agitations by some groups for the creation of state police, argued that the federal police arrangement remained the best, reported the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

“I sincerely believe that the federal police is still the best for the country and with improved funding the challenges of crime will be addressed.

“Those agitating for state police should consider the level of our political maturity,” he said, according

to a statement by police spokesman, Jimoh Moshood.

Moshood said the IG held the meeting with the governors to solicit their support for the passage of the Nigeria Police Trust Fund Bill before the National Assembly.

He said if the bill is passed, the police would have improved funding to effectively police the nation.

He informed the governors that that with the current ratio of 1:602 the Nigeria Police was operating far below the United Nation’s recommended ratio for effective policing.

“About 10,000 police officers were recruited recently to fill the gap but this is still a far cry.

“To meet the UN ratio of 1:400, the Nigeria Police requires an additional 155,000 police officers over the next five years,” Idris was quoted to have informed the governors.

The IG also reportedly told them that a request to recruit 31,000 policemen had been sent to President Muhammadu Buhari for approval.

interest of the general public.”

A senior executive of UBA who preferred not to be named, also said the bank did not have hidden federal government funds and had complied with the TSA policy.

He said: “If you recall, last August, we were the first bank to refund NNPC/NLNG funds domiciled with us. We do not understand where this is coming from, but we will contact the federal government to get to the bottom of this case.”

Last August, the CBN had suspended UBA ($530 million), FirstBank ($469 million), Diamond Bank ($287 million), Sterling Bank ($269 million), Skye Bank ($221 million), Fidelity Bank ($209 million), Keystone Bank ($139 million), FCMB ($125 million) and Heritage Bank ($85.5 million) from the FX market for not remitting a total of $2.33 billion belonging to NNPC/NLNG to the TSA, stating that they would only be readmitted after they had remitted the funds.

However, UBA was readmitted to the market the next day after the suspension was announced, having complied with the directive.

Though the remaining eight banks had started to remit some of the funds domiciled with them, the CBN about a week later readmitted all of them into the FX market, in order to avert a crisis in the financial system.

It also gave the banks till March this year to remit all the NNPC/

NLNG funds in their custody.

A CBN source informed THISDAY yesterday that some of the banks failed to meet the March deadline and were still remitting the dollar deposits gradually to the TSA. He, however, declined to disclose the names of the banks that had not finished remitting the dollar deposits still domiciled with them.

It was uncertain if the outstanding dollar deposits not yet remitted by the banks formed part of the $793.2 million mentioned in the court processes yesterday.

RESTRUCTURING: GOVS CONSTITUTE PANEL ON STATE POLICE, OTHERS Members of the committee who were drawn from the six geo-political zones of the country were: Rochas Okorocha (Imo), Ayodele Fayose (Ekiti), Ifeanyi Okowa (Delta), Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara), Mohammed Abubakar (Bauchi) and Ahmed Tambuwal (Sokoto).

Briefing newsmen at the end of the meeting, Yari said presentations by the IG dominated discussions in the forum, saying Idris sought the governors’ support for technologydriven policing and also made a strong case for the establishment of media outfits by the Nigeria Police.

He said the IG also expressed concern over insufficient funding for police operations, adding that he equally sought the support of both the NGF and the National Assembly on legislation on the Police Trust Fund that is currently before the legislature.

According to Yari, the NGF committee will collaborate with another committee set up by the Nigeria Police on security matters,

affirming that the findings and recommendations of both committees will eventually be presented to Acting President Yemi Osinbajo for consideration.

“We discussed and received a presentation from the Inspector General of Police. He made a presentation to us canvassing for support to introduce media outfits, radio and television for the force, and for a technology-driven police force.

“The Inspector General of Police dominated the whole of our discussions today, briefing us on the issue of policing in the system. He said in some other nations, they have one policeman for every 10 persons in a community, but in Nigeria, we have one to 602 persons, while the United Nations recommends a policing ratio of one policeman to every 400 persons “So the Nigeria Police have difficulties with funding and they are poorly paid, which we agreed that with the way things are going in the budgeting process, we will

not be able to fund police.

“The Inspector General of Police also briefed us that there is the Trust Fund Bill which is before the National Assembly and asked for our support and members of the National Assembly, especially the House of Representatives, to get it passed in order to improve funding.

“On our own part, we have put a committee in place. It has the governors of Kwara, Imo, Delta, Ekiti, Bauchi and Sokoto States to lead the committee so that they can interface with the committee of the police and take the matter before the acting president for further action.

“It is important for our nation because there is the issue of state police that is being discussed, so we shall come up with options which we expect that the committee will find a safe way of policing in Nigeria,” Yari said.

In his briefing, Idris said the security challenges ravaging the country dominated deliberations at the meeting, noting that security

matters require the collective cooperation and support of all.

He described the acting president’s order yesterday for the reinforcement of security forces in Southern Kaduna as a normal procedure in security situations, emphasising that the involvement of citizens in security matters was crucial to achieving safety across the country.

“In our efforts to address some of the challenges in the police, we had a fruitful discussion with them (governors) and obviously, all of them are concerned about security in some parts of the country, virtually in all parts of the country.

“They are ready to support the Police Force to see how we can address some of the challenges.

Obviously, it is a normal procedure when we have challenges we normally reinforce.

“Having insecurity all over the country requires the participation of every citizen of this country. We have to put our heads together to address all the security challenges.

IN EX PARTE, COURT ORDERS SEVEN BANKS TO REMIT $793.2M TO TSA, BANKS DENY Justice Chuka Obiozor ordered the seven banks – Diamond Bank, United Bank for Africa (UBA), FirstBank, Skye Bank, Fidelity Bank, Sterling Bank and the defunct Keystone Bank (acquired by Heritage Bank) – to remit the various amounts allegedly kept “illegally in their custody” to the designated federal government asset recovery dollar account domiciled with the CBN. According to the court papers filed by counsel for the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Prof. Yemi Akinseye-George (SAN), a total of $367.4 million was illegally hidden by three government agencies in UBA, while the sum of $41 million was illegally kept in a National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMs) fixed deposit account with Skye Bank.

The court papers further stated that $277.9 million was hidden in Diamond Bank; $18.9 million in FirstBank; $24.5 million in Fidelity Bank; $17 million in Keystone Bank; and $46.5 million in Sterling Bank.

A lawyer from Akinseye-George’s law firm, Vincent Adodo, who deposed to a 15-paragraph affidavit in support of an ex parte application filed by the AGF, stated that seven banks colluded with the federal government officials to hide the funds in breach of the government’s TSA policy.

The funds, he said, were revenues, donations, transfers, refunds, grants,

taxes, fees, dues, tariffs, etc., accruable to the federal government from different ministries, departments, parastatals and agencies.

Adodo said the banks had failed to remit the funds to the TSA domiciled in the CBN, in violation of the guidelines issued by the Accountant General of the Federation which fixed September 15, 2015 as the deadline for such funds to be moved.

He said: “The 1st to 7th respondents (banks), in collaboration with and/or collusion with unknown officials of the federal government, conspired to disobey the relevant constitutional provisions, thereby depriving the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria of funds belonging to it, which are needed urgently to fund pressing national projects under the 2017 budget.”

Among the allegedly culpable government agencies include the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), the exploration and production subsidiary of NNPC. Moving the ex parte application yesterday, Akinseye-George said it would best serve the interest of justice for Justice Obiozor to order the banks to remit the funds to the federal government to prevent the funds from being moved or dissipated.

“The withheld funds are urgently required for the implementation of the 2017 budget. The budget has a lifespan of 12 months and we are already in the middle of the year.

“By hiding these funds, the federal government is being forced to borrow money from these commercial banks at high-interest rates,” AkinseyeGeorge added.

After listening to the counsel, Justice Obiozor granted the interim order.

He directed that the order should be published in a national daily newspaper.

He also adjourned till August 8, 2017 for anyone interested in the funds to appear before him to show cause why the interim order should not be made permanent.

Reacting to the order, Fidelity Bank said yesterday that since the commencement of the TSA, it had complied with the policy and did not have the sum of $24.5 million belonging to a government agency domiciled with it.

In a statement by its spokesman, Mr. Charles Aigbe, the bank said: “Our attention has been drawn to media reports stating that Fidelity Bank illegally concealed $24.5 million in contravention of the Federal Government’s Treasury Single Account (TSA) policy, citing court papers filed by the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation at the Federal High Court in Lagos today (yesterday).

“Please note that at the commencement of the TSA policy, all TSA related accounts held by the bank were fully disclosed to the authorities. We do not have any TSA

related account with a balance of $24.5m in Fidelity Bank which has not been remitted to the authorities.

“This matter is coming to us as a surprise. We are therefore reaching out to the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation to ascertain which account or parastatal they are referring to with a view to carrying out a detailed reconciliation.”

Also, Sterling Bank, in a statement by its Chief Marketing Officer, Henry Bassey, said: Our attention has been drawn to an order by the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos on Thursday 20th July 2017, mandating Sterling Bank Plc to remit the sum of US$46.5 million to a designated Federal Government Asset Recovery Account with the Central Bank of Nigeria.

“The sum in question supposedly represents undisclosed qualifying funds under the Federal Government’s Treasury Single Account (TSA) policy illegally kept by the National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS) and Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC).

“We wish to state unequivocally that Sterling Bank does not hold any sum in any currency as a deposit from either of these entities.

“We have therefore written formally to the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (AGF) demanding a clarification of this claim and a correction in the

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Appeal Court Reverses Sentencing, Acquits Ngilari Daji Sani in Yola Despite his mysterious release from prison before he was granted bail, an Appeal Court sitting in Yola yesterday set aside the judgment of Justice Nathan Musa of the Yola High Court, which had sentenced the former governor of Adamawa State, Mr. Bala James Ngilari to five years imprisonment without the option of a fine.

Last March, the state High Court had convicted the former governor of fraud. The court held that he violated the procurement law in the purchase of 25 units of vehicles worth N167 million.

He was then sentenced to five years imprisonment, but

with an option of choosing any prison, he wanted to be kept in.

After his conviction, he spent only a few weeks in jail and was released even before the prison authorities could get the court order for his bail.

He was subsequently granted bail on health grounds.

But the presiding judge of the Appeal Court, Justice Olayemi Folashade Omoleye, yesterday discharged and acquitted Ngilari on the grounds that he was not a procurement entity, as the trial court averred in its earlier judgment.

The former governor, along with the former Secretary to

Ngilari

the State Government, Ibrahim Andrew Welye, and former Finance Commissioner, Mr. Sanda Lamude, had been arraigned by the Economic

and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for awarding contracts without following due process.

They were accused of

criminal conspiracy, contrary to Section 8 of the Penal Code.

Speaking shortly after the judgment, counsel to the former governor, Obed Wadzani, pointed out that the charges preferred against Ngilari were based on the state procurement law and the charges did not state the offences he had committed. “Ngilari as at the time he awarded the contract for the purchase of the said vehicles was a sitting governor, and the governor is a public officer. “But the Court of Appeal ruled that the state procurement law did not envisage a public officer for ministries and a procurement department, nor a sitting governor,� he added.

In another development, the Adamawa State Government yesterday dissolved the management and Governing Council of the Adamawa State University (ADSU) in Mubi.

This was contained in a press statement signed by the Commissioner of Information and Strategy, Ahmad Sajoh, who stated that the decision was taken at the weekly Executive Council meeting, and was based on the recommendation of the visitation panel.

According to the statement, the Commissioner of Education, Prof. Kalepwa Farauta has been appointed as acting vice chancellor to stabilise the university.

Despite Relative Peace, Oil Thieves Continue to Suppress Nigeria’s Oil Output The Agbada 2 flow station should have been buzzing with activity, pumping crude to one of Nigeria’s largest export terminals. Instead, it was idle in the muggy, mid-morning heat as Wilcox Emmanuel, the facility’s manager, shrugged in resignation about the thieves who’d shut him down.

As much as 30 percent of the oil sent by pipelines through the swampy Niger Delta River is stolen, consultant Wood Mackenzie Ltd. estimates.

That’s depriving the country of income amid a crippling recession and compounding the pain of a global price slump for Africa’s largest producer.

At Agbada, the wells dotting the surrounding forests had been closed for three weeks following a pipeline leak that was probably deliberate. “Who knows when we’ll be back up?� Emmanuel asked.

The 60,000-barrel-a-day flow station, owned by Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s Nigerian unit and idle for most of June, illustrates the nation’s struggle to restore deliveries of its most vital resource. Even after the

government quelled a militant uprising that sent production to a 30-year low last August, smaller-scale sabotage caused by people trying to steal oil remains rife.

Companies are using surveillance helicopters equipped with infrared cameras every day. They’re also experimenting with drones and cages on wellheads rigged with alarms. But nothing seems to fix the problem. “We’re trying all sorts of things, you wouldn’t believe it,� Igo Weli, a manager at Shell, said in Port Harcourt, Nigeria’s oil capital. “But how do you protect thousands of kilometers of pipelines against people who are out to sabotage them?�

While Nigeria’s output has risen more than 20 percent since August to almost 1.8 million barrels a day amid a fragile peace with militants, the continual disruption blighting the impoverished delta region threatens plans to exceed 2 million a day, according to Wood Mackenzie. Much of the stolen oil is processed in

makeshift, illegal refineries, while more organized thieves load tankers for export. “It’s constant,� said Gail Anderson, a WoodMac researcher in Edinburgh. “It’s a big amount of crude being stolen. Nigeria is selling much less oil on the international market than what is coming out of the ground.�

Damage caused by theft, in terms of lost output and pollution, can be just as severe as from the armed attacks and bombings by rebels, which last year knocked out terminals including Shell’s Forcados and Qua Iboe, run by Exxon Mobil Corp.

The leak on the pipeline taking Agbada’s crude to the Bonny export terminal in the Gulf of Guinea forced Shell to declare force majeure, a legal clause allowing it to miss deliveries. It also hurts production of gas, which flows out of the wells with the oil.

Supplies to Nigeria’s liquefied natural gas plant at Bonny fell 10 percent during the outage, according to its head of production, Tayo Oginni.

The company where Oginni works, Nigeria LNG Ltd., has looked at gas transport options other than pipelines, given their vulnerability, but so far hasn’t found an affordable alternative, he said.

Nigeria LNG is a joint venture between Shell, Total SA, Eni SpA and the state oil company, Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

Eni’s Nigerian subsidiary constantly patrols pipelines and wellheads and will typically shut them down upon spotting any vandalism, it said in a statement.

Though the oil producers are stepping up surveillance, it’s an arduous task in an area the size of West Virginia where 5,000 wells nestle among swamps and creeks. When the companies see thieves at work, they have to rely on Nigeria’s military to catch them.

Better policing and government efforts to engage with communities have helped. In February, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo visited oil states, meeting

representatives of militant and community groups and pledging to address grievances over poor infrastructure and a lack of jobs. The administration is desperate to ramp up production to revive growth in an economy that relies on oil and gas for almost all export earnings.

Though it’s a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, Nigeria was spared a production cap by the group last year as it worked to restore lost output.

That exemption might not last if it can stabilize supply, fellow member Kuwait said this month. Nigeria may argue that persistent theft, estimated by think-tank Chatham House to take out 100,000 barrels a day -- or $5 million at today’s price of around $50 a barrel -- continues to hurt the industry.

On top of that is the cost of clearing up the pollution from pipe ruptures. A 2011 UN study found that such an undertaking at Ogoni, just south of Port Harcourt, could exceed $1 billion and

take 30 years. That’s helped spur the authorities to take action, according to Shell. “The government is more awake,� Weli said. “It realizes how important this is -- $1 billion spent cleaning up oil spills could go to schools or hospitals.�

President Muhammadu Buhari, like successive leaders before him, has vowed to stamp out assaults on oil infrastructure. But that will be hard as long as locals feel they benefit little from living in Africa’s most prolific oil patch -- around half the Delta's 33 million people survive on less than $2 a day. Last week, Shell again declared force majeure on Bonny exports because of a leak on another pipeline running to the terminal.

The region “has precious little to show for the oil it’s produced,� said Anderson of Wood Mackenzie. “Sabotage won’t go away until there’s some kind of economic and social transformation. It’s an ongoing battle,� he pointed out. r $VMMFE GSPN #MPPNCFSH

started the bank in 2009, when the governments of Luxembourg and Belgium lent him 320 million euros to keep part of Iceland’s failing Kaupthing Bank going, according to a European Union statement from the time.

Rowland’s fund also invested 50 million euros in capital.

The bank has grown under Rowland and it now has offices in Monaco, Liechtenstein, Dubai, Geneva, Zurich, the Bahamas, London and Moscow, according to its website.

It shares a name with his mansion in Guernsey. Multiple attempts to reach members of the Rowland family through the bank received no response.

The U.S. prosecutors may yet recover much of the amount they identified. Apart from three Manhattan apartments, including the One57 property, they said they would go after the 65-meter Galactica Star yacht, two properties in Santa Barbara county and all rights held by a another company registered in the British Virgin Islands.

In 2010, Aluko and Omokokore’s firms had entered into a Strategic Alliance Agreement (SAA) with the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NNPC), the exploration and production subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to fund some oil blocks held by NPDC. The deal, which was approved

by Alison-Madueke and then the managing director of NPDC, saw AEDC and AEBD – Aluko and Omokore’s firms – lifting crude oil under a sharing arrangement with NPDC, which they allegedly diverted to the tune of $1.7 billion.

In addition to the spending spree on expensive real estate in and outside Nigeria, the super yacht, luxury cars and airplanes, part of the proceeds that should have been paid to the Nigerian government’s coffers were alleged to have been spent buying furniture, jewelry and art worth $4 million for Alison-Madueke.

ËŞ

ËŞ public disclosures emerged that international law enforcement agencies were investigating the owner and his associates.

Aluko wired about $49 million for the apartment and registered it in 2014 in the name of a shell company he controlled, according to court documents.

If that ownership structure had stayed in place, the U.S. could have sought to claim the property outright.

But in September 2015, Aluko’s shell company took out a $35.3 million mortgage from Banque Havilland, guaranteed by the condominium, in exchange for a 25 million euro ($28 million) loan, according to the mortgage document. What Aluko did with the money he borrowed remains unclear.

Tokunbo Jaiye-Agoro, who has represented Aluko in the Nigerian court case, didn’t respond to multiple messages left with his secretary at his office in Lagos.

The U.S. has accused Aluko and his partner, Mr.

Jide Omokore, of laundering the spoils from bribes paid for Nigerian oil contracts, notably by buying assets such as apartments in New York and a super yacht. Aluko hasn’t responded in the U.S. court proceeding. “It seems likely that the assets won’t be Aluko’s for much longer, what is less clear is who gets what after that,� Daniel Hall, an expert in financial crime investigations and a director at Burford Capital, which provides litigation financing, wrote in an email. Burford isn’t involved in this case. “The U.S. authorities will want to scrutinise the diligence conducted by these creditors before they contracted with Aluko.�

The full payment of the loan was due a year after the mortgage was written, foreclosure filings in New York State Supreme Court show. The payment wasn’t made, according to the documents.

Banque Havilland started a foreclosure action in January,

which Aluko’s shell company didn’t oppose, and got a New York Supreme Court judgment allowing the action in May. The U.S. is seeking only funds left over after the bank is paid off, along with any taxes or other assessments owed on the condominium, according to the filing in district court in Houston.

The U.S. hasn’t accused Banque Havilland of any wrongdoing. Officials at the bank didn’t respond to emails and phone calls requesting comment.

Shortly after Aluko’s mortgage was filed, the U.K. asked Switzerland, where Aluko had his residence, to help their investigation into the Nigerian.

In October 2015, British police arrested and then released on bail Diezani Alison-Madueke, the former Minister of Petroleum Resouces, Aluko is alleged by the U.S. to have bribed, on suspicion of bribery and money laundering, a spokesman for the Nigerian government said

at the time.

In April, Alison-Madueke was charged in a separate case in a Nigerian court with violating anti-money laundering laws.

She was described in the charge as being “still at large�.

Alison-Madueke’s lawyer, Oscar Onwudiwe, didn’t return calls to his mobile phone seeking comment.

The U.S. may choose to take a closer look at the timing of the mortgage, said Howard Sharp, the former solicitor general of Jersey. “One issue for investigators to carefully consider is whether these events constitute money laundering intended to frustrate an anticipated confiscation order or civil asset recovery proceedings in the USA,� he said, referring to Aluko.

Banque Havilland is controlled by the family of U.K. Conservative party donor and businessman David Rowland, its website and annual report show.

A fund controlled by Rowland

T H I S D AY FRIDAY JULY 21, 2017

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T H I S D AY FRIDAY JULY 21, 2017

COMMENT

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

A REFRESHING DOSE OF HONESTY Hadiza Bala Usman is making the NPA a better place, writes Oladele Oloyede

M

ore out of curiosity, I chose to watch Television Continental’s TVC Breakfast‘s interview with Hadiza Bala Usman, Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) on Friday, July 14.

Candidly, I have never been a fan of Hadiza and her petite but almighty godfather, Governor Nasir el-Rufai. When she was appointed, I, like many other Nigerians did not see what qualification the young lady, who is said not to have held any significant responsibility out of the el-Rufai circle all her working life, possessed to manage an all-important institution like the Nigerian Ports Authority.

This particular appointment to an agency which superintends over facilities where about 75 per cent of the nation’s imports berth seemed like a long stretch from President Muhammadu Buhari, who I did not only support to become President but still hold in the highest possible esteem.

But learning that she would be a guest on TVC Breakfast, I chose to see how much the political patronage that brought her into office would have helped her achieve. I am glad I saw the interview and humble enough to confess that I have been wrong about Ms Bala Usman.

What I found most compelling about the interview is how much the lady seemed to be in full understanding of her duties at the ports within such a short time. She called maritime and shipping terms without notes or effort and spoke with conviction about all of the reforms that she has embarked on.

Apparently, privy to the forthrightness of Hadiza Bala Usman, President Buhari was convinced that he could go to sleep having someone like her at the helms in a strategic organisation like the NPA. This was easily revealed as she answered the first question about what her priorities have been.

She mentioned there things namely: Revising a lot of third party agreements that were skewed in favour of the third party against the interest of Nigeria and the citizenry; entrenching transparency in the operations of the authority towards demystifying the processes of government and removing the patronage of government officials and defining a workable debt recovery mechanism.

As the interview progressed, a question came up which seemed to have addressed the point about revisiting some of the agreements that have been entered into on behalf of the NPA in the past. She spoke about the designation of some of the port terminals as exclusive recipients of oil and gas cargoes and a recent presidential approval that breaks such monopolies. Nigerians interested in the maritime sector would have read reports about a dispute between the NPA and Intels Nigeria Limited and all of its alleged political motivation.

Speculations have been rife that the decision of the Buhari administration to reverse this monopoly was an attack on the political ambition of former Vice- President Atiku Abubakar, who is a shareholder in Intels. But the NPA managing director said there was no such sentiment in the policy announced by the federal government. She explained that the policy was geared at ultimately giving cargo owners the freedom to decide where their cargo should berth irrespective of what their products may be. She explained that the initial concessioning agreements did not contemplate the monopoly and that the reversal was in the interest of the country.

It was good to know that the NPA under Hadiza Bala Usman is spearheading the renovation of access roads to the Lagos Ports and other ports across the country. When news broke about the intervention of the

IT WAS GOOD TO KNOW THAT THE NPA UNDER HADIZA BALA USMAN IS SPEARHEADING THE RENOVATION OF ACCESS ROADS TO THE LAGOS PORTS AND OTHER PORTS ACROSS THE COUNTRY

Dangote conglomerate on the access roads to the Lagos Port a couple of weeks back, it looked like it was a project entirely sponsored by the billionaire businessman and his company but this interview changed my perception.

The NPA, realising the importance of road infrastructure to its operations actually contributed the sum of N1.8b to the total overhaul of access roads to the Lagos ports. Bala Usman also showed the presence of mind about the need to provide alternative routes while construction is going on and the need to make these alternative routes navigable before they are put into use.

She spoke about having drawn the attention of the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and House to the importance of intervening in the reconstruction of the bridge that links the Calabar Ports to the North Central and North Eastern Part of the country. This, in addition to conscious efforts to develop intermodal transportation systems across the country, will, according to her, encourage more people to use the sea ports in the country as against the growing preference for neighbouring West African countries.

She appeared committed to improving operational efficiency at the ports. She spoke about the single interface examination which was scheduled to take off on July 18, the collaboration with the Nigerian Customs and Excise to deploy scanners that will eradicate human interactions with the dual purpose of improving efficiency and dealing with inducement of operational staff of agencies of government as well as efforts to make 24-hour operations, which is already on at the Lagos Ports safe for all stakeholders.

At the end of her five year tenure, Hadiza Bala Usman said she would love to have instituted two things at the organisation. The first is a culture of transparency in which the books of the NPA would be open to anyone who desires to see them and a culture of operational efficiency that will elevate ports in Nigeria far above any other around in the region.

The greatest take away for me is that there is really hope for Nigeria in the quality of her youths. Even if this young lady had no idea what she was going to be dealing with at the NPA, she acquitted herself as a serious minded and honest human being who had acquired so much knowledge within the few months that she has spent at the head of the organisation.

It was good to hear her dare vested interests with these words: “There have been circumstances where people have threatened me but I confronted them and made them understand that I cannot be intimidated by anyone.” However, this young lady must know that in the political space in Nigeria, your greatest enemies are a lot of times those who are closest to you. She must not get carried away watching her back from being stabbed by obvious enemies but succumb to the selfish interests of political merchants who may want to use her for their own selfish gains.

Until now, Nigeria has suffered from weight of the compromises that political patronage bring on our systems. Hadiza Bala Usman presents the hope that the Nigerian youth is able to put an end to this unproductive tendency, but that will have nothing to do with the momentary success that she has made of this one year. It is only by remaining focused and committed to all the ideals she is currently professing that ultimate success can be guaranteed. One can only wish her the best in the interest of our dear country.

NIGERIA: THE LAST OPTION

Godwin Etakibuebu argues that a negotiated restructuring is best for Nigeria

L

ast week we succeeded in pointing out a few out several operational maladies in today’s Nigeria as result of corrupted federalism and which justify urgent need to restructure the federation. Whatever was the fact of restructuring earlier enumerated was solidly anchored on a peaceful exercise of Option one, which remains a “clarion call to all meaningful Nigerians to arise in abolishing this distorted and disjointed system of government by reverting to status quo ante, albeit fiscal federalism, as we got it from our founding fathers.

Today is being devoted to considering two more options, starting with option two, which was introduced last week: negotiating unity in a restructured state. The beauty of this option is the novelty and uniqueness around it. I must admit that I cannot point to any particular country which developed its structure strictly in the manner l am about to recommend but of course, there are templates here and there around the globe that we can draw inspiration from.

The United States of America comes as first among equals of those countries that could give us the needed inspiration in a way and manner we can restructure without bitterness, rancour, hatred and even bloodshed.

We shall be looking at countries like Switzerland, Libya [before Western’s demo-

cratic madness eroded the integrity of that unique land of prosperity], Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia. What is the meaning of negotiating unity in a restructured states/ nation federated format?

It is my understanding of restructuring Nigeria along the present 36 States with the Federal Capital Territory, without falling back on the unconstitutional six geo-political zones of North/East, North/West, North/ Central, South/West, South/South and South/East. Neither do we need the old four regional structures of North, West, East or Mid-West to bring this novelty into being.

My proposal is simple for implementation once it is agreed upon, but we need two things first for its operational functionality.

The first thing that must be done is elimination of the 1999 constitution because that document remains the biggest fraud committed against the people of this great country of more than 180 million by less than 30 gangster-members of a military junta. The preamble of the [1999] constitution says that “We; people of Nigeria”, and there was no time that Nigerians were brought together to discuss that document, except that 28 uniformed men forced this document on Nigerians with all its atrocious anomalies.

The late legal luminary, Rotimi Williams [popularly known as Timi the Law] was the first Nigerian to point out the fraud that the 1999 constitution is made of, and

he [Rotimi Williams] was clear that “until this constitution is replaced with another one that Nigerians shall produce Nigerian would remain unconstitutional”. We need the peoples’ constitution, in whatever type of restructuring and reformation we shall be adopting. Failure to adopt a new [peoples] constitution is to accept the path of perfidy in total disintegration through bloodbath that shall consign Nigeria into the dustbin of history.

The second thing to be done is to use the instrumentality of the new constitution, being advocated, to increase the present South/East from five to seven states while increasing the South/South, South/West, North/Central and North/East from present six to seven states each to equal the North/ West which has seven states as of now.

Again, using the new anticipated constitution, Nigeria would be having total of 43 states and each of these new states would have autonomy in all things, in the manner of a fiscal federated systems of government, except in three things namely: currency, defence and foreign policy. The new constitution being advocated would lay the foundation for these states to come together to form a United States of Nigeria, the same manner the United States of America was formed. I am of the candid opinion that as long as coming into this union by the states would be voluntary, in the language of the

[new] constitution, there will be no state that shall be disadvantaged, either by small/large population or size of geographical piece of land.

For example the State of Maryland in the USA has a population of 6.006 million, Virginia 8.385 million, Kansas 2.912 million, Arkansas 2.978 million, Texas 27.47 million, Washington 7.17 million and Delaware 945,934 [not up to a million], going by the 2015 census of that country. The most important thing about this novelty is that each and all the states of Nigeria [then], as it is in the United States of America, would have control over their resources. Let us not deceive ourselves: every state in present day Nigeria has a resource to control. There are some countries of the world that control and export religion and similar things!

Let us try this as the second option or alternative to the first option of restoring fiscal federalism as we got it from our founding fathers.

The third option will be too dreadful that I am opting out of discussing it. May God never allow us to get there because it was the Yugoslavia’s option. It led into a catastrophic bloodbath, in a nationalistic war of survival, with millions of people dead, and the country breaking into pieces of five countries. God forbid that for us.

Etakibuebu, a veteran journalist, wrote from Lagos

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EDITORIAL LESSONS FROM OSUN SENATORIAL ELECTION There will always be consequences for toying with people’s will

O

tunba Ademola Adeleke was sworn in penultimate Tuesday as the senator representing Osun West in the National Assembly after the bye-election to replace his late elder brother, Senator Isiaka Adeleke. Even though the power struggle was intense, seldom had an election been so peaceful and a victory so decisive in our country in recent memory. There were hardly reports of violence or ballot snatching, as in the past. And in all the 10 local councils except one, the main opposition party in the state, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) won hands down. Instructively, the Osun State Governor, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola congratulated the winner, saying that the “people of Osun have spoken� and that “democracy has won and we respect the people’s choice�.

Indeed, the success of the entire exercise was more a triumph of the people’s will and determination and steps taken by the umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission NIGERIAN PEOPLE ARE (INEC) to see that the BEING GRADUALLY election was conductEMPOWERED TO USE ed in orderly fashion.

THEIR VOTES TO SEND Observers and most CLEAR SIGNALS independent analysts were impressed with the turn out of the people and the manner the electoral body conducted the poll. Election materials arrived polling booths on time. INEC staffers were also responsive. Despite the large turnout of voters, accreditation and the voting exercise were conducted without hitches.

Even Otunba Mudashir Hussein, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate who lost the election could not hide his admiration because of the transparent process. “If elections are conducted like this, it means democracy has reached advanced stage in Nigeria,� he said. Besides, the votes of the electorate were not only counted, they also counted. If the conduct of the election is therefore any yardstick

Letters to the Editor

of INEC preparedness, then it could be said that the electoral body is gradually living up to its responsibility as an independent, credible and unbiased umpire.

The security agencies also lived up to their billing by ensuring that there was no breach of the peace.

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hile we congratulate the winner, Senator Adeleke, and Governor Aregbesola for creating a level playing ďŹ eld for the contestants, it is very pertinent to take stock of what transpired in the course of the election and its aftermath so we can draw some useful lessons. There was no doubt that Adeleke’s landslide victory in the election could partly be attributed to sympathy votes as well as the huge support base of his late brother. Ironically, however, the massive votes would have been for the APC and its candidate if there were no manipulations at the party’s primaries.

It is on record that Adeleke wanted to use the APC political platform to contest the election since his late brother was a member of the ruling party. But he was denied the ticket and had to defect to the PDP only a few days to the election. In thus returning the opposition to power in Osun West, the people are sending a clear message to the ruling party, the APC, that there will always be consequences when you toy with their will.

On the face of it, the defeat of the APC senatorial candidate seemed perverse. The Aregbesola government actually started on a very promising note through enlightened social policies and programmes boosted by ďŹ scal prudence. But in the last few years, the state, like many others across the country, has been buffeted by all kinds of ďŹ nancial crisis occasioned by the slump in oil prices and the dwindling bailouts from Abuja. Therefore, Osun is ďŹ nding it increasingly difďŹ cult to pick its routine bills, and in the process has demoralised an army of civil servants and many others.

All said, what the outcome of the Osun West Senatorial election has shown very clearly is that Nigerian people are being gradually empowered to use their votes to send clear signals.

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

AN ENCOUNTER WITH DIRTY FUEL

I

f there are about 20 persons in Nigeria today who should know the deadly impact of the importation of dirty fuels to West Africa, I should be among the lot.

Recently, I took my power generating set for repairs. It was not starting and part of the problem as well was that the fuel tank had started leaking. My neighbour helped drain the fuel and off to the repairer I went. While there, I was required to fetch some fuel from the station, to use it to at least clean the carburettor and perform allied activities. Apart from the fee for repairs, the technician wanted me to part with more money to buy a ‘chemical’ (which turned out to be a high-sulphur content fuel) for a thorough wash of the fuel tank. At first, I didn’t want to oblige him, and not wanting to join issues with someone who’ll likely accuse you of teaching him his job, I let go. But after he was done for me to take my power generator home, I began to feel a certain itch around my nostrils, and before I knew it, I was sneezing uncontrollably. Up till about 2am that night, I sneezed to near asphyxiation – my ribs hurt, my nostrils were blocked and I dared not take off my clothes.

My wife thought I had pneumonia. So, she shipped me off to see the doctor. But it wasn’t pneumonia or nothing of the sort like we feared. The good doctor checked me up and down, and before giving me a clean bill of health announced, ‘This was just some allergy, sir. Were you exposed to anything toxic recently?’ It was after I answered in the

negative that the nickel dropped! It was the ‘chemical’ at the power generator repairer’s shop blimey!

In December last year 2016, the organisation I work for, the Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ) was part of a high-powered delegation which worked assiduously to generate the kind of momentum leading to the July 1, 2017 plan by the federal government deadline for the import of toxic fuels into the West African sub-region. The background to those series of meetings was from two catalysts: one, the World Health Organisation (WHO) had identified four Nigerian cities – Onitsha, Aba, Umuahia and Kaduna – the leading air-polluted cities in the world. Two, a Swiss NGO, Public Eye, formerly the Berne Declaration, had carried out an investigation and when it published its report, it indicted major and minor Swiss commodity traders Trafigura & Vitol, Mercuria, Glencore and Gunvor, that they deliberately exploit very weak regulatory fuel standards to import fuel with extremely high sulphur content into West Africa. While accepted sulphur content in Europe and the Americas is just about 10 parts per million, the level in West Africa is outrageously high, at nearly 3,000ppm. Apart from the danger this poses to the health of West Africans, car engines suffer heart attacks and sneeze the way I did last week.

Therefore, before that meeting held in Abuja, the Public Eye Report said that African governments must move

quickly to ‘protect the health of their urban population, reduce car maintenance costs, and spend their health budgets on other pressing issues’. The report recommended that by moving to ultra-low sulphur diesel, Africa could prevent 25,000 premature deaths in 2030, and almost 100,000 premature deaths in 2050. But after the Abuja meeting which took place on December 1, 2016, with representatives from the ECOWAS sub-region, together with the African Refiners Association, I knew something had been left out of the deliberations leading to the decision of July 1, 2017 as deadline was wrong.

The thing is, if we were going to stop the importation of dirty fuels and diesel by 2020, what is the state of our refineries? Had any of these meetings undertaken to visit our refineries to ascertain that they could be put to use to regulate fuels we consume here at the least? These were the issues I tried to look at in an earlier published article, Issues with ECOWAS Energy Security. In that article, my argument was twofold: one, the July 1, 2017 deadline may not hold and two, instead of expending time to revamp our refineries, I said that we should be looking to seriously develop our renewable energy sources and potential. I made this suggestion because I know for a fact that by 2030 or thereabouts, Europe will no longer be needing our oil.

Bob MajiriOghene Etemiku, ANEEJ, Benin City

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T H I S D AY FRIDAY JULY 21, 2017

T H I S D AY ˾ FRIDAY, JULY 21, 2017

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POLITICS

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

PERSONALITY FOCUS

Executive Row Tears Enugu APC Apart In-house fighting among the executives of the All Progressives Congress in Enugu State, has further damaged the credibility of a party that is struggling to find a foothold in the South-east, writes Davidson Iriekpen

R

ecently, the Enugu State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) said it would displace the Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi-led Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from the Government House come 2019.

To realise the objective, it appointed a former speaker of the state’s house of assembly, Eugene Odoh and erstwhile military administrator of Gombe State, Group Capt. Joe Oji to important committees. While the Odoh-led committee is to ensure that the party wins the forthcoming local government elections, Oji’s committee is to oversee the reconciliation of the party.

The Chairman of APC in the state, Dr. Ben Nwoye, while announcing the setting up of the committees and other resolutions at the end of the party’s maiden state caucus meeting, also expressed the determination of the party to take over the local government areas when elections into the councils come up before the end of the year. According to him, the wind of change had started to blow in Enugu’s political atmosphere with unprecedented migration of political heavy weights from PDP to APC; such as former governor of the old Anambra State, Senator Jim Nwobodo; former governor of the state, Sullivan Chime; former Senate President, Ken Nnamani; former Speaker of the state assembly, and wife of a former National Chairman of PDP, Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo, Dr. Dorothy, among others.

The caucus meeting which was inaugurated recently and chaired by Nwoye himself, was attended by Chime; National Vice Chairman of APC South-east, Emma Eneukwu; two transport moguls, Sam Onyishi and Onyemuche Nnamani of Auto Star.

Others are; the Director General of Voice of Nigeria (VON), Osita Okechukwu; Oji; Odoh; business mogul, Baywood Ibe; Chief G.B. Onoh; Maj. Gen. J. O. J Okolagu; Nigerian Ambassador to India, Maj. Gen. Chris Eze, and others.

Ironically, two weeks after Nwoye made the boastful remarks, the crisis which he had been trying to manage and conceal from the public erupted. He was, among others, accused of highhandedness. True to type, he slammed an indefinite suspension on the Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Justice Reform, Mrs. Juliet Ibekaku. Ibekaku who is the former deputy governorship candidate of the party in the last general election, was suspended alongside 19 others for alleged misconduct and violation of the party’s constitution.

The suspension notice reads: “Notice of indefinite suspension for violation of article 21 (A) (v) of our party constitution.

“APC national secretariat has been notified of their suspension. The affected individuals have seven days from the date of this notice to appeal their case. The affected persons are barred from attending any function organised or sponsored by the APC. Any member of the public dealing with them as members of APC does so at their risk.”

Also suspended are, Lolo Queen Ngozi Nwankwo (Woman Leader), Mr. Ikechukwu Oloto, (Youth Leader), Mr. Louis Okolo, (Assistant Secretary), Mr. Sydney Eze (former Financial Secretary) and Mr. Ebere Okolo (former Treasurer). The deputy chairman of the party in the state, Adolphus Udeh, had earlier been expelled from the party.

However, the crisis rocking the party assumed a new twist when last week, some members of the party insisted that Nwoye remains suspended. While addressing the

In disarray in Enugu

media in Abuja, the party’s governorship candidate in the 2015 election, Nnadozie Valentine, a member of the House of Representatives, Hon Ejike Njeze and Ejikeme Ugwu, said the suspension of Nwoye on July 3 by a panel for anti-party activities, high-handedness and mismanagement of party funds, complied with all provisions of the party’s constitution. They similarly directed the members of the party including the vice-chairman, purportedly suspended on July 4, by the erstwhile chairman, to disregard the order, stressing that in line with party constitution, suspension of members could, only be done at the ward level and not by the state executive.

Valentine, who spoke on behalf of other aggrieved members, appealed to the party’s national leadership to intervene in the ensuing crisis in order to save the party from an imminent collapse.

He said since 2015, petitions on the handling of the party were written to the national secretariat of the party and copied to the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF). According to him, the embattled chairman shunned the invitation to

Many now wonder how a party in disarray will displace a party in power.

They also ask how the party will win future elections in the state when it is in crisis.

While APC is in crisis, PDP is consolidating.

defend himself before a panel set up by the party national leadership and OSGF, after key members of the party’s working committee, wrote a memo establishing the allegations against the chairman.

“He (Nwoye) refused to submit himself to the panel to defend himself. He claimed that he is not answerable to any government functionary. Afterwards, he set up a panel against those who wrote a petition against him and became a judge in his own matter. The kangaroo panel suspended 20 people, including three of us, who though, did not sign the petition, but were in full support. We must ease out the few people that have mortgaged the party in the state and avoid the miscalculation made in 2015, where APC only garnered 13,000 votes in the presidential election in Enugu State,” Valentine admonished.

He said the truce initiated last week by the party elders, including Senator Jim Nwobodo for a ceasefire and for all factions to stay away from the secretariat was breached by Nwoye, who broke into the secretariat on July 4, to hold an illegal meeting where members were allegedly suspended.

Many now wonder how a party in disarray will displace a party in power. They also ask how the party will win future elections in the state when it is in crisis. While APC is in crisis, PDP is consolidating.

Recently, former governor of the old Anambra State, Chief Jim Nwobodo and the immediate past governor, Chime and a host of others have defected to APC. The defection, its was gathered, was because they did not stand any chance in displacing those presently representing Anambra at the National Assembly and House of Assembly members in the ruling party in the state. Analysts in the state feel that the calculation of the defectors, is to use federal might to muzzle the ruling party in the state

into submission in 2019.

Not unaware of the machinations of the opposition party, the governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi has remained focused his with his popularity soaring. His impressive performance has continued to endear him to his people. Not only has the state been adjudged the most peaceful in the entire South-east, across the 17 council areas, the governor has recorded achievements that the people are happy with.

In the area of education sector, over 2,000 teachers were recently recruited and over 200 schools renovated.

As a result of the governor’s remarkable achievements, traders in the state under the auspices of the Enugu State Amalgamated Traders Association (ESAMATA) recently shut down markets for a solidarity rally in support of his good works of transforming the state despite the severe economic challenges in the country.

In the traders’ words, the rally was also organised to appreciate the governor’s empowerment programmes “carefully designed to assist the traders in Enugu State grow their businesses to improve their fortunes” and stimulate the economy of the state. In unison, the traders endorsed the governor for re-election in 2019, saying that he has performed creditably in just two years in office despite the daunting economic challenges in the country and therefore deserves another term of four years.

A week earlier, ESAMATA had advised residents to store food stuff and other needed items ahead as the plan to shut-down the markets to celebrate Ugwuanyi was a unanimous decision of the traders in the state. On the day of the rally, (last Thursday), like they promised, the traders did not disappoint. Not only were all their shops shut, they practically shut down the state capital to express how happy and pleased with Ugwuanyi for his visionary leadership and the empowerment programme initiated by his administration, where 100 lucky traders win N50,000 each every month. The President-General of the traders’ union, Hon. Temple Ude, noted at the rally, pointing out that his policies “are most favourable to traders doing business in Enugu State.”

Ude added that the cordial relationship existing between the governor and traders in the state “is equal to none” in contrast to other states in Nigeria, especially in the south-east.

“Your excellency, no government in the past has ever attempted to establish the existing relationship between traders and government.

Traders in Enugu State have resolved that if tenure elongation were democratic, they will sponsor a bill that Ugwuanyi should be cleared for third term in office. We are happy that even with the current economic hardship you still positively navigate the affairs of the state for the betterment of the people of Enugu State. We have unanimously endorsed your re-election come 2019,” the president-general said to a huge applause.

Even the civil servants in the state are happy with the governor because while some states are finding it difficult to pay salaries, theirs are regularly paid. Over 100 units of one-bedroom apartments have so far been build for civil servants below grade level 10. Equally significant is the fact that the government has paid over 50 per cent equity contribution for the beneficiaries. Of course, employment generation, enhancing social services and good governance, are other areas the governor ranks high.

T H I S D AY ˾ FRIDAY, JULY 21, 2017

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POLITICS

PERSPECTIVE

Not So, Garba Shehu The claim by the present administration that the government of Dr Goodluck Jonathan fostered the activities of Boko Haram is patently false, writes Reno Omokri When Garba Shehu says that the Goodluck Jonathan administration increased the activities of terrorists, he betrays a very shallow grasp of history which I will now prove with the benefit of some historical facts.

When the Jonathan administration imposed a state of emergency in certain local governments in the Northeast of Nigeria to contain terrorists, it was precisely Muhammadu Buhari that said on Monday the 3rd of June 2013 that ‘the military offensive against Boko Haram is anti North’.

Again, after the Jonathan administration banned Boko Haram in 2013, it was precisely Lai Mohammed, President Buhari’s current minister for information, who on Monday the 10th of June, 2013 said that banning Boko Haram was unconstitutional and that “the proscription stifles the press and tampers with the fundamental human rights of Nigerians.”

So it is therefore rich for the Buhari administration to start making these claims against the Jonathan government.

It may be that Garba Shehu is not aware that this administration has lost any credibility it has especially as regards the anti terror war.

On Thursday the 24th of December, 2015

Shehu

President Muhammadu Buhari told the world that Boko Haram was ‘technically

defeated’ and gave himself a pat on the back after claiming that the terror group had lost its capacity to conduct “conventional attacks”.

Since that time, Boko Haram has attacked military barracks and military formations multiple times as reported in the media.

Since that time, there has been an upsurge in suicide attacks with more than 30 attacks reported in the media. Last week alone, there have been three such suicide attacks with almost 20 deaths, according to media reports.

There has also been attacks on military and police convoys with Boko Haram terrorists releasing a video this week of several women it says it kidnapped from a police convoy.

Nigerians may want to note that it was under the Buhari administration that the World Economic Forum on Tuesday June 20, 2017 listed Nigeria as the fifth most dangerous country in the world because instances of Fulani Herdsmen terrorism are so rampant and continue with impunity.

Fulani herdsmen operating in Nigeria were also named the fourth most deadly terrorists group in the world by the Global Terrorism Index on Wednesday November

18, 2014. This is not surprising in a situation where a governor, who happens to be a close confidante of Buhari, allegedly confessed to giving Fulani Herdsmen money.

It may also be recalled that on February 2, 2017 the US Congress cited Nigeria “as the most dangerous place for Christians in the world and that impunity for those responsible for the killing of Christians in the country seems to be widespread.”

All these are proof positive that not only has Boko Haram not been defeated, they have metastasized under Buhari and indeed other terrorist groups have become emboldened to expand their activity nationwide.

Nigerians will remember that the Jonathan administration was able to crush Boko Haram in the first quarter of 2015 which was why the 2015 elections were able to hold throughout the entire Northeast of Nigeria.

The question that Nigerians may want to ask is if elections can hold in all areas of Borno state today. The answer to that question will show who between Buhari and former Jonathan really defeated Boko Haram.

Omokri , author, wrote in from Lagos.

Umeh: APGA Man at 55 Chidiebere Nduka recalls how a former Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, Chief Victor Umeh, turned a relatively unknown party to a regional powerhouse

O

n Wednesday July 19th, a former chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Chief Victor Umeh, clocked 55.

Born on 19th July 1962, to the late Sir Innocent Ofojekwu Umeh (KSM) and Lady Elizabeth Umeh (LSM) of Ifite village Aguluezigbo in Aniocha Local Government Area of Anambra State, Umeh excelled in his studies at St. Bridget’s Primary School Agulueziegbo, Bubendorff Memorial Grammar School, Adazi-Nnukwu both in Anambra State and the University of Nigeria Nsukka, where he studied Estate Management and graduated in June 1984.

A man of destiny, Umeh is the Principal Consultant, V.C Umeh & Co. a firm of estate surveyors and valuers. He is a fellow of the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers. He is also a senior certified valuer of the International Real Estate Institute Scottsdale, Arizona, USA as well as an associate of the Rating and Valuation Association of Great Britain.

He had held several business and political positions and had received numerous awards and chieftaincy titles including Ohamadike of Agulu, Ikemba of Aguluzigbo,, Ibobo of Aguleri among others.

With a burning desire to improve the lives of fellow Nigerians , Umeh joined politics in 1998 when he became a founding member of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and was elected Anambra State treasurer of the party in 1999. In 2001 he joined other progressives to form the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) which was registered by the Independent National Electoral Commission on the 22nd June 2002. Umeh became the first National Vice Chairman, South-east of the party

Umeh..waxing stronger at 55

and was elected National Treasurer on 10th January 2003, at the party’s first national convention held at the Old Parade Ground, Abuja. On 15th December 2004, he was appointed the Acting National Chairman by the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) which was ratified by the National Executive Committee (NEC) on 11th January 2005. He was elected National Chairman at the party’s second national convention in Enugu in December 2006.

Umeh’s tenure as APGA chairman was the golden era of the party as he led the party from victory to victory in various national, state and local government elections. APGA became the beautiful bride of Nigerian politics and the third

leg in the nation’s political tripod after the then ruling PDP and the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The victory of Mr. Peter Obi at the Anambra State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in August 2005 and at the Court of Appeal in Enugu on 15th March, 2006 energised APGA in its electoral conquest in the South-east and beyond.

Umeh was the pillar of that struggle.

It was a triumph of courage. Ndigbo adopted APGA as their own party while progressives in other parts of the country identified with it. With the late Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu’s support of Umeh’s leadership, prominent Nigerians trooped into APGA. Umeh provided the necessary leadership and rebranded the party. APGA became a key player in the national politics despite distractions from party dissidents and opposition PDP in Anambra state.

Shortly after Obi assumed office as governor, he was illegally impeached on 2nd November 2006 by the PDP-dominated house of assembly. It was challenged in court, Obi won a resounding victory at the Court of Appeal, Enugu on 9th February 2007. This victory stabilised his government and entrenched APGA in the hearts of Ndi Anambra.

Umeh again spearheaded Obi’s reinstatement. To ensure Obi complete his four-year tenure which PDP’s Dr. Chris Ngige illegally occupied from 29th May 2003 to 16th March 2006, Umeh flew the kite of APGA’s intention to seek judicial interpretation of section 180(2) of the 1999 constitution as amended. The rest is history.

In 2015 general election, APGA won five seats in the House of Representatives and 41 seats in houses of assembly in Anambra, Abia, Bayelsa and Taraba States. Dr. Willie

Obiano also became the second governor of Anambra to be elected on APGA platform.

The party also swept the local government election in the state among other council seats across the country. Umeh is a firm believer in the rule of law and a quintessential democrat. He participated in the 2014 national conference. Impressed by the exceptional patriotism, former President Goodluck Jonathan conferred on him the Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR). Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra State praised Umeh saying, “The national award (OFR) conferred on you represents a public recognition of all the hard work that you have put into the growth of the party (APGA) and the nation at large. The Government of Anambra State is extremely proud of your accomplishments. Kudos!!!”

In a rare tribute, on Peter Obi’s re-election in February and swearing-in on 17th March 2010, the late OdumegwuOjukwu applauded Umeh’s political savvy and visionary leadership stating, “The might of a warrior is tested only in battle…

I salute your tenacity, your courage and resilience, APGA has always known what has now become widely acknowledged…

OHAMADIKE... Kudos”.

Indeed, Umeh has won many battles and has been in courts over the Anambra Central Senatorial seat he contested on 28th March 2015. His opponents have laid legal mines to further slow the wheel of justice and frustrate his emergence as a senator.

Umeh is a shining star in the east of the Niger. A political colossus, his sagacity and tenacity of purpose endeared to millions of Nigerians.

Nduka, a public affairs analyst wrote in from Enugu.

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BUSINESSWORLD

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

ÍŻ Íś Í° ÍŽ ÍŻ Íľ NIBOR OVERNIGHT 1-MONTH

NIBOR 21.3750% 21.0038 %

3-MONTH 6-MONTH

22.5331% 24.6856%

NITTY 1-MONTH 3-MONTH 3-MONTH

20.1827% 19.3855% 16.2693%

6-MONTH 9-MONTH 12-MONTH

21.3861% 21.5058% 22.4006%

EXCHANGE RATE ͹͎ͳ˛͹ͳ˚˚ͯ ̊ ̊

Quick Takes FAAN Ready for Airport CertiďŹ cation

The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has re-stated its readiness for the certiďŹ cation of major airports in the country by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA). A statement by the agency and signed by its spokesman, Mrs. Henrietta Yakubu, FAAN has completed plans to prepare ďŹ ve major international airports for certiďŹ cation, which include Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Kano and Enugu airports. FAAN stated that pending gaps have been closed alreadyandsafetyhasbeenitsdrivingforceallthroughthepreparatory stage, noting that the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos would be the ďŹ rst in line for certiďŹ cation, while Abuja would follow and the other three would be audited as well for certiďŹ cation.

Expressing conďŹ dence that the airports would pass the audit, the Authority noted that the successful completion of this process would drasticallyreducethehighcostofinsuranceandalsoplacetheairports in good pedestal, while also ensuring eectiveness and eďŹƒciency.

NUATE Suspends Strike

STOCK TAKING

L-R: Managing Director/CEO, Continental Reinsurance, Dr. Olufemi Oyetunji; Chairman, Chief Ajibola Ogunsola and Company Secretary, Mrs. Abimbola Falana, during the company’s annual general meeting in Lagos ... recently

Customs Accuses Banks of Sabotaging E-Auction, Denies Favouring Jaiz Bank Eromosele Abiodun The Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Col. Hameed Ali (rtd) has accused commercial banks in the country of sabotaging the electronic auction recently introduced by the service to sell seized goods across the country.

Ali stated that banks have failed to key into the exercise adding that recent allegations that the customs is favouring Jaiz Bank Plc in collecting the monetary proceeds of the e-auction are baseless and was only meant to “tarnish and

MARITIME sabotage the process�.

The customs chief, who made these remarks in Abuja during an interactive session with the Chief Executive Officers of 18 import duty collecting banks, stressed that as financial institutions, the banks have responsibility to key into initiative that would generate revenue for the government for the overall benefit of Nigerians.

Specifically, Ali noted that some banks that participated in the exercise when it was run manually have distanced

themselves from the ongoing exercise, leaving only Jaiz bank Plc as the sole participant.

He added that with the participation of only one bank until recently when others joined, the system was cumbersome for the bidders and for the service.

According to him, “I am surprised and really short of words. This is economic sabotage. Eighteen banks have now hooked up to the Customs e-auction platform, remaining two more banks that are yet to be on the platform. The money you are going to collect is not coming to Customs; it is not coming to me as a person; it is

going to the Federation Account that will be distributed to the three tiers of government,� he said.

Ali noted that the same banks that collected duty for the NCS were reluctant to be part of the e-auction bidding process.

The customs boss added: “For us to initiate this process and the banks pull out calls for concern. One is that we want to get some funds from there. Two, it’s going to ease the process of what we do. It will also encourage transparency in what we do and the essence Continued on page 20

Why FG May not Concession Nation’s Airports Chinedu Eze Despite the promise by the federal government to concession the nation’s airports, starting with the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos and three other major airports in Kano, Abuja and Port Harcourt, there are indications that this plan may not be actualised in the foreseeable future.

THISDAY investigations have revealed that government had already concessioned different parts of the airport facilities to various companies, from hospitality businesses to passenger processing, financial institutions and others and some of the agreements with these organisations have been

AVIATION subsisting for the past 30 years.

The Minister of State, Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika had given assurance that the Muhammadu Buhari administration would concession the airports so that the private sector would invest and develop airport infrastructure. Earlier this year, Sirika appointed three advisors for the airport concession, establishment of maintenance facility and also the establishment of a national carrier.

But insiders told THISDAY that if the airports were given out in concession, there would be a lot of legal encumbrances, which might hamper the new

concessioner from taking over and running the airports as agreed.

One inside source told THISDAY that once the airport is given out in concession, the other companies that have different agreements with the federal government would sue and this would give rise to a long legal battle, which no one would know the end. “This is because the new operator may not want to get along with the other concessionaires who would now inhibit the plan the new operator would want to make, but those other ones already have subsisting legal agreements with have been there before the new organisation takes over the airport,� the inside source said.

The source noted that another challenge government would face is the repayment for the Chinese loans secured from the Chinese government for the building of terminals in five major airports in Lagos, Abuja, Kano, Port Harcourt and Enugu, noting that while the new concessionaire may not want to pay the loans, the agreement China had with the federal government was that the later would pay back the loan hopefully from the money generated from the airports, but now that they would be concessioned, would the new operators pay back the loan? “It is expected that the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority Continued on page 20

TheNationalUnionofAirTransportEmployers(NUATE)hassuspended itsplannedindustrialactionagainsttheNigerianCivilAviationAuthority (NCAA) over the non release of outstanding promotion letters for deserving sta. A statement signed by NUATE’s secretary general, Comrade Olayinka Olu. Abioye stated that the suspension of the industrial action became necessary following the engagement of the NCAA management, the Ministry and the Union in social dialogue towards the settlement of the matter in dispute.The statement from the Union said, “A few hours ago, the National President of our union responded to entreaties, promptings proposed intervention from the Federal Ministry of Transportation which has waded into the dispute on the above subject. “Consequent upon this intervention from the Ministry and on the advice from stakeholders, we regret to inform you that our industrial action is hereby suspended forthwith, as the NCAA management, the Ministry and our Union engaged in social dialogue towards the settlement of the matter in dispute.You may recall that NUATE (and her partners) had placed an ultimatum on the NCAA which upon its expiration would entail total shutdown of the NCAA in its ďŹ ve regional oďŹƒcesâ€?.

Medview Resumes London Service

Medview Airlines resumed ights between Lagos and London Gatwick Tuesday after an interlude owed to technical hitches with its operating aircraft. The ďŹ rst batch of passengers from London arrived the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos aboard a B767 aircraft. The airline said the same aircraft was positioned to take passengers from Lagos to London, while the Boeing B747 aircraft would enter service from London with another ight to Lagos, arriving Lagos in the early hours of Wednesday. In a statement, the airline said it would resume its normal three weekly ights schedule from Wednesday. According to the statement, the ights disruption on the route was compounded by the accident at Gatwick airport, which aected other airlines, and also the inability of the UK Civil Aviation Authority to grant the necessary permits over the weekend for charter ights to clear the backlog of passengers.

Travelstart Strengthens Brand Penetration

Travelstart Nigeria, Africa’s largest online travel agency - is set to strengthen its brand presence and market penetration in the travel business in Nigeria with a series of marketing activities that would further engage its customers and business partners. Statement from the company said earlier in the year,Travelstart Nigeria participated on a panel during the 2017 Social Media Week Lagos. Speaking on the Afro Tourism West Africa panel, Travelstart shared insights on how they are using email and mobile marketing to personalise the travel experience of Nigerians. The company said the brand also seized the opportunity of the public holiday in May to meet and engage with current and prospective customers to further improve brand aďŹƒnity, adding that the Travelstart team was at Dreamworld Africana, Lekki on May 27, and Kanu Ndubusi Park Alausa on May 28 and at the Lagos Mum’s event at the Fun Factory, Admiralty Way, Lekki on May 29 where adults were given branded t-shirts and children branded Travelstart balloons.

“African Ports have fallen far behind our global peers on key performance indicators. Cargo spends nearly three weeks on average in Sub-Saharan African ports, compared to less than a week in large ports in Europe, Latin America and Asia“ Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA)

Dr. Dakuku Peterside

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BUSINESSWORLD CUSTOMS ACCUSES BANKS OF SABOTAGING E-AUCTION, DENIES FAVOURING JAIZ BANK of what we do is to ensure that there is transparency in revenue collection.�

He said the banks took the e-auction aback but added that he was glad the managing directors of the 18 banks were present at the interactive session to bare their minds on the issues. “I want to know if there are problems and what the problems are, “he stated.

The bank chiefs, however, took turns to explain their challenges with the bidding, saying it was mostly technical.

While resolving to join forces with customs to form a technical committee that would meet from time to time to iron out the issues until the process was stabilised, some of the bankers who spoke at the meeting denied the accusation WHY FG MAY NOT CONCESSION NATION’S AIRPORTS (NCAA) would on Friday (today) give the Federal Airports Authority (FAAN) certificate for the certification of the Lagos airport, which means that it would now be recognised by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). All these will be factored in and I believe that without the concession and with government asking itself questions, these airports, especially the Murtala Muhammed Airport would be made world standard without concession,� the source said.

A FAAN official told THISDAY that some of the agreements already reached at the airports may not be transferable, noting that the major problem is handing the airport management over to a third party, which would expose the concession to legal limitations. “The Minister’s plan to hand over the airports to a third party is going to be problematic because those who have already invested money at the airports as private investors must insist on serving the terms of their agreements. If these subsisting agreements were not there the concession plan will not have hindrances but that is a major challenge now.

NEWS

Lawmaker Calls for Proper Management of Shipwreck Removal, Waterways Eromosele Abiodun A member of the House of Representatives representing Degema/Bonny Federal Constituency, Randolph Iwo Oruene Brown has strongly advocated urgent intervention and proper management of the Nigerian coastal waterways, particularly on the Bonny Kingdom territorial waters.

Brown, who gave this indication while presenting a notice of motion titled: ‘Proper Management of the Nigeria Coastal Waterways and Removal of Shipwreck,’ on the floor of the House of Reps, noted that Nigeria derives enormous benefits from her maritime industry which has continued to be a major source of sea transportation, means of livelihood, and a major income earner for government, resulting from major import and exports activities within the sea ports and waterways.

According to him, Nigeria’s coastal waterway has become a dumping ground for abandoned shipwreck all over the country, thus has become highly polluted and constantly degenerating to death traps for gluts of users.

Making a case for Bonny Island, he said: “We are aware that between the upper and lower reaches of Bonny estuary in Rivers State alone (which is a part of my primary constituency), no fewer than 30 abandoned shipwrecks are found in the waterways which is constituting potential risk for both artisanal and commercial users. It has further given rise

to the loss of lots of communities, beaches and mangroves as a result of erosion activities caused by the tidal influence of shipwrecks in our waterways.�

The federal lawmaker expressed concern that in the past five years, between Bonny estuary and its adjoining creeks and tributaries, not less than 318 wreckages have occurred, leading to over 49 boats mishaps and the loss of an average of 214 lives.

Brown recalled the tragic story of death on the 29th of

August 2016, where a young man Mr. Abesa Prince Brown, lost his entire family; his wife and two kids to a boat mishap, and said the situation must be nipped in the bud.

The notice of motion further expressed concern that while there are designated agencies like the Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and Nigeria Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA)), saddled with responsibility of maintaining and managing our waterways, these avoidable

threat has continued unabated., even when it is common knowledge that some funds released for the removal of these ship wrecks by the previous administrations some time in 2013, was not effectively utilised, leading to increase in the menace by the day.

Proffering solution as a way forward, the Degema/Bonny constituency lawmaker urged the federal government to take urgent steps to ensure that all shipwreck in our waterways are removed without further

delay to enhance safety, speedy and seamless activities in the nation’s maritime operations, as well as reduce potential risks and loss of lives, properties, and communities as well as enhance revenue generation from the maritime sector.

The House Committee on Maritime was mandated to investigate the issue of shipwrecks, sweeping of the waterways and the management of funds earlier released for that purpose and report back to the house within three weeks.

BOOSTING CONSUMER LENDING

L-R: South Africa Country Manager of Fair Isaac Corporation (FICO), Mr. Derick Cluley; Managing Director/ CEO, CRC Credit Bureau, Mr. Tunde Popoola; Senior Director, FICO, Daniel Melo and Group Head, Credit Monitoring, United Bank for Africa, Joel Owoade at the introduction of CRC FICO Score to the Nigerian market in Lagos‌ recently

Bala Usman: Intels Has Competitive Edge over Other Operators Eromosele Abiodun The Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Hadiza Bala-Usman, has said that Intels Nigeria Limited has competitive advantage over other terminal operators in the handling of oil and gas logistics in the country.

Speaking in Lagos on Television Continental (TVC) Business Prgramme, Usman said Intels is already a well-established terminal operator having been in the business for more than 30 years.

According to her, �I don’t

think they (Intels) should shy away from competing with other terminals. They should welcome the fact that having really established that business, they should be able to compete and get all the cargo to themselves, and, indeed, if you have been operating and doing this service for years and now someone else is coming, you should have a favourable edge.�

The NPA boss had expressed similar sentiment for Intels in October 2016 during her maiden visit to the expansive port facility and the Onne Oil

and Gas Free Zone.

Shortly after being conducted round the multimillion dollars facility, Usman said she was impressed by the high quality, “efficient and effective� facilities and services provided by Intels.

She described the facility as “very tidy� and the infrastructure as being “deployed efficiently and effectively.�

Intels Nigeria Limited developed and operates the Onne Port and the Onne Oil and Gas Free Zone. The port is now one of the best equipped in Africa, while the Onne Free Zone is one of the fastest growing oil

and gas free zones in the world.

Speaking recently when the Director-General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Dakuku Peterside visited the facility, the General Manager of Intels Nigeria Limited, Mr. Silvano Bellinato said the high quality facilities and services in Onne were the result of the company’s huge investments running into several billions of dollars. “Intel has been a trusted partner to major oil and gas producing companies in Nigeria and a monumental

logistic partner to the NPA in the development of ports infrastructure and service in Nigeria. In over 30 years, we have added substantial value to the Nigerian oil and gas service industry and the operators have found our services strategic to their operations. “In the maritime sector, Intels operation as a port infrastructure developer and maritime service provider reinvigorated and brought the needed momentum and life to Nigerian ports and the maritime industry with improved capacity to serve the nation.

NIMASA Lists Measures to Make African Ports EfďŹ cient, Competitive Eromosele Abiodun Group Business Editor

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

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Comms/e-Business Editor

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

ÙÎÎã Ă‘Ă?Ă˜Ă?

Senior Correspondent

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

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

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The Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Dakuku Peterside has listed what he termed game changers that would make ports on the African continent to be globally competitive to include investment in world class infrastructure, strengthen regulatory frameworks:, enhance institutional cooperation, implementation of one-stop portals like the national single window and adequate Investment in human capital.

He stated this while delivering a paper on the Significance of Maritime Regulations and

Competitiveness of African Ports at the conference on Port Development, which took place in Accra Ghana.

In his words: “African ports have fallen far behind our global peers on key performance indicators. Cargo spends nearly three weeks on average in Sub-Saharan African ports, compared to less than a week in large ports in Europe, Latin America and Asia. We are below the global average on three key productivity measures of ports: gross moves per hour, berth moves per hour and man-hours per move.�

He noted that for port operations on the African continent to experience appreciable

improvement, agencies in the port community must work together to implement integrated and sustainable solutions to the identified challenges.

He restated the agency’s commitment to strengthening the capacity of ports in Nigeria and enable competitiveness on the African continent via the effective implementation of the Merchant Shipping Act, NIMASA and the Cabotage Act by ensuring that regulating the maritime sector with the use of these instruments does not hinder efficiency and negatively affect business operations in the Ports.

Speaking further, he said that NIMASA has upgraded

its surveillance system to 24 hours and can consequently monitor all vessels in the Nigerian Maritime Domain at all times. He also disclosed that the integration of the agency’s system with the Nigerian Integrated Customs Information System (NICIS) was part of efforts to forge partnership with key industry stakeholders to enhance efficiency in the Nigerian maritime sector.

He informed the audience, which cuts across stakeholders from all the regions of the African continent that Nigeria, has improved her compliance level with global standards in order to boost investor confidence in the Nigerian maritime sector.

“In a bid to boost investor confidence and benchmark to global standards, NIMASA actively ensures compliance and implementation of the International Ship and Ports Facility Security Code (ISPS) Code, our compliance level is now over 90 per cent. We also enforce industry compliance on all relevant IMO and ILO conventions. Compliance on international regulation is to ensure safety in port operations, and ease of doing business in Nigeria,� he said.

Peterside also noted that the proposed Antipiracy bill in Nigeria would enhance safety and security of the Nigerian maritime territory.

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BUSINESSWORLD

NEWS

Western Lotto Rides on Entertainment to Penetrate Market Raheem Akingbolu As one of their innovative approaches to connect with prospective clients, handlers of the Western Lotto brand got the endorsement of many entertainment icons recently when it launched for business in Lagos.

According to the Managing Director of Western Lotto Nigeria, Elvis Krivokuca, the company is entering the Nigerian gaming industry with a thrilling approach that involves the infusion of fun and excitement into the lottery experience.

Krivokuca stated this during the launch of the brand and the unveiling of its chain of brand ambassadors in Lagos recently.

The list of ambassadors for the Western Lotto Nigeria brand includes Nollywood actors; Olu Jacobs, Zack Orji, Ramsey Nouah, Alex Usifo, Jide Kosoko, Osita Iheme. Also on the list are Nigerian music icons, 2face, Olamide and ace comedian, AY. Speaking on the choice of entertainers as brand ambas-

sadors, Krivokuca affirmed that lottery is entertainment and Western Lotto is out to ensure Nigerians have fun while playing the games.

He said: “our explanation is centred on the nature of lottery as entertainment. Lotteries are number-based games of chance used mainly for entertainment, winning of prize and redistribution of wealth. Western Lotto Nigeria offers Nigerians the opportunity to experience and play the famous Power Ball, Euro millions, Euro Jackpot, UK Lotto and Mega Millions games, with a chance of winning a jackpot of N15 million.

With these brand ambassadors, we are telling Nigerians that lottery is fun and they should enjoy themselves while playing the games. “ Added to the entertainment touch, Western Lotto also launched with a mobile application which is a disruption in the Nigerian lottery market.

The company further disclosed that plans are ongoing to add an African and Nigeriancentric game to its offering.

The new game which would be unveiled soon, will add a Nigerian touch to the Western Lotto lottery experience, while the society would benefit from the proceeds. “Western Lotto is about you.

It’s about that boy in Mushin, that girl in Maiduguri, about that madam in Yenagoa. It is 100% Nigerian. It’s a Nigerian initiative through and through.

Your payments are in Naira.

You can play and win in Naira.

Western Lotto was set up mainly for two reasons: we want to offer Nigerians the opportunity to win big and also contribute towards good causes. We are partnering with organisations that cater for women who have been victims of rape. We are going to partner with people that have problem furthering their education. Western Lotto will partner with government on health care and sporting foundations.

Western Lotto is about Nigeria: it’s our game. Let’s embrace it, “said Director of Western Lotto Nigeria, Mr. Biodun Akintaju.

Osun Cocoa Industry Now Processes 20,000 Tonnes Daily The newly resuscitated Osun State Cocoa Processing Industry in Ede has started processing cocoa in line with the industrialisation plan of the current administration in the state. The company, which was inaugurated on October 17, 1982 , had stopped production in 2001 due to obsolete equipment and management issues .

The Commissioner for Industries, Commerce , Cooperatives and Empowerment in the state, Mr. Ismail Alagbada , however , said the company was now processing 20 ,000 tonnes of cocoa on a daily basis .

He stated that the Aregbesola administration in partnership with Golden Monkey of

China revived the company and brought it back to start production . This, he said , was meant to ensure that it started adding value to cocoa instead of exporting it overseas in its raw form .

The Commissioner said: “At present , the company is processing 20 ,000 tonnes of cocoa into cocoa liquor for both local and international consumption , thus increasing the production capacity of the company by 400 per cent from 2001 period . “The revival of the CPI is part of the realisation of the industrialisation plan of the current administration, to put the company into effective use

for optimum performance.�

Alagbada explained that more workers will still be recruited as expansion of the company was being carried out.

He disclosed further that going by the new arrangement, the state government owned 30 per cent equity, which gives it 30 per cent revenue derivable from all resources and funds generated in the plant. “Through this partnership, many people in Osun will learn the trade of cocoa processing.

The possibilities are just endless. At least, now, our people know that more value accrues to them if they process cocoa rather than exporting in its raw form,� he added

Bridge Launches a Global Education Campaign Raheem Akingbolu Bridge International Academies has launched the public awareness initiative to draw attention to the need for high-quality affordable education options for the underprivileged children worldwide.

In the new campaign, three of the cast members; Naomi, Samuel and Rose are among those who talk about how the education provided by Bridge International Academies has changed their lives, asking people across the world to share their story.

The three new empowering short videos showcase pupils and families from communities living in extreme poverty, often earning less than $1.90 a day. The mothers, fathers, children and their teachers

profiled make clear that they are determined to craft a better life for their children, their pupils and themselves by pursuing education to escape poverty and find a better future.

A recent report showed that worldwide, there are 263 million children and young people out of school, of which 61 million are primary school aged children.

9 million of these numbers are in Nigeria. In addition, there are an estimated 330 million children who are in school, but not learning. The most recent official estimate puts the global shortage of teachers at 69 million.

As a whole system and school intervention agency, Bridge runs schools in struggling communities including the notorious Nairobi Matabre slum, the Nigerian slum Alimosho, the

Al-Shabaab territory in northeast Kenya, the impoverished regions of eastern India and across places once torn apart by Ebola and civil war in Liberia.

The agency has in the last eight years been working in over 700 communities by leveraging on technology to deliver content to local teachers, while also empowering them to support their pupils to succeed. T hrough its proprietary technology platform, Bridge has created a global ecosystem that connects over 6000 classrooms and teachers, enabling teaching, learning and information sharing across 5 countries and 2 continents. In Nigeria, Bridge currently provides quality, low-cost education to over 7000 low-income families in 37 local communities.

RISK MANAGEMENT WATCH Robert Mbonu

Enterprise Risk Management: The Public Sector (II) The response to the Ebola outbreak by the various agencies was proof that the public sector in Nigeria is capable, and can respond well in times of crises. This required interagency and intergovernmental coordination, and included decisions that had to be implemented through a variety of MDA’s (ministries, departments and agencies). The capacity to coordinate crises management is a fundamental element of good governance, as it tests government’s ability to provide the appropriate responses at the right time and mitigate the impact of disasters.

Public sector MDA’s must be agile and ready at all times, and not only in a crisis.

They must recognise the need to weigh the probabilities of what could go wrong before it happens.

The role of government involves the delivery of essential services, successful execution of projects and protection of citizens. Risk knowledge is at the foundation of this mandate for successful project delivery, and crises and emergency preparedness. Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) principles have been tested abroad for agencies to undertake as a solution for mitigating various agency risk activities all together. It enables response planning through a holistic risk assessments by analysing hazards, threats and vulnerabilities across agencies.

ERM redefines the value proposition for public agencies by providing the processes and tools they need to become more anticipatory and effective in managing uncertainties. By better managing risk at an “enterprise� level, government can run more efficiently, resulting in more missions accomplished, fewer surprises and greater public trust.

Enterprise risk management (ERM) has demonstrated its value in the private sector.

The public sector can utilize the principles of this proven method to better manage risks that tend to hide in complex bureaucracies with limited interdepartmental communication.

Building on the evolution of risk management, ERM recognises that risks can be threats and opportunities, and are an agency-wide daily concern that is embedded in the operations.

ERM transforms risk management from a silo approach to a holistic approach that can be coordinated at the highest level within MDA’s.

ERM is a means to an end, not an end in itself. The process of implementing ERM is fundamentally a process of education: building awareness, developing buy-in and, ultimately, assigning accountability and accepting ownership. It should be viewed as a commitment to continuous improvement.

There is no doubt that the next few years will present unprecedented challenges to those tasked with delivering Nigeria’s public services.

Oil price fluctuations leading to budgetary pressures will have an effect on all major services, not least education, infrastructure development, internal security and health.

This will also have a dramatic impact on local government service provision, as well as the work currently carried out by community and social organisations (CSOs).

The effects of the economic downturn and associated demographic changes will compound these pressures, as there will continue to be a rise in demand for the services offered by the public service. The recession is likely to lead to an increase in social impacts such as crime

and health problems, sub-optimal maintenance of existing infrastructure, and support services for disadvantaged communities - among a myriad of other problems.

Some key challenges which public service providers face include: Economic Volatility; Geopolitical Volatility; Technology Advances; Climate Change; and Financial Misappropriation. The combination of these interlocking challenges, create a complex matrix of risks for those delivering public services. The list of risks include: Loss of funding and financial instability; Short-term decisions with long-term implications; Partnership working & supply chain challenges; Damage to reputation; Loss of community cohesion; Workforce planning challenges; Emergency & crisis response threats; Data loss & privacy incidents; Failure to manage organisational change; Climate change threats; Demographic change and Governance & regulatory failure.

All of these risks are serious and a combination of some of the most likely and most severe risks could be hugely damaging, not just to the agencies concerned, but also those receiving their services, and society as a whole.

Using any agency as an example, the ultimate objective of implementing ERM is the management of risks. To direct and control the effect of uncertainties on objectives, carried out using a specified set of processes defined in a risk management framework, supported by a risk management system embodied in chart of roles and responsibilities.

Before implementing ERM, leadership needs to develop a shared vision of the role of risk management in the agency. A shared vision is a call for action to drive the organisation to identify, design and build the risk capabilities needed to close significant gaps and make selected risk responses happen. To set objectives, leaders must define those goals within the context of the agencies mission and strategy.

Such an exercise requires asking critical questions, including: - What is it we are trying to accomplish as an agency – what is our mission? Which specific future events could interfere with our ability to achieve these objectives? What are our expected outcomes? If we accept risks or exposures that are inherent to our services, do we have sufficient resources to achieve our objectives, despite any anticipated setbacks?

Honest answers to these questions provide a powerful context to define its next steps, as well as its risk appetite, which is the amount of risk the agency is willing to accept in pursuit of its mission.

Again, it is important to remember that ERM is a journey, and that success will not be achieved overnight. The next article, which will be the concluding in this series, will address the “HOW� - steps for implementation of ERM in the public sector. t.CPOV '&31 $*3. 6, )$*# .T3. 4UFSO TUVEJFE &OHJOFFSJOH JT BO FYQFSJFODFE #BOLFS BOE &OUFSQSJTF 3JTL .BOBHFNFOU QSPGFTTJPOBM &BSOFE B QPTU HSBEVBUF EFHSFF JO 3JTL .BOBHFNFOU GSPN /FX :PSL 6OJWFSTJUZ 4UFSO 4DIPPM PG #VTJOFTT BOE JT B NFNCFS PG UIF *OTUJUVUF PG 3JTL .BOBHFNFOU 6, $BO CF SFBDIFE PO 4.4 0OMZ FNBJM SN SJTLNHU!HNBJM DPN

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BUSINESSWORLD

AVIATION

AIR WATCH

Creation of Climate Change Agency Waste of Resources Says NiMET DG Stories by Chinedu Eze The Director General of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet), Prof. Sani Abubakar Mashi has condemned the calls for the creation of a separate and parallel Climate Change Agency (CCA), saying the establishing such body would amount to waste of resources and a duplication of functions already being carried out by an existing agency, NiMet. Mashi said NiMet was established by an Act of Parliament in 2003 to provide weather services in marine, environmental and bio-meteorology for climatic and human health activities. He said that so far, all stakeholders are unanimous in their agreement that it has been carrying out this role both effectively and efficiently; therefore, there should be no reason for the creation of a new body with similar functions.

Mashi made this known while fielding questions from newsmen in Lagos. He remarked that at a time when there is widespread clamour for limited government and scaling down of the bureaucracy, creating another body with essentially the same roles as NiMet would not only be counter-productive

but also a waste of scarce resources during the period of an economic recession. “Since its inception in 2003 NiMet has played, and continues to play crucial, critical and strategic roles in fulfillment of its mandate, including the issue of Climate Change hence the major authoritative voice on climate issues in Nigeria as recognized by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), a technical and specialised agency of the United Nations (UN). “Furthermore, NiMet is the repository of the national archive of climate data in Nigeria. The climate data bank has data spanning over a century from over 60 synoptic stations spread across the nation. There are no meaningful climate studies or policy developments that can be conducted without credible climate data. This climate data can only be found in NiMet. NiMet also has the largest concentration of climatologists in the country and these resources are always used to produce the scientific basis for climate change in Nigeria�, Mashi said.

Furthermore, he said instead of creating a parallel agency, NiMet should be reorganised and strengthened to enhance the discharge of its responsibilities

through the amendment of the enabling Act and identified areas that require amendment to include, but not limited to the elevation of Climate Services to a Directorate of Climate Services status to “better handle issues relating to climate and climate change�. “It is rather surprising that at a time when the country is experiencing an economic recession and is literally fighting the battle of its life, people are proposing the creation of a parallel agency that will merely duplicate the functions of an existing body. Even at the best of times when resources do not pose any significant bottleneck, such obvious duplication is counterproductive and may lead to conflict of interest and unnecessary rivalry�, the DG added. He however said that the plan to create the National Council on Climate Change (NCCC) is a welcome development, adding that the Council should be saddled with the responsibility to “supervise NiMet�. He picked holes on other provisions in the proposed bill currently before the National Assembly for failing to include the DG/CEO of NiMet, the nation’s sole repository of climate data in the said Council.

FG Begins Renovation of llorin International Airport Hammed Shittu in Ilorin The federal government has commenced renovation and upgrading of facilities at the llorin international Airport, Ilorin, which had been abandoned since thunderstorm wrecked havoc on the terminal.

Only the private airlines like Overland, Arik and now Med-View airlines have been operating to the airport on daylight services, as the airport cannot take aircraft in the night

due to lack of facilities for night landing and take off.

However, a visit of our correspondent to the airport on Tuesday showed that the airport is now wearing a new look as renovation has started at the terminal.

The renovation, THISDAY learnt, is being executed by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and some of the facilities currently being upgraded include FAAN administrative block, roofing

of the entire hajj terminal, the screening centre and installation of overhead reservoir water tanks at various locations at the airport.

Others are installation of street lights at different walkways and other areas of the airport, replacement of worn out air conditioners and other electrical gadgets that would provide better illumination in addition to the construction of new baggage facility and carousel.

AIB Renovates $5.8m Fight Safety Laboratory in Abuja The Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) has announced that it has resuscitated its $5.8million previously unserviceable Flight Safety Laboratory equipment at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Lagos.

This is as the agency has also trained its staff on the handling of the equipment, which was constructed and equipped in 2012. The Commissioner of AIB, Akin Olateru made this known recently during the training facilitated by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and Singaporean government.

A statement issued by the spokesman of AIB, Tunji Oketunbi, confirmed that the equipment was now ready for usage. Olateru recalled that the management had signed a contract with a Canadian firm,

CEA/Flightscape in 2011 to install state-of-the-art equipment in AIB’s new laboratory.

He explained that the laboratory was designed to download information from Flight Data Recorder (FDR) and Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) among others, which are necessary requirements for a thorough and accurate accident investigation, adding that the facility was used to download the flight recorders of Associated Airlines’ aircraft crash of October 2013 with the assistance of the manufacturers of the laboratory despite the fact that the agency had not effected full payment.

He express regret that since that single usage in 2013, the facility had not been put to proper use due to lack of human capacity in-house to manage the laboratory, adding that there

were also challenges from the manufacturer’s end. “The summary of the matter is that the laboratory was not working when I took over as the Commissioner. I made it a priority to resuscitate the laboratory considering its importance to the discharge of AIB’s responsibilities. I galvanised all the necessary quarters to achieve this mission.

The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and the Singaporean government agreed to help. “First I charged our ICT compound to get the laboratory running, which they successfully did. So, I can confidently tell you that the laboratory is working. However, we need the in-house capacity to manage it and maximise the benefits of the facility. This is where ICAO has come in.�

Making Hajj Operations Hitch-free

Iyal

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Ă˜ĂžĂ“Ă– ĂœĂ?Ă?Ă?Ă˜ĂžĂ–ĂŁËœ Ă‹Ă“ĂœĂ–Ă“Ę° Ă™Ă? ĂšĂ“Ă–Ă‘ĂœĂ“Ă—Ă? ÞÙ ÞÒĂ? ÙÖÖã Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă™Ă? Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă‹ ĂĄĂ‹Ă? Ă?Ă’Ă‹ĂœĂ‹Ă?ĂžĂ?ĂœĂ“Ă?Ă?ĂŽ ĂŒĂŁ Ă’Ă“Ă?Ă?Ă&#x;ĂšĂ?Ëœ Ă“Ă˜Ă?Ă–Ă&#x;ĂŽĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ ÞÒĂ? Ă?Ă‹Ă“Ă–Ă&#x;ĂœĂ? Ă™Ă? Ă‹Ă“ĂœĂ–Ă“Ă˜Ă?Ă? ÞÙ ĂŒĂœĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ ĂŒĂ‹Ă?Ă• ÞÒĂ? ĂšĂ“Ă–Ă‘ĂœĂ“Ă—Ă? ÞÒĂ?ĂŁ Ă’Ă‹ĂŽ ÞËÕĂ?Ă˜ ÞÙ Ă‹Ă&#x;ĂŽĂ“ ĂœĂ‹ĂŒĂ“Ă‹ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă&#x;Ă˜ĂŽĂ&#x;Ă? ĂŽĂ?Ă–Ă‹ĂŁĂ? ĂŽĂ&#x;ĂœĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ ÞÒĂ? ĂœĂ?ĂžĂ&#x;ĂœĂ˜ ĘŽĂ“Ă‘Ă’Ăž ĂŒĂ‹Ă?Ă• ÞÙ Ă“Ă‘Ă?ĂœĂ“Ă‹Ë›

Ă“Ă˜Ă Ă?Ă?ĂžĂ“Ă‘Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ă? ĂœĂ?Ă Ă?Ă‹Ă– ÞÒËÞ ÞÒÓĂ? ĂĄĂ‹Ă? ĂŽĂ&#x;Ă? ÞÙ Ă˜Ă™Ă˜Ě‹Ă‹Ă Ă‹Ă“Ă–Ă‹ĂŒĂ“Ă–Ă“ĂžĂŁ Ă™Ă? ÙÚĂ?ĂœĂ‹ĂžĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă‹Ă“ĂœĂ?ĂœĂ‹Ę° Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ĂšĂ™Ă™Ăœ ĂšĂ–Ă‹Ă˜Ă˜Ă“Ă˜Ă‘Ëœ Ă?Ă?ĂšĂ?Ă?Ă“Ă‹Ă–Ă–ĂŁ Ă‹Ă? ÞÒĂ? Ă‹Ă“ĂœĂ–Ă“Ę° Ă™Ă? ĂšĂ“Ă–Ă‘ĂœĂ“Ă—Ă? Ă“Ă˜Ă Ă™Ă–Ă Ă?Ă? Ă’Ă?Ă‹Ă ĂŁ ÚËĂ?Ă?Ă?Ă˜Ă‘Ă?Ăœ ĂžĂœĂ‹ĘŠĂ?Ë› Ă‹Ă˜ĂŁ Ă™Ă? ÞÒĂ? Ă‹Ă“ĂœĂ–Ă“Ă˜Ă?Ă? ÞÒËÞ Ă?Ă‹ĂœĂœĂŁ Ă™Ă&#x;Ăž ĘŽĂ“Ă‘Ă’ĂžĂ? Ă™Ă? ĂšĂ“Ă–Ă‘ĂœĂ“Ă—Ă? Ă&#x;Ă?Ă&#x;Ă‹Ă–Ă–ĂŁ ĂœĂ?Ă?Ă™ĂœĂŽ Ă?Ă&#x;Ă–Ă– ÖÙËÎ Ă?Ă‹Ă?ĂžĂ™ĂœË› Ă™ ĂĄĂ’Ă?Ă˜ Ă?Ù×Ă? Ă™Ă? ÞÒĂ? Ă‹Ă“ĂœĂ–Ă“Ă˜Ă?Ă? Ă–Ă?Ă‹Ă?Ă? Ă‹Ă“ĂœĂ?ĂœĂ‹Ę° Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ÞËÕĂ? ÞÒĂ? ĂšĂ“Ă–Ă‘ĂœĂ“Ă—Ă? ÞÙ ÞÒĂ? ÙÖã Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽËž ÞÒĂ? Ă?Ă›Ă&#x;ÓÚ×Ă?Ă˜Ăž Ă—Ă“Ă‘Ă’Ăž Ă˜Ă™Ăž ĂŒĂ? ĂœĂ?Ă‹ĂŽĂ“Ă–ĂŁ Ă‹Ă Ă‹Ă“Ă–Ă‹ĂŒĂ–Ă? ÞÙ ĂŒĂœĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ ÞÒĂ?Ă— ĂŒĂ‹Ă?Ă• Ă‹Ę°Ă?Ăœ ÞÒĂ? ËÔÔ˛ Ă™Ăœ Ă—Ă‹Ă˜ĂŁ ĂŁĂ?Ă‹ĂœĂ?Ëœ ÞÒĂ? Ă‹Ă“ĂœĂ–Ă“Ę° Ă™Ă? ĂšĂ“Ă–Ă‘ĂœĂ“Ă—Ă? Ă?Ă™Ă˜ĂžĂ“Ă˜Ă&#x;Ă?ĂŽ ÞÙ ĂŒĂ? ĂšĂœĂ™ĂŒĂ–Ă?×ËÞÓĂ? ÞÒËÞ Ă?Ù×Ă? Ă™Ă? ÞÒĂ? ĂšĂ“Ă–Ă‘ĂœĂ“Ă—Ă? ĂĄĂ?ĂœĂ? Ă–Ă?Ę° Ă“Ă˜ ÞÒĂ? ÙÖã Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ĂĄĂ?Ă?Ă•Ă? Ă‹Ę°Ă?Ăœ ÞÒĂ? ËÔÔ˛ Ă’Ă“Ă? Ă?Ă™Ă˜ĂžĂ“Ă˜Ă&#x;Ă?ĂŽ Ă&#x;Ă˜ĂžĂ“Ă– ÞÒĂ? Ă“Ă‘Ă?ĂœĂ“Ă‹ Ă“Ă Ă“Ă– Ă Ă“Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜ Ă&#x;ĂžĂ’Ă™ĂœĂ“ĂžĂŁ Ě™ Ěš Ă?ĂžĂ?ÚÚĂ?ĂŽ Ă“Ă˜ ÞÙ Ă?ĂžĂœĂ“Ă?ÞÖã ĂœĂ?Ă‘Ă&#x;Ă–Ă‹ĂžĂ? ÞÒĂ? ËÔÔ Ă?Ă?ĂœĂ Ă“Ă?Ă?Ă? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă?Ă˜Ă?Ă&#x;ĂœĂ?ĂŽ ÞÒËÞ Ă‹Ă“ĂœĂ–Ă“Ă˜Ă?Ă? ĂŽĂ?Ă?Ă“Ă‘Ă˜Ă‹ĂžĂ?ĂŽ ÞÙ ÙÚĂ?ĂœĂ‹ĂžĂ? ËÔÔ Ă’Ă‹Ă Ă? ÞÒĂ? Ă˜Ă?Ă?ĂŽĂ?ĂŽ Ă‹Ă“ĂœĂ?ĂœĂ‹Ę° Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ÙÞÒĂ?Ăœ ÖÙÑÓĂ?ÞÓĂ?Ă? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă?Ă™Ă&#x;Ă–ĂŽ ÙÚĂ?ĂœĂ‹ĂžĂ? Ă?Ă‹Ă?Ă?Ă–ĂŁË› Ă™Ă?Ă?Ă“ĂŒĂ–ĂŁ Ă“Ăž ĂĄĂ‹Ă? ĂŒĂ?Ă?Ă‹Ă&#x;Ă?Ă? Ă™Ă? ÞÒÓĂ? Ă?Ă’Ă‹Ă–Ă–Ă?Ă˜Ă‘Ă? ÞÒËÞ ĂšĂœĂ™Ă—ĂšĂžĂ?ĂŽ ÞÒĂ? Ă‹Ă&#x;ĂŽĂ“ ĂœĂ‹ĂŒĂ“Ă‹ Ă‹Ă&#x;ĂžĂ’Ă™ĂœĂ“ĂžĂ“Ă?Ă? ÞÙ Ă“Ă˜Ă?Ă“Ă?Ăž Ă™Ă˜ Ă‹Ă“ĂœĂ–Ă“Ę°Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă‹ĂŒĂ™Ă&#x;Ăž Ͳ͎ ĂšĂ?ĂœĂ?Ă?Ă˜Ăž Ă™Ă? ÞÒĂ? ĂšĂ“Ă–Ă‘ĂœĂ“Ă—Ă? åÓÞÒ Ă‹Ă&#x;ĂŽĂ“ ĂœĂ?Ă‘Ă“Ă?ĂžĂ?ĂœĂ?ĂŽ Ă‹Ă“ĂœĂ–Ă“Ă˜Ă?Ă?Ë› Ă’Ă?Ă?Ă? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ÙÞÒĂ?Ăœ Ă?Ă’Ă‹Ă–Ă–Ă?Ă˜Ă‘Ă?Ă? ĂĄĂ?ĂœĂ? ĂœĂ?Ă?Ă?Ă˜ĂžĂ–ĂŁ â̋ ĂœĂ‹ĂŁĂ?ĂŽ ĂŒĂŁ ÞÒĂ? Ă?Ă™ĂœĂ—Ă?Ăœ Ă?Ă˜Ă“Ă™Ăœ ĂšĂ?Ă?Ă“Ă‹Ă– ĂŽĂ Ă“Ă?Ă?Ăœ ÞÙ ÞÒĂ? ĂœĂ?Ă?Ă“ĂŽĂ?Ă˜Ăž Ă™Ă˜ Ă Ă“Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă‹ Ă?ÞËÕĂ?ÒÙÖÎĂ?Ăœ Ă™Ă? ÞÒĂ? Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ă‹Ă– ËÔÔ Ù××ÓĂ?Ă?Ă“Ă™Ă˜ Ă™Ă? Ă“Ă‘Ă?ĂœĂ“Ă‹ Ě™ ĚšËœ Ă‹ĂšĂžĂ‹Ă“Ă˜ Ă’Ă?Ă’Ă&#x; ĂŁĂ‹Ă–Ëœ ĂĄĂ’Ă™ Ă‹Ă–Ă?Ă™ Ă?Ă&#x;Ă‘Ă‘Ă?Ă?ĂžĂ?ĂŽ ĂĄĂ‹ĂŁĂ? ÞÙ Ă“Ă—ĂšĂœĂ™Ă Ă? ËÔÔ ÙÚĂ?ĂœĂ‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ă? Ă“Ă˜ Ă“Ă‘Ă?ĂœĂ“Ă‹Ë›

Ă˜ Ă‹ ĂšĂœĂ?Ă?Ă?Ă˜ĂžĂ‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜ ÞÓÞÖĂ?ĂŽË? ËŠ Ă™Ă˜ĂžĂœĂ“ĂŒĂ&#x;ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ă? Ă™Ă? Ă Ă“Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜ Ă‘Ă?Ă˜Ă?Ă“Ă?Ă? ÞÙ ËÔÔ ĂšĂ?ĂœĂ‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ă? Ă“Ă˜ Ă“Ă‘Ă?ĂœĂ“Ă‹ËŞËœ ÞÙ Ă—Ă‹ĂœĂ• ÞÒĂ? ÍŻÍŽ ĂŁĂ?Ă‹ĂœĂ? Ă‹Ă˜Ă˜Ă“Ă Ă?ĂœĂ?Ă‹ĂœĂŁ Ă™Ă? Ëœ Ă’Ă?Ă–ĂŽ Ă‹Ăž ÞÒĂ? Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ă‹Ă– Ă™Ă?Ă›Ă&#x;Ă? Ă&#x;ĂŽĂ“ĂžĂ™ĂœĂ“Ă&#x;Ă— ĂœĂ?Ă?Ă?Ă˜ĂžĂ–ĂŁËœ Ă‹ĂšĂžĂ‹Ă“Ă˜

ĂŁĂ‹Ă– Ă“ĂŽĂ?Ă˜ĂžĂ“Ę¨Ă?ĂŽ ÞÒĂ? Ă?Ă“Ă‘Ă˜Ă“Ę¨Ă?Ă‹Ă˜Ăž ĂœĂ™Ă–Ă?Ă? ÚÖËãĂ?ĂŽ ĂŒĂŁ Ă‹Ă Ă“Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜ Ă‹Ă‘Ă?Ă˜Ă?Ă“Ă?Ă? Ă–Ă“Ă•Ă? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ÞÒĂ? Ă?ĂŽĂ?ĂœĂ‹Ă– Ă“ĂœĂšĂ™ĂœĂžĂ? Ă&#x;ĂžĂ’Ă™ĂœĂ“ĂžĂŁ Ă™Ă? Ă“Ă‘Ă?ĂœĂ“Ă‹Ă˜ Ě™ Ěš ÞÙ Ă?Ă‹Ă?ÓÖÓÞËÞĂ? Ă?Ă&#x;Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă&#x;Ă– ÒËÔÔ ÙÚĂ?ĂœĂ‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜ Ă“Ă˜ ÞÒĂ? Ă?Ă™Ă&#x;Ă˜ĂžĂœĂŁË› Ă? Ă˜Ă™ĂžĂ?ĂŽ ÞÒËÞ ÞÙÎËã Ă—Ă™Ă?Ăž Ă™Ă? ÞÒĂ? Ă‹Ă?Ă™ĂœĂ?Ă—Ă?Ă˜ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ă?ĂŽ ĂšĂœĂ™ĂŒĂ–Ă?Ă—Ă? Ă’Ă‹Ă Ă? ĂŒĂ?Ă?Ă˜ Ă?ÙÖà Ă?ĂŽ ĂŒĂ?Ă?Ă‹Ă&#x;Ă?Ă? Ă?Ù×Ă? Ă“Ă‘Ă?ĂœĂ“Ă‹Ă˜ Ă‹Ă“ĂœĂ–Ă“Ă˜Ă?Ă? Ă˜Ă™ĂĄ ĂšĂœĂ?ĂšĂ‹ĂœĂ? ĂĄĂ?Ă–Ă– Ă?Ă™Ăœ ÞÒĂ? ËÔÔ Ă?Ă?ĂœĂ Ă“Ă?Ă? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă?Ă˜Ă?Ă&#x;ĂœĂ?ĂŽ ÞÒËÞ Ă‹Ă“ĂœĂ?ĂœĂ‹Ę° Ă‹ĂœĂ? Ă—Ă‹ĂŽĂ? Ă‹Ă Ă‹Ă“Ă–Ă‹ĂŒĂ–Ă? Ă?Ă™Ăœ ÞÒĂ? ÙÚĂ?ĂœĂ‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ă?Ë›

ĂŁĂ‹Ă– Ă?Ă‹Ă“ĂŽ Ă“Ă?Ă?Ă&#x;Ă?Ă? ÙÚĂ?ĂœĂ‹ĂžĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă–Ă“Ă?Ă?Ă˜Ă?Ă?Ă?˚ÚĂ?ĂœĂ—Ă“ĂžĂ? ÞÙ Ă‹Ă“ĂœĂ–Ă“Ă˜Ă?Ă?Ëž Ă?Ă˜Ă?Ă&#x;ĂœĂ?Ă? Ă?Ă™Ă—ĂšĂ–Ă“Ă‹Ă˜Ă?Ă? ĂŒĂŁ ÞÒĂ? Ă?Ă‹ĂœĂœĂ“Ă?ĂœĂ?

åÓÞÒ Ă“Ă˜ĂžĂ?ĂœĂ˜Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ă‹Ă– Ă?ĂžĂ‹Ă˜ĂŽĂ‹ĂœĂŽĂ? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ĂœĂ?Ă?Ù××Ă?Ă˜ĂŽĂ?ĂŽ ĂšĂœĂ‹Ă?ÞÓĂ?Ă?Ă?Ëž Ă“Ă˜Ă?ĂšĂ?Ă?ĂžĂ? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă?Ă?ĂœĂžĂ“Ę¨Ă?Ă? Ă‹Ă–Ă– ËÔÔ Ă‹Ă“ĂœĂ?ĂœĂ‹Ę° ĂŒĂ?Ă?Ă™ĂœĂ? ĂŽĂ?ÚÖÙã×Ă?Ă˜Ăž Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ĂŽĂ&#x;ĂœĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ ÙÚĂ?ĂœĂ‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜ ̙ÞÙ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă?ĂœĂ™ĚšËž Ă“Ă˜Ă?ĂšĂ?Ă?ĂžĂ? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă?Ă?ĂœĂžĂ“Ę¨Ă?Ă? ĂŽĂ?Ă?Ă“Ă‘Ă˜Ă‹ĂžĂ?ĂŽ Ă‹Ă“ĂœĂšĂ™ĂœĂžĂ? Ă?Ă™Ăœ ËÔÔ ĘŽĂ“Ă‘Ă’ĂžĂ? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ĂšĂœĂ™ĂžĂ?Ă?ĂžĂ? ÞÒĂ? ĂœĂ“Ă‘Ă’ĂžĂ? Ă™Ă? ĂžĂœĂ‹Ă Ă?Ă–Ă–Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ ĂšĂ“Ă–Ă‘ĂœĂ“Ă—Ă?Ë› Ă? Ă˜Ă™ĂžĂ?ĂŽ ÞÒËÞ Ă“Ă? ĂœĂ?Ă?ĂšĂ™Ă˜Ă?Ă“ĂŒĂ–Ă? Ă?Ă™Ăœ ÞÒĂ? ĂŽĂ?Ă Ă?ÖÙÚ̋ Ă—Ă?Ă˜Ăž Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă—Ă‹Ă“Ă˜ĂžĂ?Ă˜Ă‹Ă˜Ă?Ă? Ă™Ă? Ă‹Ă–Ă– Ă‹Ă“ĂœĂšĂ™ĂœĂžĂ? Ă“Ă˜Ă?Ă–Ă&#x;ĂŽĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ ÞÒÙĂ?Ă? Ă&#x;Ă?Ă?ĂŽ Ă?Ă™Ăœ ËÔÔ ĘŽĂ“Ă‘Ă’ĂžĂ?Ëœ ĂĄĂ’Ă“Ă?Ă’ Ă“Ă˜Ă?Ă–Ă&#x;ĂŽĂ? ÞÒĂ? ĂšĂœĂ™Ă Ă“Ă?Ă“Ă™Ă˜ Ă™Ă? Ă?Ă‹Ă?ÓÖÓÞÓĂ?Ă? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă‹Ă?Ă?Ă™Ă—Ă—Ă™ĂŽĂ‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜ Ă?Ă™Ăœ Ă?Ă‹Ă?Ă? Ă™ĂœĂŽĂ?ĂœĂ–ĂŁ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă?âÚĂ?ÎÓÞÓÙĂ&#x;Ă? ĂšĂœĂ™Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă™Ă? ĂšĂ“Ă–Ă‘ĂœĂ“Ă—Ă? Ă‹Ăž ÞÒĂ? Ă‹Ă“ĂœĂšĂ™ĂœĂžĂ?Ëž ÞÒĂ? ĂšĂœĂ™Ă Ă“Ă?Ă“Ă™Ă˜ Ă™Ă? Ă‹ĂŽĂ?Ă›Ă&#x;Ă‹ĂžĂ? Ă?Ă‹Ă?ÓÖÓÞÓĂ?Ă? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ĂšĂ?ĂœĂ?Ă™Ă˜Ă˜Ă?Ă– Ă?Ă™Ăœ Ă?ĘĽĂ?Ă?ÞÓà Ă? Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă&#x;ĂœĂ“ĂžĂŁ Ă‹Ăž Ă‹Ă–Ă– ËÔÔ Ă‹Ă“ĂœĂšĂ™ĂœĂžĂ? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă?ĘŠĂ?Ă“Ă?Ă˜Ăž Ă?Ă™Ă™ĂœĂŽĂ“Ă˜Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜ Ă™Ă? Ă‹Ă–Ă– ÙÞÒĂ?Ăœ ÑÙà Ă?ĂœĂ˜Ă—Ă?Ă˜Ăž Ă‹Ă‘Ă?Ă˜Ă?Ă“Ă?Ă? ĂšĂœĂ?Ă?Ă?Ă˜Ăž Ă‹Ăž ËÔÔ Ă‹Ă“ĂœĂšĂ™ĂœĂžĂ?Ë› Ă?Ă?Ă™ĂœĂŽĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ ÞÙ Ă’Ă“Ă—Ëœ ÞÒĂ? Ă“Ă‘Ă?ĂœĂ“Ă‹Ă˜ Ă“ĂœĂ?ÚËĂ?Ă? Ă‹Ă˜Ă‹Ă‘Ă?Ă—Ă?Ă˜Ăž Ă‘Ă?Ă˜Ă?ĂŁ Ě™ Ěš Ă“Ă? Ă—Ă‹Ă“Ă˜Ă–ĂŁ ĂœĂ?Ă?ĂšĂ™Ă˜Ă?Ă“ĂŒĂ–Ă? Ă?Ă™Ăœ ĂšĂœĂ™Ă Ă“Ă?Ă“Ă™Ă˜ Ă™Ă? Ă‹Ă“Ăœ ĂžĂœĂ‹ĘŠĂ? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă˜Ă‹Ă Ă“Ă‘Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ă‹Ă– Ă?Ă?ĂœĂ Ă“Ă?Ă?Ă? ÞÙ Ă‹Ă–Ă– ËÔÔ ĘŽĂ“Ă‘Ă’ĂžĂ? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă‹Ă–Ă?Ă™ ĂœĂ?Ă?ĂšĂ™Ă˜Ă?Ă“ĂŒĂ–Ă? Ă?Ă™Ăœ ĂšĂœĂ™Ă Ă“Ă?Ă“Ă™Ă˜ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă—Ă‹Ă“Ă˜ĂžĂ?Ă˜Ă‹Ă˜Ă?Ă? Ă™Ă? Ă˜Ă‹Ă Ă“Ă‘Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ă‹Ă– Ă‹Ă“ĂŽĂ? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă?Ă‹Ă?ÓÖÓÞÓĂ?Ă? Ă‹Ăž ËÔÔ Ă‹Ă“ĂœĂšĂ™ĂœĂžĂ?Ëž ĂĄĂ’Ă“Ă–Ă? ÞÒĂ? Ă“Ă‘Ă?ĂœĂ“Ă‹Ă˜ Ă?ĂžĂ?Ă™ĂœĂ™Ă–Ă™Ă‘Ă“Ă?Ă‹Ă– Ă‘Ă?Ă˜Ă?ĂŁ Ě™ Ěš ĂšĂœĂ™Ă Ă“ĂŽĂ?Ă? ĂĄĂ?ËÞÒĂ?Ăœ ĂœĂ?Ă–Ă‹ĂžĂ?ĂŽ Ă“Ă˜Ă?Ă™ĂœĂ—Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜ ÞÙ ËÔÔ Ă?Ă‹ĂœĚ‹ ĂœĂ“Ă?ĂœĂ? Ă?Ă™Ăœ Ă?Ă‹Ă?Ă? Ă?Ă™Ă˜ĂŽĂ&#x;Ă?Ăž Ă™Ă? ĘŽĂ“Ă‘Ă’Ăž ÙÚĂ?ĂœĂ‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ă? ĂŽĂ&#x;ĂœĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ ĂŽĂ?ĂšĂ‹ĂœĂžĂ&#x;ĂœĂ?Ëœ Ă?Ă˜Ě‹ĂœĂ™Ă&#x;ĂžĂ? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă‹ĂœĂœĂ“Ă Ă‹Ă– ÚÒËĂ?Ă?Ă? Ă™Ă? Ă‹Ă–Ă– ĘŽĂ“Ă‘Ă’ĂžĂ?Ë›

ĂŁĂ‹Ă– ĂœĂ?Ă—Ă‹ĂœĂ•Ă?ĂŽË? ËŤ Ă’Ă?ĂœĂ?Ă?Ă™ĂœĂ?Ëœ ÞÒËÞ ÞÒĂ? Ă‹Ă Ă“Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜ Ă‹Ă‘Ă?Ă˜Ě‹ Ă?Ă“Ă?Ă? Ă‹ĂœĂ? Ă?ĂœĂ&#x;Ă?Ă“Ă‹Ă– Ă?Ă™Ăœ Ă?Ă&#x;Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă&#x;Ă– ËÔÔ ÙÚĂ?ĂœĂ‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ă? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŁĂžĂ“Ă—Ă? ÞÒĂ?Ă?Ă? Ă‹Ă‘Ă?Ă˜Ă?Ă“Ă?Ă? ĂĄĂ?ĂœĂ? Ă?Ă™Ă&#x;Ă˜ĂŽ ĂĄĂ‹Ă˜ĂžĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă“Ă˜ Ă?Ă‹ĂœĂœĂŁĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă™Ă&#x;Ăž ÞÒĂ?Ă“Ăœ ĂœĂ?Ă?ĂšĂ™Ă˜Ă?Ă“ĂŒĂ“Ă–Ă“ĂžĂ“Ă?Ă?Ëœ Ă“Ăž Ă‹ĂŽĂ Ă?ĂœĂ?Ă?Ă–ĂŁ Ă‹ĘĽĂ?Ă?ĂžĂ? ËÔÔ ÙÚĂ?ĂœĂ‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ă?˛ˏ Ă’Ă? Ă?Ă™ĂœĂ—Ă?Ăœ Ă?Ă˜Ă“Ă™Ăœ ĂšĂ?Ă?Ă“Ă‹Ă– ĂŽĂ Ă“Ă?Ă?Ăœ ÞÙ ÞÒĂ? ĂœĂ?Ă?Ă“ĂŽĂ?Ă˜Ăž ĂœĂ?Ă?Ù××Ă?Ă˜ĂŽĂ?ĂŽ ÞÒËÞ Ă?Ă™Ăœ ËÔÔ Ă‹Ă“ĂœĂ–Ă“Ę° ÞÙ Ă?Ă™Ă˜ĂžĂ“Ă˜Ă&#x;Ă? ÞÙ ĂŒĂ? Ă?Ă&#x;Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă&#x;Ă– Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ÞÙ Ă?Ă˜Ă?Ă&#x;ĂœĂ? Ă‹Ă“ĂœĂ–Ă“Ę° Ă™Ă? ĂšĂ“Ă–Ă‘ĂœĂ“Ă—Ă? ĂŽĂ™Ă?Ă? Ă˜Ă™Ăž ĂœĂ?ĂžĂœĂ™Ă‘ĂœĂ‹ĂŽĂ? ÞÙ ÞÒĂ? Ă?Ă‹Ă“Ă–Ă?ĂŽ Ă?ĘĽĂ™ĂœĂžĂ? Ă™Ă? ÞÒĂ? ÚËĂ?Þ˞ ÑÙà Ă?ĂœĂ˜Ă—Ă?Ă˜Ăž Ă—Ă&#x;Ă?Ăž Ă’Ă‹Ă Ă? ÞÙ Ă“Ă—ĂšĂœĂ™Ă Ă? ÞÒĂ? Ă?ĂŁĂ?ĂžĂ?Ă—Ë› Ă? ĂœĂ?Ă?Ù××Ă?Ă˜ĂŽĂ?ĂŽ ÞÒËÞ ÞÒĂ?ĂœĂ? Ă?Ă’Ă™Ă&#x;Ă–ĂŽ ĂŒĂ? ĂžĂœĂ‹Ă“Ă˜Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ĂœĂ?Ě‹ĂžĂœĂ‹Ă“Ă˜Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă™Ă? ĂšĂ?ĂœĂ?Ă™Ă˜Ă˜Ă?Ă– Ă“Ă˜ ĂœĂ?Ă–Ă?Ă Ă‹Ă˜Ăž Ă‹Ă Ă“Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜ ĂœĂ?Ă–Ă‹ĂžĂ?ĂŽ ĂŽĂ&#x;ÞÓĂ?Ă? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ĂœĂ?Ă?ĂšĂ™Ă˜Ă?Ă“ĂŒĂ“Ă–Ă“ĂžĂ“Ă?Ă?Ëž ËÚÚÖÓĂ?Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜ Ă™Ă? ĂžĂ?Ă?Ă’Ă˜Ă™Ă–Ă™Ă‘ĂŁ Ă“Ă˜ Ă—Ă‹Ă”Ă™Ăœ Ă‹Ă?ĂšĂ?Ă?ĂžĂ? Ă™Ă? ËŞĂ? ËÔÔ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă—ĂœĂ‹Ă’ Ă‹Ă?ÞÓà ÓÞÓĂ?Ă?Ëž ÞÒĂ? Ă?Ă?ĂžĂ‹ĂŒĂ–Ă“Ă?Ă’Ă—Ă?Ă˜Ăž Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă—Ă‹Ă“Ă˜ĂžĂ?Ă˜Ă‹Ă˜Ă?Ă? Ă™Ă? ÑÙÙÎ ĂĄĂ™ĂœĂ•Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ ĂœĂ?Ă–Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ă?Ă’Ă“ĂšĂ? åÓÞÒ Ă‹ Ă?Ă“Ă—Ă“Ă–Ă‹Ăœ Ă™ĂœĂ‘Ă‹Ă˜Ă“Ă?Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ă? Ă‹ĂŒĂœĂ™Ă‹ĂŽ ÞÙ Ă?ÞÓ×Ă&#x;Ă–Ă‹ĂžĂ? Ă?âĂ?Ă’Ă‹Ă˜Ă‘Ă? ĂšĂœĂ™Ă‘ĂœĂ‹Ă—Ă—Ă?Ă? ÞÒËÞ ĂĄĂ™Ă&#x;Ă–ĂŽ Ó×ÚËĂ?Ăž ÚÙĂ?ÓÞÓà Ă?Ă–ĂŁ Ă™Ă˜ ÞÒĂ? Ă–Ă™Ă?Ă‹Ă– ĂĄĂ™ĂœĂ•Ă?Ă™ĂœĂ?Ă? ÞÙ Ă?Ă˜Ă’Ă‹Ă˜Ă?Ă? ÞÒĂ?Ă“Ăœ ĂšĂ?ĂœĂ?Ă™ĂœĂ—Ă‹Ă˜Ă?Ă? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă?ĘŠĂ?Ă“Ă?Ă˜Ă?ĂŁË› ËŤ Ă–Ă?Ă™Ëœ Ă?Ă‹Ă?ÓÖÓÞÓĂ?Ă? Ă‹Ăž ËÔÔ ĂžĂ?ĂœĂ—Ă“Ă˜Ă‹Ă–Ă? Ă?Ă’Ă™Ă&#x;Ă–ĂŽ ĂŒĂ? Ă&#x;ĂšĂ‘ĂœĂ‹ĂŽĂ?ĂŽ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ĂšĂœĂ?ĂšĂ‹ĂœĂ?ĂŽ Ă?Ă™Ăœ ͰͲ Ă’Ă™Ă&#x;Ăœ ÙÚĂ?ĂœĂ‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ă?Ë› Ă’Ă?ĂœĂ? Ă?Ă’Ă™Ă&#x;Ă–ĂŽ ĂŒĂ? ĂšĂ‹ĂœĂžĂ˜Ă?ĂœĂ?Ă’Ă“Ăš åÓÞÒ ÙÞÒĂ?Ăœ Ă“Ă˜ĂžĂ?ĂœĂ˜Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ă‹Ă– ĂŒĂ™ĂŽĂ“Ă?Ă? Ă“Ă˜Ă Ă™Ă–Ă Ă?ĂŽ Ă“Ă˜ ÞÒĂ? Ă‹Ă“ĂœĂ–Ă“Ę° Ă™Ă? ĂšĂ“Ă–Ă‘ĂœĂ“Ă—Ă? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ÞÒĂ? Ă“Ă‘Ă?ĂœĂ“Ă‹Ă˜ Ă‹Ă“Ăœ Ă?Ă‹ĂœĂœĂ“Ă?ĂœĂ? Ă?Ă’Ă™Ă&#x;Ă–ĂŽ Ă?Ă™Ă˜ĂžĂ“Ă˜Ă&#x;Ă? ÞÙ Ă“Ă˜Ă Ă?Ă?Ăž Ă“Ă˜ Ă?Ă›Ă&#x;ÓÚ×Ă?Ă˜Ăž Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă?ËÚËĂ?ÓÞã ĂŒĂ&#x;Ă“Ă–ĂŽĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ËœËŹ ĂŁĂ‹Ă– Ă?Ă‹Ă“ĂŽË›

T H I S D AY FRIDAY JULY 21, 2017

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T H I S D AY FRIDAY JULY 21, 2017

T H I S D AY ˾ ˜ Ͱͯ˜ Ͱͮͯ͵

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BUSINESSWORLD

PERSPECTIVE

Corrupting Privileges and National Mismanagement Narrative Prof. Dafe Otobo of the Faculty of Business Administration, University of Lagos, writes on how some groups of persons dominate the political space and enrich themselves to the detriment of their fellow Nigerians The recent spate of strident, incendiary and fractious narratives on the Nigerian Condition offered by several privileged Nigerians are only surprising for their flimsiness, not their thrusts.

Why? Privileges, at any age, have been notorious for their toxic, perverting, and corrupting tendencies, where they stand for right granted to and/or usurped by an individual or a select few, bestowing advantages not enjoyed by others.

And it all started with over-arching elite formation across the very many ethnic groups which inhabit the space politically labelled “Nigeria”.

Modern Elite-formation and Political Partying Each ethnic group has subgroups, usually clans formed by lineages with common ancestry occupying several villages and towns, often speaking a dialect of a dominant language, with few kingdoms becoming empires after subjugating neighbouring groups. Before European/British colonial domination, it is crucial to note there were no occasions for pan-ethnic group political events where persons or traditional elites saw and presented themselves as representing Nupe, Jukun, Berom, Yoruba, Hausa, Kanuri, Efik, Urhobo, Isoko, Ijaw, Igbo, etc. One lived and died in the village or small town, with very few trans-village events, let alone trans-clan, and political power and control rested with elders’ council, chief, alkali, king, etsu, oba, shehu, emir, sultan, and suchlike political autocrats or oligarchs, with identities firmly tied to and meshed in village, town and clan culture till less than barely eighty years ago. Whatever political alliances that existed were strictly between autocrats/oligarchs where mass representation was inconceivable. The founding of new towns via pre-colonial and colonial trading and other activities (e.g., mining activities, administrative headquarters, etc.) and random declaration of provinces, local governments and, later, regions, necessitated new patterns of political mobilisation and representation of those units. It was also a wrenching shake-up of distribution of privileges and criteria for elite-membership, and the political party became the dominant vehicle for both. The political parties attracted and created new elites, sucking in an already adulterated traditional rulership system too, where anyone was made chief, king, etc., by colonial authorities.

The most significant output, for our purposes, was the emergence of a class of persons across villages, towns, provinces, local governments, regions and states who spoke above everyone else, on behalf of conjured constituencies and to themselves alone, and subsequently made an art the gliding from party to party, literally, in what I call, “political partying” with resources and their distribution.

Political Partying, Corrupting Privileges and “National Development” Political parties, with membership drawn from business community, burgeoning academia, so-called educated elite, and traditional elite, for political Independence and national development after, now declared themselves to be representing “the North”, “the Middle Belt”, “the West”, “the East”, “the COR States”, “Midwest”, “Niger Delta”, “Northern Minorities”, Southern Minorities”, “Biafra”, “the Southwest”, “the South-South”, “the Southeast”, “the Hausa”, “the Arewa”, “Kanem-Borno Empire”, “the Yoruba Nation”, “the Igbo Nation”, “the Urhobo Nation”, etc. Cast in this form, “national development” mutates into “development” of notional ethnic groups, ethnic competition, and never mind being starkly antithetical to that oft-mouthed “unity in diversity” and other themes in the “National” Anthem. The practice and reality is thus the wresting of and wrestling over ever larger quantum of resources ostensibly in name of all these notional entities by mostly self-enriching individuals and cabals: census figures, revenue allocation formula, manipulation of the federal character principle, location of infrastructures and projects, vicious competition over all manner of contracts, emoluments of political office holders, creation of new local governments and states and more.

Political Partying, Corrupting Privileges and Management of the Public Sector

Acting Presideny, Yemi Osinbajo

The public sector comprises the following institutions: the Presidency and Ministers and their coterie of Assistants (the Government), the National Assembly, the Civil Service and its Ministries, the Parastatals (Customs, Immigration, NNPC, etc.), the Judiciary, the Armed Forces, Law enforcement agencies (Police, Security agencies, etc.), State Governments, their ministries and parastatals, and local government. Those who occupy top and policy-making decisions in these institutions comprise the elite of the public sector. Combined with business, academia and traditional elites, one has roughly a “national elite”. Managing this public sector triggers the “mother of all fights”, that of populating these institutions which the protagonists insist depends on “representativeness” in numbers – concocted statistics of general population and its alleged distribution among regions and states such that “the North” always has 51 point something per cent and “the South” 48 point something per cent, and Kano State must have more persons than Lagos State, as fertility rates, birth rates, mortality rates, rural-urban migration have been held constant since creation their creation. These imposed population percentages should then be reflected in the recruitment of bureaucrats for each institution as yardstick and evidence of fairness, and further broken down to number of Christians and Moslems respectively, another set of estimated percentages. Accurate physi-

There are several impacts of these stratagems on the public sector, the very first being the orientation and worldview of many top bureaucrats, inseparable and indistinguishable from those of cabals dominating the political parties and thus venomously bigoted and sectional – at their most pristine and corrosive forms during military regimes

cal counting was and is certainly anathema, fraught with nasty, brutal facts - estimates being more negotiable, thus establishing seemingly national culture of absence of precise statistics on anything – birth rates, mortality rates, women, men, children of certain ages, unemployment, etc., and electoral votes in particular which are better “declared”.

There are several impacts of these stratagems on the public sector, the very first being the orientation and worldview of many top bureaucrats, inseparable and indistinguishable from those of cabals dominating the political parties and thus venomously bigoted and sectional – at their most pristine and corrosive forms during military regimes. For the main civil service and certain parastatals, policy options seem to follow suit: sharing of oil blocks; “constituency” projects; cancellation of Lagos Metroline project; abandoned Federal Secretariat in Ikoyi; it does not matter how many millions of American dollars have been unsuccessfully expended on “national ID card” project since the Babangida’s regime; same for the Ajaokuta steel project, the Osogbo, Jos and other steel mills; defunct Iwopin and other paper mills; the favour to friends and others of licences for banks and finance houses, most of which went under after the punishing rise of interest rates followed by bankruptcies and further restructuring of banks; hardly used airports in odd but favoured locations; the several times awarded and re-awarded Lagos-Ibadan Expressway contract; the Shagamu-Benin Expressway; the East-West Expressway in a state of utter disrepair; bloated contracts and yet poorly executive turn-around-maintenance of oil refineries that ended with epileptic performance till date; continuing importation of refined petroleum products sustained by the patronage system, inflicting so much general hardship; the strangely located and abandoned housing schemes occupied by cobwebs, overgrown bushes and rodents strewn across the country; selectively and poorly executed privatisation programmes, including the more recent energy sector scheme which increased supply of darkness; borrowing over half a billion dollars from the Chinese to construct totally uneconomic Kaduna-Abuja rail link, instead of Kano-PH-Lagos that has vast economic benefits, just for a handful of bureaucrats to spend weekend away, derivable fares not able to repay the loan even in a hundred years; expensively redesigned and expanded expressway to and from Abuja Airport and other roads therein when major trunk roads in various parts of the country are impassable; abandonment of the railways in preference for the less efficient and more costly road haulage dominated by trucks owned by a handful of party-financiers; the uneconomic and enforced location of NNPC Group headquarters in Abuja and massive zonal headquarters in Benin City, that already hosts at least one NNPC’s subsidiary,

when there are only few drops of crude oil in Edo State; the routine bypassing of the NNPC (NGC) by oil and gas companies to secure certain waivers, including supply of natural gas on credit for indefinite periods of time…

The list is endless. At no point, in order not to spoil the partying by politicians-bureaucratic elite “diarchy”, is anyone held accountable for choice of cost-injurious, failed and abandoned projects, the presumed benefit being one of them is sited in your area at all, a colourful addition to the otherwise too natural-looking landscape.

The other equally pernicious and insidious impact is the unintended creation of multiple and parallel organisations within each of the ministries and parastatals, the principle of need-to-know basis camouflaging critical officers receiving different sets of instructions from different godfathers and mentors but all acted out in the name of the institution. For practical purposes therefore several forthright officers would learn, like everyone else, measures and actions being taken in the name of their organisations and even own sections or divisions, from news and social media. This state of affairs prevails in all the security and intelligence agencies, the military, police, judiciary, EFCC, Customs, Immigration, the NNPC Group, etc., and everyone straining to recognise principles behind many decisions and actions, especially anti-corruption policy, prevailing notions of national interest and security, and basis for appointments, promotions and deployments.

Here we find the implanted seeds growing rapidly and rabidly into fruition in the essentials of national mismanagement: de-motivation, disillusionment of, and mounting indifference to plight of general public by many public servants, especially critical elements of the bureaucratic elite; a massively corrupt budgetary process, guided less by pressing must-do projects and actions/ policies than by political partying calculations and trade-offs; mounting greed and the push to augment salaries via bewildering variety of corrupt practices (bribes by Ministries, parastatals and government Departments to access their statutory allocations – in spite of, knowing her, encouragement of measures by Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to prevent such; bribes for missing files to reappear; bribes to facilitate processing of any matter, including some percentage retainer fee for collecting pension and other entitlements of retirees - especially the dead ones; bribes to think up, arrange the funding of, and award contract for a project; unofficial surcharges on custom duties, arbitrary and illegal payments by importers for product certificates even for school books that are VAT and import duty-free and have no specifications to be verified and not even on the list of items that require same in the first place; manufacturing of indeterminate number of “ghost” workers; multiple illegal payments imposed on shop owners and small and medium-scale businesses (SMEs) generally, often physically collected by violent groups of young men as agents of local authorities; very lucrative trade in expatriate quotas until replaced by work permits; extortions for “your particulars” at check-points manned by personnel from over five agencies and counting, leaving this strategic segment of society (students, public servants, workers, traders, pensioners, transporters, entrepreneurs of SMEs, etc.,), with gnawing feelings of humiliation, deprivation and unceasing harassment; extortions at police stations, and random “arrests” of able-bodied young men and women for “vagrancy” in their own neighbourhoods; the uncertain movement of “justice” in many segments of the judiciary, especially and naturally, electoral cases where, for example, someone who did not contest gubernatorial election was declared the “winner”; illicit diversion/appropriation of state and local government funds; the multiple and irregular imposition of charges for acquisition and retention of land and General President Obasanjo’s fiat, unprecedented anywhere, of forcing the Land Use Act into the Constitution, and doing same with permanent secretaries deemed now to be “political appointees” and CONTINUED ON PAGE 26

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CORRUPTING PRIVILEGES AND NATIONAL MISMANAGEMENT NARRATIVE earning over 300 per cent of previous salaries - obviously following the footsteps of General Babangida who re-designated permanent secretaries “director-generalsâ€? and thought they should retire with the government that appointed them – thereby single-handedly distorting structure of the civil service and career expectations of upper echelons; some ministries, parastatals and departments leaving electricity bills unsettled for years, rendering it impossible of NEPA, PHCN successor organisations to balance their books; routinised arrears of salaries and other entitlements; worsening illegal proliferation of small arms and armed groups across the country, specially useful during elections and for intimidating sections of communities thereafter, and kidnappings for ransom‌and so on. Who would have guessed that the definition of “national securityâ€? and the role of “national security adviserâ€? of the sort carried out by the likes of Henry Kissinger, Brzezinski in the USA and others in the UK, European Union and even South Africa was merely the surreptitious distribution of public funds to individuals and companies owned by party faithfuls? Also explains why only Nigerian Presidents and Vice Presidents are signatories to certain bank accounts, merging both approval and implementing roles, a deliberate overthrow of much-needed separation of functions which has led to better administratively managed societies elsewhere! It is exceedingly difficult to avoid the conclusion that our collective drifting in less rewarding directions, despite enormous potentials, is hardly accidental, substantially resulting from negotiating ploys and mechanisms ferociously utilised by this pan-Nigeria political partying addicts and their cohorts in the public sector.

Political Partying, Corrupting Privileges and the Private Sector The privatisation of public enterprises, conception, funding and implementation of projects and development objectives and routine functioning of the economy guided by monetary and fiscal regimes, activities of financial institutions, investors and business owners and shareholders ensure constant interaction between and among stakeholders and such is the state of mixed economy everywhere. Obviously, therefore, the dynamics of the economy are umbilically linked to official regulatory framework that is supposed to establish ethical and other standards for all. So, aside from many of the politicians-bureaucratic elites owning businesses and shares in various other businesses that are beneficiaries of contracts and obscene bank deposits, skewed allocation of foreign exchange to dealers; ineffective taxation and tax collection system; not much integrity in audited company accounts/reports but still accepted and utilised for banking and other financial transactions; widespread dumping or entry of substandard goods (machines, vehicles, parts, equipment, etc.); extremely limited use of meters in the energy sector as incentive to investors as consumers reel under the weight of inflated “estimates�, making nonsense of principles of contract of sale since consumers pay for seller’s imagined units of energy; most businesses incurring avoidable heavy expenses providing own power supply, costs that are passed on to consumers; energy shortages rendering an increasing number of small and medium scale enterprises unprofitable, the sector with largest employment-creation potential for a young and teeming population; the charges for legal representation are just mind-blowing to the average user, unreflecting of prevailing low levels of incomes; same for accounting and other financial services; the numbing exploitation of “contract staff� by several banks, working at least 12 hours a day, including weekends, with the companies/individuals who supply them (often retired top bank officials or their companies) inexcusably and unconscionably (criminally?) retaining nearly 50% of each staff’s salary, not a ten or fifteen per cent commission as widely practised elsewhere and despite relevant ILO conventions officially ratified; the food and pharmaceutical industries where importing and manufacturing of very many items, aside from fake products, that are harmful are increasing; most chemists openly run by quacks who also diagnose and prescribe drugs, a point of reference to declining usefulness of some professional bodies to society; very troubling, needless deaths and expensive medical services on offer; openly hawked hard drugs, especially in Elegushi and other beaches and nightclubs, accelerating routine use of hard drugs by and rate of addiction among the

So, aside from many of the politiciansbureaucratic elites owning businesses and shares in various other businesses that are beneďŹ ciaries of contracts and obscene bank deposits, skewed allocation of foreign exchange to dealers; ineffective taxation and tax collection system; not much integrity in audited company accounts/reports but still accepted and utilised for banking and other ďŹ nancial transactions

Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun

youth; alarming degree of human trafficking, with thousands of Nigerian youths perishing in North Africa and Mediterranean Sea daily‌ We could go on and on, but the simple point is that the shortcomings of the public sector elites not only always leave heavy imprints on the private sector, but also severely impair the quality and tone of life and hence mounting disenchantment with successive governments without any “political enemiesâ€? fuelling such.

Political Partying, Communities, Local Elites and Education The physical location of tertiary institutions, especially universities, has itself become subject to more blatant parochial and political considerations and, when successfully done, it becomes one of the touted achievements by a faction of the traditional and political elites in their rivalry.

Subsequent concessions gained by them would cover the whole gamut of running the affected institution: recruitment, selection and placement of principal officers, contracts, admissions, examinations, promotions, to disciplinary issues of staff and students, the selection/appointment of the vice chancellor, registrar, deans and heads of departments, the push being for “daughters� and “sons� of the soil/locality or ethnic group.

All of these obviously serve to condition the environment, comportment, conduct of, and tactics adopted by, personnel within these institutions in achieving their private and parochial objectives.

Another aspect of the politicisation of physical location of universities (senatorial district, geopolitical zone, state, local government, etc.) – read tertiary institutions - is the hurried establishment of so many, with or without the approval of the National Universities Commission, fed by grossly inadequate funding, little physical and other infrastructure, poor staffing, poorly-built, poorly-equipped laboratories and lecture rooms, inevitably throw personnel therein into situations of so many aggravating factors, of fluid and barely functioning statutory and standing committees through paucity of numbers, lack of experienced hands and machinations of rival caucuses or groups, many practices hardly reflecting regular university culture and system, and local and political circumstances (e.g. amazingly late and inadequate budgets of federal and state governments) and conduct of traditional and political elite have amplified divisive impacts.

Every now and then and aside from establishment and location of tertiary institutions in particular, traditional and political elites gerrymander the education sector in more destructive fashion, from protesting against WAEC results, JAMB scores, cut-off points, admission quotas, number of professors from their areas of origin, to the fewness of vice chancellors from same. In accommodating some of these demands and in

the case of vice chancellors, the phrase “senior academic� has been deliberately and liberally interpreted in a few instances to mean “senior lecturers and above� for senior lecturers to become vice chancellors in a few universities. In such universities, the demand for “democratisation� of the university system translates into senior lecturers, and, in a few cases, lecturer grade one being “elected� heads of department and deans, a sad caricature of the system, which, in turn, shows via quality of graduates since you cannot give what you do not have in a mentoring situation which these institutions are based upon.

More recently, the Federal Character Commission has been pushing for the right to sit on recruitment interview panels in federally funded tertiary institutions “to ensure fair distribution of positions among statesâ€? (euphemism for ethnic balancing), and, for added measure, it has been alleged, trying to ignore the provisions of statutes establishing these educational institutions as selfregulating corporate bodies and wanting private contracts between them and professors set aside to enable it supervise the random posting of professors to any institution! Well, it is Nigeria‌ but I really hope not.

Political Partying, and Language of National Discourse Political partying is about cornering public resources for private use via control of political party apparatuses, and disadvantaging actual and putative rivals in the process, one reason why political combatants are at their most vitriolic and reckless in public denunciation of rivals and those remotely thought might not favour canvassed new privileges; every action, every word is geared towards the rationalisation of past, existing and incubated privileges. Hence that glaring lack of self-discipline in a socio-political system dominated by self-aggrandizement that inevitably leads to shocking levels of conceit, which, in turn, then breed a culture of impunity (at its worst during military regimes) and manifesting in very limited decorum and respect for procedures and processes; meetings hardly holding on schedule at any level, that of electing President of Senate in recent times on schedule being “unacceptable� conduct. So, “we are in control�, “this is our time�, “who are you?�, Who do you think you are talking to?�, “we have Federal might�, “You can go to Abuja if you want�, “those traitors�, “those saboteurs�, “those unpatriotic elements�, “fifth columnists�, “those militants�, “those Moslems�, “those infidels�, “those Christians�, “of course we are an Islamic nation�, “those Muslim Fundamentalists�, “those born-gain Christians�, “those troublesome Southerners�, “those lazy Northerners�, “those parasites�, “those South-South trouble-makers�,

“those unreliable Yorubas�, “those self-centred Igbo�, “we will make this place ungovernable�, “we will deal with you�, “monkey dey work, baboon dey chop�, “the oil belongs to all of us�, “we are marginalised�, “�Democracy Day is June 12, not May 29�, “June 12 is Southern Rebellion�, “Democracy Day is the Generals marking when they continued domination in Mufti�, “Fulani Nation will no longer tolerate attacks on herdsmen�, “we want true Federalism�, “Fiscal Federalism�, “Restructuring is unacceptable�, “enemies asking after the President’s health status�, “President can seek best treatment anywhere�, “leave our land�, “animals� and other unmentionable expletives and stereotypes dominate the “national� discourse.

Quite simply, two related socio-psychological processes which account for the way and manner our political-bureaucratic elites view and address themselves and actual and perceived rivals or opponents are DEHUMANISATION and DEMONISATION which tend to go hand-inhand. Dehumanisation, among other tendencies, involves regarding and labelling the other person, the other group, as a bit less human than you and your own group and so the moral values, rules and definition and application of fairness which define limits in social interaction should somehow not apply to him/her and them.

So, supposedly well educated and should-be pious persons leading political, religious and other associations, traditional leaders, over forty year-olds youth leaders, once they dehumanize others, they longer experience distress or feelings of remorse when they recommend and mete out poor treatment to targeted individuals or groups. It is this “moral exclusion� that lies behind now-too-familiar such extreme behaviours like genocide, harsh/racist immigration policies, ethnic cleansing, pogroms, and institutionalised internal discrimination against minorities of all hues (political, racial, ethnic, national, religious, by sexual orientation, gender, disability, and class). While all that DEMONIZATION involves is convincing yourself and those around you that the targeted persons or groups are evil, dangerous, thereby providing presumed justification for their being treated in a particularly harsh and violent manner. Indeed, whatever the claims or counter-arguments of targeted persons and groups might be, they are denied any legitimacy, and exist on sufferance. At this point, the country does not quite belong to all us.

Herdsmen, Freedom of Movement, Public Land, and Our Land That nomadic herdsmen have been roaming freely across West Africa for centuries in search of pasture as claimed by bigots is mere FICTION, “alternative facts�, sort of falsehood propensity that Donald Trump, I suspect, has borrowed from these Nigerians where everything is deliberately and misleadingly reduced to “a matter of opinion�. Central to organisation of human life since antiquity is the absence of freedom of movement as over ninety-nine point nine per cent of humans was in a condition CONTINUED ON PAGE 39

WEEKLY PULLOUT

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

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‘I’VE ALWAYS WANTED TO PUT SMILES ON PEOPLE’S FACES’

ACTING EDITOR CHARLES AJUNWA / charles.ajunwa@thisdaylive.com

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‘I’ve Always Wanted to Put Smiles on People’s Faces’ An Anambra indigene, Chiamaka Chukwura, who emerged the 10th winner of the Sisi Oge 2017 Cultural Pageant contest organised by No.1 Heritage Solutions, in this interview with Mary Ekah, spoke about her many projects, including her pet project, Connecting Smiles initiative, which focuses on supporting the less-privileged, and especially women and youths What has it been like wearing the Sisi Oge crown?

It’s been a lot of experience, work and learning, representing Africa in the last four months. Before Sisi Oge, what I’ve always had in mind to do is to put smiles on people’s faces in any way I could. This platform will however help me reach a wider audience.

And that is exactly what I have been doing through my pet project, Connecting Smiles.

Apart from that, I organised a Children’s Day event last May during which I had hundreds of children to talk to and put smiles on their faces. I also went to Dubai to inspire culture.

On seeing me in my African outfits, the people there were so overwhelmed and happy. Same thing happened in the UK. The African culture keeps thrilling people everywhere I go. Those are some of the things I’ve been up to in the past four months.

Tell us more about your Connecting Smiles project?

The Connecting Smiles concept is a platform through which I aimed at reaching a wider audience and putting smiles on their faces. It comprises women empowerment and skills acquisition which will enable women feed their families. I’m a shoe designer so, in about two months, I also plan to give out over a thousand pairs of shoes to children. I believe doing this will be a landmark achievement for me. It’s a back-to-school project.

I do also have plans for youths and that’s a skills acquisition programme which I have in place for young girls. The idea is to empower and make them look inward, so they can realise that there are lots they can achieve. It’s not about waiting for somebody to give them jobs; they can be job creators themselves and that’s why I want to embark on entrepreneurship and skills acquisition programmes so they can be better equipped to become job creators.

Chukwura

Coping with studies and being a beauty queen has not been easy but I am trying as much as possible to find a balance.

How will Connecting Smiles be different from the existing empowerment programmes?

A lot of the empowerment projects we have out there are not result-oriented, and that is because people do not identify the needs of people before embarking on projects. The thrust of Connecting Smiles is to develop people, help them discover their talents, boost trade and entrepreneurship in the society. How? Whether we like it or not, we all cannot work in banks or other corporate institutions. The first thing will be to identify these people, know their individual strengths and who to connect them with.

We find out that a lot of people do great things in different ways. So we will look at individual strengths, and come up with unique methods of doing those trades they are individually doing. They can then be stronger, more productive and in return, society in general will benefit. We will be working with local and international agencies who believe in these ideas. The project will also help to build trust amongst people.

Was Sisis Oge your first time in a beauty contest?

I’ve participated in one and that was Miss Ambassador for Peace. Apart from that, I also model in fashion shows and on billboards.

I also featured in ‘10 Days in Sun City’, a movie that premiered few weeks ago. That was my first movie experience.

Do you plan to build a career in acting?

If a script comes and it’s good, I will take it.

Can you tell us about your experience growing up?

Growing up was fun. I grew up with my mother and sisters in Lagos. As a child, I was looking up to being a great TV star.

At what age did you first go on the runway?

At age 16 and that was when I participated at the Nigerian Television Fashion Show. That was my first modelling job.

What in the first place motivated you to contest in the Sisi Oge of Africa beauty pageant?

Sisi Oge of Africa pageant aims to promote African values, culture and identity regardless of ethnicity. It’s open to everyone regardless of your state of origin, so my tribe has got nothing to do with it. Over the years, the pageant has produced nine beauty queens before me and if you look at the demographics of these beauty queens, you’ll realise majority of them are not from Yoruba land.

What made you stand out to win the crown?

I put in my best. I said the things I needed to say on point. I think everything just worked in my favour and being intelligent also helps during a time like this.

Anyone wearing the Sisi Oge crown should be able to well represent the essence of the Sisi Oge pageant which is to promote culture.

How will you relate your upbringing to your emergence as the winner this time?

My mum has always been particular about everything African. In fact, there isn’t much difference between Sisi Oge’s ideal and my upbringing. I’m used to being cultural, modest and African. I also speak my language fluently.

What has changed about you since you won the crown?

Nothing much; I’m still the same person that I was, even though it’s a little different since people always want to take picture with me

and of me everywhere I go. Personally, nothing has changed. I try as much as possible to still be that person I’ve always been. I still study at the National Open University where I’m running a programme in Entrepreneurship.

What is your advice to ladies who want to be a queen like you?

Be sure that this is what you want to do.

It’s a lot of hard work but be confident, make sure you are intelligent and the sky will be your limit.

T H I S D AY FRIDAY JULY 21, 2017

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21.07.2017

Amaechi: Railway Technology Beyond the Expertise of Most Nigerian Engineers Solomon Elusoji During a lively discussion held during a meeting of the Association for Consulting Engineering in Nigeria (ACEN) in Lagos, the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, criticised the quality of the engineers the country is currently producing, especially as it relates to railway technology, which he described as “complex engineering”.

“Our country cannot claim to have done a lot of things properly,” Amaechi said, before launching into a scathing commentary of the nation’s deplorable educational system, which he blames for the inability of the engineers to deliver as they should.

“I am ashamed that white men still supervise us during road construction,” he told his audience of engineers, “and if you are not challenged by the fact that we don’t have an academic environment that can produce the best in the world, it is unfortunate.”

While noting that it is impossible to build Nigeria’s development on the back of foreigners, the minister said the way forward was to invest in education, an idea which he is promoting by convincing the two major railway contractors in the country – China

Amaechi

Civil Engineering Construction Corporation and General Electric – to build Universities of Transportation.

“We are asking the contractors to establish two Universities of Transportation that will train Nigerian engineers,” Amaechi said.

“Ministry of Transportation will pick up the bill and we will not allow it to go in such a way that it will not be managed properly or equipped properly.

“I have not seen a Nigerian Railway Engineer that will deal with railway technology. In my ministry, anytime we try to recruit Nigerian railway engineers, we don’t have it. But there are those with degrees in Railway Engineering, and we have

told them to come and establish the same thing that they have in their country here in Nigeria, train our Nigerian engineers and use them, because we don’t have a choice.

Those who drive trains are Nigerians – that’s easy – but what happens is that when the train stops, what do we do? That’s where we have Chinese men who jump down to check the locomotive.”

However, Amaechi’s dismissal of the capabilities of Nigerian engineers did not go down well with members of ACEN present at the meeting, who argued that the problem was that they had not been given enough ample opportunities.

ACEN President, who also doubles as the Minister of Water Resources, Engr. Suleiman Adamu noted that “there’s really not much anything about railway; it’s civil, electrical and mechanical engineering. There are very many qualified Nigerians that have the basic qualifications, and engineering is all about continuous professional development. What we are saying is that Nigerian engineers should be given the chance to participate, understudy; there must be some local component within the contracts that must allow for local participation of Nigerian engineers.

Ibeku Town Union Launches Empowerment Programme Emmanuel Ugwu in Umuahia Desirous of banishing delinquency among youths, the Ibeku Egwu Asaa Development Association (IEADA) has embarked on apprenticeship empowerment programme targeting young persons interested in acquiring various skills.

To this end 80 youths have become the first set of beneficiaries of the programme when they were handed over cheques to enable them pay for their apprenticeship programmes in places where they chose to learn any trade of their choice.

The ceremony held at Ibeku Civic Centre, Isieke Ibeku attracted prominent personalities form Ibeku clan who came to mentor and encourage the youths to acquire skills, especially if they have no desire to further their educational pursuits.

Abia State governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, who was represented by his principal secretary, Chief Emmanuel Nwabuko, said he was pleasantly surprised that a town union has come up with a programme of empowering its youths and asked other

Enyiazu

such bodies to emulate the leadership of IEADA. He said that IEADA was working in tandem with his administration in the area of youth empowerment and encouraged them to keep the flag flying and pledged his backing for such laudable programmes.

Chairman of the event, Chief Johnson Onuigbo lauded the new executive of IEADA led by Chief Emeka Enyiazu for coming up with the apprenticeship

empowerment programme which he said was the first of its kind in the annals of IEADA history.

“It is a thing of joy that the leadership of IEADA has set aside some amount of money for the welfare of the young generation of Ibeku land,” he said, adding that the empowerment programme is a legacy that successive leaderships of IEADA must strive to sustain.

Onuigbo, who is also the Abia State chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), urged the beneficiaries of the empowerment programme to make proper use of the money given to them by working hard and praying to God to crown their efforts with success.

He advised youths to desist from self defeatist tendencies by believing that somebody has “tied their destiny” any time they failed to achieve their aims.

“If you involve yourself in taking hard drugs, wasting your time, refusing to go to school or learn a trade, will you in future accuse anybody of blocking your destiny?” adding, “You can be what you want to be.”

Former NNPC GED Joins AUN as Dean of Business School Solomon Elusoji The American University of Nigeria (AUN) has appointed a new Dean of the School of Business and Entrepreneurship (SBE), Dr. Attahir Yusuf.

A former Group Executive Director with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Yusuf, now heads the SBE, "one of AUN’s five schools and host of the university’s prestigious Business and Entrepreneurship programmes taught by an experienced global faculty," the school said in a release, this week.

President of AUN, Dr. Dawn Dekle, enthusiastically welcomed the new Dean.

"I am delighted Dr. Attahir Yusuf has accepted our offer to become the next Dean of SBE," she said. "He brings the right combination of academic credentials and industry experience to lead SBE to the next level of development. His infectious smile and professionalism have already captivated our campus community, and we look forward to learning from him and supporting him in his vision for SBE in the years to come."

Yusuf received his PhD in Management from the University of Sussex in the UK in 1986. He has an MSc in Management

Yusuf

Technology from the University of Wales Institute of Science and Technology (now University of Wales, Cardiff, Business School) in 1984.

Following a long and productive international academic career, in 2005, Dr. Yusuf was appointed as General Manager Corporate Planning, NNPC, and a year later was promoted to Group General Manager, Corporate Planning and Development, a position from which he oversaw Strategy, Budget, and Business Development matters.

He rose to the position of Group Executive Director, Corporate Services, in April 2009 and was in charge of Human Resources, Medical, Pension, Security, and the London

Office. He later became the Group Executive Director, Commercial and Investment. In this position, he oversaw nine subsidiaries.

Yusuf was also the Group Executive Director of Business Development and a member of NNPC's board.

Yusuf has chaired the boards of several other companies and is credited with establishing several companies for NNPC, including Crude and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Shipping companies (Nikorma and Nidas), and revamping the NNPC Retail Ltd and Duke Oil into profitable ventures.

Before joining the NNPC, Yusuf taught in a variety of universities in Nigeria and abroad, including the University of Maiduguri; The University of the West Indies, Barbados; PNG University of the Technology, Papua New Guinea; the University of the South Pacific, Fiji; Massey University, New Zealand; Sultan Qaboos University, Oman, and the University of Sharjah, UAE. Yusuf has also consulted for companies in New Zealand, the Middle East, the West Indies, the South Pacific, and Africa. His expertise in consulting includes Organisational Development, Strategy Implementation, Change Management, Strategic Information Systems Management, and Small Business Development.

Sasore: Reading Clubs Will Help Pupils, Students in their President of Rotary Club of Lagos, Mrs. Gladys Modupe Sasore, has called on corporate organisation, nongovernmental organisations, writers associations, journalists and wellmeaning individuals to support and promote reading Sasore clubs in schools.

Sasore, who disclosed this at the Read programme grand finale held at the Pinefield School, Lekki Phase 1, said this would go a long way to keep the flame of reading burning and spreading among pupils and students.

She also thanked the Rotary Club of Lagos and Quramo Publishing company which she said collaborated for embarking on “the project in order to highlight and create necessary awareness to observe decline noticeable in the reading culture of our pupils and students in trying to address the decline and encourage restoration.

“We used practical advocacy concept of taking Read to primary schools, invite our esteemed readers to read to the pupils and emphasise to them the importance of reading beyond school text books.

“Reading is very important in the life of a child, for regular reading exposes children to a larger more diverse vocabulary and greater variety of sentence structure than teachers or parents just talking to them. Similarly, it develops their knowledge, phonological awareness and memory, all of which are essential skills that will lead them to future academic success. In addition, reading promotes self-esteem confidence. Indeed, it has been said that if you can read, you can do anything, dream anything and be anything.

CRK/IRK Imbroglio: Pastor Judith Lauds CAN, Urges Christians to Speak with One Voice Sunday Okobi Following House of Representatives successful vote recently that Christian Religious Knowledge (CRK) be taught separately, a renowned female cleric, founder of Glorious Living Singles and Married Ministry, Pastor Judith Daniel Imagoro, has hailed Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and Nigerian Christians in general, saying the victory in having CRK as independent subject would not have been possible if Christians were silent.

According to Daniel-Imagoro at the recently held Dynamic Life conference at Gombi in Adamawa State, where she called on Christians to speak with one voice, “I normally don't comment on political matters, because I am busy with my Father (God’s) business, but defending God’s business is equal to doing the business.

“Christians at this point in our nation need to be constructive and stand for what is right without allowing anybody to impose anything on anyone. If God, our Creator, could leave us with the power of choice, no government, government agents or group of people should force a whole nation to accept what is not right, which is what the present government want to do.”

She said following all the policies the present government had tried to implement since inception, “we (Christians) should speak with one united voice because we are one body in Christ. We should do not try to be diplomatic with our faith.

“For the government to have left all the educational needs of Nigerians, and try to subsume CRK in civil education (National Value and Religion), it clear the government of the day is up to something. Their aim is to subtly deprive Nigerian students among others of the knowledge of God. The cleric noted that there are some government secondary schools in the country were students still sit on class rooms floor to write examinations, “there are so many schools without useable toilets. A lot of schools have no qualified teachers, and for the government to have left all the important educational matters to attend to, but to try and do something that is not worth the time and energy, that should tell you what their motives are.”

Daniel-Imagoro who thanked Christian leaders for standing firm, said: “We as Christians should not silent important national issues because more of these moves are coming, and if we keep silent over things and let them have their way, time will come when they will tell you to reduce the number of churches, and later, you will not be allowed to worship God freely.

31/LIVING

21.07.2017

Expectant and Nursing Mothers Get V14 Ventures Support Mary Ekah As part of its annual programme tagged ‘Giving Back’, a charity event aimed at reaching out to the less-privileged in the society, V14 Ventures recently brought hope to pregnant women as well as nursing mothers who found it difficult to cater for themselves during pregnancy and after having their babies. Tagged, ‘Giving Back

by V14 (5) for Pregnant and Nursing Mothers’, it was the 5th edition of the annual event and this time, it was targeted at women in the Jakande Housing Estate, Ilasan, Lekki, Lagos, who have been regular visitors to St. Kitzto Clinic, a private primary healthcare centre in Jakande, but have found it difficult to pay the bills for their ante-natal and post-natal hospital services as well as cater for their children after birth.

The Chief Executive Officer of 14 Ventures, Mrs. Valentina Hynes, said the annual ‘Giving Back’ event was a corporate social responsibility (CSR) outreach of the company where it reaches out to the needy every year through lectures and reaching out to the needy. “We carry out this exercise every June 16th and we chose a community that we have identified that needs our help,” Hynes noted. She recalled that the last edition was held at the Pacelli School for the Blind and Partially Sighted while this year she chose to reach out to pregnant and nursing mothers at St. Kitzto Clinic.

Explaining why she had focused on pregnant and nursing mothers, she said, “I’m a new mother and when I was pregnant, I knew that I could pay my hospital bills during my ante-natal and afterwards, but even then, there were some hospitals that were way beyond me but above

Expectant and nursing mothers who benefited from the V14’s Giving Back event receiving their cheques from Mrs. Hynes

that, it was a very hard period for me because I was selective of what I ate and there were times I didn’t just feel like doing anything but just sit or sleep and so I had to think about people who didn’t have the same privileges that I had – people who were forced to go out every day, people who had to give birth in their houses and not in hospital without anyone helping them because they lacked the of fund to pay hospital bills.

And when I had my baby, I asked myself how this little one would be protected if something happened to me tomorrow, how do I protect my child? And that is what a lot of women go through too. And so, I decided this year to focus on pregnant and nursing mothers. So we came to St. Kitzto Clinic and told them what we wanted to do. They were glad to have us and even went further to tell us that sometimes

they have people who come to the hospital but cannot afford to pay their bills,” she said.

During the reach out event, V14 Venture paid for the baby delivery of two women and also for the Typhoid Fever immunisation of a couple of kids.

Also, items like diapers, clothes for babies and adults, creams, powder, food items, baby crib, swing, walker amongst other items, were also given to the women and children. There were also talks on investment strategies and options from Commercial Partners, PiggyBank.ng, and Post-Natal Depression by one of St. Kizito's midwives.

Tania Tahouf of Commercial Partners Limited, a financial services company, gave talk on the need for the women to develop saving culture so that when their children grow up, they won’t

have to struggling to pay school fees and house rents but will have something to fall back to.

The talk also extended to how mothers should not just stop at learning to save themselves but should also teach their children how to save and invest their money. “From the little money they get from aunties and uncles, they can set a little aside and when it’s up to N5,000, they can go to any of the stockbrokers or banks to save or Invest,” she noted.

Joshua Chibueze of PiggyBank.ng who also advised the nursing and expectant mothers on the benefits of saving for themselves, explained that although it was very difficult to develop a saving culture for many, PiggyBank.ng has structured things in a way that it is now very easy to save in that one can now start a savings with as little as N50 every day, adding, “We are trying to encourage them to start with what they have, no matter how little it is. You don’t have to wait until you have N5, 000 or N10, 000 to start saving. With PiggyBank.ng you can save as little as N50 every day.”

The funder, Rising Up from the Ashes (RUFTA) Initiative, Olabisi Usidame, who said her organisation focuses on getting women back on their feet, especially if they have had very difficult experiences in the past or they are trying to come out of a particular situation, said she had decided to be part of V14 Venture’s programme because it represents part of RUFTA’s vision which is to reach out to women who are in need and needs a bit of support to get on their feet.

“We all know how the economy is now, so we cannot continue to just keep having so many children without having a solid means of taking care of them. We want to make these women

Nigerian-American Singer, Jidenna Reveals Ties between Heineken and Nigerians in New Ad Mary Ekah Heineken Nigeria has just launched an ad featuring the Nigerian-American singer, Jidenna Theodore Mobisson, popularly known as Jidenna, which highlights the parallels between the world’s most international brand – Heineken and Nigerians.

The light-skinned artiste with a certain texture of hair was born in Wisconsin, United States to an American mother and an Igbo father, and, in the new ad, tries to highlight certain traits that Heineken and Nigerians have in common.

Heineken is the world’s leading beer brand and the premium drink has been enjoyed by beer lovers in Nigeria since it was first launched.

Its great taste and superb quality has earned it

the title: Chairman. The brand has truly become a part of Nigeria and its people. According to Jidenna, there are three qualities Heineken and Nigerians have in common as highlighted in the ad. Just as Nigerians are famous in the world, so also is Heineken in that Heineken can be found in 192 countries and interestingly, where you see Heineken globally, there’s an 80 per cent chance you will find a Nigerian.

Secondly, anywhere you go, Nigerians have proven their mettle globally, and it’s not uncommon to see them breaking records in Ivy League institutions, or deploying innovative ideas in solving problems. They can boast of unmatchable brilliance, compassion and quality results. So also, Heineken’s quality is also

largely unmatched. With a guarantee of the same taste and quality anywhere in the world made possible with the skill of a Master Brewer with 15 years of experience under his belt, you are sure with every sip of Heineken, you get quality. Thirdly, there is value placed on family.

Nigerians are passionate about family and what it represents. They will stop at nothing to keep their family closely knitted. Heineken is a family owned brand that understands the importance of family in the grand scheme of things. Despite the evolution of technology, Heineken remains in touch with its traditional roots. With these similarities between Nigerians and Heineken established, it is not a surprise Nigerians love the premium beer brand.

Childville Schools Stage Death and the King’s Horseman’ Students of Childville Schools, Lagos, held their audience spell-bound with their incredible talent displays as they performed Professor Wole Soyinka’s Death and the King’s Horseman.

For two hours the audience was glued to their seats at the Muson Centre, Lagos as the children effortlessly acted one of the Nobel laureate tragedies on stage.

The play presents a representation of the Yoruba worldview. In the Yoruba cosmetology, there are three worlds, the world of the living, the world of

the dead and the world of the unborn. This play focuses on what connects three worlds – transition, the pathway on which on which members of the different worlds meet and interact.

The opening of the play involves the ritual ceremonies for the burial of the dead king (Alaafin). Elesin Oba (The King’s Horseman), who is supposed to commit suicide in order to help the dead king travel peacefully to the world of the dead. Elesin Oba, attired in glorious robes, enters the village market place

in a majestic dance procession followed by the Praise Singer (Olohuniyo). Elesin dances until he enters a trance.

Mr. Pilkings, a British colonial district officer was unable to respect the Yoruba people. He hears that Elesin intends to commit suicide.

To avoid this, he has Elesin arrested. Olunde (Elesin’s son), a doctor, returns from England.

When he heard of the king’s death, he tries unsuccessfully to make Mr. Pilkings understand Yoruba beliefs. Ashamed to see his father’s

failure, he kills himself in Elesin’s place.

The cast, including Damilola Akanni (Elesin Oba), Iniubong Ini-inyang (Olunde), Edikan Eyoma (Iya Loja), Daniel Eta (Simon Pilkings), Favour Oloriegbe (Jane Pilkings) among others expressed happiness for the success of the play. The play director and drama teacher of the school, Mr. Jerome Gboyega commended the children for their wonderful performance, adding that they were able to interpret the script effectively despite its technicality.

ACE Desire, Zobo Flavoured Alcoholic Drink, Berths Nigerian Breweries Plc, the foremost brewer in the country has raised the bar in the Readyto-Drink (RTD) market with the launch of ‘Ace Desire’, the first zobo-flavoured alcoholic drink into the Nigerian market.

Marketing Director, Nigerian Breweries Plc, Mr. Franco Maria Maggi, explained to journalists at the launch in Lagos on Thursday, that Ace Desire is a sophisticated blend of spirit, natural Hibiscus or zobo extracts, being the traditional beverage produced from Hibiscus leaves. “This rich combination of a balanced mix of spirit and Hibiscus extracts contains 5.5 per cent alcohol, and offers a tingling sensation and rich aroma,” he said.

According to him, Ace Desire, packaged in a 33cl glass bottle, stands out amongst other products on the Ready-to-Drink category. He added that Nigerian Breweries, “the house of quality” has delivered on yet another promise

to delight consumers with the introduction of Ace Desire. “The brand’s ambition is to lead in the Nigerian RTD category by establishing itself as the relentless pioneer of innovation,” Maggi said, while also promising that the product will be available in outlets across the country over the next few weeks.

Maggi disclosed that the extensions of the Ace brand have always been informed by the need to satisfy different consumer taste profiles that evolve and change over time.

It would be recalled that Nigerian Breweries launched the Ace brand in December 2014 with an apple-flavoured alcoholic drink called Ace Passion. In March 2015, Ace Roots, a spirit mixed alcoholic drink made from African herbs and fruits joined the Ace family, while Ace Rhythm, a mix of Vodka and Citrus was unveiled in November 2015.

L-R: Nigerian Breweries Plc’s Innovation Manager, Mr. Stanley Obi, Marketing Director, Mr. Franco Maria-Maggi, Brand Support Manager (RTD), Toyosi Adeyemi, and Corporate Communications and Brand Public Relations Manager, Patrick Olowokere at the launch

32 / XTRA

21.07.2017

Okorie: UPP is Not for Secession National Chairman of United Progressive Party (UPP), Chief Chekwas Okorie, in this interview with journalists, bares his mind on the burning national issues. Peter Uzoho was there Your party, UPP posted an impressive showing in Awka during your national convention. What is expected from now on?

Let me say that Nigerians should look forward to a political party that is ideologically-rooted and is very conversant with the needs of the country at this point in time. There is no doubt that an overwhelming majority of Nigerians, have looked forward to the implementation of the recommendations of the 2014 constitutional conference. Those recommendations were not as exhaustive as many would want them to be.

But over 600 recommendations, touched on so many aspects of our national life that would have balanced this country better than it is today and released the potentialities of many federating units and ethnic nationalities to develop at their own pace, to engage in the very healthy competition that would bring out the comparative advantages of all the federating units, for development and growth of the country.

That we believe in. But sadly, the All Progressives Congress, that has even Progressive in its name, and the party that participated from their state levels, because they control 24 states, out of the Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. And these 24 states and the Federal Capital Territory, contributed what they considered their best teams to the national conference. It was only the APC as a party that did not contribute the three slots given to them as a party. And so, one may say that those decisions were reached by a majority of the APC governors. And the same APC controls the National Assembly by majority.

So, for the President of Nigeria to dismiss that document and say that he has not read it, he would not read it and that it was going to be confined to the archives, was the biggest tragedy that befell Nigeria at the beginning of his government.

So, we felt as a political party there was something we could do about it. This is not a matter for the judiciary, to say we will go to court to challenge anybody. But that we will bring the entire recommendations, the highlights at least, and reduce it to a manifesto format and it becomes our social contract with the Nigerian people and an article of faith.

This is what we have succeeded in doing, at least, in terms of the ideological thrust of our party. And as we were doing this, we were also testing the grounds to see how prepared Nigerians are for this kind of radical departure from the status quo. And we found out that the people of Borno, especially the Southern Borno, would want the national conference recommendations almost as much as the people of the South-east would want it. The people of the Middle Belt, responded as the National Conference was intended to liberate them from the shackles of the hegemony of the caliphate. The Southern Zaria people responded enthusiastically to what we were ready to do as a political party. Not to talk about the Niger Delta people. Delegations upon delegations began to come to us from the various parts of the country to say this thing you’re canvassing, don’t ever relent, that is what is going to attract us to you. We want to see it in more concrete terms.

Again, Atiku Abubakar, began to play up the issue of restructuring. But the weakness in his own that made it look more like rhetoric was because he belongs to the party that is doing the opposite. And since Nigeria doesn’t run an independent candidate system, he couldn’t see how he was going to implement the opposite of what his party believes in. But all the same, his weighty voice gave credence to what the UPP had already articulated in our manifesto and constitution. Now, IBB has joined in saying, restructure Nigeria.

So, self-determination and restructuring has become a national singsong. Today, we’re the only political party of the 45 that exists at the moment that has come out with this bold initiative. So, as we approach the campaigns for 2019, we’ll take this message to every nook and cranny of this country, so that they will not see it as an Igbo agenda, but an agenda that will liberate Nigeria. Because what is holding Nigeria down is the type of structure it is operating and that structure must be dismantled and a new one put in place and you will see Nigeria experience a quantum leap in its development. So, this is what Nigerians should expect from us.

Okorie

We are certain that having carried out this convention successfully, we’re now equipped as a political party and we are equipped to meet Nigerians in the field.

In other words, you’re saying that UPP is a national party?

It is far more national than any party that exists today, because I don’t see anything that makes APC a national party with its promotion of nepotism, sectionalism, lop-sidedness in appointments, and refusal to respond to the people’s needs. I have not seen anything whatsoever that makes APC national. When you look at it, you’re seeing a party representing a particular part of the country, with a sprinkle of people from other places. Like I said, no party in government has divided Nigeria more than APC. So, nothing makes it national.

As for the PDP, it is just a shadow of itself. You can’t even place it, until it exists again. It is only existing in name because it is registered. But they have almost dissolved themselves. The leader of the bigger has publicly told their people to see political sanctuary elsewhere and they have been running into other parties. You can see the number of people that have run into the APC in the South-east. Of course, we have also benefitted.

But, this time, we’re being careful to embrace those who are still young and have not been corrupted very badly by the PDP bad attitude.

So, having mentioned these two, because every political party must have a base, the UPP must have started being felt from the South-east. But we now have a message that the man in Southern Borno will begin to now have something in it for him, the Middle Belt are already seeing something in it for them. Nobody goes to a party if he doesn’t see anything that will endear him to that party. The national nature of the UPP will be seen by the time we hit the field.

But we must win Anambra first, because there must be a springboard. And it is just fortuitous that Anambra election is coming up in November and we have a clear one year between that time and the 2019 election to be able to make our message made and understood.

There is a dose of Biafran sentiment in UPP, given the pronouncements of most of your members. Why is it so?

Well, first of all, as I said before, this is the only party that is talking about self-determination and this is the only party that is talking of referendum.

And the Nigerian constitution has no provision for referendum. Though it has a provision for self-determination, but nobody is canvassing that.

It has no provision for, except it has a provision for the President, in the exercise of prerogative of mercy, have some people pardoned. But there is no clear-cut policy on the issue of freedom expression. So, what is no longer being talked about in developed countries and developing countries like treasonable felony or treason for merely expressing opinions is still very much observed in Nigeria, where mere expression is being branded as treason. We now said that our government will release unconditionally all those people who are prisoners of conscience, whose offences are only as a result of expressing their views as citizens.

So, those agitating for Biafra or for separation,

believe that there is another way. Instead of exposing themselves in the streets and being shot, even though they are non-violent; that there is a political party, from where they can now influence the election of members of the House of Representatives, Senate and even governors and state assemblies, who have imbibed this ideological inclination of a party like this, so that their views can be heard and expressed where it should be, which is the National Assembly, where laws are made. So, they started embracing it.

Again, what they have now understood from us is that self-determination is not the same thing as secession. Of course, a political party registered in Nigeria is seeking power in Nigeria and not outside Nigeria. So, they have understood that and many of them for their own comfort, chose to now brand it as Biafran National Party, which is like slogan, which nobody can control.

So, that is it. The party has immediately become a movement of sort. It has also done Nigeria a very patriotic duty by de-emphasising street demonstrations and emphasising the political process, which is what is going on all over the world – in Scotland, in Ireland, in Catalonia, in Quebec in Canada -name it. They are all using the political process to make demands.

And the countries where they are making these demands, continuously give them more and more accommodation to douse the demand.

That is why the referendum that took place in Scotland did not sail through, because the British Government granted them of much more than they were demanding and the majority of the people said, well, in this way, we are better off in a bigger country than a smaller country and the referendum failed. The same thing happened in Quebec. They’ve had two referendums, 10 years apart and the Canadian Government provided the people of Quebec much more that is agitating their minds and each time, the referendum will fail. Look at Ethiopia in Africa. Their own, they went further to include an exit clause in their constitution. Section 31 of the Ethiopian constitution is the provision for exit, that should any ethnic nationality feel strongly that they should opt out of the Ethiopian Republic, that they would invoke that provision, which involves a plebiscite, another name for referendum. And this was meant to calm nerves down after over 30 years of inter-ethnic wars.

Since that time, not a single ethnic group has contemplated invoking that provision. The reason is that the government of Ethiopia no longer rides roughshod over other ethnic nationalities, because they are conscious of the fact that each ethnic nationality has an option under the law.

And so, everybody is happy. Instead of breaking Ethiopia into pieces, it has united Ethiopia more than ever before. It is not likely that Ethiopia will find itself in those ethnic wars anymore.

So, it is important that we begin to look at what is working for other democracies and allow our own to grow like that. But, we seem to believe that we can force this marriage. No forced marriage even in human relationships ever works. Nobody is happy in a forced relationship.

But allow the relationship to grow naturally and let there be mutual respect. I can tell you that Nigeria’s disintegration is made more difficult by the several years, hundreds of years, centuries of inter-ethnic relationship. But it is only when or two ethnic nationalities corner all the instruments of power and use it to suppress others that you find all these agitations that could boil over to violence.

In other words, UPP is not for secession?

No. UPP is not for secession. UPP is for a restructured country that gives every ethnic nationality a sense of liberty, a sense of freedom, a sense of enjoying its own effort in human development and substantial part of its natural endowment. And Nigeria is such a country that there is hardly any section that does not have one natural endowment or the other. But there is an attitude of both selfishness and wickedness on the part of those who have held Nigeria to the jugular, by emphasising only resources from oil and behaving in a manner that suggest that they couldn’t wait for this oil to be depleted and exhausted. So that they could now begin to explore their own. Nobody comes with such intrigues and grows a nation. All our resources should be developed at the same time and people will see why they cannot constitute an island onto

themselves. There is no way UPP will advocate for secession. Because we believe that if we set out to achieve what we want to achieve, there will be no need to secede. What are you seceding from? From where to where? Look, let me tell you, Igbo people own this country more than any other ethnic group. And I say it with all sense of responsibility and sense of history.

I have been to Gusau. In the year, 2000, when I was invited as a special guest of honour to the Igbo Day celebration, it was such a colourful event. Forty-two town unions resident in Zamfara State, brought out their cultural groups of their various towns, developed there, not those invited from home. In the stadium, you could imagine where 42 cultural groups of different colourations performed. It was one of the most colourful events I ever attended. I became curious and then found out that there was a place called Northern Gusau, where there was an Igbo settlement for over 400 years. And that was the year 2000, the very year the Fulanis celebrated their bi-centenary of the establishment of the caliphate, which means from the time Uthman Dan Fodio came with his Fulani forces into Sokoto to the year 2000, was 200 years, two centuries. But Igbo people have been there 200 years earlier. I have had the privilege in the course of trying to see where my people are located, I have gone round Nigeria a minimum of 15 times in the 41 years I have been in this struggle and I have seen Igbo people, where they are located and the length of times they have spent in those places, generations after generations.

So, I said to myself – really, the people who own this land, will include the Igbo, the Hausa, the Kanuris, the Tivs, Ijaws, Yoruba, the Binis – name them. The latest entrants to the Nigerian geographical space are the Fulanis. All the other ethnic groups are more than 200 years old in Nigeria. And as for Igbo, God created them here.

We didn’t migrate from anywhere to anywhere.

Nigeria is only 117 years old as a country. That means the Igbo people have lived in those places centuries before the amalgamation.

So, when young impressionable begin to advocate our return from the North, I don’t blame them because what you don’t know, you don’t know. It is a tall order to ask people who cannot even locate their ancestral homes to return. Another take of it is that we have three or four times the number of Igbo people living outside Igboland than those living inside. I have also calculated that because of our people’s enterprise and adventurism, 80 to 90 per cent of Igbo billionaires, if not 99 per cent, are based outside Igboland. Only few have come back to establish their businesses in Igboland and you can name them on your fingertips.

So, what we should be doing is to encourage these billionaires to think home in terms of investments, so that Igbo areas can experience rapid industrial growth. That can be achieved and not to ask people to relocate. Even if Nigeria is divided, you do not move properties and human beings. You only redraw the map. Where you are a citizen you now become a foreigner, and adhere to the laws of the new country. It has happened in many places and our own will not be any different. But nobody is going in that direction.

I have always advocated it and I can say boldly that I was instrumental to Igbo people producing two members of the House of Representatives in Lagos State currently; because I went there to hold a townhall meeting at Sheraton Hotel in December 2014. I invited 86 extant Igbo associations, markets and other groups, excluding town unions.

It was a very successful townhall meeting. It was on non-partisan basis, but highly political.

Nobody ever had such a townhall meeting in Lagos before me or after me. In fact, they have been asking me to come for a repeat, which will hold, but this time it will be based on UPP. With that awareness, we now have at least two seats in the state assembly in Lagos and two in Abuja representing constituencies in Lagos.

This is what I like to see in Kano, in Plateau State, and all the places where we have heavy presence in certain constituencies.

I will like to see us contribute to the election of a governor, who may not be Igbo, but may rely on Igbo votes to be able to form government. Such governments will definitely be more broad-based even in that state than what we have today. It is UPP that has a plan to unify Nigeria politically

33/ TRAVEL, LEISURE & TOURISM

21.07.2017

Leading Travel Promoters in Nigeria, Ghana Win Awards Leading travel promoters in Nigeria and Ghana have won the awards of Top 100 Tourism Personalities in West Africa, among whom are Mrs. Uloma Egbuna, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Tour Brokers International; Mr. Simon Grindrod, the General Manager of The Wheatbaker Lagos; Dr. Michael Pinder, Group General Manager, Sun Heaven Hotels and Resorts, and Mr. Lehlohonolo Hloni Pitso, the Regional Manager West Africa for South African Tourism's regional Africa office based in Lagos, Nigeria: all from Nigeria.

From Ghana are Ms. Hazel Gumpo, the Group General Manager of Oak Plaza Hotel; Leeford Quarshie, General Manager, La Villa Boutique Hotel; Mrs. Bella Ahu, CEO of Trafix Catering Limited; Dr. Daniel McKorley, the Executive/ Chairman of McDan Group of Companies; Mr. Nicolas Jørgensen Gebara, General Manager, Business Sector Advocacy Challenge (BUSAC) Fund and Mrs. Nancy Sam Quartey, Chief Executive Officer of Staple Travel and Tours, Ghana.

"The Top 100 Tourism Personalities was set up to recognise individuals who have distinguished themselves and through their efforts or that of their organisations have impacted positively on the travel and tourism sector across the West African sub region, whose efforts have stimulated and helped to achieve their individual country's tourism goals and forging interactions among stakeholders and customers across the region," says Mr. Ikechi Uko, organiser of the awards. The event which was graced by his royal highness, a former Ghana's tourism minister, the Nene Nagai Kassa VIII, Honourable Mike A. Gizo, Chief of Agomeda, and President of Shai Traditional, saw Carnival Calabar Queens from Cross River State Nigeria send the audience wild with excitement as they entertained. Ghanaian Drum dancers equally entertained.

Members of the diplomatic Corps in Ghana which included high commissioners and ambassadors, were well represented among whom are Lulu Xingwana, High Commissioner, South African High Commission in Accra – Ghana; Mr. Thomas Okyere, the Honorary Consul, Botswana Honorary Consulate in Accra – Ghana; Ambassador Pavelyn Tendai Musaka, Zimbabwe Embassy in Accra – Ghana and Mwansa S. Rowland, Deputy High Commissioner for Zambia High Commission in Accra-Ghana. The Namibian Ambassador and the Nigerian High Commissioner were also in Attendance.

The ambassadors and high commissioners were honoured with the Awards of Recognition for their outstanding roles in driving travel and tourism exchanges between their countries and

His Royal Highness, Nene Nagai Kassa VIII Honourable Mike A. Gizo (2nd left) and members of the diplomatic Corps in Ghana at the event

L-R : Organiser of Akwaaba, Mr. Ikechi Uko, Mrs. Uloma Egbuna of Tour Brokers International Limited with her award

West Africa. In his speech, his royal highness, a former Ghana's Tourism Minister, the Nene Nagai Kassa VIII, Honourable Mike A. Gizo, Chief of Agomeda, and President of Shai Tradition, called on stakeholders and practitioners in the travel and tourism industry in Ghana to seek progressive knowledge towards moving the industry forward by attending travel fairs, while urging them to support Accra Weizo, an ECOWAS travel fair which holds in Accra, Ghana annually.

Mrs. Uloma Egbuna's Tour Brokers International Limited (TBI) is a multiple award-winning IATA approved Tour Operator incorporated in 2002 to professionally package tourism services to selective

Ethiopia Launches Online Entry Visa Application and Issuance The Ethiopian Immigration and Nationality Affairs Main Department in collaboration with Ethiopian Airlines has finalised preparations of the initial phase to commence an e-visa service for international visitors to Ethiopia effective June 12, 2017. The e- visa is processed and issued online on a single Web page where applicants apply, pay and secure their entry visa online.

Once the online application is approved, applicants will receive an email authorising them to travel to Ethiopia and they will get their passport stamped with the visa upon arrival in Addis Ababa.

Regarding the new service Group CEO Ethiopian Airlines, Mr. Tewolde GebreMariam remarked, "Ethiopia, the oldest independent civilisation in Africa and one of the oldest in the world, is endowed with historical places, natural beauty, colourful and diverse cultural activities and various endemic wild animals which are of great interest to international tourists. However; we have not made best use of these natural resources to attract large number of tourists. To this effect, this project is part of a new national initiative to transform the tourism sector in the country. The full commencement of the Online Visa application and issuance system will promote tourism, trade and investment to the country. It will save time, energy and cost for travelers to Ethiopia in addition to the simplicity and convenience that it facilitates. With direct flights to/from more than 95 destinations from all corners of the world operated by the most modern airplanes, we will continue to make travel to Ethiopia, dependable, easy, convenient and affordable. I will take this opportunity to thank our IT team

destinations for Nigerian business and leisure travelers and expatriates living in Nigeria. She has nearly three decades experience in the travel and tourism industry. Having attended several international courses on Tourism, Egbuna is an indigene of Imo State and holds a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in Language and Linguistics from the University of Calabar and a Master of Arts (MA) degree also in Linguistics and Languages from the University of Ibadan, and a Diploma in French. TBI has birthed two other companies, Bespoke Holidays and TBI Crusies and Tours. She is a past publicity secretary of the National Association of Nigeria Travel Agents (1993- 1996) and also held the position of the

Vice President (West) of the Nigerian Association of Tour Operators (NATOP). In 2016, TBI won the Akwaaba African Travel Market's award of Top Travel Company in West Africa.

Mr. Simon Grindrod is the General Manager of The Wheatbaker, Lagos, Nigeria. Simon was born in Cape Town, South Africa and started his career with the Legacy Group in 1996. He has worked in several leading hotels such as The Commodore and Postswood Hotels, The Peninsula Sea Point and Bakubung Game Lodge Pilanesberg, amongst others. He served as a member of the Cape Town Mayoral Committee for Economic Development and Tourism, and has a keen interest in Arts and Culture, Economic Empowerment, Education and Human Rights.

In 2016, The Wheatbaker Hotel Lagos won the Akwaaba African Travel Market's award of Top Travel Company in West Africa.

Dr. Michael Pinder is the Group General Manager of Sun Heavens Hotels and Resort.

With a considerable track record in transforming underperforming hotel operations and delivering significant increases in sales and profitability, with worldwide experience, he is a highly accomplished and performance-driven professional. An English man from London with a PhD in Human Resources Management and a litany of several academic qualifications, Dr. Pinder has always maintained that it is experience not qualifications that makes an hotelier. Pinder increased occupancy levels of the Lekki Sun Heaven Hotels to 92 per cent and the Victoria Island Hotel to 70 per cent occupancy during a very challenging economic climate that included a recession and a weak currency. He also led improvements to the hotel facilities which resulted in a 4 star international brand award. Pinder is sought after as key Speaker for a number of hospitality seminars held throughout Nigeria.

Hazel Gumpo, Zimbabwean-born, is the Group General Manager of Oak Plaza Hotel. A seasoned professional with a long and illustrious career spanning 25 years in Hotel Management and Capacity Building, she has, in the last seven years, transformed the hotel into one of the most well recognised and formidable hotels in Ghana – an achievement leading to the Ghana Tourism Authority awarding the property 3 Star Hotel of the Year for 2014 and 2015 respectively.

Hazel is certified in AHMA Human Resources Management and AHMA Hospitality Training.

Currently, she is a consultant under AMSCO through their UNDP programme as a capacity building General Manager for the Oak Plaza Hotel. The Ghana Hotels Association awarded her as the Hotel Trainer of the Year 2015.

Stella Fabara-Obinwa Wins Travel Personality of the Year for West Africa as Kempinski is the Best Hotel

Ethiopian airline crew

and our colleagues at the Main Department for Immigration and Nationality Affairs for the commendable collaboration and the job well done.”

Mr. Gebreyohannes Teklu, Director Main Department for Immigration and Nationality Affairs, commented, “We are glad that we have been working together with Ethiopian Airlines for the effective implementation of e-visa facilities at Bole International Airport.

Now international visitors to Ethiopia, from countries provisioned for visa upon arrival, will make use of this service. Moreover, we have set up separate counters to process the visas of travelers under electronic travel authorization.“

Stella Fabara-Obinwa the Director of International Operations in charge of Africa for Dubai Tourism won the Travel Personality of the Year for West Africa at Accra Weizo event held at La Palm Royal Beach Hotel in Ghana. Also at the event Kempinski Gold Coast City Hotel in Accra Ghana was chosen as the best Hotel in West Africa.

Togo based ASKY Airlines was voted as the Best Airline in West Africa and SAHCOL as the Best Handling company.

The event in Ghana was Chaired by his royal highness, a former Ghana's Tourism Minister, the Nene Nagai Kassa VIII, Honourable Mike A. Gizo, Chief of Agomeda, and President of Shai Traditional, saw Carnival Calabar Queens from Cross River State Nigeria send the audience wild with excitement as they entertained. Ghanaian Drum dancers equally entertained. The Ambassadors of seven countries attended the event also. Accra Weizo is an annual Tourism event for the ECOWAS region and it is held in Accra Ghana by the Organisers of Akwaaba African Travel Market. The Top 100 Travel and Tourism Personalities in West Africa were also honoured at the event. Leading travel promoters in Nigeria and Ghana equally emerged winners of the award, among whom are Mrs. Uloma Egbuna, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Tour Brokers International; Mr. Simon Grindrod, the General Manager of The Wheatbaker Lagos; Dr. Michael Pinder, Group General Manager, Sun Heaven Hotels and Resorts, and Mr. Lehlohonolo Hloni Pitso, the Regional Manager West Africa for South African Tourism's regional Africa office based in Lagos, Nigeria: all from Nigeria.

From Ghana are Ms. Hazel Gumpo, the Group

Fabara-Obinwa

General Manager of Oak Plaza Hotel; Leeford Quarshie, General Manager, La Villa Boutique Hotel; Mrs. Bella Ahu, CEO of Trafix Catering Limited; Dr. Daniel McKorley, the Executive/ Chairman of McDan Group of Companies; Mr. Nicolas Jørgensen Gebara, General Manager, Business Sector Advocacy Challenge (BUSAC) Fund and Mrs. Nancy Sam Quartey, Chief Executive Officer of Staple Travel and Tours, Ghana. "The Top 100 Tourism Personalities was set up to recognise individuals who have distinguished themselves and through their efforts or that of their organisations have impacted positively on the travel and tourism sector across the West African sub region, whose efforts have stimulated and helped to achieve their individual country's tourism goals and forging interactions among stakeholders and customers across the region," says Mr. Ikechi Uko, organiser of the awards. Among the winners is Mr. Frank Nneji the CEO of ABC Transport.

34/PERSPECTIVE

21.07.2017

I Want to Do Things Differently in Anambra, Says Ezeemo With a taste of what an ideal society should be and look like, Godwin Ezeemo, a gubernatorial aspirant in Anambra State in this interview with Peace Obi, said that his ambition to be the next governor of the state was borne out of the burden and passion to give Anabrans, a taste of sincere, objective and fair leadership that will leave the state as a beacon of light Can you tell us about yourself?

My name is Godwin Chukwuneme Ezeemo.

I am from Umuchu in Aguata Local Government Area of Anambra State. I grew up a village boy. After my tertiary education, I moved to Lagos in 1986. Thereafter, I left Lagos for London where I lived from 1993 to 2012, when I returned back here finally.

And since then till date, I have been residing here in Umuchu.

What do you do for a living?

I am an industrialist, a farmer and a publisher.

As an entrepreneur, what inspired you going into politics?

My inspiration is based on a personal experience. When I looked at the approach to leadership and governance in this part of the world and putting it side by side with what is obtainable from the developing world where I lived, the contrast is quite huge. And trying to find out what exactly the difference is, one can only see the skin colour. And I started wondering why black people cannot really manage themselves. Why they cannot entrench good governance and pursue sustainable development in the continent in such a way that it will not only become a desirable home for her people but also to able to measure up as a developing country.

This is where my worries came from.

When I was in England, I saw the way things were going. There, you see a society that has strong institutions and where everything is given its rightful place. And I told myself that one day, I will come over to my people and give a helping hand. And I think what we need to see is the desired change and development in our country and my beloved state, the commitment, political will by our leaders and the support from the people.

So, giving a helping hand means that I will come and do things differently from the way our people have been doing it without achieving the needed result nor changed the living conditions of our people. So, I am coming to give a very sincere, objective and fair leadership that will liberate my state from the doldrums thus making Anambra a beacon of light and a centre of good governance and development.

How active have you been involved in Nigerian politics and what political office(s) have you held?

I have been actively involved in politics since 2012 but I have not held any political office. All the while, I have continued to encourage and support those who have the potential to deliver good governance to my people and Nigeria as a whole in their political aspirations. I have fully sponsored and co-sponsored some political office holders at different levels. In essence, I have been active in politics and not necessarily at the forefront. But I remain committed to my vision of offering a leadership with a difference to my people. And that informs my aspiration to govern my state so that I can give them what they have been missing for years in terms of quality leadership.

How prepared are you as a player in Nigerian political arena given where you are coming from?

It may look daunting and difficult, but my first reaction to this is that we will not because it is difficult and shy away from the realities on the ground that Nigeria is in dire need of selfless leaders. And now that opportunity has presented itself, it is necessary that I rise to this challenge. So, we have to face our problem and if we don’t, we are not going to find solution. There is nothing so difficult about Nigerian politics.

When it comes to Nigerian politics, I have the energy, I have the love and I have the knowledge. To cap it all, what I am doing is not a mere ambition but a passion on how

Ezeemo

to develop the black man. I am very, very fit and prepared.

What is your leadership ideology?

My leadership ideology is purely a state where Dick and Tom will have the basics; a fair chance; where our youths will have the opportunity of being judged based on what they can do and not according to who they know, where they come from or their status in the society. A society where principles of democracy will really be entrenched. I am someone who appreciates the fact that the leadership position is a privilege opportunity to serve and that it is held in trust for the people. So, when given the opportunity to serve my people, it is obligatory for me to live up to the confidence they reposed in me and as such, I will not let them down, rather I will protect their interest and make sure that they experience good governance in every sphere.

What would you do differently from what the present government in Anambra State is doing?

What I have to do differently here are much.

First, I will make sure that I get the youths engaged and getting them engaged means that a couple of things have to be done. It is a known fact that many of our youths are jobless. And youth unemployment is one factor that strokes youth restiveness, thereby giving rise to a lot of social and security problems.

And some of the practical ways of getting the youths engaged is by making sure that I create an enabling environment for investors to come into the state. Because when investors have their businesses here, that will further create employment opportunities for the youths and when they are fully engaged, they will go out from the streets and our streets thus giving way for a more secured environment. In doing this, one of the important infrastructure that must be in place is power. For any meaningful development and investment to take place in this state, there is need for an improved power generation and supply. Once I have this is in place, it will now affect the other five key areas I have in my blueprint

– agriculture, to make sure that it is purely mechanised, health system, education, security and environment as a whole.

What area(s) do you think that this present government is not doing well enough?

The present government is not doing much in the area of infrastructural development.

Much of what you hear or see are mere politics.

There is no serious commitment to it. For example, I have never heard them talk about improving power generation and supply in the state. Then ordinary road which common man in the street will appreciate, they are also not doing that, not even in Anambra North, where they have their stronghold, not to mention other areas like Central and the South. The present government is using propaganda for virtually everything they are doing. And you know that propaganda that is devoid of truth is deceit. For example, the Anambra airport that was flagged off in 2015, was again flagged off some weeks back. How can that be done twice? That is still part of the deceit and propaganda. In fact, not even a single block was laid anywhere.

Our health system lacks both qualified medical personnel and equipment. It is not about beautifully painted buildings we have here and there without commensurate personnel and equipment for a good medical care. Another area is the education sector. Our education system is very poor. We need to increase our children’s access to education.

Provide a conducive environment for learning to inculcate in our children patriotic spirit, good values and hard work. This is part of the things our education system is lacking and we are going to address that. It’s said that we are rated the best for passing WAEC, that is not enough. When you have taught a child how to work, how to live on his own, how to share and love one another, inculcate in him the values that can sustain him and the society at large. That is when education can be said to be complete.

The position you are gunning for will in a way test your popularity, in what way have you affected the common people of this state to expect them consider you as their next

governor?

I have, as an individual contributed so much to this state. I have a charity that has trained over 100 graduates (indigent students). I here through my farm, press and other factories created jobs for both indigenes and non-indigenes. I have built over four kilometre road for the people. I sponsor “Otu suwakwa Igbo” – a society that helps in sustaining our indigenous language and culture. I have been sponsoring that group since 2012. I have also built a two storey building for Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, Anambra chapter. I have donated an engine boat to a riverine community called Igbokenyi to enable them transport their farm produce down to Onitsha for better market value and sells. Igbokenyi is an island that cannot be reached by road.

In 2012, I was the very first person that lend a helping hand to Anambra North when it was flooded and buildings submerged. I went there with medical doctors, I donated good chunk of money and food items because a lot of people were displaced. I have also done a lot within my community here in Umuchu. I have reticulated water, provided power and also built a complete church, with a parsonage; and furnished it fully for people to go and worship God. I have also contributing immensely to the building of the perimeter fencing of the general hospital here.

What stands you out from other contestants?

I am the only politician that has an address.

That is to say that I live with my people, I am a grassroots person. Many of the politicians you see here don’t have much stake in the state. They might have them in Abuja, Lagos or elsewhere. But I have virtually all my investments here in the state.

How would you manage defeat if it comes?

This is not a matter of life and death. By my background, I am an English man in heart though a black man by birth. In any game, it is either you win or you lose. And naturally, from my background and my values in life, whatever that comes out of it will be accepted in good faith.

35/XTRA

21.07.2017

Rotary Club District 9110: Providing Humanitarian Services to Society Mary Ekah writes that Rotary Club District 9110, Nigeria recently rounded off its activities for the year 2016/2017 with an end of the year party for members and a sendforth party for the outgoing District Governor, Rotarian Patrick Ikheloa, who handed over the mantle of leadership to Rotarian Wale Ogunbadejo, who took over instantaneously for the next Rotary year During the auspicious occasion, which turned out to be a fun time for members, awards were given to deserving individuals and clubs in the district. It was an avenue to reward persons and clubs that have stood out by performing outlandishly well in their various domains during the Rotary year. For the just concluded Rotary year, the Rotary Club of Lagos Palm Groove Estate came top in district, coming top amongst all other clubs in its constituency as it clutched the highest number of awards in different categories during the award ceremony held at the premises of the District’s headquarters in Ikeja Lagos.

Rotary Club of Lagos Palm Grove Estate emerged the Overall Best Rotary Club among 100 clubs of the Rotary District 9110 during Rotary year 2016-17 and thereby went away with a huge trophy amongst other plaques and certificates of excellence that the Club took home same day. Coming on the heels were Rotary Club of Ogudu GRA and Rotary Club of Maryland, which took second and third positions respectively.

The outgoing All-stars District Governor, Rotarian Patrick Ikheloa who was extremely excited as his tenure came to glorious end with lots of achievements to show, said, “Without gainsaying, we have in actual sense served humanity in the past 12 months. We have brought to bear the All-stars nature in us which the Rotary International President, John Germ branded us. We are found shinning all around our communities as we put Rotary’s footprints on the sands of time through series of need-informed service projects and other activities of Rotary.”

“We have kept our clubs and by extension, the District going. We have made impacts to the best of our ability and faced challenges with great courage along the line. And our district has once again been made to stand tall among other districts in the zone and beyond going by our records of achievements.”

Ikheloa recognised the efforts of every Rotarian in the District as he specially thanked Rotarian Vinod Garg, the chartered president of Rotary Club of the Lagos Island and Rotarian Tarun Shangvi, the all-star president of Rotary Club of Lagos Palm Grove Estate, both of whom clubs had emerged mega clubs during the year.

The DG specially commended the Past President, Rotary Club Lagos Palm Groove Estate and District Chairman, Public Relations and Public Image Committee for 2016/2017, Rotarian Biswal, for his excellent dedication for achieving two mega clubs during his tenure as the All-stars District Governor.

The event also witnessed the launch of the Club’s annual publication, titled, ‘The Governor’s Magazine’, which was an advanced format of its monthly newsletter, ‘The Governor’s Newsletter’, containing information about the district and the various clubs, their activities as well as information about the Rotary International and the Rotary Foundation.

Before now, the district had published 11 editions of ‘The Governor’s Newsletter’ which culminated in the bumper and upgraded 12th edition, ‘The Governor’s Magazine’.

Rotarian Biswal, said his Club, Rotary Club of Lagos Palm Groove Estate, emerged number one for various reasons.

“First reason is that we have made our baby club, Rotary Club of Lagos Island, become a mega club in no time, where the then District Governor, Rotarian Bola Onabadejo had appointed me the District Governor’s Special Representative (DGSR) to take responsibility for the club,” Biswal said while explaining that, “A mega club means having more than a 100 members at a time and in all over Nigeria, there are just two clubs that are mega clubs – One is the Rotary Club of Lagos Island and the second

Rotarian Ikheloa (6th from right) flanked by award-winning club members during the event

Rotarian Biswal (r) with another club member of Rotary Club of Lagos Palm Grove Estate displaying their trophies

is Rotary Club Lagos Palm Groove Estate.

So as a mega club, Rotary Club Lagos Palm Groove Estate is having over 120 members, which is the highest number of members in a club as of today. Again we are rewarded the best club because we have done the highest number of service projects, those are services that have to do with humanity.”

Enumerating the community services that his club has been involved in over the year and which had earned it the high-status awards, the special representative of the District Governor of the Rotary Club of Lagos Island, said the Rotary Club of Lagos Palm Groove Estate has carried out free eye surgeries to over 20,000 Nigerians and has also donated over 50,000 free artificial limbs to physically challenged Nigerians.

“And for all these we have earned the number one club in Districts 9110 and also in all over Nigeria. In service we won number one, in membership we are number one and we have also got the overall best club,” he

noted.

Biswal who joined Rotary Club in 2008, became one of the chartered members in June of same year and also a pioneer member of Rotary Club Lagos Palm Groove Estate, which started off with just 23 members and by the end of his tenure as the club’s president between 2014 and 2015, membership had increased to 72. He was also appointed by a former District Governor, Rotarian Bola Onabadejo as the District Governor’s Special Representative (DGSR) for the formation of Rotary Club of Lagos Island which was formed with 32 chartered members and within six months, the club through the leadership dynamism of Biswal’s leadership achieved its mega club status having registered over a 100 members, making it first of its kind in Nigeria.

“I feel proud as being instrumental to have created the first mega club of the district 9110 and also in Nigeria with excellent team work of Rotary Club of Lagos Island members. I feel so proud to be associated with Rotary

Club of Lagos Island and Rotary Club of Lagos Palm Groove Estate, the two clubs which are the only mega clubs of the district 9110 in one Rotary year,” Biswa said.

He said further that these achievements happened mainly due to the team work of committed Rotarians, good publicity and public image created by excellent projects like blood donation camps, the signature project of the year for District 9110, where nearly 1000 bottles of blood have been donated by Rotarians during the just concluded Rotary year. The DGSR who said the Club has also executed water and sanitation projects as well as donated benches and desks for schools amongst other projects like polio eradication and vocational training, stressed that it has been fantastic year with the All Stars District Governor, Ikheloa who supported him wholeheartedly and help made his job easier.

The incoming president of Rotary Club of Lagos Palm Groove Estate for 2017-2018, Atul Kshetry said the awards were only recognition for what the Club has done over the year, adding that, “At Rotary, we don’t work to be awarded; our objective is simple – service to humanity – and that is what we keep doing. If awards come, fine, if not, there is still recognition by the society. So irrespective of the awards, we would continue with what we have been doing. That is the fundamental philosophy of our club. So our objective will be to continue to grow in various aspects of community services and we would continue to be awarded by humanity and the Almighty God.” Kshetry noted further that the Club’s major focus has been on healthcare and that they would continue to tackle health issue while also carrying out humanitarian services on vocational training and various other things to improve on the society, adding, “And most importantly we would continue to distribute about 30 artificial limbs every month for 100 percent free of charge to the physically challenged and this is a project that is very much dear to our hearts and we have been doing this for the past 8 years.”

36/COLLAGE

L-R: Oyo State Governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi; National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu; former Interim National Chairman of the APC, Chief Bisi Akande and Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo; during the burial of Akande's wife, at Ila Orangun, Osun State....recently Photo: Oyo State Governor's Office

21.07.2017

L-R: Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris with General Overseer of The Lord's Chosen Charistmatic Revival Ministries, Pastor Lazarus Muoka, during the cleric courtesy visit to force Headquarters in Abuja... recently

L-R: Chairman Forte Oil, Mr. Femi Otedola, Vice-Chairman of Channels TV, Mrs. Sola Momoh, Chairman, Channels TV, Mr. John Momoh, the celebrant, Mrs. Folorunso Alakija, Chairman, Heirs Holdings, Mr. Tony Elumelu and Chairman, VIGEO Limited Mr. Gbolahan Osibodu, at Alakija’s 66th birthday party in Lagos…recently

L-R: Globacom ambassador, Godwin Komone (Gordons); Globacom subscribers and dance competition winners, Makeni Ikpo and Ashley Flexi; Glo ambassador, Omawumi Megbele, and Comedian, Dan D’Humorous, at the Victoria Island, Lagos edition, of the mega comedy show currently touring the nation, Glo Laffta Fest,..recently

L-R: Head of da-Rocha-Afodu Family, Mrs Angela Branco; Guest Speaker and President, Nigeria Academy of Pharmacy, Prince Julius Adelusi-Adeluy and; Special guest of honour, High Chief (Mrs) Modupe Oluwole during the inaugural edition of the Ladipo Mobolaji Abisogun-Afodu Annual Lecture in Pharmacy at the J F Ade Ajayi Auditorium, University of Lagos...recently ABIODUN AJALA

L-R Past Assistant Governor, Rot. Dr. Susan Omotosho; , the newly installed District 9110 Governor, Rotary International, Rot. Dr. Adewale Ogunbadejo, his wife, Inner Wheel Member Olufunmilayo Ogunbadejo and a Past 9110 District Governor, Rot. Dr. Kamoru Omotosho at the investiture ceremony of . Dr. Ogunbadejo in Lagos... recently

L-R: Olomu of Omu Aran, Oba Charles Oladele Ibitoye; Olofa of Offa, Oba Mufutau Gbadamosi; Kwara State Governor, Dr. Abdulfatah Ahmed; Olupo of Ajase Ipo, Oba Sikiru Atanda Sanni and Elese of Igbaja, Oba Ahmodu Babalola during courtesy visit to the Governor by Traditional Rulers from Kwara South Senatorial District at Government House, Ilorin...recently

37/THISLIFE

21.07.2017

Umeh: The Quintessential Democrat at 55 Chidiebere Nduka writes on the many accomplishments of Chief Victor Umeh, who turned 55 on July 19

Umeh

Chief Victor Umeh is a shining star in the East of the Niger. A political colossus, his sagacity and tenacity of purpose endeared him in the hearts of millions of Nigerians. Born on 19th July 1962, to the Late Sir Innocent Ofojekwu Umeh (KSM) and Lady Elizabeth Umeh (LSM) of Ifite Village Aguluezeigbo in Aniocha Local Government Area of Anambra State, Umeh excelled in his studies at St. Bridget’s Primary School Aguluezeigbo, Bubendorff Memorial Grammar School Adazi-Nnukwu both in Anambra State and the University of Nigeria Nsukka, Enugu State where he read Estate Management and graduated in June 1984.

A man of destiny, Umeh is the Principal Consultant, V.C Umeh & Co., a firm of estate surveyors and valuers. He is a Fellow of the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers. He is a Senior Certified Valuer of the International Real Estate Institute Scottsdale, Arizona, USA as well as an Associate of the Rating and Valuation Association of Great Britain. He held several business and political positions and received numerous awards and chieftaincy titles including Ohamadike of Agulu by his Royal Highness, Igwe Innocent Obodoako and the entire Agulu Community on 30th December 2006. He is the Ikemba of Aguluezeigbo, Ibobo of Aguleri as well as more than other 30 chieftaincy titles.

With a burning desire to improve the lives of fellow Nigerians, Umeh joined politics in 1998 when he became a founding member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and was elected State Treasurer of the party in Anambra State in 1999. He withdrew his membership of the party in 2001 and joined other progressives to form the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) which was registered by the Independent National Electoral Commission on the 22nd June 2002. Umeh became the first National Vice Chairman, South-east of the party and was elected National Treasurer on 10th January 2003, at the party’s first national convention held at the Old Parade Ground Abuja. On 15th December 2004, he was appointed the Acting National Chairman by the party's National Working Committee (NWC) which was ratified by the National Executive Committee (NEC) on 11th January 2005 in its

meeting in Abuja.

He was elected National Chairman at the party’s second national convention at Enugu in December 2006. Chief Victor Umeh’s tenure as APGA Boss was the golden era of the party as he led the mass movement from victory to victory in various national, state and local government elections. APGA became the beautiful bride of Nigerian politics and the third leg in the nation’s political tripod after the then ruling PDP and the All Progressives Congress (APC) which won the 2015 presidential election.

The victory of Mr. Peter Obi at the Anambra State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in August 2005 and at the Court of Appeal Tribunal in Enugu on 15th March, 2006 was the tunic that energised APGA in its electoral conquest in the South-east and beyond. Umeh was the pillar of that struggle! It was a triumph of courage. Ndigbo adopted it as their own party while progressives in other parts of the country identified with it. With the late Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu’s support of Umeh’s leadership, prominent Nigerians trooped into APGA. Umeh provided the necessary leadership and rebranded the party. APGA became a key player in the national politics despite distractions from party dissidents and opposition PDP in Anambra State.

Shortly after Peter Obi assumed duty, as the Executive Governor of Anambra State under the APGA platform he was illegally impeached on 2nd November 2006 by the PDP dominated State House of Assembly. It was challenged in court, Obi won a resounding victory at the Court of Appeal, Enugu Division on 9th February 2007, which stabilised his government and deepened APGA in the hearts of Ndi Anambra. Umeh again spearheaded Obi's reinstatement.

To ensure Governor Peter Obi completed his four-year tenure which PDP’s Dr. Chris Ngige illegally occupied from 29th May 2003 to 16th March 2006, when INEC gave Obi his certificate of return, Umeh flew the kite of APGA’s intention to seek Judicial interpretation of section 180(2) of the 1999 Constitution as amended which states: “Subject to the provisions of subsection (1) of this section, the Governor shall vacate his office at the expiration of a period of four years

commencing from the date – (a) in the case of a person first elected as Governor under the constitution, he took the Oath of Allegiance and oath of office.”

In an interview he granted Stan Okeke published in the Daily Sun newspaper of Thursday August 10, 2006, titled, ‘Obi’s four-year tenure not negotiable – Umeh’, Chief Umeh stated: “Section 180(2) of the Nigerian Constitution is written in simple English and it’s not something that should evoke academic debate or interpretation.

That section says that any person who is first elected to the office of governor of a state shall hold that office for the period of four years, commencing from the date the person takes oath of office and oath of allegiance. Is there any ambiguity in this provision? It’s simple and straight forward.

“Mr. Peter Obi took his oath of office as governor of Anambra State on March 17, 2006, and based on section 180(2), his tenure which is guaranteed by the same Constitution to be four years, started running from that date.

People have chosen to reduce it to academic and political debate. We are certain that he has four years to run the affairs of Anambra State. Those who are saying that it shouldn’t be are yet to show why he should not be there.

“When the time comes …we shall seek an interpretation of the Constitution and those who it is their duty to do so, I’m sure will do it without fear or favour.” On 14th June 2007, the Supreme Court in a judgment delivered

by Justice Katsina Alu, the court ruled that Obi’s tenure continued till 16th March 2010, which terminated the government of Dr. Andy Ubah of PDP who was sworn-in on 29th May 2007. He ruled for 17 days, Obi’s victory led to staggered governorship elections in Nigeria which strengthened our frail democracy and enriched the nation’s jurisprudence.

Under Umeh’s watch, Mr. Peter Obi was re-elected Governor of Anambra State in 2010 while Owelle Rochas Okorocha who contested in the Imo State governorship election in 2015 on APGA platform defeated incumbent PDP’s Governor Ikedi Ohakim.

Governor Theodore Orji of Abia State who contested under Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA) also joined APGA with the PPA’s federal and state legislators. Governor Orji

and Okorocha later decamped to PDP and APC respectively.

A political juggernaut, Umeh‘s administration improved APGA electoral fortunes in 2011 general election. The party had two governors –Anambra and Imo states, 36 state House of Assembly members including two Speakers (Anambra and Imo states), several local government chairmen and councilors.

In 2015 general election, APGA won five House of Representatives seats and 41 State House of Assembly seats in Anambra, Abia, Bayelsa and Taraba States. Dr. Willie Obiano was earlier elected the second Governor on APGA platform in Anambra State in November, 2013.

The party also swept the Local Government election in the State among other Council seats across the country. Umeh is a firm believer in the rule of law, a quintessential democrat and master of the political universe. He participated in the 2014 national conference. Impressed by the exceptional patriotism, former President Goodluck Jonathan conferred on him the Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR). Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra State praised Umeh saying, “The National Award (OFR) conferred on you represents a public recognition of all the hard work that you have put into the growth of the party (APGA) and the nation at large. The Government of Anambra State is extremely proud of your accomplishments. Kudos!!!”

In a rare tribute, on Peter Obi’s re-election in February and swearing-in on 17th March 2010, the late Dim Chukwuemeka OdumegwuOjukwu applauded Umeh’s political savvy and visionary leadership stating, “The might of a Warrior is tested only in battle… I salute your tenacity, your courage and resilience, APGA has always known what has now become widely acknowledged…Ohamadike...

Kudos.” Indeed, Umeh has won many battles and has been in courts over the Anambra Central Senatorial seat he contested on 28th March 2015. His opponents have laid legal mines to further slow the wheel of justice and frustrate his emergence as a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria despite his winning all the constitutional legal battles known to Law! Will he prevail? Time will tell. .Nduka, a public affairs analyst sent this piece from Enugu

38

T H I S D AY FRIDAY JULY 21, 2017

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39

BUSINESSWORLD

PERSPECTIVE

CORRUPTING PRIVILEGES AND NATIONAL MISMANAGEMENT NARRATIVE of varying degrees of bondage or unfreedom; slave, personal servant, peasant or serf tied to the land. Communities (hamlets, villages, towns and cities) were self-contained, self-administered and self-protected units, just as kingdoms and empires were completely decentralised with self-administering components, subsisting on basis of alliances between a few. There were no external roads and if you strayed outside the boundaries/walls of your village or town or city, one stood to be captured, enslaved and/or killed and there was therefore no NOMADIC HERDSMAN anywhere. Which is to say, MIGRATION was a GROUP-COMMUNITY ACTIVITY till very recently, suitably armed group-community confronting other communities on their path, settling down as neighbours in a truce or one succumbing to military defeat. Such a groupcommunity could be PASTORAL, but it is not moving freely daily or monthly or yearly for that matter, except in the face of pestilence or war and occupying a few locations over centuries.

After centuries of what became dubbed â&#x20AC;&#x153;TransSaharan Tradeâ&#x20AC;?, trade in slaves and other items, when the Portuguese strayed along the coast of what would later be southern Nigeria in the late 1470s in their search for alternative sea route to India and Asia to bypass the Middle East being ravaged by unending wars (Crusades), there was no Lagos, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Lagosâ&#x20AC;? being Portuguese word for â&#x20AC;&#x153;lakesâ&#x20AC;? but which is not to say there were no settlements nearby, areas that were part of the Benin Kingdom in the 16th century. There was no Port Harcourt, no Kaduna either (but area was occupied by the Gbagyi people) and no Fulani either, Fulani only started making their way into several Hausa city-states from mid-16th century.

But routine, rapacious plundering of communities for slaves raged unabated till well into the 1870s, alongside internecine wars between and among the numerous kingdoms up and down the country. Not even agents and employees of the few European trading companies, nor officials of succeeding colonial authorities could move about freely till the 1950s, hence the well fortified trading stations, aside from their own troops with which they overwhelmed numerous local political authorities and declared Lagos Colony (1861-2), Oil Rivers Protectorate (1884), Niger Coast Protectorate (1893), Southern Nigeria Protectorate (1900), Northern Protectorate of Nigeria (1900).

The relatively safe freedom of movement of the sort nomadic herdsmen now enjoy is largely a post-Nigerian Civil War (1967-1970 January 15) phenomenon, the roving herdsmen certainly a rare and curious sight in the period 1958-1967 over most of what is now dubbed South West, South-South and South East. There is that seemingly conspiratorial silence and pretence over not seeing the insidious linkage between long years of brutalising, centralising and sectarian military dictatorships, hardening attitudes and antics and incendiary vituperations of successor rival socio-political factions, and resultant dehumanisation and demonization tendencies mentioned earlier, railways falling into disuse, climatic changes, and the pervasive presence of nomadic herdsmen and their increasingly marauding form of foraging.

Public land that anyone, nomadic or not, could freely have access to never existed in the form currently touted by bigots following all we have noted. At the community level, land was owned by the clan, and distributed among various family units for cultivation and grazing, even where oligarchs or individuals exercised overall political authority; such only exacted taxes or tributes. Anyone attempting to utilise undistributed land, the closest thing to public land, was quickly sanctioned. If one tried such with land owned by neighbouring clans and villages, one stood a good chance of losing oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s life. In more modern times, public lands have been acquired by law and used as zoos, botanical gardens, reservations, parks, etc.

Should you self-interestedly not accept customary law and practices, but are subjected to the principles and practices of introduced English common law and Islamic laws on property and the Nigerian Constitution, then not respecting property rights can only but invite chaos and violence. Nomadic herdsmen rampaging through communal lands and private farms, as their cattle munch anything on sight, is defined as TRESPASSING and more in any form of law, except where the superciliously twisted mind holds, as explained above, such communities and individual farm owners are a bit less human and have no real property rights as such and therefore have no business complaining or tak-

Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udoma Udo Udoma

ing any action to protect their assumed private property, the cattle being special and genuine private property, so much so that laws shall be introduced and the Constitution amended, it is loudly bragged, to ensure designated areas all over the country are reserved for them. In the late 1980s with Professor Jubril Aminu as Federal Minister of Education, the panacea then was NOMADIC EDUCATION and given general budgetary constraints exacerbated by structural adjustment policies (SAP), general underfunding and logistical challenges, it would have been a miracle if any significant impact was made.

Which, of course, leaves us with the most rational solution of RANCHING, not because that is what the rest of the world has done, should we erroneously think NOMADISM was invented by Fulani in Nigeria, but PASTORALISM stopped being NOMADISM long ago, and fodder for cattle can be supplied by new crop of Fulani entrepreneurs, and the families of herdsmen may now grow up, live and socialise, children receive formal education like other entrepreneurial families who chose beans, yams, rice, tomatoes, onions, potatoes, unions, clothing, etc., instead as items of commerce, and become president, minister, governor, senator and whatever else as we see.

Roiling all and sundry across the country to KEEP herdsmen NOMADIC is not only CRUEL in this day and age, but also a violation of their fundamental right to decent existence, the goal of decent life any responsible leadership and government should achieve within the shortest possible time. Or, are they less than human too, just proxies for making money, while shoring up centralised political control?

A buyer of a plot of land from non-state

That nomadic herdsmen have been roaming freely across West Africa for centuries in search of pasture as claimed by bigots is mere FICTION, â&#x20AC;&#x153;alternative factsâ&#x20AC;?, sort of falsehood propensity that Donald Trump, I suspect, has borrowed from these Nigerians where everything is deliberately and misleadingly reduced to â&#x20AC;&#x153;a matter of opinion

authorities in Kaduna, Lagos and everywhere in the country is either a relative or â&#x20AC;&#x153;strangerâ&#x20AC;?, even when familiar or friend of a relative. The Yoruba, Kanuri, Hausa, Fulani, Igbo, Berom, Jukun, Ebira, Urhobo, etc., do not sell land; only specific communities and families do, even for projects, factories funded by state authorities and large companies, transactions notorious for triggering intra-and inter-communal conflicts over distribution of payments and compensation. In the context of ethnic politicking, therefore, the Chamba, Matakam, Sukur in Adamawa State, Gerewa, Zaar, Jarawa, Bolawa, Kare-kare, Warjawa, Zulawe and Badawa in Bauchi State, Kanuri, Babur, Marghi in Borno State, Tiv, Idoma, Igede and Abakpa in Benue State, Igala, Ebira, Okun and Bassa-Nge in Kogi State, Yoruba, Nupe, Bariba in Kwara State, Akurmi, Gbargyi, Kure and Gwandara in Kaduna State, Lelna, Bussawa, Dukawa, Kambari and Kamuku in Kebbi State, Agatu, Basa, Eggon, Gbagyi, Gade, Goemai, Gwandara in Nasarawa State, Nupe in Niger State, Berom, Jukun, Kofyar and Ngas in Plateau State, Kare-Kare, Bade, Bolewa Ngizim in Taraba State, Ngizim, Karai-Karai, Bolewa, Bade, Maga Ngamo, Shuwa in Yobe State, Gwari, Kamuku, Kambari, Dukawa, Bussawa and Zabarma in Zamfara State, just to mention a few of the hundreds of ethnic minorities in these states, and others in Gongola, Jigawa, Kano, Katsina, and Sokoto States do not even know Arewa Youth Consultative Forum exists, let alone speak on their behalf. One does not have be a sympathiser to recognise the truth in the proposition that ASKING for the actualisation of Biafra (which the proponents have a right to do if dissatisfied with current state of national affairs and adopt legal methods), is less threatening to the Nigeria polity than the Arewa Youthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s seditious ultimatum to the Igbo to vacate the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Northâ&#x20AC;? which they neither own nor have any legal right whatsoever to issue threats on its behalf. Governor Nasir El-Rufai did the correct thing, as the Chief Security Officer of Kaduna State, to seek the arrest of the culprits. Whatever cheap political points politicians and vested interests on all sides may wish to make, they should be reminded of their constitutional responsibility to manage the polity in such a way that all communities feel comfortable and safe in it, especially since they cynically chose to blatantly exploit ethnicity and religion in their quest for and control of political power, thereby raising social consciousness and expectations along those dimensions in one of the most culturally diverse and ethnically plural countries in the world.

What is to be done about corrupting privileges and political partying?

Who guards the guard that can deploy collective resources as he deems fit? All Nigerian political parties fund themselves directly and indirectly from statutory allocations to states, local governments, parastatals, security votes, contracts, business community and foreign interests. If political parties,

dominated by cabals, can be that critical to our national life and continued collective existence and given current state of affairs, logic suggests a re-examination of the basis for their formation and functioning. So, only those that are being guarded can rein in guards, and they need to erect structures and procedures that can reduce, if not eliminate, arbitrariness, illegal self-enrichment while institutionalising increased appreciation and achievement of common good.

Individuals put themselves up for elective positions after being vetted by INEC, not political parties. So, one need not join a political party to be a candidate. Second, the cost of obtaining relevant forms and other financial requirements for all levels must be nominal, low enough for even a fresh graduate to be able to afford. Third, the joker in the pack, people must vote, and this presumes an accurate Voters Register, cleanly delineated wards and constituencies, timely availability of voting materials, and combination of manual and electronic voting where the latter fails. Methods must be adapted to suit literacy and other conditions of the electorate, which in turn serve to enhance confidence in the system and in ourselves. And where, for any combination of reasons, up to one per cent of constituency voters is unable to cast ballots, election must be repeated there. INEC must be dogged here, as this should eliminate the present tactic of contestants, especially incumbents, of disenfranchising persons in rivalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s town or village or areas thought hostile and INEC proceeding to â&#x20AC;&#x153;declareâ&#x20AC;? results notwithstanding. Fourth, all votes must be counted. The beauty of Option A4, under Babangidaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s regime but which alarmed party cabals and the regime in the end, a maximum of 500 persons per ward, filing behind candidates, tally taken, result declared on-the-spot and was possible to know overall results across the country within the hour. Ballot boxes did not therefore disappear en route for collation centres, figures/ results redistributed at collation centres, nor did party thugs invade collation centres to disrupt proceedings. This and other matters made â&#x20AC;&#x153;June 12 electionsâ&#x20AC;? the fairest ever organised in the country till date. Decentralisation of the process thus comes highly recommended. With a very young, restless, vocal and social media savvy population, counted votes will reveal some interesting and true outcomes. Fifth, it should be none of INECâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s business how many offices any party has and their geographical spread. Such has not prevented the ascendancy of the rabid exploitation of ethnic and religious sentiments today. Dr Chike-Obi, nearly one-person Dynamic Party in the First Republic, always won his seat in Onitsha, and it is difficult, even within current widely felt unsatisfactory configuration of things, for any group of politicians to gain control of State Houses of Assembly, National Assembly, Gubernatorial and Presidential positions without a coalition of some sort. Sixth, Constituency projects and budgetary allocations for them should be discontinued. Seventh, INEC and EFCC should have the mandate to jointly and routinely provide and publish quarterly reports on financial and other assets of ALL POLITICAL OFFICE HOLDERS. Finally, I wish to state quite clearly that over the decades, there have been thousands of civil and public servants in customs, immigration, NNPC group, the judiciary, the armed forces, law enforcement agencies, security agencies and other parastatals who worked diligently, conscientiously and some even victimised for doing right and had no one to turn to. There are also good, solid women and men, wishing correct and right things be done, in all the political parties, but prevailing political circumstances blocking their potential contributions. Rochas Okorocha and his foundation have five secondary schools, seven more coming on stream this year, located in North and South, giving over 6000 poor and orphaned children free education, of the quality not matched in most funded by local, state and federal governments. There has never been dearth of good people. It is just that it is in the nature of organisations, larger organisations, for a few people to dominate because of hierarchical structure and the impossibility of all to sit at once to deliberate, hence the iron law of oligarchy. Hence electoral and constitutional reforms should be continuous to minimise, if not eliminate, system-threatening policies and actions of the few cabals that dominate politiciansbureaucratic elites alliance. t0UPCP JT PG UIF 'BDVMUZ PG #VTJOFTT "ENJOJTUSBUJPO 6OJWFSTJUZ PG -BHPT

T H I S D AY ˾ FRIDAY, JULY 21, 2017

40

CITYSTRINGS

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

A Champion for Ready-made Garments In this report, Ugo Aliogo examines the efforts of Clothing 360, a non-governmental organisation involved in championing the campaign to develop Nigeria’s ready-towear industry

The CEO of Clothing 360, Grace Akinkugbe (right) at a garment factory in Aba

T

he look on her face was tense as she walked into the passenger waiting room of Air Peace in the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos. She tried to put up a brave face with a smile to calm her anxiety. But her tense and anxious face was too strong for the smiles to conquer.

Before her departure to Abuja, she had fixed an interview with a journalist and her flight was to take off 30 minutes later.

She was a bit troubled because of the limited time she had to grant the interview and board.

She began the interview not ready to go into any preambles. Her first point of call was to place a distinction between the fashion and Ready-Made Garment (RMG) industries.

The reason was mainly because, according to her, fashion designing is seen by many Nigerians, particularly existing and aspiring clothing entrepreneurs, as the only career path to success in the clothing business.

As the founder of Clothing 360, a non-profit, non-governmental organisation (NGO) in Nigeria, Oreofe Akinkugbe is passionate about the clothing business. Her passion is fueled not for financial gains but rather her deep seated concerns for Nigeria to develop the RMG industry and tap into the industry’s huge potential to rapidly transform the Cotton, Textile and Garment (CTG) value chain.

Akinkugbe’s involvement in Nigeria’s CTG value chain began over a decade ago in 2006.

In the past 11 years, she has been studying the country’s CTG value chain, with a focus on its RMG industry. She has researched on the trends and practices in Nigeria’s RMG industry vis-a-vis the experiences of successfully industrialised textile and RMG exporting nations with similar economies. Her advocacy is for Nigeria to develop its RMG industry and adopt the global RMG industry best practices.

In the spirit of advocating and stimulating the development of Nigeria’s RMG industry, Akinkugbe conceptualised and launched The Garment Maker (TGM) initiative in 2012, in collaboration with a training institute in Nigeria.

TGM is an innovative RMG making initiative created for three reasons, which also function as its objectives. These are: empowerment, enlightenment and entertainment.

She believes firmly that active government, private partnership and investments are vital to the sustainable turnaround of the country’s RMG industry. She said the organisation is focused on a total coverage of everything about clothing production, from cotton to retail. “The organisation is not focused on the fashion industry; although it recognises that the industry is a part of the clothing production process which begins with designing.

The organisation is also focused on the CTG value chain. It seeks to stimulate concerted efforts of stakeholders to organise and develop Nigeria’s RMG industry and by extension the entire value chain.

“We are non-profit because we see our work as a means to an end, not an end in itself. We have four focus areas: advocacy, awareness and enlightenment; convening and

According Akinkugbe despite having a vibrant fashion industry, Nigeria’s RMG industry is still unorganised and grossly underdeveloped

networking; capacity building, empowerment and development; and monitoring and evaluation,” she noted.

She pointed out that the RMG industry is also known as the clothing or garment industry.

There are two main sides of garment making; the industrial side and the fashion side. The RMG industry is focused on the industrial side of garment making, while the fashion industry is obviously focused on the fashion side.

“Generally, the industrial side of garment making involves production of garments, which mostly are simple designs, in garment factories – from small to large scale. It involves the garment making skills set and professional expertise for operating or working in a garment factory. It also involves managing the garment production supply chain, from sourcing raw materials and inputs to production in the factory, and retailing in stores.

“The fashion side of garment making involves the creative, design, construction and style aspects of garment production, particularly the design which is often complex. It involves the study and business of garments or ‘fashion’ design. “It also involves the complementary products and services that go with garments such as shoes, bags, hair and makeup, photography, merchandising and others. Other areas of the fashion side include setting trends in garment design, style and complementary products and services,” she stated.

According Akinkugbe despite having a vibrant fashion industry, Nigeria’s RMG industry is still unorganised and grossly underdeveloped.

“In the professional garment making skills set, fashion designing is at the top of the ladder.

The first step in making a garment starts with the design idea (conceptualisation), which is sketched on paper. “Then the garment is constructed and the fabric and accessories are decided. For a ready-made or ready-to-wear

garment, after the first step of designing, the remaining stages involve the RMG industry.

A sample maker produces the first sample of the garment which is then mass produced,” Akinkugbe explained.

The founder regretted that priority attention is not placed in Nigeria’s RMG industry, adding that the average fashion designer, tailor and dressmaker in Nigeria view the fashion industry as the sum total of the clothing business.

“In Nigeria, the term ‘fashion designer’ is often used interchangeably with ‘tailor’.

A fashion designer is not a tailor. A tailor by global definition is someone who makes suits – tailored jackets, trousers, shirts and clothing. There are also dressmakers who make dresses. Tailors and dressmakers, or seamstresses, often work with designers to assist them in making their samples.

“If Nigeria is to become a leading global player in the production of cotton and high quality textile, it must develop it RMG industry in an inclusive and sustainable manner. This is the optimal way to drive and fast-track the growth of the country’s CTG value chain. Case studies can be found in the experiences of China, Bangladesh, Turkey, Vietnam and many East Asia countries, which, with active government involvement, have made remarkable progress in textile and RMG production.

“Most of these countries didn’t start initially with producing cotton or textile. Rather, they developed their RMG industry and used it to drive the growth of the value chain. This is clearly because finished products drive the demand for raw materials and not the other way around. For RMG, the largest per cent of the raw materials used in its production is cotton.

“Therefore, if Nigeria’s textile industry focuses on producing fabrics for RMG, the demand for long-staple cotton will increase. From 26

T H I S D AY ˾ FRIDAY, JULY 21, 2017

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CITYSTRINGS If Nigeria is to become a leading global player in the production of cotton and high quality textile, it must develop it RMG industry in an inclusive and sustainable manner. This is the optimal way to drive and fast-track the growth of the country’s CTG value chain cotton producing states in the country, those in North-central, West and South can produce long-staple cotton.

“If we develop the RMG industry, it will automatically strengthen the growth of the textile industry. This will in turn boost cotton production in the country. It is the RMG industry that links the CTG value chain. It also drives industrialisation of the value chain,” she insisted.

Akinkugbe remarked that Asian and South American countries have developed their textile and RMG industries to an amazing level. She argued that the textile industries of most European countries have closed down due to intense competitions from the Asian countries.

According to her, “Europe doesn’t have a vibrant textile industry because they cannot compete with Asian countries anymore.

European countries cannot produce at an affordable rate – their cost of labour is high, their per capita income is high.

“Textile and RMG production is for developing or underdeveloped countries where labour is cheap. Nigeria is one of those countries. Luckily, the devaluation of the naira has dropped the cost of our labour extensively. We once had a developed cotton and textile industry before they collapsed. But no conscious effort has been made to develop the RMG industry. Over the years, nobody paid attention to the RMG industry which plays a pivotal role in the CTG value chain.

“RMG is in high demand in the world today. There are five main types of garments based on price and quality. They include haute couture, made- to- measure, high-end RMG, affordable RMG and, mass production RMG. Mass production in terms of quality, not quantity. The range of RMG includes uniforms, formal/work wear, smart-casual wear, leisurewear, sportswear, nightwear, underwear and others.

“The fashion industry focuses on haute couture and made to measure which make up just 0.5 per cent of global garment sale.

RMG makes up the remaining over 90 per cent of global garment sale. This is because majority of the world’s population is made up of the poor and they wear RMG. The same applies to Nigeria. What people don’t know is the misconception about fashion designing especially seeing fashion designing for haute couture as the only career part to success in the clothing business. It is not the fault of the fashion industry, but the wrong way we have approached it.

“We can promote our ethnic garments amongst Nigerians, but we cannot force them on the world. The world will not wear our ethnic garments, except on occasions. Instead they wear RMG. To the world, ethnic garments are occasional wears, while RMG is an everyday wear.

“Despite the abundance of ethnic fabrics and garments in China, the country remains the largest producer of RMG in the world.

Bangladesh is the second largest producer in the world followed by Indian. Yet these countries have their ethnic fabrics and garments too. The world produces RMG for Nigeria; it is not only China that produces for Nigeria.

Nigeria as a country can’t produce for itself.

“We are saying that Nigerian fashion designers need to focus more on designing for RMG not just haute couture. Rather than, directing the focus of young Nigerian graduates to just the glitz and glamour of fashion shows. We can channel their energies to the RMG industry, no matter their course of study.

“They can work as supervisors, accountants, engineers or pattern makers. Pattern making

Akinkugbe (right) after signing the MoU on CTG value chain with the Minister of State, Industry, Trade and Investment, Hadija Aisha Abubakar, in December 2016

L-R :Kimono dress, Indian Sari, Ghanaian Kente Dress.Investment, Hadija Aisha Abubakar, in December 2016

L-R: Royalty Haute Couture, Celebrity Haute Couture, Celebrity made-to-measure Dress.

is one of the skills set in garment making. A graduate can specialise in any of the skills set and even factories can outsource to them. And even if the individual don’t want to specialise in any of the skills set, he/she can produce accessories.

“For garment factories, there are different sizes; micro, small, medium and large scale.

Young entrepreneurs can start up a micro factory that produces low minimum order quantity. Or you can start producing buttons, zips, lining and other accessories.”

Akinkugbe further espoused that the youths can get involved in cotton production, which is the agricultural aspect of the CTG value chain. While textile production can be directed to the private sector because of huge capital outlay required.

In China, she said the RMG industry employs over a 100 million people, in Indian over 40 million, and in Bangladesh over four million, most of them women. The RMG industry, in her view, “can create the highest number of jobs in the value chain. The potential for CTG value chain is huge and there is also

the fashion industry to consider. Other areas indirectly linked to the value chain such as transportation and logistics would also be impacted.

“These will generate enormous revenue and improve the economy. The Organisation has identified all possible stakeholders, local and international, government and private and is in talks with them. “‘Ruff ‘n’ Tumble’ is an example of an RMG retail brand. When the RMG industry becomes fully operational, entrepreneurs who will not be interested in working in factories or providing auxiliary services can start up a retail brand.

These are other profitable alternatives to just doing fashion designing for haute couture and made-to-measure.

“The focus on haute couture and madeto-measure stands as one challenge facing the fashion industry according the Clothing 360 founder. Also, there is the syndrome of get-rich-quick, which has led many youths to venture into fashion designing without adequate knowledge in professional garment making.

They don’t consider the need to broaden their

knowledge about the craft.

“In the clothing value chain, after a designer constructs a garment, the designer sources for sample makers to create the first sample.

These sample makers are professionals who produce the garment with the maximum cost savings, especially in fabric usage. This goes a long way to reduce overall cost of mass production. The few Nigerian designers who are interested in making affordable RMG are faced with the challenge of non-existent factories to mass produce their garments,” she explained.

Akinkugbe added: “In December 2016, we signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment. The ministry bought into our concept for industrialising the CTG value chain.

We have a viable and innovative strategy.

Now we are approaching stakeholders in the CTG industries locally and internationally. We have technical partners. They are the leading consulting firm in the global textile and RMG industries. It is a Swiss company. Together with them we came up with our strategy.

“We are speaking to private sector, international bodies to come up with funding and investment to revive existing textile and garment clusters. More importantly, we are planning to create new innovative clusters. All these deliverables are under the capacity building, empowerment and development focus areas of our organisation. Creation of the clusters will be through Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangements.

“We can enhance and improve the Aba cluster with the needed infrastructure. We will build their capacity and use it as a pilot for the South-east. We have identified other states. Nigeria has 26 cotton producing states, out of which we have identified seven. We will use those seven states as pilots and take it one after the other. We are starting with RMG, then textile and cotton to drive the development,” she said.

T H I S D AY Ëž , JULY 21, 2017

42

BUSINESS/MONEYGUIDE

Nigerians Urged to Patronise Locally Made Products Nume Ekeghe The Chief Consultant, B. Adedipe Associates Limited (BAA Consult), Dr. â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Biodun Adedipe has stressed the need for increased patronage of goods and services made in Nigeria in order to stimulate economic activities and attain sustainable growth. Adedipe, who said this yesterday at the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Half Year 2017 Economic Review,â&#x20AC;? organised by members of the Finance Correspondents Association of Nigeria (FICAN), in Lagos, stated that in terms of production, Nigeria should copy the examples of China and India, especially the latter, that promotes â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Made-in-Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;.

Also, on the consumption, the economist said Nigerian economic agents (governments, corporates and individuals) should buy goods â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Made-inNigeria.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; By adopting such economic policy, Adedipe held the view that trade would thrive on internal activities, while the country would engage in international trade to complement its earnings.

He noted that any country that does not produce a significant proportion of what it consumes would always be at the mercy of those countries that are producing the goods and services.

An estimated population of 190.88 million as at 1st July

2017 (7th largest in the world, with potential to become 3rd by 2050) and with a huge appetite for consumption of just about anything in the market for any tradable commodity. â&#x20AC;&#x153;My take on the episodic economic troubles Nigeria falls into is simply that: We produce what we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t consume (natural resources that we harvest and export). We consume what we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t produce â&#x20AC;&#x201C; largely import dependent for all conceivable things. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The salvation for the Nigerian economy, beyond engendering recovery from the abating recession, is found in promoting aggressively the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Made-in-Nigeriaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; campaign.

Lagos CIBN, Stakeholders to Discuss National Policies Nume Ekeghe The Lagos Chapter of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) has announced it would hold its annual bankers and stakeholdersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; night next week and deliberations would surround the theme: â&#x20AC;&#x153;The new world Economic order: Imperative of A National Policy Rethink,â&#x20AC;? next week.

The 2017 edition is slated to hold on the 27th of July, in Lagos. At the evening event, eminent bankers and stakeholders are expected assemble to brainstorm on charting a new way to the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s economic prosperity.

For the first time since

inception, all stakeholders are being accorded their deserved attention in order to have a robust participation, hence the title was enhanced from â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Bankersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Niteâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; to â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Bankers and Stakeholdersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Nite.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; Speaking at a media briefing ahead of the event in Lagos yesterday, the Chairman, CIBN Lagos Branch, Mr. Kola Abdul said: â&#x20AC;&#x153;The 2017 edition promises to be the best with the assembling of captains of industries where they would unwind with us and learn from from our guest speaker, Dr. Temitope Osikoya on how to move our country forward economically. â&#x20AC;&#x153;He would be X-raying

the theme â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;the new world economic orderâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; imperatives of of a national policy rethink.

We in CIBN Lagos branch strongly believe that external environment is becoming much less supportive and there is a imperative need for policy reset to encourage endogenous growth.â&#x20AC;?

He said the night offers a great deal of opportunity for networking and a chance of re-union with old friends and colleagues.

According to him, practicing and retired noble men and women of banking profession would be opportuned to interact and trade the old and new strategies of success.

Firm Holds Seminar on Real Estate Investment Quant Capital plans to host Real Estate Investment Trust Seminar in multiple locations across Nigeria in the months of August and September, 2017.

REITs, which are modeled after mutual funds provide investors of all types with regular income streams, diversification and long-term capital appreciation.

REITs are a form of collective investment scheme regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which pools capital from investors and uses same in the acquisition of income generating real estate, mortgage loans, or a combination of both.

While so many other countries have keyed into REITs and have significantly tapped into it for real estate development, REITs in Nigeria is still at its infancy stage despite the huge potentials

in the Nigerian market. The African REITs market is presently valued at $29 billion.

According to a statement, the seminar which is scheduled to hold in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and Kaduna would be geared towards deepening the REITs market in Nigeria. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It is designed to provide professionals with an understanding of the real estate industryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s unique drivers and challenges. The seminar will also equip participants with the knowledge of how to build advanced REITs valuation model using actual current case study. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Participants with little or no knowledge of REITs will also be able to gain an understanding of their nature, relevance and key features. Participants will also enjoy two years post-seminar support.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;The seminar parades a rich faculty drawn from within and outside Nigeria which include Ituah Ighodalo, Managing Partner of S.I.A.O Partners; James Duncan, a U.S. based expert in Real Estate Investment Trust design and operational models; Joe Ajalekoko, President of the Commonwealth Association of Surveying and Land Economy; Daniel Aderemi, former company Secretary and Head of Legal, Union Homes Savings & Loan; Anthony Igbiniyesu, a United Kingdom based Legal Practitioner and Wale Gomez, Group Managing Director / CEO of Quant Capital,â&#x20AC;? the statement added.

Quant Capital is a private equity firm that specialises in investment services to meet the needs of individuals, institutions, corporate and governments.

Group Seeks to Boost Nigeriaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Fashion Industry Nume Ekeghe Polo Avenue is putting out a â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Call for Entryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; for the fourth edition of the Fashion series event, scheduled to hold in Lagos in August 2017.

The event, according to a statement is an initiative of the Polo Luxury Group aimed at identifying and supporting the growth of emerging talents; designers and artisans alike, within Africa and in particular, Nigeriaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s thriving fashion industry.

Speaking about the initiative, Executive Director, Polo Luxury

Group, Jennifer Obayuwana, expressed delight that celebrating the success of local designers in the past years, who have strived at adding value to the industry had positively contributed to arousing the growing interest in fashion designs by African designers globally.

Obayuwana added: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Polo Avenue recognises the enormous potential that African designers have if supported by visible and credible platforms such as the Polo Avenue Fashion Series which steadily showcases and markets the efforts of local

designers to the world. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Nigerian in particular is setting the pace as a front runner within the continentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fashion industry by providing high calibre designers and designs that are increasingly being recognised globally.â&#x20AC;?

Furthermore, the statement revealed that participants would be selected by an adjudicated panel of leading fashion experts from across Africa, assessing all entries based on originality, creativity, functionality, craftsmanship, marketability and technical skills.

MARKET INDICATORS MONEY AND CREDIT STATISTICS

Ě&#x2122;

Ě&#x161;

DECEMBER 2016 Broad Money (M2)

23,840,392.42

Ě&#x2039;Ě&#x2039; Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x2122;ĂĄ Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2DC;Ă?ĂŁ Ě&#x2122; ÍŻĚ&#x161;

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

Ě&#x2039;Ě&#x2039; Ă?Ă&#x17E; Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2014;Ă?Ă?Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x201C;Ă? Ă&#x153;Ă?Ă&#x17D;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x17E; Ě&#x2122; Ě&#x161;

26,970,297.97

Ě&#x2039;Ě&#x2039;Ě&#x2039;Ě&#x2039; Ă&#x153;Ă?Ă&#x17D;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x17E; Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x2122; Ă&#x2122;Ă Ă?Ă&#x153;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x2014;Ă?Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x17E; Ě&#x2122; Ă?Ă&#x17E;Ě&#x161;

4,595,579.89

Ě&#x2039;Ě&#x2039;Ě&#x2039;Ě&#x2039; Ă?Ă&#x2014;Ă&#x2122;Ë? Ă&#x153;Ă?Ă&#x17D;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x17E; Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x2122; Ă&#x2122;Ă Ă&#x17E;Ë&#x203A; Ě&#x2122; Ă?Ă&#x17E;Ě&#x161; Ă&#x2013;Ă?Ă?Ă?

7,436,917.79

Ě&#x2039;Ě&#x2039;Ě&#x2039;Ě&#x2039; Ă?Ă&#x2014;Ă&#x2122;Ë? Ă?Ă&#x17D;Ë&#x203A; Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x17D; Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x153; Ă?Ă?Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x17E;Ă? Ě&#x2122; Ě&#x161;

-2,841,337.90

Ě&#x2039;Ě&#x2039;Ě&#x2039;Ě&#x2039; Ă&#x153;Ă?Ă&#x17D;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x17E; Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x2122; Ă&#x153;Ă&#x201C;Ă Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x17E;Ă? Ă?Ă?Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x153; Ě&#x2122; Ě&#x161;

22,374,718.08

--Other Assets Net

-12,483,409.58

Reserve Money (Base Money)

5,837,322.41

Ě&#x2039;Ě&#x2039; Ă&#x;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x153;Ă?Ă&#x2DC;Ă?ĂŁ Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2DC; Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x153;Ă?Ă&#x;Ă&#x2013;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2DC;

2,179,174.28

Ě&#x2039;Ě&#x2039; Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x2022;Ă? Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă&#x153;Ă Ă?Ă?

3,318,344.71 Ëž Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x;Ă&#x153;Ă?Ă? Ě&#x2039;

MANAGED FUNDS Month

December 2016

Inter-Bank Call Rate

10.39

Minimum Rediscount Rate (MRR) 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&#x2122;Ă&#x2DC;Ă?Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x153;ĂŁ Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2013;Ă&#x201C;Ă?ĂŁ Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x17E;Ă? Ě&#x2039; ͯ͹Ϲ

OPEC DAILY BASKET PRICE AS AT, WED, 19 JULY 2017 The price of OPEC basket of fourteen crudes stood at $46.85 a barrel on Wednesday, compared with $46.45 the previous day, according to OPEC Secretariat calculations.

The OPEC Reference Basket of Crudes (ORB) is made up of the following: Saharan Blend (Algeria), Girassol (Angola), Oriente (Ecuador), 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).

SOURCE: OPEC headquarters, Vienna

43

˾ FRIDAY, JULY 21, 2017

Nigeria’s top 50 stocks based on market fundamentals

20-Jul-17

19-Jul-17

% Change

Capitalisation

EPS

P/E

P/S

Div. Yld

Price/ Book Value

Table 1 Market Statistics Mkt Indicators

Open 19-Jul-17

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

33,514.93 11.55

33,695.83 11.61

0.54% 0.54%

140.94 10.97

141.74 11.04

0.56% 0.56%

01 Dangote Cement Plc

209.00

208.00

0.48%

3,561,466,047,645.00

10.95

19.08

5.79

3.83%

4.47

02 Nigerian Breweries Plc

160.35

160.00

0.22%

1,271,431,327,390.80

3.58

42.98

3.89

2.34%

7.36

03 Guaranty Trust Bank Plc

37.30

36.90

1.08%

1,097,782,985,055.20

4.49

8.14

2.60

4.84%

2.13

920.00

903.50

1.83%

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)

05 Zenith Bank Plc

22.05

21.98

0.32%

692,292,687,981.30

4.13

5.31

1.36

8.21%

0.98

Table 3 Top 5 Gainers

06 Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc

32.49

32.49

0.00%

324,900,000,000.00

2.85

11.04

2.01

0.32%

2.24

Stock

07 United Bank for Africa Plc

8.95

8.90

0.56%

324,701,760,581.90

1.99

4.52

0.85

6.67%

0.73

15.00

14.72

1.90%

275,243,268,225.00

0.68

20.89

0.44

4.39%

0.41

9.39

9.63

-2.49%

271,633,653,615.09

13.18

0.75

0.75

5.56%

0.63

485.00

485.00

0.00%

268,355,501,805.00 -82.02

-5.79

4.15

3.35%

0.70

11 Lafarge Africa Plc

54.60

52.00

5.00%

248,697,638,826.00

3.71

14.02

1.08

5.77%

0.95

12 Presco Plc

61.32

61.32

0.00%

243,469,652,399.40

0.03

2,207.26

3.59

2.01%

6.13

04 Nestle Nigeria Plc

08 Ecobank Transnational Incorporated 09 Access Bank Plc 10 Seplat Petroleum Dev. Co. Ltd

13 FBN Holdings Plc

6.15

6.18

-0.49%

220,756,050,670.80

0.21

29.11

0.41

2.48%

0.35

38.19

38.19

0.00%

144,484,083,787.50

0.81

40.64

1.79

0.15%

10.68

15 Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc

9.02

9.00

0.22%

108,240,000,000.00

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

254.50

260.00

-2.12%

91,771,494,179.00

22.61

11.50

1.00

2.77%

4.37

7.43

7.15

3.92%

89,417,218,382.42

0.29

26.00

0.20

9.93%

0.47

256.11

259.50

-1.31%

86,954,937,674.07

43.58

5.97

0.30

5.38%

3.75

21 Forte Oil Plc.

57.96

57.96

0.00%

75,491,804,729.88

2.22

25.31

0.49

6.14%

1.69

22 Flour Mills Nig. Plc

25.73

25.15

2.31%

67,521,622,821.51

-1.19

-20.95

0.16

8.00%

0.66

23 Okomu Oil Palm Plc

64.50

64.50

0.00%

61,527,195,000.00

5.15

11.56

3.95

0.17%

3.34

1.54

1.49

3.36%

59,630,336,034.50

-0.03

-47.76

0.91

0.00%

0.62

25 7-Up Bottling Comp. Plc

90.21

94.95

-4.99%

57,787,656,646.23

-0.05 -1,953.58

0.61

2.47%

2.57

26 Julius Berger Nig. Plc

34.30

34.30

0.00%

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

17.39

16.58

4.89%

33,403,831,689.93

3.37

4.92

0.42

6.03%

0.42

29 Sterling Bank Plc

1.03

1.01

1.98%

29,654,130,669.78

0.18

5.69

0.26

8.82%

0.34

30 Diamond Bank Plc

1.28

1.25

2.40%

29,645,297,879.04

-0.29

-4.36

0.14

0.00%

0.13

35.44

35.44

0.00%

24,808,000,000.00

2.29

15.47

3.64

3.24%

10.86

1.24

1.23

0.81%

24,555,361,368.44

0.72

1.73

0.14

8.00%

0.14

12.89

12.45

3.53%

24,210,024,295.60

-0.16

-79.59

0.79

10.35%

2.13

9.03

9.03

0.00%

23,924,428,553.34

0.91

10.42

1.38

5.79%

3.13

20.00

20.00

0.00%

23,917,529,760.00

3.51

5.69

1.66

1.50%

1.40

36 Mansard Insurance Plc

2.03

2.03

0.00%

21,315,000,000.00

0.25

8.89

1.13

2.24%

1.16

37 PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc

21.25

22.05

-3.63%

21,250,000,000.00

5.69

3.78

1.50

0.47%

0.58

38 Wema Bank Plc

0.55

0.56

-1.79%

21,215,956,344.55

0.07

8.19

0.39

0.00%

0.44

39 Custodian And Allied Insurance Plc

3.56

3.56

0.00%

20,939,436,534.20

0.91

3.94

0.54

3.92%

0.70

40 Honeywell Flour Mill Plc

1.90

1.93

-1.55%

15,067,375,550.20

-0.40

-4.50

0.30

8.79%

0.43

41 Continental Reinsurance Plc

1.26

1.26

0.00%

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 Skye Bank Plc

0.69

0.63

9.52%

9,577,407,972.90

-2.93

-0.21

0.05

49.18%

0.08

44 Unity Bank Plc

0.73

0.73

0.00%

8,533,216,697.66

0.19

3.91

0.10

0.00%

0.10

45 Wapic Insurance Plc

0.50

0.50

0.00%

6,691,369,126.00

0.18

2.78

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

3.02

3.00

0.67%

5,190,624,984.90

-0.90

-3.22

0.79

24.14%

0.15

48 Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Plc

2.77

2.73

1.47%

4,499,085,937.50

0.36

8.36

0.61

6.69%

0.75

49 Fidson Healthcare Plc

2.94

2.99

-1.67%

4,410,000,000.00

0.21

14.06

0.58

1.68%

0.68

50 AIICO Insurance Plc

0.60

0.59

1.69%

4,158,122,688.00

1.48

0.41

0.16

8.20%

0.49

14 Unilever Nigeria Plc

19 Oando Plc 20 Total Nigeria Plc

24 Transnational Corporation Of Nigeria Plc

27 Fidelity Bank Plc 28 U A C N Plc

31 Cap Plc 32 FCMB Group Plc 33 Cadbury Nigeria Plc 34 National Salt Co. Nig. Plc 35 Glaxo Smithkline Consumer Nig. Plc

TOTAL

11,035,868,840,067.00

TOTAL MARKET CAP

11,550,943,562,369.10

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

95.54%

Close 20-Jul-17

Open 19-Jul-17

Skye Bank Plc Lafarge Africa Plc U A C N Plc Oando Plc Cadbury Nigeria Plc

0.63 52.00 16.58 7.15 12.45

Change %

Close Change 20-Jul-17 % 0.69 54.60 17.39 7.43 12.89

9.52% 5.00% 4.89% 3.92% 3.53%

Table 4 Top 5 Losers Stock

Open Close Change 19-Jul-17 20-Jul-17 %

7-Up Bottling Comp. Plc PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc Access Bank Plc Mobil Oil Nig Plc Wema Bank Plc

94.95 22.05 9.63 260.00 0.56

90.21 21.25 9.39 254.50 0.55

-4.99% -3.63% -2.49% -2.12% -1.79%

Market sustains bullish trend with 0.54% gain Market pulse on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) today – Thursday, July 20th, 2017 again ended on a positive note as the stock market closed green. This was further highlighted by positive performance from the NSE Subsectors: Banking, Consumer Goods and Oil & Gas (Save Insurance). However, trading activities decreased in volume as 191.43m shares worth of N2.18 billion in 3,718 deals exchanged hands today. This is a decrease from 331.43m shares worth of N3.24 billion in 4,055 deals which exchanged hands on Wednesday. Topping in volume terms are: Prestige Assurance Co. Plc, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc and Transnational Corporation Of Nigeria Plc; Transnational Corporation Of Nigeria Plc and Nestle Nigeria Plc ended trading as the most active stocks in value terms. Brent crude oil price today shows downward signal as it dips to US$49.41 per barrel while it climbed to $49.70 per barrel at its previous closing.

The All Share Index (NSEASI) closed positive with 0.54% (+180.90) increase to close at 33,695.83 from 33,514.93 the previous trading day. Market capitalization appreciated in tandem to N11.61 trillion from N11.55 trillion of prior trading day. Similarly, the Thisday BGL 50 Index closes with an increase of 0.56% to 141.74 from 140. 77 recorded at the end of the previous trading day, while its market capitalization stood at N101.04 trillion from N10.97 trillion of the previous trading day.

Market breath closed positive today as 29 stocks gained on the bourse while 19 stocks also declined leaving 47 stocks unchanged. Leading the pack was Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals Plc with a gain of 9.52% to close at N0.92 per share. It was closely followed by Skye Bank Plc with a gain of 9.52% to close at N0.69 per share. Others on the gainers’ list include: Lafarge Africa Plc, Dangote Flour Mills Plc and UACN Plc. On the decliners’ list, 7-Up Bottling Comp. Plc led with a loss of 4.99% to close at N90.21 share. It was followed by Vitafoam Nig. Plc with a loss of 4.83% to close at N2.56 per share. Others on the decliners list include: A.G. Leventis Nigeria Plc, Berger Paints Plc and PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc. Topping the Thisday BGL 50 Index gainers’ list Skye Bank Plc as it emerged as the day’s toast of investors with a gain of 9.52% to close at N0.69 per share. It was followed

by Lafarge Africa Plc with a gain of 5.00% to close at N54.60 per share. Others on the gainers list include: UACN Plc, Oando Plc and Cadbury Nigeria Plc; while on the decliners’ list, 7-Up Bottling Comp. Plc lead with a loss of 4.99% to close at N90.21 share. It was followed by PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc with a loss of 3.63% to close at N21.25 per share. Others on the decliners list include: Access Bank Plc, Mobil Oil Nig. Plc and Wema Bank 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 ˾ , JULY 21, 2017

44

MARKET NEWS

Lafarge Africa Records N19.7bn Profit in Six Months Goddy Egene and Nosa Alekhuogie Lafarge Africa Plc yesterday reported a profit after tax of N19.73 billion for the half year ended June 30, 2017 compared with a loss of N30.2 billion in the corresponding period of 2016. The results released to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), showed a revenue of N154.8 billion, showing an increase of

44 per cent from N107.3 billion in 2016. Cost of sale grew by 19 per cent from N92.2 billion to N110 billion, while sales and marketing expenses followed same uptrend to hit N2.12 billion, from N1.98 billion.

Administrative expenses rose from N10.23 billion to N16.3 billion, just as net finance cost more than doubled to stand atN9.95 billion, compared with N9.95 billion in 2017.

T H E MAIN BOARD

DEALS

MARKET PRICE

However, the leading cement and other building materials company ended the H1 with a profit before tax (PBT) of N18.16 billion and PAT N19.73 billion, a major recovery from a loss of N30.24 billion.

Looking at the second quarter (Q2), analysts at FBN Quest said PBT grew to N8.7 billion compared with a pre-tax loss of N28 billion in Q2 2016.

“The key drivers of the PBT

N I G E R I A N QUANTITY TRADED

STO C K

VALUE TRADED ( N )

Daily Summary as of 22/02/2016 Printed 22/02/2016 14:36:10.010

Daily Summary (Bonds) No Debt Trading Activity Daily Summary (Equities) Activity Summary on Board EQTY AGRICULTURE Crop Production OKOMU OIL PALM PLC. PRESCO PLC Crop Production Totals Livestock/Animal Specialties LIVESTOCK FEEDS PLC. Livestock/Animal Specialties Totals AGRICULTURE Totals CONGLOMERATES Diversified Industries A.G. LEVENTIS NIGERIA PLC. TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATION OF NIGERIA PLC U A C N PLC. Diversified Industries Totals CONGLOMERATES Totals CONSTRUCTION/REAL ESTATE Infrastructure/Heavy Construction JULIUS BERGER NIG. PLC. Infrastructure/Heavy Construction Totals Real Estate Development UACN PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT CO. LIMITED Real Estate Development Totals CONSTRUCTION/REAL ESTATE Totals CONSUMER GOODS Beverages--Brewers/Distillers CHAMPION BREW. PLC. GUINNESS NIG PLC INTERNATIONAL BREWERIES PLC. NIGERIAN BREW. PLC. Beverages--Brewers/Distillers Totals Beverages--Non-Alcoholic 7-UP BOTTLING COMP. PLC. Beverages--Non-Alcoholic Totals Food Products DANGOTE SUGAR REFINERY PLC FLOUR MILLS NIG. PLC. HONEYWELL FLOUR MILL PLC NASCON ALLIED INDUSTRIES PLC N NIG. FLOUR MILLS PLC. TIGER BRANDED CONSUMER GOODS PLC Food Products Totals Food Products--Diversified CADBURY NIGERIA PLC. NESTLE NIGERIA PLC. Food Products--Diversified Totals Household Durables VITAFOAM NIG PLC. Household Durables Totals Personal/Household Products P Z CUSSONS NIGERIA PLC. UNILEVER NIGERIA PLC. Personal/Household Products Totals CONSUMER GOODS Totals FINANCIAL SERVICES Banking ACCESS BANK PLC. DIAMOND BANK PLC ECOBANK TRANSNATIONAL INCORPORATED FIDELITY BANK PLC GUARANTY TRUST BANK PLC. SKYE BANK PLC STERLING BANK PLC. UNITED BANK FOR AFRICA PLC UNION BANK NIG.PLC. UNITY BANK PLC WEMA BANK PLC. Banking Totals Insurance Carriers, Brokers and Services AIICO INSURANCE PLC. CONTINENTAL REINSURANCE PLC CONSOLIDATED HALLMARK INSURANCE PLC LASACO ASSURANCE PLC. AXAMANSARD INSURANCE PLC N.E.M INSURANCE CO (NIG) PLC. UNITY KAPITAL ASSURANCE PLC WAPIC INSURANCE PLC Insurance Carriers, Brokers and Services Totals Micro-Finance Banks NPF MICROFINANCE BANK PLC Micro-Finance Banks Totals Other Financial Institutions AFRICA PRUDENTIAL REGISTRARS PLC CUSTODIAN AND ALLIED PLC FCMB GROUP PLC. STANBIC IBTC HOLDINGS PLC UNITED CAPITAL PLC Other Financial Institutions Totals FINANCIAL SERVICES Totals HEALTHCARE Pharmaceuticals FIDSON HEALTHCARE PLC

6 6 12

30.00 34.00

19 19 31

growth were sales growth of 34 per cent and a 18.64 per cent expansion in gross margin to 32 per cent. These positives completely offset a 78 per cent rise in opex and a 138 per cent spike in net interest expense.

Thanks to a tax credit of N5.9 billion and a positive result of N5.8 billion on the other comprehensive income (OCI) line, PAT accelerated to N20.3 billion. Sequentially, sales and

12,629 11,640 24,269

374,530.15 421,345.20 795,875.35

1.25

1,078,511 1,078,511 1,102,780

1,358,964.30 1,358,964.30 2,154,839.65

5 68 13 86 86

0.77 1.13 20.47

33,500 6,740,423 65,995 6,839,918 6,839,918

25,070.00 7,635,453.96 1,344,425.15 9,004,949.11 9,004,949.11

13 13

41.50

31,970 31,970

1,409,214.78 1,409,214.78

5 5 18

5.20

28,901 28,901 60,871

154,716.48 154,716.48 1,563,931.26

6 24 7 98 135

2.85 118.85 20.00 99.00

190,900 53,000 15,200 429,541 688,641

528,079.00 6,201,924.95 293,757.00 42,728,789.84 49,752,550.79

9 9

168.50

166,476 166,476

28,285,937.95 28,285,937.95

54 38 6 12 1 29 140

5.61 19.00 1.37 6.86 6.65 1.27

2,120,306 314,421 40,000 119,863 433 3,285,739,119 3,288,334,142

11,610,520.13 5,953,792.96 55,716.00 842,442.48 2,736.56 4,074,348,894.07 4,092,814,102.20

11 54 65

17.86 700.00

18,825 98,360 117,185

329,518.50 68,567,962.00 68,897,480.50

11 11

4.46

99,050 99,050

420,455.00 420,455.00

13 21 34 394

21.90 28.00

36,887 133,117 170,004 3,289,575,498

820,034.75 3,737,067.92 4,557,102.67 4,244,727,629.11

82 51 21 25 200 41 16 147 11 15 67 676

4.10 1.49 15.60 1.21 16.70 1.07 1.76 2.95 5.30 0.63 0.98

3,962,506 2,163,396 278,470 790,900 4,847,312 1,969,858 1,204,932 8,586,418 39,752 501,617 5,920,564 30,265,725

16,210,255.82 3,314,106.88 4,136,459.40 958,864.34 80,963,793.44 2,115,552.11 2,087,767.85 25,302,954.71 205,645.40 316,018.71 5,813,502.17 141,424,920.83

14 8 2 3 7 10 1 1 46

0.80 0.90 0.50 0.50 2.06 0.76 0.50 0.50

200,107 276,500 5,004,000 1,000,000 351,540 327,285 37,708,135 10 44,867,577

160,838.67 251,350.00 2,502,000.00 500,000.00 720,728.80 245,325.31 18,854,067.50 5.00 23,234,315.28

1 1

1.08

4,760 4,760

4,950.40 4,950.40

31 7 105 7 20 170 893

2.46 4.00 0.85 14.15 1.31

1,149,464 27,041 31,257,120 38,035 708,255 33,179,915 108,317,977

2,830,722.84 104,002.06 26,613,309.20 537,985.34 931,556.31 31,017,575.75 195,681,762.26

27

2.69

614,065

1,572,223.05

PBT were down by 10 per cent quarter/quarter (q/q) and eight per cent q/q respectively.

However, PAT expanded by 44 per cent q/q thanks to the positive results on the tax and OCI lines. Compared to our forecasts, sales missed by 11 per cent. Although, PBT was in line with our N8.6 billion forecast, PAT beat by 260 per cent mainly due to the tax rebate of N5.9 billion and the

positive result of N5.8 billion on the OCI line,” they said.

In terms of the H1 performance, said while sales were missed by around six per cent, the PBT was in line with their forecast.

“However, thanks to a positive result of N15.1 billion on the OCI line and a tax credit of N1.6 billion, PAT came in around 74 per cent higher than our forecast.

E XC H A N G E

MAIN BOARD GLAXO SMITHKLINE CONSUMER NIG. PLC. MAY & BAKER NIGERIA PLC. NEIMETH INTERNATIONAL PHARMACEUTICALS PLC Pharmaceuticals Totals HEALTHCARE Totals ICT IT Services TRIPPLE GEE AND COMPANY PLC. IT Services Totals ICT Totals INDUSTRIAL GOODS Building Materials ASHAKA CEM PLC BERGER PAINTS PLC CAP PLC CEMENT CO. OF NORTH.NIG. PLC PORTLAND PAINTS & PRODUCTS NIGERIA PLC LAFARGE AFRICA PLC. Building Materials Totals Electronic and Electrical Products CUTIX PLC. Electronic and Electrical Products Totals Packaging/Containers BETA GLASS CO PLC. Packaging/Containers Totals INDUSTRIAL GOODS Totals OIL AND GAS Energy Equipment and Services JAPAUL OIL & MARITIME SERVICES PLC Energy Equipment and Services Totals Integrated Oil and Gas Services OANDO PLC Integrated Oil and Gas Services Totals Petroleum and Petroleum Products Distributors CONOIL PLC ETERNA PLC. FORTE OIL PLC. MOBIL OIL NIG PLC. TOTAL NIGERIA PLC. Petroleum and Petroleum Products Distributors Totals Exploration and Production SEPLAT PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENT COMPANY LTD Exploration and Production Totals OIL AND GAS Totals SERVICES Automobile/Auto Part Retailers R T BRISCOE PLC. Automobile/Auto Part Retailers Totals Courier/Freight/Delivery RED STAR EXPRESS PLC Courier/Freight/Delivery Totals Printing/Publishing LEARN AFRICA PLC Printing/Publishing Totals Transport-Related Services AIRLINE SERVICES AND LOGISTICS PLC NIGERIAN AVIATION HANDLING COMPANY PLC Transport-Related Services Totals Support and Logistics CAVERTON OFFSHORE SUPPORT GRP PLC Support and Logistics Totals SERVICES Totals EQTY Board Totals Daily Summary (Equities) Activity Summary on Board ASeM CONSUMER GOODS Food Products MCNICHOLS PLC Food Products Totals CONSUMER GOODS Totals ASeM Board Totals Daily Summary (Equities) Activity Summary on Board PREMIUM FINANCIAL SERVICES Banking ZENITH INTERNATIONAL BANK PLC Banking Totals Other Financial Institutions FBN HOLDINGS PLC Other Financial Institutions Totals FINANCIAL SERVICES Totals INDUSTRIAL GOODS Building Materials DANGOTE CEMENT PLC Building Materials Totals INDUSTRIAL GOODS Totals PREMIUM Board Totals Equity Activity Totals

DEALS

MARKET PRICE

QUANTITY TRADED

VALUE TRADED ( N)

32 4 6 69 69

25.33 0.94 0.69

551,998 16,020 597,000 1,779,083 1,779,083

13,903,164.18 15,299.40 412,110.00 15,902,796.63 15,902,796.63

1 1 1

1.69

500 500 500

805.00 805.00 805.00

16 9 4 6 10 31 76

24.00 9.30 35.78 8.62 3.36 80.50

110,727 40,229 26,700 142,300 299,900 14,373,223 14,993,079

2,707,053.97 362,501.29 992,680.00 1,227,076.00 966,480.00 1,157,057,077.16 1,163,312,868.42

6 6

1.51

134,500 134,500

204,240.00 204,240.00

5 5 87

50.00

24,529 24,529 15,152,108

1,165,135.50 1,165,135.50 1,164,682,243.92

2 2

0.50

24,262 24,262

12,131.00 12,131.00

90 90

3.47

3,827,573 3,827,573

13,288,632.05 13,288,632.05

21 7 8 21 7 64

18.34 1.84 342.00 150.00 145.00

81,125 100,300 20,300 16,295 13,699 231,719

1,505,034.50 182,832.00 6,595,470.00 2,396,080.60 1,959,692.96 12,639,110.06

33 33 189

318.00

389,934 389,934 4,473,488

124,037,602.56 124,037,602.56 149,977,475.67

1 1

0.50

941 941

470.50 470.50

5 5

3.80

32,870 32,870

127,756.40 127,756.40

13 13

0.89

624,500 624,500

538,430.00 538,430.00

1 22 23

2.29 4.00

4,588 251,094 255,682

10,001.84 1,001,583.80 1,011,585.64

1 1 43 1,811

1.68

10,000 10,000 923,993 3,428,226,216

16,000.00 16,000.00 1,694,242.54 5,785,390,675.15

2 2 2 2

1.21

270,464 270,464 270,464 270,464

327,261.44 327,261.44 327,261.44 327,261.44

306 306

11.45

13,929,679 13,929,679

159,605,439.23 159,605,439.23

278 278 584

3.74

10,438,552 10,438,552 24,368,231

39,515,087.18 39,515,087.18 199,120,526.41

35 35 35 619 2,432

139.83

38,770 38,770 38,770 24,407,001 3,452,903,681

5,304,666.00 5,304,666.00 5,304,666.00 204,425,192.41 5,990,143,129.00

2 2 2 2 2 10 10 10

2,330.00 2.33 6.02 11.09 18.07

3,000 20 20 20 15 3,075 3,075 3,075

6,986,000.00 46.70 120.20 221.80 270.65 6,986,659.35 6,986,659.35 6,986,659.35

Daily Summary (ETP) Exchange Traded Fund Name NEWGOLD EXCHANGE TRADED FUND (ETF) VETIVA BANKING ETF VETIVA CONSUMER GOODS ETF VETIVA GRIFFIN 30 ETF VETIVA INDUSTRIAL ETF Exchange Traded Fund Totals ETF Board Totals ETP Activity Totals

45

˾ FRIDAY, JULY 21, 2017

MARKET NEWS

PEARL Awards Boss Calls for Investors’ Education to Improve Patronage The Securities and Exchange

Commission (SEC) and Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) have been urged to collaborate with other stakeholders to raise the level of investors’ education in order to increase patronage of the stock market.

The call was made by the President, PEARLAwards Nigeria, Mr. Tayo Orekoya yesterday in Lagos at a press conference on the 2017 edition of the awards.

According to Orekoya, although the market has witnessed a

gradual rebound, he noted that economic recession took its toll on the capital market like most other sectors of our economy.

Orekoya said: “The market performance has nose-dived in recent past due to decline in stock and bond investments.

The development has been necessitated by dwindling investors’ confidence in the capital market. It is pertinent to state that investors’ confidence must be fully restored to enhance the growth and development of

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

the capital market. To this end, active investor sensitisation and education is essential to further restore investors’ confidence in the market. In the light of this, we believe the SEC and the NSE need to do more towards investor education to rebuild confidence in the market.”

He added: “On our part, PEARL Awards Nigeria remains committed to partnering with the regulatory authorities and other stakeholders towards achieving sustainability, growth

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 14Jul-2017, unless otherwise stated.

and deepening of the market.

We would also like to use this medium to reiterate our call for a strong collaboration between the market operators and the media towards ensuring that we make the capital market more meaningful and relevant to both the local and foreign investors.”

Speaking on the awards, he said it identifies and rewards performance, earnings and returns leadership by companies quoted on the stock exchange, using empirical and

clearly defined criteria and methodology.

“The awards process is based on verifiable facts and figures, assessed utilising credible and acceptable parameters and tools of data evaluation.

This is the uniqueness of the Awards which was instituted in 1995 and endorsed by the apex capital market regulatory authority, SEC in 2003. This year therefore marks, with your support and partnership, 22 years of meritorious service

to our father land,” he said.

The PEARL Awards boss disclosed the 2017 awards will take place on Sunday, November 26, in Lagos.

“This year’s edition promises to be an outstanding night of glamour, funfair and celebration of excellence. As witnessed in the recent past, there would be other side attractions that will include exclusive red carpet reception, cocktails and high class executive networking opportunities,” he said.

Offer price: The price at which units of a trust or ETF are bought by investors.

Bid Price: The price at which Investors redeem (sell) units of a trust or ETF. Yield/Total Return: Denotes the total return an investor would have earned on his investment. Money Market Funds report Yield while others report Year- to-date Total Return.

NAV: Is value per share of the real estate assets held by a REIT on a specific date.

DAILY PRICE LIST FOR MUTUAL FUNDS, REITS and ETFS MUTUAL FUNDS / UNIT TRUSTS AFRINVEST ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD aaml@afrinvest.com Web: www.afrinvest.com; Tel: +234 1 270 1680 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Afrinvest Equity Fund 163.84 164.03 28.83% Nigeria International Debt Fund 227.49 227.63 6.97% 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 7.70% 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 18.89% 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 15.76 16.23 27.64% ARM Discovery Fund 342.68 353.01 19.33% ARM Ethical Fund 24.55 25.29 9.88% ARM Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 17.64% 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 133.01 133.95 26.46% AXA Mansard Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 18.97% 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 92.03 94.39 8.79% 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 18.71% 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 1.26 32.45% Legacy Short Maturity (NGN) Fund 2.80 2.80 8.79% 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 14.30% 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 17.37% Vantage Balanced Fund 1.99 2.01 18.30% 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 9.34% Lotus Halal Fixed Income Fund 1,021.03 1,021.03 6.29% 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 12.87 12.95 33.06% 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 1.14 1.16 14.70% PACAM Fixed Income Fund 10.67 10.72 2.60% PACAM Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 14.90% 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 2,080.20 2,091.97 13.60% Stanbic IBTC Bond Fund 163.14 163.14 5.96% Stanbic IBTC Ethical Fund 0.92 0.93 20.13% Stanbic IBTC Guaranteed Investment Fund 203.31 203.31 8.79% Stanbic IBTC Iman Fund 157.99 160.15 21.73% Stanbic IBTC Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 18.59% Stanbic IBTC Nigerian Equity Fund 8,925.53 9,026.43 17.68% 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 12.12 22.94% Zenith Ethical Fund 12.61 12.75 15.29% Zenith Income Fund 18.30 18.30 10.72%

REITS NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

11.41 128.58

1.01% 3.69%

Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

10.11 97.14

10.21 98.94

15.06% 28.17%

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

4.09 7.75 15.52 19.84 131.35

4.13 7.83 15.62 20.04 133.35

47.86% 10.18% 30.08% 24.24% 1.89%

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

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T H I S D AY FRIDAY JULY 21, 2017

T H I S D AY FRIDAY JULY 21, 2017

47

FRIDAY, JULY 21, 2017 ˾ T H I S D AY

48

WORLD OF ISLAM INTERNATIONAL Edited by: MJO Mustapha Email deji.mustapha@thisdaylive.com

The Rulings of Sadaqat al-Fitr Continued from last week

By Mufti Faraz ibn Adam/Darul Fiqh

H

aving said this, it will be permissible for a husband to discharge of Sadaqat al-Fitr on behalf of his wife. Equally a father can pay on behalf of his mature children.

(Sharh Fath al-Qadir, 2:289-290) A woman who has the quantum will be obliged to pay the Sadaqat al-Fitr herself, irrespective whether she is married or not. (Imdad al-Fatawa, 2:110) Mature children who are in possession of the quantum will also be responsible to pay Sadaqat al-Fitr for themselves.

A point worthy of mentioning here is that a male isn’t responsible to pay Sadaqat al-Fitr on behalf of his parents, minor siblings or his relatives. However, if he did dispense of Sadaqat al-Fitr on their behalf, it will be permissible. (al-Fiqh al-Islami wa Adillatuhu, 2:903) In conclusion, every male and female is responsible to give Sadaqat al-Fitr when they are eligible to do so.

What to Give Islam is way of life which can be practised in all eras and all locations. Many injunctions are based on simple and common articles. For example, the calendar is based on the sighting of the moon, salah is centred on the positioning of the sun, fasting is founded on dawn and dusk, the sentence of an adulterer is executed by stoning.

Likewise, the valuation of many monetary advancements within the Islamic code of law, revolve around simple grain and cereal widely available in the markets.

Abu Sa’id al-Khudri (Allah be pleased with him) said, “We would give Zakat al-Fitr on behalf of every minor and adult, the free and enslaved in the era of the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) one sa’ of foodstuff or one sa’ of cheese or one sa’ of barley or one sa’of dates or one sa’ of raisins. (Sahih Muslim, 2:106) ‘Abd Allah Ibn ‘Umar (Allah be pleased with him) reports that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) instructed us to give Sadaqat al-Fitr of one sa’ of dates or one sa’of barley. ‘Abd Allah Ibn ‘Umar mentions that the Sahabah later gave two mud (½ sa’) of wheat in place of dates and barley. (Sahih al-Bukhari, 1:411) Shaykh Bashar Bakri Arrabi in his annotation of the great Hanafi work al-Lubab states one sa’equates to 3.2 kg. This is supported by various other texts and commentaries. Thus, ½ sa’ is equivalent to 1.632 kg. (al-Lubab fi ‘l-Sharh al-Kitab, p.169) Based on the aforementioned ahadith, Imam al-Kasani mentions one should give: 1.

1 sa’ of barley or 2.

1 sa’ of dates or 3. ½ sa’ of wheat or 4.

1 sa’ raisins 5.

(Bada’i al-Sana’i, 2:540) Imam Ibn al-Humam has mentioned that for everything besides wheat one should give 1 sa’and for wheat he should give ½ sa’. He endorsed that this view is shared

by Mu’awiyah, Ta’us, Sa’id Ibn Musayyab, Ibn Zubayr, Sa’id Ibn Jubayr and many other prominent individuals.

(Sharh Fath al-Qadir, 2:228) It is permissible to give the value of the above in cash, instead of the actual grain. However, according to Imam Muhammad al-Shaybani, only the value of wheat should be considered (not the value of barley or dates).

(Radd al-Muhtar, 3:322) By virtue of the inferred meaning (dalalah an-nass), the scholars have pointed out that the goal of Sadaqat al-Fitr is to enrich the poor and suffice their need. This enriching and sufficing is easily done with cash and other commodities. Thus, it will be permissible to give anything which has a value to it. Again, one will give whatever values to 1.6 kg of wheat. (al-Fiqh al-Islami wa Adillatuhu, 2:909-910; Bada’i al-Sana’i, 2:543) So, it is permissible to give the authentically narrated items in their respected quantities or to give the value of 1.6 kg of wheat.

When calculating the price of wheat, one will consider the price and value of the area they dwell in.

Ibn Nujaym al-Misri states “Commodities will be evaluated in the city or areas there are in.” (al-Bahr al-Ra’iq, 2:400)

The Time of Dispensing Sadaqat al-Fitr The dispensing of Sadaqat al-Fitr becomes compulsory upon an individual with the break of dawn on the day of ‘Id [al-Fitr, the 1st of Shawwal]. (Bada’i al-Sana’i, 2:544) It is recommended to pay the Sadaqat al-Fitr before

attending the place where ‘Id salah will be performed.

(Sharh Fath al-Qadir, 2:305) It is permissible to pay Sadaqat al-Fitr prior to the day of ‘Id. ‘Abd Allah Ibn ‘Umar said, “People used to give Sadaqat al-Fitr a day or two before the ‘Id. (Sahih al-Bukhari, 1:411) In today’s climate, it is better and preferable to pay the Sadaqat al-Fitr many days in advance. The whole idea of Sadaqat al-Fitr is to benefit and suffice the poor on the day of ‘Id. Discharging of it prior to the ‘Id salah in the masjid or musallah, as it is common practice in the west, defeats the purpose and objective of Sadaqat al-Fitr. Hence, one should ideally pay the Sadaqah in adequate time so it can reach those who are worthy of it in due time. (Kitab al-Fatawa, 3:362) If somebody failed to pay Sadaqat al-Fitr prior to the ‘Id salah, it will be permissible to discharge of it afterwards.

Although to delay it is discouraged and disliked. (Nur al-Idah, p.162) The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said: “If one pays Sadaqat al-Fitr before thesalah, it is considered an accepted charity, if he pays it after the salah, it is considered an ordinary charity.” (Sunan Abu Dawud, p. 263) There is dispute amongst the classical scholars with regards to exactly how many days in advance can Sadaqat al-Fitr be paid. The preferred view is that it will be permissible to pay even before the onset of Ramadan.

However, to discharge of it in the month of Ramadan is the most preferred course of action, as all the scholars agree to this. (Kitab al-Fatawa, 3:363)

The Recipients of Sadaqat al-Fitr The scholars are unanimous that the recipients of Sadaqat al-Fitr are identical to that of Zakat. This is based on the following verse: “Zakat expenditures are only for the poor and for the needy and for those employed to collect [Zakat] and for bringing hearts together [for Islam] and for freeing captives [or slaves] and for those in debt and for the cause of Allah and for the [stranded] traveller – an obligation [imposed] by Allah. And Allah is Knowing and Wise.”

(Surat al-Tawbah v. 60)

The verse contains eight types of people: 1.

Poor (fuqara’): They are those people who do not own in excess of their personal needs any type of wealth that is equal to the value of nisab (612.36 g of silver).

2.

Needy (masakin): According to some scholars, they are those whose economic status is worse than the poor (fuqara’). The difference is a technical difference, but the principle is that neither of them possess in excess of their personal needs any type of wealth that is equal to the value of nisab.

3.

Zakat collectors (‘amilin alayha): This refers to those individuals commissioned by the head of the Islamic government to collect Zakat. This isn’t applicable today.

4.

Those whose hearts are being reconciled (mu’allafah al-qulub): This was an avenue to dispense your Zakat in during the early days of Islam. The Zakat money would be given to three types of people: 1.

Those disbelievers from whom it was perceived that by giving this donation, they would embrace Islam.

2.

To the leaders of the disbelievers in order to save the believers from their evil.

3.

To those who have just accepted Islam. This payment would be made to elevate their spirits.

According to the Hanafi scholars, this avenue is now abrogated. (Sharh Fath al-Qadir, 2:265) 5.

Emancipating slaves (fi ‘l-riqab): Zakat money can be used to purchase a slave from his master in order to set him free. Again, this is inapplicable.

6.

Debtors (al-gharimin): This is regarding a person who despite having assets at his disposal, he is overwhelmed with debt and the debt exceeds the value of his assets.

7.

Those in the cause of Allah (fi sabil Allah): According to the majority of scholars, this refers to and is restricted to only those people who are engaged in Jihad (military struggle).

8.

Travellers (ibn al-sabil): This refers to those travellers who are in a desperate situation and have no access to their personal money. Money nowadays can be wired across the globe in a matter of minutes, hence, one who has the ability to receive his money, will not be allowed to take Zakat or Sadaqat al-Fitr.

Currently, only the poor, needy, debtor, the Mujahidin and the travellers are eligible to receiving Zakat and Sadaqat al-Fitr.

email:foreigndesk@thisdaylive.com

Trump Regrets Hiring Attorney General US President Donald Trump said Wednesday he never would have hired Attorney General Jeff Sessions if he had known the top law official would recuse himself from a probe into Russia’s alleged election meddling.

In an interview with the New York Times, the president also criticized Sessions’ confirmation testimony in the US senate, in which Sessions denied “communications with the Russians” despite at least two meetings with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the

campaign.

“Jeff Sessions gave some bad answers,” the president told the Times.

“He gave some answers that were simple questions and should have been simple answers, but they weren’t.”

Sessions recused himself from overseeing the Russian probe in March after the Washington Post revealed the meetings with Kislyak.

But Trump said Sessions had acted unfairly in taking the job in the first place if he had felt in any way compromised.

“How do you take a job and then recuse yourself? If he would have recused himself before the job, I would have said, ‘Thanks, Jeff, but I’m not going to take you,’” Trump said.

“It’s extremely unfair -- and that’s a mild word -- to the president.”

In an appearance before the Senate Intelligence Committee in June, Sessions vehemently denied any collusion with Russia to tilt last year’s US election in Trump’s favor, branding the suggestion an “appalling and detestable lie.”

US Senate Icon McCain Diagnosed with Brain Cancer US Senator John McCain, a former prisoner of war and the maverick 2008 Republican presidential nominee, has been diagnosed with brain cancer, his office announced Wednesday.

The 80-year-old lawmaker from Arizona underwent surgery to remove a blood clot from above his left eye last week and tests “revealed that a primary brain tumor known as a glioblastoma was associated with the blood clot,” the Mayo Clinic, whose doctors performed

the surgery in Phoenix, said in a statement released by McCain’s office.

“The senator and his family are reviewing further treatment options,” the statement added, noting they may include a combination of chemotherapy

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME I formerly known and addressed as MRS. FRANCA OLUMIDE, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. FRANCA SALAMI. All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

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The general public should please take note.

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and radiation.

Glioblastoma is a particularly aggressive brain tumor affecting adults. It is of the same category of cancer that led to the death of another icon of the US Senate, Ted Kennedy, who died in 2009 at age 77.

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FRIDAY, JULY 21, 2017Ëž T H I S D AY

NEWS

Ă?ĂĄĂ? Ă&#x17D;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x153; Davidson Iriekpen Ă&#x2014;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2013; davidson.iriekpen@thisdaylive.com, 08111813081

Senate Confirms Eight INEC RECs, Withholds Lagos, Two Others Says constitutional nominees not affected by suspension threat Rejects Nigerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s nominee Damilola Oyedele Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2DC; Ă&#x152;Ă&#x;Ă&#x201D;Ă&#x2039; The Senate yesterday confirmed eight persons as Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

It, however, withheld the confirmation of the nominees from Lagos, Kebbi and Zamfara States for further legislative consultation.

Adopting the recommendation of its Committee on INEC, the Senate rejected the nomination of the nominee from Niger State, Prof. Mustapha Zubairu, whom it noted, hails from the same local government as the INEC Federal Commissioner representing Northcentral in the commission, Mr. Mohammed Haruna.

INEC is specifically listed in Section 153 (sub-section F) of the constitution, as one of the bodies for which confirmation shall be sought for the appointment of the Chairman and members.

During the confirmation yesterday, the Senate clarified that

executive nominations explicitly outlined in the 1999 Constitution, concerning confirmation by it are not affected by its recent resolution to suspend all issues relating to confirmation of executive nominees.

Senate President, Bukola Saraki, made the clarification in response to a point of personal explanation raised by Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe (Abia South) who cited newspapers as reporting that the Senate has backed down from its resolution, following the laying of the report on the screening of the RECs, on Wednesday.

Saraki noted that the constitution explicitly stated the nominations of ambassadors, ministers and bodies, as contained in relevant sections.

Abaribe had said he was inundated by calls from his constituents on the matter, as the constituency is yet to be represented on the board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

The Chairman of the Committee on INEC, Senator Suleiman Nazif (Bauchi North), while presenting the committeeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s report, said the nominees whose confirmations were recommended, have been cleared by the security agencies.

He added that the nominees from Kebbi (Dr. Mahmuda Isah) and Zamfara (Ahmad Bello Mahmud) were stood down for â&#x20AC;&#x153;further legislative consultations.â&#x20AC;?

The nominees whose appointments were confirmed by the Senate are Dr. Asmau Sani Maikudi (Katsina), Sam Olugbadebo Olumeku (Ondo), Prof. Riskuwa Shehu (Sokoto), Mr. Kasim Gama Geidam (Yobe), Jibrin Ibrahim Zarewa (Kano), Abdulganiyu Olayinka Raji (Oyo), Prof. Samuel Egwu (Kogi) and

Mr. Mike Igini (Delta).

Meanwhile the decision to withhold the confirmation of the nominee from Lagos, Ambassador Rufus Oloruntoyin Akeju, was taken by the lawmakers when Senator Biodun Olujimi (Ekiti South) produced a document which she claimed was a â&#x20AC;&#x153;court rulingâ&#x20AC;? relating to Akejuâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s nomination. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Mr. President, I have a court ruling against him, saying he cannot be confirmed as REC. He went to appeal but his appeal was struck out. He appealed but lost it. The document is here with me,â&#x20AC;? she said.

Upon enquiries by the Senate President, Nazif said he was not aware of any court ruling.

The sudden development caused a sharp divide among

the lawmakers, with some arguing that it should be of no consequence as the screening process was already concluded, while others argued that a judicial pronouncement must be respected.

The Senate Leader, Senator Ahmed Lawan (Yobe North), argued that despite the court ruling, the Senate should go ahead and confirm Akeju, since he has undergone and been cleared at the screening.

His position was echoed by Senator Olamilekan Adeola who is from Lagos state as the nominee.  He argued that the nominee had no issues challenging his eligibility during the screening and said â&#x20AC;&#x153;let us look beyond this because of Nigerians who have

put their trust in this man. Let us give him the opportunity to serve this country.â&#x20AC;?

Senator Peter Nwaoboshi (Delta North) however argued that while the doctrine of the separation of powers is sacroscant, a judicial pronouncement cannot be ignored by the legislature. Â He added that stepping down the confirmation of the nominee does not indicate his rejection.

Similarly Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, said the Senate or National Assembly is not constitutionally empowered to handle a judicial matter.

Ekweremadu advised that the matter be referred to the INEC Committee to study the court ruling and proffer a recommendation.

Adio: Nigeria will Remain Vulnerable Without Savings Emma Okonji The Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), Mr. Waziri Adio, has said Nigeria will remain vulnerable and still depend heavily on borrowing except she develops the culture of saving her earnings from the sales of crude oil.

Adio who spoke yesterday on Arise Television, a sister broadcast company of THISDAY Newspaper, said the country had no reason to borrow money if she had imbibed the culture of saving revenue generated from excess crude oil.

According to him, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Between January 2005 and June 2015, the money that entered into the excess crude oil account as savings was $201.2 billion but the country spent $204.7 billion within the same period, which means that the country spent more than what it saved from oil from 2005 to 2015, and this amounts to no savings at all. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Even if the country had saved 25 per cent of the $201.2 billion, by the time prices of oil started falling, we would have had about N50.3 billion in excess crude oil account alone,â&#x20AC;? he said.

Adio insisted that Nigeria must save something for the future generation and have enough future savings in order to save other streams of income as a country. â&#x20AC;&#x153;What we have is too little and inadequate and this makes us very vulnerable as a country,â&#x20AC;? he said.

He explained that the country has three major levels of accounts namely: Excess Crude Acount; Sovereign Wealth Trust Fund, which started in 1989 and the 0.5 per cent stabilisation

fund.

He, however, said even though the country saved money in the funds, it would still go round to spend such money without saving for the rainy day. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We have been in the journey of saving our earnings for over 30 years now, but the problem we have is that we save and spend instead of saving and keeping,â&#x20AC;? he said.

He advised that the country needs to have enough when things are going well. â&#x20AC;&#x153;So we need to look back as a country and know where we got it wrong. There is good need to spend but it will be easier if we have savings so that we can spend from what we have saved. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are not against savings but we should be able to spend from what we saved. When we had a boom, we were saving but our spending became far more than our savings. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Yes we know there are some infrastructural and developmental challenges that need to be addressed with money but we need to develop the culture of saving as a country. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It makes sense to save especially when we depend on revenue generated from natural resources,â&#x20AC;? Adio said.

Speaking on the way forward, Adio said Nigeria must go to Supreme Court to resolve the cases hanging around the excess crude account; amend section 162 of the Constitution to allow for the possibility of savings; and save always whether the oil prices are high or low.

He gave example of Angola, which he said, saves 100,000 barrels of crude per day, irrespective of whether the prices are high or low.

PROMOTING MADE-IN-NIGERIA SHOES

L-R: Kwara State Governor, Dr. Abdulfatah Ahmed; Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Muhammed Bello, Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo; Minister of the Industry, Trade and Investment, Okechukwu Enelamah; and Adamawa State Governor, Jibrila Bindow, inspecting Kwara State pavilion at the ongoing Micro Small and Medium Enterprises at the Eagle Square, Abuja....yesterday.

Osinbajo Seeks Nâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Assemblyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Approval for N135.64bn Virement for Priority Projects James Emejo Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2DC; Ă&#x152;Ă&#x;Ă&#x201D;Ă&#x2039; The acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, yesterday requested the approval of the National Assembly for virement of funds totalling about N135.64 billion to finance federal governmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s priority projects and programmes as contained in the 2017 Appropriation Act. In his letter dated July 18, 2017, and addressed to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara and read on the floor of the House by the latter, made reference to the initial agreement between the executive and the legislature prior to the signing of the 2017 Appropriation Bill regarding some critical priority items which adequate provisions

had not been made before its eventual passage into law. The agreement however permitted the executive  to submit a virement proposal to the National Assembly for consideration. The breakdown of the virement proposal as submitted to the legislature by Osinbajo showed the sum of N3.15 billion is being vired from projects within the Ministry of Defence while N7.69 billion would be recouped from projects within in the Ministry of Interior.

The sum of N1 billion would be vired from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development; N46 billion from the Federal Ministry of Finance; Â Education, N770 million; Federal Capital

Territory (FCT), N3 billion; Health, N1billion; Â as well as Office to the Secretary to the Government, N735.03 million.

Others sources of virement are the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, N1.09 billion; Â Information and Culture, N729 million; Communication Technology, N734 million; Water Resources, N2.38 billion: Mines and Steel Development, N1.1billion and Environment, N241 million.

In addition,  the sum of N66 billion proposed to be taken from projects within the Federal Ministry of Transportation is expected to be sourced from the Ministry of Transportation, N33.24 billion; Power,  Works and Housing, N3.18 billion; Office to the

Secretary to the Government of the Federation, N14.13 billion;  Office of the National Security Adviser, N5billion; Science and Technology, N5 billion and Ministry of Trade and Investment, N5.40 billion. Also,  under the virement proposal to the Ministry of Interior, a breakdown showed N80.50 million will be sourced from the Ministry of Trade and Investment.

The acting president further appealed to the parliament to urgently consider the virement request â&#x20AC;&#x153;in order to support our collective efforts to improve the well-being of our citizens.â&#x20AC;?

The proposal was however, Â referred to the House Committee on Appropriation for further consideration.

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NEWSXTRA

Nigeria Financial Intelligence Agency Bill Passes First Reading Câ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ttee submits constitution review report Queries NPA over 282 missing vessels Damilola Oyedele Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2DC; Ă&#x152;Ă&#x;Ă&#x201D;Ă&#x2039; In its commitment to accelerate the establishment of an autonomous Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), the Senate yesterday passed through first reading, a bill seeking the establishment of the NFI Agency.

The bill, sponsored by Senator Utazi Chukwuka (Enugu North), is scheduled to undergo second reading next week.

It is expected to provide for a substantive and autonomous NFIU and make it autonomous with powers for employment, reward, training, promotion and discipline of its workforce independently.

The Senate, last Wednesday had pledged to ensure legal, operational and financial autonomy to the NFIU, leading to its decoupling from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), following the suspension of Nigeria from the Egmont Group.

The legislative body had also accused the acting Chairman of the EFCC, Mr. Ibrahim Magu, of contributing to Nigeriaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s suspension from the group by his interference in the operations and staffing of the NFIU, despite claims that the unit was autonomous.

Maguâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s meddlesomeness, the Senate said, has led to the exit of many competent hands from the NFIU. The spokesman of the Senate, Senator Sabi Abdullahi, however, dispelled the notions that the Red Chamberâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s decision to decouple the NFIU from the EFCC is an extension of the imbroglio with Magu. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Several agencies are involved in fighting corruption and this anti-corruption fight has been hampered by the refusal to share intelligence. We cannot

succeed if we continue to individualise some of these national assignments. The institution is bigger than any person,â&#x20AC;? he said.

Briefing journalists yesterday, Abullahi added that the Senate should be commended for taking a bold step to ensure that Nigeriaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s financial system is not blacklisted.

The Egmont Group is the highest inter-governmental association of intelligence agencies in the world with membership by 152 countries.

It provides a platform for sharing criminal intelligence and financial information bordering on money laundering, terrorism financing, proliferation of arms, corruption, financial crimes, economic crimes and similar offences geared towards the support of local and international investigations, prosecutions and assets recovery.

Nigeria was fully admitted into the coveted body in 2007 after operational admittance in 2005, in what was considered one of the biggest achievements of the Olusegun Obasanjo administration.

The countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s membership paved the path for the removal of Nigerian banks from the blacklist of international finance.

The blacklisting had prevented the banks from engaging in correspondent banking with foreign institutions and also denied Nigerians access to foreign credit cards.

The NFIU, which represents Nigeria in the Egmont Group, was suspended at its July 2017 meeting in China, following Nigeriaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s failure to grant operational autonomy to the financial intelligence unit, a situation which the group has objected to for years.

Nigeria was also accused

FMC Director: 42,000 Victims of Farmers/Herdsmen Clashes Have Received Medical Attention in Six Months George Okoh Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2DC; Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2022;Ă&#x;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x17D;Ă&#x201C; The Chief Medical Director, Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Makurdi, Benue State. Dr. Peteru Inunduh, has disclosed that the hospital has treated over 42,000 victims of herdsmen/farmers attacks in Benue and Taraba States.

Inunduh who disclosed this during interactive session with journalists in Makurdi yesterday, said the development had made the centre to lose millions of naira because most of the victims brought to the hospital could hardly afford their hospital bills after treatment.

He said the Taraba State Government alone owes the hospital over N3 million as a result of the 35 victims of Wukari/ Fulani herdsmen crisis sent to the centre for treatment and discharged last year.

According to him, the

Benue State farmers/Fulani herdsmen crisis has substantially contributed to impoverishing Benue people with a high number of patients being admitted on a daily basis for various degree of sickness and injuries. â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;â&#x20AC;&#x2122;Just imagine, in six months only, over 42,000 patients were brought to the hospital and treated,but very few of them could afford to pay their bills, the remaining ones could not offset their bills. The hospital has no option than to write off the bills through welfare unit,â&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;&#x2122; Inunduh stated.  The MD lamented that the development has drastically reduced revenue generation for the hospital, stressing that the internally generated revenue (IGR) is no longer improving the way it is expected to augment what they get monthly from Abuja to enable the center function optimally.

of divulging confidential information and constant leakage of sensitive intelligence to the Nigerian media, contrary to global best practices the country signed up for.

The group also issued a December 2017 ultimatum to Nigeria to address the issues that led to the suspension or be expelled, which will attract international sanctions against Nigeriaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s financial system.

Meanwhile, the Senate Ad hoc committee on Constitution Review yesterday laid its report before the Senate at plenary.

Senators are expected to receive copies of the document ahead of its debate next week.

Also yesterday, the Senate Joint Committee on Customs,

Excise and Tariff and Marine Transport has queried the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) over 282 vessels allegedly missing from the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s seaports.

This is as the committee frowned at the failure of the Managing Director of the NPA, Ms. Hadiza Bala-Usman, to appear before it at two consecutive meetings despite invitations extended to her.

The committee issued a four-day ultimatum to Usman to provide explanation on the whereabouts of circumstances of the mission vessel.

The Chairman of the joint Committee on Customs, Excise and Tariff and Marine Transport, Senator Hope Uzodimma,

while speaking during the investigative hearing to probe N30 trillion leakages in customs and other agencies, said the committee would consider it to be a financial crime, if Usman fails to provide the explanations required of her. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are looking for these vessels. We have the date of arrival, the ports of discharge and manifest. Everything is with us but from information available to us, no money was collected by either customs, the NPA or any other person. So you have four days to do your written explanation otherwise we will consider it a financial crime,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;There are also recent missing vessels that we discovered.

I mean recent ones that happened under the new management. The NPA is the custodian of the vessels; it received the cargoes and the terminal is theirs. We want to know under whose authority the cargoes were released,â&#x20AC;?

Uzodimma added.

The senator also disclosed that the committeeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s preliminary investigations have revealed that the activities of a cabal at the ports, has cost the country over N30 trillion, in loss of revenue.

The cabal, he said, connive with officials to carry out the infractions in daily transactions at the ports, commercial banks, shipping companies, terminal owners and operators.

LETâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S WORK TOGETHER

L-R: Director, MTN Foundation, Mr. Tunde Folawiyo; Chairman, MTN Nigeria, Mr. Pascal Dozie; and Chairman MTN Foundation, Prince Julius Adelusi Adeluyi, at the MTN Foundationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;What Can We Do Together Initiativeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Phase 2 nomination appreciation dinner in Lagos,... yesterday Ë&#x; Ë&#x203A;

INEC Asks Court to Vacate Order Halting Melayeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Recall Process Alex Enumah Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2DC; Ă&#x152;Ă&#x;Ă&#x201D;Ă&#x2039; The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has asked the Federal High Court in Abuja to set aside an earlier order of the court suspending the process of recall of Senator Dino Melaye. Â The electoral body is also seeking an order of court for the matter to be given accelerated hearing and that the matter be heard during the courtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s vacation period in the interest of justice. Â Justice John Tsoho had in a ruling on an ex parte motion brought by Melaye seeking to stop his recall ordered parties to maintain status quo pending the determination of the matter.

He then adjourned further hearing to September 29.

However, INEC in a motion on notice brought before Justice Nnamdi Dimgba, prayed the court to set aside the order.  In the  motion  marked suit no: FHC/ABJ/CS/567/2017

and filed on July 14, 2017, the defendant claimed that the order for the status quo has hindered it from proceeding with the recall process of the senator representing Kogi West senatorial district in the Senate.

The motion which was supported by a 16-paragraph affidavit deposed to by one Place Demenongo, claimed that the order made by Justice Tsoho was against the time bound and constitutional duty of INEC as enshrined in Section 69 of the 1999 Constitution.

In the motion, the electoral body argued that the ex parte interim order of injunction violated their right to fair hearing as enshrined in Section 36 of the 1999 Constitution as it was not heard before it was made. In the affidavit, the deponent claimed that Melaye misrepresented and suppressed material facts in misleading the court to grant the order of interim injunction.

He averred that the defendant received a petition dated June 19 in June 21 seeking the recall of Melaye and that consequent upon the receipt of the petition it has published time table and schedule of activities for the recall process.

He further averred that since the defendant/applicant received the restraining order on July 10, it had been unable to take further action on the recall process notwithstanding the fact that time was of essence in carrying out its duties. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The defendant/applicant has 90 days from June 21 to conduct a referendum in line with the approved time table and schedule of activities for the recall of the senator representing Kogi West senatorial district of Kogi. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The period of 90 days will elapse on September 18,â&#x20AC;? he stressed.

The affidavit further stated that Melaye would not be

prejudiced if the application to vacate the ex parte order was granted as it was in the interest of justice to grant it. Â In the second application, marked suit no: FHC/ABJ/ CS/567/2017, INEC is asking the court for an order of accelerated hearing of the substantive suit and all other filed processes incidental thereto during the courtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s vacation.

It predicated its application on the grounds that it was its constitutional duty as provided

by Section 69 of the 1999 Constitution.

INEC in the motion claimed that time was of the essence in the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.

When the matter came up for hearing yesterday, counsel to INEC, Sulayman Ibrahim, informed the court of an application filed seeking accelerated hearing of the matter during vacation.

FRIDAY, JULY 21, 2017˾ T H I S D AY

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Okunbo: I Can’t Be Blackmailed over Alleged Oil Swap Deal Iyobosa Uwugiaren ÓØ ÌßÔË A businessman and Chairman of Ocean Marine Security Limited, Capt. Hosa Okunbo, has said he cannot be blackmailed by people who know nothing about his involvement in the oil sector over the controversial offshore processing agreements (OPAs) oil swap - involving the former Minister of Petroleum, Mrs.

Diezani Allison-Madueke, and others.

The owner of the offshore asset protection company rendering services to major oil companies in Nigeria, including the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), stated this while speaking with THISDAY in Abuja yesterday.

Some media reports recently linked Okunbo to the oil

Kogi Gov Cannot Proscribe ASUU-KSU, Says Zonal Coordinator Bello: No apology for action Omololu Ogunmade ÓØ ÌßÔË ËØÎ Yekini Jimoh ÓØ ÙÕÙÔË

demands and have gone a step further to pay all outstanding salaries of both cleared and The Zonal Coordinator, uncleared staff including those Academic Staff Union of that have committed one crime Universities (ASUU) Nsukka or the other.

“This is a white lie being Zone, Professor Ukooh David Ikoni, has said the Kogi State orchestrated by the governor Governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, to blackmail the members of is not in any position legally the ASUU Kogi State University capable of proscribing the union. chapter.”

Ikoni pointed out that for the Bello last Wednesday had announced the proscription university system to function of the union for its members’ as efficient and effectively as ‘recalcitrant’ posture, despite expected, the stakeholders meeting over 90 per cent of need to work in harmony, collaborating with ASUU to a their demands.

The governor had also said great extend with a clear sense of the decision to proscribe the focus, having vision and mission. union became necessary as He therefore called on members efforts to make members see of ASUU-KSU, Anyigba, to reasons for the discontinuance remain steadfast in the strike of their industrial action failed. as no amount of intimidation However, Professor Ikoni by the state government can at a press conference held stop them from the legitimate by the ASUU Nsukka Zone pursuit of their rights for a at Kogi State University better working environment Anyigba, noted that ASUU, and personal emoluments.

Meanwhile, Governor Bello as a trade union of academics in Nigerian universities, is yesterday called the bluff of the a body of intellectuals that national body of the union cannot be proscribed on the over his decision to proscribe pages of newspapers or other the union in KSU, saying he owed no one any apology for social media.

According to him, “By his action.

The governor who made this section 40 of the constitution, every person shall be entitled declaration while answering to assemble freely and associate questions from journalists at with other persons and in the end of Nigeria Governors’ particular, he may form or belong Forum (NGF) meeting in to any political party, trade union the State House, Abuja, said or any other association for the inasmuch as KSU belongs to Kogi State and the future protection of his interest.

“The actions of the governor of students there-in remains for allegedly proscribing ASUU- state’s responsibility, he had KSU, therefore smacked of no regret for his decision.

Bello made the remark ignorance of the position of law and brings to the fore the while responding to a question of whether he has the question on whether he would mental capacity and the needed not have a running battle with leadership quality to lead the the national body of ASUU state as a governor,” he added. by his decision.

Explaining the rationale The professor stated further that the voices of some for his action, Bello who stakeholders who called for the claimed that he inherited an proscription of ASUU were loud institution that had more or but the call was not allowed to less gone into coma, further hold substance because ASUU, claimed that despite meeting as a trade union with several 90 per cent of the demands members, have every right to of ASUU in the institution, agitate and struggle for the the union found it difficult protection of the interest and to shift grounds.

According to him, the welfare of its members especially union, rather than uphold in a democratic setting.

He noted that “it is evident the collective principles of that some academic staff of the negotiation by shifting grounds, university are yet to receive their was pandering to the whims salaries for upward of 14 months and caprices of some unseen contrary to the statement credit forces and more or less acted to the governor that they have like an opposition political party fulfilled over 90 per cent of their instead of a trade union.

swap deals, insinuating that he would soon be fingered in the intense international probe of the Allison-Madueke, Kola Aluko and Jide Omokore by the US Department of Justice over laundered millions of dollars used in buying properties in the United States and the United Kingdom.

“Neither my business entity here in Nigeria or anywhere in the world nor I have ever been engaged in any deal requiring lifting the tiniest drop of oil, crude or refined. I am not a trader; I have never submitted nor participated in any oil swap deal, neither do I own a company trading in any petroleum products.’’

“I have never been invited by any anti-corruption agency, whether in Nigeria or anywhere in the world for any oil swap deal, and I will never been invited because I don’t get involved in any dirty deal,’’ he told THISDAY. He added that in his many years in business spanning engineering/technology, energy, integrated service in

the petroleum sector, maritime, security, agriculture and others, integrity had been his core guiding principle, which he said had earned him the trust and confidence of companies and corporations of global repute.

Okunbo added: “I have never stood before any administrative, judicial or legislative panel to answer any questions related to any shady deal. I have conducted my businesses with utmost openness, honesty and integrity.

“I am not oblivious of the fact that not a few people look up to me as a role model; the least I can do is to exhibit exemplary leadership quality to this group of young Nigerians, many of whom interact with me on a regular basis.”

He challenged anyone whether in the NNPC, the media or anywhere else to come forward with indicting evidence that can puncture his assertions, saying he was ready to face prosecution based on such exposition and be sent to jail if found guilty of any

complicity or fraud.

In the absence of this, he implored the Nigerian media, especially the new media, to be thorough, fair and objective in their journalistic responsibility.

Okunbo said for the umpteenth time, the online media had feasted on “blatant falsehood and outright lies’’ in relations to his business dealings.

He traced the root of the distortion to a report published by the popular online news medium in 2015, to which he said he similarly issued a syndicated rebuttal.

“I had believed the media would put paid to such malicious reports but sheer laziness and unprofessionalism on the side of some bloggers have sustained the tautological misrepresentation of the contract that formed the basis for the first publication,” he further stated.

Readdressing the issue then, Okunbo had said his company, Ocean Marine Solutions (OMS) Limited, was contracted by the NNPC to

provide security coverage for the crude oil transportation because of its longstanding ‘sterling reputation in maritime security.’

According to him, “This became imperative after NNPC had offered PPP Fluid Mechanics Limited (his indigenous procurement and oilfield services company) a contract to transport crude oil from Escravos to Warri refinery when it had become highly uneconomical to transport crude oil between these locations through the pipeline in view of government’s huge expenditure of about $121 million for the maintenance and repairs of the Escravos-Warri broken crude oil pipeline.’’

He added that upon satisfaction by NNPC with the delivery of PPPFM and OMS, the companies were adjudged competent and capable to continue the transportation of the crude oil, saying the facts were made available to the online medium which broke the story.

TECHNOLOGY BANKING

L-R: Chief Operating /Information Officer, Fidelity Bank Plc, Mr. Joshua Gbolahan; Deputy Managing Director, First Bank of Nigeria Plc, Mr. Gbenga Shobo; President,sub-Sahara Africa, VISA, Mr. Andrew Torre; and Chief Executive Officer, Diamond Bank Plc, Mr. Uzoma Dozie, at the launch of mVISA in Lagos....yesterday

UN Drums up Support for Nigerian Women, Girls Alex Enumah ÓØ ÌßÔË The United Nations has called on Nigerians and the international community to scale up support for women and girls in Nigeria if the nation must realise its target on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The UN hold the belief that if a nation would make meaningful progress then women should not only be given greater responsibility but be a part of the decisionmaking body of that society.

UN Deputy SecretaryGeneral, Amina Mohammed, who made the call during a briefing on the findings of the UN mission on issues affecting

women in Nigeria, urged governments and international agencies to focus energies on supporting women and girls in Nigeria.

The UN envoy, called for investment in areas that would bring greater empowerment for women as well as ensuring education of the girl child, noting that there would be a reduction in the number of cases of violence against women and girls when they are empowered.

She commended Nigeria’s efforts at addressing issues of violence against women and urged the country to do more, adding that the UN plans to scale up assistance for women

and girls by investing more in the 17 SDGs relating to women and girls.

Mohammed while urging Nigeria to have a zero tolerance for violence against women and girls, however, urged the nation to take the issue of development seriously, claiming that there is a nexus between poverty and violence against women and girls.

Speaking on their meeting with the rescued Chibok schoolgirls, the UN envoy commended the spirit in which the girls are handling the matter, stating that “They have overcome the initial trauma, and are now talking about their dreams”.

Also speaking, UN under

Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN women, Phumzile MlanboNgcuka, while calling for stiffer punishment for abusers of women and girls, urged states that are yet to domestic the violence against women and girls act to do so.

She said as part of effort to help victims of violence recover and adjust back to society, the UN introduced the method of safe spacing in camps and communities.

She disclosed that the UN is also considering a situation where more female soldiers would be in charge of women in most of the IDP camps, as well as putting women in charge of food and welfare.

FRIDAY, JULY 21, 2017˾ T H I S D AY

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PDP Dissolves Dickson’s Reconciliation Committee Kashamu, others to face disciplinary panel Onyebuchi Ezigbo ÓØ ÌßÔË The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has dissolved the National Reconciliation Committee headed by Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State.

The Dickson-led peace panel which was set up last year by

the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) in the wake of the crisis in the PDP, however, got embroiled in a controversy when it recognised the former National Chairman, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff.

However, as part of the resolutions reached at the last

Kagame, Gurib-Fakim, Moghalu to Speak at TED Global Conference The Chief Executive Officer of Sogato Strategies LLC and a former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Professor Kingsley Moghalu, will be one of the featured speakers at the 2017 TED Global Conference scheduled to hold to a worldwide audience in Arusha, Tanzania from August 27-30, 2017, the TED Organiszation has announced.

Moghalu will speak on the topic: ‘Leadership and the Wealth or Poverty of Nations.

President of the Republic of Rwanda, Paul Kagame and President of Mauritius, Prof.

Ameena Gurib-Fakim, will also be speakers at the 2017 TED Global forum which has the theme: ‘Builders, Truth-Tellers, Catalysts.’

The TEDGlobal is the highest level of the TED Conferences.

It is regarded as the ultimate private gathering of the world’s most influential thinkers and leaders. TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design),

a United States-based nonprofit organisation devoted to the spread of ideas, invites these individuals to present groundbreaking ideas and how these ideas connect to shape the present state and future of the world.

TED Global conferences are held twice a year at locations in the US and around the world.

According to the TED organisation in a statement on their website: “Twice a year, a group of interesting and impactful people gather for the week-long TED experience – which attendees have described as ‘the ultimate brain spa’ and ‘a journey into the future in the company of those creating it’. It’s a winning formula of brilliant, curious minds and groundbreaking content in an immersive and focused environment.”

TED conferences began in 1984. They were initially focused on technology, entertainment and design but today cover

Eminent Leaders of Thought Wade into Call for Restructuring Segun James As part of effort to foster national unity and stability and douse tension in the polity, the Eminent Leaders of Thought, (ELT), a group of elder statesmen led

by Emeritus Professor Ben Nwabueze is to wade into the issue of restructuring that is threatening the unity of the country.

According to the secretary of ELT, Mr. Olawale Okunniyi, the leaders of thought have formed a group - Project Nigeria Movement - to serve as the engine room to reach out to all sectors of the country in the bid to find a lasting solution to the heated up situation in the country.

While briefing journalists on the deliberations at the meeting, Okunniyi said the meeting was inconclusive as they have decided to embark on further consultation before coming with a communiqué on the position of the of the ELT on the burning issue of restructuring.

The meeting which was attended by Nwabueze, Gen. Alani Akinrinade, Gen.

Ike Nwachukwu, Chief Ayo Adebanjo Governor Gbenga Daniel and Admiral Ndubuisi Kanu among others resolved to consult more widely, especially with the people of the northern states, Okunniyi disclosed.

He said the group does not believe in the disintegration of Nigeria, even as he disclosed that one of the reasons why they could not reach a compromise on what to do was because they could not conclude on the procedure on how to go about the restructuring issue.

He said as soon as the modalities for this is worked out, Nigerians would be informed on the position of the group.

Asked about the position of the ELT on the ultimatum given by northern youths to the people of the South-east to leave the North by October and the call by the Nnamdi Kanu-led Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), for a republic of Biafra, Okunniyi disclosed that these, among others, are the issues that the new movement would look into and find a common ground to keep the corporate entity of Nigeria.

Tuesday at the NEC meeting of the PDP in Abuja, the party said all standing committees, including the reconciliation committee, were dissolved.

Speaking while receiving members of the committee led by Governor Dickson in his private residence in Abuja on Wednesday night, the PDP National Chairman, Senator Ahmed Makarfi, said the idea to shut down the committee came from the Bayelsa governor.

He said Dickson had reasoned that it would be better to dissolve the committees after the Supreme Court judgment so as to make way for new committees with fresh members.

Makarfi said: “I heard discussion with you and you

initiated the discussion out of foresight and love for the party and I communicated that initiative of yours to all the organs of the party including NEC which is that you advised that all standing committees in our great party be dissolved, and set up new ones to pave the way for fresh faces,” he said.

Makarfi regretted that the group could not resolve the crisis in the party due to the unreliable attitude of some of the actors in the conflict.

He thanked the governor and his team for their tremendous service to the party, He also clarified the decision on no victor, no vanquished taken by the party, saying it only covers actions or offences

committed before the last Supreme Court judgment.

He referred to the recent action by a PDP senator from Ogun state, Buruji Kashamu, describing him as one of those who had been undermining the party.

“After the Supreme Court judgment, I said no victory, no vanquished. I stand by that.

Some said I did not consult them, I say okay I have acted on your behalf but did draw a line. It is a different thing after saying that if any individual continues to undermine the party.

“Such misbehaviour should not be covered by the statement, no victor no vanquished.

“No victory, no vanquished

applies only to all the happenings before the Supreme Court ruling. That no individual will be punished for merely disagreeing, or not seeing eye to eye with one another before the matter was settled,” he said.

In his remarks, Dickson said his committee members decided to visit Makarfi after holding a valedictory meeting.

“All of us, the committee met and reviewed our activities and the moment together, and Mr. Chairman we remain convinced today just as we were convinced about the work we did months back that the way forward for our party is reconciliation, reconciliation, reconciliation,” he said.

INVESTITURE CEREMONY

L-R: Wife of the newly installed District 9110 Governor, Rotary International, Inner Wheel Member, Mrs. Olufunmilayo Ogunbadejo, Special Guest of Honour, Senator Gbenga Ashafa; the newly installed District 9110 Governor, Rotary International, Dr. Adewale Ogunbadejo; and the Inner Wheel Chair, Gbemi Rufai, at the investiture of Dr. Ogunbadejo as the 2017/2018 District 9110 Governor, Rotary International in Lagos....yesterday

LG Polls: Breach Security, Be Jailed for Six Months, Lagos CP Warns Labour party raises the alarm over security for Lagos LG polls Segun James and Chiemelie Ezeobi

Commission (LASIEC) to resist any temptation from politicians that could mitigate a hitch-free Ahead of tomorrow’s local elections.

While addressing LASIEC government elections, the Lagos State Police Command yesterday ad hoc and non-adhoc staff, warned all stakeholders, party party chairmen, members of agents, public officer holders transport unions, among other and the electorate not to breach stakeholders, he said anyone security during the polls else, caught would be made to face they would face six months the full wrath of the law.

Owoseni said his first step jail term.

The state Commissioner of towards achieving a violencePolice, Fatai Owoseni, made this free election was that LASIEC’s disclosure at the meeting with officials would be profiled with all stakeholders at the POWA a view to ensuring prompt arrest hall, Oduduwa, Ikeja, said the of any of them who would warning was for all parties either allow himself to be used against achieving the desired result. at national or state level.

Addressing VIPs, Owoseni He also warned public office holders and VIPs to desist from said: “VIPs may be members of taking their security aides to the National Assembly, ministers, the polling centres during the commissioners or members of election, threatening to arrest the House of Assembly.

“Political office holders who any erring security personnel.

During the four-hour are entitled to the use of aides interactive session, he also will not be allowed to move charged members of staff of around on Saturday with them.

“If they need to vote, they the state Independent Electoral

must be there as individuals to exercise their franchise and go back home.

“Any policeman found with them will be arrested. It is not just for this election. We have always advised police officers that are performing such duties not to go about with their weapons to intimidate electorate under the guise that they are aides to any VIP. “Any policeman who violates this, we will make sure that the provisions of the law are brought to bear on him.

He admonished LASIEC’s officials to study the electoral law with a view to understanding their roles during the elections, informing that ignorance was no excuse in law.

Meanwhile, the state Chairman of the Labour Party (LP), Pastor Bioudun Popoola, has raised the alarm on the possible breakdown of law

and order during tomorrow’s local government election; and has therefore urged LASIEC to prepare adequate security for the day.

Addressing journalists at the premises of LASIEC yesterday, he cried out that he was molested by some hoodlums believed to be political thugs; a situation which he said was unbecoming for the country’s nascent democracy.

He said there was security presence around when he was molested at the gate of the LASIEC office by hoodlums he believed belong to a faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP in the state, noting that this gave the hoodlums a free day to carry out their nefarious activities.

The LP chairman called on the state government to beef up security for tomorrow’s election, to ensure safety of lives and property.

53

FRIDAY, JULY 21, 2017˾ T H I S D AY

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Paris Club Refund: Imo Confirms Receiving N7bn, Ondo Gets N7.03bn Opposition urges Ajimobi, Fayose not to divert funds James Sowole ÓØ ÕßÜϘ Amby Uneze ÓØ áÏÜÜÓ˜ Ademola Babalola ÓØ ÌËÎËØ ËØÎ Victor Ogunje ÓØ ÎÙ ÕÓÞÓ It is no longer news that the federal government has released the third tranche of the Paris Club fund to state governments, as the Imo State Governor, Chief Rochas Okorocha, yesterday confirmed receiving N7 billion for the state’s own share of the latest tranche.

Okorocha also confirmed that the money would be used to clear 2017 outstanding pensions since according to him, the state government had earlier cleared all the past pension arrears up to December 2016 and promised to begin to pay the pensioners at the end of every month with effect from January 2017.

He said the government could not keep the promise following the steady and disturbing increase in the number of pensioners and the amount involved which snowballed into a staggering N1.5 billion even when some states with more population density pay about N500 million as pensions.

The governor maintained that

the state government would also use part of the Paris Club money to pay salary, even though the state government does not have any outstanding salary to contend with since it had paid salaries up to the month of June 2017. He enjoined all residents to work for the progress and prosperity of the state.

Also, the Ondo State Government yesterday confirmed the receipt of N7.03 billion as its own share of the second tranche of the Paris Club refund.

The confirmation of the receipt was contained in a statement signed by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Segun Ajiboye, stating that at least 32.68 per cent of the fund would be earmarked for payment of local government workers’ salaries arrears, while the state government would receive 67.32 per cent as its own share.

“Based on the agreement reached between the states of the federation and the Federal Ministry of Finance, 75 per cent of the share received by the state is devoted to payment of salaries and pensions while 25 per cent is devoted to capital projects.

“As a responsive government,

Osinbajo Meets APC Govs, Party Prepares for Convention Omololu Ogunmade Acting President Yemi Osinbajo yesterday met with governors on the platfform of All Progressives Congress (APC) in the State House, Abuja behind closed doors.

Answering questions from journalists after the meeting, the Chairman of APC Governors’ Forum and Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, said the meeting had nothing to do with the absence of President Muhammadu Buhari but about the party’s progress and proposed convention.

He dismissed the threat from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as empty and nothing to think about.

“We came to discuss issues

relating to our party and our government and how to move our party forward.

“We discussed a lot of issues on how to move the party forward, how to strengthen the party and how to make sure our party remains victorious in all elections.Very soon, we will have convention. That is part of the things we are discussing.

“The convention not taking place has nothing to do with the absence of the president or the acting president. We are just putting our house in order and making sure things are in the right form before we kick off.

“No, PDP is a non-issue. We don’t even care about that. We defeated them when they were in power so what is different when we are now in power?” he stated.

UAE’s Etisalat Group Severs Ties with 9Mobile’s Nigerian Shareholder The United Arab Emirates-based Etisalat Group has said it will terminate all rights granted to the Emerging Markets Telecommunication Services Limited (EMTS), the Nigerian shareholders of 9Mobile (formerly Etisalat Nigeria), and EMTS lenders to use its Etisalat brand tomorrow.

In a letter addressed to the Director General of the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, the Etisalat Group said yesterday that it had become necessary to terminate the rights “since EMTS and the EMTS lenders have decided not to proceed with these negotiations and to use a new brand.”

The letter signed by the Chief Financial Officer of Etisalat Group, Serkan Okandan, read: “Further to our announcement dated July 10, 2017, Emirates Telecommunications Group Company PJSC ‘Etisalat Group’ would like to inform you that Etisalat Group has entered into extensive negotiations with Emerging Markets Telecommunication Services Limited ‘EMTS’ and the EMTS lenders under the defaulted facility agreement, in connection with putting in place interim agreements for technical services, strategic procurement support and the use of Etisalat brand (and related IP rights).

the present administration is committed to the use of funds for the purposes it was designed for.

“The governor sought the support of the workers and the people of the state in his desire to lay a solid foundation for a prosperous state,” he said.

Meanwhile, a leader of the opposition party in Oyo State and chieftain of Social Democratic Party (SDP), Mr. Seyi Makinde, yesterday appealed to the state Governor, Abiola Ajimobi, to

commit the recently released N7.9billion Paris Club refund to offset the salary arrears of the workers and also to embark on people-oriented projects that will improve the lot of the people of the state.

Makinde in a statement he issued in Ibadan, which was made available to THISDAY, argued that the state government should be considerate about the plight of the workers and ensure the immediate payment of their

wages in order to ameliorate their suffering and by extension, “the hapless Oyo masses.”

According to him, ‘’Even, the Bible and all the other holy books said you should not make your labourers suffer for their wages.

We feel with the workers, and we shall wipe away your tears when you vote us into office come 2019.”

In Ektit State, the All Progressives Congress (APC) has warned the state Governor,

Ayodele Fayose, against brainwashing Ekiti people on the fresh payment of Paris Club refund of N4.7billion, accusing the governor of plotting to divert the money to other sources.

The party alleged that the governor has been holding consultations with workers and other stakeholders on how to spend the money that was chiefly disbursed to pay salaries, describing the ploy as a way to delude the unionists

DSS Warns Security, Anti-graft Agencies against Illegal Use of Its Name Ugo Aliogo The Department of State Services (DSS) has condemned in strong terms, the activities of those it described as impostors including some security agencies who have continuously engaged in using its name in parts of the country.

According to a statement signed by Tony Opuiyo, the service was noted that the impersonators in some instances,

try to mimic its operational tactics by using its symbols and paraphernalia especially operational dress codes.

It called on the public to be wary of these trends and also be informed that not all operatives in black uniforms are personnel of the DSS, adding that the service is indeed not sparing any efforts to ensure that this is brought to a complete stop, “in line with its standard

operational procedures, the service will.”

It further stated that in the spirit of public accountability, persons and groups, with useful information about suspected illegal operations in any part of the country, are encouraged to avail same to the service for prompt action.

It added: “The aim, according to information available to the service, is to accord semblance of

legitimacy to their operations and as well leave impressions that the DSS was, in fact, involved. An instance was the recent search which the DSS was falsely accused to have carried out at the Kaduna residence of the former Vice President, Namadi Sambo. Another was the one executed at No.165, Ademola Adetokunbo, Wuse II, Abuja, belonging to Sahara Energy Company.”

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FRIDAY, JULY 21, 2017˾ T H I S D AY

CRIME&PUNISHMENT Fake Kidnapping: Court Remands Deposed Traditional Ruler, Accomplices in Kirikiri Prison Akinwale Akintunde

An Ogba Magistrate Court in Ikeja, Lagos State, has remanded the deposed Baale of Shangisha, Chief Mutiu Michael Ogundare, in Kirikiri Prison for allegedly faking his kidnap.

The Magistrate, Mrs. T. Akanni, remanded Ogundare alongside his wife, Abolanle, and one Mohammed Opeyemi Babatunde in prison pending perfection of their bail condition after they were arraigned.

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, had suspended and subsequently deposed the Baale for faking his abduction which allegedly took place on July 5 along Centre for Management Development Road in Ikosi-Isheri Local Council Development Area of the state.

The deposed Baale and his co-defendants were arraigned before Magistrate Court on a three-count charge offence bordering on breach of public peace and fake kidnapping However, the defendants pleaded not guilty to the three-count charge offence preferred against them.

According to the charge sheet, Ogundare was alleged to have on July 5, this year “put himself forward to be kidnapped for the purpose of causing breach of public peace” contrary to Section

5 of the Kidnapping Prohibition 2017, No. C17, Law of Lagos State.

The defendants were alleged to have taken part in the offence of fake kidnap contrary to Section 16(1)(a-d) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, CH. 17, Vol. 3, Laws of Lagos State 2015.

Counsel to the defendants, Mr. Glory Odimayo, pleaded for bail for them.

Odimayo argued that the defendants are prominent members of the Shangisha community and would not jump bail.

“The third defendant, before this incident, was the reigning Baale while the second defendant is his wife and as such, would not jump bail,” his counsel said.

He further assured the court that they would not use their position to tamper with evidence already before the court.

Citing relevant constitutional provisions and authorities, he urged the court to grant them bail, stressing that the issue of bail is at the discretion of the court.

The prosecutor, Mr. Peter Okerinmodun, opposed the application, saying the defendants are popular members of the community and could use such relationship to tamper with evidence.

Okerinmodun further told

the court that if granted bail, their presence in the community might cause a breakdown of law and order and that they would use their position to influence witnesses.

institutions, communities and careers in the past years of terrorism and insurgency, An advocacy group, the group praised the armed Concerned Professionals forces of Nigeria under Congress (CPC), has backed the present leadership of the initiative by Defence the Chief of Defence Staff, Headquarters to rehabilitate General Gabriel Olonisakin, and re-integrate about 700 for the initiative.

According to Musa Tilde repentant Boko Haram in the statement, “We have insurgents into the society.

Under a programme known reviewed the situation in as Operation Safe Corridor, the Northeast regarding the federal government the military’s offer to deplans to pardon, train and radicalize and rehabilitate rehabilitate repentant Boko repentant ex-Boko Haram Haram fighters who renounce members.

“We believe Operation violence.

Describing the initiative as Safe Corridor being executed Operation novel, bold and courageous alongside at ‘this critical moment’ in Crackdown and Operation the developmental history Rescue Final had tipped off of the nation, the civil the sect’s final defeat as the advocacy group said the basis to fast-track the peace move would inspire hope, process in the region. As a strengthen faith and restore nation blessed with a people confidence among Nigerians imbued with the spirit to in the unity, stability and forgive and forgo wrongs indivisibility of the country. done, this initiative has The group’s Coordinator, further demonstrated the Tukur Tilde, and Chief Media essence of our oneness which Strategist, Emeka Nwapa, in we want the entire world to a statement, said the move recognise.

“We are even more pleased by the nation’s military high command to de-radicalise the with the large-heartedness, sect’s repentant insurgents commitment, patriotic gesture and offer them opportunity and support of communities these laudable to contribute to the growth where of the society would advance programmes are implemented the frontiers of humanity in for the ex-combatants.

“Participating in the the nation.

Expressing regret at the rehabilitation process are incalculable but avoidable clerics, imams, pastors, social damage which Boko Haram’s workers and psychologists activities had done to as well as government the destinies of families, agencies such as the National

She granted bail to each of the defendants in the sum of N2 million and two sureties in the like sum.

Ogundare said the sureties must include a traditional ruler,

person with registered property in Lagos State, a taxpayer or a grade level 17 officer in the state public service.

The matter has been adjourned till August 23 for hearing.

Apapa Crisis: Lagos Police Disown Killer Cop Partner sister agencies to ameliorate trucks menace Chiemelie Ezeobi Following last Wednesday’s crisis that engulfed the branches of Diamond and Sterling Banks in the Apapa area of Lagos State, the state Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, yesterday distanced the force from the actions of the ‘killer’ cop.

The killer cop, whose identity the police are yet to reveal, had shot and killed a tanker driver during an altercation that was exacerbated by the deceased’s refusal to move his vehicle from the bank’s premises.

The death of the driver at the hands of the errant NonCommissioned Officer (NCO), who was simply identified as a sergeant attached to the Police Mobile Force (PMF) 23, had thrown Apapa into chaos.

Irked by the driver’s death, his colleagues had gone on rampage, setting the two

Advocacy Group Lauds Military for De-Radicalising Repentant Boko Haram Members Sunday Okobi and Emmanuel Ella

In her ruling, Magistrate Akanni, cited Section 155 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law of Lagos State 2011 and agreed with the defence that bail is at the discretion of the court.

Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) (which has been donating food and non-food relief items worth millions of naira), the National Directorate of Employment (whose vocational skills centres are being mobilised for the exercise in Maiduguri), the Prisons, Immigration and the NDLEA.’’ In addition, the CPC praised the armed forces for the patriotic and gallant efforts of its troops in alliance with other security forces to downgrade Boko Haram terrorists in the Northeast, thereby setting the stage for robust global interest for rebuilding programmes.

It further observed that Operation Safe Corridor offers the nation and its citizens an opportunity of reinventing and reinforcing its unity, sovereignty and indivisibility in line with the aspirations, dreams and philosophy of one nation, one destiny of its founding fathers.

Furthermore, the group noted that Liberia and Sierra Leone were instances of countries with worse cases of crimes and criminality committed by citizens against fellow citizens as well as felony against the state, but today they are living in admirable peace and harmony because the excombatants surrendered and were de-radicalised, rehabilitated and reintegrated by their people into the society.

banks ablaze and vandalised properties, despite the fact that the policeman had alleged his actions was in self-defence.

Owoseni, in an interview with THISDAY yesterday, said after an on-the-spot assessment of the scene last Wednesday and given the information gathered from eyewitness account, the sergeant acted “on his own.”

Reiterating the fact that the suspect has been taken into custody, he said despite that the policeman was stabbed, the gun given to him was not to be used at will.

He said: “It was an unfortunate incident. Like we said before, the policeman in question has been taken into custody and currently being guarded in the hospital because he was stabbed.

“As of this morning, he was taken to the theatre for surgery.

That notwithstanding, the

provisions of extant regulations of the police would be applied in dealing with the situation.

“Without justifying their actions, I think the reaction from the drivers was as a result of bottled up anger. Some of them left their families to load at the port with expectation to return within two days, only to spend one week there.

“But that does not mean they should take laws into their hands. What they did was brazen lawlessness. We appeal to the public that when things happen like that, the rule of law should be allowed to take its course.

“The police are at the forefront of cleansing institutional rot and we would continue to do that.

No policeman is given a gun to shoot at will. That officer is not one of us. He acted on his capacity as an individual, not for the police.

“The Inspector General of Police IG, Ibrahim Idris, has been very clear on this. He abhors lawlessness and has zero tolerance for cops who do not keep to the tenets of standard policing.

“I apologise to the public for the act of misconduct exhibited by that policeman.

We would continue to ensure training and retraining of our personnel so that they discharge their responsibilities within the ambit of the law.”

On the extent of damage done to the said banks, Owoseni said it would be hasty to give a total breakdown of the loss accrued since the banks were still taking stocks.

He said: “The banks are in the position to say what the lost.

But from my assessment when I visited the place, no staff of the banks was hurt. They quickly evacuated.

T H I S D AY ˾ FRIDAY, JULY 21, 2017

55

FRIDAYSPORTS

Group Sports Editor Duro Ikhazuagbe Email duro.ikhazuagbe@thisdaylive.com

Gusau’s Election as AFN President Upheld Inauguration of new boards hold today in Abuja Duro Ikhazuagbe The Arbitration and Harmonisation Committee set up by the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) on the petitions that trailed elections into the 31 national federation board yesterday upheld the election of Alhaji Ibrahim Gusau as the duly elected president of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN).

The inauguration of the Gusau led AFN board along with the other 30 federations will take place today at the National Stadium in Abuja at 2pm.

The Committee made no reference to the basketball federation election that took place in Kano on June 12.

Winner of the NBBF election which held on June 13 in Abuja, Musa Kida and his board members, are to be sworn into office today along with others duly elected and cleared by the committee.

Special Assistant (Media) to the Minister of Sports, Nneka IkemAnibeze, confirmed yesterday that the delay in releasing the decision of the Arbitration and Harmonization Committee was due to the volume of work the committee was saddled with after

the acrimonious elections in Abuja.

In some major decisions taken yesterday the Committee set up by the Federal Ministry upheld elections in the AFN and the weightlifting federation.

It ruled that Gusau was duly elected representative of the Northwest zone on the AFN board and so his election as president of the federation was in order.

Patrick Estate Onyedum’s election as South-east representative on the AFN board was also upheld.

The petition of his challenger, Christy Opara Asonze, was dismissed because she had served a five-year ban for dope use by WADA and was not eligible to contest as stipulated in the guidelines.

Chief Solomon Ogba was returned also as Sponsor/ Exofficio of AFN as approved by the federation while the case of Hameed Adio was dismissed for lack of merit.

Rosa Collins and Brown Ebewele were earlier reinstated as representatives of NAWIS and Technical representatives.

The case of Haruna Bako and that of Charles Yayock of the North-west Zone were both dismissed for lack of merit.

AFCON Moved to Summer The 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) will be held in June and July, the Confederation of African Football has confirmed.

The tournament is usually held in January and February, causing disputes with European clubs who had to release players in the middle of the season.

The 2019 event in Cameroon will be contested by 24 teams, instead of 16.

The changes were rubberstamped by the CAF executive committee in a meeting in the Moroccan capital Rabat.

Africa’s flagship sporting event has featured 16 teams since 1996.

The expansion of the tournament could create problems for Cameroon, which will host the next finals, with the Central African nation’s sports minister having to deny reports that preparations were behind schedule.

The competition will continue to be held every two years, in Africa and only with African countries.

CAF was considering whether to allow countries from other continents to compete - or even host the tournament.

TRANSFER NEWS Guardiola: It Was an Honour Working with Iheanacho English Premier League (EPL) giants Manchester City are close to selling Nigeria international Kelechi Iheanacho.

This was confirmed by City Manager, Pep Guardiola, when speaking to the media about the 20-year-old marksman yesterday.

EPL outfit Leicester City is believed to have agreed a transfer fee with Iheanacho’s current club.

“Kelechi is close to a move, it should be done in 10 days,” said Guardiola on OwnGoal. Nigeria.

“It is an honour to work with him. It’s not easy for him as he

didn’t get a lot of chances (in the team), but his behaviour was good.

“Kelechi’s a young player. He needs to play at that age and that’s why he, and the club decided, it was best for him (to leave).”

Iheanacho battled for regular game time last season as Guardiola preferred Brazilian striker Gabriel Jesus and Argentine front-man Sergio Aguero ahead of him.

The talented forward went on to score 21 goals in 64 matches in all competitions after making his debut for the club in 2015.

Mbappe Approach Illegal, Says Monaco AS Monaco forward Kylian Mbappe has been approached by a number of European clubs without the Ligue 1 side’s permission, the French club announced yesterday.

One of the most exciting prospects in world soccer, the 18-year-old scored 26 goals in all competitions last season, helping Monaco win the league and reach the Champions League semifinals.

“’Important’ European clubs made contact with Kylian Mbappe and his entourage without (our) authorisation,” said the club on its website.

Monaco said the contacts had broken French league rules and FIFA statutes. “To put an end to this unacceptable situation, AS Monaco is considering asking the French Football League and FIFA to open disciplinary procedures against offending clubs.”

Governor of Niger State Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello (middle) receiving the 2017 National Hockey Super League trophy from captain of the state’s hockey team, Niger Flickers, at the Government House in Minna… recently

Bello Rewards Niger Flickers with a New Astro Turf, Bus Laleye Dipo in Minna For winning the National Hockey Super League, the Niger State Governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello, has promised to build a brand new Astro Turf pitch for Niger Flickers Hockey Team in Minna.

In addition, Governor Bello also promised to build a brand new sports complex for the

use of the state’s athletes.

Speaking in Minna while receiving the worthy hockey league champions on Wednesday at the Government House, the state’s chief executive said that contracts for the two projects have already been awarded but did not state at what cost.

While congratulating Flickers for a job well done, the governor said that time was ripe for the

Golf: Ahmed Promises Return of Kwara Open The Governor of Kwara State, Gov. Abdufatah Ahmed has assured golf aficionados of the return of Kwara Open later in the year.

He gave the assurance during the closing ceremony of the Kwara @ 50 Golf Tournament last weekend at Ilorin Golf Club.

Captain of the Club, Ola Maliki, said the tournament was an unprecedented one in the history of the Club.

“We are amazed at the turn out of golfers from across the country.

We had virtually all hotels in the city fully occupied because we had close to 400 players come in to compete at the tournament.

“We also created avenue for local entrepreneurs to showcase their wares at stands we created at the golf club. It was practically a spike in the local economy,” revealed Maliki.

Minna Cantonment Golf Clubbased Sunday Odegha who won the professional’s round picked $2,700 out of the $25, 000 staked for their category.

The event was also the first Professional Golfers’ Association of Nigeria (PGAN) event denominated in foreign currency after the 2009 Nigeria Open.

MicCom Golf Club’s Sunday Olapade was runner up while

Air Assault Golf Club Mike Ubi placed third at the event.

Luqman Owolewa, the CEO of Sluqfort, the consulting firm that managed the Kwara @ 50 Tournament said that the event enjoyed such patronage from corporate and private partners because of the pedigree of the people behind it.

“Our Governor is passionate about making the state re-positioned as the hub of golf. This is what it has been missing in the past but with the recent investments in the club and the busting talents that the state has, he is very committed to give the necessary support to use golf to stimulate tourism and drive the local economy,” he added.

The Kwara @50 Golf Tournament was sponsored

by BUA Group, Sterling Bank, Yola’s Consultants ltd, Duravil Construction Ltd, Chelfom Engineering & Construction Ltd, Lanre Shittu Motors, ICMA Professional Services, Pyramid Ltd, Kwara Internal Revenue Service and Chief Kunle Oyinloye of Infrastructure Bank.

The event which lasted for six days witnessed a record entry in both the professional and amateurs categories.

state to take its rightful place in Nigeria’s sports.

“The time is ripe for Niger State to regain its lost glory and reestablish itself as a force to be reckoned with in sports in our country,” observed Bello.

The governor donated a brand new bus to the Niger Flickers Hockey team.

Niger Flickers defeated Police Machine by a lone goal to win the national league as well as the ticket to represent Nigeria at the continental tournament in Egypt later in the year.

Bello reiterated that “a roadmap for sports development in the state will be designed,” adding that the necessary legislations would be made to ensure that no government abandons the policy.

“A roadmap will soon be designed for sports

development in this state.

We will ensure that necessary legislations are put in place to ensure that no succeeding government pays lip service to sports development in this state,” the governor assured stakeholders in Niger State sports.

He therefore directed the Ministry of Education in the state to revive school sports, describing it as “an avenue for the discovery of hidden talents.”

Niger State used to be the hub for handball and hockey excellence in the country with the state owned Niger Tornadoes a major force in the country’s topflight football league. The state also had in the past, a basketball team that competed at the highest level of the game in the country.

All Set for Zenith B’ball Final 8 in Lagos All is set for the Final 8 of the 13th Zenith Women Basketball League expected to dunk off this weekend in Lagos.

Sponsors of the event, Zenith Bank, have concluded arrangements to make the final phase a big show for all the teams and the fans of the game.

Eight teams have qualified for the Final 8 of the competition after the conclusion of the third and fourth phases of the league which held in Asaba and Ibadan respectively.

The eight teams to battle for honours include; defending champions First Bank Basketball Club of Lagos, IGP Queens of Lagos, First Deepwater of Lagos and Plateau Rocks of Jos. Others Final 8 qualifiers include; former champions Dolphins of Lagos, Customs of Lagos, Delta Force of Asaba

and GT2000 of Abuja.

First Bank which campaigned in Group A at the Ibadan phase that ended last Friday amassed the maximum 20 points, winning all 10 games played, scoring a total of 530 points and conceded 292 with a difference of +282.

Dolphins who led in Group B also didn’t drop any game to amass 20 points, scoring 785 points and conceded 623 with a difference of +162.

In Group A, Plateau Rocks and Benue Princess tied at 13 points apiece but Plateau sailed through on superior average after the head-to-head resolution.

All the qualifiers have be advised to arrive Lagos on July 22, early enough for the Technical Meeting on July 23 for the matches which are expected to run from July 24 to 29 with an All Star Game on July 28.

Friday, July 21, 2017

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MISSILE NEITI to FG “We need to move urgently from our present spend-it-all or even save-and-spend attitude to a real savings culture, otherwise we will continue to be vulnerable to the volatility of oil prices and the eventual depletion of our oil reserves.” – Executive Secretary, Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), Mr. Waziri Adio warning of dire consequences if the federal government fails to save for the future.

SHAKAMOMODU THIS REPUBLIC

shaka.momodu@thisdaylive.com

0811 266 1654

Amaechi’s God Complex I have said it repeatedly that Nigeria will NOT make progress as long as we continue to elevate visionless people, viz. plunderers, profiteers, gangsters with their manifest tendencies into positions of authority and leadership.

Unfortunately, we idolise these good-for-nothing leaders as gods; people who are totally bereft of progressive ideas and lack the wherewithal to lift society up the scale of human progress and whose only claim to power is their manifest lack of qualification for public office. They ordinarily should be on the fringes of society but who through a combination of regression of social values, sheer indiscipline, corruption of the sacred calling of leadership, godfatherism and the amount of violence they could boast of, have seized the mantle of leadership and then proceed to do incalculable damage to not just the psyche of the people, but demonstrably, the physical progress of their states and country. They fritter huge resources at their disposal away on mundane projects, and in pursuit of their personal ambition. Nigeria has become a thriving paradise for gangsters - a lawless jungle of corrupt profiteers and political godfathers who have held the people hostage, or perhaps whom the people have allowed to hold them hostage.

The latest in the tragic soap opera called Nigeria is the drumbeat coming out of the Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC). Rotimi Amaechi, one of the canonised “heroes of our democracy” by our Nobel laureate, was widely reported in the media recently (note: the report has not been denied) playing the exact opposite of what democracy means.

He was reported to have boasted that one of his protégés, Senator Magnus Abe, will not be the governor of Rivers State come 2019. And to thwart the yetto-be-declared governorship aspiration, the emperor who has no clothes is already boasting of his reach.

The actions and statements credited to Amaechi are quite telling. His hubris and crude barbarism were on full display. And he owes no one any apology, neither do some of us. Recently, he was reported to have removed local government caucus leaders loyal to the senator representing Rivers South-east senatorial district. According to the reports, there has been a budding feud between Amaechi and Abe over the latter’s governorship ambition which he is against.

This is the statement credited to him in the report: “I have foreclosed Abe’s governorship ambition as far as the Rivers APC is concerned. If he likes, let him run to President Buhari. That will not change anything.

If he likes, let him go to the First Lady, Aisha Buhari; nothing will change.

“In my capacity as the leader of the APC in Rivers State, Abe cannot be the governorship candidate of the party in Rivers State in 2019. Abe has no character.

I hear the executives of about 15 local government areas are already working for him. I will see how far they can go.

“I am the only one that can determine who gets the party’s ticket in 2019. Suddenly, Abe has become something else in the party because he won his senatorial election. Was I not governor for eight years? Was I not speaker for eight years?

“I remain the leader of the APC in Rivers State. Even if the 23 LGA chairmen of the party support him, it will not change anything.” Amaechi also warned that he would suspend any party leader that is supporting Senator Abe’s candidature for 2019. Please read again this statement coming from Wole Soyinka’s hero of democracy: “I am the only one that can determine who

Amaechi gets the party’s ticket in 2019” Wow!! Can you beat that?

What haughtiness! What impertinence! What a conceited fellow! I am appalled at the conduct of this Soyinka’s pseudo hero of democracy. Now he tells us Abe doesn’t have the character to be governor, the same person he pulled all the stops to help get elected senator as recent as December last year. If in Amaechi’s world, Abe doesn’t have the character to be governor, should such a person qualify to be a senator of the federal republic?

When did he realise the man doesn’t have character?

This same Abe was once appointed by Amaechi as the Secretary to the State Government (SSG) when he was the governor of Rivers State. Now Amaechi wants the world to believe that Abe suddenly has no character and is therefore not suitable to be governor? Wonders will never cease! Why was such a man suitable to be SSG under Amaechi for four good years?

But the truth is, Amaechi’s latest salvo against one of his own fits into a familiar pattern. In his war of attrition with Governor Nyesom Wike, Amaechi has said so many unprintable things about his successor: Wike is a thug, he can’t speak English, he doesn’t dress well, etc.

Wike is a thug, he appointed him Chief of Staff, Wike can’t speak English, he made him the director general of his campaign organisation, he doesn’t dress well and went on to nominate him for ministerial appointment.

Come on Mr Amaechi. Is it that anytime he falls out with his loyalists, he suddenly realises they are bad people? Why is everybody who has worked with him now bad? Is it because they are trying to come out of his shadow? Wait a minute - reading every word attributed to him in describing others was like listening to a man describing himself. Now, if you place a mirror in front of yourself, who would you see staring back at you? Yourself of course.

The man who made a show of carrying the cross of crucifixion on Good Fridays, is now the boastful leader who must be obeyed.

If you think all this is made up, read Amaechi’s former Chief of Staff, Chief Tony Okocha’s reaction to his sack: “They just removed me (as the leader of Obio/Akpor caucus). I was removed because I support Abe. The removal is just to confirm that APC belongs to one man. The man is turning it into his private estate.” Will Amaechi also tell the world that Okocha doesn’t have character?

Amaechi craves loyalty of his aides and all those he claims to have made, but can’t give the same to those who made him. How does that sound? Nearly all who hear this would laugh. The story of former Governor Peter Odili and Amaechi looks like a distant memory now. From a personal assistant to Dr Odili when he was a private medical practitioner, he was railroaded into the

state House of Assembly when Odili contested the 1999 governorship election. And he was made the speaker for eight years under Governor Odili. He proceeded from there to become the governor for another eight years with the curious judgment of the judiciary he now antagonises regularly. A man who didn’t contest an election was “elected” governor by the Supreme Court judges. Those who have their paths cleared by the benevolent spirit should not forget to be humble, so said our legendary Chinua Achebe.

For those who may have forgotten, let me remind them that Amaechi’s Peace and Reconciliation Commission, headed by the highly respected late Justice Kayode Eso went on to indict Odili for the destruction of Okuru-Ama community in Port Harcourt.

Only an insecure leader constantly reminds his aides and followers who he is. What is wrong in allowing Abe to test his aspiration in the primary? Why must Amaechi insist that Abe cannot run because he has not endorsed his ambition? Is this the democracy that these “change agents” talked about? Is this what it means to be a hero of democracy? One of the attributes and virtues of democracy is free choice and the will of the people is allowed to prevail, not the hubris of one boastful individual who personifies all that is wrong and undemocratic in all of us. Amaechi even had the audacity to declare with an air of finality that irrespective of what other stakeholders of his party think or do, his will MUST prevail. This brash and colourless politician has nothing going for him except his reliance on federal might. Obviously, he has not learnt any lesson despite the fact that he has been routed several times even when the federal government had his back. The limit of that federal might was clear in the many reruns organised by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to save him from political humiliation.

Now, let no one be mistaken that this is about I personally supporting Magnus Abe’s rumoured ambition.

It is not, because I cannot in good conscience support him. It is simply about allowing the principle of democracy to flourish. Anyone, a saint or a villain can aspire to any position that person desires in life.

Let Abe present himself and his credentials and let the people decide at the polls whether he is what they want or not. Amaechi cannot appropriate the role of the people. If others don’t matter as the emperor himself boasted in that meeting, why bother to go for primary election at all? He should just appoint his preferred candidate as the APC standard-bearer and then proceed to also appoint him governor in 2019.

In the run-up to the 2015 general election, this same Abe fought on Amaechi’s side, lied to give effect to Amaechi’s cause - that he was shot in the dramatic fracas that ensued between pro and anti-Amaechi legislators in the state House of Assembly. He checked into a hospital, pretending he had been shot. Photographs showing him on a drip and pretending to be receiving treatment from gunshot wounds were widely circulated in the news media. Then he was allegedly flown in an air ambulance to London for surgery. That propaganda marshalled by Amaechi’s government then generated much sympathy for him. The problem was, like all things built on lies, everything soon collapsed when it became apparent that Abe was never shot. It was a hoax. He faked the gunshot injury to generate sympathy for himself and Amaechi. Was it not curious that Abe didn’t have faith in any of the “world-class” hospitals purportedly built by Amaechi to treat him of his purported gunshot wounds? It was such a shame!

After a couple of days in a London hospital wasting precious foreign exchange, he sneaked back into the country unannounced and quietly resumed his duties at the Senate. That was the end of the story. And typical of the Nigerian way, nobody asked him questions.

The mob moved on.

As for Amaechi, instead of him to concentrate on delivering on his brief as the Minister of Transportation, he is busy trying to control the politics in Rivers State.

His vision is limited to Rivers State politics; to be the godfather who decides who gets what, irrespective of the means. The man is obsessed with his supporters calling him leader. He has no vision of his brief beyond building a single/standard-gauge railway this government inherited from the last government. All his attention is concentrated on the politics of selection of candidates within his own party in Rivers State.

Aliko Dangote recently estimated that the country is losing about N140 billion weekly to gridlocks on Apapa-Oshodi Expressway, Lagos, the access road to Nigeria’s main sea ports. The road is in such a disgraceful state that you wonder if our leaders are normal human beings. According to Dangote, “The economy loses more than N20 billion daily and N140 billion weekly.” This should naturally worry any serious Minister of Transportation alongside his Works counterpart. Economic activities at the ports which are under Amaechi are almost at a standstill.

He has not thought of reviving and expanding the rail network into the ports to decongest the roads of killer trucks. But all he is interested in is selecting candidates for elective positions in 2019.

The country’s rail system is still a crying shame compared to what obtains in some less endowed African countries. Kenya recently inaugurated its 470km Nairobi-Mombasa Madaraka Express railway that cost the sum of $3.2 billion. The railway is supposed to eventually connect land-locked South Sudan, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Burundi and Ethiopia to the Indian Ocean. Anyone who has seen pictures of the modern terminus would feel sorry for Nigeria and ashamed of our leaders. The terminus is more beautiful than our airports. Compare that to Nigeria that is spending nearly $12 billion on the so-called rail modernisation and yet lack modern terminus. Our terminuses are the same old, rustic, poorly renovated, relics of colonial power, built several decades ago; a disgrace to our giant of Africa status.

The rail system was allowed to completely collapse until the last administration began its revival. Now the question is: why do we spend more to achieve far less than others? The answer is simple: the profiteers who take kickbacks and “kickfronts” are the people ruling us. Shame on our leaders. It is hard not to be disappointed in our leaders each time you travel out of this country or read about other countries’ progress.

The interesting thing about this rail modernisation in Nigeria and Kenya is that both are being undertaken by the Chinese. The question is, what is Kenya doing right that Nigeria is doing so wrong? The Chinese must be having a good laugh at us.

The truth here is there is more than enough infrastructure deficit in the transport network of the country to challenge and preoccupy any serious minister of transportation with a vision, ideas, and clarity of thought than to be obsessed with the politics in his state.

But were competence and qualification the criteria for appointment as minister or noise-making and the power of raw cash to finance election? And there you have it.

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