Sunday 30th July 2017

New Policy Seeks Significant Drop in Oil Production Cost to $10/bbl Projects decline in oil output from 2020 unless new reserves are discovered Chineme Okafor in Abuja Contents of Nigeria’s new national petroleum policy recently approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) and obtained

by THISDAY has revealed that the country would be seeking

to significantly reduce the cost of producing a barrel of crude oil in her fields to $10 from the current $27, which it considers not quite competitive.

By doing that, Nigeria would be seeking to reduce her current production cost per barrel

by about $17, and this could effectively make her one of the cheapest oil-producing destinations within the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) group.

At the moment within OPEC, records indicate that Saudi Ara-

bia and Kuwait have the lowest production costs at $10 and $8.50 per barrel respectively, while Nigeria, Libya, and Venezuela reportedly have the highest at $27; $23.80; and $23.50 per barrel, respectively.

Nigeria is however, behind

the likes of the United Kingdom and Brazil in the production cost analysis. Both countries, according to a 2016 Wall Street Journal's survey of 12 notable oil producers, produce a barrel of crude oil at $44.33 and $34.99 respectively.

But revealing the government’s intention about cost on production, the policy, which is now awaiting federal gazetting, stated that certain measures such as a restructuring of the Continued on page 9

Forensic Accountants Back Separation of NFIU from EFCC ... Page 83 Sunday 30 July, 2017 Vol 22. No 8137

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Bala-Usman: JV Partners Sanctioned by Swiss Court for Bribing NPA Officials to Face EFCC Says agency seeking FEC's approval to deploy scanners in ports within two weeks Eromosele Abiodun The Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Ms Hadiza Bala-Usman,

has disclosed that some of its technical partners in its joint venture companies recently sanctioned in a Swiss Court for bribing NPA officials to defraud

the federal government would be investigated and prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Speaking on Channels

Television in Lagos on Saturday, Bala-Usman said NPA had asked for guidance from the Attorney General of the Federation on its continued relationship with

the entities in view of their sanctioning in the Swiss Court for corruption.

Swiss prosecutors had last month named four former

Nigerian government officials in a multinational bribe scandal relating to contract awards at Continued on page 9

Saraki: Mistrust Triggered by Hate Speeches Caused Rejection of Power Devolution Bill Says hope not lost, as bill could be represented after more consultation Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja and Hammed Shittu in Ilorin Senate President Bukola Saraki said yesterday in Ilorin that the devolution of power to the federating units, which is at the core of the mounting restructuring agitation, was rejected by the National Assembly due to suspicion and tension created lately by a torrent of hate speeches from various parts of the country.

Saraki, however, explained that the power devolution bill still stood a chance in the constitution amendment process, with more consultation to enable the legislators and other stakeholders get a better understanding of the issues. He spoke after receiving a delegation of the Not-Too-Young-To- Run group in the state.

The Senate and House of Representatives, which are dominated by All Progressives Congress, passed different bills last week on the alteration of the 1999 Constitution after harmonising the reports of the constitution amendment committees of both chambers.

Speaking on why the devolution of power failed to get the

National Assembly’s approval, Saraki said, “We must be honest with ourselves that presently there is a lot of mistrust in the country. The air is very polluted and let’s be very frank, that blame must go round; whether it be the politicians, or some who are doing commentaries and even some of you in the media who sometimes write stories that are more like hate speeches, that are inaccurate.

“I think what happened was that a lot of people misread or misunderstood or were suspicious of what the devolution was all about; whether it was the same thing as restructuring in another way or an attempt to foist confederation on the country or to prepare the ground for other campaigns now going on in the country..

And they made a lot of appeal that we had not consulted with our constituencies and you can see what is happening; there was a meeting in Kaduna yesterday (Friday) where it was clear that certain parts of the country wanted more time to understand what restructuring is for discussion.

Continued on page 9

THE PREMIERE OF BANANA ISLAND GHOST FIRS Chairman, Dr. Babatunde Fowler (2nd left), his wife, Rosemary (left), Mrs. Biola Alabi (2nd right) and her husband, Mr. Mako Alabi, former MD/CEO of LASAA, at the premiere of an action-comedy film, Banana Island Ghost (B.I.G), at the Harbour Point Event Center in Victoria Island, Lagos. Biola Alabi is an executive producer of the film (More reports in THISDAY STYLE next week)

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PAGE NINE BALA-USMAN: JV PARTNERS SANCTIONED BY SWISS COURT FOR BRIBING NPA OFFICIALS TO FACE EFCC NPA. The former Nigerian government officials were indicted alongside Dredging International, one of the technical partners that was sentenced to a fine of one million Swiss Francs and directed to refund 36 million Swiss Francs in illegal profits for allegedly making the illicit payments to the Nigerian officials. Dredging International Services is one of the technical partners of Bonny Channel Management Limited (BCML) that runs the Bonny Channel Company (BCC) with the NPA in a joint-venture - public-private partnership.

Speaking on the issue, Bala-Usman said, “Recently we had a situation where one of our technical partners in our joint venture companies was sanctioned in a Switzerland court for being said to have bribed officials of the NPA over a period. We have obtained the Swiss court sanctioning and

forwarded same to the EFCC for further investigation on the persons and the entities that were said to have benefited from the graft. We have also forwarded the Swiss court documents to the AGF office for them to guide us on our continued relation with this entity in view of the sanctioning that it has gotten from the Swiss court for corrupt practices with NPA officials.”

On the measures put in place to fight corruption at the nation’s ports, she stated that, “For every corrupt practice that we identify we forward to the EFCC to investigate and determine what prosecution process they will embark upon. When we identify a legal concern whereby there is a lack of clarity on the role of government or there is a seeming disadvantage that has been provided to the Nigerian people, we have forwarded to the Antony General to provide

legal guidance on how we can exit some of these relationships.

“A lot of the corruption practices that we have identified within the port operation are attributable to certain contractual obligations the NPA has entered with entities whereby the federal government is shortchanged.

We are working at reviewing such agreements and we are working on terminating some of the agreements. We have reached out to the relevant agencies and communicated our position on this.”

She also disclosed that the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Transportation would in the next few days present a joint memo to the Federal Executive Council for approval for the deployment of scanners in the nation’s ports in the next two weeks.

The deployment, she stressed, will eliminate corrupt practices and ensure efficiency and easy

clearance of cargo at the ports Bala-Usman who used the occasion to review her performance since her appointment one year ago as the head of the NPA said, “The last one year has been challenging but we have been able to institute several layers of transparency in our operations, we have been able to enhance the capacity of our ports, it is a journey and we are looking to providing more efficiency in port operations within our tenure. I have been challenged by my appointment; it is an opportunity to show the world and Nigerians that a woman is able to deliver on any task given.”

While stating that the NPA alone is not responsible for the rot in the port, she said several government agencies in the port collaborate to ensure the facilitation of cargo clearance and port operation.

“The role of the NPA primarily is to provide harbor operation and berthing services; we facilitate the entrance of the vessels from the fairway buoy through our channels and offload at the terminals, at that point other agencies of government take over”, she said.

Speaking on multiple agencies operating at the ports, she said the NPA had implemented the 2011 federal government order on the number of agencies that should operate at the ports adding that the order is in line with international best practices.

“To further enhance this we are working on introducing the single window platform, that platform will reduce the need for physical presence of agencies of government. You don’t need to be there in person to enable you do your job. We are doing this to remove bottlenecks, duplication of data gathering and duplicity of certain functions

and remove that one-on-one intervention, interaction with personnel of government. That will facilitate the removal of graft within our system”, she added.

On the chaos on Apapa roads caused by container and tanker drivers, she said there must be inter modal transport system that facilitates the movement of cargo in our ports because movement of 70 per cent of cargo through the roads is not sustainable.

“We are introducing electronic call up system to regulate the movement of tankers. Importers prefer to come to Lagos ports because the access roads from Lagos to the hinterlands are better than what we have in the Eastern parts of the country.

We have notified the Ministry of Works on the need to address this to fast track the evacuation of cargo and reduce the burden on Lagos roads, “she stated.

power, state police, and others aimed at strengthening the federal structure. Those bills that tended towards greater federalism were defeated during voting on the harmonised positions of the two chambers last week.

The passed amendment bills will now be forwarded to the Houses of Assembly of the 36 states of the federation, where 24 assemblies, being two-third, must pass each of the bills before they can be sent to the president for his assent to make them laws.

Despite having majority of members in the Senate and House of Representatives, APC failed to a get a firm grip on amendment process, resulting in its legislators taking positions that contradict the party’s promises. What this means is that the party and its key stakeholders are working at cross-purposes as far restructuring and constitution amendment are concerned.

The initial discordant tones in the party came when the national chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, denied that APC was attempting to repudiate its position on carrying out a restructuring as contained in its manifesto.

But Odigie-Oyegun’s position differed from El-Rufai’s, who like most politicians in the North, opposed restructuring.

El-Rufai added that the report of the 2014 national conference should not be used as basis for constitution amendment or restructuring.

However, the national leadership of the ruling party later resolved, along with the governors elected on its platform, to set up a committee on restructuring.

It was learnt that the party regretted its mistake of not including the leaderships of its National Assembly caucuses as in the restructuring committee.

Notwithstanding the existence of the APC committee on restructuring, the Northern States Governors Forum met in Kaduna on Friday and set up another restructuring committee with the governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Tambawal, as its chairman.

Many believe voting on the amendment bills at the state assemblies would follow the dictates of the governors, due to their firm grip on the institutions. It would also be influenced by regional or ethnic considerations, as the ruling party has failed to really articulate and push its positions on the process.

A top APC leader, while

expressing his frustration at the conflicting positions within in the party, said, “I think the committee on restructuring has lost its relevance. It seems to me that whatever the committee may be doing now will just be a mere academic exercise, unless it is going to guide party members in the Houses of Assembly, who will still have to vote on the amendments.”

Asked why APC’s National Assembly caucus leaders were not involved in the restructuring committee, the party leader, who did not want to be named, stated, “One of the initial moves that the committee made was to get the party chairman to engage the party's caucuses at the National Assembly and ask them to slow down on this issue of constitution amendment, especially the aspect that has to do with issues of restructuring, like devolution of powers. But, somehow, the chairman failed to reach out to the leadership of the caucuses before they began consideration of the constitutional amendment.

“Right now, as you can see, the National Assembly has gone ahead to adopt a position on the key issues in the constitution amendment.

It is quite unlikely that when the APC restructuring committee completes its work it would impact anymore on the position the National Assembly had taken.

“The normal thing would have been for the committee to finish its work in good time so that the party will be able to communicate this to their members in the National Assembly and to highlight its position to them.”

The source added, “This is coupled with the fact that a significant number of these legislators probably may not have seen a copy of the APC manifesto. Added to that is the move by the northern governors to meet and articulate a position on restructuring.

When considered against the backdrop of the fact that most of these northern governors are APC members who are also members of the restructuring committee of the party.

“The resultant scenario will be confusion, because if the northern governors forum takes a position that contradicts what this committee is putting forward as the party's position, then what will happen?

“It just seems that people are just making motions without thinking of what its implications will be.”

SARAKI: MISTRUST TRIGGERED BY HATE SPEECHES CAUSED REJECTION OF POWER DEVOLUTION BILL “So it is clear that not all senators were on board. We have spoken a lot with the senators because we cannot bully them or stampede them, because at the end of the day, this country belongs to all of us. You cannot hassle me out of the country. Neither can I hassle you out. What we must do is dialogue; reassure each other and let people understand that this concept is for the purpose of making a modern Nigeria; that it is not going to in any way undermine any part of the country.

“I want to appeal for calmness. I am sure with the engagement going on, there will be dialogue. I am also sure that by the time we come back from the present recess, people generally would have a better understanding that devolution of powers to states as regards some of the issues that were put in that bill, is not a threat to any part of the country and I am hopeful that there would be change of mind and position.”

However, Saraki said, “Nothing is foreclosed in this exercise; you don’t foreclose passage of bill.”

He said, “The fact that

devolution lost that day does not mean that after the recess, if a lot of consultations are done again, it will not scale through.”

The power devolution bill was among the bills that failed to scale through on the floors of the Senate and House of Representatives when votes were taken in the on-going constitution amendment exercise, even though the two chambers are controlled by the All Progressives Congress.

Even though it promised restructuring towards devolution of power and greater entrenchment of federalism as a cardinal political and governance strategy while campaigning for power in 2015, APC lost control over the process needed to achieve its professed reform. THISDAY learnt that the committee recently set up by the ruling party to articulate its position on the burning issue of restructuring had hardly taken off before both chambers of the APC-controlled National Assembly threw out the matter last week, when they voted on items to amend in the 1999 Constitution.

Section 25 of the party’s

manifesto for the 2015 general election said, “APC believes that our politics is broken. Our nation urgently needs fundamental political reform and improvement in governance to make it more transparent and accountable.”

The party then promised, “APC will initiate action to amend our constitution with a view to devolving powers, duties and responsibilities to states and local governments in order to entrench federalism and the federal spirit.”

APC had become rather antagonistic to suggestion of a fundamental restricting of the polity soon after its overwhelming victory at the 2015 presidential, governorship, and National Assembly elections.

This was despite mounting demand for political reform.

However, bowing to pressure, APC set up a nine-member committee on July 19, headed

by Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State, to address the agitations for restructuring and articulate the position of the party. Other members of the committee established during the fifth joint regular meeting between APC’s National Working Committee and state

governors elected on its platform included Governors Rauf Aregbesola (Osun), Abdullahi Ganduje (Kano), Simon Lalong (Plateau), and Ibikunle Amosun (Ogun). Also in the committee were former governor of Edo State, Oserheimen Osunbor; APC’s national organising secretary, Osita Izunaso; the party’s national publicity secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi; and Senator Olubunmi Adetunmbi, who was made secretary to the committee.

But a reliable source in the committee said at the weekend that the group on restructuring had met only once since it was constituted. He disclosed that there would be another meeting

by Friday.

The constitution amendment committees of the Senate and House of Representatives had decided to consider the items pencilled in for alteration in separate bills to avoid the experience in the seventh session of the National Assembly when the amendment process was approached in a single bill that failed in the end. The eighth National Assembly desegregated the items into about 32 bills, which included bills on devolution of

NEW POLICY SEEKS SIGNIFICANT DROP IN OIL PRODUCTION COST TO $10/BBL Nigerian Petroleum Investment Management Services Limited (NAPIMS) would be undertaken to drive up efficiency in the management of upstream oil projects.

It described the NAPIMS, which was set up to manage the government’s interests in the various oil concessions as well as project proposals; joint venture budgets; and other key operating decisions in oil and gas projects in the country, as being quite inefficient in its operations, and so requires quick restructuring to drive down cost of producing oil in the country.

For instance, the policy noted that an expenditure of over $200 million per year by the NAPIMS in running its operations was unjustifiable especially at the current oil market conditions, adding that the costs when applied across the Joint Ventures (JVs) and Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs) make some of the government equity interests in the joint venture unprofitable.

Apart from restructuring NAPIMS to drive down cost, the policy also indicated that resolving the Niger Delta challenges would be useful in this regard.

“The petroleum policy considers that NAPIMS is incapable of reforming itself because of the

internal organisation. Effective NAPIMS reform can only come from fundamental restructuring with commercial discipline, and reform must come from outside NAPIMS. “NAPIMS will be substantially restructured and may ultimately become independent and with full autonomy from the NOCN (NNPC). The restructuring and reform process, to be led jointly by the Ministry of Petroleum Resources and the Ministry of Finance will include: A global level management consultancy to be hired to help with restructuring; a value – for money audit; enable faster contracting cycles (3-6 months); priority focus on low cost oil operations ($9-10/bbl),” it said.

It added that the restructuring would lay emphasis on sustainable Brownfield projects, while standard commercial management practices will be introduced, in addition to an asset-wide budget monitoring practice, and development of cost benchmarking data and system, in a bid to optimise oil production.

Also, the policy indicated that Nigeria could begin to see its crude oil production begin to decline from 2020, which is three years from 2017 unless new reserves were discovered and brought into production.

According to the document, “Unless there are additions to reserves and those reserves are brought into production, Nigeria can expect to see absolute declines in production from around 2020. Oil Production expected to start from 3mmbbls/day in 2017 and decline by 2mmbbls/day by 2026. Bulk of production is expected from JV arrangements, around 67 per cent over the 10-year period.”

Meanwhile, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, has ruled off worries derived from the government’s recent submission of a proposal to the OPEC and its allies to cap Nigeria’s oil production at 1.8mbd in a voluntary solidarity with the two groups’ attempt to stabilise price of oil by capping their respective oil production volumes.

Dispelling fears that Nigeria’s 2017 budget could be affected by the production cap, Kachikwu said in Abuja that the country would be fine with the proposal, adding that it had considered and adopted a smart approach to the challenge before approaching the oil producers group with its proposal.

He said: “First of all, the 1.8mbd has not gone into effect, I am meant to report back to them within the nine months timeframe where we were given

exemption to confirm that we have stabilised production and stabilisation of production does not mean that we produce 1.8mb in one day then there is stabilisation.

“There is going to be a month-to-month analysis where we will get comfort that all things that prevented us from stabilising our production have ebbed and we can consistently produce above 1.8mbd.”

According to him, “Again, 1.8mbd refers to crude, it does not refer to our production, our production is about 2.2mb, we have not been asked to attack that, but 450,000 barrels of that is condensate, which are a separate number. We did a very careful work before this whole process began to ensure that OPEC recognise like other countries have done, that condensate weren’t part of the crude analysis and we’ve done that and taken it out.

“Really, in terms of its effects on the 2017 budget, there is really no effect because we are going to continue to use the 2.2mbd number. Baring all the other incidentals in terms of pipeline ruptures, or stoppage of work for one reason or the other, we are going to continue to run to those numbers, the 1.8mbd like I said is purely crude.”

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JULY 30, 2017 ˾ T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R

SUNDAY COMMENT

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

THE IMPUNITY OF TRUCK DRIVERS Truck drivers must be tamed if Apapa must retain its shine – and some of its treasures

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n the crowded field of reckless drivers in Nigeria, truck drivers stand out. They are apparently more powerful than the state as they always act as though above the law. They go on strike at the least provocation. They block the roads anytime and anywhere without a care for other road users. Penultimate week in the port city of Apapa, Lagos, their impunity bordered on lunacy when dozens of them went on the rampage and set ablaze Diamond and Sterling Bank branches, after a policemen accidentally killed one of their colleagues.

The trucks and petroleum tankers’ drivers had customarily used their vehicles to block the entrance of the banks, limiting access to customers entering and exiting. On that particular day, the policeman attached to one of the banks reportedly had approached them to move their trucks, an appeal Until the government which fell checkmates the on deaf excesses of these ears. In drivers, and more the altercation that importantly, revives our followed, one tanker rail systems and create driver died. That was all hell broke a more orderly and cost when loose as they, typically, effective means of took the laws onto their lifting bulk cargo and own hands. petroleum products, For more than a decade, Apapa has Apapa will continue to been afflicted by the be a nightmare to our irresponsible acts of collective shame tankers and haulage trucks’ drivers. They have turned most of the roads, bridges and highways in the nation’s busiest port town into parking lots. Virtually every company located in Apapa is shortchanged by the excesses of these truck drivers as well as their owners. Primarily in an attempt to beat the long queues, the drivers fight to beat each other to the game and in the process constitute themselves into a menace.

As a result of the indiscriminate parking and sometimes abandonment of broken-down trucks on the roads, Apapa has become a traffic gridlock, writ large. Motorists using the two main access roads to the town spend agonising long hours on the traffic before they could get to their various destinations. The daily horror, besides the loss of productive man hours, is accentuated by craters and potholes on the

Letters to the Editor

roads, particularly during the raining season.

Besides, the owners of the tank farms and depots do not help matters by not allowing these trucks into their parking lots. This evidently helps to create an atmosphere of chaos which makes life very difficult for Apapa residents and visitors. Hoodlums, like they did at the banks, have often taken advantage of this state of confusion to unleash mayhem on road users and businesses.

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

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

any groups have long protested the lawlessness and

the public nuisance constituted by trucks and tankers in the vicinity of the nation’s prime seaports, all to no avail. Several interventions initiated by the Lagos State Government were also fruitless. The effort to instil discipline and orderliness among these truck owners and drivers through the allocation of parking lots elsewhere was flagrantly disregarded.

On several occasions, the drivers went on strike to blackmail the government and created artificial scarcity of petroleum products. Even an inter-ministerial committee on “Port Approach Roads” laced with members of the Federal Road Safety Commission and security agencies, including the navy and the police, could not resolve the criminal recklessness among the drivers and bring them on the path of sanity.

They have continued to operate with scant regard for road regulations.

Yet the cost of this unruly behaviour is high on the economy. Apapa is a prime business district and should ordinarily be the heartbeat for corporate Nigeria. The seaports in Apapa account for some 65 per cent of the cargo traffic and about the same percentage of total port revenue annually. Years of toeing the path of impropriety and poor infrastructure development are having their heavy toll on other forms of business.

Some billions of naira are lost routinely due to the persistent parking chaos, the indiscipline among truck drivers and the accompanying traffic gridlocks.

The present efforts by Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Dangote Group and others to reconstruct parts of the port town are praiseworthy. But until the government checkmates the excesses of these drivers, and more importantly, revives our rail systems and create a more orderly and cost effective means of lifting bulk cargo and petroleum products, Apapa will continue to be a nightmare to our collective shame.

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

RE: LESSONS FROM OSUN SENATORIAL BYE-ELECTION

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HISDAY Newspaper’s editorial of Friday 17 July 2017 was a carefully and skillfully written piece.

The editorial dug deeply into how the last Osun West Senatorial Bye-election was conducted, lost and won.

Commendation should go to THISDAY Newspaper for electing to tell the truth about the issue at stake as well as its thorough appraisal of the election; and constructive criticism of the principal actors in the electoral contest. With its objectivity and nearperfect reading of the performance of the Governor, Rauf Aregbesola; the successes of his programmes and policies ‘boosted by fiscal prudence;’ and the eventual financial crisis arising from the ‘slump in oil prices and dwindling bailout from Abuja, the editorial gladdens the heart as the positive comments and insightful appraisal of the governor’s policies

and programmes would inform a lot of people who are currently being bamboozled by a section of the media with fixated minds on the true state of issues in the State of Osun.

While it cannot be denied that THISDAY’s gesture will serve as tonic to Aregbesola’s administration in order to consolidate on his peopleoriented programmes it embarked on as his administration winds down gradually, there are few grey areas in the editorial, which ought to be put in proper perspective. Prominent among them is the notion that Ademola Adeleke left the party because of manipulation at the primary election.

One, Ademola did not participate in the primary as he decamped into Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) not more than six hours to the real primary. Though the primary election was adjudged to be free and fair, the belief in some quarters is that he left because of the array of support

base for his opposition before the primary election.

Two, Ademola positioned himself to be the sole candidate of the APC with the collaboration of some party top echelon in Abuja, coupled with the assistance of some renegades and ingrates within Osun APC. When this failed, he left the party.

Third, it was even the magnanimity of the party and the goodwill of his late brother that paved the way for him to express his desire to contest on the platform of the party without any antagonism. The simple truth is that, Ademola was never a card-carrying member in the real sense of being a party man. Only his brother sought to belong to the party after he was humiliated out of PDP. So the notion that the younger Adeleke decamped from APC is a contradiction for he never belonged to the party in the first place. Thus, the allegation that they denied him the ticket of the party was

baseless altogether.

THISDAY also situated the financial crisis bedevilling the Federal Government and all the states of the federation very well, especially, on the fact that states are now struggling to fulfill their monthly statutory bills right. And Osun is well-off in terms of salary payment than most other states of the federation.

With the modulated salary structure adopted by the state in the face of the crisis, it can be said that the state does not owe any salary except that of July that is yet to fall due.

Under this arrangement, civil servants on Grade Levels 1 to 7 in the state have been getting their full salaries paid monthly while Grade Levels 8 to 10 have been taking home 75 per cent of their monthly salaries; and Grade Levels 13 to 17, half of their total monthly pay package All these three categories have collected their salaries up to June 2017. So, the misinformation in some quarters that the state owes backlog of salaries is far from the truth.

This is where the media also can help.

It is sad that a section of the media is currently aiding the spread of rumours, deliberately sponsored to malign the government and Governor Rauf Aregbesola so as to portray him as being callous and unresponsive to the yearnings of workers.

Let it be known that when the economy of the state was buoyant, salaries were not only paid as and when due, full salaries were also paid as ‘thirteenth month’ to the workers. It is however unfortunate that Aregbesola’s traducers seem to have forgotten all his good deeds so soon. Not even his commitment to restore the status quo ante bellum once the financial status of the state improves.

To insist therefore that the modulated salary structure demoralised the workers to the extent of contributing to the loss of the bye-election is totally untrue.

It is enough to just say that APC lost the election to APC! ––Kunle Owolabi, Osogbo, Osun State.

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NEWS 14 Killed in Fresh B’Haram Attacks in Dikwa

t UniMaid VC: Army brought no rescued person, only five corpses t Army: Error not deliberate, search and rescue efforts on-going Michael Olugbode in Maiduguri, Paul Obi and Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja

5IF /JHFSJBO NJMJUBSZ BQQFBS Uohave beenthrownoffbalancewiththerecentupsurgeinBokoHaramattacks, asfourteenpersonswerekilledina suicideattackonanaccommodation housingnewlyreturnedinternally displacedpersons(IDPs)inDikwa town in Borno State.

Therecentattacks,includingthe brutal killing of about 48 soldiers and University of Maidugiri staff membersthroughanambushlaid bytheBokoHaraminsurgents,run contrarytotheclaimbythemilitary authorities that Boko Haram has been ‘technically defeated.’

Headoftherapidresponseteam of the Borno State Emergency ManagementAgency(BOSEMA), BelloDambattasaidafemalesuicide onFridaynightafterdetonatingan explosivedeviceonherbodycaused thedeathof14personsandinjuries to 24 others.

Hesaidthesuicidebomberpenetratedabuildinghousingreturnees in Dikwa, east of Maiduguri, the capitalofBornoState,anddetonated theexplosiveleadingtothemassive casualties.

Dambatta, said the suicide bombers sneaked into the building close to the 20 housing estate around8:30pmanddetonatedthe explosives strapped on her.

He said: “We have so far evacuated38victimscomprising,14dead and 24 injured and brought them to the State Specialist Hospital, Maiduguri.”

Ali Ibrahim, a nurse with the State Specialist Hospital, who also confirmed the incident said: “The victims of the Dikwa attack havebeenbroughtintoourmedical

facility”.

“We received victims of Dikwa bombblastthismorning(Saturday); therewerefourteenbroughtindead and twenty four injured who are presently receiving treatment”, Ibrahim added.

Babagana Musa, a youth volunteer who escorted the victims to Maiduguri from Dikwa, said communicationchallengesaffected the immediacy of response to the distress call, and the fear of the unknownespeciallyatnight,madethe security operatives decide that the victimsbetakenoutinthemorning.

Musa lamented that, “There is no networkinDikwathatwaswhywe could not communicate on time.”

MammanMusawhowasatthe Maidugurihospitaltocheckonthe injured,said:“Therearenocampsin Dikwatownasalmostallreturnees areinhomes,sothisincidentcomes as a very surprising thing to us.”

Meanwhile,theNigerianArmy throughitsDeputyDirector,Army Public Relations, Colonel Clement Nwachukwu,confirmedtheDikwa attack to journalists. He said: “Yes, therewasasuicideattackonDikwa townandsevenpeoplediedwhile six were injured”.

The Dikwa attack and others in thelasttwomonthshaveseemingly negated the views from the Presidency and Defence Headquarters (DHQ) that the end of insurgency in Nigeria was near.

Onthefatalambush,theDirector ofArmyPublicRelations,Brig.Gen. Sani Usman had told journalists and the public that “on receipt of theinformation,theBrigademobilisedandsentreinforcement,search and rescue party that include the Armed Forces Special Forces and guides that worked and pursued theterroriststhroughoutthenight.”

Usman further disclosed that “they have rescued all the NNPC staffandrecoveredthecorpsesofthe Officer,8soldiersandacivilianwho have been evacuated to 7 Division Medical Services and Hospital.”

However, the Vice Chancellor of University of Maiduguri, Prof.

Ibrahim Njodi, has described as falseareportbytheNigerianArmy that some of the staff members of the institution who went on oil exploration with the NNPC team were rescued.

Njodi said instead of receiving any person from the team, five of theuniversitystaffmembersonthe exploration team were brought to the town dead.

HemadethestatementonFriday during the visit of Minister of State of Petroleum Resources, Mr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachukwu who led topmanagementstaffofthefederal ministryofpetroleumresourcesand NNPCdelegationonacondolence visit to the university.

Njodi, whose brother was also reportedly murdered by the Boko Haramterroristsduringtheambush, deplored the military’s attempt to conceal the real facts and figures about the attack.

He took a swipe at the military over what he called deliberate attempttomisleadthepublicandpoor handling of the security situation.

Hesaid:“Themilitarysaidithas rescuedallthegeologistsworkingfor NNPC.Iwonderhowtherecovery of corpses can be referred to as being rescued. We are all at liberty to guess now as to whether security was provided or not.”

The Vice Chancellor lamented that in the course of contributing to nationaldevelopmentandgrowth, ninestaffmembersoftheuniversity died in the process.

States Abandon Bakassi Returnees Who Escaped from Cameroon t A’Ibom, Ondo, Bayelsa, Rivers, and Abia named by IDPs coordinator Bassey Inyang in Calabar

Some Nigerians who recently escaped what they described as ferocious attacks from Cameroonian authorities due to taxrelatedissueshaveallegedlybeen abandonedby their various state governments in a camp located in Ikang, in Cross River State.

ThedisplacedNigeriansnumbering over five hundred, who were carrying out their fishing activities in Bakassi fled to Ikang recently, alleging that scores of them had been killed, and their women raped by Cameroon gendarmes.

Theconditionsoftherefugees, currently camped at a facility meant originally to serve as headquarters of what is being referred to as Bakassi Local Government Area, seem to be getting worse every passing day since they arrived Ikang on July 6, this year.

A visit to the camp by THISDAY indicated that life was becomingunbearablefortherefugees, most of who complained that they had been abandoned by their state governments to the untoldhardshiptheywerefacing

in the camp.

Coordinator of Bakassi refugees in Ikang, Mr. Etim Okon Ene, who spoke to THISDAY, lamented that some of the affected population who escaped from Bakassi are from other states outside Cross River State where they are being kept in an emergency internally displaced peoples (IDPs) camp.

Ene stated that he was aware that efforts had been made to contactsthevariousstategovernmentstocomeandevacuatetheir people who fled Bakassi when thesituationbecameunbearable for them.

He said the relief materials brought to the fleeing Bakassi people were not enough as serious hunger and starvation was ravaging the camp.

“The life in this camp is very tough. The main problem is because the other states where some of the displaced people are coming from have abandoned them. Some of them are from Akwa Ibom, Ondo State, Bayelsa, Rivers, and Abia. All of them who are not from Cross River will be more than 300. We evenhavesomeIgbo,andAkwa

Ibom who are traders and they all ran and came here when the Cameroon gendarmes pursued them.Iftheycancomeandcarry thepeoplefromtheirstates,itwill also help to check the problem here,” Ene said.

Ene also commented on the daily activities in the camp, saying “some of them have been going to beg so that they can buy food and eat, and some who don’t want to beg just stay and want government to come and help them.

Ene, who made a passionate appeal for help, however, disclosed that no adverse incident like death has been recorded in the camp, but stressed that there was a possibility of the outbreak of epidemic because of the poor sanitary conditions in the camp, especiallyastherefugeesdefecate in the open.

However, efforts to get the Director-General (DG) of the State Emergency Management Agency(SEMA),Mr.JohnInaku, for confirmation as to whether other states have been contacted about their citizens in the camp didnotyieldanyresultascallsput to his phone did not go through.

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ͱͮ˜ Ͱͮͯ͵ ˾ THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER

OPINION Africa and Symbolic Infrastructure The role of symbols for mobilising ambitions and solidarity among Africans also deserves investments of intellectual creativity, writes Okello Oculi

M

ount Kilimanjaro has become a focus for a diversity of imaginative initiatives.

In 1961, Julius Kambarage Nyerere, as Prime Minister of newly independent Tanganyika, rushed a freedom torch to be lit on the highest peak of the tallest mountain in Africa by climbers from the country’s small military unit. The flame and the peak were named “UHURU’’ – the Swahili word for freedom. So long as the country remained free and independent, the torch would, without irony, burn and light her way across unknown territory of history. It burnt down the walls of racist rule to yield Zimbabwe (out of Southern Rhodesia), Namibia (out of South-West Africa), democratic “rainbow’’ South Africa, Mozambique and Angola.

This politically heavy burden placed over the mountain has, for the last two decades, been joined by American tourist groups attracting up to 200,000 seekers of adventure and physical challenges to pay for a try at climbing the Kilimanjaro. That wave of tourists have polluted routes approved by guides with all types of junk – ranging from biscuit raps, plastic bottles to false teeth – have not discouraged officials of Tanzania’s Tourist Board whose eyes are fixed on incomes earned for the economy. The rare fatal accidents among climbers, let alone failures to beat the mountain, have not diminished arrivals. Meanwhile, Kilimanjaro sits silent hearing dins of human aspirations, fears and exhilarations of triumph. These arrivals do affirm a little noticed culture of recreation and adventure for Africa’s youths, middle classes, and armed forces to seize.

An exciting African entry has, however, been a joint project by “Habitat for Humanity’’, the “Mandela Foundation’’ and the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC). They have set themselves the goals of: annually honouring Nelson Mandela by raising funds to supply “sanitary pads’’ for one million school girls across South Africa. They train a group of volunteers to climb to the peak of Mount Kilimanjaro, arriving on July 18 – Man-

dela’s birthday. The climbers are subjected to tough fitness training schedules that resembled conditions that would be experienced on the mountain itself. It is obviously important that climbers are fit enough to complete the climb on time, barring unforeseen mishaps.

Nelson Mandela was the one fighter for the freedom of a horrendously oppressed people who also earned the status of a rare hero all across Africa. The potential in this “Africa Climb Kilimanjaro’’ event is that it can and should draw youths from all over the continent. Just as Mandela is owned by all Africans; so is Mount Kilimanjaro by virtue of being the talent piece of earth in Africa whose top hosts Uhuru Torch which symbolically pans her light all around the continent. The social goal of providing sanitary pads for teen-age female pupils also matters in all African countries. In Nigeria, several “stakeholders’’, including SACEFA; Girl Power, C4C and others, have lamented the high rate of absenteeism from attending school by day-school girls during their menstrual week due to shame as they lack sanitary pads, water and toilets separate from those used by boys. The focus on what affects the education and ultimate fate of girls from poor homes is most commendable. Mandela valued education for all children.

At a time when official focus is on building physical

Just as Mandela is owned by all Africans, so is Mount Kilimanjaro by virtue of being the talent piece of earth in Africa whose top hosts Uhuru Torch which symbolically pans her light all around the continent

infrastructure, notably: railways, roads, bridges, airports, residential houses, hospitals and educational facilities, the role of symbols for mobilising ambitions, emotions and solidarity identities among African peoples also deserves investments of intellectual creativity. A possible candidate for mobilising the brilliance that has recently bloomed in “Social Media’’ should be broadcasting among African peoples the Independence Day of each African country.

African diplomats who serve at the United Nations in New York are daily subjected to numerous invitations to attend commemoration days – including birthdays of mothers-in-law of presidents of some member states. In search of actualising “African Familyhood’’, this ritual could be adapted to enable a sharing with other African peoples our celebrations of Independence Days. Farmers in Botswana and elsewhere who breed ostriches would be most delighted if such Uhuru Days are celebrated by mandatory sharing of that big bird’s roasted flesh.

It would be difficult to save Social Media from thrills of broadcasting “fake news’’ and perverse vitriolic akin to xenophobia. This indulgence would, however, have the merit of arousing dialogues among African peoples, including a festival with exchanging Fake Cross-Border marriages. Seasons of African voices may cure elusive hatreds in South Sudan, Somalia, Libya and Congo D.R. Mount Kilimanjaro’s challenge offers the potential for suggesting novel tests for the endurance and tenacity of Africa’s youths similar to Europe’s Tour De France cycling race. The Democratic Republic of Congo shares borders with 11 other countries. Nigeria competes favourably over this resource. Both are lucrative candidates for a rowing gala along the total length of Congo and Niger Rivers, respectively; a marathon race around the borders of each country that could last at least three weeks to complete. Africa’s emerging billionaires, and multinationals which have built their wealth in these countries, should be encouraged to sponsor inventions and practices of these modes of emotional and psychic infrastructure.

Taraba And The Anti-open Grazing Law Clement Atumada writes that the anti-grazing law is a good piece of legislation

I

t was a milestone development in Taraba State recently.

It took courage and vision oiled and fuelled by a rare act of patriotism on the part of Governor Darius Dickson Ishaku to achieve it. The Anti-Open Grazing and Establishment of Ranching Law, which he signed at a well-attended ceremony in the Executive Council Chamber in Government House, Jalingo, on Monday July 24, was a product of all these and more. The event earned for the governor a standing ovation. There has been widespread jubilation in all parts of the state for several days after the event.

The reason for this is not far-fetched. The law is the expected magic solution to the problem of incessant herdsmen/farmers crises that have left in their trail immense social and economic devastation and destabilisation in Taraba State and everywhere else it has occurred in Nigeria. But it took a long time in coming. Either for lack of vision or the political will to act, no administration in the state took this decisive and laudable step until the coming of Ishaku.

The law is a product of deep reflection on the part of Ishaku on the need for a permanent solution to the herdsmen/farmers clashes in the state. It was part of the major items listed in his famous Green Book to be achieved by his administration. The book, which is like a “must do list”, was prepared and published long before Ishaku became governor. At the bill signing ceremony in Jalingo recently, the governor drew attention to the relevant pages of the book to prove that the law was not a product of any accidental political discharge but a deep and patriotic concern to solve a problem that had crippled social and economic activities in the state for many years.

He told the crowd at the ceremony that the introduction of the executive bill that was signed into law that day was necessitated by the dangerous trend that open grazing had assumed in Taraba State and, indeed, the whole of Nigeria in recent years. “Within the past two years, Nigeria had woken up to battle with a strange practice of grazing by herdsmen who are strangers to our state,” the governor stated, stressing that this has not only “resulted in total destruction of farmlands but also heartless killings of farmers using sophisticated weapons which include AK47 automatic guns.” The most worri-

some aspect of the tragedy of these invasions, according to the governor, is that the culprits are never arrested.

“To date, none of them, to our knowledge, has ever been arrested,” Ishaku said.

But Ishaku was not deterred by these obvious and deliberate acts of negligence on the part of the security agencies. He took the desirable step to protect lives and property from being destroyed. He said, “As the head of this government, the responsibility lies squarely on me to do all I can to find a lasting solution to this situation that has consumed hundreds of lives, farm produce, cattle, and completely destroyed several communities.”

It was the reason Ishaku felt the urge to enact a law that will regulate the movement of herdsmen and their cattle in Taraba State. This eventually led to the submission of an executive bill by the governor to the Taraba State House of Assembly for passage. He said the passage and signing of the bill into law were a strong declaration “that we as a government are conscious of the frustrations our people have endured in the past four years and are ready to take this bold step to address them.”

The passage of the bill did not come easy either.

There were organised attempts to frustrate it by those pretending to be serving the interests of herdsmen. The bill, despite its popularity, became a victim of sponsored protestations. Most of those who protested and spoke against it did so out of ignorance. They did not spare time to read and understand the contents of the bill, which many have described as the best thing that has happened to this state in recent years, before rushing to condemn and reject it. This attitude attracted Ishaku’s umbrage in the speech he delivered at the event. He described those who shouted loudest against the bill as members of the elite group who were always eager to play politics with the security and economic wellbeing of the masses of this country. He said it was very sad that no member of the elite who went about fanning the embers of discord among people concerning this law could proffer an alternative solution to the challenges posed by the rampaging killer herdsmen against farmers and indigenous herdsmen.

In deciding to go ahead with the enactment of the

law, Ishaku said he was guided by the oath he had taken to defend the people of Taraba State irrespective of their ethnic background or creed. He assured the people that he will never renege on this oath, no matter the amount of pressure and blackmail tactics that may be deployed against his administration. “This is because for every decision I take on this seat, I am conscious of this oath and believe that God willing, the people of Taraba State will testify to my sincerity of purpose,” he said.

The law is coming into existence with a pleasant human face. Its application will commence after six months, beginning from the date it was signed into law. The period of transition is to allow enough room for sensitisation. A sensitisation committee is to be set up by government to educate the herdsmen and farmers on the need for them to cultivate an attitude of interdependence which the law seeks to promote.

Under the law, pilot ranches will be established in the three senatorial zones in the state to serve as referral centres while farmers will be organised to cultivate special grass that will be sold as feeds to herdsmen in their ranches.

In addition, ranches will be properly registered and policies developed to ensure that cattle rearers are properly organised in their various ranches which they shall acquire through government land acquisition processes. The intention of the law is to make cattle rearing a universal, pleasant and more profitable business venture. It will propel and properly reposition Taraba State as the largest producer of beef and dairy milk in the country.

With this big and bold step taken by the government, there is hope that Taraba State is on the path to a healthy dispensation of herdsmen/farmers relationship.

But it must not be forgotten that any law, including this one, can only serve its purpose if all stakeholders show a determination to make it work. The herdsmen, the farmers and the law enforcement agencies must show a commitment to make this law serve its purpose of regulating open grazing to ensure peace and economic survival of the state and its people.

––Atumada wrote from Jalingo, Taraba State

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ JULY 30, 2017

LETTERS Nigerian YouthsAnd Unsettled Political Climate

F

or France, May 7, 2017 will remain a historical date for a country that prides itself on its great history and enlightenment.

That was the date Emmanuel Macron became president of the country at 39. Prior to his election as president, Macron, an ex-merchant banker, was a former Economic Minister and one of the architects of a reform bill aimed at deregulating key sectors of the France economy under Francois Hollande administration.

This ordinarily should have served as a spark for Nigerian youths to wake up and begin a move that will position them for attainment of strategic positions relevant to turn the “curse’’ of Nigeria’s big population and resources into an economic blessing.

The lessons of that political development in France were lost on Nigerians, in spite of its massive youth population. Rather, it was Macron’s First Lady’s age and some other mundane stuff that caught the fancy of most people.

Not only does Macron’s feat seem mythical to achieve in contemporary Nigeria where in their 40s the vast population of the

Emmanuel Macron

citizenry still questions their role in a society that has self-perpetuated men of yesterdays at the helm of affairs, but also the general condition of youths gives the picture of a bleak future, except myriad of faults in our national engine are repaired.

Whereas there is understanding at the global level that the youths are a significant part of

the global population that need to be included in decision-making, youths are marginalised and excluded from the political and socio-economic spheres in Nigeria. Looking at the Nigerian youth, especially those in the age bracket of 30 to 40 years, it will be discovered that many do not have grasp of history and nothing to offer other than repeating

verses of hate learnt from the books of many of our gerontocrats and aristocrats. Many of them are ready to stake their all to butt-lick and defend questionable politicians for pecuniary gains.

Overtime, bad governance, inefficiency and corruption have stirred up frustrated youths to the point that ethnic militancy, kidnapping, insurgency, among other contemporary problems, have become the defining identity of youth contribution to our polity.

Today, the argument by the powers that-be remain largely that the youths of today in Nigeria have failed to prove themselves worthy of taking over the mantle of leadership. Hence, the role reserved for the youths by protagonists of this claim is that of political thugs and hate speech activists.

The glaring consequence is that we are now at a point where no discerning mind can pretend not to see the nexus between political exclusion and radicalisation, especially now that every institution (family, education, religion, etc.) meant to build the capacity of youths to serve as a vital force has been rendered dysfunctional.

BEYOND THE EUPHORIA OF A MEGACITY

T

here is no doubt that megacities come with some benefits, chief among which is a large population of over 10 million people which can serve as a potential market for goods and services.

Megacities are naturally metropolitan; they thus offer multiple options in terms of culture as well as creative and productive engagements for diverse population, thereby encouraging healthy competition.

However, while there are benefits in having a large population, it equally comes with its attendant socioeconomic challenges, such as unemployment, crime, over stretching of infrastructure, traffic congestion, environmental pollution, overcrowding and stimulation of emergence /growth of slums, among the poor.

Consequently, a large population, if not well managed, rather than being a blessing can become a liability. Investors know this much and, thus, stratify potential markets before taking decisions. Beyond the availability of basic infrastructure and an enabling environment, such as mass transportation facilities, power, potable water, security, law and order and political stability, among others, other factors considered before taking investment decisions include the financial capability of the population and availability

of skilled and professional workforce. There is no point in investing in a city with a large population without a reasonable segment of the population having disposable income to purchase goods and services.

Similarly, in the area of skilled and professional workforce, even if a foreign investor decides to bring in expatriates as their workforce, they will still require complementary services from auxiliary companies and agencies. For instance, there has been report of a potential investor who renounced the decision to invest in Nigeria to a smaller country in Africa with a lesser market for its product because of the unprofessional conduct of officials at the airports.

Equally important in enhancing the effectiveness and efficiency of a megacity is the deployment of modern technology to make people’s lifestyle more comfortable, bolster security, enhance productivity, and improve the ease of doing business.

While a lot of people seem to be carried away with the elation of Lagos State being a megacity, it is gratifying that the governor of Lagos State, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, is looking beyond the euphoria of a megacity and striving towards engendering a smarter, functional and efficient megacity. Leadership is not always about taking popu-

lar decisions. Consequently, authentic leaders must be ready to take hard decisions and challenge the status quo to achieve the desired outcomes. This was the case when Ambode, earlier in his administration, tasked the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) not to impound the vehicles of traffic offenders, but only give them a ticket when they commit traffic offences so that valuable man-hours are not wasted. The Vehicle Inspection Office (VIO) in the Ministry of Transportation has also been challenged to stay off the roads and explore the use of technology to track erring motorists.

Outside the rapid infrastructure development and renewal being embarked on by Ambode on road, highways, bridges, street lightening, security equipment, and public transportation, an area which is also being given priority and critical to the effectiveness of a megacity is the development of the human capital of the state. Human capital development plays a crucial role in the functionality of a megacity. The availability of skilled workforce in a particular area of interest could on its own attract investors, as amplified in August 2016 with the visit of the founder of Facebook, Mr. Mark Zuckerberg, to the ICT hub at Yaba, Lagos, to meet Nigerian technology start-ups, developers and

entrepreneurs who have made a mark in the global ICT space.

Some of Ambode’s efforts in the area of human capital development in the state include the Lagos digital Library (www.educatelagos. com), which is aimed at providing unlimited access to knowledge through the collection and curating of digital content on an online portal. The content of the portal includes teacher training guides, career guides, journals, maps, encyclopaedia, curriculum approved textbooks from publishers, soft skill training courses, e-test resources and archival facts of Lagos State.

Plans are also underway to upload other contents, such as research papers from tertiary institutions, vocational training videos and online courses on coding. For the benefit of those who may not have easy access to the internet, free waivers are being provided in public places, such as public parks.

Another initiative on human capacity development is the CodeLagos, to position Lagos State as the technology frontier by training one million Lagos residents to code by 2019. Already, 171 CodeLagos facilitators have been trained. This is expected to further challenge the entrepreneurial spirit and creativity of our youths in the area of ICT programme development.

––Abiodun Dina, Lagos.

However, a close reflection on Nigerian history will show that youths have not always been at the back seat of the political vehicle in Nigeria. If we flash back to Nigeria of the 60s and up to the 70s, the situation was different.

Our rulers in that period up to the first era of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo were even younger than Emmanuel Macron.

The trouble with Nigeria started when corruption and impunity of the ruling class began to overshadow youth development. That was when looting became a national agenda at the expense of education and industrialisation. The result is the reduction of commitment of the youths to national integration and development. It accounts for why rather than team up to network for a clear national mission through issues-based debate, majority of Nigerian youths have become hate speech specialists, using every available media channel to ‘bomb’ each other.

The question now is, what should be done to put us back on track?

Certainly, if those obstacles militating against our socio-economic development are to be smashed, organisation of some people into a vital force or a pressure group is inevitable in every geopolitical zone of the country. The enlightened youths should first constitute themselves into independent national civil organisations to champion reforms and genuine restructuring in the country. It is time for youths to develop intellectual capacity that will help them to understand and appreciate the dangers of ethnic and religious manipulation by the selfish

ruling class. As things stand today, Nigerian youths need a mental revolution and reorientation that will make them true and patriotic Nigerians.

The youths in Nigeria must be dynamic, mobile and energetic and shun the tendency of dissipating their energy on the wrong course. Irrespective of the affected geopolitical zone, the youths must start recognising injustice as injustice and fight against it. Justice is the best weapon to curb insecurity and amend myriad of structural defects troubling us as a nation.

Rather than being ballot box snatchers during elections, youths must vigorously articulate and demand for youth-friendly electoral process. It could be like making the age limit for voting to be youth-inclusive and establishing favourable legal conditions to enable youths to be actively involved in election. Instead of giving quit threats to fellow Nigerians, the youth should start channelling energy towards fighting injustice and nepotism within the system.

The media is one of the major instruments to raise the awareness level of youths; thereby they can exercise their political rights and influence the decisions of government.

The example of devoting a whole page, titled “youth speak”, to the youth by a national daily should be replicated by others, including the electronic media. The ticking time bomb of over 10 million out of school children should be included in this.

––Rasak Musbau, Lagos State Ministry of Information and Strategy, Alausa, Lagos

CELIBACY FOR TRYING ECONOMIC TIMES

W

henever I see long male faces over here at my place of work at the Federal University of Technology, Minna, I could tell that their souls are undergoing corresponding pains.

For a lecturer of 46 years old, who is still single, it has never ceased to come across to me as a rude shock to see very young men several years removed from my age, who are still within the clerical cadre, but burdened by burgeoning family size.

When you wonder aloud why they would not take it easy with marriages and procreations, they so conveniently switch to a religious cover for early marriages and big family size. I often ruefully conclude that this “social misbehaviour” is

rampant because of the ease with which oil money flows around.

Now that some kind of dire austerity measure is in place and cash flow is hampered, it is just disheartening to see all these long and pained faces about; it is also ruefully ironic that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission expects these half-starving males to be “non-corrupt” if enticement opportunities come to them (altering of graduation grades on original certificates, for instance). My take in all of this is simple: let us try prolonged celibacy as a cushion for these trying economic times.

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

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THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ ͱͮ˜ Ͱͮͯ͵

INTERNATIONAL

Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing: A GIABA’s Report to Ponder

G

IABA, as a name, is the French acronym for Inter-GovernmentalAction GroupAgainst Money Laundering in WestAfrica, that is, Groupe Intergouvernemental d’Action contre le Blanchiment d’Argent en Afrique de l’Ouest.As an institution, it was established on December 6, 2000 by the ECOWASAuthority to prevent the use of the economies of the member states to launder money or the proceeds of crime, as well as prevent terrorist financing.

The establishment of GIABAfollowed the recognition of threats and implications of money laundering and terrorism for regional peace and security in Lomé, Togo, on December 10, 1999.

As explicated by Timothy Melaye, Head of the Nigeria Information Centre, located at the Lagos Office of the ECOWAS in Onikan, in his paper on the mandate, role and activities of the institution, the GIABAis ‘not a law enforcement agent’ but ‘a change agent.’

In this regard, Melaye further submitted that GIABAundertakes its responsibilities through strategic plan in order to ensure a coordinated approach.As he put it, ‘the adoption and deployment of strategic plan is a disciplined and pragmatic approach that facilitates self-evaluation of its performance,’ as well as ‘make more informed choices and decisions, set future directions, establish priorities, allocate limited resources, improve operations and monitor results.’ It is within the context of this reasoning that the GIABA’s fifth workshop on public sensitisation of its activities and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) should be appreciated.

The fifth workshop, entitled “Regional Sensitisation Workshop onAnti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism for Civil Society Organisations,” took place at the Paradise Hotel in Banjul, the capital of The Gambia, many times referred to as ‘the Smiling Coast ofAfrica, from Monday, 24th to Wednesday, 26th July, 2017. The participants and resource persons at the workshop were lodged at the Senegambia Beach Hotel, where nature is at work and the air is fully oxygenated.

It was not only a follow-up to the July 2016 Open House Forum AML/CFT for the Youths Groups in The Gambia held in Banjul, but also a follow-up to the first sensitisation workshop held onAugust 2nd to 4th, 2012 in Dakar, Senegal, the regional headquarters of the GIABA.Additionally, the Banjul workshop came on the heels of The Gambia’s preparation for its National RiskAssessment (NRA) on Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing. The second workshop was held inAbidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, in July 2013, while the third and fourth workshops took place in Lagos, Nigeria, onAugust 24th-26th, 2015 and Cotonou, Benin Republic, on November 2nd-4th, 2016 respectively.

The fifth workshop, specifically, was designed to sensitise the Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) aboutAnti-Money Laundering (AML) and Combating Financing of Terrorism (CFT); facilitate the understanding of the roles of the CSOs as veritable non-state actors in the fight against Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing, as well as promote networking among CSOs and enhance their capacity with the ultimate objective of enabling them to take ownership of the fight against the twin scourges.

With these objectives in mind, the sensitisation workshop was divided into three main parts: opening ceremony, working sessions, and communiqué session. GIABAdid not make the workshop dull. It gave meaning to the popular saying that ‘all work without play, makes Jack a dull boy.’ It organised a tour of Banjul for all the participants.

Opening Ceremony Session In welcoming all the participants to the sensitisation workshop, the Director General of the GIABA, ColonelAdama Coulibaly, noted that the outcome of the evaluation of GIABAmembers, which began in September 2016 with Ghana, ‘shows that our region is improving in terms of technical compliance but (still) requires significant efforts to meet the requirements of “effectiveness.” More important, Colonel Coulibaly said ‘most member states are yet to address some gaps in their first Mutual Evaluation Report (MER), while the demand of the revised (FATF) standards is quite enormous. We therefore call on the CSOs to assist GIABAin advocacy for commitment by our member states to put appropriate structures in place and fast track preparation for the on-going mutual evaluation. The implication of poor performance at the mutual evaluation is NOT a funny experience.’

In also declaring the workshop open, the Honourable Minister of Finance and EconomicAffairs, represented by his Deputy Permanent Secretary, Mr. Lamin Touray drew attention to two issues from which to learn something: first, Money Laundering was

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money laundering as ‘the conversion of criminal income into assets that cannot be traced back to the underlying crime,’ a definition that is in alignment with that of the United Nations. Dr Nduka differentiated between three types of money laundering: Self-laundering, which is ‘laundering of proceeds by a person who was involved in the commission of predicate offence; Stand-alone (autonomous) money laundering, which is the ‘prosecution of money laundering offences independently, without also necessarily prosecuting the predicate offence; and Third Party money laundering, which is the ‘laundering of proceeds by a person who was not involved in the commission of the predicated offence.’

More important, Dr. Nduka identified different categories of a predicate offence: participation in an organised criminal group and racketeering, terrorism and terrorist financing, human trafficking, sexual exploitation, drug trafficking, counterfeiting of currency and products, smuggling, forgery, maritime piracy, insider trading and market manipulation. In essence, Dr. Nduka held the view that money laundering, regardless of its category, has negative implications, ranging from distortion of macroeconomic indicators and weakening of financial institutions to increase in corruption and inefficiency of government, as well as to projection of a negative image for the country.

Mr. Yahya Camara, Director of Financial Intelligence Unit of The Gambia and GIABA’s National Correspondent, shared the same view by submitting that money laundering and terrorist financing not only ‘are crucial enablers of the harms caused by crimes’ but also that they have ‘negative effects on transparency, good governance and accountability of the public and private institutions in the ECOWAS region.’ Money laundering and terrorist financing undermine the rule of law (and) threatens... peace and security in the ECOWAS region.

And more disturbingly, Camara had it that ‘money laundering and terrorist financing cause state fragility, challenge the stability and security of societies, erode confidence in the application of the rule of law, as well as make some state officials (presidents, ministers, legislators, governors, political office holders, etc) to see political offices as opportunity for wealth acquisition. Thus, there are several issues and challenges in the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing.’

Working Sessions and Issues

Macron

mainly associated with trafficking in illicit drugs in the beginning.

Today, it refers to different predicate offences, such as sexual exploitation, trafficking in human beings, corruption and bribery, fraud, currency counterfeiting, and most recently, tax evasion. Second, global estimates of the amount of money laundered annually range between US$1.5 and US$3.3 trillion.As revealed by theAfDB, the Global Financial Integrity (GFI) has it that ‘Africa leads the rest of the developing world, having lost between US$1.2 and US$1.4 trillion over a 30-year period (1980-2009) through illicit financial flows (vide AfDB and GFI. 2013, page 23).

What is noteworthy at the opening ceremony was that the government of the host country, The Gambia, was well represented, but not at the expected level of Ministers. The reason cannot be far-fetched: the first day of the workshop, July 24th, was the opening session of the NationalAssembly. The many ministers had to be there for reasons of political force majeure. Mr. Cherno Marellah, Solicitor General and Legal Secretary, represented the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General, Hon.Aboubacar M. Tambedou. The Honourable Minister of Finance and EconomicAffairs, HonourableAhmadou Sanneh, was represented by Mr. Lamin Touré. Mr. Tijani Bah, Deputy Director General, Drug Law EnforcementAgency of the Gambia also represented the Government.

In their various speeches and goodwill messages, The Gambia’s commitment to the anti-money laundering and terrorist financing was made clear. For instance, theAttorney General and Minister of Justice considered that ‘money laundering and financing of terrorism are complex issues which are not easy to detect.’ Consequently, he recommended that ‘the fight against the twin menaces is a herculean task requiring concerted, coordinated, corporative, and collaborative efforts, by all stakeholders with distinct but complementary role.’

And perhaps, more interestingly, in sensitising the CSOs, Dr. Buno E. Nduka, GIABA’s Director of Programmes and Projects, explained

‘Money laundering and terrorist financing cause state fragility, challenge the stability and security of societies, erode confidence in the application of the rule of law, as well as make some state officials (presidents, ministers, legislators, governors, political office holders, etc) to see political offices as opportunity for wealth acquisition.Thus, there are several issues and challenges in the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing

Several issues were raised in both the paper presentations and the general discussions that followed them but they can be summarised into three: the problem of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing; transnational organised crimes; and the operational environments of the CSOs.At the level of money laundering and terrorist financing, the consensus was that they threaten global peace and security. The workshop condemned the engagement of reasonable people in money laundering because of its deleterious effects.

For example, as pointed out by Buno Nduka, money laundering not only distorts macroeconomic indicators, weakens financial institutions, increases poverty and crimes, as well as scares away foreign investors, but also prompts economic losses. In the period from 2004-2013, ECOWAS member states lost about $268 billion through Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs), which are proceeds of corruption, trade-based money laundering (mis-invoicing). In this regard, of the 185 countries of the world considered, Nigeria occupied the 10th leading position in terms of loss with US $17,804.10 million. The Côte d’Ivoire (48th), Togo (49th), Liberia (71st) and Senegal 74th position followed in that order respectively.

Regarding transnational organised crimes, Dr. Joshua Bolarinwa, Senior Research Fellow at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, noted in his paper that in spite of all efforts at containment of illicit trade and crimes, transnational organised crimes have not ceased to increase. The 2010 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) report on ‘The Globalisation of Crime: a Transnational Organised CrimeAssessment,’ states that while the focus has been on combating organised criminal groups through investigation, arrest, and detention, these efforts have done little to reduce the threats and minimize the impact of organised crimes.Additionally, a 2017 UN report has it that illicit trade accounted for 10% of global economic output and that, in 2009, the value of illicit trade in the world was estimated at $1.3 trillion but the estimation increased to $ 3.6 trillion in 2014 and 4.5 trillion two years after.

More important, even though Dr. Bolarinwa identified electronic surveillance, undercover operations and confidential informants as the three main techniques of fighting transnational organised crimes, ‘combating TOC (Transnational Organised Crimes) internationally proves difficult because so many governments and economies benefit enormously from TOC.’ Russia, China, WestAfrican and Latin American politicians were cited as case studies.

Dr. Nfally Camara, lecturer and researcher with the University of CheikhAnta Diop, raised the issue of how to evolve a complementary relationship between policy makers and the civil society.

He considered the ECOWAS region as a terra cognita for organised crimes, bearing in mind the cases of Libyan crisis, Malian saga, non-controlled circulation of light arms and weapons, corruption and terrorist mutations. In his eyes, all these illegal activities undermine development and also raise the issue of people who ‘pensent que la lutte contre la criminalité organisée relève de la compétence régalienne des Etats, that is, people who ‘think that the fight against organised crimes fall within the sovereign competence of the state.’

(See concluding part on www.thisdaylive.com)

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ JULY 30, 2017

BUSINESS

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

LAST WEEK WEEK

Discos,GencosRow

Electricity generating companies – GENCOs–havechallengeddistribution companies – DISCOs – to defend their allegation that GENCOs were inflating invoicesandengaginginfraud.Association of Power Generation Companies, whichistheumbrellabodyofelectricity producing companies, challenged the accuserstocomeupwithevidence.The responsefollowedanallegationbythe director of Research and Advocacy of the Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors,SundayOduntan,thatlackof transparencybetweenGENCOsandthe NigerianBulkElectricityTraderwaspart oftheproblemstheelectricityindustry faced.

OilPricesRise

Oilpricesrosetoneareight-weekhighsas afallinUSinventoriesbolsteredexpectationsthatthelong-oversuppliedmarket wasmovingtowardbalance.Brentcrude futuresrose40centsto$50.60abarrel after rallying more than three per cent onTuesday.USWestTexasIntermediate futures climbed 50 cents to $48.39 a barrel.

CapitalMarket

A crude oil terminal

Without Deeper Output Cut, Crude Projected to Fall Below $40/bbl in Q1 2018 Kunle Aderinokun with agency report

ENERGY

Crude Oil, Brent Crude in particular, is projected to fall to $40 per barrel or below in the first quarter of 2018, except the Organisation for Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) implements a deeper cut in oil production. This is according to the prediction of an oil analyst at JBC Energy GmBH as reported by Bloomberg.

JBC Energy GmBH provides consulting, research, and training services for businesses, governments, and organisations operating in the energy sector in Austria and internationally. The company offers analytical and unbiased information, commentary, and advice on current and future developments in oil, gas, and alternative fuel markets; market analysis in a range of regular reports.

This is coming on the heels of rise in the cartel’s output by 340,000 barrels per day in June to 32.6 mbd, which has been described as the highest level in 2017, after Saudi flows increased and Libya and Nigeria, spared from supply cuts, pumped at stronger rates. According to Oil Market Report (OMR) for July, released by International Energy Agency (IEA) higher output from members bound by the production pact knocked compliance to 78 per cent in June, the lowest rate during the first six months of the agreement.

According to the analyst, Richard Gorry, who is the Managing Director at JBC Energy Asia, with the momentum of supply flows globally and weak demands months later , additional cut in output may be required to consolidate the earlier ones that had been implemented to avoid the price of Brent crude dropping to $40/ bbl or below in the first quarter of 2018.

OPEC was reported earlier by Bloomberg to have quietly opened the tap. According to the report, OPEC’s resolve to stick to promised supply cuts stumbled in June, the sixth month in its long-haul gambit to erode a world oil glut and boost prices. Total compliance within OPEC slipped below 100 percent, back to levels seen in February, dragged down by rising production in Angola, Iraq and Saudi Arabia.

The 21 nations participating in supply cuts are collectively trying to reduce output by almost 1.8 mbd, in most cases using October levels as the starting point. Iran was given a target that allowed a modest increase while two other OPEC nations, Libya and Nigeria, are exempt and have steadily ramped up production this year.

However, just few days ago, Nigeria agreed to cap its oil production at 1.8m barrels per day after an extensive meeting of OPEC and Non-OPEC members. By so doing , Nigeria cutting off 400,000 barrels per day from its budget benchmark of 2.2 mbd.

In his analysis, Gorry estimated that,the benchmark for more than half the world’s oil might end 2017 between $45 and $47/bbl, after which the market might turn“very tricky,”He posited that, while prices were being supported by recent U.S. inventory draws amid the summer driving season when fuel demand typically peaks, that trend will reverse from early-September as consumption weakens.

Brent crude extended gains on Wednesday, trading up 0.4 per cent at $50.39/bbl at 6:32 a.m. in New York,

riding a rally as industry data showed U.S. stockpiles plunged last week, Bloomberg reported.

“Brent could go to $40 and even below,” Bloomberg quoted Gorry to have said in an interview in Singapore recently.“That’s not necessarily what we’re forecasting, but we don’t know where exactly the market is going to trade and how bearish it’s going to be.”

JBC is flagging the risk of a drop in prices as the OPEC and some partner nations grapple with the implementation of output curbs aimed at easing a global Additional cut in output may be required to consolidate the earlier ones that had been implemented to avoid the price of Brent crude dropping to $40/bbl or below in the first quarter of 2018

glut. At a meeting earlier this week in St. Petersburg, Saudi Arabia promised deep cuts to crude exports next month, emphasising its commitment to eliminating the oversupply even as fellow OPEC members Libya and Nigeria were told they are free to keep increasing production.

“If OPEC stays the same and we have the same output restrictions even in the first quarter, we’re looking at a lot of surplus in the market,” Gorry was quoted to have said.“To really tighten the market, OPEC will have to cut more, and I don’t know if they want to do that.”

Oil slumped into a bear market last month, after giving up most of the gains it made following OPEC’s agreement late last year to begin cuts from January.

Beyond the renewed focus on exports, the St. Petersburg meeting made no changes to the supply deal to correct that underwhelming performance.

Still, crude has climbed about 10 per cent over the past month as U.S. inventories have shown signs of declining.

Demand may slow after September, while oil output from producers in Brazil, Kazakhstan, West Africa and central Europe is set to rise in the first half of next year, Gorry said.

U.S. output is continuing to ramp up, with the nation pumping 9.4 million barrels daily, close to the record 9.6 million barrels’ levels seen in 2015.

American production may again rise to 9.6 mbpd by the end of 2017, according to Gorry. Asia-Pacific is the only region that will see output declines as China shuts wells, he said.

According to the July OMR, global oil supply rose by 720,000 bd in June to 97.46 mbd as producers opened the taps. Output stood 1.2 mbd above a year ago with non-OPEC firmly back in growth mode. The report noted that the substantial recovery in Libya and Nigeria diluted OPEC’s actual supply cut of 920,000 bd in June to just 470,000 bd.“If Libya can sustain still higher flows during July and Nigeria posts even a slight improvement, OPEC’s cut could be eroded to less than 300,000bd.”

The OMR also pointed that, “The call on OPEC crude is forecast to rise steadily through 2017 and reach 33.6 mbd during the final quarter of this year, up 1 mbd on June output.

Provided there is strong compliance with OPEC’s cuts, that would imply a hefty stock draw, even if Libya and Nigeria recover further.

AllCapitalMarketOperatorsandPublic LimitedCompaniesare,fromMarch31, 2018, expected to show evidence of a clean tax status as part of their annual financial filings to the Securities and Exchange Commission. The commissionsaidinastatementthattheprocess wouldinvolvetheprovisionofevidenceof compliancewiththeVoluntaryAssetsand IncomeDeclarationSchemeorevidence of payment of all taxes as part of their mandatory submissions of the annual financialreturnstothecommission.The commissionwarnedofstiffsanctionsand penaltiesagainsttheCMOsandPLCsfor failuretocomplywiththenewrulesfor taxpayers under theVAIDS.

LendingRate

Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria Godwin Emefiele said the benchmark lendingrateforbanksinthecountrywas retainedfortheseventhconsecutivetime at 14 per cent to maintain the modest stabilityintheforeignexchangemarket.

HeacknowledgedthatNigeria’seconomy wasonthepathofmoderaterecovery,but saiditwasbettertoretainthemonetary policy rate at 14 per cent, cash reserve ratio at 22.5 per cent, liquidity ratio at 30 per cent, and asymmetric corridor at +200 and -500 basis points around the MPR.

NairaAppreciation

A few hours after the CBN announced the outcome of its Monetary Policy Committeemeeting,theexchangerate crashedattheparallelmarket,astheNaira further appreciated against the dollar.

TheNigeriancurrencygainedtwopoints totradeatN363tothedollaronTuesday attheparallelmarketinLagos,stronger thanN365postedthepreviousday.The Pound Sterling and the Euro closed at N475 and N420, respectively, at the parallelmarket.AttheBureauDeChange window, the Naira was sold at N362 to thedollar,whilethePoundSterlingand theEuroexchangedatN477andN419, respectively.

LakeChadBasinExploration

The federal government suspended crude oil exploration in the Lake Chad Basin following attack on personnel of the Nigerian National Petroleum CorporationinBornoStatebysuspected members of the Boko Haram terrorist group. Minister of State for Petroleum Resources and Chairman of the NNPC Board, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, declared that NNPCwouldonlyresumeproductionif itgotsufficientassuranceandsecurity clearancefromthemilitaryauthorities, guaranteeingthesafetyofitspersonnel and operations.

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ JULY 30, 2017

BUSINESS/ECONOMY

For MPC, It’s Time for Bold Fiscal, Monetary Policies The Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank of Nigeria ended its fourth meeting for the year Tuesday with concern about a number of issues that could reverse the positive economic indicators posted in recent times if not urgently addressed. Ndubuisi Francis reports

E

of N2.51 trillion in the first half of 2017 and the growing level of government indebtedness and expressed concern about the likely crowding out effect on private sector investment.

“While urging fiscal restraint to check the growing deficit, the committee welcomed the proposal by government to issue sovereign-backed promissory notes of about N3.4 trillion for the settlement of accumulated local debt and contractors arrears.”

The committee also expressed concern over the slow implementation of the 2017 budget, but commended the improved management of foreign exchange, as well as security gains across the country, especially, in the Niger Delta and north-eastern axis. It, however, admonished that this should be firmly anchored to enhance confidence and sustainability of economic recovery. It also identified weak financial intermediation, poorly targeted fiscal stimulus and absence of structural programme implementation.

The committee expressed satisfaction with the gradual but consistent decline in inflationary pressures in the domestic economy, noting its substantial base effect, continuous improvements in the naira exchange rate across all segments of the foreign exchange market, and considerable signs of improved investments inflows.

According to the MPC, “Against the backdrop of the outlook for the domestic and global economy; the enthusiasm around the base-effect which reduced inflationary pressures and the continuous relative stability in the naira exchange rate, there is need to maintain cautious optimism, given the potential ramification of a major deviation from the existing policy path. “The committee is not unmindful of the high cost of capital and its implications on the still ailing economy, which arguably necessitates an accommodating monetary policy stance. The MPC also noted the liquidity surfeit in the banking system and the continuous weakness in financial intermediation, but agreed on the need to support growth without jeopardising price stability or upsetting other recovering macroeconomic indicators, particularly the relative stability in the foreign exchange market.”

ven before the Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank of Nigeria met between Monday and Tuesday, analysts had predicted that the monetary authority would retain the key policy rates, based on prevailing macroeconomic variables. And at the end of the day, they did not disappoint bookmakers.

The MPC still retained the Monetary Policy Rate at 14 per cent, Cash Reserve Ratio at 22.5 per cent, Liquidity Ratio at 30 per cent, and the asymmetric corridor at +200 and -500 basis points around the MPR. The committee said in consideration of the headwinds confronting the domestic economy and the uncertainties in the global environment, it decided by a vote of six to two to retain the MPR at 14 per cent alongside all other policy parameters.

Unchanged Parameters Explaining why the MPC retained the policy rates, the CBN governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, said although changing the rates might have some positive effects, various reasons accounted for the retention of the policy rates. Emefiele said, “We know that low interest rate will make it easy for people who want to borrow money to borrow at low rates. We know it will inject liquidity into the system but we are saying that inflation at 18.8 per cent and even today at 16.1 per cent is still considered very high in the light of studies that have been conducted.”

According to him, “There are acceptable models for computing the inflation threshold and these models have computed inflation threshold for Nigeria at a range of between 10 per cent to 12 per cent. What that means is that when inflation rises above 12 per cent, no matter the action that you take to stimulate growth, it will retard growth.”

He said the authorities “need to look at how we reverse the trend in inflation and we’re happy that we have done so from 18.8 per cent to 16.1 per cent and we are hopeful that it will continue to trend downwards and as this is achieved, we also believe that there is a need to ease rate and also bring interest rate down.”

According to him, easing the interest rate at this point or reducing interest rate will push the real interest rate to the negative territory, which is a disincentive to investment.

He explained, “The MPC thinks that easing at this point would signal the committee’s sensitivity to growth and employment concerns by encouraging the flow of credit to the real economy. It would also promote policy consistency and credibility of its decisions.

“Also, the committee observed that easing at this time would reduce the cost of debt service, which is actually crowding out government expenditure.

“The risks to easing, however, would show in terms of upstaging the modest stability achieved in the foreign exchange market, the possible exit of foreign portfolio investors as well as a resurgence of inflation, following the intensified implementation of the 2017 budget in the course of the year.

“The committee also reasoned that easing would further pull the real interest rate down into negative territory.”

Emefiele pointed out that the argument for retaining the policy rates was premised on the need to safeguard the stability achieved in the foreign exchange market, and to allow time for past policies to work through the economy.

“Specifically, the MPC considered the high banking system liquidity level, the need to continue to attract foreign investment inflow to support the foreign exchange market and economic activity, the expansive outlook for fiscal policy in the rest of the year, the prospective election related

Emefiele spending, which could cause a jump in system liquidity, etc.,” the governor explained.

Inflation The MPC said it was particularly concerned about the unremitting pressure from food inflation, but hopeful that the situation would ease off in the third quarter as harvests begin to manifest.

Citing the National Bureau of Statistics, the committee noted that headline inflation (yearon-year) declined for the fifth consecutive month in June 2017, to 16.10 per cent, from 16.25 per cent in May, and 18.72 per cent in January 2017.

It stated, “Core inflation moderated to 12.50 per cent in June from 13 per cent in May 2017 while the food index rose marginally to 19.91 per cent in June from 19.27 per cent in May 2017.

This development was traced to intermittent attacks by herdsmen on farming communities, sporadic terrorist attacks in the North-east and other seasonal farming effects.”

The committee also attributed the moderation in inflation partly due to the effects of the relative stability in the foreign exchange market, stemming from improved management, which promoted increased inflows. Against this backdrop, the committee reiterated its commitment to sustain and deepen flexibility in the foreign exchange market to further enhance forex flow in the economy.

The MPC, however, noted the protracted effects of high energy and transportation costs as well as other infrastructural constraints on consumer price developments and expressed the hope that government will fast-track its reform agenda to address these issues. The committee noted that while responding to the current tight monetary policy stance, inflation still had a strong base effect, which is expected to wane by August.

Key Concerns The committee welcomed the move by the fiscal authorities to engage the services of asset-tracing experts to investigate the tax payment status of 150 firms and individuals in an effort to close some of the loopholes in tax collection and improve government revenue. However, it expressed concern about the slow implementation of the 2017 budget and called on the relevant authorities to ensure timely implementation, especially, of the capital portion in order to realise the objectives of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan.

The MPC believes that at this point, developments in the macro-economy suggest two policy options for the committee: to hold or to ease the stance of monetary policy.

However, it pointed to worrying signals, noting that available forecasts of key macroeconomic indicators point to a fragile economic recovery in the second quarter of the year, and therefore cautioned that “this recovery could relapse in a more protracted recession if strong and bold monetary and fiscal policies are not activated immediately to sustain it.”

It advised that the expected fiscal stimulus and non-oil federal receipts, as well as improvements in economy-wide non-oil exports, especially agriculture, manufacturing, services and light industries, all expected to drive the growth impetus for the rest of the year, must be pursued relentlessly.

The MPC warned that the economy was fragile and might relapse into a protracted recession, citing the N2.5 trillion budget deficit recorded by the federal government in six months, among others as major threats to a fragile economic recovery.

“The MPC noted the widening fiscal deficit

Reactions Mixed reactions have trailed the MPC position since Tuesday, with London-based Chief Economist, Africa, Standard Chartered Bank, Razia Khan, saying there is little surprise in the decision of the MPC to retain all its key policy rates. Khan said, although inflation had decelerated, the MPC position still suggested that it might be substantially due to a base effect, which may not be long-lasting.

She stated, “First, the rhetoric around the economic recovery has changed very subtly. It is no longer seen as something that might happen on autopilot.

“Risks to the 2017 recovery are seen to be more substantial. There are on-going concerns about the weakness of financial intermediation.”

For the director-general of the West African Institute for Financial and Economic Management, Professor Akpan Ekpo, the MPC did “the correct thing to have left the interest rate unchanged”.

Ekpo said, “Right now, we are in a recession and monetary policy cannot do anything. What we need now is more of a fiscal stimulus and there should be no delay in policy implementation. We need structural reforms now.”

However, the WAIFEM director-general advised that once the economy came out of recession, the central bank should concentrate on using monetary policy to enhance growth instead of fighting inflation.

Chief Executive Officer of Financial Derivatives Company Limited, Mr. Bismarck Rewane, expressed a divergent view, arguing that what the MPC did was to maintain a tightened monetary policy stance at a time when the economy was yearning for liquidity to stimulate economic activities.

Although Rewane acknowledged the risk of inflationary pressure, he argued that the MPC ought to be more audacious.

T H I S D AY SUNDNAY JULY 30, 2017

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ JULY 30, 2017

BUSINESS/ECONOMY

Ease of Doing Business: Turning the Searchlight on States The World Bank and some government agencies have begun the process of ranking Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory based on an assessment of the ease of doing business within each setting. What could the classification mean for the economy? Vincent Obia writes

A

roadblocks mounted by revenue collectors, road transport unions, labour and trade unions on highways across the country. A statement on April 16 by the Force spokesman, Jimoh Moshood, said “The Taxes and Levies Act, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004, section 2 (2) disallowed any person, including a tax authority, from mounting a roadblock in any part of the federation for the purposes of collecting any tax or levy.”

The police advised state and local governments and other affected bodies to desist from mounting such road blockades, saying that apart from inhibiting traffic, they have also served as avenues for armed robbery, kidnapping, and other criminal activities.

On the question of double-taxation, the Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme, which is a collaborative effort by the federal and state governments to encourage tax compliance through a time-limited amnesty, is expected to help to streamline the taxing powers of the various tiers of government.

But successful implementation of the various measures have remained problematic, as many business owners still complain about unremitting extortion and other avoidable hindrances on the roads.

It is expected that the ranking of states based on ease of doing business would put pressure on the subnational governments to remove the impediments to free flow of business and investment in their territories.

s in many kinds of innovation, necessity is the mother of invention. Nigeria is no exception. Recession has forced Nigerians to reinvent the way they do things. In the wake of the recession, which the country slipped into in the second quarter of last year, the federal government has adopted a number of measures to try to curb economic decline and engineer growth. One of the most remarkable is the effort to improve the ease of doing business.

Ease of Doing Business The Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council was set up in July last year by President Muhammadu Buhari to remove bottlenecks and bureaucratic constraints to the establishment and running of businesses in Nigeria. The council has Acting PresidentYemi Osinbajo as chairman, Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah, as vice chairman, and nine other ministers, the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, and representatives of the National Assembly and the private sector as members. The government also established the Enabling Business Environment Secretariat, which became operational in October last year and has Senior Special Assistant to the President on Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Jumoke Oduwole, who is also secretary to the PEBEC, as coordinator.

In February, the PEBEC approved a 60-day national action plan for implementation across its three priority areas, namely, entry and exit of goods, entry and exit of people, and government transparency and procurement. The action plan was aimed at delivering tangible improvements for small and medium scale enterprises in Nigeria. Importantly, it was meant to help improve the country’s awful 169th position (out of 190) on the World Bank Doing Business Index.

On May 18, Osinbajo issued three executive orders specifically targeting the removal of obstacles to private business, government budgeting, and movement of people and goods between Nigeria and other countries.

The federal government says its efforts to improve the national business environment are achieving their goals. It is now turning the light on the states.

Ease of Doing Business in States Enelamah and Oduwole disclosed penultimate Thursday that the 36 states of Nigeria and the Federal Capital Territory were being assessed on the basis of the ease of doing business in each location for the period 2014-2018. This is in preparation for rankings due to be released in the first half of next year.

According to them, the subnational rankings are being undertaken by the World Bank Group, in collaboration with the EBES and the Nigerian Investment Promotion Council. The EBES and NIPC would assist state governments in the implementation of their priority reforms.

The states and FCT will be ranked based on 11 indicator areas, which include four World Bank indicators and seven additional areas of interest that are governed or implemented by the state governments.

The World Bank indicators are: starting a business, enforcing contract, registering property, and dealing with construction permits.

The seven additional indicator areas comprise: trade/ investment and marketing; infrastructure; access to landed property; regulatory environment; institutional support and business resources; transparency and accessibility to information; and security.

While the global World Bank Doing Business Rankings evaluate countries based on the performances of one or two major cities, generally using Lagos and Kano as representative centres for Nigeria, the subnational assessment would rank all the states and the FCT. The government says the aim is to bring out local peculiarities, help states to compete on the basis of their comparative advantage, and highlight good practices and success stories that can be replicated.

Chairman, Nigeria Governors Forum, and governor of Zamfara State, Abdulaziz Yari Motivation Nigeria’s economic priorities and the way they are pursued are, undoubtedly, in dire need of resetting.

Many believe the ease of doing business rankings are a veritable means of using peer influence to reset the local economic environment. Experts hail the looming state-by-state rankings as an exercise that would engender healthy competition among the federating units.

“Such an exercise would engender competition among the federating states in terms of who would be the best in the ease of doing business,”says president of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Dr. Frank Jacobs.“If that happens, it will create a better business environment and it is going to increase the ease of doing business among the states. That will be to the benefit of the manufacturing sector.”

Jacobs explains,“We believe that it is a step in the right direction. It is something that should be encouraged, in fact, not just in the states alone, but also in the local governments. It will make the business environment attractive and more investment will go into business, thereby creating jobs and wealth for the country. That would improve the economy of the country.

“I wish it had been done even by our government, not just the World Bank. I wish there is a way such competition would be encouraged by the federal government for the federating states so that they can begin to see the relevance and importance of improving the ease of doing business.”

Impediment Like many entrepreneurs in Nigeria, the MAN president identifies wilful erection of obstacles to free movement of goods and services by subnational governments and multiple-taxation as major limitations that should be removed to free up the states for investment.

He says, “The major challenge in the states and local governments is extortion by revenue agencies and touts on the roads, which impede the free flow

of goods and humans. Most times it costs a lot of money to transport goods from one state to another because as you transit from one state to the other, you come across various local governments and each would charge you one levy and tax or the other, which would not be applicable in the next state. If you go to the next state they would ask you to pay the same thing.”

Jacobs believes, “The multiplicity of taxes is one issue that should be addressed at the state and local government levels. Those are part of the issues that affect the ease of doing business. If goods cannot be moved freely from one point to the other as a result of these revenue agencies and touts that stop you on the roads, that means many people won’t be interested in doing business in that state.

“That is one major issue. The other ones are national in nature.”

Remedy Timely clearance of goods at ports and the removal of obstacles to free movement of goods and persons across the country are a critical part of the ease of doing business initiative of the federal government.

They are also the main intention of the three Executive Orders issued by Osinbajo in May. In line with the above objective, last week, Comptrollergeneral of Customs, Col. Hamid Ali (rtd), directed the immediate removal of all illegal Customs checkpoints across the country. A circular issued on Monday in Abuja said any checkpoint beyond 40 kilometres from the borders was illegal.

“The 40 km radius applies only to the borders.

Consequently, there should be no checkpoints with the ports,” the circular stated. It is also restricted information patrols beyond the 40 kilometres point from the borders.

The Customs boss would be expected to give an update on the removal of the illegal checks and other obstacles at the next PEBEC meeting on August 15.

Similarly, in April, the Inspector-general of Police, Ibrahim Idris, ordered the dismantling of all illegal

Structural Limitation But experts say there are serious structural issues that need to be addressed before the intentions of the state-by-state ease of doing business rankings can really be realised.

Last week, at its meeting in Abuja, the Monetary Policy Committee retained the Monetary Policy Rate of 14 per cent, which has been operational since July last year,“alongside all other policy parameters,”saying it is,“In consideration of the headwinds confronting the domestic economy and the uncertainties in the global environment.”The MPC also retained its cash reserve ratio at 22.5 per cent and liquidity ratio at 30 per cent, with inflation remaining at a high rate of 16.1 per cent.

The position of the monetary committee contradicts that of many experts, who have maintained that lowering the interest rate would reduce the cost of funds and give both government and private investors more access to loans to expand infrastructure and production.

Economist Henry Boyo accuses the federal government of“leaving the critical things and chasing shadows.”Boyo says the high cost of funds, double-digit inflation rate, and CBN’s monopoly of the foreign exchange market are problems that must be addressed before Nigeria can truly attract both local and foreign investment.

Many have also said that the pseudo-federal nature of Nigeria, which is anchored on a unitary-style central sharing of revenues, would always neutralise any pressure on the state governments to take concrete steps to encourage ease of doing business within their territories.

Revenue Insufficiency Nevertheless, indications are that the harsh economic realities characterised by dwindling federal revenues would put enormous pressure on the states to worry about their business environment.

Nigeria went into recession in the second quarter of last year, when figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics officially confirmed two consecutive quarters of declining growth. In its report published August 31 last year, the NBS said Gross Domestic Product declined by -2.06 per cent between April and June. Record fall in crude oil prices, from about $112 per barrel in 2014 to less than $50 per barrel in 2016, inflation, and high cost of imports all combined to create the contractions that pushed Nigeria into recession.

The federal government feels removing bureaucratic bottlenecks that burden investors at the national and subnational levels would boost business and growth.

Time will tell how far the ease of doing business initiative can go at the various levels.

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ JULY 30, 2017

BUSINESS/ENERGY

Repair work on Forcados oil pipeline in Delta State last year

OPEC Cut, Resumed Militancy Pose Danger to Nigeria’s Oil Output Nigeria faces two serious developments likely to impact its oil production in the coming months, writes Chineme Okafor

I

n the course of the week, two crucial developments with the propensity to affect Nigeria’s crude oil production and, thus, its execution of the 2017 budget marks, took place. They are the acceptance of the country’s proposal to cap its oil production to 1.8 million barrels a day and a reported resumption of oil militancy in the oil-rich Niger Delta. Both developments, which are made worse by the unstable prices of crude oil in the international market, could delay Nigeria’s reported gradual exit from economic recession that it officially slumped into last year.

OPEC Cap The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries and non-OPEC producers, led by the Russian Federation, approved the decision of the Nigerian government to cap its oil production at a sustainable volume of 1.8 mbd, having pressed Nigeria and Libya, which got an initial exemption from a production cut agreement to stabilise prices, to consider coming into the agreement.

At the Joint OPEC and Non-OPEC Ministerial Monitoring Committee meeting on Monday in St. Petersburg, Russia, OPEC and its ally reviewed the June 2017 report on its freeze agreement.

JMMC also listened to the presentations made by the representatives of Libya and Nigeria on their production recovery plans, prospects and challenges.

The oil producers groups, which agreed to cut oil output by a combined 1.8mbd starting from January 2017 until the end of March 2018, then accepted Nigeria’s proposal to cap its output on 1.8mbd. This was amid difficulties with Nigeria’s recovery of its production from destructions caused by internal strife in the Niger Delta.

In a communiqué issued at the end of the St. Petersburg meeting, the JMMC said it welcomed Nigeria’s flexibility in this regard, “which despite its commitment to recover its pre-crisis production level, voluntarily agreed to implement similar OPEC production adjustments as soon as its recovery reaches a sustainable production volume of 1.8 million barrels per day.” It, however, did not back capping of Libya’s output because, according to it, the country’s production was unlikely to exceed 1mbd

in the near future. Libya’s production capacity is between 1.4mbd and 1.6mbd, which it did before the unrest in the country broke out in 2011, leading to its balkanisation.

Compliance Review At the meeting, the groups reviewed the June 2017 report as well as how they had fared in the first six months of the “Declaration of Cooperation”, as submitted by the Joint OPEC and Non-OPEC Technical Committee. From the JTC report, including the presentations made by Libya and Nigeria on their production recovery plans, prospects, and challenges, they acknowledged the upside limitations of both countries beyond their current production levels.

JMMC said concerning the two countries, “Once their production levels stabilise, participating producing countries should further cooperate in a manner that contributes to the stabilisation of the market.”

They equally noted that the JMMC will continue to monitor and recommend further actions, including the holding of an extraordinary conference of the 24 producing countries, if needed, to keep up its efforts at stabilising the oil market. The committee said the oil market was making steady and significant progress towards rebalancing, in line with the report of the JTC for June 2017, which reviewed market developments and the results of the first six months of progress made after OPEC’s 171st Ministerial Conference Decision and the respective voluntary adjustments in keeping with the Declaration of Cooperation.

Furthermore, the meeting stated that the continued strengthening of the global recovery was underway, with stability in the oil market remaining a key determinant. It emphasised that market volatility had been lower in recent weeks and investment flows had visibly started to improve in the industry.

According to the JTC report, the several positive indicators going forward include expected significant increase in oil demand in the second half of 2017 compared to first half of 2017, with the growth reaching a level of 2mbd, which should sustain the inventory draws.

The report equally noted that participating OPEC and non-OPEC producing countries achieved a conformity level of 98 per cent in June 2017, adding

that the same high level of conformity was observed for the first six months of January to June 2017.

Between January and June 2017, it explained that participating producing countries adjusted their production downwards by an estimated volume of 351 million barrels. This, the JMMC said, it would sustain by continuing to engage with all participating countries individually, and in particular, those that were yet to achieve 100 per cent conformity for the remaining period of the Declaration of Cooperation.

Reappearance of Militancy in Nigeria In his remarks at the opening of the JMMC, OPEC Secretary General, Mohammed Barkindo, who was once head of Nigeria’s national oil corporation, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, assured other producers that Nigeria had no intention of going beyond its oil production target of 1.8mbd until the end of March 2018. Barkindo explained that Libya had an output target of 1.25mbd by December, but that remained a target given the challenges the country faced.

But just as Nigeria’s output cap proposal was approved at the St. Petersburg meeting, the country reported a fresh break on one of its crude lines – the 180,000 barrels a day Trans-Niger Pipeline. The attack upset its recovery from low production levels.

Already, the country had benchmarked in its 2017 budget a daily production of 2.2mbd, but the attack on the TNP located in the western Niger Delta in the early hours of Monday resulted in the shut in of 150,000bpd.

Confirming the breach on the TNP, Group Managing Director of NNPC, Dr. Maikanti Baru, told journalists on the side-lines of the extraordinary session of the council of ministers of the African Petroleum Producers Organisation in Abuja that culprits of the attack were yet to be identified. Baru said the fresh militant attack on the TNP, which crisscrossed the Ogala, Alakiri, Cawthorne Channel and Bonny areas of the western Niger Delta, transporting about 180,000bpd to the Bonny export terminal in Rivers State, would lead to a loss of 150,000bpd of oil from the pipeline. Data from Shell Petroleum Development Company indicate that the TNP is operated by SPDC under a joint venture with NNPC, Nigerian Agip Oil Company, and Total E&P, and is part of the gas

liquids evacuation infrastructure system critical to the Afam VI power plant and liquefied gas exports.

Baru said, when asked about the country’s oil production mark, “Unfortunately, we have not been able to sustain it (oil production) because we got challenges. As I am talking to you this morning, the Trans-Niger pipeline has been breached in Ogoniland and that is 150,000 barrels of oil that have been knocked off. That has been an issue with that area.”

He added that NNPC and its partners would continue to dialogue with the communities and expressed hope that production would be restored.

Effect of the Production Cap on Nigeria Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, however, stated that the country’s budget would not be seriously affected by the recent developments. Kachikwu said in Abuja that the production cap was not yet effective, and would not be until the country was comfortably placed to report to the groups a consistent production pattern in line with the cap. He explained that out of the 2.2mbpd production volume in the budget, about 450,000 barrels were purely condensate, leaving the balance as crude oil alone, thus indicating that the country was still in line.

According to the minister, “First of all the 1.8mbd has not gone into effect., I am meant to report back to them within the nine months timeframe we were given exemption to confirm that we have stabilised production and stabilisation of production does not mean that we produce 1.8mb in one day then there is stabilisation.

“There is going to be a month-to-month analysis where we will get comfort that all things that prevented us from stabilising our production have ebbed and we can consistently produce above 1.8mbd.

“Again, 1.8mbd refers to crude, it does not refer to our production, our production is about 2.2mb, we have not been asked to attack that, but 450,000 barrels of that is condensate, which are a separate number. We did a very careful work before this whole process began to ensure that OPEC recognise like other countries have done, that condensate weren’t part of the crude analysis and we’ve done that and taken it out.

24

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ JULY 30, 2017

BUSINESS/ENERGY

Low Power Generation, Despite More Rains in Hydro Dams As power generation in Nigeria falls below a seemingly traditional 4, 000 megawatts, despite the rains that should normally fill up the hydro dams for optimum generation, Chineme Okafor writes on the issues behind the drop

Egbim power plant in Lagos State

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or many months now, Nigeria’s power generation profile has failed to take a sustainable upward trajectory, frequently fluctuating at an average of 3, 444 megawatts. The latest reports from the Transmission Company of Nigeria indicate that between July 17 and July 23, a period of about seven days, a total of 22,978MW of electricity was generated and wheeled into the national grid by the TCN. The report equally indicate that the situation is far from what it was the previous week, when 25,819MW was generated and also wheeled by the TCN into the grid for distribution to the 11 distribution zones of the country.

Capacity Loss Similarly, between July 17 and 25, daily statistics of obtained from TCN System Operator department indicate that constrained generation was about 5364MW, while about 11,738.5MW could not be distributed by the 11 electricity distribution companies because of poor distribution facilities.

In addition to this capacity loss, about N8.192 billion worth of revenue was deferred by the power sector on account of the inefficiencies.

This was despite repeated claims by the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, that the government was resetting the operations of the country’s power sector.

Since 2011 when a one-time Minister of Power, Professor Barth Nnaji, embarked on a generation capacity recovery exercise prior to the electricity sector privatisation exercise, Nigerians usually enjoyed longer hours of electricity supply during the rainy seasons when water collection in the reservoirs of the three hydro power stations – Kainji, Jebba, and Shiroro – are high and able to drive most of their turbines to give out more power.

This continued until about October when the

rainy season peaked and water levels in the reservoirs began to recede with some turbines getting idle again.

Inconsistency At these times, power generated from the hydros is often combined with what is given out by the gas generation plants to grow generation to an average of 35000MW. Although, Fashola, stated recently that the current government inherited an average generation profile of 2600MW when it took over on May 29, 2015, records from the TCN for this period do not tally with his claims.

As at May 29, 2015, when former President Goodluck Jonathan handed over to President Muhammadu Buhari, TCN’s records indicate that Nigeria’s grid had 3,205MW of peak power generation, 515MW higher that the 2,690MW Fashola quoted in a recent statement from his senior special adviser on communication, Mr. Hakeem Bello.

Moreover, peak generation on the previous day (May 28) was 3,155MW while the lowest generation mark the country’s grid recorded that period was 2,741MW, with over 60 per cent of the power generated from gas power plants.

Current Situation According to TCN statistics, the daily power generation during the two-week period in July under consideration were 3227MW; 3504MW; 3285MW; 3656MW; 3579MW; 2898MW; and 2829MW, respectively, while the daily distribution reports of the Discos between July 10 and July 16 were 3511MW; 3973MW; 3915MW; 3947MW; 33511MW; 3487MW; and 3475MW, respectively.

The TCN indicated that the national peak demand forecast stood at 19,100.00MW, out of which 11,165.40MW was the installed available capacity, 7,139.60MW was the available capacity. It added that 7,000MW was the current transmission capacity, and network operational capacity of

5,500.00MW. The peak generation capacity ever attained in Nigeria was in February 2016, when 5,074.7MW was generated, while the maximum energy ever attained stood at 109,372.01MWh. Challenge President of Nigerian Gas Association, Mr. Dada Thomas, recently decried the reliance on seasonal rains for improvement of generation and supply. Thomas stated that the nationwide shortage of natural gas supply was the most critical issue facing the Nigerian power sector.

According to Thomas, the NGA, gas producers and investors in the country would be at ease if the natural gas shortage was checked at least in the short term. He added that the shortfall in natural gas supply had been further worsened by pipeline vandalism.

Thomas said the problem was affecting cost-reflective electricity tariffs, Power Purchase Agreements, and regulation of gas price. He urged the federal government to take action to resolve the problem and other challenges that had made further investments unattractive for gas producers, processors, pipelines and transportation companies.

He also said the shortages could cause massive economic and social disruptions in future if Nigeria failed to act now and address the challenges of the sector.

Similarly, Nnaji, who to a large extent nurtured the sector into privatisation, reportedly expressed deep concern about the future of Nigeria’s power sector, saying the environment is not attractive for investment that can address the various challenges of the sector. He explained that foreign investors were not willing to invest in the sector because the government had not addressed major issues that would guarantee good return on investment.

He noted that many projects had been stalled due to financial constraints and tariff issues.

Nnaji’s 180MW capacity Geometric Aba power

plant has remained encumbered by legal tussles with the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company over ownership of the Aba and Ariaria distribution networks, which the government in 2005 ceded to Geometric in a formal business agreement, but failed to respect in 2013 when it privatised and sold the Enugu distribution network to EEDC. Actions like this one by the government have worked to discourage investment in the power sector.

Despite expectations that the government would through a stable environment, open up the sector for private investment to reposition the power sector, it has failed to consistently invest to upgrade the country’s transmission network.

Although Fashola said at a recent power forum in Lagos that the TCN would undertake 200 projects to improve power transmission and supply in the country.

Fashola said at the Nigeria Energy Forum that TCN would concentrate on completing the projects to ensure smooth transmission of energy to the national grid. He also said at a public lecture at the University of Lagos that the transmission network had expanded to 6200MW because the government had completed transmission stations in Ikot Ekepene; Okada; Alagbon; Ajah; Katampe; and Sokoto, as well as awarded many more in places like Damboa; Pankshin; Osogbo; Kumbotso; and Odogunyan.

He stated,“The logic therefore is that if projects to expand the grid are being completed and new ones started, it is either ignorance or mischief to continue to argue that the grid cannot wheel more than 5000MW. The correct, informed and sensible view is that the grid is dynamic and must grow as power production grows.”

The minister added that the power sector would receive some impetus from the implementation of the recently approved Power Sector Recovery Programme initiated in partnership with the World Bank.

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ JULY 30, 2017

BUSINESS/BRANDS & ADVERTISING

9Mobile: The Metaphor for Brand with 9 Lives Nine years after entering the Nigerian market with a bang, the Etisalat brand seems to have fought and won the greatest battle of its life following the successful transition that gave birth to 9Mobile recently. In this report, Raheem Akingbolu digs into the history of the brand and how it has continued to defy the odds and difficult operating environment

A

t a time many people think the telecommunications market had lost any room for expansion, Etisalat entered in 2008 as the fourth GSM operator with a promise that it would change the game. Of course, not a few analysts dismissed the promise as a dream of an ambitious brand. But to the promoters of the brand, who stated from day one that they had done enough market research before coming in, the brand promise was not a fluke.

Though the brand was left with very slim or no chance of survival, considering that the bulk of the high net worth and discerning subscribers at the heart of the market at that time already had at least one or two GSM network lines, but through articulated campaigns and exciting products, Etisalat quickly hit the ground running and became a brand to reckon with.

Deliberate and strategic brand differentiation, therefore, became necessary for Etisalat, as it’s stating the obvious that the network was contending with the challenges of being the fourth entrant. Thankfully, the telecommunication company got the message by creating innovative carrots to eat into the market share of existing operators. This share had given the early movers advantage through an undeniable seven-year headstart. Also, the brand leveraged the crest of innovation, youth and customer friendliness to build a strong equity.

Today, Etisalat has an impressive customer base of more than 21 million. It is also reputed for its generous freebies as well as for its relatively good internet services. It has won several awards based on quality of service indices and excellent customer service.

But all these notwithstanding, the gains of the last nine years of the brand, which has its roots in the United Arab Emirates, got threatened few months ago. Like a hole in the heart, the Brand Etisalat felt a deep pang when it was discovered that the company had failed to fulfill its financial obligations to three banks in the country and their foreign affiliates. The company was said to have failed to repay a loan of over N541billion it secured from the consortium in 2015. Surprisingly, handlers of the brand wriggled out of the crisis and opened a fresh chapter.

Enters 9Mobile This line,“We shall never surrender,”in Winston Churchill’s famous speech commonly titled ‘We shall fight on the beaches’ delivered at the House of Commons on June 4, 1940, stands very significant.

Britain was in peril after the miraculous evacuation of its soldiers from ambush in the beaches of Dunkirk. Adolf Hitler’s armies held a huge advantage and attacked fiercely. Ultimately, Britain, along with the allied forces, fought and survived World War II and never surrendered.

In this snap history, Britain embodies resilience; the ability to survive, bounce back, and thrive.

If there is a need to look for an example in this clime and time, 9Mobile (formerly known as Etisalat Nigeria) would probably be the best pick. The telecommunications company mirrors this rare essence, successfully undergoing brand migration even in the midst of obvious challenges.

In the past few months, media reports painted a gloomy future for the telecoms brand on the account of its bid to renegotiate a $1.2billion loan it took in 2013, which turned problematic following the recession, which kicked in early 2016.

The crux: Etisalat Nigeria sought to renegotiate the loan terms but the consortium of 13 banks - the lenders - did not agree even though 42 per cent of the loan had been repaid.

It was a precarious situation as the banks were determined to recover every dollar loaned the telco, like their survival depended on it. Well, for some of them, it does to a reasonable extent.

country. It has since then grown to about 20 million subscribers.

This 0809ja heritage, reflected in later ventures such as Cloud 9, a music platform for the youth, which was launched in 2014, and 9TV, which began streaming in 2016. And today, it is the foundation of the new brand identity – 9mobile.

Apart from being more visually appealing, the new brand identity, as the Chief Executive Officer, 9Mobile, Boye Olusanya, said during its launch, reflected the bold and creative attributes which the organisation shared with its valued subscribers.

Olusanya said the new name and brand is a deliberate representation and confirmation of its Nigerian heritage, 9ja-centricity, and another phase of its evolution over 9 years of operations in Nigeria. He added that though its name and brand changes, the telco will continue to deliver excellent services to its customers and remain true to the values it has operated with since Day 1.

“In our 9 years of operations, we have remained at the forefront of innovation and take pride in consistently delivering superior experiences to our subscribers. We continue to establish meaningful partnerships with our customers and partners by providing platforms that support their goals and aspirations,” Olusanya said.

The new logo represents resilience and continuity, and also expresses the brand’s thoughts about the future, particularly of digital technology and its continued impact on communication and human interactions.

Being a number-themed logo, it reflects the network’s futuristic slant. The colour green, both its light and dark variants, reflects vibrancy, dynamism, life, and youth as well as the brand’s ‘Nigerianness’.

Through it all, 9Mobile has shown that built into the core of its DNA as a brand is the ability to rebound from the worst and fare even better afterwards.

As brand migration process continues, 9Mobile seems to echo Churchill very loudly: “We shall never surrender”, “We are here for you, here for 9ja”.

9Mobile CEO, Olusanya

The Crossroads Despite the noble interventions of telecoms industry regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission and the Central Bank of Nigeria, it still seemed the telco would still go down especially after its majority shareholders, Emirates Telecommunications Corporation and Mubadala Development Company, Abu Dhabi’s Sovereign Wealth Fund managers, both of the United Arabs Emirate, exited.

With all of these, the competition among mobile network operators remained as fierce as ever. Nevertheless, 9Mobile did not experience significant drop in its numbers, whether in subscriber base or bottom line.

The negative perception of the telco being in trouble was seen to have been cancelled out by its strong disposition, as it continued its activities unfazed – the demeanour of an entity that is confident about tomorrow.

In trying times, resilient brands are known to draw strength from their purpose – their core values – and not the drive for profit. The telco’s value of empowering people and passion for excellence has apparently been its driving force in this period.

In spite of the heat, the company rounded off the competition for its flagship Prize for Literature with a well-attended award ceremony in Lagos, at which Nigeria-born author, Jowhor Ile, won, thereby becoming the first Nigerian to win the prestigious literature prize. It was the fourth edition of the prize.

The telecoms company continued to expand its 4G LTE network, launching it in Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt between May and June. It

continued to launch and improve various products and services; engage subscribers at its quarterly Customer Forum in Kaduna in May; and affirmed its continued support to Small and Medium scale Enterprises (SMEs) with the 16th edition of its networking and interaction platform, Market Access Forum held in Enugu, in June.

Its Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives were never halted. Its interventions in health care, youth development, and educations remained in top gear. These include Career Counselling session in April, in which hundreds of students from 13 secondary schools in Lagos benefited.

American-born global girl-child education advocate and filmmaker, Zuriel Oduwole, was a lead influencer that inspired the students during the session. In the same month, the Etisalat Telecommunications Engineering Postgraduate Programme in Ahmadu Bello University took in a new set of students and hosted a lecturer of Plymouth University, UK, Dr. Zaki Ahmed, as a facilitator.

This is the stuff of a strong and resilient brand, staying true to its promise no matter what.

Rebranding The changes of the past few months brought about the need to rebrand the telco, which in 2008, when it launched, asked Nigerians to get on the phone and express themselves with its ‘Let’s talk 9ja’ campaign.

This campaign, which was re-launched in 2012 with ‘0809ja for life’, resonated very well with Nigerians, particularly young people. Therefore, it was not surprising that it quickly became the fastest growing mobile telecoms network in the

Between Etisalat and Econet In today’s market, the name ‘Airtel’ rings a bell even in the ear of a 12 year-old lad. He will surely know that it is one of the major players in the nation’s telecommunications sector.

However, hardly can he know the name that was given to the telecommunications giant at the point of entering the market. And going by the ‘experience’ of this imaginary 12 year-old boy, in another eight years, it is debatable if another 12 year-old will know if there was a company once named Celtel. The reason for this is that Airtel, has changed names for at least five times. The brand at different times was known as Econet, V-mobile, Vodacom, Celtel Zain and now Airtel.

Since penultimate week, when Etisalat rebranded to 9Mobile, discussions have centered on what its future would look like.

However, it is generally believed that the handlers of the brand got it right from the word go, considering their choice of chief executive officer, Boye Olusanya, who was strongly involved in the various rebranding activities undergone by Airtel. Besides, observers also see the retention of colours green and black, as strategic and significant for the attention the brand required at the moment.

The two colours are synonymous with Etisalat and this will keep the memory of the brand in the consciousness of its patrons. Then, unlike Econet that experienced boardroom politics from the beginning, Etisalat appears to have a smooth operation in that regard. With this and the determination of its spin doctors to make things work, 9Mobile may be the final word.

26

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ JULY 30, 2017

MEDIA Arnold: We’ve Harnessed Media, Entertainment to Empower Nigerian Youth Georgia Arnold is Senior Vice President of Social Responsibility for MTV Networks International, where she develops and implements social initiatives across MTV’s broad range of channels.

She is also the Executive Director and Founder of the MTV Staying Alive Foundation, which provides funding and training to the youth on HIV prevention projects. It has donated over $6million to over 200 HIV based organisations in over 70 countries worldwide. Arnold is the executive producer of MTV Shuga, an MTV Staying Alive Foundation initiative and hit TV series that focuses on the lives of young African millennials, as they navigate their way through their adolescent years. MTV Shuga has been broadcast in over 61 countries across the world, showing on 179 channels and reaching over 720 million people.

In this interview with Vincent Obia, Arnold discusses the mission and impact of the MTV Staying Alive Foundation in Nigeria, especially among its most productive population. Excerpts:

M

TV Staying Alive Foundation aims, “To build an empowered and educated generation of young people, equipped with the tools and knowledge to protect themselves and their peers from the HIV epidemic,” according to information on your website. How much of this mission would you say has been achieved in Nigeria?

The MTV Staying Alive Foundation’s aim to educate and empower millennials with respect to their sexual and reproductive health is an on-going process. With each generation, our mission is renewed, as we are faced with a whole new set of young individuals that require access to vital sexual and reproductive health information. In the case of Nigeria, we take great pride in the impact that MTV Staying Alive Foundation, and our awardwinning mass media campaign, MTV Shuga, have had on young people. An evaluation conducted by the World Bank in 2014/15 on MTV Shuga among young Nigerians found that the campaign was directly responsible for a 58% decrease in chlamydia among female viewers. Viewers of the show were also twice as likely to get tested for HIV, with double the number of young people who watched MTV Shuga getting tested for HIV than those who didn’t watch it. Further findings from the World Bank’s evaluation were as follows: r.57 4IVHB JNQSPWFE LOPXMFEHF attitudes and behaviours related to HIV transmission and testing. r7JFXFST XFSF MFTT MJLFMZ UP IBWF concurrent sexual partners, and also engaged in safer sex with sexual partners.

These results show the extent to which MTV Shuga has been able to positively affect the attitudes, behaviours and health of young Nigerians.

Given the general acknowledgement of the link between poverty and HIV prevalence, are you also engaged in poverty alleviation programmes, apart from the projects directly related to HIV information dissemination initiatives?

MTV Staying Alive Foundation gives out grants to youth-led organisations across the world to run HIV-prevention and sexual health programmes. Without this vital funding, many of the organisations would not be able to operate and affect positive change in their local communities. While such programmes may not be specifically designed for poverty alleviation, the by-product of our funding can be extremely positive in this sense. By spreading awareness about STIs and HIV,

in knowledge among Nigerian youth.

For example, whereas 70% of Nigerian men (ages 15-24 years old) were aware that condom use can reduce the risk of contracting HIV, only 56% of women the same age retained such knowledge.

This lack of awareness goes some way to explaining why young women have a higher HIV prevalence than their male counterparts, and emphasises the need for raising more awareness about safe sexual practices among all Nigerians.

How many Nigerians have accessed your grants since the funding programme started in 2005?

Since we began our grants giving programme in 2005, we have funded 19 initiatives in Nigeria. As well as receiving funding, each initiative was taken through specially curated training programmes, in order to enhance their ability to effect positive change in their respective communities. This was done through continuous interaction with MTV Staying Alive Foundation staff throughout the length of their funding, and also through in-person training at annual summits.

Arnold young people are able to take ownership over their personal health. This means that they are either able to access the medical help that they require, or practise safe sex and remain sexually healthy. Both consequences can help prevent people from spiralling into a state of economic hardship. Also, such measures can serve as effective birth control measures, thereby preventing young people from assuming the financial responsibilities that come with having a child. We also run a social enterprise scheme that helps our grantees in their final year turn into sustainable business. Currently, there are six social enterprise projects that we fund, with each business receiving $30,000. Each enterprise commits a certain percentage of

their profits to HIV prevention services, helping to draw the link between our funding and tackling the prevalence of HIV. The enterprises range in focus, from a hair salon in Nigeria to a chicken farm in Kenya.

How would you rate the level of HIV awareness in Nigeria vis-à-vis other African countries?

The level of awareness about HIV in Nigeria remains a key issue in the fight against it. Although HIV prevalence among adults is comparatively low (3.1%) compared to countries such as South Africa (19.2%) and Zambia (12.9%), which suggests a high level of awareness, there are still considerable gaps

Does the MTV Staying Alive Foundation partner with the local, state, or federal governments in the pursuit of its objectives?

As with any successful project, there needs to be a multi-pronged, collaborative approach in order to maximise the desired impact. Where possible, we partner with local, state, or federal governmental departments if that will help magnify our impact on adolescents.

The new season of MTV Shuga in Nigeria will focus on contraception uptake and family planning services.

Therefore, the Foundation is currently working closely with the Director of Family Health Department, Federal Ministry of Health, Dr. Adebimpe Adebiyi, and is also collaborating with the Ministry of Health in Lagos State. As HIV was the core message of our last campaign in Nigeria, we continue to enjoy a great relationship with the head of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS, Dr. Sani Aliyu.

How does the foundation get money for its projects?

The MTV Staying Alive Foundation receives funding through a variety of methods. This includes: trusts and foundations, an annual art auction (RE:DEFINE), corporate partnerships (including Kiehl’s), special events and challenges. Additionally, international partners are also key contributors when it comes to delivery of the Foundation’s work throughout the world. In the past, funding for MTV Shuga

27

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ JULY 30, 2017

BUSINESS/MEDIA ARNOLD: WE’ VE HARNESSED MEDIA, ENTERTAINMENT TO EMPOWER NIGERIAN YOUTH

CON’’TD FROM. 26 as sexual violence. Our audience can look forward to being entertained and educated at the very same time!

has been secured through wide-ranging partnerships. Alongside the continued support of VIACOM International Media Networks, key partners such as: The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (who are funding the production of two seasons in Nigeria), PEPFAR, Linkages, USAID, Marie Stopes International, Positive Action and Children’s Investment Fund Foundation.

What goes into the selection of the cast for MTV Shuga?

When selecting the cast for MTV Shuga, we are always looking for the very best talent the country has to offer. Nigeria is renowned for its vast reserve of acting talent, and we aim to recruit actors who are able to bring the important storylines to life in a believable and entertaining way.

Importantly, we are always on the lookout for fresh and local talent. We are keen to give young, up-and-coming creatives a chance to develop in the entertainment industry, and this has been evidenced throughout MTV Shuga’s previous seasons, where actors such as Lupita Nyong’o and Samkelisiwe Makhoba (who was selected from public auditions and played ‘Khensani’ in MTV Shuga: Down South), were given the chance to develop their acting skills in the drama series.

What are the biggest challenges of the foundation?

The challenges faced by the Foundation are similar to the obstacles encountered by all foundations operating in the world of HIV and sexual health. Over the past few years, we have witnessed worrying trends in attitudes towards HIV and AIDS developing. Following decades of fighting against the spread of HIV, there is now a general sense of complacency in the funding sphere. There are those who believe that HIV is no longer an issue. This is despite the fact that AIDS is the biggest killer of young people across Sub-Saharan Africa, and among certain demographics, the epidemic is worse now than it has ever been. Such opinions make it extremely hard to secure the funding needed to tackle the spread of HIV and increase knowledge among adolescents.

How many groups are you collaborating with in Nigeria? Can you mention some of them?

Part of MTV Staying Alive Foundation’s strength lies in its wide-ranging partnerships. Working closely with local and international non-governmental organisations, as well as government departments, has allowed us to deliver the right information and help to those who need it most. These partnerships enhance the efficacy of our work, as we develop our campaign to address the specific needs of our chosen demographic.

In regards to Nigeria, we have currently established partnerships with MTV Base, Hello Lagos (a Lagos State government initiative), and Naija Girls (a Society for Family Health initiative). These valued partners, alongside other prospective partnerships, will allow us to deliver our work in the most effective way possible.

What gave rise to the MTV Shuga series?

MTV Shuga’s rise came as a response to the HIV epidemic. Importantly, it was the need for forward-thinking solutions to HIV prevention that stimulated a novel response, which looked to use the power of media to affect positive change in the lives of millennials. Whereas previous programmes may have come across as didactic and ultimately failed to engage their target audience, MTV Shuga, as a show about young people, came to fruition as an innovative reply to the challenge of HIV on the African Continent. By fully immersing our target audiences through our 360 mass-media campaign (TV show, radio series, graphic novel, peer education, social media and digital platforms), MTV Shuga is able to fuse entertaining content with important sexual health messaging, and reach young people in a way that many other programmes cannot.

Give us an overview of the MTV Shuga series?

MTV Shuga is a 360 mass media campaign that uses the power of entertainment to generate positive sexual and reproductive health outcomes among young people. At the core of MTV Shuga is a TV drama, which follows the lives of a group of young friends as they encounter sexual, social and educational challenges throughout their adolescent years. Following on from two seasons in Nairobi and another two set in Lagos, the fifth season had been produced in South Africa for the very first time.

The new season, set in Nigeria, will play host to issues concerning family planning, contraception, HIV prevention and sexual health education and will highlight the incidence of gender based violence. Season 6 of MTV Shuga centres around topics relevant to the modern

Arnold African society, especially, urban youth culture. The show puts a spotlight on family planning and real issues that affect young people from day to day, with a particular focus on adolescent girls.

How has MTV Shuga fared so far, especially in Nigeria?

MTV Shuga has gone from strength to strength throughout its previous five campaigns. The tangible impact of MTV Shuga has been well-established through various evaluations carried out by the World Bank, Johns Hopkins University, the Population Council, and many more. Yet, critically, MTV Shuga has been received as an award-winning drama series that resonates among young Africans across the globe. The MTV Shuga drama series has reached over 720 million people, with our social media reach extending to 118 million people. This vast following attests to the high regard in which our viewers hold MTV Shuga, and reflects the quality instilled in the production of the series.

To name a few, MTV Shuga was the recipient of the Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Award for Best TV Series 2015, as well as winner of the World Media Gold and Grand Awards 2014 and 2016 for Education.

What is the motivation behind bringing MTV Shuga Season 6 to Nigeria?

Despite the overwhelming success of

We have funded 19 initiatives in Nigeria.

As well as receiving funding, each initiative was taken through specially curated training programmes, in order to enhance their ability to effect positive change in their respective communities

the previous MTV Shuga campaigns in Nigeria, our work here is far from done.

As the most populous state in Africa, the amount of people living with HIV in Nigeria is stark. Despite having an HIV prevalence rate among adults of 3.1%, there were 3.5 million people living with HIV as of 2015. Such statistics illustrate the gravity of the situation in the Nigerian context. Whilst HIV is an important issue that needs to be explored, this season will also unpack the issue of family planning and contraception. The population in Nigeria currently stands at 182 million people, yet the use of contraception is one of the lowest in the world. Just 11% of women aged 15-49 years old used modern contraception, against a global rate of 57%. With high rates of unintended pregnancy (1.3 million occur annually among young women), there is a clear need to increase the uptake and knowledge of family planning services among young Nigerian women. It is hoped that season 6 of MTV Shuga will help increase young people’s knowledge on the options available to them and how to access them.

What does MTV Shuga Season six aim to achieve?

Like all MTV Shuga campaigns, season six will aim to be even better than the last. Our desire to continually improve and enhance the project applies to all elements of the campaign. Specifically, we want to continue to effect positive change in the attitudes, behaviours and health of young Africans across the continent, while delivering a highly-entertaining drama series.

What should viewers look forward to on MTV Shuga Season 6?

A hard-hitting, entertaining and informative TV series that reflects the everyday challenges faced by young Nigerians across the country. Whereas previous seasons of MTV Shuga in Nigeria focused predominantly on Lagos, this series will reflect the incumbent diversity of Nigeria as a vast and multi-layered country, highlighting the issues faced

by Nigerians across the entire country.

Viewers can expect a lot of ups and downs, as well as love, sex, relationships, heartbreak and a host of other issues that will be sure to keep them mesmerised by the upcoming season. Importantly, weaved into the gripping storylines will be important messaging concerning sexual and reproductive health, as well

How would Nigeria’s entertainment industry benefit from MTV Shuga?

Nigeria’s entertainment industry is set to experience a positive impact from MTV Shuga coming back to Nigeria. MTV Staying Alive Foundation are fundamentally committed to investing in the communities in which we operate. Whether this be through championing local talent to generate the best production possible or collaborating with local stakeholders, our inclusive approach ensures that our work is specifically tailored to its local environment and incorporates the concerns, opinions and views of all relevant persons.

Using locally sourced talent in terms of actors, scriptwriters, producers, directors and other personnel from all levels of the entertainment industry will allow us to invest positively in the local entertainment industry.

How has MTV Shuga impacted on African youths?

MTV Shuga has challenged the attitudes, perspectives and behaviours of youths across the world in a positive way. The World Bank’s results have categorically proven the direct impact that MTV Shuga can have on the sexual and reproductive health of young people. One of the key strengths of MTV Shuga lies in our approach. We are able to speak to the youth in a way that governments simply cannot.

Our non-didactic, riveting portrayal of sexual health messaging under the guise of entertainment means that adolescents are able to identify, empathise and relate to the characters of the series in a way that is wholly unique to this approach.

Providing key knowledge and avenues for support if they need it (i.e. sexual health services through partners) equips African youths with vital tools to protect their personal health and future prospects.

What structures are in place to ensure the sustainability of MTV Shuga?

MTV Shuga’s sustainability lies in its evolutionary essence. Never one to stand still, MTV Shuga is continuously morphing to reflect the reality faced by today’s youth. By keeping up-to-date with the latest music and fashion trends gripping millennials, and by listening to the issues and concerns troubling young people today, MTV Shuga remains constantly relevant.

This is its biggest strength when it comes to sustainability.

Another way in which MTV Shuga remains sustainable and forward-thinking is through scaling up. The underlying themes that inform the campaign are universal, lending themselves to multiple environments.

As such, we are constantly looking to expand the reach of our campaign, establish new partnerships, and implement the project throughout the world. This was most recently evidenced on Tuesday, July 11, where we announced that MTV Shuga was going to expand to Egypt and India with localised versions by 2020.

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TRAVEL

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

Ibis Ikeja: Affordable International Brand for BusinessTravellers Demola Ojo

I

bis is an international hotel company with French origins. The first Ibis opened in Bordeaux in 1974, and within a decade the chain had expanded throughout the regions of France, particularly in the cities.

The hotels are generally close to city centres, airports or railway stations, and offer low rates compared to many global hotel groups of comparable size.

The brand has hotels on all continents with over 1,000 Ibis hotels worldwide. In Lagos, there is the the Ibis Lagos Ikeja hotel on Toyin Street which is distinct from the Ibis Airport hotel at Ajao Estate.

The Ibis Lagos Ikeja offers affordable accommodation with 165 rooms. The hotel is ideal for business travellers as all guests have access to free WIFI, (this includes walk-in guests who maybe stop by for a drink), a self-service business center and four conference rooms available for professional events or meetings.

Ibis Lagos Ikeja hotel is a 10-minute drive from the Murtala Muhammed International Airport with the hotel offering guests complimentary shuttles for the commute.

The hotel offers guests access to a wellequipped fitness centre, an outdoor pool, two bars and a restaurant which offers all-you-can-eat buffet breakfast. Breakfast is especially notable as it includes an array of rare Nigerian delicacies. The yam and garden egg sauce was especially tasty, as was the Aganyin beans.

The Ibis Lagos Ikeja is a pleasant surprise when discovered. It can easily escape notice, with many businesses jostling for space and attention on both sides of the somewhat narrow street. However, the hotel is designed to maximize space with underground parking helping in no small way in keeping the Ibis Ikeja entrance free of traffic.

The reception, bar and restaurant are in a straight line. However this basic design There is also the outdoor bar for those who is complemented by the ingenious use of would rather enjoy the cool evening breeze. colours, with a healthy dose of red (the brand’s The rooms come equipped with the new colour) helping to keep the mood upbeat. Sweet Bed by ibis bedding, and offers large

double bed, desk, internet, parquet flooring, LCD flat screen TV and a bathroom with shower or bathtub. Some might find the standard room a bit cramped (like I did) but

it still offers value for money. The Ibis Ikeja has flexible room rates and is known to have some of the best deals for an internationally branded hotel in Lagos.

Tasty Italian at Sheraton’s La Giara Demola Ojo

A

s part of the ongoing renovation at the Lagos Sheraton, the Italian restaurant now wears a new look. Christened La Giara, the restaurant - which is on the ground floor of the hotel – has been jazzed up with new décor and bright lights (a pool table too), which all give it a stylish and contemporary look.

The novelty is not restricted to the ambience though. The La Giara comes with a new menu consisting of traditional Italian dishes; pizzas, pastas, and a lot more as I found out a few days ago when I was there for lunch with two friends. The extensive menu had original Italian meals. Thankfully, there was a breakdown of what each dish is made of in English.

While poring through the menu trying to choose from the wide-ranging options, we got complimentary Pukacha bread with parmesan cheese and olive oil. Since the main courses take close to

30 minutes to be ready, we also opted for a quick bite: Pastella Calamari, which is fried in barter and served with lemon wedges and tartar sauce. It turned out to be an indication of what to expect as it was really tasty.

For the main course, one of my friends went for Pollo al Pesto; chicken in pesto, fresh tomatoes and mozzarella, while the other decided on Marinara di Gamberi; grilled marinated prawns, herbs and spicy tomato sauce with a side of potatoes. I opted for pasta and as usual, asked for a dish that effortlessly incorporates chili. This meant my Spaghetti di Gamberi (spaghetti with king prawns, cooked with garlic, basil, tomatoes and white wine) came extra hot, just the way I like it. Since it was seafood pasta, it was only right to pair it with white wine.

All meals were sumptuous, as my companions confirmed. (My portion was really large so I didn’t bother trying the others.) It probably accounted for why the restaurant was busy. It may have just been reopened, but word has surely gone out about how good the food is.

Different dishes at La Giara

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ ͻ͸˜ ͺ͸͹Ϳ

MARKET NEWS

Staco Insurance to Drive Micro Insurance for Enhanced Performance Goddy Egene The Group Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer of Staco Insurance Plc, Dr. Sakiru Oyefeso has said the company will embark on strategic expansion aimed at exploring and capturing new frontiers that will enhance the company’s performance.

Oyefeso, who stated this in his report to shareholders at the 21st annual general meeting (AGM) held in Lagos at the weekend, noted that the company would pursue and

drive the micro insurance concept for better share of the market and increased market value.

The CEO added that the company is favourably disposed towards widening insurance density through grassroots penetration.

“To this end, we have developed strategy towards direct market penetration for possible re-balancing of underwriters’ distribution mix which could have significant effects on client acquisition.

Above all, our greatest

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

marketing strategy lies in the company’s passion for high standards and prompt claims settlement,” he said.

Oyefeso said these values have overtime engendered confidence in the company’s clients for renewed business.

“As a company that is alive to its repsonsibilities, we ensure that all genuine claims were paid to its affected policy holders during the outgone year. Against the perception out there about insurance, in

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 27-July-2017, unless otherwise stated.

2016 for instance, we paid the sum of N1.99 billion to our various clients. We use this opportunity to reassure our policy holders that prompt settlement of claims will always be our priority and this will continue to be the business philoshy of our company in the years ahead,” he said.

Oyefeso said the company’s service delivery is anchored on the philosophy of quality service first time, every time.

“This has been the

watchword of our company and we endeavour to deliver exceptional service at every level in high esteem and we strive to delight all our external and internal customers at all times. Our impressive track record of excellence service delivery has played a major role in the continuous growth of the company,” he said.

The Staco Insurance Plc boss disclosed that the company in particular and industry at large has received support of National Insurance

Commission (NAICOM) in its promotion of opportunities and transformation agenda.

“This to a large extent, has prompted our active involvement in the industry drive for Market Development Restructuring Initiatives (MRDI). Nevertheless, the industry continues in its steady growth with positive signs of development, it is worthy of noting that there is need for more growth when compared to other emerging markets,” Oyefeso 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 177.61 177.86 39.67% Nigeria International Debt Fund 231.71 231.95 8.95% 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 0.80 0.81 14.18% 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 18.75% 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 16.82 17.33 36.26% ARM Discovery Fund 358.60 369.41 24.87% ARM Ethical Fund 25.39 26.16 13.66% ARM Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 17.73% 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 139.70 140.68 32.82% AXA Mansard Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 18.51% 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 10.97 11.25 17.19% Women's Investment Fund 92.36 94.73 9.18% 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 18.57% 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 1,096.48 1,092.57 8.10% FBN Heritage Fund 140.06 141.29 25.65% FBN Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 19.46% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Institutional $109.03 $110.03 6.04% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Retail $108.28 $109.28 6.05% FBN Nigeria Smart Beta Equity Fund 153.89 155.92 36.59% 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 1.33 1.36 43.09% Legacy Short Maturity (NGN) Fund 2.81 2.81 9.23% 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 2,688.82 2,734.79 22.04% Coral Income Fund 2,303.45 2,303.45 9.47% 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 14.28% 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 17.55% Vantage Balanced Fund 1.99 2.01 18.30% Vantage Guaranteed Income Fund 1.00 1.00 18.38%

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 1.10 1.12 11.28% Lotus Halal Fixed Income Fund 1,025.22 1,025.22 6.71% 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 13.21 13.28 36.48% Meristem Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 19.18% 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 14.89% PACAM Fixed Income Fund 10.67 10.73 2.65% PACAM Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 15.30% 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 121.10 124.52 20.13% 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 1.34 1.34 7.25% 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 2,156.51 2,169.66 17.79% Stanbic IBTC Bond Fund 160.96 160.96 4.55% Stanbic IBTC Ethical Fund 0.99 1.00 29.22% Stanbic IBTC Guaranteed Investment Fund 204.22 204.22 9.27% Stanbic IBTC Iman Fund 170.03 172.35 31.01% Stanbic IBTC Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 18.44% Stanbic IBTC Nigerian Equity Fund 9,510.07 9,622.37 25.42% 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 1.29 13.84% United Capital Bond Fund 1.37 1.37 11.88% United Capital Equity Fund 0.80 0.82 19.53% United Capital Money Market Fund 1.13 1.13 3.53% 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

11.41 128.61

1.01% 3.74%

Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

10.78 106.07

10.88 108.07

22.65% 39.98%

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

4.53 8.06 17.02 22.95 129.76

4.57 8.14 17.12 23.15 131.76

63.57% 14.57% 42.38% 43.61% 0.67%

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, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ JULY 30, 2017

TR

UT H

& RE A SO

N

LIFE LESSONS WITH AYO AROWOLO

ayo.arowolo@thisdaylive.com

09067059433 (SMS only)

YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED How Do I Decide the Passion to Pursue?

I have followed your Life Lessons interviews since inception and one thing I discovered is that most of them stayed in a particular area consistently over a period of time and they made it. I am a very creative person. I won’t say I have passion but passions. I can come up with 10 ideas in a week and this continues anytime I am alone. I also have multiple skills. I can sing. I can dance. I can draw.

I can make people laugh. Surprisingly, I am a graduate of Microbiology. My concern is: which one is my passion and how can I identify it?

You are not alone. A normal human being, research has shown, can have between 500 and 700 ideas he or she can tinker with per time! If you are pushed to the wall, for instance, there are things you would discover you can do. Any time I travel abroad, I am usually amazed at how quickly my friends cross over to other skills. I have friends who studied Mass Communication in Nigeria but had to study Nursing to be able to work abroad. Some studied Medicine in Nigeria but had to switch to Information Technology (IT). Every human being is so wired to multitask.

Here is a line you should ponder on.

Nobody is an accident on this earth. There is a special assignment you are created

to accomplish before you return to your maker. You must discover this assignment and commit every cell inside of you into accomplishing it. Nothing else would give you fulfillment. Money won’t. Material possessions won’t. Your spouse won’t. The discovery of this purpose comes at different times.

Some can know what they are here to do from birth.

Some discover this at 30. Some do at old age.

Your passion is something you can do even if you are not being paid Chief Samuel Adedoyin for it. Real living starts once you discover this. And it gets interesting when you are paid for it.

The discovery of your assignment can come from different sources. You can discover your assignment through difficult problems you face. For instance, someone who goes into personal bankruptcy many times because of wrong investment moves can turn the situation around and become a guru on how to help people get out of financial difficulty. In that case, he does not need to consult any book; - he is the book on bankruptcy! The challenges you face are usually not meant for you. The ultimate intention of the Higher Power is that when you fix the problems, it would be easier

for you to teach other people how to fix same problems.

You can also discover your passion by observing what constantly engages your mind and attention. There are certain desires that come to your mind regularly. Pay attention to such and take time to know more about such. If you concentrate very well, one would become dominant.

That may be a clue as to what you should be doing.

Your personality is also key. God specially created everybody with Mr. Jimi Agbaje certain personality traits. Some have analytical capability. Some can be creative and so on. While it is possible to combine multiple personality traits, it is likely that one would dominate. Focus on the dominant one and nurture it carefully.

You can also ask people around you to let you know what they think you are good at doing. You should not be surprised that people can read you accurately. Your spouse should know what you are good.

Irrespective of how you came about your passion, including developing a skill, my advice is that once it is discovered, devote everything you have to nurturing it until you become a brand in that area. Bill Gates

LIFE LESSONS WITH AYO AROWOLO

It could be costly to learn from your own errors, Would you not rather learn from the mistakes of the masters, those who re struggling to make happen. h have accomplished what you are

Grab your own copy of THISDAY THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER …LIFE LESSONS…GETTING BETTER EVERY WEEK

dropped out of school when he discovered that his passion for IT would be frustrated by the academic environment. Tiger Woods started to play golf at a very tender age. I suggest you take inventory of every interest you have and zero in on one. This may have nothing to do with what you currently do. Let me us advise you not to compare yourself with the next person. It is the easiest way to derail. If you text your request to the number above, I would recommend one great book that would open your mind on how to discover your passion.

All is well.

I have followed the past 10 editions of the life lessons and I must confessed I am inspired by them. Have you been able to figure out what are the things that are common to all of them; things they do that other people don’t do?

I have analysed all the life lessons interviews I have conducted and although they have collectively shared several lessons; I have been able to isolate three key principles that are common to all of them.

One every one of the person I have interviewed define wealth differently from most people. Most of them do associate wealth with money alone. Rather they believe that you are wealthy when you are able to live a balanced life taking care of all key critical areas of life such as spiritual, health, finance, fun time. Relationship, fun time and community development without neglecting any.

Secondly, I observe that most of them have stayed consistently with a particular passion for over a period of years. Mr. Jimi Agbaje has been a community pharmacist for more than two decades. Chief Samuel Adedoyin has been in the industry for several years.

Thirdly, as they stay consistently on a particular passion they ultimately become brands and that is where real money making begins.

Fourth, I also observe that most of them take the issue of spirituality very seriously. In fact, a few of them I interviewed expressed regrets that they did not realize this early.

Do you have questions for any of the guests we have featured in the Life Lesson interviews? Send your questions to ayo.arowolo@thisdaylive.com.

A

WEEKLY PULL-OUT

30.07.2017

A TALENT HUNT TO PRESERVE YORUBA MUSICAL HERITAGE

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A section of the excited crowd at the concert

A TALENT HUNT TO PRESERVE YORUBA MUSICAL HERITAGE Nseobong Okon-Ekong reports that contestants at the recent Ariya Repete talent contest were given to larger-than-life embellishments owing to the lure of the N2.5 million cash prize and other benefits that were at stake

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he enters the challenge with two drawbacks. One, is the perception from the conservative Nigerian society that women are bugged down by several hindrances and cannot compete against their male counterpart. But she is determined to make a difference in a music genre that is supposedly under firm masculine grip. She is succeeding, so far, as one of two women in the Fuji category (her compatriot is Bukola Omoyajowo) who brave the odds to reach the finals of the Ariya Repete talent contest in Ibadan. This is the night she hopes to distinguish herself. The second hitch comes from an accident that leaves her walking with a limp.

If she has come all the way from last April when she joined the race from her base in Ilorin, Kwara State, as one of 400 hopefuls, to the valley of decision, she is ready to crawl if needs be to reach the mountain top of victory. There is no peak high enough to stop her ambition.

From her first appearance, Onimama Fausiya belts attention grabbing lyrics into the microphone. The response of the crowd is encouraging. She seizes the moment and moves from one side of the stage to the other throwing her free hand in the air and towards the audience members to ensure all eyes are on her. When she sings in praise of the Ibadan monarch, Oba Saliu Akanmu Olasupo Adetunji, it is a perfect demonstration of the sensibility of the crowd. The feedback is good for her as her face lightens up in a smile while concentrating on the work at hand, nodding her head in time to her own songs.

She endears herself to the judges Adebayo Faleke, Clement Ige and Agboola Sensation - with her ability to exhibit all the things she learnt in the Ariya Repete Academy from the likes of Puffy Tee, Sir Shina Peters and K1 D’Ultimate. The veteran artistes’ lecture to the budding musicians centres on fundamentals relating to appearance, composure, creativity, vocalization and stage craft. The mentoring programme is delivered under the theme ‘Understanding Traditional Music’. It is an

opportunity for the participants to enhance their skills for the competition and future endeavours.

It has been a long journey for the 10 contestants who are showcasing their talent tonight. The fight for acclamation which is now in the finale has continued for a long time going through different cities like Akure, Ilorin, Ijebu Ode, Oshogbo, SangoOta, Abeokuta, Ado Ekiti and Ile Ife in the audition stages. The quarter finals takes place in Akure, Ondo State. Abeokuta hosts the semi-finals. In the quarter finals, the 32 artistes selected from the auditions are reduced to 10. This is further pruned to five for the grand finale in Ibadan.

The night starts on an auspicious note with past winners of the ‘Fuji to Bam’ contests - Ajani and Antena - thrilling the crowd to invigorating Fuji songs. This session is a fantastic beginning and set the pattern to what turned out to be a very rewarding night of entertainment to both the entertainers and members of the audience.

By the time they finish their session, the audience members are in a happy mood and every other activity from then on is ignited on autopilot.

For their sheer fervor, perhaps more concert organisers should hold their events in Ibadan so that performing artistes can enjoy rousing warmth and welcome. This kind of enthusiasm greets every celebrity performer on the Ariya Repete bill, except Adekunle Gold, who does not quite hit it off with the crowd. They are clearly not taken in by his romantic ballad. It is a long, cold night in the open air at Trans Amusement Park and standing on their feet demands a steady string of upbeat tempo songs that can keep them dancing and sustain the fever.

Ariya Repete is a talent hunt competition that seeks to discover and promote talents in indigenous Yoruba music - Fuji and Juju, thereby helping to preserve the Yourba musical heritage.

The contest is sponsored by Nigerian Breweries Plc, using one of its lager brands, Goldberg. So much of the brew is everywhere on the concert grounds and the MC, popular Yoruba actor, Odunlade

Agborako group...the winning troupe of drummers

Adekola, makes a point of drumming home the slogan of the brand, at every turn. Each time he comes on stage, he calls out to the audience, ‘Goldberg!’

They have a ready response: ‘Your Excellency!’ It is a call and response pattern that is repeated through the night.

The contestants are equally matched in number. There are five of them in each genre. Gladiators for the Fuji trophy are Abiodun Oloto, Ajani Azeez, Bukola Omojajowo and Onimama Fausiya.

Going head-to-head for the crown in Juju are Adekanbi Oketayo, Adeniyi Temitope, Leye Williams, Yomi Bright Oshidare and Yomi Johnson. It is not clear if performing a composition that centres on Goldberg is an unwritten condition for the contest, as all contestants try to outdo themselves in a bid to demonstrate their most unalloyed devotion to the brand, while beckoning on all who are listening to buy into the somewhat exaggerated good qualities of Goldberg. Sometimes their promo for the brand sounds outright ridiculous, but who will not be given to larger-thanlife embellishments when N2.5 million cash prize and other benefits are at stake!

Ariya Repete is an expanded contest which previously assumed a limited format known as ‘Fuji to Bam’. As the word spread and the prize becomes more attractive, Juju artistes are trying to present themselves as Fuji performers to take a shot at the prize. That gives rise to the need to create a separate tournament for Juju musicians. Thus, ‘Juju to Gbayi’ was born. This year, however, the organisers combine the two races on one platform called ‘Ariya Repete’.

These two Yoruba words are loosely interpreted as ‘total enjoyment’.

Tayo Adelaja, Public Affairs Manager, West/Mid-West, Nigerian Breweries Plc, promised that Goldberg will continue to promote the culture of the people of South Western Nigeria, in line with the brand’s three-point agenda of culture, respect and enjoyment.

To give deeper perspective to the contest, the organisers create another challenge for groups of indigenous drummers. The thinking behind this is perfect. The two types of music are majorly driven on fast-paced, but stylised syncopation of different types of drums. In Fuji and Juju music, the drums may drive the direction of the music and often dictates to the lead singer what he should sing.

Weaved into the fabric of Ariya Repete is a drumming contest which is judged by two university teachers, Prof. Wole Fadipe and Prof. Muyiwa Oshinike. Again, there are five contenders. The drummers from Ado Ekiti who compete under the group name, ‘Ayangbayi’ finish third. They are dressed in Aso Oke. The lead drummer has jingling bells round his drum. The ‘Otapo’ drummers from Abeokuta who come second have an ensemble of six persons that is essentially made up of Bata drummers. Perhaps, it is the dance formation that gives the trophy to the ‘Agborako’ group from Oyo. On the surface, dance well and exit the stage when the ovation is loudest in a unique formation that creates a fresh longing to see more from them.

They still manage to come first even when they did not present their trademark giant ‘Shekere’ that is usually thrown into the air by a skillful player.

It may not be entirely right to conclude that the crowd is comfortable with performers from their homestead. But this hint is discernible in the manner they receive Ibadan Fuji music folk hero, Taye Currency.

They haul back his playful jibe.

“Omo’badan, kini so?”

“So suo ni!” They thunder back.

They are familiar with all his songs and sing it along with him. Undoubtedly, the most appreciated artiste of the night is Wasiu Alabi Pasuma. While they had only seen his image on the screen or at the mention of his name, the crowd roar in acknowledgement. One of the highpoints of the night is when Pasuma joins Currency on stage. For the energy they create on stage, the crowd goes wild with excitement. An overwhelmed Pasuma announces that the winner in the Fuji music category will be taken under his wings with a

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COVER

Sunny Ade and his band… The Ibadan crowd was very happy at the sight of watching the 71 year-old King Sunny Ade matching the dexterity of his dancers, step-by-step

Kwam 1 The Ulimate

recording contract on his label.

Onimama, a Diploma in Catering and Hotel Management holder from the Kwara State Polytechnic, who now wear the crown as the new Queen of Fuji music, reveals that belief in herself due to the inspiration she gets from her dad who is also a Fuji musician led her to choose music as both her passion and career. “I always watch my dad during rehearsals with his band while I was growing up, and it instilled the level of confidence and inspiration that has helped me in my own musical sojourn,” she says.

“Words cannot express my feelings at the moment but I know that Ariya Repete has changed my life for the better. I will never forget this day,” she further says.

Leye Williams, who is crowned that same night also makes history by being the first Juju artiste to win the cultural music talent hunt. He expressed his heartfelt gratitude to Goldberg and Nigerian Breweries for making the cultural contest an expanded music platform that also identifies with aspiring Juju artistes in Nigeria.

“I have not seen any other cultural music contest like Ariya Repete in the Southwest.

My story and victory is a testimony that Juju music is alive again and will be revived fully amongst the youths who aspire to promote our Juju musical heritage, courtesy of Goldberg,” he says.

Azeez Ajani and Wasiu Onilewura emerge first and second runners up in the Fuji category and cart away Seven Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira and Five Hundred Thousand Naira respectively, while Adeniyi Temitope and Yomi Bright emerge first and second runners-up in the Juju category and also go home with Seven Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira and Five Hundred Thousand Naira each.

Other contestants in both Fuji and Juju category who reach the final this year receive consolation prizes of One Hundred Thousand Naira each.

The Ibadan crowd is very happy at the sight of watching the 71 year-old King Sunny Ade matching the dexterity of his dancers, step-by-step. It is instructive that the organisers of Ariya Repete are alert to bring

KSA on the bill. For so many years, KSA has been associated with the ‘Ariya’ slogan. He has a series of recordings related with that title including; ‘Ariya is Unlimited’, ‘Sunny Ti De Ariya’, ‘Ariya’ and ‘Ariya Special’.

To crown it all, he named his defunct performance theatre, ‘Ariya Spot’.

The MC, Odunlade, makes a good job of his assignment, keeping contestants and celebrity performers within their allotted time. Even when he calls out to members of the audience to come on stage for a dance competition, he goes straight to the point and halts the gyration at the point where it creates a bigger longing in the audience. His professional handling of the show allows one activity to float smoothly into the next one in a seamless blend.

Not quite unexpected in an excited and restless crowd, who pay no heed to Pasuma’s earlier timely caution that they should drink responsibly, there are a few skirmishes but these are swiftly contained by the Nigeria Police working in concert with different private security firms.

Franco Maria Maggi, Marketing Director, Nigerian Breweries Plc congratulates the winners and implores them to be good ambassadors of the platform, Ariya Repete, which has brought them to the limelight.

“Congratulating you will not be enough, but I must enjoin you to be good ambassadors of this platform that seeks to discover and promote indigenous Yoruba music genres that has made you the newest Fuji and Juju superstars in Nigeria,” he says.

He challenges the other contestants to keep alive their dreams saying that they are all winners and must remain good ambassadors that should represent their musical passions in a positive light.

Fuji legend, King Wasiu Ayinde Marshal (KWAM1), uses the occasion to acknowledge the success of Ariya Repete in its maiden edition saying that Nigerian Breweries has proven her capability of growing an entire music industry in Nigeria.

“Thanks to those who have brought Fuji and Juju music back to reckoning,” he affirms.

Taye Currency

Leye Williams…. My story and victory is a testimony that Juju music is alive again and will be revived fully amongst the youths who aspire to promote our Juju musical heritage

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ JULY 30, 2017

‘LIVING IN DOMINION’ AT RHEMA CHAPEL INTERNATIONAL CHURCH, YABA, LAGOS

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ecently, Rhema Chapel International Church, National Headquarters Yaba, Lagos celebrated this year’s Father’s Day in colours with the theme :‘’Living in Dominion’’. The minister in charge, Pastor Caleb Ayinla, in the course of the special combined service urged fathers to always live in dominion as it’s not an option but the will of God concerning man. The church auditorium was filled to its capacity with worshippers and guests of the men fellowship Photograps by Kunle Ogunfuyi

Raphael Ebeh, Oluyinka Akinsola and Oluwadunsin Olufemi

Johnson Ikpo, Tunde Adedokun and Ifeanyi Gawo.

Dr. Tunde Adeniyi, Owolabi Ogunlaja and wife, Oluwatoyin.

David Oladele,Ladi Akinyele and Gbenga Oladipo

Francis Mojoyinola,Tony Olaleye and Kayode Oshunmakinde

Pastor Caleb Ayinla (7th from left) and fathers in the house

Pastor Caleb Ayinla and wife, Pastor Romoke

Francis Nwandu and Kingsley Billy

Samuel Alabi and Dolapo Takuro

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ JULY 30, 2017

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‘LIVING IN DOMINION’ AT RHEMA CHAPEL INTERNATIONAL CHURCH, YABA, LAGOS

Koko Uno, Ladi Olatunde and Kunle Adebayo

Mary Ajayi, Lola Mojoyinola and Jumoke Alabi

Meredieth Chimkwelu,Remi Olatunde and Blessing Martins

Michael Ezibue, John Aklah and Emeka Onuah

Scott Ikenye,Dimeji Agbabiaka and Christian Ike

Tomi Adebiyi, Oladele Adedoyin and Samuel Asoro

Kayode Oshunmakinde, Joe Azu and Michael Dumzo

Jumoke and Samuel Alabi with Joy and Tunji Adegbite

Segun Olowe and Femi Oluwatayo

Yemi Ajiboye and Peter Adetokunbo-Thomas

Titilala Oladotun,Funmi Akinsola,Olamijuwan Ajiboye,Bola Adebayoand Bola Edeh

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ARTS & REVIEW A

PUBLICATION

CURBING CONTROVERSY IN THE CREATIVE INDUSTRY PAGE 64

30.07.2017

“BRING BACK WHAT WAS ONCE MINE” Peju Alatise, Flying Girls, 2013 - 2016 (Detail)

EDITOR OKECHUKWU UWAEZUOKE/ okechukwu.uwaezuoke@thisdaylive.com

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JUL ͱͮ˜ Ͱͮͯ͵ ˾ THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER

ARTS & REVIEW\\VENICE BIENNALE

Victor Ehikhamenor, A Bioggraphy of the Forgotten, 2017

Peju Alatise, Flying Girls, 2013 - 2016

“BRING BACKWHATWAS ONC

How racial prejudice, a copycat controversy and the long-awaited outcome of a global terrorist kidnap incid with Nigeria’s historic presentation at the Venice Biennale. Ayodeji Rotinwa reports…

T

he opening of the first-ever Nigerian Pavilion at the 57th International Art Exhibition of the Venice Biennale was preceded by a series of unfortunate and unexpected events.

The Biennale is widely regarded as “the Olympics of visual arts”, ergo the biggest art exhibition in the world where 88 of the globe’s 196 nations are represented.

Recognising what was at stake and the power of first impressions, Nigeria sought to make an indelible one. It was to feature two visual artists Victor Ehikhamenor, Peju Alatise and a performance artist, Qudus Onikeku in an immersive exhibition and meditation on time: Nigeria’s past, present and future; titled, ‘How About NOW?’ curated by former accountant turned gallery owner, Adenrele Sonariwo.

Six weeks before the biennale opened, Nigeria lost its first exhibition space. Its two-year long, best-laid plans for its first biennale entry momentarily fell apart.

The landlady of the space, a white European woman, an artist and apparently a devout Christian had expressed reservations about Victor Ehikhamenor’s installation for the biennale titled, “A Biography of the Forgotten” What she was referring to is a proliferation of faces, objects and ancient writing systems rich in Edo symbolism and imagery, consistent in the artist’s work.

Ehikhamenor’s entire career has been an enduring homage of paintings, sculptures and perforations celebrating the artistic and spiritual traditions of his place of birth.

His installation for the Biennale was no different.

The landlady, however, thought his work represented prehistoric black magic.

She had included a clause in the lease contract with the project team organising the Nigerian exhibition that she had grounds to reject proposed work if it “does not conform to the principles of morality and or detrimental to the Christian religion and human dignity.”

She was to be the sole judge of these principles. She revoked lease.

Ehikhamenor is Christian.

“People that were producing work in Europe at the same Nigerians were producing art decided to label our own ‘primitive’ while theirs is called ‘classic’,” Ehikhamenor said to me per his motivations to create the installation he was presenting, two days after the project team learnt of the landlord’s decision.

The premise of Ehikhamenor’s installation is simple. It is a tapestry timeline of Nigerian and global art history, which seeks to update it.

“A Biography of the Forgotten” gives honour to the forgotten and admittedly nameless, faceless artists who were creating art for centuries, long before they were supposedly discovered by colonial powers and subject to one of the biggest yet unacknowledged art heists in history.

Ehikhamenor makes use of hundreds of miniature bronze heads created in Igun Street, a world heritage site and ancestral home of Benin bronze casters that exists till today. These bronze heads are exact replicas of larger works that sit in museums and private collections all over the world today. Ehikhamenor also includes mirrors in his installation, a historical symbol of violent and exploitative currency which was given by colonial powers in exchange for ablebodied men and women, acquired as slaves.

These decisions that Ehikhamenor takes in his work and the objects he uses are what the landlord believed to be voodoo, ‘detrimental to human dignity.’

Ehikhamenor believes that giving credit to whom it is due for the ancestral works that inspired his installation is an important gap to be filled. He believes that when left vacant, ownership and history of such works can be assumed by someone else.

The weekend before the Pavilion opening, this was the case albeit in startling circumstances no one saw coming.

After a hectic two weeks of installing in a new space, Scoletta di Battioro Campo San Stae, (miraculously found by the project team’s determined Venetian agents) Ehikhamenor needed a break. The installation was especially difficult because the artist had been creating work to fit with the exact floor plan measurements and dimensions of the first space that

was lost. The new space was significantly smaller and Ehikhamenor’s installation had to be completely redrafted.

To relax, he decided to go see Damien Hirst’s exhibition, “Treasure from the Wreck of the Unbelievable” showing at the Palazzo Grassi for the duration of the Venice Biennale. The title of the exhibition should have been ominous. One of the works exhibited was a golden replica of the ancestral Ife head created by Yoruba artists of South-West Nigeria. Surprisingly, on all commercial items connected to the exhibition: catalogue and post cards that viewers would take away as mementos, no credit was given as to the origin of the work.

“For the thousands of viewers seeing this for the first time, they won’t think Ife, they won’t think Nigeria,” Ehikhamenor wrote in a social media post critiquing the work that would later ignite a global controversy firestorm. “Their young ones will grow up to know this work as Damien Hirst’s.”

“We need more biographers of our forgotten,” he concluded.

On the same day, Ehikhamenor discovered Hirst’s unbelievable omission in Venice, incredible news out of Abuja, Nigeria’s capital was making global headlines.

Eighty-two of the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapped by terrorist group, Boko Haram had been freed. In April 2014, over 200 girls preparing for examinations had been snatched from their boarding school dormitories by the group, its most brazen move till date, in its ideological and violent war against Westernisation.

Women being educated is evidently one of its high-ranking taboos.

Nigerian Pavilion exhibiting artist Peju Alatise, a self-acclaimed feminist and girl-child activist was presenting an installation, “Flying Girls” that advocates fiercely and directly against events such as the Chibok girls kidnapping.

“The life of the girl child is like a disposable napkin and it is upsetting to me,” She said in an interview describing her

state of mind that led to the installation being conceptualised.

“Flying Girls” is based on the story of Sim, a nine-year old girl who works as a domestic servant in Lagos. All the while, she dreams of an alternate world where she belongs to no one but herself and can fly. The installation is also a hopeful, hyperbolic gesture, call for attention in a larger context to the general plight of the girl child in Nigeria. In the Nigerian constitution, it is legal for girls to be married and bear children before they turn 18. Also, girls are routinely used as shields and bargaining chips by Boko Haram in their war against the Nigerian state.

Alatise desperately wants a future world where this is no longer the case, where girls are allowed to soar as high as they please on the wings of ambition, education and protection from those who seek to harm, use and exploit them.

When I pointed out to Alatise, the coincidental and almost prophetic timing of the girls’ release with the presentation of her installation to the world, she said, “We do not speak in vain.”

Temporarily wrecked plans, curiously timed events notwithstanding, the pavilion and the show went on. A believer in the designs of fate might suggest that Nigeria’s participation in the Venice Art Biennale was destined to happen NOW, exactly when it did, in response to and for much needed amplification of the events that preceded it and that it addressed.

As if to drum this point home, the urgency of actions in the present, Qudus Onikeku presented a film trilogy “of contemplation, poetry and engagement” titled, “Right Here, Right Now,” a piece he began working on in December 2016, long before any of the aforementioned events happened.

“I’m not interested in the present, I’m interested in the now,” said Onikeku in an interview with Hyperallergic, a digital art publication. “The present is concerned with the past, but the now is so powerful that it doesn’t have time to think about the past, it’s grabbing at the future. That’s when dance becomes so interesting, it’s constantly inventing the now.”

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ARTS & REVIEW\\

The Inverted Pyramid; Adapted from a novel by Emeka Dike

CE MINE�

dent all coincided ‘positively’ For Onikeku, whose dance draws energy from Yoruba spirituality, “now� is the most opportune moment: to trigger memory, to awaken consciousness, to free the body from the negative history and legacy it is burdened by: like that of the Nigerian girl child, or descendants of 18th Century Benin artists, erased from history.

The global art world has responded overwhelmingly to these alchemy of events that preceded the opening of the Nigerian Pavilion, and more so, to the works exhibited within.

Onikeku who performed at the opening of the Pavilion and in an encore days later, is still receiving requests via the Pavilion project team to perform again.

The pavilion has been ranked on nearly a dozen must-see pavilion lists by leading global arts media from ArtNet to Architectural Digest. It has been critically reviewed by the New York Times, Artsy as an excellent group showing. Rumour has it that one of the exhibiting artists’ installations may soon make a new home for itself in the collection of the Smithsonian Museum of African Art. Ultimately, as was the lead curator, Adenrele Sonariwo’s intention, Nigeria has NOW without a doubt taken its place in the global narrative of contemporary art. Notably, at first and considering all that happened before the Pavilion opened, she did not know what hand the country would be dealt next. “Being the first time we were showing and constraints faced, we were not sure what to expect, how the works would be received. We just worked on putting together the best show we could,� she said. “I suppose the work resonated as it did because our pavilion was speaking in real time to events, developments relevant to NOW.�

With that and a little luck, the rest has been literally, history. ––The title of this article is not original to the author. It is taken from the lyrics of Tangled, an American, computer-animated ďŹ lm.

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CURBING CONTROVERSY IN THE CREATIVE INDUSTRY Yinka Olatunbosun

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hen the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed recently visited the Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON) House in Lagos, his declared intention was to reaffirm his commitment to the creative sector while protecting the rights of the stakeholders. But the visit is a proof that good intentions are not enough, creative people long for more. The social media was set ablaze by a statement credited to the Minister that very soon, all Nigerian music videos and films shot abroad by Nigerian producers will not be aired in Nigeria by the powers vested in the Nigerian broadcasting code.

Popular artists such as P-square, Jude Okoye, Yemi Alade, Ruggedman, amongst others reacted immediately. They kicked against the idea, insisting that the code will affect the industry negatively as the country currently lacks the right infrastructure for world-class video shoot. Some of the artists even went to the length of referring to the medical tourism boom amongst serving public officials, citing it as an example of why ban on foreign video production will not be a fair adjudication of justice or right-thinking.

The artists seemed to be missing one point in this whole argument, which is the fact that for the first time in a long while, the country has a minister of Information and Culture who is deeply interested in the affairs of the creative people.

For one, he is the first minister to visit the COSON House. Also he puts the creative people all under an umbrella, to deliberate and chart new paths for the sector which is the most probable source of revenue generation after crude oil. Prior to the twoday conference held at Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, the Minister gathered a handful of creative industry people to a creative roundtable in Lagos in anticipation of the larger conference. Parts of the issues discussed are how creative people can have access to finance, work with regulatory institutions, benefit from government incentives, and secure the enforcement of laws protecting intellectual property. It was not a surprise that he was awarded “Copyright Medal of Honour”.

Asides the controversial broadcasting code, the Minister declared that efforts are geared to give the industry a pioneer status so it can qualify for such incentives as tax holidays and waivers, especially of customs duties on the equipment for film and music production, amongst others. It was a necessary move given the background to our present creative landscape built by solely by creative entrepreneurs.

Many artists were angry that the government is currently interested in what the industry can offer with less demonstra-

Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun and Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed tion of what the government can and should do for the sector. Most movie and music producers single-handedly battled piracy, while many have abandoned the fight and settled for whatever they can get at movie premieres and live performances. But now, they envisage a scenario where the government will initiate a regulation that will benefit the national treasury while creative people will continue to depend on epileptic power, power generators, craters-ridden roads, demanding touts and other prevalent conditions in most cities in Nigeria.

During a post-conference media briefing, the Minister clarified the issues surrounding his proposed amendment to the broadcasting code saying that there is no ban on foreign production of music videos and movies.

“If the programme is a Nigerian content programme, the programme must be produced in Nigeria. We cannot continue to develop the economy of other parts of the world without developing ours,” he said.

The Minister said the conference was full of robust discus-

sions with the aim of bridging the gap between government regulators and stakeholders.

IT experts and financiers were also part of the discourse on financing the industry.

To make clear that the conference was not just another talk shop, the Minister invited 20 people to invest $50,000 each in upcoming artists for the $1million dollar venture capital.

Meanwhile, in future deliberations, it will be instructive to bring the Minister of power to the discussion. As long as Nigeria grapples with power outage, with no apologies to the consumers, many creative people will go abroad for their productions.

While some artists made valid arguments about shooting videos outside the home country as a global trend, it constitutes national concern because it is a fad among many artists to shoot music videos outside Nigeria. Starting off with Nigerian-made videos, most artists “migrate” after a few hits.

The proposed broadcasting code may indeed raise the bar local content productions which is actually rich with the likes of television series such as Jenifa's Diary, Bukas & Joints, and more.

BOOK REVIEW

Lagos in One Creative Capsule Yinka Olatunbosun Itmaysoundlikeaclichétosaythattwoheads arebetterthanonebuttherealityofthissaying liesinanewpublicationaboutLagoswhichwas spearheadedbytwoveteranartsandculture editorsinLagos,AkeemLasisiandKabirAlabi Garba.Titled,PhenomenalLagos,thebookisa detailedcatalogueon50iconicplacesinAfrica's mostpopulouscity.Unlikemanypublications aboutLagos,thisbookcircumventseverycommunityinLagosanditssuburbs,andfragments thecontentintosubheadingssuchasWaterbodies,Monuments,RecreationOutpost,Infrastructure,Heritage,Institutions;Trade,Commerceand Othersaswellasthehistoricalnarrativesbehind populartownsandsettlements.

ManyLagosresidentsareoblivioustotherich culturalheritagethatthestatepossesses.Asides thepopulartouristsspotsontheIslandandthe Mainland,manyhavebeenconsumedwiththe dailydemandsoflivinginabusycitysomuch thattheculturallifeeludesthem.Hence,the bookservesastheliterarytourguidetonavigate thecityatthereader’sconvenience.

WithitsforwardwrittenbytheVice-Chancellor,LagosStateUniversity, Prof.OlanrewajuA. Fagbohun,thebookissituatedinthecontext ofintellectualrelevance.AstheProfessor rightlyobserved,someoftheenlistedplaces arepersonified.InLasisi'spoeticinterpretation ofLagos,thereaderenjoystechniquesoflyrical compositionssuchassymbolism,pun,metaphor, simile,hyperboleandculturalreferences.Lasisi’s poetryislikeapendulumswing,oscillating fromhumoroustographic,nonetheless,very instructive.Thepoetrycomplimentsthe explanatorynotesineverychapterbothinlength andcontent.Inmostcases,thepoetryisdivided intothreeorfourverses,fillingupthedetailsthat cannotbeexpressedinasimpleorcomplexsentence.Poetryiskeptatitsbest,originalformof servingasasocialandpoliticalcommentary.For instance,inthepoetrycomposedfortheNigerian StockExchange,thepoetfoundanexusbetween

thecreativesectorandthefinancialinstitution, bringingtobearhiswealthofknowledgeofthe currentdiscourseonhowthecreativeindustry canbeaneconomicforcetoreckonwithascrude oilpriceplummets.

Thepoet’sremarksonEkoHotelandSuites

brooksnodebates.

Hewrites:“Ifyou don’tswiminapool, youwillswimin wines.”Theimagery inthosewordsis veryprofoundfor anyonewhohas observedtheview atthehotelfrom thereceptionarea, glancingbelowat theguestswho seeksomeform ofescapism,beit inliquororwater immersion.The hotelisalsopersonifiedasamodelto reinstateitsbeauty andimposing status.

Likeanycapsule, withbothcaps intertwined,both writersblendtheir wealthofexperiencetogetherto createaninformed documentationof thecity’sunique landmarks.Without thenotesinthe chapterthatgives thebackgroundto eachiconicplace, someofthereferencesmadebythe poetcouldwellbe lostonthereader.

Intheprologue, writtenbytheCommissionerforInformationand Strategy,SteveAyorinde,thecompendiumisa statesouvenirforthecelebrationofLagosat50.

Thepoeticversesforthe50monumentsexist alsoinaudioandvisualformattocapturethe performancepoetrysideofthehistoriceffort.

Essentially,thetoneofthebookiscelebratory,reflectingthespiritofLagosatthetime ofdocumentation.ForthepieceonAgege Stadium,itisanoratureoftriumph.Butthe tasteofthepuddingisintheeatingforanyone whohasreliedonthestate-ownedmedical facilities.That’sthethoughtthatwouldlikely playinthemindsofthereadersof“Ayinke House”.

Thepoet'simageryin“BlackHeritage Museum”isquitegraphic,capableofevoking one'sempathywhatwiththementionofthe soundsofwhipsandotherartefactsthatare pointerstothedarkpastepisodesoftransAtlanticslavery.

Althoughthereisnochapterbrandedas “thealmostforgotten”,thereareseveral monumentsthatqualifytobeclassifiedas such.TheseincludetheMurtalaMuhammed MemorialBotanicalGarden,SungboForest,Iga Idunganran,NationalMuseumandLordLugard House.

Nodoubt,themakingofthisbookisa scholarlyprojectwhichledtowritersawayfrom theirvariousnewsroomstopubliclibraries, LagosStaterecordsandArchivesBureau (LASRAB)andwellasonlinesources.

PhenomenalLagosadvertisesLagosandits resourceslikenootherbookinitscategorywith thenumberandnatureofpicturesthathad beenincluded.Acaseinpointisthepicturein “EpeFishMarket”whichiscapableofigniting kitchenconversationsonthevariousmeals thatthe“catch”canserve.Inaddition,someof thenewlyre-constructedpartsofthecityare showcasedwhilethepopularspotswhichare hardlycrystallisedinprintformsforspecial readsarepartoftheLagosstory.

Thepieceon“KakawaStreet”shouldbeof interesttoeveryjournalistasittellsonthe surfaceofthehistoryofnewspaperbutmore importantly,itunearthstheroleofthemedia inpro-democraticera.Itshouldinitiatenew conversationsonhowthemediaprofessioncan berepositionedasatrustedgaugeofpopular opinionandasocietalwatchdog.

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CICERO

Editor Olawale Olaleye Email wale.olaleye@thisdaylive.com, SMS: 08116759819

IN THE ARENA

As Constitution Undergoes Another Amendment Process...

Some of the proposed amendments to the 1999 constitution by the National Assembly are long overdue and instructive, writes Olawale Olaleye

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t appears the recent 3-day retreat by all the nation’s legislatures – both state and federal – in Lagos and chaired by the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, has begun to yield positive vibes. The retreat, which according to Ekweremadu, adopted what he described as incremental approach to the amendment exercise by taking the contentious issues in their respective bits and dealing with them differently for amendment purposes, was clearly well thought out for effectiveness.

Apart from concluding work on between 23 and 25 distinct bills, which appear to address some of the pressing critical questions, the Senator Bukola Saraki leadership of the Senate has also started to consider some of the proposals via voting last week, with a view to reassuring the people that it was not out to play with the amendment process this time.

Thus, in the week that just ended, the Senate took certain decisive steps, which showed its readiness and commitment to a fruitful amendment exercise through the commencement of voice vote on some of the bills.

Whilst the talks about usual horse-trading among the senators and the likely division along regional lines were not as evident, the Senate seems not to be taking this assignment with levity.

With focus on 33 bills that were reviewed from the report of the constitution review committee, the Senate swung into action last week and settled this phase of the process. Some of the crucial bills are Land Use Act, granting financial and administrative autonomy to local governments, the affirmative action for women, the independent candidacy, age restriction for elective office and the bid to separate the Office of the Attorney General from that of the Minister of Justice for starters, the push for amendment to the 1999 constitution has taken off on a good note.

Through a yes vote, the Senate already favoured autonomy for the local governments in many respects including having the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) conduct future council elections, effectively taking the local government control away from the grip of the governors.

Another interesting proposal is the one that seeks to compel presidents and governors to attach portfolios to the names of their nominees for appointment either as ministers or commissioners before sending same to the legislature for confirmation, not later than 30 days from inauguration. This is also very profound as this constitutional lacuna has been abused time and time again by the executive.

The amendment on the time timeframe within which a governor or president will be able to assent to a bill is also good for the polity. Section 58 only stipulates

the passing of a bill and sent to the president for assent within 30 days. But the law did not state what will happen if after 30 days the president fails to assent to it. But the amendment proposal now stipulates a time frame. If the president refuses to sign or withholds his assent within 30 days, it automatically becomes law.

As a corollary, another proposal also treats the issue of the timeframe within which the president can authorise expenditure from the revenue fund of the federation or state as the case may be in the case of governors, where they have to pass appropriation bills.

The present constitution stipulates six months but the proposal is suggesting three. This is sure to enhance the budgeting process, both at the federal and state level.

The vote for independent candidacy and a review of the age restrictions for elective offices, which pegs the presidency at 35 years, is heartwarming. It shows the seriousness of the legislature to help build the nation in spite of their shortcomings.

The suggestion for the separation of the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) from that of the office of the minister of Justice remains a critical amendment proposal that would help foster a much effective federal system as well as deepen the country’s democracy by insulating the chief law officer of the federation from politics. Although debate on this promises to be stiff, in the long run, the state turns out better than it has been.

To say that this particular amendment exercise is very important is trite. With the current state of the nation and a lot resting on the constitution despite some of its complex interpretations, the nation’s legislature must therefore be thorough and circumspect in this particular exercise. The idea of item-by-item amendment is quite commendable so that each of the bills can either survive or fizzle out with the process on their own without having to waste time on the entire exercise, especially that a major election year is due soon. And so far, the ayes are having it!

P O L I T I CA L N OT E S

Takeaways from Lagos LG Polls

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ome women believed to be loyal to Accord Party, on Tuesday, protested half-naked against the July 22 local government elections in Lagos State at the office of the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC).

The crux of their protest was that the election was manipulated and of course, indicted the LASIEC authority as culpable in the alleged ‘arm-twisting of the electorate’.

But away from their comedy, it is common knowledge that an overwhelming apathy characterised the July 22, local government elections in the state and it strongly indicated how the people generally see the closest tier of government in the Nigerian context. Not only were

people uninterested in the voting exercise, they probably had no clue which candidate was fielded for what post and in which council. That was quite unfortunate!

Moving forward, it is arguable now that the local government administration in the country generally requires some thorough review that would not only guarantee a degree of autonomy to enable them function effectively. It must also ensure that they are not just referred to as the closest to the people, the people’s interest in what goes on at that level of governance must reflect so. But the recent council elections in Lagos were no less a disappointment. It was simply business as usual and the cycle goes on.

Ambode

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BRIEFINGNOTES

Obiano: Alone On a Lonely Road The Anambra State governorship election is due in November of this year and the lone governor of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, Chief Willy Obiano, appears to be walking a dangerously lonely road amid niggling intra-party malcontents. Olawale Olaleye writes

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s it is in most climes, the re-election of Governor Willy Obiano of Anambra State is contingent on two distinct headers: governance and politics. Although there is already a swirling belief and which appears so that he hasn’t done badly on the first, which is governance, however, his politics has been dismissed on several occasions and in different quarters as both appalling and defective and sadly, it is believed to have been compounded by his seemingly poor disposition to the media.

Curiously, Anambra is not an easy turf, politically and it would take more than the sheer grandstanding of the incumbent or mere reliance on the weight of it to win an election. Tougher political heavy weights in the state had tried their hands on the seat a few times but ended up biting their tongue. Not only is Anambra politics complex and largely unpredictable, it usually throws up surprises at the least expected junctures, often proving bookmakers and pollsters wrong.

Thus, in November, when Anambra will go to the poll, Obiano will be out to fight the battle of his life, first to defend his first half of four years and justify whether or not his performance can earn him the other half. Then, he would go a step further to defend by also explaining how he had been able to balance the politics of governance with the business of governance in a politically savvy but volatile environment like Anambra.

The truth as being spoken on the streets is that Obiano had put up some good showing in terms of performance, relatively. This, perhaps, could be responsible for the array of endorsements he has been receiving from different institutions, groups, clans and persons in the state. But this too cannot explain why and how he fell out so quickly with his leader, godfather and benefactor, former Governor Peter Obi, who pulled all the brakes to make him governor. This curious ‘balancing act’ is the result that Obiano seeks as he faces the battle for re-election.

What is his score card like? In the area of security, the Obiano administration is believed to have improved what he met on the ground. With a successful war against kidnappers, armed robbers, drug-dealers and child-traffickers and other related vices, Obiano brought relative peace to the state, by effectively equipping the police.

One of the hallmarks of the Obiano administration is in the area of road construction. In over three years, he has built and maintained many roads and bridges in the state, with three flyovers in Awka. He has also built two bridges and a five-cell culvert in Awgbu-NdiukwuenuAwa-Ufuma axis, complemented by some over 102 asphalted roads.

His healthcare system is also enviable. He has hitherto added new units to the Onitsha General Hospital and built a helipad for air ambulances in the event of emergency. He has built blocks of houses as Isolation Units in the event of epidemics, designated as the Centre for Tropical Disease Control.

His government is in partnership with the Rise Health Incorporation of America to strengthen rural health delivery in the state. From this partnership came a specialist organisation known as the Anambra Business Coalition (ABC) through which the Orumba General Hospital has been refurbished and equipped to deliver world class medical services to the people of Orumba North and South. The ABC has also set up an ultramodern Rise Clinic in Adazi Ani and Onitsha respectively for quality healthcare to the people, even as it is working towards achieving a comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme for

Obiano...the battle of his life

the state.

Under Obiano’s administration, the welfare of workers is considered top priority and that was why he reportedly increased the salary of workers by 15 per cent in 2015, interestingly at a time many states would rather seek bailouts. Apart from having cleared the N1.9 billion arrears of salaries owed the State Water Corporation staff, he has also paid off the approximately N1 billion pension owed local government retirees and inherited by his administration.

In the last two years, the Obiano administration had attempted to change the urban transportation system in the state by initiating the modern mass transit scheme that covers the three major cities in the state with 200 brand new taxis and 40 luxurious buses. To follow this up was the construction of modern bus stops and bus terminal in strategic parts of the state. This part of the idea was expanded to include marine transport with 24 speedboats and water ambulances and one gunboat for the Nigerian navy. With this, access to the riverine communities in the state is being opened to ensure that no part of the state is cut off.

But while all these are worthy of note, enough to calm nerves and reassure the governor of a re-election, having diligently covered the business of governance, the politics of it is more complicated than what it seems.

For starters, Obiano is often accused of poor financial management. His predecessor, Obi, allegedly left over N75 billion for him in the state coffers, but he was alleged of “squandering” same, while seeking to borrow more money from banks and the bond market.

One of his political failures was located in his manner of appointment. A majority of the appointments in his government were believed to have tilted towards his Aguleri constituency.

The same accusation is being visited on his handling of projects. A few of the projects believed to have been started by his predeces-

sor had also been abandoned, as critics often cite the Agulu Lake hotel as an example.

Talk about education, Anambra State, which used to come first in Senior Secondary Certificate Examinations (SSCE) during the Obi administration has gone down the ranking ladder with Obiano as governor. Obiano has been rated poorly in the area of Agriculture too. There is said to be little or no policy in agriculture by the administration. Projects like the Coscharis Farms and some others are some sort of partnership with some private firms, but not doing well either.

In the area of Oil and gas, the Obi regime was widely reported to have attracted Orientoil and worked for the inclusion of Anambra as one of the oil producing states.

But the incumbent is being tagged as having failed to build on this feat. And this is evident in the fact that the state has not been able to start receiving the 13 per cent derivation fund for oil producing states, almost four years after former President Goodluck Jonathan approved Anambra as an oil producing state.

This is being attributed to Obiano’s inability to lobby and constrictively engage the federal government on the subject matter.

Now, the Obi Factor…

There is clearly no let down in the political rivalry between Obiano and Obi. Rather, it is getting messier, not with the principals, but more of a proxy war being fought through their aides, a majority of whom had strived hard to outdo each other in the media, sometimes over mundane issues. Whilst Obiano and Obi had tried to keep theirs under wrap by putting up faces in public, the development has no doubt heightened tension in the state as well as hardened the texture of the atmosphere.

But really, what are the issues? It is important to state that the core of their disagreement can be located, first, in the actual amount of money Obi claimed he left for the governor. Then,

with time, the issues were made to appear as if it was purely a development debate such as the flyover bridges being built by the present government, but which some people in Obi’s camp were quick to describe as sheer waste of resources, coupled with the lifestyle of the governor which they describe as both wasteful and ostentatious.

What could have further compounded the overt discontent between them has been Obi’s constant visibility in the state. Obi’s regular presence in the state is believed to be deliberate and creating huge discomfort for the administration because of his larger than life image in a state he ruled for eight years.

But with election fast inching closer, there is the fear that Obi’s influence might stand in the way of the governor’s chances for re-election, especially when they could not tell what meetings he has been holding even if they could tell with whom. And to exacerbate their anxiety, Obi, just like he did in the twilight of his administration, has been making donations to schools and hospitals, ostensibly to enable them upgrade their infrastructure. But a majority of the people, particularly those in the Obiano camp sees it differently. They claimed it was a subtle ploy to undermine the popularity of the governor as well as water down his influence in the election.

Insinuations such as this had forced Obi to speak out on the alleged discomfort his presence in the state creates for the government when he said at a recent public function in Oraifite, Ekwusigo local government area, that Obiano has no legal right to prevent him from visiting the state or airing his opinion about the state. According to the former governor, it would be disastrous if Anambra degenerated into a dictatorial society under a democracy and insisted that he would continue to uphold the tenets of democracy and decency.

But it was not going to end there. The seemingly bitter rivalry soon extended to the various town unions of the two gladiators. For example, Agulu in Anaocha Local Government Area is defending Obi, their son, while the Aguleri people in Anambra East Local Government are always solidly behind their own son and incumbent governor, Obiano.

After all, it is their right to defend him.

As the Race Toughens Up… The election is four months away and the road is too lethal and treacherous for a loner like Obiano. Although Obi too was more or less a loner while in office and fought a string of intra-party battles, however, close to the election, he compromised on many grounds and even dined with the devil just to have his way, especially the need to get Obiano into office.

Not only that, he equally played some “filthy national politics” just to secure the support of the Jonathan presidency and firmly establish his grounds as he went into the election and it all worked in his favour.

It is not clear now how much of horse-trading Obiano is doing. It was easier for Obi to get Obiano into office, because both of them were together as a tact team. Today, they are practically not together, even though Obiano enjoys a much peaceful party structure being held down for him by a political juggernaut, Chief Victor Oye, who too has suffered molestation of sorts as a result of his support for Obiano.

Make no mistake, the election is not going to be a walkover for Obiano or an easy grab by the opposition. At the very least, it is a free-for-all despite the weight of incumbency the governor enjoys. But it is not too late to make up and bring everyone on board. He could strike some last minutes deal with his avowed enemies and get everyone on board, if only to win. Otherwise, walking this lonely road to re-election might be tougher than he can ever imagine!

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CICERO/REPORTS

Ayodele Fayose (Ekiti), Akinwunmi Ambode (Lagos), Ibikunle Amosun (Ogun), Rotimi Akeredolu (Ondo), Rauf Aregbesola (Osun) and Abiola Ajimobi (Oyo) after the meeting in Abeokuta, Ogun State...recently

A Boding S’West Partnership The six governors of the South-west states, last week, gathered in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital to review their commoninterestsonthedevelopmentoftheregionthrougheconomicandpoliticalintegration,writes Sheriff Balogun

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ast Monday, governors of the six states in the South-west converged on Abeokuta, Ogun State, where they unfolded plans to initiate a 25 year Western Nigeria Development Master Plan, with a view to fast-tracking development in the region. The event tagged: ‘Economic Self-Determination For Western Nigeria: The Export Alternative’ was held under the umbrella of Development Agenda for Western Region Commission (DAWN), aimed at initiating a Joint Task Force and Joint Action that could be pursued and sustained on security threat to governance, safety of lives, property and prosperity of the people of the region.

At the meeting were all the six governors from the zome.

They are Senator Ibikunle Amosun (Ogun), who incidentally was the host, Akinwunmi Ambode (Lagos), Senator Abiola Ajimobi (Oyo), Rauf Aregbesola (Osun), Ayo Fayose (Ekiti) and Rotimi Akeredolu, SAN, (Ondo).

Hinting at this, the Ondo governor said the meeting transcended political interest in the region, adding that “development agenda for South-west Nigeria is a great idea, when the governors meet to discuss issues of common interest.

It is a great task for all of us. We have great challenges and we must be prepared to face these challenges. United we stand, divided we fall.”

Thus, the thrust of the gathering was basically on the development of South-west zone – the economic and political integration of Southwest – to combat the menace of herdsmen attacks, kidnapping and cultism among other vices that pose huge threats to the lives and property of the people in the region.

The governors in their opening remarks, however, lamented the splitting of the Old Western Nigeria into states by the federal government during the era of state creation, which they jointly said it had not only robbed them of oneness, but also hampered the region’s pace of socio-economic development.

Declaring the event opened, Amosun recalled that the landmark achievements of the region were recorded in Yoruba land when it was under one regional economic umbrella during the time of the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, as the Premier of the Western Region but advised that the time had come for them to unite, promote and re-enact the pre-eminence and achievements of the South-west in the Nigerian Federation.

According to him, the onerous task on the hands of the South-west governors today is to lead the people to further prosperous living and ‘Economic Self-Determination for South-West Nigeria.’

“As a region, it is important that we promote the preeminence and achievements of the South-west in the Nigerian

Federation. This in reference and in particular to the greatness we have achieved as a people, when we were together as a Regional Government in Nigeria.

“We will recall those laudable feats made us the envy of other regions. Time and space will, definitely, not permit me to begin to list the giant leaps that the South-west took as a Region between 1957 and 1967 particularly under the leadership of the late sage, Chief Jeremiah Obafemi Awolowo.

“Permit me to list a few. We have physical infrastructure such as the Cocoa House at Ibadan, which was aptly named after the source of its funding; the Agodi Secretariat at Ibadan; and the different roads that connect our towns and cities some of which are still standing the test of time. We also have the educational infrastructure of which we are still benefitting from today.

“Indeed, many of us seated in this room are beneficiaries of the Free Education Programme of that time. It is the same Free Education Programme that culminated in the establishment of a University that was once the most beautiful campus in Sub-Sahara Africa, the then University of Ife, and now appropriately named the Obafemi Awolowo University, at Ile-Ife. “We cannot also forget the economic infrastructure. We have the O’odua Group as the umbrella Investment House for the commercial enterprise of the Region such as the Sketch Publication; the Wemabod Estates; the Lafia Hotels; the Premier Hotel at Ibadan; the Area J4 Forest Reserve, etc.

“However, the creation of States from the old Western Region in 1976, which should have been an impetus for further socio-economic development have been allowed to create artificial boundaries between our people.

“And, to further worsen the situation, some of our people are also making themselves available as instruments of division, because of their selfish political gains. The consequence is that our people begin to see themselves as a people of one state or the other rather than as a sub-unit of the entity of the Yoruba people.

“This is not without its attendant challenges of intra and inter-State boundary disputes, which have worsened security in some states and, hampered socio-economic development.

Instead of building bridges, some of our people are digging trenches for protection against their own brothers and sisters.

“My dear brothers, the onerous task on our hands is to lead our people to further prosperous living. That is why the chosen Agenda for this meeting ‘Economic Self-Determination for South-west Nigeria’ with special focus on ‘South-Western Nigeria Export Initiative’ is very apt.

“Instead of the bowl-in–hand practice that each of the states seeks from the Federal Allocation, the time has come for us to map out strategies to harness the natural resources of the entire

Although this is not the first time that the South-west or any other region at that in the country would be coming together to foster cooperation in collective regional interest, inability to see it through to a logical end, either by way of personal disagreement or political differences, has consistently been the bane.

Perhaps, something will change this time that the South-west governors appear more committed. But that debate can only wait until the initiative begins to manifest with evident indices of genuine cooperation towards the economic and political growth of the region

Region for further socio-economic development of the Southwest region as a whole and for more prosperity for our people.

“One of such approaches is to identify the export potential of the region. This will bring not just more revenue but also increase the availability of foreign currencies, which will, by extension make the region a stronger player on the international market stage.

“We can do this by exploring and strengthening the different areas of comparative advantage of our states, which will then be pooled together for further development of the different states and the entire region as a whole. We have seen it done as a region before, so it is not as if it cannot be done. All we need is the will and commitment to make it happen.”

Aregbesola, in his remarks, said the Old Western Nigeria recorded greater feats when it operated as a single state than what obtained today as six states.

“If we look critically at the achievements we have as singular state of Western Region, we must be mindful of the fact that as singular state then, we achieved more than now when we are divided into six states. We must identify our strengths, unify those strengths and explore the strength for the benefit of our people. We use the development to galvanise our potential,” Aregbesola said.

Ajimobi held that there were gains to be tapped from the numerical strength of the Yoruba people, stressing that should the six South-west states elect to pull together, they would amount to over 60 million population and fit to become a country.

“I will like to plead for not only inter-governmental relationship but also inter-personal relationship. Six of us combined, we are talking about more than 60 million people and that is more than a country. We are also talking of landmass of 60km square. With that, we can stand as a mini country. If you look at each state in South-west, if we make use of the potential available to us, we are bigger than many countries in the world.

“We are as a region very formidable. We must not only talk it, we must act it. We reinstate and reinvigorate the concept of Omoluabi. Success is not money but character and industry,” he said.

Briefly, Ambode said he aligned with the economic and political integration of South-west states as espoused by his colleagues, explaining that it was of great significance to the nation.

On his part, Fayose said “I want to align myself fully with the development agenda of South-west. The forum represents the interest of all us in Yoruba nation. It called for cooperation and collaboration of all the governors to make success of the region.

Meanwhile, the communiqué issued at the end of the forum titled ‘Self Determination for Western Nigeria’ submitted that “the Western Nigeria hereby declared zero tolerance to crimes”.

According to the communiqué, “DAWN is directed to develop a 25-year-old Western Nigeria Development Master Plan. That a Joint Task Force and Joint Action will be pursued and sustained on security threat to governance, safety of lives, property and prosperity of the people of the region.

“That Western Nigeria hereby declares a zero tolerance to crimes; that the artificial boundary of states, religion and political affiliation will not be a barrier to regional development.

All the states are encouraged to significantly improve bilateral and multilateral cooperation to foster regional development.

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CICERO/ISSUE

An Avoidable Scuffle over NHIS At a period when the relationship between the executive and legislature is at its lowest ebbs, the current brawl between some members of the House of Representatives and the Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole, over an official decision taken at the National Health Insurance Scheme, is not only avoidable but can be better managed, writes James Emejo

O

n June 22, the House of Representatives Committee on Health Care Services launched an investigation to ascertain the “compliance rate of the Health Management Organisations (HMOs), to the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) contributions and utilisation of funds by health care providers and inhumane treatment of enrollees”, following a resolution of the House on a motion urging probe of the scheme.

Then Executive Secretary of NHIS, Prof. Yusuf Usman, who was present at the public hearing had indicated that about 59 HMOs do not have operating licenses since December last year, noting that their reaccreditation ought to have commenced since July. Usman, in a rare show of courage by a chief executive, exposed alleged fraud being perpetrated by operators in the scheme, and regretted that the HMOs had never been made to account for their stewardship in the past 12 years.

He noted that “More than 70 new born babies and over a 100 women die daily from avoidable mortality, even though they are on the scheme. Millions die across the states and there seemed not to be time to fight these anomalies until now. When I came to the agency, I saw the potential and I felt the NHIS should perform its duties of helping vulnerable Nigerians to access quality health care.

“The number of Nigerians covered by the NHIS after 12 years is 1.5 per cent of the population. Countries like Kenya and Rwanda have achieved better health care delivery without HMOs and health care financing in Nigeria is nothing but a huge fraud. I know all these things because I signed the cheques and nobody has been brought to book in the last 12 years. If you want to hear the truth, hear it from me today, because my way of making the scheme work is to hold the HMOs accountable.

“We are told that they are powerful and untouchable, because they are owned by some powerful Nigerians, but I have news for you that I’m here to rock the boat. We must sink this boat of corruption that has killed the health care sector of our country.”

He didn’t stop there. Continuing, he said: “Honourable members, these people are your constituents, and these guys operating the HMOs owe them huge money. The NHIS is supposed to enhance the standard of health care delivery and crash the cost of health care in Nigeria, but covering just 1.5 per cent of Nigerians in 12 years, have we achieved the objective?

“Now, I went round and demanded that HMOs pay back monies collected without service delivered, or I delist them, and as I speak to you right now, over 95% of the debt has been recouped by the NHIS, and as we speak, there are no HMOs in Nigeria. And we are going to re- accredit all the HMOs in July and when you apply to manage a hospital, I must get a letter of non-indebtedness from the chief medical director of that hospital before you are hired.

“We gave them N37billion just for administrative fees.

Patients go to the hospitals and are treated like lepers because the HMOs have not paid the providers. I had to stop it, and they took me to court, EFCC and ICPC, saying that I must be made to reverse to status quo. What should be the status quo, when you hold on to administrative fees and capitation?”

He, therefore, urged members of the committee to audit the HMOs with a view to finding out how many Nigerians had been deprived of their rights to quality health care.

Prof. Adewole, the Health Minister

Yusuf, ES, NHIS

However, during the hearing, Minister of Health, Prof.

Isaac Adewole, also attested to the fact that the NHIS scheme was fraught with irregularities. The minister, who was represented by the Director, Hospital Services, Federal Ministry of Health, Dr. Wapanda Balami, said over N351 billion had been paid to the HMOs by the federal government within the past 12 years without measurable improvement in health care delivery for Nigerians. As a result, he said it may be necessary to eliminate HMOS from the scheme.

But barely one week after the stunning testimonies on the alleged rot in the NHIS programme, Yusuf was suspended from office for three months by the minister, stating that the former was being investigated for alleged corruption. But the House promptly passed a resolution condemning the suspension and requested Adewole to immediately recall the Executive Secretary and allow him continue with his sanitisation programme in the agency.

In a motion of urgent public importance moved by Hon. Chike Okafor (APC, Imo) and 35 others on the plight being suffered by Yusuf, the lawmakers believed he was being persecuted by the health ministry due to his revelations at the public hearing.

The House further invited the minister to show cause why he should not be cited for contempt of the House as the suspension appeared to intimidate the ES and punish him for testifying before the House as well as silence him from further testifying before the lower chamber, in its constitutional duties of investigation of issues of corruption, inefficiency and waste in governance.

They raised concern that if witnesses, who testify before

Committees of the House are not offered some form of protection but are exposed to various administrative sanctions and intimidation, it will discourage witnesses from revealing the truth and weaken the House’s constitutional authority to expose corruption, inefficiency, fraud and waste in governance.

Notwithstanding the demands of the green chamber, Adewole remained adamant and also failed to appear before the House to offer clarification over his actions. But after failing to appear before the committee last Wednesday, the lawmakers took a position to suspend budget consideration for NHIS pending the appearance of the minister, who was also said to be answering to allegations of corruption and abuse of office in a petition to the presidency against him.

The House further threatened to issue a bench warrant on him should he continue to dishonour its summons. In truth, the controversy generated by the suspension of the executive secretary would have been avoidable if Adewole had honoured the House invitation and simply clarified his actions.

It is of noteworthy that the refusal of members of the executive arm to honour National Assembly summons and invitation had been one of the major causes of the deteriorating relationship between the executive and the legislature – a development which could cause the latter to devise firmer measures to bring agencies to order.

As it is, the present controversy surrounding the NHIS may still be far from over, and at the end of the day, time and resources would have been wasted over what could have been resolved amicably through shared understanding.

NOTES FOR FILE

Flooding: Addressing Poor Refuse Disposal Attitude

Akobi Crescent, Surulere

Consistently for about three weeks now, it has been raining heavily in most parts of the country with flooding as the resultant effect. However, it wasn’t just flooding, destructive flooding, which in most cases shut down an entire community, killed people, destroyed homes and rendered vehicles immobile.

A few factors have been adduced to explain this. Apart from the warning that had been handed people in different parts of the country on possible flooding in vulnerable areas, especially places like Lagos that is sitting right on water; there were factors of poor drainages and continuous sand-filling

of the lagoon for commercial residential purposes.

Unfortunately, what is being ignored often and which is more constant and likely than other factors is the refuse disposal attitude of people, which is not only poor and shameful, but often typifies the hygiene level of people living in those areas and which unfortunately, constitutes potential health hazard to other residents living nearby.

Nothing, however, captures this position than the recent clustering of a flooded area in Lagos, Akobi Crescent to be precise, with assorted plastic wastes, which blocked drainages as a result of refuse disposal attitude of

people and which constituted huge health risk to them. The entire street, as long as it is, was littered with eyeaching floating plastics of sorts pulled out at once by the downpour.

Henceforth, it is expected that health officers of the state would go round for sanitation checks in such areas to ascertain the level of their cleanliness and how much health hazard that might be lurking in the corner. Besides, the government of Akinwunmi Ambode may have to reconsider its stand on the monthly sanitation exercise that was cancelled months back. It is clear that some people cannot live a healthy life unsupervised.

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CICERO/INTERVIEW

Daramola: I’m the Bridge between the Old and the New in Ekiti At a recent interactive session with journalists in Lagos, a governorship hopeful in Ekiti State and former House of Representatives member, Honourable Bimbo Daramola, spoke about his ambition and his growing up days among other issues. Anayo Okolie presents the excerpts:

Y

ou play a different kind of politics, such as poverty alleviation. Why is that?

I am a sensitive person.

It breaks my heart to see people suffer. It still amazes my driver, that while going on the road, I see a woman with babies, and I know that they have not eaten, I pull aside and do something.

I don’t expect that those people will see me again. I do that often, because that is what we live for as we won’t be here forever. It would be nice for history to be kind to me; and more than anything else, what I deal with when I walk pass a man in need is that my conscience will begin to worry me; it will not give me peace.

I’ll give you an example. In 2000, I went to Abeko gold – it used to be the topmost luxury shop on Broad Street.

Then, we didn’t have any of these modern shops. The guy was the one, who started the sale of luxury wrist watches on Broad Street. I went there and saw a very fine Gucci wrist watch and I knew I had a Gucci slippers at home, as I brought out my cheque book to pay for the wrist watch, I heard a voice saying “Bimbo, if you write that cheque, I will make sure that you don’t write any other cheque again”, and it went on to say to me “have you asked your gateman if he has eaten today”, so I closed my cheque book and told them that I would come back.

At this time, I had relocated to Abuja.

I think it was one of my fleeting trips to Lagos, so when I got back to Abuja, my gateman’s wife came and carried my bag upstairs, after dropping the bag, I asked her if they had eaten, she said they had not eaten and that was what God was trying to tell me. So, I gave her money to stock up her house and that was it.

Second, by the grace of God, I do my medical check-up twice in a year, but how come nobody knows that normal people have to do their own check-up as well? That is one of the motivations for putting the hospital there. A number of people have died recklessly for minor issues, and they will blame witches and wizards, but witches and wizards did not kill them. If you have diabetes and you did no check your sugar level in good time, but go on to take all the sugary and starchy food, before you know it, the thing piles and kills him. The same is attainable with high blood pressure and all other diseases and the people will begin to lament the sudden death of such a fellow.

They could even say that such a fellow was called to his death. Yes, we know that such things do happen, but sometimes an ordinary innocuous medical check-up could foretell that if you continue on that track. You will be in danger sometime in the future; you will get medical advice on what to cut down on, with this you will discover that you will cut down on innocent deaths. Since when my father went to hand over the key of the hospital to them up to this time, I have not stepped into that place.

For me, I know that between God and me, I have done my best, but I hope they can call others, who have gone to the House of Representatives or who have been governors, who have also carried out such projects from their pocket. It

Daramola...Ekiti can be better than what we have now

is not a matter of competition. Rather, it is just an opportunity to showcase what we’ve done for the people of Ekiti, particularly as we run for the highest office in the state. If I put my own wealth to the service of the people, what will I then do with the common wealth of the people? So, I have said, since I represented one sixth of the entire constituencies in the state and by the grace of God, we were able to touch lives like that, hence, if I become governor, the minimum I can do is times six of what I did as House of Representatives member.

You have indicated interest to contest the next governorship election in Ekiti State, What was your motivation?

My biggest motivation is that one, I knew too well and I still know that this is not the best that we can get from our state, a greater Ekiti is possible. When I coined that phrase for Dr. Fayemi in those days, because I believe that he is a sober and temperate fellow, he is a moderated fellow; he is not an extremist of some sort, I know also that he is very intellectual, he is very expansive, and he has got good pedigree and all of that. I believe that we were safe in his hand, and up till now I still believe that Dr. Fayemi did well for Ekiti State.

Yes, he might have his faults like everybody else, but the truth of the matter is that we had a deep sense of direction at that point in time, as against what we have today. The fact remains that different leaders in the society will reflect the kind of leadership that we have and my motivation is that since Dr. Fayemi couldn’t totally take us out of our predicament, if he had gone for another 4 years, Ekiti would have been a lot better than what it is today. Since he couldn’t take us to that place, nature abhors vacuum and we can’t leave Ekiti in a viscous state.

Ordinarily, I had said that I won’t contest, because I was smarting from the losses of Dr. Fayemi’s election and my own election. When reason prevailed over and above sentiment, and some of my people came to me and said “Oga, you

know you are now past, at least you were a member of the House of Representatives, don’t leave us behind. Like I have said in the past, I am going to be the bridge between some people and their destinies. I have made myself that and I will continue to be that.

I told some people in my village, you are fighting me, but you young people I am fighting your battle. I am the one hitting my head against the wall so that you guys will step on that wall and go on to achieve whatever you want to achieve.

This huge wall before you is the one I am trying to take down, the barrier before you and your success in life; that is what I am trying to sort out for you. I am trying to take out the barrier between you and a glorious destiny and it is difficult to bring such walls down, because it is written that lift up you everlasting gate, all those everlasting gates stood before them, I needed to lift up so that they can pass.

THISDAY reported that “Bimbo is the most popular with the young people”, that is because they represent the future.

I am as well popular amongst the 90 year old people, they still love me and they know it. About 400 of them have circled me and have started praying for me at the cultural centre at Ado-Ekiti. If I was not the son in whom they are well pleased, would they do that for me? I am popular with the young people as well as the adults, because they also connect with my philosophies. My motivation is that I know that I have a very strong will and it is that will that has propelled and driven my politics; and I know that by the grace of God, if I get the opportunity to become the governor of Ekiti State, if in 2 years I don’t remarkably point Ekiti in the direction of growth and development, I will voluntarily resign.

What are your ideas as governor?

Two things matter to me, I will create jobs. Employment is key, because being productively involved is a cure for indignity. A man, who does not have a job cannot say “oya, my wife carry your wrapper up, I want to do”, she would call

him a useless man. He won’t even have an erection before the wife lambasts him.

So, we would create jobs by the grace of God, and then we have a few blueprints that we will put out there to ensure that jobs are created for young people out there, and also ensure that our senior citizens retire into a life of comfort, hence we will ensure that their pensions will be paid as and at when due and then the guys who are living the realities of today, we also have to look for a means to ensure that salaries are not owed.

I hear that one of these our big names is parading himself that he paid salaries. It is not an achievement when workers are paid salaries. The Bible tells me expressly that a labourer is entitled to his wages, so what is the achievement in it that you paid workers? It is irresponsibility in the first place if you don’t pay the people, who work for you, so as an employer of labour, every time it is getting to the 26th or 27th, my mind will be telling me “where is the money?” I would have to look for the money.

If I get into government, we will clean up the nominal role of the guys in the workforce, to ensure that the guys, who have modestly worked get paid and then we move to health care; you know a healthy citizenry is a healthy nation. I want people to live a healthy life, even Jesus said “it is my wish that you prosper in health as your soul prospereth”. So, I expect that we would also give attention to health care. And then the one that is very important on my plate is education.

I said to some people that within 2 years, we will make schools so attractive that students wouldn’t like to go home, and then we will make the job so interesting so that once again teachers will wear it with pride to say they are teachers, just like my parents were.

Over 40 people are interested in the same position. What are your chances?

I think the chances are very bright, if the people, the delegates and the leaders will be intuitive. It is not an entitlement mentality, no; it is because by the grace of God, we’ve worked. Let me now say that if I become the governor by the grace of God, a lot of people will say “oh yes, he earned it”, this is because there is a lot of things to show. Is it my political contribution? Is it my representation when I had the opportunity to represent them on the floor of the National Assembly? Is it my bond with the young and the older people? Is it my relationship with the people? Is it the fact that I have been at different times the signpost of this party, both at national and state?

At a point in 2012, I didn’t know that I would be running for governor in 2017.

Five years ago, I single-handedly painted the national secretariat of the party. That is the philosophy that is driving me. Some of these guys do not have the history of this party, they don’t know anything, they don’t know the DNA of this party and I think these things should count; and not for anyone to come just like that. You can’t point to 5 things you have done for the party, and I dare to say that 70% of those guys do not know where the umbilical cord of the party is. Let them go and check the DNA and then they will know that the political DNA of this party will be found in me and not found in people, who jump from one party to the other.

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CICERO/INTERVIEW

Buni: PDP’s Looting Won’t Stop Haunting It The recent Supreme Court ruling, which recognised the Senator Ahmed Makarfi-led national committee of the Peoples Democratic Party as the authentic leadership has indeed upped the stakes for the PDP. But the ruling All Progressives Congress does not think so. This is why its National Secretary, Alhaji Mai Mala Buni, in this interview with Michael Olugbode, claimed that the PDP would remain in the doldrums because Nigerians will not forget its misrule in a hurry, especially given its corruption tags. Excerpts:

T

he Supreme Court recently ruled on the PDP leadership tussle and pronounced Senator Ahmed Makarfi as the authentic national chairman of the party. But political observers are of the opinion that the judgment might have made the PDP a major threat to APC and they may not be wrong after all. Do you agree?

It amounts to poor judgment and gross injustice to disregard where Nigeria is coming from to where it is today. Our experience in the last 16 years under the PDP administration, the party’s dismal performance and the vast empirical evidence of ineptitude and maladministration are all major factors of consideration before arriving at proposition to gauge PDP’s strength and acceptance. But, to use the court judgment as the only yardstick for the party’s strength is to say the least, an exhibition of political naivety.

Yes, the Supreme Court has ruled, recognising Makarfi as the national chairman of the party against Ali Modu Sheriff. Can you tell me who celebrated the judgment? Did you see the Nigerian electorate celebrating? Certainly not!

For the electorate, it makes no difference who becomes the party’s leader, because, they have lost confidence and trust in the party after 16 years of gross mismanagement. I think some people are still living with the euphoria of the past and making the big mistake of underrating and under-estimating the political consciousness of Nigerians.

It is ridiculous, erroneous and insulting to suggest that Nigerians have so soon lost our sense of reasoning and to assume that within just four years, Nigerians have so soon forgotten, so easily, the same political party and public officers, who plunged us into the pains and trauma we are still suffering and paying the price, to which this administration is painstakingly battling to fix it.

The massive looting of the state treasury as evidenced in the huge recoveries had massively degraded the economy and forced it into recession.

The 16 years of maladministration created infrastructural decay, insecurity and lack of confidence in government.

So, what is new in PDP? It is the same old wine and in this case, in the same old bottle.

Let me state with all sense of humility that, there is no political party under

and programmes.

Another point of concern in some quarters is the massive influx of politicians into the party and the growing personal political interests ahead of 2019. Are you not worried yourself?

This question seems to contradict the initial question that PDP constitutes a threat to APC. This is because, if there are fears over the fortunes of APC in 2019, there won’t be massive influx and obviously politicians won’t be scrambling for the party’s ticket. By and large, I think it is a good omen seeing people rushing into the party with a lot of hope and faith in the party. However, as a matter of fact, the party is currently preoccupied with the primary concern of improving the lives of Nigerians through good governance and service delivery.

We are concerned with meeting our campaign promises to Nigerians and I am proud to say that government has been pursuing anti-corruption agenda being the major problem responsible for our stagnation, slow agricultural development, affecting improved power supply, fixing of the roads, good governance, educational growth, creating employment opportunities, security to lives and property, etc and had made it a tough task to improve the lives of Nigerians.

Buni...APC still very popular

Nigeria’s remodeled political landscape today that constitutes a threat to the APC. But your confidence is coming on the heels of APC’s defeat by PDP in the just concluded Osun West senatorial by-election. How do you reconcile that?

The Osun State senatorial by-election is what I will refer to as technical hitch but, I am sure you are aware that Senatorn Ademola Adeleke was a member of APC until just about the election. Like I said, it was a technical hitch which the secretariat is critically looking into.

However, let me refresh your memory with the APC feats in winning the Edo, Kogi and Ondo governorship elections last year. We are also confident of winning Ekiti and Anambra in 2018. We are putting our acts together to ensure victory.

Again, as we continue with the

Our experience in the last 16 years under the PDP administration, the party’s dismal performance and the vast empirical evidence of ineptitude and maladministration are all major factors of consideration before arriving at proposition to gauge PDP’s strength and acceptance. But, to use the court judgment as the only yardstick for the party’s strength is to say the least, an exhibition of political naivety

journey of democracy, we make some gains and in some cases, we face challenges. But most importantly, it is about the courage and the determination of the party leadership to appreciate those challenges and proffer the solutions to overcome them. Another advantage APC has over and above others is the listening ear of the party leadership to stakeholders and members. The leadership is ever willing to listen to meaningful advises and to make amends in the general interest of the party. Therefore, we will always appreciate our mistakes, take advises and give opportunities for collective and popular decisions for the party to keep growing.

President Muhammadu Buhari has been on medical check-up for some time. How do you think this has affected the party in achieving its manifesto?

Yes, the president is receiving treatment in the United Kingdom but the machinery of government is fully and actively in motion with the vicepresident, who is the acting president fully in charge. The President had before his trip, fulfilled the constitutional requirements of communicating to the National Assembly and transmitting power to His Excellency, Prof. Yemi Osibanjo as acting President. That is in clear respect to the rule of law and due process.

As the ruling party, we are proud that no vacuum has been created while the president is away. I believe every lover of democracy, rule of law and due process will appreciate the commitment of the APC administration to democratic growth in Nigeria such as we have been doing. It is also imperative to appreciate that, the acting president is fully supported by the cabinet of ministers and chief executives of departments and agencies executing government policies

The APC is in its mid-term, less than two years to another election, what do you consider as the party’s strongest weapon that will give it victory in 2019?

Well, asking about our arsenal, it will be a great disservice to lay bare our strategies which l consider as arsenal of the party two years before an election.

But, the ability of the APC government to rescue Nigeria from an imminent collapse to where we are today is by every measure a great feat and added advantage to the party. I am happy to say that a lot of Nigerians have realised and have come to terms with what would have remained of Nigeria if the Buhari government had not come at this crucial period of our national life.

Second, the landmark achievements in rebuilding the nation through solid foundations will certainly be to our credit in accepting the party and its flagbearers. The APC government has taken realistic measures that will stand the test of time for sustainable development, good governance and a place of pride for the country in the comity of nations, Have you anything to say to Nigerians as they count down to another election?

I wish to call on all Nigerians to support this administration in its commitment to rebuilding the nation. This administration is determined to explore and exploit the human and mineral resources to build a sound economy and infrastructure, generate employment and to create more wealth to improve the lives of Nigerians. We should avoid divisive tendencies. We should concentrate on issues that unite the country rather than issues that polarise the country. Nigerians should exploit the strength in our diversity to develop our country. I want to assure Nigerians that this administration presents great opportunities for our growth and development.

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SUNDAYINTERVIEW Ekweremadu

Photos: Godwin Omoigui

We Need Conversation to Reassure More People that Restructuring’ll Not Harm Us Chairman of the National Assembly Joint Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution, Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, in this interview on ARISE News Network, the broadcast wing of THISDAY, spoke on restructuring and how it could be achieved through constitutional review process. He also addressed other topical national issues. The interview was conducted before the National Assembly voted on the constitution amendment bills. Damilola Oyedele presents the excerpts:

A

s the Deputy Senate President, and a member of the National Assembly, are you for or against the type of restructuring that was described by former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar?

I agree entirely with him, but I said not every other Nigerian will accept. It is just that you need to let them understand what it is all

about. So, if you like call -it change, so you can use it interchangeably with the word change and then they will be able to understand and follow it. But if you use the word restructuring, a lot of people will not understand. So if you want everybody to understand what you are saying, you may say change and then they will be able to ask, ‘what type of change are you talking about?’

This question revolves around the feeling

that people have. They have tried what is available since the coup of 1966, that euphoric hope generated by independence, which is being consistently eroded in the minds of a lot of people by a central government, which has simply not worked the way they would like it to work. In their minds, all they seem to have gotten is corruption, tyranny and poverty. Most people agreed that the situation is so dire and is quite simply unsustainable, which

is why they are calling for restructuring.

Do you think popular pressure can force political change here in this instance?

Already we are going through some level of restructuring and that was why when I said, if you use this thing (restructuring) in the abstract you will begin to create unnecessary problem.

Presently, there is an ongoing amendment to the constitution and one of the things we are

Continued on Page 72

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SUNDAY INTERVIEW t WE NEED CONVERSATION TO REASSURE MORE PEOPLE THAT RESTRUCTURING’LL NOT HARM US t Continued on Pg. 71 looking at is how do we devolve powers from the federal government to the state? A situation, where you have over 60 items in the exclusive list of the federation, those are the things that only the federal government can make laws on, to be able to draw policies, and the one within the states government, which is called the concurrent list of about 16 items, so we say that is reversal of what should be the true position in a federal system.

So, when we are talking about restructuring, which I said you may use the word change for, all we need to do, is put it in such a way that the states, which are the component units of the federation, will be able to have more powers.

But it comes with a lot of issues, because if you give them more powers they need to also have more resources. So, when you are talking about the devolution of powers you are also talking about fiscal federalism. These are the issues we need to look at.

And then, of course, I spoke about the issue of security, because prior to 1966, we had some level of policing at the regional level and if you recall too, in the 30s before the national police came, we had native authority police. So, we had some kind of decentralised police before the government of Nigeria introduced national police, which became federal police when we became a federation.

So, in 1966, when Aguiyi Ironsi came, they set up a panel to look at the issues. As usual, before military answer to questions, they said let us just do away with these people, and have a federal police, instead of fixing the problem, which came with a decentralised policing. That was where we got it wrong in terms of the internal security and we have not been able to make progress since then. We have armed robbery, kidnapping, we now have terrorism and it will continue until we go back to the basis of making sure that there is a policeman in every part of Nigeria. This cannot happen in the federal set up that we are practising now: federal policing, because no country does that in the world.

So, if you have a multi-ethnic society, the usual recommendation is to run a federal system for which decentralised policing, not just the state police, decentralised policing goes beyond just having police at the state level. You may have to have police at the local government level, in some critical institutions like the universities and the National Assembly.

The important thing is how we coordinate it, to make sure that nobody is abusing it, that it is well coordinated, that there is a database where everybody keys in. This is what we should be talking about, but if we continue to do what we are doing, we are going to run into problem.

I was once taken by armed robbers or kidnappers if you like. They took me for like two days. I saw the deficiencies of our police, because we passed several checkpoints. The type of policing we have is not sustainable and it is not good for the type of our structure.

So, we need to find the type of police that can suit our purpose. If we do that, we will be able to secure the people and their properties.

Remember that the constitution says that the primary purpose of government is the security and welfare of the people. The first thing we need to do is to make sure we are secured, even if you don’t provide them with jobs they can look for their own job. But if you provide jobs and then you don’t provide security, then nobody goes out for the job. But the only way

you can provide that is to build the internal security, which only a decentralised police can achieve. That is one aspect of restructuring we need to look at.

Is this one of the issues you have been looking at as the chair of the committee on constitution amendment?

Remember that we have been on this business for a while. The first attempt was by the then Deputy Senate President, Senator Ibrahim Mantu. The exercise ended when we had this third term introduced into the amendment process. Eventually they brought in a lot of issues, and so once that was defeated, the whole thing went down the drain. When I came on board in 2007 as the deputy Senate President, I became the chairman of this committee on constitutional amendment. One of the things we did was to say we are going to do an incremental approach. We want to do one thing at a time instead of doing everything.

In 2010, we pioneered the first amendment; nobody has ever amended the constitution in this particular republic except when we came in.

Can you now see why people are impatient if you have been there since 2007 and you are citing one instance in 2010?

I am going to cite several instances but the point I am making is that it has to be gradual; it has to be incremental. If you want to do everything at the same time, everything will

collapse and as you do these things, you need to build consensus. That is the way it will work. Others failed because they thought they could just come and put it on the floor and start voting. It will fail. So, that is the issue.

What we did was that in 2010, the first problem we had was when President Yar’Adua became ill. In the constitution, the provision there was that if the President wants to travel, maybe if he is indisposed, he has to handover to the vice-president. The constitution did not provide what happens if he goes outside and failed to give that transfer. And so when it got to a point we needed to amend the constitution to provide the time frame of 21 days: that if the President had travelled and he was supposed to handover to his Vice and he has not done that, after 21 days he (vice-president) becomes an acting president.

Now there was an election coming in 2011 and experience had shown that the bulk of the problems we had were with the electoral reform. So, we started to deal with electoral reforms. Prior to 2011, if you run an election, somehow it ends at the tribunal, where you may be for four, five, or even six years. When I got into the Senate in 2003, I had some of my colleagues who came in 1999, whose matters at the tribunals were not determined until they came back to the Senate in 2003. Some had finished their tenure and the tribunal was saying that they ought not to have been elected in the first place. So, we said we cannot continue with that kind of misnomer.

In 2010, we focused on electoral reforms.

For instance, in Zamfara, they have a lot of gold. They can make more money than Akwa Ibom if they have restructuring in such a way that solid minerals are now moved to the concurrent list. A lot of states in the North West are blessed with bulk of gold, which is actually sustaining most economies even in Central Africa… But right now everybody is now falling on oil which makes all of us lazy. But if we challenge ourselves, remember that in some countries like Norway they are not touching their oil revenue, they are saving it. In places like Saudi Arabia, they invest this money and it is the return on the investments that they are using… That is why I said this issue of restructuring, first, we need to understand it that it is something that is going to help, not something that is going to harm us. Two, it is going to be incremental. We are going to do it one at a time. You cannot put all of them on a table and expect it to succeed. It is not going to work

One of the things we said was that if there was election tribunal, you must file the election petition within a particular period - it has to be concluded within 180 days if there are appeals - in 60 days maximum it is concluded. So, that gave people a sense that the election was going to end sometime; the petitions arising therefore must also end. So, we fixed that and we continued in that manner and we have been doing it gradually as matters arise.

In 2014, we did a more comprehensive amendment, which was taken to the president then and we had some controversies as to whether it was signed or not. But the important thing was that it was not signed, so now we had to start all over again when we came back to this 8th National Assembly. Some of the issues that we ought to have put behind us are what we are dealing with now, like we dealt with the amendment on the issue of devolution of powers comprehensively. If it was signed then, now we would have been talking of maybe state policing and stuff like that. At that time that we were doing the amendment many people were opposed to that kind of policing but now it is beginning to get some acceptance and even the acting president himself is saying that is the way to go.

What do you feel when you think of the things that have gone fatally wrong in Nigeria for which some people are now advocating for restructuring – do you feel anger, pain, despair?

Well, I prefer to be optimistic that we will get there, because the process is on. What we need to do is to ensure that so many people key into it.

What difference has the National Assembly made as the problems of the people in 1999 are pretty much the same problem in the current order of things?

That is why we are now talking of restructuring, because there are some things which we are doing presently that we need to do differently. As I mentioned on electoral reforms, things were so bad up to 2007, so when we came in, we then decided to first of all tackle it, because this is the recruitment process of our leaders and we needed to purify that system.

Before then, the INEC was virtually tied to the executive. We had to make sure that it was independent financially, and in terms of administrative relationship with the executive.

We cut that, it became truly independent.

They receive their money as first line charge.

Also, any member of that commission has to be non-partisan. Prior to 2010, when the

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The issue of security is critical, so we need to address that and we cannot get it right if we don’t get so many people to key into it. So, if we decide to amend the constitution just to introduce a decentralised police, most people are going to reject it. So, first of all, you need to explain to them why we have the type of security we have today, and the reason is that the police structure we have is defective. You cannot have a federal system of government, where there is one Inspector General of Police somewhere issuing orders to a Commissioner of Police in Enugu or Port Harcourt and he has to take orders from him before he can do one or two things. You cannot explain a situation where you have a policeman from Maiduguri, who they transfer to Cross River State, and then half way into the year, you transfer him again to Akwa Ibom and expect that to work?

It doesn’t happen anywhere. So, that is why people are not secured and unless people are secured, they cannot be able to function.

That is a very good one, but that is just one aspect of it. The other one is the cry of marginalisation by virtually all sections or certainly a significant percentage of the segments of this country, some of which is manifesting itself by way of violent extremism, some of the people calling for something as desperate as secession.

The argument of the supporters of restructuring is that obviously the structure of Nigeria is clearly not balanced and it has not been for decades. When the military ruler Gen. Yakubu Gowon split the four regions and created 12 states, he gave the northern region 6 states and left the remaining three regions to share 6 states and since that time following the subsequent creation of more states, the imbalance has remained skewed in favour of the North.

Today, the former northern region alone has 19 states and the remaining three former regions collectively have 17 states. Is that an argument that you think could win support in the North and especially with northern lawmakers in the parliament?

One thing we have to understand is that what goes on in this country, if you have an advantage you try to take that advantage, you don’t care what happens to the country. That is the mindset we need to address, because first of all, we must address the common good, and unless we have a situation where there is an environment that is workable for everybody‌ (Cuts in) In a sense, the perception in Nigeria is that the system is skewed in favour of the North. You are a member of the National Assembly and you have constituents in the South-east, they obviously come to you and tell you about issues that they have. Isn’t it?

The natural thing for our folks in the North is that “look, we have advantage, why are we going to restructure? Why do we talk about regional government or maybe reducing the size of the states or the number of states, because they have the advantage already?� But you have to remember that if there is agitation against that type of system, say for instance in the Niger Delta or some part of the South-east, where oil is also produced, it is going to disrupt the flow of oil and the flow of revenue.

Whatever advantage you have will also be affected because if the oil is not sold, you won’t receive the money, so that you can be able to have the kind of advantage you have in terms of state or local governments.

The point I am making is that there is the need to have equity; to be just to all concerned; to be fair to every person, because when you do that, that is the only way you can ensure that everybody is happy and everybody can stay peacefully. So, it is important that everybody needs to key into the restructuring mantra. Let us ensure that there is equity, fairness in the structure of the federation, in the powers of the various states, in the issue of opportunities.

Isn’t that something people like yourself should be advancing at the National Assembly? You have constituents and they are in the regions that feel that they are marginalized, the system is skewed against

Ekweremadu with ARISE NEWS Anchor Charles Aniagolu (left) during the interview

them. To what extent have you advanced their course at the National Assembly?

I am not looking at it as the South-east or Igbo question. I am looking at it from a national point of view, because I believe that for you to resolve it, it is not about going to parliament and then start making trouble and all that, you need to convince the others.

In other words, calling for justice in a sense is making trouble?

It is not making trouble; it is calling for justice instead of making trouble. What we need to do as I said, in the first place, we try as much as possible to explain to our colleagues that it is important that every part of this country is treated fairly, that there is equitable distribution of resources and opportunities and once you are not doing that, you are going to have problem and that is why we are having problems now in different parts of Nigeria, because of inequalities and inequitable distribution of opportunities.

But because there is a constitutional process to do that, it is important to get everybody to buy the idea that this has to happen for everybody to live peacefully in this country. It is not a thing that you say because you are the chairperson of the committee I am going to get extra. The creation is stipulated in section 8 of the constitution, the amendment process is also there and you have to go through all those processes. The best way to do it is to ensure that you convince your colleagues that this is the best way to go. It is difficult like I said, because people are already keeping the advantage that they have, but those advantages will completely disappear if you don’t address those inequalities.

Do you think this restructure issue is now split along regional lines in Nigeria with the South generally in support and the core North broadly against it?

I don’t want to see it that way. There are elites in the North, who also believe that we need to restructure, a lot of them.

What about the North Central?

Yes, North Central if you like, but even as far as the North West and North East, there are some people too. Atiku Abubakar for instance is from the North East. It is like a plural society, you don’t expect everybody to have his own opinion on an issue. But maybe the preponderance of those supporting restructuring is from the South, yes it is understandable, but it is something we can build a national consensus on. It is not like it is something that can be achieved in a day or two, but it is something we need to keep talking about,

engaging ourselves on, until we are able to do it peacefully, because the best way for us is to restructure in a peaceful manner.

If that is the case, that the core South is generally in support and the core North broadly against; how much more difficult will it make the passage of a restructuring bill in parliament, because the northerners who appear to have the majority in the National Assembly as well as in the state assemblies can tear it down, can’t they?

Yes, it may have initial problem but we need to keep engaging ourselves. It is likely we are going to soften the ground. There are so many issues in the last exercise that nobody wanted to hear about but today it is beginning to get some acceptability. Let us take, for instance, the issue of Land Use Act: initially what we wanted to do was to take the Land Use Act from the constitution and be able to put it as an ordinary legislature so that it can be easily amended to reflect the changes and the complexities of the society and also the contemporary realities.

Initially nobody wanted to hear about it but presently it is one of the issues we are going to vote on in the next few days, because we have built sufficient consensus on it. It was only locked in the constitution but now everybody is beginning to see that it is important that happens.

On the issue of police, when we were talking about decentralised police earlier, nobody wanted to hear about it. Our colleagues in the National Assembly said the governors will use it against them and stuff like that. Sometime some of them will move from being a member of the National Assembly and become governors so when they become governors they become champions of state police, because it is convenient for them.

We therefore need to find a way to make everybody understand that it is not about the temporary gains we have today. We must ensure that everybody understands that this is the best way to go and that is why other countries are making progress but we are not making progress. That is the point I am making about restructuring. We need to ask ourselves: what is it that these people are doing and they are making progress that we are not doing?

Are you saying people have identified that this is why Nigeria is not developing; that she needs to devolve powers to the state and control of resources, because the federal government is too far removed from them, just like you talked about security? These are obviously revolutionary political and constitutional changes that

people are advocating and that clearly is a process which could be lengthy, laborious, demanding. What are the ups and downs and even surprises that you anticipate as this process unfolds?

I prefer to be optimistic. Right now, about 80% of the people in the South-east, Southsouth and South-west are keying into this possible change and it was not the situation before. In the North Central, for instance, let us say 50%, in the North East maybe about 25% and maybe the same figure in the North West.

As we continue with the conversation, I guess that the number will continue to increase and more people are going to see the need. It is going to be continuous engagement with our people, it is not something anybody is going to do by force or impose on any person and I believe we are making progress with that engagement.

You said progress is being made, where are we now in the legal process of sending a restructuring bill to the National Assembly?

Restructuring may not be an event.

How do you mean?

By saying, look, this is a restructuring bill. It is not going to happen that way.

Why won’t it happen that way?

It won’t because it will not work; it is not going to succeed.

But it has got to go through a legal process?

It is something you have to do in an incremental manner.

Let’s talk about fiscal federalism‌ What we need in terms of fiscal federalism, two things will happen: first is that we are going to look at section 162 of the constitution, because under that section of the constitution, all monies go to the federal government. What we have done presently in the exercise, we say if you put all the monies in the federation account, before you start distributing it, you have to take away 10% of it and save, that was not there before and the other one is now going to be shared based on the accrued formula and one of which is that not less than 13% will go to where the derivation is coming from.

If you now say instead of saying not less than 13% is given to them, we can now say not less than 50%, we can also say let us remove that aspect let everybody be in charge of their state resources and then pay a certain tax to the federal government for the common good and then we will also have sufficient funds in the

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Don’t forget it is not just about oil, we also have some minerals. So, if we are talking about fiscal federalism we are not limiting it to oil. What we need to do is to make sure that there is opportunity for everybody, that there are also available resources to go round. We are going to create an enabling environment for each state to be able to exploit what it has. I can say on strong authority that every state in Nigeria can be viable, because of the resources that are buried in the ground.

So what is stopping the National Assembly from going forward with this idea of fiscal federalism?

It is because they will say the National Assembly is doing a dictatorship kind of stuff.

But can you come up with a bill?

Coming up with a bill without building a consensus will not work. This is part of the conversation going on. It has to be a conversation so that people need to understand that they are not going to be worse off because of restructuring. I just outlined how it would work, because there are some states that are less endowed than Rivers State and they are worried. If you say let Rivers State take everything that comes to it, then what happens to them? You need to assure them that there is going to be a fund that will take care of them and if you don’t explain that to them, they will never support it.

What stage are we in that process?

What I just said it is part of the conversation.

Is that part of what you are discussing in your constitution amendment?

Definitely. We have gone to different parts of Nigeria and spoken to a lot of people and because we have not been able to build consensus on that aspect of the restructuring, we cannot introduce it now. But we are building consensus on the issue of the devolution of powers. That is why we are going to take some other items from the exclusive list down to the concurrent list. So, that is the way to go. If we are patient with ourselves and we begin an incremental manner, I give 3-5years, I am sure it will fly.

Will it help to move the process forward if for instance this becomes a big campaign issue in the 2019 Presidential election and you have a presidential candidate, who makes this a central issue? In other words, will it help if there is an executive that is supportive of the concept of restructuring?

The APC in the last campaign were talking about restructuring but they were unable to say how it is going to work.

But you are in the PDP. Can you make this work?

When they came with the change they promised, they could not deliver the change because they didn’t have any plan on how to effect it. So, if you are now telling Nigerians that you are going to effect another change, you need to explain to them how this change will come, whether you call it restructuring or change. You need to explain to those who have fears about the restructuring how they can be protected. So, these things need to be conveyed to the people.

People have been talking about it, people like Emeka Anyaoku, Atiku Abubakar, lots of intellectuals‌ These are intellectuals. We need to take it to the grassroots, because some people are really worried like you said earlier.

Do you think a referendum should be called on this?

No, it is not necessary. We don’t need a referendum.

But you said taking it to the grassroots. How are you going to know what the grassroots wants or how they will react to it if you don’t?

We need to explain to them, government has agencies that explain programmes of government to the people. Part of the job of political parties is the education of the electorate. So, if you are now saying you are going to come on a ticket that support restructuring, you need to tell them that we are going to remove the issue of resources of section 162 and let everybody be a master of his own business. You need to explain to them how that is going to work.

Also, if you say you are going to move solid minerals from the exclusive list, you have to explain to them how they will benefit from it. For instance, in Zamfara, they have a lot of gold.

They can make more money than Akwa Ibom if they have restructuring in such a way that solid minerals are now moved to the concurrent list. A lot of states in the North West are blessed with bulk of gold, which is actually sustaining most economies even in Central Africa. And remember too, that if people are in control of their resources and then they are able to pay tax, there is going to be more competition. But right now everybody is now falling on oil which makes all of us lazy. But if we challenge ourselves, remember that in some countries like Norway they are not touching their oil revenue, they are saving it. In places like Saudi Arabia, they invest this money and it is the return on the investments that they are using.

So if we try as much as possible to discipline ourselves by now beginning to reduce the amount of money that we can

share, and saving part of it, as long as we start reducing it, there will be less money to be shared and people will be more innovative on how to generate revenue to run their states and there are available resources. We have agriculture in large quantity.

We have also vast area of land in the North that can support massive agriculture and they can add value by not just selling the raw materials, they can also add value and be able to export and government needs to put infrastructure that can encourage that. So, once we do that and explain to them how it works, everybody will be comfortable with the issue of restructuring. It is not a matter of saying restructuring without breaking it down: how it will affect everybody either in the negative or in the positive and how we can survive under a restructuring regime?

Everybody wants a better country and you cannot have a better country in a system that is not working. If you are doing something over and over and it is not working, then of course, you have to do something about it. Remember we talked about the issue of devolution of powers. Look at the issue of electricity, we have problems with electricity because as a federating unit just like the issue of police, it is difficult for you to stay in Abuja and be able to provide the power for everybody, it is not going to work as long as you continue in that process, just like the same thing with police.

What we have done with this present constitution amendment is to move electricity generation and transmission from the exclusive down to the concurrent list so that states can now, if they want to, generate their own power, transmit and distribute.

In that case, maybe Benue can be self-sufficient in power. It might be policy of government to make sure that everybody has electricity.

I was watching a clip on the internet about how GE (General Electric) can deploy a turbine that is capable of giving power to a whole state and it can be deployed within two months.

You cannot do it in this type of structure. So, if we restructure and like I told you we are moving some of these issues from the exclusive list to the concurrent list in the present exercise. If that succeeds, then we have tried to solve at least 50% of our problem in the power sector, we are doing the same thing with railway as well. Railway used to be the exclusive preserve of the federal government but now we are moving it to the concurrent list. It means that states can build railway lines and be able to deploy coaches to move people from point A to B and that eases movement instead of everybody putting his vehicles on the road and then you have traffic all over the place.

That is why I said this issue of restructuring, first, we need to understand it that it is something that is going to help, not

something that is going to harm us. Two, it is going to be incremental. We are going to do it one at a time. You cannot put all of them on a table and expect it to succeed. It is not going to work.

Do you sense now that there appears to be this awakening as it were across Nigeria that the route to the restructuring destination that many seek is now shorter and the journey towards restructuring in this country now inevitable?

The point I am making is that restructuring has started and all we need to do is encourage the momentum to ensure that we sustain what we are doing, because there are processes. Don’t forget that we are in a country that is under a rule of law, so, whatever you do has to be in consonance with the constitution and the constitutional process of bringing this about is an amendment of the constitution. That is where again government needs to help. If the government is interested in a holistic arrangement that will bring all these things about in one whole swoop, then we also have to introduce a bill that will define how a new constitution will come about and then we can now build a new constitution and then review the process that will bring it about. All these things can be taken in one fell swoop, where everybody will agree. But if we cannot do that, then, it has to be an incremental manner so that we take one thing at a time.

The question was raised about whether it should happen within the confines of the constitution as an amendment or outside it. Can it be done without amending the constitution?

It can be done under the present constitution through the process of amendment, because it is going to take more time because it has to be incremental. We have to take it one at a time.

We need to make sure that we build consensus as we go on. The second option is for us to go and amend Section 9. We started to do this in the past but we ran into problem, because most of our colleagues misunderstood it. So if we amend section 9 and introduce how a new constitution can come into force, they have done it in Kenya and if we agree on how that happens, we can now set up a process, maybe a commission that will be able to draft a new constitution after we have done the amendment.

Then that constitution will now follow the same process which is now enumerated under an amendment to the constitution and that will bring about a new constitution. But we cannot do something outside of this. There is no point saying let me call a national conference.

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ JULY 30, 2017

GAVEL TO GAVEL High-Wire Intrigues, Mistrust Characterise

Edited by Olawale Olaleye

Email: wale.olaleye@thisdaylive.com, SMS: 08116759819

N’Assembly Constitution Amendment Process The two chambers of the National Assembly, last week, voted on specific bills for the amendment to the 1999 constitution with differing stands on a few of the proposals but largely pulling through with the amendment exercise. Damilola Oyedele and James Emejo, who have been monitoring the exercise, write ontheintriguesandhighwirepoliticsthatcharacterisedtheprocessinthetwochambers,andnoted that while some of the defeated bills were considered doomed ab initio, the unanticipated death of some of the bills otherwise considered critical was equally disappointing

W

hen the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, in an interview last Monday on ARISE News Network, the broadcast arm of THISDAY, spoke about the rising acceptance of the devolution of powers as a crucial step towards gradual restructuring of the country, and expressed optimism at the chances of the bill when put to vote on the floors, he obviously spoke too soon.

As it turned out, Ekweremadu’s enthusiasm was borne out of the feedback in the course of the work of the committee, when he noted, during the debate on the bill on Tuesday that the constitution review process had been driven by the principles of inclusiveness, popular participation and transparency with national interest. He went on to add that the views of citizens were carefully integrated into every recommendation, stating that the views were appraised in the context of their compatibility with the constitution, as well as democratic principles and national unity in general.

“In its deliberations on amendment proposals, comments from stakeholder and strategic partners, reports of experts, feedbacks on the bills referred to it, the committee was constrained to assess not only the popularity of the proposals, but also their value and workability in the context of Nigeria,” he had said.

How the Devolution of Powers Died The defeat of the Devolution of Powers bill was one of the major upsets of the voting in the Senate and the House of Representatives during the week. In the Senate, where it required a minimum of 73 votes (two-thirds of 109 senators) it secured an abysmal 46 yes, and 48 no, with one abstention, while in the House of Representatives where it needed minimum of 240 votes (two thirds of 360 members), it secured 210 yes, and 71 no.

For clarification purposes, the bill, tagged Devolution of Powers bill, sought to alter the Second Schedule of the 1999 Constitution, Part I & II, to move certain items to the Concurrent List, from the bloated Exclusive List, to give more legislative powers to the states. It also delineates the extent to which the federal legislature and state assemblies can legislate on items that have been moved to the Concurrent Legislative List.

Where many misconstrue restructuring to mean resource control, Ekweremadu was quick to point out that it would hold the states to task, but accelerate development in all sectors.

It would therefore mean the state governors would be unable to place the blame for the under-development of their states at the feet or head of the federal government as is currently common.

Some of the items to be moved include legislation with respect to electricity generation, transmission and distribution, policing, establishment and maintenance of railway infrastructure, environmental issues within the limit of state’s territory, intra-state arbitration, and others. The essence of devolution of powers is to reduce the burden on the government at the centre, which is saddled with too many responsibilities, and put more responsibilities for the welfare of each state on its government. It is considered a critical step towards a gradual, or as Ekweremadu put it, incremental restructuring of Nigeria. It was therefore disappointing that such a crucial bill failed in both chambers.

Fear of ‘Resource Control’ killed Land Use Act Deletion Ahead of the voting, THISDAY had reported that the bill seeking the deletion of the Land Use Act from the constitution, so that it could

Senate in session during a plenary

be subjected to regular process of amendment, was dead on arrival, and did not stand a chance.

As predicted, the bill was only able to garner 46 ayes, and 44 nays leading to an overwhelming defeat. It required 73 of the votes of the 109 senators. In the House of Representatives, it was rejected too.

During the debate, several lawmakers had argued that the matter was too controversial and so, status quo should be maintained. Sources, however, told THISDAY that the bill was shot down due to the fear of the actualisation of the demand for resource control following intense lobbying Tuesday night into the wee hours of Wednesday, particularly from the Northern Senators.

“It is resource control sneaking through the backdoor. Northern senators mobilised heavily against it on Tuesday night, they were calling around, and were able to convince many, probably from the less endowed states, that it would be a disadvantage. If we delete the Land Use Act, and remove the powers of the federal government over land, it would be easy for the South-south states that have been at the fore front of control for their oil resources, to achieve it,” a senator from the North explained.

According to him, “The states would just legislate on the land in their territories and whatever natural resources lie below the ground belongs to them, instead of the federal government. They can even use individuals, who would just claim that certain acres of land are their ancestral land, and they can decide they will not allow exploration of the resources therein. So, it would be a huge issue, not just to the Northerners, but also to less endowed states,” he added.

THISDAY further gathered that a closed

door session, which held before the debate Tuesday morning was intense, as northern senators maintained that they would not back the Land Use Act deletion bill.

Loosening the Grip of States on the LGs Interestingly, though the bill abolishing the State Joint Local Government Account to grant financial autonomy to the councils passed in both chambers, bill seeking to abolish the State Independent Electoral Commission, to allow the Independent National Electoral Commission conduct council elections passed in the Senate, but was rejected in the House.

The abolition of joint account bill, however, may not fare well as the state assemblies, whose two-thirds are required to push constitutional amendments through, are not likely to endorse it. In the past, such proposals had been stifled by governors, who muzzled the assemblies. It remains to be seen if it would fare better this time since it was passed in both chambers of the federal legislature.

Glaring North versus South Divide As expected, the fate of the bills for the amendment exercise was decided along regional lines, with the evident North/South divide.

There was staunch opposition to the affirmative action clause demanding 35% at national level and 20% in respect of female appointments.

The northerners were also opposed to the devolution of powers bill, land use act and indigene choice of either state of marriage or origin for married women for elective or appointive position.

Most of the lawmakers from the South-south wanted the Land Use bill passed, and they had support from some of their colleagues in

the South-west and South-east. The North central was the beautiful bride on several of the contentious bills.

“The sharp division reflects the state of the country. The agitations for resource control in the South-south, the Biafran secession threat in the South-east, the restructuring and true federalism campaign in the South-west, as well as the Fulani herdsmen/farmers clash in the North Central seems to have poisoned the debate. There is serious level of suspicion, mistrust, and pessimism about the purpose of the contentious issues,” a source told THISDAY. THISDAY gathered that due to its commitment to constitution amendment process as a key part of its legislative agenda, the leadership of the Senate quickly moved to douse tensions before the voting exercise. To this end, a joint meeting of the leadership of the Senate and House met at the residence of the Chairman of the National Assembly, Dr. Bukola Saraki on Monday night, to strategise.

“At the meeting, it was agreed that debate would hold on Tuesday, while the voting would be done on Wednesday so that the process could be completed before the legislators commenced their annual recess which began this weekend,” a source disclosed.

The source further held that “The closed door session revealed that things would not be as smooth sailing as expected. The northern Senators having observed that their southern colleagues were enthusiastic about the constitution amendment voting process scheduled to begin that day were suspicious that something that might not be in the interest of the region might have been inserted into the constitution.

Therefore, led by Senator Goje, they asked for time to consult their constituents. But this would

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GAVEL TO GAVEL/ BILLS, MOTIONS, ET AL. High-Wire Intrigues, Mistrust Characterise N’Assembly Constitution Amendment Process cause delay, and drag the amendment process into September. “Saraki quickly moved to persuade the Northern Senators that the voting procedure would be transparent. He reminded them that all eyes were on the National Assembly, and so there was need to push the voting through, to douse tensions and agitations across the country. “Still on the morning of the voting proper on Wednesday, the Northern Senators refused to go into the plenary without having a caucus meeting to ďŹ nalize their position on key issues.

At the meeting, they refused to allow northern Senators, who are members of the leadership to attend the meeting. Thus, Saraki, Ahmed Lawan (Senate Leader) and Bala Ibn N’Allah (Deputy Senate Leader) were not allowed into the meeting. “The northerners see devolution of powers as another indirect way of importing restructuring into the constitution and turning Nigeria into a confederal state with strong confederating states and weak centre.

This is why the Senate President, during the voting presented the various items as bills, so that the issues can be voted on separately, that way, the rejection of one issue will not lead to the fall of all the issues falling as it happened in the past, when the issues were lumped together. “That was why voting were done separately on issues to be removed from the constitution, even though these issues come under the same bill. Thus, votes were taken separately on the issue of whether to remove the National Youth Service (NYSC) Decree, Public Complaints Commission and Land Use Act Decree from the constitution. While the ďŹ rst two passed, the latter one failed. And so, the former two would be passed,â€? the source added.

The Drama in the House In the House, the voting exercise was to establish concurrence with the earlier position of the Senate, which voted Tuesday on the proposed amendment. In instances, where the red chamber voted against a particular

Saraki and Dogara at a joint session of the National Assembly

bill, the House would only be exercising its constitutional rights to make its position known to the public on an issue if it decided to vote in favour of the same bill, because as a bicameral legislature, it will require the consent of both houses to pass a piece of legislation.

As it was in the Senate, some bills were either passed or defeated in the House to the surprise of many and this owed largely to intrgues and horse-trading that would later culminate in serious drama.

A day before the House embarked on the review, certain lawmakers had started lobbying members to vote along a pattern. But

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the lobbyists would be surprised that some of the bills they were interested in went against their expectation.

For instance, on the bill for state creation and boundary adjustment to remove the ambiguity associated with it, while the Senate passed the bill, it was defeated in the House which voted 166 in favour and 125 against and couldn’t meet the two-thirds majority votes needed to pass.

The green chamber further rejected an alteration of the constitution to provide for the appointment of a minister from the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to ensure the capital city is represented in the Executive Council.

Cont’d from Pg. 77

The Senate had passed the bill.

The lower chamber, opposed an amendment to the 1999 constitution to separate the ofďŹ ce of the Attorney General of the Federation and of the State from the ofďŹ ce of the minister or commissioner for justice in a bid to make them independent and insulate both from partisanship. But the red chamber had voted in favour of the legislation.

Although the citizenship and indigeneship bill passed in the Senate, it failed in the House with 208 members in support while 78 opposed it and thus fell short of the two-thirds requirement. The citizenship and indigeneship bill, particularly aims to entitle married women to claim indigeneship of the state of their husbands.

The voting caused some row as a result of technical hitches from the electronic display board and the Speaker, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, had to appeal to members to vote thrice to be convinced on the results. At the end, the bill, largely supported by women members suffered a defeat as it couldn’t garner the two-thirds majority needed to scale through.

The bill to remove certain Acts including the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and the Land Use, National Security Agencies and the Public Complaints Commission from the constitution failed to garner adequate support to pass despite lobby from interested members, including the speaker.

But the bill was passed by the Senate. Also, a bill seeking to delete State Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from the constitution was oored in the House while it passed in the Senate. The House further disapproved of a bill to provide for a change in the names of some local government councils in the country Conclusion As rightly noted by Ekweremadu in a recent interview with the ARISE News, restructuring may have its initial problems, but there is a need to continue the engagements, and adopt a gradual introduction of changes, rather than attempt to change it all in one fell swoop.

THE AMENDMENT BILLS (HOUSE) PASSED BILLS

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GAVEL TO GAVEL/ BILLS, MOTIONS, ET AL.

Securing Nigeria’s Territorial Waters The House of Representatives Joint Committee on Maritime Safety and Administration, and the Navy, recently held a public hearing to amend the Maritime Operations Co-ordination Act. Damilola Oyedele, who monitored the exercise, writes that with the regular theft of crude oil put at an estimated $1.17bn in 2016 alone, the amendment which seeks to ensure better policing of Nigeria’s territorial waters was long overdue

N

igeria’s maritime sector plays a very crucial role in the development of its national economy, with three major industries: transportation, fishing, oil and gas, which contribute significantly to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The sector, however, is unable to attain its full potential as Nigeria’s waters are considered one of the most dangerous with rising insecurity.

The International Maritime Bureau (IMB) recently stated that the attacks by sea bandits off the Coast of West Africa are on the increase in Nigeria. This is as the United Nations Security Council also observed that Nigeria was losing about $1.5 billion on a monthly basis to piracy, armed robberies at sea, smuggling, and fuel supply fraud, which are on the increase in the Gulf of Guinea.

The Deputy Representative of the United States to the UN, Ambassador Michele Sison, listed ineffective governance structures, weak rule of law, precarious legal frameworks, inadequate naval coast guard and maritime law enforcement, as the root causes of piracy. She added that the absence of an effective maritime governance system hampers freedom of movement in the waters, disrupts trade and economic growth as well as facilitates environmental crimes.

In the first quarter of 2017 alone, at least 14 commercial vessels were reported to have been attacked with 23 crew members kidnapped for huge ransoms in six incidences. The attacks have continued to give countries in the Gulf of Guinea a bad reputation in the global maritime industry, with several implications for their economies and with Nigeria being at the centre.

Thus, the risks of voyaging through the region has led to higher costs of business as vessel owners and consignees are inclined to charge higher, than they would for other routes. Some vessels would also avoid the route altogether leading to a loss of potential revenue.

At the Public Hearing The recent step by the House of Representatives to amend the bill regulating maritime operations in Nigeria has been largely described as both critical and commendable. The Joint committee on Maritime Safety and the Navy, last week, conducted a public hearing on a Bill for an Act to amend the Maritime Operations Coordinating Board Act, reconstituting the Maritime Operations Co-coordinating Board for effective control of all maritime operations in Nigeria’s territorial waters and the Exclusive Economic Zone, create the Maritime Security Fund and establish anti-piracy offences.

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, who declared the hearing open lamented that the country loses an estimated N7 trillion to insecurity and revenue leakages in the waterways every year.

According to him, “Between January and March 2016, several attacks were reported off Nigeria’s coast. This was said to involve pirates stealing cargoes of crude oil and petroleum products. Reports had it that, no fewer than 44 ship crew members were abducted. In the first half of this year, over 20 commercial vessels were attacked in the Nigerian waters. The increasing level of attacks and violence in the Gulf of Guinea have given Nigeria and other countries in the sub-region very damaging and negative image in addition to an estimated monthly loss of $1.5 billion to the country.

“As I said recently, prevalence of insecurity in our waters resulted in the loss of $1.3billion annually to Illegal Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing in West Africa alone yearly. We must tighten the legal and regulatory framework to stop these losses. The only way to promote intra-African trade in our water ways is to ensure safety and security of navigation in our waters.

“What is disturbing is that pirate attacks in West Africa are said to be occurring in our territorial waters, terminals and harbors and not in the high seas which effectively stopped intervention by international naval forces,” Dogara said.

The Speaker however explained that while the onus was on the Navy to stem the tide, and secure the waters, the outfit was limited by inadequate funding of its operations. He added that there was also need for the formulation of

Chairman House Commitee on Maritime, Hon. Mohammed Bago and Chairman House committee on Navy, Hon. Abdussamad Dasuki at the public hearing

in respect of which the offence is committed.

Section 6 (2) of the bill provides for stiffer penalties for any person who unlawfully transports, traffics, or aids the unlawful movement of persons, weapons, petroleum and any of its derivatives or goods of any kind in a vessel.

Such person would be liable to between three to 21 years imprisonment and or payment of fine equal to the value of the property.

Section 6 (3) stipulates up to seven years imprisonment for anyone, who dishonestly takes or appropriates any property from any ship by means of theft, force, intimidation, deception, fraud or other similar means.

Another major amendment is the provision that empowers the court to order forfeiture of any ship or property that is used illegally in Nigerian waters.

Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibas, making his presentation at the hearing

stiffer penalties for maritime crimes.

Chairman of the Committee on Maritime Safety and Administration, Hon. Mohammed Umaru Bago, said the bill seeks to reconstitute the maritime operations coordinating board for effective control of all maritime operations in Nigeria’s territorial waters and the exclusive economic zone.

The bill, he said, also creates the maritime security fund, establishes anti-piracy offenses and other related matters.

“I wish to reiterate the importance of giving adequate attention to maritime security – both territorial and merchant marine security. There is no gainsaying as per the imperatives of getting it right,” he said.

But the Chairman of the Committee on Navy, Hon. Abdussamad Dasuki, in his address, said all stakeholders have a shared responsibility to ensure that the maritime environment was secure and safe enough to ensure sustained economic activities.

“It is also on record that Nigeria loses significant amount of income due to persistent oil theft, reports and interactions with stakeholders in the maritime sector indicates that there are significant challenges to safeguarding our coastline of about 420 nautical miles and an exclusive economic zone of 200 nautical

miles,” citing the challenges as ranging from regulatory provisions, in-effective collaboration among stakeholders and inadequate capacity for enforcement of protection laws.

Now, the Proposed Amendments Having identified several loopholes in the current bill, the new bill seeks to bring about effective security and coordination of all maritime operations in Nigeria’s territorial waters and exclusive economic zone. It is also intended to strengthen the legal structure for punishing all acts of piracy and waterway criminality. A major highlight is the proposed establishment of a Maritime Security Fund to enhance capacity to enforce protection laws of Nigeria’s maritime environment.

It seeks to amend the current law, to ensure that the Chief of Naval Staff, who is constitutionally charged with the security of the nation’s coastline, will be the Chairman of the Maritime Operations Coordinating Board, while its membership would be drawn from the Ministries of Defence, Transport, Finance, Agriculture, from the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) among others.

Section 6 (1) of the bill stipulates stiffer sanctions for the offence of piracy, with prison term of between five to ten years, and imposition of fine to the amount of the value of the ship

A Proposal for Maritime Security Fund Section 4 of the bill provides for the establishment of the Maritime Security Fund, which would defray all expenses incurred by the maritime coordinating board. It is expected to be funded by monies provided by the federal government from time to time, funds specifically appropriated to the board by the National Assembly, and one per cent of funds derived by and accruing to NIMASA pursuant to the Cabotage Act or any other enabling law.

The security fund is also expected to be funded by proceeds of sales by auction, forfeited vessels or goods subject to provisions of the Act, to ensure transparency and accountability in its management. The fund would however be totally separated from Nigeria’s Navy’s statutory allocation at all times.

NIMASA, in its submission made by its Director of Procurement, Mr. Sani Muhammed, noted that there was no corresponding provision in its enabling Act to give effect to the provision that NIMASA would remit one per cent surcharge on maritime contracts and annual regulatory fees, or one per cent of the funds derived from Cabotage, to the proposed Maritime Security Fund.

He clarified that the Cabotage Act 2003 provides for the promotion of indigenous tonnage, and to establish a Cabotage Vessel Financing fund, which would be used for the purpose of promoting the development of indigenous ship acquisition capacity by providing assistance to the Nigerian operators in the domestic coastal shipping.

“The functions of the Maritime Operations Coordinating Board do not fall within the purpose for which the Cabotage fund was created,” he added. But it would be necessary for these contradictions to be sorted out, particularly with specific legislation.

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IMAGES

R

ecently, the funeral service of Mama Beatrice Okebola Olaopa, mother of former Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Communications, and Executive Vice Chairman, Ibadan School of Government and Public Policy, Dr. Tunji Olaopa, was held at Christ Baptist Church, Awe, Oyo State. Guests were entertained atAwe High School Main Sports Field. Here are faces of some of the personalities at the event.

Photographs by Felix Ademola

˾ L-R: Mrs. Lola Olaopa and husband Dr.Tunji Olaopa

L-R: Dr.Tunji Olaopa and former Governor of Oyo State,Otunba Adebayo Alao-Akala

L-R: Ademola Olaopa, Lanre Taiwo and Mrs.Opeyemi Taiwo

L-R: Mrs.Bolaji Popoola, Mr.Sunday Olaopa, Mrs.Grace Adedamola Adeniyi, Mrs. Oluremi Aboyade and Mrs.Lola Olaopa

L-R: Mr. Felix Adenaike, Engr. Femi Babalola

L-R: Dr.Olaopa, his wife Lola, Mrs. Catherine Akande and Pastor Wale Akande

L-R: Eng. Oke Tajudeen and Mr. Adewole Adeleke

L-R: Mr. Tope Fashedemi and Prof. Dan Adebiyi

L-R: Mr. Bode Adediji and Chief Sanjo Alagbe

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ JULY 30, 2017

IMAGES

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T H I S D AY SUNDAY JULY 30, 2017

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ ͻ͸˜ ͺ͸͹Ϳ

NEWSXTRA

BANKING SYNERGY L-R: Regional CEO, UBA Africa- Anglophone, UBA Plc, Mr. Oliver Alawuba; Deputy Governor, Operations, Bank of Zambia, Dr. Bwalya K. E. Ng’andu; GMD/CEO, UBA Plc, Mr. Kennedy Uzoka; Governor, Bank of Zambia:

Dr. Denny Kalyalya; CEO, UBA Zambia, Emeka Dimanochie; and Executive Director, Risk Management and Compliance, UBA Plc, Mr. Uche Ike, during the visit by UBA management to the Governor of Bank of Zambia in Lusaka, Zambia...recently

‘Claims of Casualties during Rescue of 6 Igbonla Students Untrue’ t We were starved, beaten, says one of the students t Details of Ondo govt’s intervention as parents recount ordeal James Sowole in Akure, Akinwale Akintunde and Chiemelie Ezeobi in Lagos Claims by the Nigerian police that there were casualties during the rescue operation that culminated in the release of the six students of the Government Model College, Igbonla, Epe, in Lagos State have been dismissed by several sources, including one of the kidnapped students, who spoke to THISDAY on the condition of anonymity.

But the student, who recounted their ordeal in the hands of the kidnappers said they were starved and at some points beaten out of frustration, because their parents could not pay up the ransom demanded, adding also that they were relocated to three different camps before their eventual release last week.

It is against this backdrop that more details of the alleged involvement of the Ondo State Government in the negotiations that led to the release of the students have also been brought forward, even as some of the parents of the victims gave

heart-rending accounts of how their wards survived the 65 days they spent in the three different camps they were taken by their captors.

THISDAY Findings revealed that the Ondo State Government actually negotiated the release of the students, who were kidnapped on May 25 at the peak of Lagos@50 anniversary celebration, without as much any bloodshed between the security forces and the kidnappers.

The kidnapped students are Peter Jonah, Isiaka Ramon, Adebayo George, Judah Agbausi, Pelumi Philips and Farouq Yusuf. They were released at about 3.30pm at Aboto Creek at Ilaje Local Government Area (LGA), Ondo State.

The latest revelation, however, disproved claims by the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Fatai Owoseni that 20 of the kidnappers died while eight policemen and four civilian volunteers sustained injuries.

Although it is believed that the statement of the Lagos Police Commissioner is being taken out of context, because what he

tried to do, according to his statement was to establish the series of efforts the combined security forces had taken towards rescuing the kids, all of which failed before the recent negotiation that yielded, he however failed to speak with such clarity that could have made lucid his points.

But the different government officials involved in the negotiation have provided insight into how the students were eventually released on Friday evening to the Ondo State Deputy Governor, Mr. Agboola Ajayi, on the instructions of Governor Rotimi Akeredolu.

In the same breath, one of the students, who gave an insight into their experience, said they were starved in one of the camps and beaten in another when their parents could not meet up with the ransom, noting that the entire experience was traumatic for them. But he noted that the kidnappers would later treat them more kindly after an undisclosed amount of money was believed to have been paid by their parents.

According to him, “We were

relocated to three camps. We spent two days at the first camp before we were relocated to another camp. It was in the second camp that we were beaten, because they said that our parents were not cooperating with them and that they had run out of food stuff. They also starved us.

I fasted and prayed fervently for God’s intervention during my stay with them. Again, like the first time, one of them woke us while sleeping to go into a boat.

“This time around, they took us on a long journey that took several hours before we got to their camp. None of us knew where we were. Sometimes they would threaten us that we were at a point of no return if the money they asked for was not given to them.

“But unlike at other camps, it was there we were well fed.

At times they gave us pounded yam and Egusi soup, jollof rice and noodles. On the day we were released, we thought we were being relocated again.

Even when the security agents that came to pick us arrived, we thought they were another

group of captors, because some of them also wore uniforms.”

This particular account shows that there was no gun battle in the first place let alone a situation that warranted the death of anyone of the negotiating partners. On the contrary, this story corroborated other narrations that the release of the students was as a result of negotiations with the kidnappers, even though no one spoke about ransom.

One of the officials of the Ondo State government, who was involved in the negotiation, also faulted Owoseni’s claims about death record, noting that the option of hot pursuit was not considered to secure the release of the students safely and unhurt.

He said it was after it was discovered that the kidnappers were hiding in Ondo and Delta creeks that the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode liaised with his Ondo State counterpart, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu, on how to facilitate the release of the students.

The official noted that

Akeredolu directed his deputy, Ajayi “to negotiate the release of the six kidnapped students. He gave the directive at a time when their parents and security agencies could no longer establish contacts with the abductors of the students.

“The deputy governor is from Kiribo town in Ese Odo Local Government Area, a riverine area in the state. So, the governor deliberately gave his deputy the responsibility to negotiate with the abductors of the kids, because he was a youth leader in the area before he assumed office.

“Agboola did not work alone.

He worked with the Deputy Governor of Delta State, Mr. Kingsley Otuaro to secure the release of the students. It is on record that the duo worked tirelessly for days in the creeks before they established with the kidnappers and subsequently the students,” he said.

Another official confirmed too that it was untrue that 20 persons died in any gun battle while security operatives made to “release the kidnapped students.

No person died contrary to what Lagos State Commissioner, Mr. Fatai Owoseni said.”

Forensic Accountants Back Separation of NFIU from EFCC AfDB Rues Energy Crisis in Paul Obi in Abuja Society for Forensic Accountants and Fraud Prevention (SFAFP) yesterday threw its weight behind the Senate over the new bill seeking to separate the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The Senate had last week passed the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Agency (NFIA) Bill sequel to the threat by Egmont Group to expel Nigeria after it suspended the country over some violations.

Speaking to journalists at the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) Academy in Keffi, Nasarawa State, SFAFP Chairman and Second Vice President, Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN) Prof. Benjamin Osisioma, argued that the bill the Senate passed was in the right direction and was geared towards responding to

global trends.

Osisioma said: “The EFCC is facing some global challenges.

The Financial intelligence wing is supposed to be an independent body operating separately.

“In as much as EFCC has tried to give it some autonomy to enable it to operate, but now, unless this particular trend is undertaken, we are going to be deregistered by the relevant authorities. So, it is like trying to protect our interest globally. It is not a bad decision.”

According to the University of Azikiwe, Awka Professor of Accounting, “what we are doing here too is to strengthen the financial intelligence agency, strengthen the EFCC, strengthen the ICPC and strengthen every accounting organisation that is really interested in fighting corruption.

“We want to give teeth to the fight against corruption and the only way we can do it is to train forensic accountant. Even after documents are burnt, forensic accountant can retrieve informa-

tion from them. Every crime has a trial and the forensic accountant is trained to follow the trial,” Osisioma added.

He said, “The potentials of forensic accountants are tapped.

In the moot court exercise, they are trained on how to bring the evidence together and convict criminals. We are helping to make sure that corruption does not kill Nigeria.

“We want to ensure that people stop embezzlement of public funds because if they do, forensic accountants will catch them. The problem with the new scheme is that those who profited under the old scheme will not allow it to work. Those who will benefit from the new scheme are lukewarm in their support.”

SFAFP Executive Secretary, Dr. Abuchi Ogbudu stated that the training “was to train out the vanguard. These are the main people we will use to do the work out there.

They have been trained on how to defend their financial investigations

and present them in court without any lapse along the line.

“They have been trained in the arts and science of accounting.

Our target is to gear them towards prevention of fraud which is a better approach than fighting fraud,” Ogbudu stated.

Meanwhile, indications emergency yesterday of a move by the EFCC lobby machine to the House of Representatives to persuade members of the lower chamber not to support the NFIA Bill as passed by the Senate.

Already, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara was quoted recently, opposing the decision to remove the NFIU unit from EFCC. Dogara was said to have made his opposition to the NFIA Act known, stating that, “efforts to take the NFIU out of the EFCC, unnecessary, will frustrate fight against corruption. What is right is right, and what is wrong is wrong.

Sincerely, I believe that the NFIU should be under the EFCC.”

Africa, to Invest $12bn in the Sector Abimbola Akosile The President of African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina has said the bank is investing $12 billion in the energy sector on the continent for the next five years to leverage the $45-$50 billion required for energy development.

Adesina, who lamented that about 645 million Africans do not have access to power and when they do, it is unreliable, added that last year, the AfDB provided $1.7 billion in financing energy and helping to provide electricity to over three million people.

Speaking in Lagos at the launchoftwobookstitled:‘Transformative Paradigms in African Development’ and ‘A Journey in African Development’ written

by Chief Bisi Ogunjobi, a former Vice President of AfDB, Adesina

said power supply was not only central to the continent’s economy, but that to stay in power, African leaders must address the power problem on the continent.

He lamented that Nigeria is facing serious power problems which present and past government have continued to work very hard to address, and warned that since the last election in Ghana was decided by power supply, governments must solve the power problem to remain in power.

“The development of the private sector is crucial for African economies. The bulk of the private sector accounted for by small and medium scale enterprises, which lack financing to grow their businesses, and their challenges are compounded by structural factors such as lack of electricity, that drives up their cost of doing business.”

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SUNDAYSPORTS

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

Leicester Frustrated over Iheanacho Transfer Saga

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eicester City manager, Craig Shakespeare has voiced his frustrated that a proposed deal to bring Kelechi Iheanacho to the King Power Stadium has yet to materialise. Reports had circulated earlier this month in sections of the British media claiming that a deal had been agreed in principle between Leicester

and Manchester City for the Super Eagles striker.

With the player yet to put pen to paper, Shakespeare has now voiced his frustrations at the situation. “I think we saw the Harry McGuire one; we got that done quick,” Shakespeare said in an interview with SkySports News HQ. “At the moment, we are interested in the player but we know how the Premier

League is.

“We know that clubs won’t talk about it (player transfers) until they are over the line. I am hoping so (that we will sign Iheanacho). We find it frustrating but that’s how the (transfer) market works,” he said.

Iheanacho has scored 21 goals in all competitions since he made his senior debut for Manchester City in 2015.

positionfortheHungarianGrand Prix heading a Ferrari one-two as titlerivalLewisHamiltonstruggled in fourth. Hamilton, who trails Vettel by one point in the world championship, complained consistently of tyre problems in his Mercedesandhadamessysession.

Vettel was 0.254 seconds quicker thanthefastestMercedesofValtteri Bottas,withteam-mateKimiRaikkonen second. Scot Paul di Resta qualified an excellent 19th after being drafted in as a last-minute stand-inforWilliams’FelipeMassa.

Ferrarihavenottakenafrontrow lockout in Hungary since 2004 when victory secured the title for Michael Schumacher.

Mercedeshavebeenstrugglingfor paceallweekendandwereasecond orsoofftheFerrarisinfinalpractice.

Without his problems, Hamilton may have had the pace to be on the front row, but suspicion is that the long-wheelbase Mercedes is simplynotaswellsuitedtothetight and twisty Hungaroring as other, faster tracks.

Mercedes made progress in qualifying,andHamiltonactually set the fastest time in the second part, albeit doing two runs rather than only one like Ferrari.

Hamilton had complained of a tyre vibration on his first run in second qualifying and the same happened on both his runs in the top 10 shoot-out.

South Africa: Football Stadium Crush Kills Two, Injures Many

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t least two people have been killed and 17 injured in a crush at South Africa’s biggest stadium, football officials say. It took place during the Soweto derby between football clubs Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates in Johannesburg.

Orlando Pirates said the crush happened when people attempted to push their way through the gates into the 87,000-capacity FNB stadium. Authorities allowed the pre-season cup game to continue.

Public safety official Michael Sun said on Twitter that all gates at the stadium had been opened to ensure crowd control and that the situation was later brought under control. Of the 17 injured, one is in a critical condition, the stadium managers said.

Reuters said live television coverage of the match, which Kaizer Chiefs won 1-0, showed no obvious disturbance.

The stadium served as the venue for Nelson Mandela’s first speech after his release from prison in 1990, and is where the

memorial for Mr Mandela was held in 2013.

It was rebuilt for the 2010 football World Cup, where it was known as Soccer City and hosted the final between Spain and the Netherlands.

In April 2001, 43 supporters died in a crush during another match between Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates at the Ellis Park stadium in Johannesburg.

And 10 years before that, 42 people died in a crush between the same two teams at the Oppenheimer Stadium in the city of Orkney.

F1: Vettel Takes Pole in Hungary, Hamilton Fourth Ferrari’sSebastianVetteltookpole

Iheanacho

NEWS Organise National Summit to Alleviate Donate Blood, Save Life, Building Collapse, Surveyors Tell FG Stakeholders Urge Nigerians Anayo Okolie

As part of efforts to curb the incessant cases of building collapse across the country, the Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyor (NIQS) has asked the federal government to urgently organise a national summit, which would create avenue for stakeholders to proffer solutions to the problem.

Over the years, Nigeria has witnessed several cases

of building collapse, leading to loss of so many lives. But the surveyors under the umbrella of NIQS believe that such a summit would put an end to the menace.

According to a statement issued by the President of NIQS, Mrs. Mercy Iyortyer, it has become obvious that all hands must be on deck to arrest the situation.

Calling for the need for all stakeholders to sit down and chart a way forward,

Iyortyer said such summit should involve all those who have positive contributions to make in order to put an end to the menace of building collapse.

She however, identified faulty structural designs, use of substandard building materials, inadequate enforcement of enabling building regulations and among others as some of the causes of building collapse, saying that only a coordinated ap-

proach can arrest the trend.

“It is obvious that government alone cannot stop the incidents of building collapse, which have left hundreds of innocent Nigerians either dead or maimed.”

Iyortyer called on the federal government to ensure that appropriate sanctions are mated to professionals and landlords or even quacks whose attitudes lead to unavoidable loss of woman lives.

Nigerians have been advised to form a habit of donating blood in order to save lives. This was disclosed at a blood donation event organised

by Rotary Club of Lagos Island District 9110, Rotary International in conjunction with Airtel Telecommunications held at Lagos.

According to the stakeholders, such a habit would go a long way in saving lives. The event, which was well attended by residents of Lagos, was supervised by the Lagos State Blood Transfusion Unit, headed by Ms. Yinka Sijuade.

The Director Supply Chain, Air-

tel Telecoms Plc, Mr. Ragnvendra Gupta, Rotn Niten Wilfred the Operations Manager Afroshine Nigeria Ltd, Rotn Sanjeev Tandon, President, The Mega Rotary Club of Lagos Island and his wife, IWM Geetika Tandon, Rotn Dr. Anil Grover, Medical Director, Grover Medicals Life Style Clinic, Victoria Island Lagos, Rotn Mamta Debroy the Club Secretary, Mrs. Bukunola Adeniran, Executive Assistant to the CEO, Airtel Telecoms Plc, IWM Adegbemisola Fathia Amoke Rufai and among others.

Glitz & Glamour as Biola Alabi Premieres Banana Island Ghost In what can only be described as a dazzling night of glitz and glamour, the official world premiere of the movie, Banana Island Ghost (B.I.G) was a thrilling delight. The highly anticipated movie was screened before an excited audience at Harbour Point Event Centre in Victoria Island, Lagos. It was an elegant night of exquisite class meets Casino Royale.

Banana Island Ghost (B.I.G) is an action-comedy film starring the multi-talented ‘Chigul’ Chioma Omeruah as Ijeoma, who is paired with Patrick Diabuah the Ghost. The Ghost has three days to fall in love and

she will do anything to save her father’s house in Banana Island from the bank coming to reclaim it in three days.

The glittery guest list on the red carpet included cast members Ali Nuhu, Tomiwa Edun, Saidi Balogun, Lala Akindoju, Akah Nnani, Uche Jombo, Damilola Adegbite, Dorcas Fapson, Ozzy Agu, Lord Frank, Makida Moka and Bimbo Ademoye.

Other celebrity guests spotted on the red carpet included Omotola Jalade Ekeinde, Omawunmi, OC Ukeje, Michelle Dede, Inidima Okojie, Eku Edewor, Freeze, Osas Ighodaro Ajibade, Ill Rhymz, Lamide Akintobi, Beverly Naya,

Linda Ejiofor, Tomi Odunsi, Beverly Osu, BBA Stars Bisola, Kemen and Uriel, and many more.

Banana Island Ghost is written and directed by BB Sasore and is produced by Omorinsojo Spaine and Tolu Olusoga. The Executive Producers for the film are Biola Alabi, Derin Adeyokunnu, along with CoExecutive producers Dr. Ayo Osunrinade, Mr. Michael Ugwu, the founder of FreeMe Digital, Ms. Adenike Adekanbi of HTB Entertainment Studios, Mr. Niyi Toluwalope and Mr. Basheer Tosin Ashafa of Tri-Equity Capital were all Co-Executive Producers.

Following a remarkable

response from guests at the premiere, Biola Alabi, Executive Producer of the movie said, “Chigul is an exceptional talent and in Banana Island Ghost, from her first moment on screen, she captivates the audience, movie lovers all over will thoroughly enjoy watching her.”

Banana Island Ghost (B.I.G), is the first from a slate of five (5) films by BAM-Nemsia Pictures, a coproduction partnership between Biola Alabi Media (BAM) and Nemsia Films.

BAM-Nemsia also collaborated with strategic partners and sponsors for the film including: Lipton Tea, Sunlight Dishwash-

ing liquid, Coldstone Creamery, HealthPlus Pharmacy and Kilimanjaro Restaurants.

The exceptional premiere event and the resounding satisfaction expressed by guests at the screening assures cinema lovers of an action packed and comedy filled viewing experience when the movie hits cinemas on August 4.

The film will be distributed

by FilmOne and will be available in cinemas nationwide from August 4. Group ED/COO of FilmOne Distribution, Moses Babatope said, “We are excited to be bringing this film to movie lovers across the country. Banana Island

Ghost (B.I.G) is certainly another great win for local content and we are glad to be part of it.”

The movie premiere was sponsored by: Amstel Malta, mCash, Amarula, Nederburg and Bisque Whiskey.

“I loved the movie from start to finish. Banana Island Ghost has certainly raised the bar for the industry. It’s a great testament to all that is possible when people dare to push the limits, BAMNEMSIA has surely blazed a trail with this one, and as a movie enthusiast, I’m really glad for what it heralds for the industry,” said Omogbolahan Akinwunmi, Movie Critic.

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High Life T

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...Amazing lifestyles of Nigeria’s rich and famous

Essence and the Woman...Erelu Abiola Dosunmu’s Grand 70th Birthday Party

here is nothing gorgeous about being draped in the ďŹ nery that constricts the heart and soul.

Erelu Abiola Dosunmu understands this priceless fact hence her predilection for modesty and unabashed humility.

The ravishing socialite who is reputed for her quiet demeanour eortlessly exudes dignity and class; the woman who projects as the nucleus and undying essence of the social scene even before contemporary celebrities were born, recently turned 70 and like a woman of true character and quiet nobility, she elected to celebrate her anniversary in a grand style.

It beggared no surprise or shock when the crème of high society gathered to celebrate one of their own, the newest entrant into the Septuagenarian club, Erelu Abiola Dosunmu, last Saturday. The glamorous gig, with a glut of gripping parades of purposeful phases of culture, couture and postures, was turned into a huge carnival of styles and ceremonial displays. Famed for her ageless Êlan and preference for white ensembles, the Erelu Kuti was swarmed by associates, relatives, friends and prominent names and faces on the social and political and business scenes. She swirled and swayed in happiness and as much as her legs could carry her. She was beside herself with joy. Understandably because in the last two years, her world had been rocked by tragedy;

the three men she cherished most in her life; her conďŹ dant and soul mate, Chief Molade Okoya-Thomas; the Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade; and her estranged husband, late Chief Deinde Fernandez, all passed in succession. Erelu Dosunmu was undoubtedly devastated by the deaths of the three men.

She has since embraced the fact that death is a necessary end.

Thus, she committed a lot of resources into her 70th birthday party which was preceded by a lecture with the theme “Threats to Peace and Security Around The Globe Given The Present State of The World’s Insecurity,â€? at the Landmark Event Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos. The Guest Speaker was Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, Nigeria’s former Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN) and former Foreign Aairs Minister. There would be a Nite of Songs of Praise and Thanksgiving by 6:00 pm today at the Terra Kulture, Victoria Island, Lagos. Coincidentally, this year marks the 43rd year of her reign as the Erelu Kuti of Lagos, a ranking chieftess who reigns as regent upon the death of an incumbent monarch until a substantive successor is chosen by the college of kingmakers.

Born in Kano into the royal family of Prince Adewunmi and Ajoke Dosumu of Lagos Island, she studied business administration in London before delving into business which she has made enviable success of.

Gilbert and Ronald Chagoury

CHAGOURY BROTHERS BURY MOTHER IN LEBANON Again, bliss sputters to untimely death in the household of the Chagourys. Like a worn engine sputtering to sudden death, maternal bliss has disappeared from the abode of billionaire brothers.

The bliss and luxury of having a mother and basking in her goodwill and warmth has finally deserted the doorsteps of Gilbert and Ronald. When death crept into the influential Chagoury

family recently, it left with the matriarch.

For Gilbert and Ronald Chagoury, the billionaire Lebanese brothers behind Eko Hotel and Eko Atlantic City, the wound inflicted in their hearts with the recent passing of their mother may never quite heal.

They, however, did not grieve; rather, they celebrated her life.

The aged woman was buried in their native Beirut, Lebanon last week.

To underscore their influence

Abiola Dosunmu

and wealth, many prominent Nigerians jettisoned whatever they were doing to travel to the Middle Eastern country to join them in celebrating the life of their mother. It was gathered that while the Lebanon leg of the burial was a small but grand affair, a Lagos version is being planned for those who were unable to travel with them. Understandably, the burial party, going by reports, promises to be a show-stopper by every imagination. Though the Chagourys, who are more Nigerian than some Nigerians because of their long stay in the country and on account of their vast business interests spanning real estate, hotels, manufacturing, telecommunications and construction, are very private and are not the regular faces at social scenes, they are widely connected and wealthy. But they would put aside their social reclusiveness to ensure they gave their mother a befitting rite of passage in typical Nigerian style.

ON A TRAIL OF REMINISCENCE: OONI OF IFE’S YOUNGER SISTER RECALLS GROWING UP WITH THE POWERFUL MONARCH Typical of sisters who are reputed to share childhood

memories and grown up dreams, Princess Adebimpe Ogunwusi, one of the younger sisters of His Imperial Majesty, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, the Ooni of Ife, is not coy about talking about his beloved brother. According to the health practitioner who says she hasn’t got used to her brother becoming the all-powerful Ooni, “We still haven’t adjusted. I am still getting used to it by the day.

Princess Adebimpe Ogunwusi

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Love Actually...About Tokunbo Sijuwade’s Frequent Trips to Kaduna

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ot a few people have been wondering why bespectacled, boyishly handsome Prince Tokunbo Sijuwade, son of the late Ooni of Ife, has been shuttling between Lagos and Kaduna so much in recent time. The reason is none other than to be close to his wife, the smouldering beauty, Amina Dyeris Sijuwade, who currently serves as the Kaduna State Commissioner for Environment and Natural Resources.

She was in the Ministry of Justice before a cabinet reshuffle early this year saw her moved to her present ministry.

Amina, the daughter of Retired Brig-Gen. Adamu Dyeris, and Tokunbo got married in 1996 in Kaduna with a wedding reception that had the former Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon, as chairman and Highlife legend, Sir. Victor Olaiya, on the bandstand. However,

a combination of several factors led to their bitter separation. They were separated for six years. Despite several interventions and pleas for them to reconsider their stances, the Nok princess and then crown prince of Ile Ife were implacable. It was a bitter period for those who knew the very lovable couple.

However, fate lurked in waiting. In 2013, love found them again and they decided to give marriage another shot. They have been inseparable since then. If the couple is not in Kaduna, they are in Lagos or Abuja, barely spending hours away from each other. Last Tuesday, Mrs Sijuwade, a University of Buckinghamtrained lawyer, paid a working visit to the Ministry of Environment in Alausa, Ikeja, and the consensus was that she cut a perfect picture of happiness and contentment.

Before he became Ooni in those good old days, anytime I see him, the first thing I do was to put my head on his chest. I am so fond of him. I missed that a lot. Though, we still talk, it’s not like before.

When we were growing up, we used to fight a lot. Yes, I miss that too. I miss the way we play and run around the house. The four of us are super close. I mean Kabiyesi and his three sisters.

Now, he is the father of all. I don’t have him to myself anymore.”

Adebimpe, who turned 40 in May and chose to celebrate with her sisters in the United Sates with support from the Ooni, recalled that even their boys, including Prince Adegboyega, the eldest and Prince Adetunji, who also had his eye on the stool, are close too. “Before my brother became Kabiyesi, all of us used to play.

They did things in common. They had businesses together. But he is now in Ife at the palace. They are in Lagos. Our first born is Prince Adegboyega Ogunwusi who is more in Ife these days. Prince Adetunji Ogunwusi is my elder brother too. We look alike. People used to call me Adetunji Obinrin because we look alike. I bless God for my parents. They kind of brought us together.” Bubbly and brainy, Princess Adebimpe however said the change in status and her turning 40 have tempered her adventurous, carefree streak.

She said, “I am no longer the Bimpe I used to be. Now, when we go to parties, my sisters would

tell me to comport myself because in my normal way, I would just jump up and free myself, greeting people. My senior sister, Princess Folashade, will say don’t stand up, comport yourself o; you know you are now a princess, you have to comport yourself. If I tell her I want to say something in public when we go out, she would tell me to shut up. It’s a great transformation. In terms of dressing too, I used to put on my shorts and Tee shirt. Now, I can’t do that. The way I dress now has changed. We wear more of ‘boubou’ now.’

END OF THE ROAD FOR VERTU, THE PREFERRED PHONES FOR BILLIONAIRES As the fork was considered an extravagant luxury when Catherine De Medici introduced it to the French in the 16th Century, so do mere mortals see Vertu phones. Among billionaires, especially those who delight in gaudy show offs, the Vertu phone is a must have. Described as a mobile phone that costs more than a brand new car, the Vertu, which presented itself as the ‘purveyor of the finest luxury mobile phones’, sold for between N3million and N12million.

Though you certainly can’t argue with the aesthetics, as the handsets come in such decadent cladding as titanium and alligator-hide leather, the Vertu, described as a beauty without brain, was generally believed

Prince Tokunbo Sijuwade

to be a time bomb waiting to happen because its features did not match its pricing. Now, a death knell has sounded on the maker of the deluxe handsets for the super rich. With a debt of £128 million, including a £2.5m debt to Microsoft which it subleases its headquarters from, Vertu has been forced to close shop and go into liquidation. This demise came with the loss of over 200 jobs and a litany of legal suits.

JENNIFER’S CROSS OR BROKEN DREAMS...WILL PETER SALAH EVER MARRY JENNIFER OBAYUWANA? Ornament is often the

deceptive shore to a most dangerous sea; the beauteous scarf that imbues a timeless troll with the silhouette of an oriental beauty. When applied to love, it becomes the seeming truth which the cunning adorns to entrap the wisest of men or women. But Jennifer Obayuwana does not know this. Hence the daughter of Polo Luxury CEO, Chief Obayuwana, has given her heart to a man widely believed to be too smart for comfort.

Jennifer’s recent announcement of her engagement to Peter Salah, CEO of Tilt Group generates a whirlpool of feelings even as you read.

Jennifer Obayuwana and Peter

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HIGHLIFE

Life is for the Living... Diezani Allison-Madueke’s Husband Sighted Rocking and Rolling in Lagos

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ife indeed is for the living, this may be the creed by which Rear Admiral Allison Madueke (rtd), the septuagenarian husband of beleaguered former Minister of Petroleum, Diezani Allison-Madueke, has decided to live by. The former minister, as you well know, has been fingered in a monumental corruption case involving billions of dollars and has consequently come under intense international probe for the improprieties perpetrated while in office.

Perhaps Nigeria’s public enemy number one, Diezani hasn’t been to Nigeria since the end of the Goodluck Jonathan administration under which she served. But for her husband, heavens may fall, as what matters to him now perhaps is enjoying the twilight of his remarkable life. The former Chief of Naval Staff was at the Boat Club, Ikoyi, Lagos, penultimate Friday amidst friends, looking upbeat and youthful as he wined and dined with friends and associates. He spent a considerably long time there.

But while her enthusiastic display of a dazzling ring has left many awe-struck and sincerely happy for her, more people have offered her congratulatory messages tongue-in-cheek. And the reason is not far-fetched. It is believed that Jennifer’s beau, Salah, does not love her as much as she believes he does.

It is believed in cynical circles that his engagement to Jennifer may be a calculated attempt at consolidating his wealth and not really because he is truly in love with her. But the aspiring bride has ignored the naysayers and their negative insinuations.

She would rather savour her blossoming relationship with Salah. It was hardly surprising therefore, that she proudly showed off Salah during her recent birthday party. Pictures of the couple flooded the social media, depicting the duo as inseparable. Jennifer went as far as posting a photo of how her man woke her up to wash her legs with a bottle of champagne on her special day before he treated her to the best of romantic indulgences and display of unparalleled affection.

But despite the widely held belief that Salah would walk her down the aisle and make a decent woman of her in a grand wedding ceremony in November last year, the couple could not consolidate their union in wedlock thus eliciting spurious speculations of goings-on between them and the recent trajectory of their love.

Cynical minds and marketers of mischief are undoubtedly having a ball analysing why Jennifer’s dream of getting married to Salah suffered a

Rear Admiral Allison Madueke (rtd)

stillbirth. Let’s hope Salah would put mischief makers to shame and marry Jennifer while her heart still skips for him.

NOT CUT OUT FOR MARRIAGE… WHY DEOLA SAGOE TAKES A WIDE BERTH FROM MARRIAGE Eventually, even the fiercest storm abates in life’s tempestuous gulf. Hence it is hardly surprising that malicious rumours about Deola Sagoe has finally dissipated from the social arena. She is no longer the butt of mean jokes and juicy gossips as her marriage has been let off the hook of controversy. And like the proverbial rampart in the thick of storms, Deola’s faith in God provided her a worthy solace in those trying times. The fact that her marriage to Kofi hit the rocks

Deola Sagoe

due to ‘irreconcilable differences’ is no longer a hot button issue.

One of Nigeria’s finest haute couture designers, Deola Sagoe, may have bid a final bye to any further marital adventure. This is coming on the heel of her recent heartbreak. Adeola, who was married to Kofi Sagoe before it went south, decided to give love another chance recently. She thought she had met her prince charming, a knight in shining armour with whom she would grow grey in a lush vineyard.

It was the childlike romantic in her romanticising. Reality soon dawned on her as the presumptive suitor apparently had other plans.

Coming at a time when she had decided to loosen up, snap out of the cocoon of her bitter separation with the father of her kids, the House of Sagoe founder was soon heartbroken again, reawakening memories of her break up with Kofi. Since then, the Ondo Stateborn daughter of industrialist, Michael Ade-Ojo, has given those friends that advised her into giving love another chance a wide berth while concentrating all her time and energy on her business and three kids.

Ohakim Plans Low Key 60th Birthday Many would mistake him for being in his mid fifties but the youthful former governor of Imo state, Dr. Ikedi Ohakim , will indeed turn 60 on Friday, August 4, 2017. His family of seven, led by his amiable wife, Chioma, has however opted for a low key celebration with a church service at St. James Anglican Church, Asokoro, Abuja, which will be followed by a dinner with a few

friends and well wishers.

It was gathered however that family members had to work hard to convince the former governor to call a table as he is said to have earlier planned to mark the day with just staying at home and praying. Ohakim is said not to be in the mood for celebration because of what a source described as the “mood of the nation”. But he was finally prevailed upon by his amiable wife, Chioma, whom, sources say, is herself a prayer warrior, to go for a more elaborate thanksgiving service and host a few friends.

Many would have expected that Ohakim, who ruled Imo State between 2007 and 2011 and whom many believe still has his eyes on the governorship seat, to use the occasion of his 60th birthday to make some ‘noise’.

Ikedi Ohakim

Sunday July 30, 2017

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MISSILE Wike to APC “I challenge them (APC) to bring their states for a peer review against Rivers State.

Let them attempt to do the projects we are doing in the state. Here in Rivers State, we are no longer talking about payment of salaries. We have gone beyond that level. We are busy working, talking about the delivery of different types of projects.”

– Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike, a member of Peoples Democratice Party, challenging governors elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress on performance.

guest columnist Ehiedu Iweriebor

Economic Recovery through Industrialisation, Diversification

T

he current economic crisis and recession in Nigerian has brought to the fore what is already known that the extant Nigerian national economy is not organised for internal self-propulsion and autonomous economic and business activities. The Nigerian economy since independence has been operated by the maintenance of the neo-colonial system of development incapacitation, primary commodity export, dependency and poverty generation.

Its basic and long-standing focus has been on the expanded production and export of primary commodities such as agricultural products like palm oil, groundnut, cotton, cocoa, rubber in the 1960s and 1970s and subsequently crude oil since the1970s. But as raw material export depend on external demand, it does not activate autonomous and secure economic activity. Therefore the Nigerian economy has no internal capacity for mass production and self-propulsion. It is a large, unfree, dependent and unviable economy.

It is well established globally that successful national economic development is a function of domestic technology capacitation and industrialisation, agricultural modernisation and mineral exploitation, beneficiation and use by local industries for the mass production of value-added goods. Therefore economically successful countries focus on expansive industrial development to achieve self-actuated development, mass production and domestic prosperity generation. This is the path followed by old and new advanced societies.

The current campaign for economic diversification also demonstrates the backwardness of Nigerian official thought as its primary prescription is to move from one exported mineral raw material – crude oil to agricultural raw materials like yam and rice export. But they are all raw materials whose demand depends on buyers and not sellers. Against all global historical evidence and the nation’s own experience that raw materials production and export does not promote any form of advanced development, Nigerian leaders in the 21st century remain arrested in the 1960s imagery of groundnut and cocoa pyramids and barrels of palm oil, as Nigeria’s economic golden age.

However, in order to achieve effective economic recovery, an enlightened and ideologically autonomous Nigerian state and especially its Ministry of Industry should actively promote economic diversification through mass industrialisation and the production of manufactured goods for the home and export markets. This can best be achieved by proactively identifying catalytic industrial development projects and programmes that will yield a variety of new industrial products. In this context, a good example of this possibility is to promote large, medium and small scale endogenous investors to utilize the intermediate goods from the catalytic plants that will generate a multiplicity of manufactured products for internal use and export within and outside Africa.

The best approach for achieving this, is to survey the entire national investment environment and identify catalytic, local resource-based projects that have the potential

Buhari

It is well established globally that successful national economic development is a function of domestic technology capacitation and industrialisation, agricultural modernisation and mineral exploitation, beneficiation and use by local industries for the mass production of value-added goods.

Therefore economically successful countries focus on expansive industrial development to achieve self-actuated development, mass production and domestic prosperity generation. This is the path followed by old and new advanced societies.

to foster broad-based industrialisation and national economic diversification for internal use and export of value added goods. Today in Nigeria, the best example of forthcoming critical catalytic projects that can contribute to national industrial development and serious economic diversification are the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, Petrochemical and Fertiliser complexes under construction in Lekki, Lagos. These plants will not only supply their basic goods like refined petroleum, petrochemicals and fertiliser; the intermediate products of these plants if recognised and effectively promoted by the Nigerian state and especially the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment can transform Nigeria into a vast centre of the production of value-added petrochemical products that will convert Nigeria into an economic power house in the petrochemical sector. This can be illustrated by identifying the modern products that can be converted into manufactured products from the intermediate products of the petroleum refinery, petrochemical complex and the fertiliser plants.

In addition to the direct benefits of the beneficiation and utilisation of domestic raw materials, like crude oil and natural gas, each of these projects has the potential to generate a multiplicity of cognate manufacturing industries that will use their products as feed-stock or intermediate raw materials for production.

For example the petroleum refinery in addition to its basic products such as Petrol, Diesel, Jet Fuel and Kerosene will also produce Slurry for Carbon Black. Carbon Black is used in making of tires and numerous other rubber products including for example belts, hoses, gaskets, bushings, wiper blades, conveyors and others. It is also used in plastics and electronic products, for coatings and for making toners and printing ink. In short just from Carbon black a whole range of critical manufacturing industries can be developed to deepen Nigeria’s manufacturing economy.

With the current expansion of computers and printers; toners and printing inks are in very high demand and are all imported into Nigeria and much of Africa. Thus carbon black can be used to develop an expansive toner and printing ink industry to serve Nigeria and the vast African market.

Petrochemicals are usually derived from petroleum and natural gas. They are usually classified into three major groups: Olefins, Aromatics and Synthesis Gas. Olefins include ethylene, propylene and butadiene which are used in plastic and synthetic rubber industries. The primary products of the Dangote petrochemical plant are within the Olefin sub-group specifically polypropylene and polyethylene - collectively known as polymers.

They can provide the intermediate materials requirements of the entire domestic plastics manufacturing industry. With their availability, Nigeria’s plastic products manufacturing industry would no longer be dependent on the importation of feedstock and there would be a guaranteed and secure domestic source of raw materials supply. The production activities of the plastic subsector manufacturers will now be unconstrained by foreign exchange shortage. Some products made from Ethylene include garbage bags, camera films, milk crates, bags and other products.

All these ancillary industries will contribute to expanded manufacturing production in the various sub-sectors of the plastics industry and other economic activities and the generation of substantial employment opportunities.

In the light of these potential impacts of the Dangote petrochemical complex on industrialisation and economic diversification, a nationalist and pro-active Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investments should now be actively organising workshops, seminars and sensitisation programmes across the country complete with ready-made project profiles for large, medium, small and cottage level Nigerian industries to begin to prepare to start their factories as soon as the petrochemical plant takes off.

This is how a proactive and patriotic Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment as well as other MDAs that are primarily committed to Nigeria’s interests should work to advance Nigeria’s development. This will be in complete contrast to the current posture and vocation of Nigerian MDAs which now work for the World Bank and implement its anti-development dogmas, policy and programmes diktats that render Nigeria prostrate.

The fertiliser plant will produce ammonia and urea, intended primarily for agricultural production. However, it is important to note that numerous other industries can be established with the use of urea as feedstock. For example, UREA is used in making paints, adhesives, polyurethanes, pharmaceuticals, such as toothpaste, cosmetics, flame proofing, acid, fabric softeners, cattle feed, formaldehyde and as an additive to paper, board and plywood; for surface coating, moulding resins, leather coating, textiles and for products that reduce noxious emissions in diesel engines. In short, a multiplicity of fine chemical industries can be developed from the products of the fertiliser plant.

Thus with the availability of these feedstock from the various refinery, petrochemical and fertiliser plants, there is clearly the potential to create a multiplicity of basic and ancillary industries, all of which will contribute to the country’s advanced economic development.

Taken together with all these by-products made from the intermediate products of the petroleum refinery, petrochemical and fertilizer plants, it is actually feasible to develop Nigeria as one of the primary global and African centres of the mass production of basic petrochemicals and their by-products like plastics and hundreds of other derivative chemicals. In this way, and with these valueadded products Nigeria would move into the league of industrially developed countries that sells and exports diverse manufactured goods, rather than agricultural and mineral raw materials. These would help diversify the country’s revenue streams away from dependence on raw materials export. More fundamentally, it would put the country on the pathway of economic freedom and self-actuated development, development capacitation, mass production, mass employment, export of value-added products, domestic prosperity generation and national empowerment.

•Ehiedu Iweriebor, PhD, is a professor of History in the Department of Africana and Puerto, Rican/Latina Studies, Hunter College, City University of New York, USA

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