Sunday 12th Novemver 2017

Ex-minister Amina Mohammed Not under Probe, Says Environment Ministry Abimbola Akosile in Lagos and Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja The Minister of State for Environment, Usman Jibril, has denied media reports that the former Minister of Environment, Mrs. Amina

Mohammed, who is now Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, is being probed by the ministry following allegations of impropriety by a non-governmental organisation.

In a statement yesterday in Abuja, Jubril said the report

by Environmental Investigation

Agency, an NGO that specialises in investigating environmental crimes, contained spurious and unsubstantiated allegations.

Jibril stressed that Mohammed’s actions as minister did not involve any illegal activities.

The EIA report said that Mohammed might have

derived personal benefits from signing thousands of allegedly backdated permits in January 2017. EIA alleged that the permits were used to clear illegal rosewood exports to China. It stressed that the permits were signed at the time Mohammed was preparing to

leave as Minister of Environment after her appointment as Deputy Secretary-General of the UN. The EIA report alleged that over 1.4 million illegal rosewood logs from Nigeria, worth $300 million, were detained at the ports in China in 2016 but were

released after the presentation of CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) certificates signed by Mohammed.

But in a statement yesterday, Continued on page 96

Wike, Amaechi’s Convoys Clash in Port Harcourt … Page 9 Sunday 12 November, 2017 Vol 22. No 8242

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Olonisakin: Military Will Put Down Violent Agitations in N’Delta Dickson, Clark meet to ease tension Sylvester Idowu in Warri and Emmanuel Addeh in Yenagoa The Nigerian military, yesterday, said while it was not averse to legitimate agitations by any section of the country, it would

put down agitations with violent disposition.

Speaking during the commissioning of 20 new 400 horsepower gunboats procured by the Nigerian Navy at the Nigerian Navy Base, NNS Delta,

Warri, Chief of Defense Staff, General Abayomi Olonisakin, lamented the continued threat posed to the nation’s maritime interests by the criminal elements in the region.

Responding specifically to

threats by the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) to resume attacks in the Niger Delta, the Chief of Defense Staff, General Abayomi Olonisakin, said the Nigerian armed forces would continue to strictly prosecute

threats of violent agitations against the country.

“Recent purported declaration of intent to resume hostilities by the Niger Delta Avengers rather casts an unfortunate gloom on the wellbeing of the region and

serves a sad commentary on the security environment. While the right to agitation is inalienable to any group, its association with violence is unconstitutional and Continued on page 6

Emefiele: Import Bill Falls, External Reserves Climbing, Monetary Easing Coming Obinna Chima The dogged implementation of the foreign exchange (FX) restriction on certain items has led to a 65 per cent drop in the country’s monthly import bill, from an average of $5.5 billion to $1.9 billion as of half year 2017, Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, has disclosed.

Emefiele, who said this in a keynote address he delivered at the 2017 annual dinner of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) that took place in Lagos Friday night, also noted the accretion of the nation's foreign reserves and hinted on the coming of monetary easing .

The governor expressed optimism that with the aggressive development finance interventions by the CBN, the nation’s import bill would reduce further.

The Central Bank had, in June 2015, classified 41 items as “Not Valid for Foreign Exchange”, on grounds that they could be produced in Nigeria, rather than deplete the country’s reserves on their importaContinued on page 6

A BOOST FOR INDUSTRIALISATION… L-R: Oba of Benin, Omo N’ Oba N’ Edo Uku Akpolokpolo, Oba Ewuare II; former Governor of Edo State, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole; Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki, and Minister of State for Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, at the ground-breaking ceremony of Benin Industrial Park at Iyanomo, Ikpoba Okha LGA of Edo State...yesterday

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PAGE SIX EMEFIELE: IMPORT BILL FALLS, EXTERNAL RESERVES CLIMBING, MONETARY EASING COMING tion. Some of the affected items include rice, cement, margarine, palm kernel, palm oil products, vegetable oils, meat and processed meat products, vegetables and process vegetable products, poultry, tomatoes/tomato paste, soap and cosmetics and clothes. Other items include Indian incense, tinned fish in sauce, cold rolled steel sheets, galvanised steel sheets, roofing sheets, wheelbarrows, head pans, metal boxes/containers, enamelware, steel drums and pipes, wire mesh, steel nails, wood particle boards and panels.

In 2016, the first year of implentation of the forex restriction, the country’s import bill fell to $2.1 billion.

In his address titled “Policy Options for Sustaining Nigeria’s Economic Upturn�, Emefiele said the FX restriction had also resulted in spectacular improvement in domestic production of most of the items that were barred from accessing the greenback.

He pointed out that local manufacturers in the country have continued to report major boosts in their revenue and profit due to the central bank’s policy.

The CBN governor added: “This policy (FX restriction) has even freed Nigeria from a perennially embarrassing import: toothpicks. Baton Nigeria has also taken advantage of the policy and is now producing high quality, competitive toothpicks that is 25 percent cheaper than their Chinese competition. “As most of you may know, Unilever moved its blue band production facility to Ghana some years ago, which means that we must import this product from that country, with scarce FX. “But as part of the gains from our policy and in line with an agreement we reached with Unilever, the company

will be commissioning a new Blue Band Factory in Agbara, Ogun State early next month. “We have also seen a sharp drop in imports of rice from several countries. To give one example, data from the Thailand’s Rice Exporters Association indicate that in 2012, about 1.2 million Metric Tonnes of rice was exported to Nigeria. “However, in 2016, which was the first full year of implementation of our policy, rice exports to Nigeria had fallen by 99 percent to only 784 metric tonnes.� “This significant reduction in imports of rice from Thailand, according to him, represented a saving of over US$600 million to Nigeria in 2016 alone. “It is heart-warming to note that this fall in imports have been largely filled by a boost in local rice production. For example, employees at Labana Rice Mills in Kebbi State are trying to keep pace with demand, processing 320 tonnes of a rice a day, a 250 per cent increase from the previous year. “From Kano, UMZA rice has expanded its milling capacity substantially to the extent that with the recent bumper paddy harvest, the company today takes delivery of over 100 trucks of paddy rice daily. “These are clearly verifiable successes of government’s attempts to create jobs locally, improve the wealth of our rural population, improve industrial capacities and ultimately attain economic growth in Nigeria,� he added.

After five quarters of continuous contraction of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the Nigerian economy recorded a positive growth of 0.55 percent in the second quarter of 2017.

Also, from a peak of 18.72 percent in January 2017, headline inflation recorded eight

straight months of disinflation, with the rate declining to 15.98 in September.

In the same vein, the nation has recorded significant appreciation of the naira from over N500 to a dollar, to about N360 to a dollar. “We, as resilient people and responsible organisation, have collectively surmounted the worst and have hurdled the unwelcome recession� Emefiele said, adding, “we are delighted that the economy has turned a corner with our worst days clearly behind us�.

The CBN governor also pointed out that since the establishment of the Investors’ and Exporters’ (I&E) FX Window, the country has recorded about US$10 billion in autonomous inflows through the window alone. This, he said reflected the effect of the increased transparency which that window accorded the FX market and its benign impact of improving investor confidence and business sentiments. “Our reserves have recovered significantly from a low of just over US$23 billion in October 2016 to over US$34.3 billion as of November 3, 2017. “The accretion in reserves does not only reflect increased inflow but also our shrewd FX demand management strategy. “When we introduced a policy restricting 41 items from our FX markets, we were called all manners of names.

Today, among the benefit of that policy is the considerable decline in our import bills,� he enthused.

Commenting on his outlook for interest rate, Emefiele disclosed that the central bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) which holds it last meeting for the year next week, may begin to see strong justification for easing of mon-

etary policy. This, he stressed might further accelerate Nigeria’s economic recovery process.

According to the CBN governor: “Monetary policy stance could change when the underlying fundamentals become supportive.�

While stating that over the last 12 months Nigeria’s FX reserves has grown by over $11 billion, from about $23 billion in October 2016 to $34.112 billion as of last Thursday, Emefiele also expressed belief “that, if we remain resolute with our efforts, policies and actions we can attain an FX reserve position of about US$40 billion by end 2018.�

He anticipated a return to very low double digit or high single digit inflation levels next year.

He, however warned policymakers in the country not to become complacent nor overconfident, stressing the need for all to continue to work to improve and sustain the pace of recovery. “For one, our import bill may have fallen but our manufacturing and agriculture sectors still have a long way to go if we must attain selfsufficiency in those sectors. “We must not be quick to discard the restrictive measures which aided our recovery simply because the metrics have improved,� he said.

He said the central bank would continue to fine-tune its policies and strategies based on its understanding of evolving developments and supported by in-house technical analysis and simulations.

According to him, the central bank would remain proactive in ensuring that the welfare of Nigerians is optimised at any point in time. “As the sentiments improve in the macroeconomy and supported by proactive monetary, trade, industrial and fiscal

OLONISAKIN: MILITARY WILL PUT DOWN VIOLENT AGITATIONS IN N’DELTA will always be strictly prosecuted by the armed forces. “In this regard, I note with satisfaction that in synergy with other arms of the armed forces of Nigeria, the Nigerian Navy has continued to maintain effective deterrence and appropriate operational posture. It has pursued this by generating adequate maritime domain awareness, maintaining the required reach and sustainability and conducting seamless and effective network operations across multiple nations in the surface, subsurface, air space and server space domain,� he said.

He however advanced reasons for heavy military presence on the region in recent years even as he condemned the new threat of violence by the Niger Delta Avengers, noting that violent agitation was unconstitutional and would not be allowed to go unchecked.

The military chief, who was in company with other senior members of the nation’s armed forces, including the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas; the Flag Officer Commanding (FOC), Central Naval Command, Rear Admiral Abubakar Alhassan; the Commander of the Joint Task Force (JTF) Operation Delta Safe (OPDS), Rear Admiral Apochi Suleiman and the Commander of the NNS Delta, Commodore Ibrahim Dewu, commended the navy for living up to its task in the Niger Delta region. “Today, our nation is challenged by multifaceted threats from both continental and maritime fronts with

great manifestations. On the seawards aspect, the nation’s maritime security drivers have been marked with increasing complexities in recent years, covering both traditional and non-traditional threats, with continuing and increased challenges across the regional maritime security environment. “Coming landwards, there have been continued militarisation of the Niger Delta region and proliferation of weapons among non-state groups. This unsavoury state of affairs has ominously ended up in a sharp increase in threat level and deepening of conditions inimical to security.

The induced maritime threat has expanded in recent years and has developed in new ways and means. They pose a serious and continued danger, with great potential for asymmetric and hybrid warfare. “These factors have complicated the nation’s maritime security environment, increased tension in our areas of interest can adversely impact maritime security and prospects in those areas, with consequent effect on Nigerian Maritime interest,� he said.

On his part, Ibas said out of the 20 gunboats, 16 were locally sourced while the remaining four were bought from South Africa.

The event was witnessed by the Secretary to the Delta State Government, Hon Festus Ovie Agas, who represented the state governor, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa; the Olu of Warri, HRM, Ogiame Ikenwoli; the Orodje of Okpe Kingdom, HRM Major General

Felix Mujakperuo (Rtd.); the Pere of Ogulagha Kingdom, HRM Joseph Timiyan; Pere of OgbeIjoh Warri Kingdom, Couple Oromoni; the representative of the Pere of Gbaramatu Kingdom and spokesman of the Gbaramatu Traditional Council, High Chief Godspower Gbenekama, amongst others.

Meanwhile, the Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson, and leader pf the Ijaw nation, Chief Edwin Clark, met yesterday in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital in continuation of efforts to halt the proposed resumption of hostilities by the Niger Delta Avengers.

At the meeting which focused on the state of security, especially the seeming breakdown of law and rising tensions, occasioned by the renewed threat, the two Niger Delta leaders were said to have expressed worry that if not handled properly, things might regenerate really fast.

Dickson, who spoke shortly after the meeting, according to a statement by his Special Adviser on Media Relations, Mr. Fidelis Soriwei, stressed that the deliberations focused on steps to be taken to establish contacts with the federal government on the one hand and the aggrieved youths on the other in order to prevent a major crisis.

The governor also used the occasion to condemn the disruption of the fourth quarter general meeting of the Pan Niger Delta Elders Forum (PANDEF) by security operatives in Port Harcourt on October 26, 2017.

He called for an investiga-

tion into the circumstances surrounding the disruption of the PENDEF’s meeting in Port Harcourt, noting that as free citizens, the Niger Delta in PANDEF like other organisations had the right as provided for in law to hold their meetings.

He also called on the agencies responsible for the disruption of the meeting to tender an apology to the elders, who were embarrassed by the unprovoked reaction from the agencies. “Chief Edwin Clark and I just had a meeting on issues affecting the Niger Delta region.

In specific terms, the meeting dwelt on the breakdown of law and order, general security and the escalating insecurity in the Niger Delta. We explored how we can step up contacts with the federal government on the one hand and the agitators on the other. “We condemned the security measures taken to stop the meeting of PANDEF in Port Harcourt on October 26, 2017 and demand that the action of the security agencies should be investigated and apology tendered for what happened.

We find the action of the security agencies unacceptable, because PANDEF like every other organisation has the right to meet as enshrined in the constitution,� Dickson said.

He added that the meeting also discussed efforts being made at repositioning and strengthening the umbrella Ijaw organisations especially the Ijaw National Congress (INC) and the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC).

policies, I expect a continued uptick in GDP growth with a positive spill-over to improved unemployment rate. “As policies to strengthen the agricultural and industrial sectors become more emergent, growth in these sectors will rise, further bolstering overall economy. “As we entrench and sustain the transparency in the FX market, as FX reserves accretion continues, and market confidence and improved sentiments remain, I expect that the exchange rate will not only be stable but would begin to appreciate against major currencies. “The adverse competitiveness outcome which such appreciation may entail would be adequately mitigated by proactive policies to ensure that our balance of payments position is not undermined.�

He stressed the need for a re-doubling of the strong policy coordination, collaboration and cooperation between the monetary and fiscal authorities, which according to him,

EX-MINISTER AMINA UNDER PROBE Jibril said, “The attention of the Federal Ministry of Environment has been drawn to reports being widely circulated in the media alleging variously that the ex-Minister of Environment and now Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations, Mrs Amina Mohammed, was allegedly involved in wood export racketeering to China. “The report, which contained, spurious and unsubstantiated allegations against the former minister, is a pure misrepresentation of facts, baseless and intended to smear not just Mrs Mohammed, but the Nigerian government.�

The statement said, “The Ministry of Environment wishes to state unequivocally that the ex-minister is not under any probe whatsoever over any purported wrongdoing whether locally or internationally. “The ex-minister acted within the ambit of the law of both the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the protocols of International Environmental conventions while in office between November 2015 to February 2017 “For clarity, the processes involved in issuing approvals for Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species in wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) are as follows: potential exporters are required to apply to the Ministry; inspection of factories and premises for compliance by wood experts; qualified exporters are issued letters of support; invitation of the Ministry by the exporter for the stuffing of the containers; exporter applies for CITES permit; granting of approval “The Ministry states clearly that all the CITES permits signed by the ex-minister was done in line with stringent guidance and procedures. “Specifically, Rosewood (Kosso) is under CITES Appendix II which allows sustainable trade to improve the livelihood of people in line with international best practices. For the records, the CITES permits signed by the ex-minister were in batches from August, 2016 to January, 2017. “In line with established public service norms, the exminister continued to perform her duties diligently up to the

“flourished during the very difficult times.� “To sustain our recovery the need is greater now than ever for a robust policy coordination between the key aspects of economic policymaking space. “In Nigeria, this would include fiscal, monetary, exchange, and trade policies, which must be targeted at protecting farmers to boost agricultural outputs, support local companies and enhance manufacturing and industrial capacities, with a view to diversifying the economy away from oil and fossil fuels. “While we still have much work to do, I am delighted that some of the pains that were associated with some of the CBN’s policies have become major gains in our economy. “We have seen many manufacturers bounce back from near comatose to running shifts. “We have seen many farmers smiling to the bank and going back to their farmlands in due seasons."

MOHAMMED

NOT

last minute of her last day in office on February 24th 2017. “In conclusion, it is important to state that Mrs Amina J. Mohammed, during her tenure as Minister of Environment, carried out far reaching reforms in the environmental sector particularly in bringing Rosewood from unguided trade of CITES Appendix III to Appendix II, which sanitised the wood industry in Nigeria. In addition, she led the Review of Endangered Species Act, Convention on International Trade in Wild Fauna and Flora, and duly signed by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, on 3oth December, 2016.�

Meanwhile, the UN Secretary-General, Mr. Antonio Guterres, has reacted to the allegations against Mohammed, insisting he has confidence in his deputy. Guterres’s spokesman, StĂŠphane Dujarric, who signed a statement on his behalf, said Mohammed had the UN Secretary-General’s “full support and confidence.â€?

Mohammed has also denied the allegations that she was involved in the illegal export of African rosewood, also known as kosso, from Nigeria to China, a lucrative trade estimated to be worth about $1 billion in the last four years. Mohammed, who was Nigeria’s Minister of Environment before resigning to take up the UN job, made the assertion at the weekend in an interview with an online newspaper, TheCable.

Dujarric stated, “I will say the following. First of all, just to be clear that the secretary-general was informed by the deputy secretary-general about the reports, and he reiterates his full support and confidence in her.

She, the deputy secretary-general, Amina Mohammed, of course, categorically rejects any allegations of fraud. “The deputy secretary-general welcomes the effort to shine more light onto the issue of illegal rosewood logging and exportation that she fought hard to address during her tenure in the Nigerian government.

She says that her actions as Nigerian environment minister were intended to deal with the serious issue of illegal wood exportation."

T H I S D AY SUNDAY NOVEMBER 12, 2017

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SUNDAY COMMENT

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

THE GROWING BANKRUPTCY IN STATES The smartest policy choice out of the problem is to restructure the federation

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ccording to a recent report by BudgIT, a civil society organisation, out of the 36 states, only Lagos, Rivers, Katsina and Kano were considered solvent enough to meet their obligations “without resorting to borrowing or tapping donor funds and other extra-budgetary revenue sources.â€? The situation was so dreary that for some states, their average monthly revenue could not even take care of half their needs. Yet, with the decline in the oil revenues being shared every month in Abuja, the reversal of the looming catastrophe would require not only transparency and accountability but also ďŹ scal and monetary creativity.

Meanwhile, inbuilt By focusing only on in the history of the payment of salaries to states is a tragic workers in the public ambiguity: created by federal might but sector at the expense not necessarily susof much needed social tainable as federating units, none of them infrastructure like negotiated the terms schools, hospitals and of its sub-sovereignty.

Literally, they were abreliable institutions, sent at their own birth since all the states were poverty is being decreed into existence reinforced across the by military ďŹ at without any bottom-up democountry cratic process. This is in sharp contrast to the federalism practiced in other countries, especially the United States, where the states created the federal government and each negotiated the terms of its entry into the union.

To compound the situation, the sub-sovereign status of the states as enshrined in the constitution makes them indissoluble except by another overarching political development that sets the constitution aside, although there is also a mitigating factor. While their creator, the federal authority largely sustains majority of these states through the monthly Abuja FAAC cheques, they have the latitude to create their own revenue survival kits through taxes, sensible investments and prudent

Letters to the Editor

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uicide is fast becoming a quick fix to depression.

While we try to preserve the only life we have, every one hour, some other people are trying to lose theirs – intentionally.

Stories of suicide could seem a bit like fiction.

Can people hurt so bad that they resort to killing themselves? Well, you never know if you don’t feel the hurt the way they do. “Why is life so complicated?� was the brief suicide note of the bravest 17-year-old I’ve ever met who was almost successful in his second suicide attempt. Having lived with an uncom-

management. The challenge of the moment is that this is not happening and is not likely to happen, essentially due to the nature of our politics.

O

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: ďŹ rst name.surname@thisdaylive.com

rdinarily, decentralisation presupposes that the nearer government is to the people the better they are served. Unfortunately, that has not been our experience in the country. With 36 states and 774 Local Government Areas (and countless development centres created by the governors), the real beneďŹ ciaries have been politicians, not the people. Indeed, from what has transpired in the last 18 years of democracy, the mechanism for accountability diminishes the farther away government is from the centre. For instance, the travel budget of a state governor is in most cases far bigger than the education budget of their state even when the schools within their jurisdictions operate under trees or are at best rag-tag enclosures with squalid infrastructure.

What the foregoing suggests very clearly is that something has to give. There have been several suggestions, including merging groups of consenting states but that is difďŹ cult in a political situation where the states have since become centres of political action and consciousness. It does seem that the only face saving window left is contained in restructuring the federation. That is because the rationale for many of the states was that our contending national elites wanted small enclaves to plunder and control. The military gave them the states to engineer their own legitimacy.

But the elite never thought up a business plan to make the manors sustainable.

At practically all levels, there seems to be a misconception about what governance is all about.

The tragedy of that misconception could be seen in the score-cards of public ofďŹ cials who celebrate the building of statues, distribution of foodstuff during festivities and donation of vehicles to traditional rulers as landmark achievements. Yet good governance is that which is focused on the people, their safety and welfare; the optimal allocation of scarce resources and the effective implementation of policies for service delivery.

Given the foregoing, it is understandable that the nation is now at a crossroads. By focusing only on payment of salaries to workers in the public sector that are largely unproductive at the expense of much needed social infrastructure like schools, hospitals and reliable institutions, poverty is being reinforced across the country. That is the critical challenge that must be addressed not only by all critical stakeholders as we seek to enthrone a federal structure that can work for the people and not just a few.

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

TAMING THE NEXT SUICIDE THREAT mon speech disorder for the most part of his life, young David had a torrid time finding acceptance among his teenage folks. Often categorised by his classmates as “the duff� of the class, and once referred to as an “incomplete human being� by his dad after a severe scolding, David figured he may had overstayed his welcome on earth, and chose to end his life by drinking an awful lot of rat poison with hopes of dying in his sleep. Fortunately, he survived yet again, but how much longer before a third attempt?

The deliberate killing of oneself is the least solution to problems.

Although we can attribute a bit of poor judgment or mental illness to some cases of suicide, our bankruptcy in love and genuine care for people with special needs are great stimulants for suicide. A few times, we’re privileged to be pre-informed by suicidal persons on their impending desire for death. How do we react to such information?

Laugh off in mockery?

People carry different degrees of pain as they casually walk past us every day. Some with fatally bruised emotions, severe loneliness, intense depression from failure or financial wreckage, unexplain-

able sadness from unfulfilment or personality crisis, while some other people are stuck between enduring a traumatic terminal ailment for the rest of their lives, or putting themselves out of misery through suicide.

We can cut down figures on the high casualty rate of suicide by doing very simple things like: treating others nicely as often as we can, genuinely getting involved in the lives of people through lending a listening ear, or politely offering words of encouragement and hope. Suicidal tendencies are more tempting in the absence of consistent love and care. In my series of interaction with David (who hopefully, isn’t suicidal anymore), he once

mentioned, “If only I had a friend, classmate or teacher to talk to, who didn’t mock my nature, and noticed the numerous times I was emotionally down, I wouldn’t have attempted killing myself a second time.�

If we can kindly provide good reasons for suicidal persons in distress on why they should live, maybe they will. However, since we can’t always tell who’s likely to be suicidal and who isn’t, we can commit every day of our lives to showing love and bringing hope to people—whether our input is requested or unsolicite –– Nimi Princewill,

princewill.nimi@yahoo. com.

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SUNDAYNEWS

News Editor Abimbola Akosile E-mail: Ă‹ĂŒĂ“Ă—ĂŒĂ™Ă–Ă‹Ë›Ă‹Ă•Ă™Ă?Ă“Ă–Ă?̜ÞÒÓĂ?ĂŽĂ‹ĂŁĂ–Ă“Ă Ă?Ë›Ă?Ă™Ă—Ëœ ͸΀͸ͺ͚͚͝Ϳ͞͝Π̙Ă?Ă—Ă? Ă™Ă˜Ă–ĂŁĚš

IN MEMORY OF TAYO ADERINOKUN R-L: Incoming Vice Chancellor, University of Lagos, Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe; outgoing Vice Chancellor, Prof. Rahmon Bello; daugh-

ter of Tayo Aderinokun, Oluwatise; the donor, Mrs. Salamatu Aderinokun, wife of Tayo Aderinokun; the Secretary to the State Government of Ogun State, Barrister Taiwo Adeoluwa; Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, and other dignitaries at the unveiling of the Tayo Aderinokun Memorial 500-seater Lecture Theatre at the University of Lagos, Akoka, Yaba, Lagos...recently

Side view of the Aderinokun memorial lecture theatre at UNILAG

NERC: TCN Violates Regulatory Requirements in N58bn Subsidy Payment Chineme Okafor in Abuja

An open book review of the accounting and financial records of the Market Operations (MO) department of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) conducted by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has revealed that the MO overlooked extant regulatory requirements and procedures in its disbursement of over N58 billion electricity market subsidy provided by the federal government between 2012 and 2014.

The financial review, which NERC carried out in 2016 as

part of efforts to find solutions to the cash flow challenges of the country’s power sector, spanned January 2014 to October 2016. The report of the review, which was commissioned by the immediate past acting chairman of the NERC, Dr. Anthony Akah, was obtained by THISDAY yesterday.

Aspartofitsfinalfindings,the review disclosed that the market operation, a key department in the TCN, which is saddled with market revenue settlement tasks, had in its disbursement of N58.139 billion government approved subsidy to operators in the electricity market, failed to

follow due processes as required by already existing market regulations.

It said, rather than following extant regulatory practices, the MO resorted to the dictates of a mechanism for the administration and disbursement of Multi Year Tariff Order (MYTO) subsidy, which was reportedly approved by a special assistant to the president on administration, to make payments of N34.5 billion in 2012, N11.5 billion in 2013 (first tranche), N5.2 billion in 2013 (second tranche), N4.9 billion also in 2013 as third tranche, and N1.9 billion in 2014.

The payment processes, which NERC frowned on in its review as not following the right routes, had entry details for subsidy payments to electricity distribution and generation companies, gas companies, the TCN itself, as well as payment to the Corporate Headquarters of defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN).

These, the MO stated in its response to NERC’s queries, were approved by the ministry of power at that time, but without recourse to commission.

In its observations, NERC

noted that although there were delays in the approval and release of the subsidy monies to the market operator, there were also instances the MO overlooked the MYTO guidelines in calculating and disbursing the fund to beneficiaries. This, it said, was unwholesome.

The NERC report explained that it could not determine if the final beneficiaries of the subsidy were actually entitled to earn any payment from the fund, and that the MO might have unilaterally sidestepped presidential directives on the release of the subsidy monies.

“The MYTO documents which clearly stipulate the procedures for calculating subsidies, allocation and disbursement were not adhered to by the Market Operator, hence, there was no compliance with the presidential directives on release of MYTO subsidies. “We could not ascertain if the beneficiaries are entitled to any payment and have utilised the funds appropriately, however, to confirm these positions, we recommend for a detailed audit on the validity and utilisation of the funds,� an aspect of the NERC report further stated.

Wike, Amaechi’s Convoys Clash in Port Harcourt t

Police commence investigation, make arrests

Ernest Chinwo in Port Harcourt and Paul Obi in Abuja Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, and Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, yesterday took their rivalry toadangerouslevelwhentheirconvoys clashedinPortHarcourt,RiversState.A policeman was badly wounded in the violentencounter.

Police said some arrests had been made in connection with the clash, whileinvestigationhascommenced.

Both sides however gave different accounts of what led to the clash. According to Wike’s media, the governor was on project inspection, when he was attacked at Weja Junction on Trans-Amadi Road. The

governor’s media team claimed that the SARS personnel and soldiers in the minister’s convoy knocked down the governor’s escort rider and attackedthepolicemeninthepilotcar.

A Government House source accused the Aide-De-Camp to Amaechi, Mr. Seimeikumo Debewari, of supervising the attack, which allegedly caused damage to journalists’cameras.

Thegovernor’steamalsofingered theCommanderofRiversSARS, Mr. Akin Fakorede, who received the minister at the Port Harcourt InternationalAirportandaccompaniedhim onhistrip,intheattack.

Amaechi’s media office. in a statement, claimed that ithe minister was

almostshotbythegovernor’ssecurity aides during the clash. A statement from the minister’s media office said in“blatantshowofnakedrawpower, Minister of Transportation, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, this afternoon narrowly escaped being shot by security men attached to the Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike. His car wasn’t that lucky though.Thecarwasvandalisedwith abrokensidemirror.�

According to Amaechi’s media office, “The Minister had arrived Port Harcourt this afternoon. Accompanied by cars of many of his supporters, the Minister’s black jeep was intercepted and blocked at the junction by the security Motorcycle

Outrider attached to Wike, after two carshadpassedthrough. “One of the two cars had security men assigned to protect the minister in Port Harcourt. Suddenly, gun-toting securitymenattachedtoWike’sconvoy surroundedthe minister’s car,threateningtoshoothim.Theyhitthecar,triedto smash the windscreens, back and side windows and broke a side mirror. All throughthisattack,Amaechiremained calm,insidethefortifiedJeep. Whilethe attack occurred, Wike remained inside hisvehicle. “The minister eventually passed through after the intervention of the security team on ground to protect him in Port Harcourt. However, when Governor Wike got to the point where

the incident occurred after Amaechi’s vehicle had gone by, his security men blocked the road again, dragged out fromavehicleandthoroughlybeatupa policemanattachedtoprotectAmaechi in Port Harcourt. The Policeman’s riffle wasalsotakenfromhim.�

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Police have commenced investigation into theincident.

When THISDAY got through to the Commissioner of Police in the state, Zaki Mohammed Ahmed, he confirmed the clash and added that a few arrests had been made with respect to the attack on one of his men. He referred our reporter to the police spokesperson for additional information.

The State Police Public Relations Officer, Nnamdi Omoni, who eventually spoke to THISDAY last night,alsoconfirmedtheCP’sstoryof arrest and investigation and assured the people that whoever was found culpablewouldbebrought tojustice.

Hehoweverdismissedallegationo assassinationattemptonWike.Hesaid there was no such development in the encounter between the governor and theminister.

Accordingtohim,“Thegovernoris the chief security officer of the state and shouldbeverywellprotectedandheis protected. The story is neither here nor there. It is not true. The CP has ordered aninvestigationintothepartyandanyonefoundculpablewillbedealtwith.�

Obasanjo: Those Who Destroyed PDP Still in the Party Abimbola Akosile Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has asserted that those who destroyed the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) were still in it, adding that such people would not leave until the running of the party was taken over by determined, selfless, upright, and

honest people.

Obasanjo also noted that both the PDP and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) need to be rejuvenated for Nigeria’s democracy to be strong.

The former president made the observationwhenhereceivedoneof the PDP national chairmanship aspirants, Chief Raymond Dokpesi, at

the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, on Saturday in Abeokuta.

According to him, “If we are just saying PDP has a crisis, which is self-made and that the Supreme Court had resolved the crisis for us, we are just deceiving ourselves.

The Supreme Court has taken a right decision as an apex court should, but as a party, only that

cannot help you to do it all.’’ Obasanjo re-emphasised that he was no longer interested in partisan politics in Nigeria. He said he left PDP when he discovered that the party had been destroyed beyond what he could be associated with at that point.

He also said there was no reason PDP should not have ruled

Nigeria for 50 years as believed by some people, but that the party caused its own problem. “That has happened in some other countries like Germany, where a party runs the affairs of the county for decades, but of course, that is not the history in our own case�, he added.

Obasanjo, who said he and some

other Nigerians work hard for the success of the party and the county, advisedPDPtomanageitssuccess.

He prayed for PDP to get its national convention right, saying the chairmanship of the party was very important. “I had four PDP chairmen underineightyears.So,Iknowwhatit takes to have a good or bad chairman foraparty,�Obasanjosaid.

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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 ˾ NOVEMBER 12, 2017

NEWS Osinbajo: Despite Economic Downturn, FG Invested N1.3tn on Infrastructure, Capital Projects in 2016 Performs groundbreaking for N200bn industrial park in Edo Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City Vice President Yemi Osinbajo yesterday said despite the 60 per cent drop in revenue in 2016, the federal government invested N1.3 trillion on infrastructure and capital projects, to help boost job creation and reposition the national economy.

Osinbajo disclosed this while performing the groundbreaking ceremony of a N200 billion Industrial Park at Iyanomo in Ikpoba-Okah Local Govern-

ment Area of Edo State. The Benin Industrial Park is expected to produce over 600,000 metric tonnes of industrial output and provide jobs for 170,000 direct and indirect workers.

The vice president, who commended Governor Godwin Obaseki’s efforts on the planned industrial park, said the project would help “position Nigeria to compete with the Asian Tigers and other countries for the 80 million jobs that China is forecast to shed in the next ten

years”.

Performing the groundbreaking ceremony, Osinbajo said the park aligned perfectly with the vision of President Mohammadu Buhari for Nigeria as a country to produce what it consumes.

He stated that the economic recovery and growth plan unveiled recently by the President spelt the adoption of industrial parks and special economic zones as policy tools to generate growth and diversify the Nige-

ria economy.

He noted that industrial park was also identified as a tool to help the federal government bridge the infrastructure gap, develop target sector, generate economy of scale and be used as testing ground for broader economic initiatives.

The vice president noted that Obaseki shared the same vision as the Asian Tigers and China that used industrial parks and special economic zones to create jobs, generate

transport revenue and diversify their economies within a single generation.

According to him, “This industrial journey that we are recommending is one that other countries have embarked on and thrived. If we stay the course, we will enjoy a similar kind of success. We have seen how China and the Asia Tigers used the resources with which they were blessed to develop export-oriented light manufacturing industry.

SUPPORTING PHILANTHROPY L-R: US Ambassador to Nigeria, Stuart Symington; Founder, Global Philanthropy Forum, Jane Wales; Founder, Wellbeing Foundation Africa, Toyin Saraki; Board Chair African Philanthropy Forum, Tsitsi Masiyiwa; Board Member APF, Ndidi Nwuneli; Board member APF, HRH Queen Sylvia; and Board Member APF, Gbenga Oyebode, at the Forum’s conference held in Lagos...recently

Ekweremadu: S’East, Key to Nigeria’s Economic Devt Christopher Isiguzo in Enugu

Deputy Senate President, Chief Ike Ekweremadu, has declared that the South-east zone remained key to the nation’s economic development.

Ekweremadu spoke yesterday as the three-day South-East Economic Summit put together by the governors of the five states of the zone formally kicked off in Enugu with the governors restating their resolve to lead the zone out of economic woes.

The lawmaker lamented that but for the Civil War which he identified as the greatest

tragedy to the nation’s development, Nigeria would have overtaken most developed nations of the world, especially with the South-east reputed to be fastest growing economy in the First Republic.

“South-east zone has a lot to give to the nation. If we work together, we can develop our roadmap to a great nation,” he said, expressing dismay however that the efforts of south-east governors may not yield the expected results in the absence of the necessary legal framework.

“There’s no law setting the zones, south-east, south-south,

south-west, north-central, north-east or north-west. We need the necessary legal backing. The state structure has not helped us as we continued to partition the entire country into states when we thought the military would have taken us back to regions in order to develop at our pace.

“It has become imperative for us to restructure. We need to come up with a law on how these entities can operate. All our efforts will amount to nothing if the legal framework does not exist. We can come up with lofty ideas but we need the necessary legal framework.

“We need to come up with a tool to solve the problem caused by state creation, that’s why we are working hard to come up with the South East Development Commission (SEDC).

Though it failed at the House of Representatives but it succeeded in the Senate.

“Here we are discussing about power, railway etc, how can we achieve that without devolving power to states. We are working hard to convince our northern colleagues to support devolution of power to states, we have no hidden agenda, we feel it will be in the best interest of the country,” he said.

Gowon, Dogara Seek Greater Unity Among Christians JohnShiklaminKaduna Former Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon (rtd) and the Speaker, House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara have declared that Christians would not be able to overcome the challenges facing them in the country unless they are united in focus.

Both Gowon and Dogora spoke in Kaduna yesterday at the formal inauguration of a

new Christian organisation known as ‘Congress of Northern Nigeria Christians’ (CNNC).

Gowon, who was the chairman of the occasion, said there is so much disunity and problems in the church and Christian organisations which does not augur well for Christians. He said unless the church is united, the new organisation may not achieve its objectives. “You have formed a big Christian family to try and reinvigorate all Chris-

tians in the northern states to come together to work together for the good of the Christian community in north without fear or favour.

“As you know, there are sometimes problems in many churches and organisations, there is so much disunity among various churches and organisations and that certainly does not augur well for the Christian community”, the former leader said.

He howver, urged Christians to pray for unity in their various churches so that there can be unity in the CNNC. “I request that you pray so that there is unity in your church before you can have unity in this sort of congress where all the Christian community, irrespective of denomination are coming together to look at the problem facing the community in this part of the country or throughout the country.

“That is the same vision that is shared by Obaseki. It is the vision of the Asian Tigers. It is the vision that enables China to achieve its success. He must be commended for the excellent way with which he has pursued this vision. We will be competing with these countries for more than 80 million jobs that China is forecast to shed in the next ten years. We must do everything to make sure these jobs make their way to the Benin Industrial parks and other economic zones that Nigeria will nurture in the years ahead.

“We must not slow down when all phases of this Park will be fully developed. This is what the country has been waiting for. This kind of enterprises, this kind of huge vision that will move our country to the height that we deserve as a people blessed with so much talent and so many resources.

“This park will change the face of Edo, economic potential of this state. The federal government will do all the needed support to bring this landmark project to fruition”, he added.

In his remark, Governor Obaseki said the park was one of the many industrial parks his administration will build across the state, in line with his promise to expand the economy for it to be productive.

The governor stated that the park was the major output of the constructive engagement his administration embarked on.

He said the park would complement the effort of the federal government to diversify the Nigerian economy away from oil.

Alfred to Release New Book Popular society writer and THISDAY Newspaper columnist, Lanre Alfred is set to release a new book titled ‘The Titans: Amazing Exploits of Nigeria’s Greatest Achievers’.

In the book Alfred chronicles the exploits and achievements of some of Nigeria’s finest brains and leaders in different areas of endeavours.

“It is about the inimitable and invaluable contributions to the socioeconomic development of Nigeria of some individuals who have turned an idea into an industry and built, in the process, remarkable prosperity and popularity.

“It is about the wunderkinds from the slums of Ajegunle, Bariga and Surulere among other places that have parlayed their creativity into a flourishing enterprise and are not only financially liberated but are accorded global respect,” Alfred stated.

The journalist and author revealed that the book, a product of painstaking research spanning the last decade, mirrors the outstanding resilience and perseverance of outstanding Nigerians in their ambitious dash for honour and progress and in the face of daunting political and socio-economic odds.

According to him, “Essentially, I

havedocumentedinpristineprose and pictures, the inspiring exploits and attainments of Nigeria’s finest breed of magnates, politicians, scientists, academics, technocrats and entertainers who are transforming the world and inspiring others to do likewise.”

Thus, as he recalls his subjects’ storied trajectory and records it for posterity and historians, Alfred projects his book as an inspirational mini-biography of the exploits of Nigeria’s finest.

In commemoration of Lagos’ golden jubilee, Alfred notes that, “A section of the book has been devoted to the contributions and achievements of some Lagosians whose industry and initiatives have contributed to making Lagos the fifth largest economy in Africa and a primus inter pares in Nigeria. Their contributions to the growth of Lagos would be put into proper historical perspectives for the benefit of posterity and researchers.”

Alfred, is the publisher of the popular coffee table book, ‘Highlife - Amazing Lifestyles of Nigeria’s Rich and Famous’ and biographies including ‘Pacemaker - Triumphs of Igho Sanomi at 40’, ‘The Lion of Afia Nsit - Triumphs of Scott Tommey at 45’; and ‘Julius Rone…The Jewel of the Delta’.

T H I S D AY SUNDAY NOVEMBER 12, 2017

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T H I S D AY SUNDAY NOVEMBER 12, 2017

T H I S D AY SUNDAY NOVEMBER 12, 2017

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ÍŻÍ°Ëœ Í°ÍŽÍŻÍľ Ëž THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER

OPINION BUHARI AND ANAMBRA GOVERNORSHIP ELECTION Stan Ekejiuba writes that the election oers the administration an opportunity to shore up credibility of the electoral process

T

he stability and progress of a democratic society rest largely on the sanctity, purity and credibility of the electoral process. Nigeria is one country which has suffered heavily due to its repeated failure to organise credible and acceptable elections. The fall of the First Republic and the subsequent eruption of the civil war were propelled by the failure of the incumbent federal government to organise credible elections, particularly the contentious Western Region election of 1965. The violence that followed provided the impetus for the coup of January 1966 and the disasters that befell the stability and unity of Nigeria as a nation.

The Second Republic derailed barely four years after it took off due to the failure of the incumbent federal government to organise a free, fair and credible general election in 1983. The result was the Buhari coup of December 1983, which destroyed the democratic process, leading to a prolonged period of military rule with attendant instability and further erosion of Nigeria’s unity. The nation’s development was severely disrupted and violence again began to creep back into our national life due to failed promises to organise free and fair elections in the Babangda/Abacha years.

The annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election stirred up the centrifugal ethnic cum regional and religious forces that have continued to destabilise Nigeria since then. Political violence again crept back into our nation’s life with the assassinations of opposition political leaders and detention and controversial deaths of Chief MKO Abiola, Gen. Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, and the narrow escape of Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo.

The return to democracy in 1999 held so much promise because it was expected that the actors who were mostly victims of the previous gambles and failures of the electoral process would have learnt from their bitter experiences and thus provide Nigeria with a credible and universally acceptable electoral process. This hope by Nigerians and lovers of Nigeria was misplaced as the incumbent federal government under President Obasanjo did not get it right with our electoral process. Things got worse by the time President Obasanjo departed in 2007. The general election of that year is still regarded as one of the worst in the history of Nigeria.

One leader that continuously cried out as victim of rigged elections under the Obasanjo presidency was Gen Muhammadu Buhari, who continuously rejected the results and challenged

same up to the Supreme Court. His continued challenge and struggle contributed to the electoral reforms brought in by President Goodluck Jonathan under whose Presidency Nigeria began to show signs of new and positive direction towards the organisation of free and fair elections in the country. This was demonstrated by sharp drops in post-election court cases at the state and national levels beginning from the 2011 general election under the Jonathan Electoral Reforms.

The watershed of the progress in our electoral process was the victory of Buhari against incumbent President Jonathan in the 2015 Presidential election and the peaceful handover of power for the first time from a defeated incumbent to an elected opposition leader since 1960. This was seen as a major breakthrough in Nigeria’s troubled history of endemic failures to organise free and fair elections. The inauguration of President Buhari as President on May 29 2015 was widely seen as Nigeria’s best moment for political stability which is crucial to the progress and development of any nation. We were seen as taking the right steps for the first time to catch up with neighbouring Ghana and South Africa in organising credible and acceptable elections.

This positive expectation was also informed by the fact that Buhari is one national figure who has cried out as victim of rigged elections more than any other in this democratic dispensation. If he can’t get any other thing right, it is widely expected that he won’t miss it when it comes to free and fair elections to consolidate the democratic process in Nigeria.

President Buhari’s anti-corruption crusade was also widely expected to be anchored on an incorruptible electoral process which is the only guarantee in a democracy that corrupt leaders won’t find their way to power to rub the people. And if they ever slip in once in a while, the people will have the opportunity to kick them out in subsequent elections. Transparently free and fair elections are the surest antidote or vaccines against corruption and the emergence of corrupt leaders.

Unfortunately the signals from the elections so far organised by the Buhari administration have not given the nation cause for joy that Nigeria is out of the woods. Most elections organised by INEC under under President Buhari have been plagued by lack of credibility as the ruling party at the national level is widely believed to manipulate the process. The governorship elections in Kogi, Edo and Ondo states gave a lot of room for concern. The ruling party through their Governors Forum reportedly interfered with the process, leading to loud outcries by opposition parties and the

public.

The use of card readers has also witnessed perceived technical manipulations of elections in favour of preferred candidates who have the right “consultants� and influence in INEC. The card readers can also easily be manipulated electronically to work or not to work in favour of preferred candidates with the right political leanings or who have deep pockets. They make elections more cumbersome without adding any value or credibility to the process.

The greatest test before President Buhari is not whether he will substantially solve Nigeria’s economic problems in the remaining year of his administration. Rather it is whether the president will deliver on the promise of free and fair election already started by his predecessor.

The upcoming November 18 Anambra State governorship election offers Buhari the ready opportunity to correct the failures his administration has already recorded in the electoral process in his first three years in office. The conduct of the Anambra election will go a long way to either restore or further erode confidence in the president’s most important duty to Nigeria which is to give Nigeria a free and credible election process that will guarantee political stability and deal a blow to the emergence of corrupt leaders now and in the future.

For the president to get Anambra right he must rein in his security agencies which are all directly under his command; and some APC governors who have become the shock troops of election manipulations across their own state boundaries since Buhari came to power. Buhari will be judged very harshly by history if he chooses to cow-tow to narrow partisan interests in the exercise of the powers of his presidency to the detriment of offering Nigeria a dependable and credible electoral process free of the manipulations and corruption of the past. So far his Presidency has started on very shaky note as far as free and fair elections are concerned.

He should therefore make amends with the forthcoming Anambra election. Any mishap in Anambra could completely derail the current low domestic and international confidence in elections under Buhari’s new helmsmen at INEC. Failure in Anambra could steer up issues and public disaffection that could ultimately undermine the credibility of the first and fast approaching 2019 General Election under the Buhari stewardship.

Ekejiuba wrote from Lagos

UCH: 60 YEARS ON The University College Hospital, Ibadan, has done remarkably well. But it could do more with some assistance, writes Folu Olamiti

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he University College Hospital(UCH),Ibadan, the first tertiary hospitalinNigeria,willbe60 years old on November 20. That wasthedateitwasfinallyinauguratedforoperationin1957,but the story of its existence dates backto 1952, whenitwas created byanActofParliament ofthethen colonial government of Nigeria. It was named University College Hospitalbecause the University ofIbadan, established in1948, whosemedical studentsit wasmeanttoprovideclinical trainingfor, wasalso thenknown asthe UniversityCollege,Ibadan,affiliatedto theUniversityof London.Fromconceptiontoestablishment,UCHwasdestined tobetheleader in the field oftertiarymedical training, researchand healthcaredeliveryinthe WestAfricansubregionandamongthebestglobally.It waspurposebuiltfor thisrole.Thevery interestingstoryofitsestablishmentsaysit all. Whileplanning foritsestablishment, a visitationteamfromthefaculty ofMedicine,University ofLondon visited Ibadanin1951/1952 academic session. The teamled byDrT. C.Hunt rejected asuggestionthat thefacilitiesof theNativeAuthorityHospital, Adeoyo, Ibadan, beexpandedand upgraded to formthe teaching hospital.

The team rather recommended the construction of a brand new and modern teaching hospital of comparable standard with teaching hospitals in Britain and other developed countries. When the design of the proposed hospital was eventually unveiled, it was a gigantic, imposing and elegant high rise 800-bed complex. But the colonial office of the British government did not have ready funds for it. Many thought it was a grandiose idea. Some officials again suggested the building of several bungalows to house the departments and wards instead of the expensive high rise complex.

However, the then Nigerian Federal Minister of Health, Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola, deputy to Chief Obafemi Awolowo in the Action Group, which was already blazing the trail in Western Region with pioneering gigantic projects adjudged to be first in Africa, understood the vision and took it up. With his unrelenting efforts, the Nigerian government raised the ÂŁ1.5million needed for construction to commence. The first sod was turned in 1953. And to underscore the importance of the project, Queen Elizabeth II of England partially opened the new hospital complex during her official visit to Nigeria in 1956 while still under construction. It was finally opened on November 20, 1957 by the Princess Royal. A total sum of ÂŁ4.5 million was spent to construct it. The investment was worthwhile because it provided the hospital with what was needed to make it a medical institution of excellence from the onset. It is therefore not surprising that the doctors, nurses and other medical personnel trained by the institution are highly skilled professionals who have distinguished themselves wherever they served around the world.

Till date, UCH has indeed lived up to its billing. Its pioneering achievements are legendary. The hospital pioneered open heart surgery in Nigeria in the late 70s and it is still the best hospital in Nigeria today for treatment of cardiac

ailments including open heart surgeries and hole in the heart conditions.

It has a state of the art Cardiac Catheter Resolution Centre comparable to what is offered in India, United States and Britain. Several people have been successfully treated over the years. In fact UCH made history a few years ago when it successfully performed surgery on the youngest cardiac patient ever operated in any public health institution in Nigeria, a seven month old baby with hole in the heart condition.

For many decades, the hospital has also been performing other specialised operations such as prostrate surgeries, knee surgeries, hip replacement surgeries and neural endoscopic procedures on children with brain lesions.

Since 2008, UCH has been performing kidney transplants successfully.

Four years ago, the hospital again scored another first by performing what is called awake brain surgery. The surgery was performed on a woman to remove a big tumour in her brain while she was awake but sedated and could hear people talk to her. This kind of surgery is said to be a very delicate and complex procedure used by neurosurgeons to remove brain tumours that are too close to areas of the brain which control vision, speech and body movements. During the surgery, doctors monitor the patient’s responses with series of questions and directions to ensure that these critical areas of the brain are not damaged and the patient does not lose any of the critical functions.

With this enviable track record, it is all too clear that UCH can effectively and efficiently provide even the most specialised treatments that many Nigerians run to India, Europe and America to secure at exorbitant cost. Credit must be given to successive managements of the hospital for keeping the flag flying and being able to sustain the record breaking achievements. In particular, the present management under the able leadership of the current Chief Medical Director, Professor Temitope Alonge, deserves commendation for its resourcefulness, struggling amidst financial other challenges not only to maintain the standard but to improve on it.

So many things have been achieved under his management including the refurbishment and upgrading of some facilities, improvement of level of training and research, introduction of patient and community friendly services and other initiatives geared towards sustainable development and continued relevance of the hospital to the tertiary healthcare needs of the country. Among these innovations is the establishment of the department of nuclear medicine, the first of its kind in Nigeria which is conducting revolutionary diagnosis and treatment of both upper and lower gastrointestinal tract diseases. Research and training of staff is a priority in UCH and the hospital has a lot to show for it. For example, in 2014, UCH was awarded the First Prize for the Best Affordable Technology at the 34th Congress of the Society Internationale d’Urology in Glasgow, Scotland, for the patented UCH invented Bladder Manikin. Prof Alonge has repeatedly

said that the hospital is not lacking of tested, highly qualified and skilled manpower to deliver its mandate with the highest standard possible but it needs assistance to acquire more of the latest technology in the industry and also to bring even the specialist treatments within the affordability of most Nigerians who may need them.

According to him, one of the key drivers of management policy is commitment to efficient and effective service delivery. Therefore management has addressed certain critical areas where its services can promptly and effectively provide relief for patients and thereby reduce fatalities to barest minimum. In this regard, the hospital operates day care services at the obstetrics and gynecology unit where pregnant women with one problem or the other can immediately receive attention, thus reducing infant and maternal mortality. The hospital has a special scanning machine that can detect abnormalities in babies in the early stages of pregnancy so that such can be corrected before they become complications. Again, the equipment is the first of its kind in any public hospital in Nigeria.

Another area of intervention is the care of elderly people. UCH has a special Geriatric Centre where it operates day care services for the treatment of various aging related sicknesses and diseases affecting elderly people. The facility named after elder statesman, Chief Tony Anenih, who built and funds it, is the first purpose built training and treatment centre for geriatric medicine in Africa. It is run by the department of family medicine. Many old people who used to seek treatment abroad for such conditions have pitched tent with the centre after receiving satisfactory treatment. In fact a lot of peasants and other less privileged old people have found succour at the centre under a social health insurance scheme instituted by Chief Anenih. There is no doubt that this intervention will help increase life expectancy in the country.

So far, the UCH Ibadan has demonstrated its capability to attend to the healthcare needs of the country, even at the level of the most specialist treatment and care comparable with what obtains in the advanced countries. It has remained the leader in tertiary healthcare in the country.

But its potentialities are not exhausted. As it marks the 60th year milestone, it needs to move to next level exploits. And this requires more support from government and the private sector in the form of more funding and endowments to adequately equip it with more essential infrastructure and technology as well as other necessities. This is an issue that the federal government, which is the owner of the hospital, as well as well-meaning corporate bodies and individuals, should seriously look into and come up with the desired assistance. It is the best way to appreciate and encourage the UCH Ibadan at 60.

Olamiti, Media Consultant, wrote from Abuja

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ÍŻÍ°Ëœ Í°ÍŽÍŻÍľ Ëž THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER

LETTERS NIGERIAN CHILDREN AND MEASLES VACCINE PENETRATION

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he World Health Organisation (WHO) just rolled out a most worrying statistics — that Nigeria, with 3.3 million children, tops the list of the world’s most unvaccinated children against measles. Following closely on Nigeria’s heel are India (2.9 million children), Pakistan (two million), Indonesia (1.2 million), Ethiopia (0.9 million), and Democratic Republic of Congo (0.7 million).

An airborne virus, measles is transmitted by respiratory droplets from the nose, mouth, or throat of an infected person and a leading cause of death among children world-wide.

In Nigeria, measles is the fifth leading cause of under-five child mortality and 50 per cent of deaths of all vaccine preventable diseases. Measles infection and mortality was found to occur all year round irrespective of whether it was rainy or dry season, reinforcing measles endemicity in this part of West African. In 2016 alone, Nigeria witnessed 183 measles outbreaks affecting 158 local government

Adewole areas.

What is worrisome to health authorities in the country and

should be of serious concern to everyone is that the measles virus can spread in a person

four days before the onset of the tell-tale rash, making people with the virus to become contagious ever before they are actually aware that they had measles.

Another fact that makes measles virus really scary is that it can live on surfaces for up to two hours and in an unimmunised population, one person with measles can infect 12 to 18 others.

This is way higher than other scary viruses, like Ebola and HIV. With Ebola, one case usually leads to two others, while in the case of HIV, one case leads to another four. A person with measles can cough in a room, and — if you are unvaccinated — hours later, you could catch the virus from the droplets in the air that they left behind. This accounts for why everybody must be a change agent and social mobiliser propagating measles immunisation rather than being merely contended after getting our own children vaccinated.

According to the Centre for Disease Control (CDC), the horrible mathematics of measles looks like this: one out of every

WHEN THE GIRL-CHILD IS RIGHT Shannon L. Alder has a saying about moving forward: “No one is a victim of life; we are all volunteering to grow.� Her submission bears the sheer truth and instruction that slings over the philosophy on individuality in collectivity.. In a simple and universal way, she also suggests that as the society sorts us into different roles we would labour wilfully without undermining others role.

And that everyone is in the right place and bears the right to be there. And we would not consider some better performers than others but reward each according to their roles.

Over the years, if there’s anything I have learnt about respect for others right to self-expression, it will include the fact that everyone is right. No one is a doll who works at the instructions given. Everyone’s’ opinion is valid and true. Everyone’s’ feeling is significant. ‘The ground is levelled so everyone can play’.

On October 1, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, publicly testifies in the house, that women involvement in politics is necessary for growth.

As you already know, we have argued that no one holds the right of the girl child. But I beg to ask, what scale should we deploy in equating the rings of truth in the argument? Or it might as well be “what practical indicators reflect our claims?�

A significant number from the stables of UNICEF Nigeria still shows that about 60 per cent of

out-of-school children are girls. Many of those who do enrol drop out early. Some of the reasons include low perceptions of the value of education for girls and early marriages.

Also, UN report suggests that every 10 minutes, somewhere in the world, an adolescent girl dies as a result of violence which manifests sexually, physically, early marriage, exploitation and trafficking. If we say a girl child is right merely for the sake of political correctness and not as rightful as the moral responsibility that hangs on the practicality, it only confronts us figuratively as a metaphor.

Shannon, mentioned earlier, has a saying about being right, kindness,

understanding, and even cruelty’: “Being kind to someone, only to look kind to others, defeats the purpose of being kind.�

The federal government’s bold and relentless effort to and successful rescue of the Chibok girls in the second quarter of this year is a laudable effort. Nonetheless, we need to establish a system that respect, value and reward the girl-child. Else, the girls would suffer the same evil, disrespect and abuse experienced with the so-called abductors.

And we would not have a better description than a ‘rival abductor.’ Every girl child deserves protection, education and adequate provision. My hash tag to celebrate the girl-child

is #TheGirlChildIsRight which is call to recognise that her opinions are valid and true. Her feeling is significant. She’s not a doll who works at the instructions given. She shall not be discriminated in both cities and villages. The ground is levelled so she can play.

My linguistic calculations and expectancy of semantics and syntax might not be the best in articulating the fact that the girl child is right, but I will finally say: I told you so. And I would prove the common sense in Gove Vidal statement that “the four most beautiful words in our common language: I told you so.� Chris Iduma,

christopheriduma@ gmail.com.

20 children with measles gets pneumonia; one in 1,000 will develop encephalitis (swelling of the brain); and one or two in 1,000 children will die. The optimal age for infantile measles vaccination is an important health issue since maternal antibodies may neutralise the vaccine antigen before a specific immune response develops.

Delaying vaccination, on the other hand, may increase the risk of complicated disease.

Getting only one dose of the vaccine instead of the recommended two also seems to increase people’s chances of getting measles if they are ever exposed.

However, as a child approaches 14 years, incidence of measles reduces to 0%, confirming WHO’s position that measles is a childhood problem and of huge concern in developing nations such as Nigeria. Usually, after an incubation period of 10 to 12 days, measles comes on as a fever, cough, stuffy nose, and bloodshot and watery eyes.

Loss of appetite and malaise are equally common signs of measles. Several days after these initial symptoms, an uncomfortable spotty, rash begins to spread all over the body, starting on the face and neck, and moving downward. The rash usually lasts for three to five days and then fades away.

In uncomplicated cases, people who get measles start to recover as soon as the rash appears and feel back to normal in about two to three weeks. But up to 40 per cent of patients have complications from the virus.

These usually occur in children under-five, in adults over 20, and in anybody else who is undernourished or having low immunity.

The most common complication from measles is pneumonia, which accounts for most measles-related deaths.

Less frequently, measles can lead to blindness, croup, mouth ulcers, ear infections, or severe diarrhoea. Some children develop encephalitis (swelling of the brain), which can lead to convulsions, loss of hearing, and mental retardation. Again, these

complications mostly arise in people whose immune systems are already weakened because of their age, pre-existing diseases or malnutrition.

With a vaccine, measles is prevented through the combination of MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) shot. Immunity from the vaccine lasts for decades.

The vaccine is known to be extremely safe and very effective.

It contains a live but weakened version of the virus, and it causes the immune system to produce antibodies against the virus.

Should you be exposed to actual measles, those antibodies will then fire up to protect against the disease.

The measles virus could theoretically be wiped off the face of the planet, never to infect another human again. That is because it fits the profile of diseases that can be eradicated.

People, and not animals, are the only carriers of the virus (so eradication wouldn’t require killing off an entire animal species).

Addressing over 40 media practitioners recently, the Executive Director of the NPHCDA, Dr Faisal Shuaib pledged that the upcoming measles vaccination campaign will be the best ever implemented by the country. Shuaib confirmed that the 2017-2018 vaccination campaign is planned to be conducted in phases by geographical zones from October 2017 to March 2018.

Nigerians must not only maximise opportunities of this planned vaccinations, but we must also avoid playing politics with it, the result of which is endangering the future of innocent children. Everything should be done to ensure the upcoming campaign reaches all eligible children. Great lessons should have been learnt from past mistakes when vicious propaganda was employed to confuse ignorant parents and compromise health of our children.

Rasak Musbau, Lagos State Ministry of Information & Strategy, Alausa, Lagos.

NIGERIA AND CRUDE OIL TRACKING The federal government recently revealed its intention to commence crude oil tracking in the country. It is rather curious but true! It goes to show that since the discovery of crude oil in Nigeria over 50 years ago, no appropriate system or mechanism has been on ground to track and account for the usage of crude oil for either domestic or for export.

Petroleum production and export play a dominant role in Nigeria’s economy and account for about 90% of her gross earnings. This dominant role has pushed agriculture, the traditional mainstay of the economy, from the early 50’s and 60’s, to the background.

The government indicated her desire to start the process of tracking the nation’s crude oil from 2019 in order to be able to account for every drop

of the commodity produced in the country. The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, in a podcast distributed to journalists in Abuja, said the federal government was already working with the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) to develop an information technology platform that would make the crude oil tracking possible and will enable it track every molecule of oil produced by the country.

It must be stated here that in the context of the implementation of the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI) in Nigeria, many reports have indicated that no data on revenues received from the oil and gas companies as royalty, taxes, or other charges released by any agency (be it the CBN or the NNPC)

can be regarded as accurate, authentic and final. Many have argued that such figures need to be subjected to audits conducted in accordance with international standards and then made available to the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), an independent auditor for reconciliation of figures from oil companies and for a thorough validation of the data and information.

This is the whole idea about Nigeria signing on to the EITI 10 years ago.

A report by the Natural Resource Governance Institute, titled “NNPC still holds blank check�, said the state oil company withheld over $4.2 billion (about N824.7 billion) out of a total of $6.3 billion (N1.24 trillion) revenues realised from crude oil sales in the second half of 2015.The

report said only $2.1 billion (about N413.7 billion) was transferred to the Federation Account.

The report also said while part of the withheld funds were used for servicing Nigeria’s share of the Joint Venture operating obligations, the NNPC did not fully explain what the other retained revenues from domestic crude and the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) oil sales were used for. In general, the report said despite the on-going reforms in the oil sector, the NNPC under the present administration was still retaining a major share of oil sale earnings and spending at will.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia, a major oil producing nation, has continued over the years to keep track of their oil production through Ar-

amco Company Services. They make use of well-functioning equipment to pump, measure and keep record of how much oil is produced yearly, used, sold and what is left, giving an accurate record of oil revenue.

With the rate of corruption in Nigeria, coupled with the opaque nature of the oil industry, the decision to start crude oil tracking could not have come at a better time than now. The federal government should as a matter of priority get cracking with the modalities to get this information technology platform on board to save the country of several years of crude oil bleeding.

But then, why not start now? Why wait till 2019 when we are at a huge risk of losing more oil revenue?

– Rahma O.Oladosu, PRNigeria, Abuja.

16

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER Ëž ÍŻÍ°Ëœ Í°ÍŽÍŻÍľ

INTERNATIONAL

A Public Hearing on Morocco’s Bid for ECOWAS Membership

T

he people of Nigeria have been playing host to various calls for the review of Nigeria’s continued membership of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) of which Nigeria is a founding member. The calls were prompted by the admission in principle of the Arab Kingdom of Morocco by the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government at the last 51st summit of the regional body held in Liberia in June 2017.

The approval in principle, which is expected to be finally ratified after the definienda would have been articulated at the forthcoming 52nd Ordinary Session of the summit in December 2017 in LomÊ, Togo, is generating great concerns especially, because the 1993 revised ECOWAS Treaty frowns at multiple memberships of regional economic communities by Member States. In fact, the concerns were to the extent that the House of Representatives at Plenary on Wednesday, 4th October, 2017 had to deliberate on the motion seeking the review of Nigeria’s membership of the ECOWAS. The motion was sponsored by Hon. Bosun George Oladele from the Irepo/Orelope/ Olorunsogo Federal Constituency.

Besides, the House of Representatives considered that ‘for Nigeria to review its relationship and status in ECOWAS, the House of Representatives ought to be well informed for a proper and beneficial decision to be taken in the interest of the country.’ More interestingly, the House of Representatives is also determined to ensure that ‘the West African sub-region does not fall prey to a plan that could enslave the citizens and jeopardise the economy of the sub-region. It was in the light of this determination that the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, chaired by Honourable Nnnena Elendu-Ukeje and the House Committee on Cooperation and Integration in Africa, chaired by Honourable (Amb) Kingsley S. Ebenyi, were mandated ‘to undertake an appraisal of the matter and make recommendations on ways to ensure that Nigeria is protected from any adverse effects that could result from the admission of Morocco into the ECOWAS and report back within two weeks for further legislative action.’ In compliance with the mandate, a Public Hearing on Morocco’s bid for membership of the ECOWAS was organised and held on Thursday, 9th November, 2017 in Room 034, House of Representatives, at the new wing of the National Assembly Complex, to address many questions arising: should Morocco have been considered for admission? To what extent is Morocco’s intention to accede to the ECOWAS Treaty legal? Should Nigeria have considered withdrawing from the ECOWAS? In fact, what really is the official position of the Government of Nigeria on Morocco’s bid for membership of the ECOWAS? Perhaps, most interestingly, what is the big deal about the development contributions expected from Morocco, especially in the light of the fact that West Africa currently accounts for only 5% of Foreign Direct Investments into the African continent? Can the ECOWAS survive without Nigeria with a GDP of $406 billion, representing 29% of the whole GDP of sub-Saharan Africa, which is currently put at $1.3 trillion in 2016?

Answers to these questions were not easy. They first raise new critical issues that not only point to foreign policy remissness, but also to a Foreign Ministry divided against itself. The issues raised at the hearing included the required conditions for membership by accession; the extent of legality or illegality of Morocco’s bid for membership; what the position of the government of Nigeria is on Morocco’s bid; why the representation of Nigeria at the June 2017 ECOWAS summit in Liberia was at a very low level; number and nature of treaties signed by Nigeria but not yet referred to the National Assembly for domestication; which arm of government has the right of ratification of treaties, the status of ratification and domestication in the context of Nigeria’s foreign policy and relations; as well as how to interpret the admission of Morocco in principle, that is, is it already a fait accompli or not, especially that the President of the ECOWAS Commission was reported to have said Morocco’s admission was a completed deal.

On the basis of a deductive analysis of the explanations provided by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama, Nigeria, most unfortunately, actively supports Morocco’s membership of the ECOWAS. First, as reminded by Ambassador Edward A. Aina, OON, ‘Nigeria reiterated its support for the “return� of Morocco to the African Union on Wednesday, 25 January, 2017 in Addis Ababa.’ The point here is that if Nigeria is in support of the return of Morocco to the African Union at the continental level, there cannot be any good logic for Nigeria to be against Morocco’s accession to the ECOWAS Treaty, at the regional level.

Second, Mr. Onyeama is also on record to have declared that ‘there is no objection to Morocco’s request to “reintegrate the African Union� in a statement to the press on the sidelines of the 30th Ordinary Session of the Executive Council of the African Union.’ Third, and perhaps more interesting, Mr. Onyeama also has it that ‘the door is open for Morocco to “reintegrate� the African family,’ stressing that ‘the return of the Kingdom will strengthen the unity of the African ranks. It’s good that we are united again.’ If, as reminded by Ambassador Aina, Nigeria’s Foreign Minister made the quoted statements, there cannot be any ambiguity in Nigeria’s position at the level of Morocco’s quest for membership

VIE INTERNATIONALE with

Bola A. Akinterinwa Telephone : 0807-688-2846

e-mail: bolyttag@yahoo.com

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama of the ECOWAS in West Africa.

Consequently, the argument of the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bamgbose A. Olukunle, according to which the Ministry is only advising government and does not take decision and that the Permanent Secretary is not aware that the Government has taken a final decision, on the matter, is inconsistent with the Foreign Minister’s declarations. Besides, if the Foreign Ministry is only advising, then there is the need to differentiate between the Ministry’s own advisory position from the yet to be determined position of the Buhari-led government.

In this regard, the advice of the Foreign Ministry is, at best, most unfortunate, recklessly anti-Nigeria and not informed by the currency of the situational reality of Morocco’s attitudinal behaviour, not only towards its immediate neighbours but also to other Member States of the African Union. The advice is myopic and self-serving in design, and has the great potential to destroy in a day Nigeria’s political credibility and integrity acquired over the years. This observation brings us to the arguments for and against Morocco’s membership of the ECOWAS. Government’s Position is Supporting Illegality First, there is no question raised by members of the House Committees on Foreign Affairs and Cooperation and Integration in Africa that was seriously addressed or substantiated by the Foreign Ministry. Claims of ignorance was the main feature of answers given to the critical questions asked: how many treaties are in possession of the Foreign Ministry and how many of them are yet to be forwarded to the National Assembly; does the amended 1993 ECOWAS Treaty provide for accession of any African country; has the same amended 1993 Treaty been made available to the National Assembly?

The controversial answers generated by the explanations of the Foreign Ministry prompted a new problem and hypothesis by the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), represented by Professor Fred Agwu. The NIIA argued that it was the executive arm of government that has the right of ratification of treaties, implying that the National Assembly should not be much bothered about not being informed about treaty developments as they relate to Morocco’s bid.

The problem with this argument is that it theoretically and consciously wrongly placed ratification above domestication in the context of Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution as amended. The truth is that the Constitution not only subjects the implementation of any treaty done by Nigeria to preliminary domestication by the National Assembly, meaning that domestication is at the crescendo of the continuum of signatures or approvals. The Supreme Court has also ruled in favour of the National Assembly on the matter. It was an already settled matter, Honourable Elendu Ukeje simply said and that put paid to the NIIA argument.

Regarding the arguments in support of Morocco’s membership, some observers have suggested, but arguably, that there are some economic benefits derivable from Morocco’s membership of the ECOWAS. The likelihood of any derivable benefit is best

imagined because the estimated GDP of the whole of West Africa is currently put at $345 billion while the total value of Morocco’s volume of trade with West Africa has not even reached $1 billion.

This simply implies that the Morocco-ECOWAS trade is, at best, insignificant.

The supporters of Morocco’s bid also draw attention to Morocco’s status as the current ‘second largest African investor in the continent, after South Africa, whose investments, according to the OCP Policy Centre, ‘have jumped from sixty-six per cent in the period from 2008-2013 to eighty-five per cent today.’ Again, the investments are not a big deal, because, as one Yoruba proverbial saying has it, one must first look at the type and quality of dress worn by an individual promising to buy a dress for someone. In other words, Morocco does not have the political and economic stability domestically and in the AMU region to be able to perform miracles being flaunted by the Foreign Ministry. The government is simply supporting illegality and is unnecessarily being induced into error. This point brings us to the arguments against Morocco’s membership of the ECOWAS. Non-tenability of Morocco’s Illegal Bid Mr. Femi Falana, SAN, has posited that Morocco’s application for membership of the ECOWAS is an act of illegality while the approval in principle of the accession is also an act of illegality, from the perspective of Ambassador Edward Aina in a statement he made elsewhere. Falana predicated his argument on the logic of the African Charter on Human Rights while Ambassador Aina raises the issue of decision-taking by unanimity and consensus.

Falana has it that, by virtue of Article 2.2 of the ECOWAS Revised Treaty, only the members of the Community referred to as Member States are the States that ratified the Treaty. ‘It follows that any West African State may apply to become a member of the Community, which requires that the applicant be a State in West Africa whose territory is located at least in part on the geographical space of West Africa.’ Ambassador Aina has drawn attention to Article 9 of the ECOWAS Treaty according to which the Authority shall act by decisions (paragraph 1), unless otherwise provided in this Treaty, or in a Protocol, decisions of the Authority shall be adopted, depending on the subject matter under consideration by ‘unanimity consensus’ or by a ‘two-thirds majority’ of the Member States (paragraph 2); and more importantly, matters referred to in paragraph 2 above shall be defined in a Protocol. Until the entry into force of the said Protocol, the Authority shall continue to adopt its decision by consensus.

In this regard, was there any consensus of opinion and decision in the consideration of Morocco’s bid? As Nigeria was represented at a low level, had Nigeria given her consent before the June 2017 summit? In the absence of Nigeria’s consent, what would have been the basis of the approval in principle given by the Authority?

And most significantly, the definition of a region as provided for in Article 1d) and 1(e) of the 1991 Abuja Treaty Establishing the African Economic Community necessarily disqualifies Morocco from applying as the treaty places Morocco in the North Africa region. It can be argued that the objective of continental integration may be helped with Morocco’s membership of the ECOWAS. However, the AEC Treaty provides for continental integration through regionalism. The truth is that this objective is far-fetched in the AMU region.

Apart from the issue of illegality, there are also politico-economic, as well as religious and cultural reasons militating against the admissibility of Morocco. It is on record that Morocco has made efforts to become a member of the European Union, but to no avail. The argument was made that Morocco was not a European country, which was a condition sine qua non for membership of the European Union. However, Morocco has an association agreement with the European Union.

It should also be remembered in this regard that Nigeria and The Gambia are the only two countries that have refused till date to sign the European Union’s Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the ECOWAS, a major reason as to why the EPA has also not come into force for reasons that are not far-fetched. The main market targeted by the EPA is Nigeria and since Nigeria has not yet signed the EPA, the signing of the EPA by other ECOWAS countries has therefore become irrelevant in the same way the United States had to postpone the relocation of the Germanybased US Africa Command for ten years in 2005. The EPA is critically detrimental to Nigeria’s national interest.

As a result, it is in the immediate and long term interest of the European Union to have Morocco join the ECOWAS so as to serve as a major instrument for channelling European finished goods to Nigeria. As rightly pointed out in the Votes and Proceedings of the House of Representatives on Thursday, 5 October, 2017, paragraph 15, ‘Morocco enjoys a non-tariff economic partnership with the European Union, if it is admitted into the ECOWAS, it will enjoy Free Trade Area status and therefore, European goods will inevitably flood the ECOWAS market through Morocco, thus adversely affecting the production and manufacturing sector of Nigeria and its economy as a whole.’ (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 ˾ NOVEMBER 12, 2017

BUSINESS

Business Editor Vincent Obia Tel: 08054681757 Email: vincent.obia@thisdaylive.com

Central Business District, Marina, Lagos

Analysts: Moody’s Downgrade Not Alarming Kunle Aderinokun and Obinna Chima Following the downgrade of the Government of Nigeria’s long-term issuer and senior unsecured debt rating to B2 from B1

by Moody’s Investor Service, stakeholders and economic analysts have expressed their opinion on the implications for the economy.

The downgrade, which however came with a stable outlook, had been contested by the federal government.

Moody’s, which also downgraded the senior unsecured MTN programme rating and the provisional senior unsecured debt rating to (P)B2 from (P)B1, attributed the downgrade to “The authorities’ efforts to address the key structural weakness exposed by the oil price shock by broadening the non-oil revenue base have so far proven largely unsuccessful.

It added that, “As a consequence, while debt levels remain contained and notwithstanding recent cyclical improvements, the government’s balance sheet remains structurally exposed to further economic or financial shocks, with interest payments very high relative to revenues and deficits elevated despite cuts in capital spending.”

Moody’s explained that, “The stable outlook reflects the fact that the likelihood of a shock occurring that would further impair Nigeria’s economic and fiscal strength remains low, with external vulnerabilities having receded supported by the rebound in oil production, the current account projected to remain in surplus, and reserves boosted through external borrowings and increased foreign capital inflows. Medium-term growth prospects are also credit supportive.”

The government, in its reaction, argued that the downgrade was inappropriate because it had initiated reforms within the last two years to turn around the economy, in addition to its plan to raise N710 billion ($2 billion) this year from the restructuring of the government’s equity in the joint venture oil assets, as highlighted in the 2018 budget.

According to the government, “The reform is aimed at increasing private sector equity participation to improve efficiencies in the sector and also provides revenue to the government which will be deployed solely

ECONOMY and exclusively for creating new assets in Nigeria.”

The federal government, which issued a statement to protest the downgrade, pointed out that, while the Federal Ministry of Finance, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Debt Management Office (DMO) respect the right of Moody’s to make this decision, “we strongly disagree with the premise and must address some of the conclusions upon which the decision rests”.

“This is equivalent to Nigeria’s existing B/Stable Outlook rating from S&P and slightly lower than Nigeria’s B+/Negative Outlook rating from Fitch.”

According to the federal government, since Nigeria was last rated by Moody’s as B1 stable in December 2016, the country has successfully emerged from a protracted recession and recorded important improvements across a broad range of indices.

But in their views, analysts are not bothered about the downgrade as they are convinced that the reforms by the government have already put the economy on the path of recovery and growth, believing the rating would not affect the efforts by the government to raise capital from the bond markets.

According to the Director-General, West African Institute for Economic and Financial Management (WAIFEM), Prof. Akpan Ekpo, “The downgrading is unfortunate but not worrisome.”

“The economy is technically exiting the recession within the context of stagflation.

There is an economic recovery and growth plan for 2017-2020. The B score and stable is not alarming. Policy-makers and other stakeholders should continue to promote economic diversification so as to be on a positive growth trajectory,” he added.

Ekpo believed, “ Emphasis should be on building a strong domestic economy that can withstand shocks and these unnecessary ratings with complex and confusing variables would be irrelevant.”

The Nigerian economy, he said, was “large enough such that proper management of its resources for the common good would make a mockery of ratings by certain agencies.”

Similarly, CEO, The CFG Advisory Ltd,

Adetilewa Adebajo, said unfortunately Nigeria moved steps forward on ease of doing business and steps backward on ratings. Adebajo explained that the issues were around “revenue generation shortfalls and sustainable debt service capabilities.”

While noting that, “This net effect is the increased cost of our offshore borrowings,” he believed “the situation will not affect our capacity to access capital from the Eurobond markets.”

The long-term outlook was also stable, which was a welcome positive development, Adebajo also stated.

Speaking along the same line of thought, Director, Union Capital Ltd, Egie Akpata, noted that, “The timing of this downgrade is odd given that the worst seems to be over for the Nigerian economy. This downgrade seems to be more about alignment with the Nigeria ratings of S&P and Fitch.”

Acknowledging that, “The primary reasons for the downgrade are inability for the Federal Government to diversify its revenues away from oil and the high debt service costs relative to revenue,” Akpata said “None of these are particularly new problems.”

“I would have expected Moody’s to give the current administration some credit for making fixing these issues top on their agenda. It would be interesting to see if S&P or Fitch makes any changes to their Nigeria outlook or rating in the near term.

This is unlikely given the improvements in macroeconomic indicators,” he argued.

“Market reaction to the Moody’s downgrade is likely to be muted given some of the reasons mentioned above,” he added.

Ecobank Nigeria Analyst, Kunle Ezun, also faulted the decision by Moody’s, saying “from every indication Nigeria shouldn’t be downgraded.”

He explained: “The business environment is looking positive. So with the improvement in the forex market and slowdown in inflation, one would begin to question Moody’s consideration.”

In his own analysis, Executive Director, BGL Capital Ltd, Femi Ademola, while acknowledging that, the downgrade of Nigeria’s issuer and debt ratings by Moody’s was premised on the government’s unsuccessful efforts at addressing key structural weakness exposed by oil

price shock by broadening non-oil revenue base, cautioned that “the economy remains structurally exposed to further economic and financial shocks.”

Although, Ademola said the reasons were “very correct”, “the timing of the downgrade may not be apt.” “If the downgrade had happened when others like Fitch and S&P downgraded Nigeria’s rating, it would have been understandable. At this period when it appears that some levels of progress have been made, I would have expected the ratings to be left unchanged.”

“The success or otherwise of government’s efforts to address key structural issues is arguable. While not absolute, there is evidence that government’s efforts in blocking revenue leakages and cutting some excessive costs (to an extent) supported the economic recovery from recession and that some focus on local substitutes prevented a prolonged period of economic recession. In addition, as pointed out by the rating agency, the FIRS was able to increase non-oil revenue by 15% in nominal terms as at September 2017 compared to 2016; which was during a contractionary period.

“The rating agency also established that the independent re-appropriation of revenues from MDAs yielded some positive results albeit lower than projected. It should also be noted that the other sectors with potentials for revenue earnings to the government require some level of foreign investment and expertise which were not forthcoming during the period due to the heightened risks of the economic contraction and exchange rate fluctuations.

These developments shouldn’t have resulted in a downgrade. However, since the ratings retained a stable outlook for the country, these might have been taking into account,” he explained Speaking on the consequences of the downgrade, Ademola stated: “It therefore follows that the real contention here is the issuer and debt ratings which will now make borrowing more expensive to the Nigerian government. The fact that the country requires a huge amount of spending on infrastructure, most of which it plans to finance through foreign loans, makes the rating a very important one.

“So far the government has been able to attract foreign loans at a relatively good yield despite the earlier ratings downgrade by other rating agencies. Now, that all of them might have agreed on the issuer and debt downgrade, the country may not have any wiggle room left to justify a lower yield; hence we should expect more expensive loans to be obtained in 2018 and debts servicing budget to increase for 2019.”

Although a former bank chief executive, Mr. Okechukwu Unegbu, stressed that he did not believe in assessments by rating agencies, he pointed out the Nigerian economy remained challenged.

According to Unegbu, who is currently the chief executive of Maxifund Securities Limited, Nigeria’s low human development index should be a concern to the government.

“Even though the World Bank Ease of Doing Business shows that we recorded some improvement, those of us who are in business know that it is not correct.

“You cannot use a small segment of the population to make conclusion for a country like Nigeria that has a very large population.

“For instance, if you go to Corporate Affairs Commission to make enquiries or even register a business, the time it takes is still long. So, how does that show we have improved?

“So the government should forget about the rating agencies’ comments and focus on how to address unemployment and other challenges in the economy.”

Also, CEO, Global Analytics Consulting, Tope Fasua, who said, “Moody’s has an established methodology”, cautioned against politicising the rating by Moody’s.

Fasua contended that Nigeria’s debt servicing was unsustainable, stressing that, the country’s financial strength and debt profile had deteriorated. According to him, “We shouldn’t politicise everything and I believe Moody’s is not involved in Nigeria’s politics. With our crude oil proceeds equalling our debt servicing figures in 2018, it’s obvious that we have reached a certain threshold of unsustainability. That is the point made in the Moody’s Report; that our financial strength and debt profile has ‘materially decreased’ or worsened.”

“If we had good financial strength, we surely will not be funding our new budget with external borrowing and we would not be thinking of refinancing loans. We would prefer to pay down. We did that in 2006. It’s highly unfortunate that we are back with our begging bowls, while we have nothing on ground to show for the borrowing. There is a coalition of voices on Nigeria’s bad debt profile that the government will make a big mistake to ignore,” Fasua added.

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ NOVEMBER 12, 2017

18

BUSINESS/ECONOMY

Buhari presenting the 2018 budget to a joint session of the National Assembly

2018 Budget: Turning the Country Away From a Regular Fix Trying to break the jinx of delayed budget, which has exacerbated economic decline, President Muhammadu Buhari presented the 2018 budget to the National Assembly on Tuesday, but there are hurdles to overcome before the country can return to the January to December budget cycle. Vincent Obia, Olaseni Durojaiye, and Bamidele Famoofo write

L

ate budget presentation by the executive, a tardy passage by the legislature, and deferred assent by the president – these are the gruelling trademarks of the Nigerian economy in the Fourth Republic. Poor budget performance is the price the country has paid for all the tardiness. But it seems President Muhammadu Buhari is about to change the retrogressive sequence, which has aggravated economic decline.

Buhari presented the 2018 budget to a joint session of the National Assembly on Tuesday, about one month earlier than the previous exercises in the past few years. It is a presentation that speaks loudly in Buhari’s bid for greater investors’ confidence after Nigeria leaped to new highs on the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business rankings and was grouped among the 10 top performing economies in the world.

2018 Budget Tagged “Budget of Consolidation”, the 2018 budget has a proposed total expenditure of N8.612 trillion, 16 per cent above the 2017 budget estimate of N7.441 trillion. An aggregate expenditure of 2.652 trillion or 30.8 per cent of the total budget (inclusive of capital in statutory transfers) is allocated to the capital budget. This is in keeping with the policy of allocating at least 30 per cent of the annual budget to capital expenditure, which the government has adopted since its first full year budget in 2016.

The 2016 budget contains a fiscal deficit of N2.005 trillion (or 1.77 per cent of Gross Domestic Product), a reduction from the 2017 figure of N2.356 trillion. The deficit is to be financed with new borrowings estimated at N1.699 trillion, 50 per cent of which will be sourced externally, while the balance will be sourced domestically.

N2.014 trillion of the budget is allocated to debt service.

The key parameters and assumptions for the 2018 budget include benchmark oil price of $45 per barrel; oil production estimate of 2.3 million barrels per day, including condensates; exchange rate of N305/$; real GDP growth of 3.5 per cent; and inflation rate of 12.4 per cent.

The budget is looking to generate N11.983 trillion for the economy (N6.387 trillion from oil and gas sources and N5.597 trillion from the non-oil sector), with total federal government revenue of N6.607 trillion, 30 per cent more than the 2017 target.

In pursuit of the government’s economic diversification drive, it projects that oil revenues would account for N2.442 trillion of the government’s revenue share of N6.607 trillion, while N4.165 trillion will be from non-oil revenue sources.

An economist, Dr. Boniface Chizea, says the budget estimate is based on realistic assumptions. But Chizea feels,“A GDP growth rate of 3.5 per cent for the economy is not feasible considering that the economy has just come out of recession and had barely recorded a 0.5 per cent growth.”

The government is ambitious to have an improved GDP growth rate, but the latest projection is obviously difficult to achieve in a country still struggling with judicious budget implementation.

Standard Budget Cycle Tuesday’s budget presentation was Buhari’s third trip to the National Assembly for such function since he became president in 2015.

He intends to return the country to the constitutionally prescribed budget cycle that runs from January to December.

The Nigerian constitution defines a financial year as,“Any period of 12 months beginning on the first day of January in any year or such other date as the National Assembly may prescribe.”The budget year is expected to run from January 1 to December 31, but it may be adjusted to any other period, as long as it runs for 12 months. Records show that except in 2001 and 2007, when the budgets were passed before January 1, there has been a tradition of late submission and late passage of budgets since the inception of the Fourth Republic in 1999. The budget submission and assent period has run from October to July. Even when budgets are submitted before January 1, the processes of passage and assent have dragged on for between two and six months.

Performance Though, the law leaves room for adjustment of the budget year, such extensions have hampered the full implementation of the

annual budgets. The Fiscal Responsibility Commission says only N362. 3 billion has been disbursed out of N557 billion earmarked for capital expenditure in the 2015 budget; N387.3 billion was released and cash backed against actual utilisation of N362.3 billion. A greater percentage of the capital budget was directed to physical infrastructure and priority areas, which apparently suffered setback as a result of the poor budgetary utilisation.

Dr. Bongo Adi of the Lagos Business School says,“I no longer believe in Nigeria’s budget because it lacks credibility. The way government has handled it in Nigeria shows their level of unseriousness and lack of understanding of the enormity confronting the nation.

For instance, passage of budget has been unnecessarily delayed over the years and that has affected budget performance.”

Adi believes very little has changed, despite increases in budget figures and recent improvements in the macroeconomic environment, involving relative stability in the foreign exchange market, increased non-oil revenues, and favourable ease of doing business ranking. A recent World Bank business ranking report ranked Nigeria 145th (out of 189 countries) in 2017 on the Ease of Doing Business Index. The country had moved from 120th in 2008 and 169th in 2015.

The World Bank also ranked Nigeria among 10 top reforming economies in the world.

“What has changed in the state of infrastructure in Nigeria in the last five years,” Adi queries. “Average interest rate of commercial banks remained as high as

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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 ˾ NOVEMBER 12, 2017

BUSINESS/ECONOMY

2018 Budget: Turning the Country Away From a Regular Fix 28 per cent, which has crowded out private businesses from borrowing and leaving all available credit to government, yet they say doing business in Nigeria is improving.”

In the 2016 “Budget of Change”, the first full year budget of the Buhari administration, the estimates were prepared against the background of global economic growth and record fall in crude oil prices. It was built on the zero-based budgeting principle. The federal government was said to have spent only N3.577 trillion out of N6.06 trillion budgeted for the fiscal year. The government earmarked an impressive sum of over N1.2 trillion for capital projects in the 2016 budget, which was the highest ever in the history of Nigeria.

But not much of that was implemented.

The 2017 budget of N7.441 trillion has a total capital expenditure estimate of N2.177 trillion. The president admits that only N450 billion of the capital vote had been released as at the end of October 2017. He says the target is to release up to 50 per cent of the capital vote for the Ministries, Departments, and Agencies of the federal government by the end of the year.

Many of the capital projects in the 2017 budget would be carried over to the 2018 budget, with the potential danger of hindering the active conception and implementation of new projects.

Economist and lecturer at the University of Port Harcourt, Professor Okey Onuchukwu, says such excessive carryovers do not augur well for the economy. Onuchukwu says the Buhari government has in the past two fiscal years “failed to religiously implement” its budgets. “I am saying this because some projects keep reappearing in the budget every year. We have seen the Ogoni clean-up reappear. The issue is not to put down figures and projects on paper; the issue is to ensure that those figures are implemented.”

The 2017 budget also did poorly in the area of revenue. The president says collections were 14 per cent below target as of September 2017, largely due to shortfall in non-oil revenues.

But a key revenue shortfall was witnessed in the independent revenues, where only N155.14 billion was remitted by the federal government’s revenue generation agencies as of September 2017, as against the projected prorated sum of N605.87 billion. This represents a staggering 74 per cent shortfall.

The 2017 budget was presented by the president on December 14, 2016, passed by the National Assembly in May 2017, and assented to by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo – then acting president – on June 12, 2017.

The 2016 budget was presented December 22, 2015, passed on March 23, 2016, and signed into law by Buhari on May 6, 2016.

Hurdle “Regrettably, the late passage of the 2017 budget has significantly constrained budget implementation,” the president says. “This year, we have worked very hard to achieve an earlier submission of the Medium-term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper, and the 2018 Appropriation Bill. Our efforts were to avail the National Assembly with sufficient time to perform its important duty of passing the Appropriation Bill into law, hopefully by the 1st of January, 2018. It is in this spirit that I solicit the cooperation of the legislature in our efforts to return to a more predictable budget cycle that runs from January to December.”

Chairman of Senate Committee on Finance, John Enoh, says the early presentation of the 2018 budget “is an indication that we have learnt from the past and we are making progress.”

The Finance Act and Fiscal Responsibility Act require all MDAs to submit their budgets to the Federal Ministry of Finance by the end of the third quarter to facilitate the presentation of the budget to the National Assembly by October. Tuesday’s budget presentation is the closest to that provision the country has witnessed in several years.

And it is also the first time in many years that the budget would be presented when the legislature has yet to debate and decide on the MTEF and FSP. On the face of it, the National Assembly has about two months to work on the budget as well as the MTEF and FSP before the end of the year. But in actual fact, there are only

Cont’d from Pg.. 18

Senate President Bukola Saraki and House Speaker Yakubu Dogara at the budget presentation

about 21 legislative days between November 7, when the budget was presented, and the Yuletide break of the National Assembly in December.

The National Assembly would have to work to tight deadlines to be able to pass the budget by December.

Enoh said on Tuesday,“In the next couple of days there is going to be a schedule that would be agreed by the House and the Senate that would set time lines, which would end with having to pass the budget before we go on Christmas break.”

Nigerians will be hoping that the legislators would do their utmost to deliver the 2018 budget in good time.

Debt Burden But many still doubt if the “Budget of Consolidation” would deliver the economic turnaround that the country badly needs, given some obvious limitations.

The budget contains a debt service allocation of N2.014 trillion. A recent report by the International Monetary Fund put Nigeria’s debt-service-to-revenue ratio at a whopping 66 per cent. This is a very unhealthy situation for economic growth, but Buhari has said, “We are closely monitoring our debt service to revenue ratio.”

The president plans to address the debt issue through an aggressive non-oil revenuegeneration drive and restructuring of the existing debt portfolio, which comprises about 79 per cent domestic debt. The government says its strategy in the medium term is to reduce the proportion of the domestic debt to 60 per cent by the end of 2019 and increase external debt, which attracts relatively lower interest rate, to 40 per cent.

Chief Executive Officer of Cowrie Assets Limited, Johnson Chukwu, says,“The amount earmarked for debt servicing is most expected.

In the first instance, government’s debt profile has ballooned. Debt servicing is a compulsory obligation, and we must be mindful that government has borrowed at exorbitant rate.

“The consolation there is that government is planning to substitute some of the local debt with foreign debt, which is at a more favourable price and they have set a repayment timeline of 2019, which I think is still fine.

“What we have is better than that of last year where borrowing was higher that capital vote, which means part of the borrowing was spent on both recurrent and capital expenditure. This time around capital budget is higher that borrowing, which translates to mean part of the capital budget will be funded through government revenue.”

Chukwu, however, says, “Government must work hard and ensure that it achieves its revenue budget, particularly the non-oil revenue target.”

Director, Corporate Finance, BGL Capital, Olufemi Ademola, also believes the debt service allocation in the 2018 budget is not unexpected, considering the obligations to the creditors. But Ademola says, “We need to be more transparent. If we look at what was spent on budget servicing last year, we may end up not spending the N2.014trillion that was budgeted for debt servicing in the 2018 proposed budget.”

But Research Analyst at the Nigeria Economic Summit Group, Totimi Oyelere, says, “The increase in debt service from N1.8 trillion in 2017 to N2 trillion in 2018, together with the upward movement in the debt stock, is worrisome. As at June, public debt totalled N19.6 trillion and aggressive borrowings have taken place between June and now, which means, our debt stock must have crossed N20 trillion line. The need to reflate the economy will continue to occasion borrowings since revenue is constrained.

However, there is need for a concerted effort to borrow cheaply in order to reduce the deadweight on public value. Debts or borrowings come with deadweight but this cost can be reduced by going for cheap fund and exploring concessionary loans against full blown commercial fund.”

The overwhelming opinion among Nigerians seems to be that borrowing is not a bad idea for a growing economy like Nigeria’s, but the problem is what the loans are used for and the high percentage of national revenues used to service debts because of the high borrowing cost.

While Nigeria uses over 60 per cent of its revenues to service debt, the United States government, which is one of the biggest borrowers in the world, spends only about

On the face of it, the National Assembly has about two months to work on the budget as well as the MTEF and FSP before the end of the year. But in actual fact, there are only about 21 legislative days between November 7, when the budget was presented, and the Yuletide break of the National Assembly in December

eight per cent of its revenues to service its debt.

Infrastructure Financing There have been suggestions that the government should involve the private sector in the funding of capital projects as a way of reducing the debt burden.

Ademola believes the money needed for infrastructure does not have to be provided by government alone; the private sector should be encouraged to come in through different counterpart funding instruments.

Looking at the trend in the past few years, Oyelere doubts the capacity of the government to fully implement the capital component of the 2018 budget. He says, “To have a better performance in 2018, we must focus on the activities of the MDAs and give them technical support and skills where necessary. This is the only way to accelerate CAPEX performance and create multiple tangible public goods/values.”

Loopholes In addition to aggressive tax drive, observers believe the federal government also needs to look seriously into the activities of its revenue generation agencies. Many of the agencies have been accused of failing to make their obligatory remittances to the Federation Account. Such failures contributed hugely to the revenue shortfalls of the 2017 budget. The announcement in September by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board that it was going to remit N7.8 billion to the government was an eye-opening revelation about the level of impropriety in the federal government parastatal, which had cumulatively remitted only N51 million over the last decades.

Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Senator Ita Enang, says, “Nigeria may not need to borrow if the agencies of government that bring revenue were making this revenue available to government. Some of these agencies get richer and behave as if they were a government themselves.”

Enang says, “What we need to do this year is an aggressive pursuit of the agencies.”

Nigeria needs a timely passage of the 2018 budget as well as an effective funding strategy to maximise the benefits of the financial plan.

“The president and the executive have done their bit; they have given us the budget. Now the legislature should take it up and let’s have a good Christmas present so that we can have a happy new year,” says investment banker Tilewa Adebajo. ”If we can achieve this, the signal that we are going to send to not only Nigerian businessmen but also international business people will be a very strong one, that we’ve got our act together and we are ready to roll.”

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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 ˾ NOVEMBER 12, 2017

BUSINESS/ECONOMY

As Oil Facilities, Economy Face New Threat…

As armed groups in the Niger Delta threaten to resume attacks on oil infrastructure, Olaseni Durojaiye examines the looming danger to the economy

Niger Delta Militants... vow to renew attacks on oil facilities

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elative peace in the Niger Delta in the wake of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan has ushered in a period of smooth and increased oil production in the region. The country’s foreign reserves have gone up to $34 billion, the highest in almost three years, and the government has projected further economic gains as oil prices begin to pick up again after a record fall.

Nigeria is currently benefiting from a bullish oil market and“rampant demand,”attaining its highest production target since 2015, following a 39 per cent rise in crude oil prices since June 2017, as the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries and Saudi Arabia push for output cuts to continue into 2018. Production in Nigeria, which is exempted from the curbs, has risen 15 per cent this year to 1.7 million barrels a day as militants ceased bombing export terminals and pipelines.

The ripple effect of the current good run in receipts from the volatile sector transcends rise in foreign reserves. It is being felt across all critical sectors. The new dawn of stability in the foreign exchange market has begun to breathe life back into the manufacturing and services sector even as government is revving up its investments in critical infrastructure.

It is also swelling investors’ confidence in the economy. Portfolio inflows have risen in the past three months with crude prices increasing above $60 a barrel and money managers are showing confidence in a new foreign-exchange trading window, in which the naira has converged with the black market rate.

Threat But the economic gains are threatened in the face of recent warnings by the Niger Delta Avengers, an armed group in the Niger Delta, that they had ended a truce reached with the federal government and decided to resume attacks on the oil facilities. This is giving stakeholders cause for concern.

Analysts hold that resumed hostilities in the oil-rich region will hurt and halt the

it’s voyage to the oil fields of the Niger Delta to further exploit us while our concerns are left unattended.

“We are presently tracking and monitoring its movement; and God willing, it shall not operate successfully amidst the return of the fury of the Niger Delta Avengers.”

It also sent a warning signal to oil companies operating in the region, promising to destroy any obstacle on the group’s way to victory.

“Message to the oil companies: our next line of operation will not be like the 2016 campaign which operated successfully without any casualties; this outing will be brutish, brutal and bloody.

“We shall crush everything we meet on our path to completely put off the fires that burn to flare gas in our communities and cut every pipe that moves crude away from our region. We can assure you that every oil installation in our region will feel the warmth of the wrath of the Niger Delta Avengers,” Grouse Armed groups in the region had succeeded the group said. in cutting Nigeria’s oil exports by half in the Economic Implications wake of violent attacks last year. NDA said Stakeholders in the local economy see dire the federal government’s failure to develop the region and forge a new vision for the oil consequence in the warning by NDA and producing areas in line with Buhari’s promises urge the federal government to resume and was behind its decision to return to attacks. It scale up engagement with the group. A key alleged that the federal government was only voice in the manufacturing sector said “there interested in exploiting oil from the region. is no other option than to engage them.”

Speaking with THISDAY, Director General The statement, signed by the group’s spokesman, General Murdoch Agbinibo, also of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and condemned the Chief Edwin Clark-led Pan Industry, Mr. Muda Yusuf, noted that resumed Niger Delta Forum, saying it has lost faith restiveness in the Niger Delta would have in the ability of PANDEF to get the federal far reaching implications across a broad spectrum of the economy. Yusuf advised the government to develop the region.

“The position of the Nigerian government is government to scale up engagements with made emphatically known to the Niger Delta the groups, adding that the current respite people that its only interest remains the flow that has positively impacted the economy is of oil from our region to the Central Bank of a result of engagement.

According to him, “If we allow it to Nigeria. We want to make it known to the PANDEF and the Nigeria government that happen it will have dire consequence and our call for halt on ‘Operation Red Economy’ affect the economic recovery and growth process. Renewed hostility in that area has is officially over,” the Avengers vowed.

The group stated,“We are aware that Egina implications for revenue generation, our foreign FPSO built in South Korea by Samsung to be reserves, our exchange rate and the foreign operated by Total Nigeria is one of the biggest exchange market. The stability that we have FPSO built in South Korea, and has started been witnessing in the FX market in recent current good run in the sector beyond revenue generation and that portends dire consequences for the country’s oil-dependent economy, which is barely recovering from recession.

Before the latest threat from NDA, some analysts had contended that Nigeria’s current rosy runs in the sector was fragile and could end if Brent crude price dropped to around $50 a barrel. They said it was capable of pushing Nigeria’s current account back into deficit.

This position is shared by America Corp., which sees the naira falling to 432 per dollar by the end of 2018. This fear is besides the latest threat. NDA had announced an end to a ceasefire agreement it had with the federal government, in a statement recently posted on its website. The group declared its readiness to resume damaging attacks on the oil infrastructure in the Niger Delta.

times will be affected.

“It will also undermine investors’ confidence, which is not good for the current recovery process. It will also affect investors in the oil and gas sector because it is their assets and investments that are at risk.”

President of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Dr. Frank Jacobs, shared Yusuf’s take. Responding to enquiries on Tuesday, on how resumed attacks on the oil infrastructure would affect the real sector, Jacobs said,“It will have dire consequences on our operations.”

According to him,“It will affect the national revenue, which will in turn affect the capacity of our members to buy machinery and raw materials for production.

We don’t want a return of what we used to experience trying to source for machinery and raw materials.”

Way Forward Both Yusuf and Jacobs argue that the best way to avert the looming threat remains to engage stakeholders in the region, particularly the militant group. They advised the federal government to live up to its promises to the group even as Jacobs insists that he has confidence in the ability of government to avert the looming crisis.

Jacobs said,“Government should nip it in the bud and find solutions to the issues. The way forward is engagement; government should resume engagement process with stakeholders in the region, including the group. I believe government is aware of their grouse and what needs to be done, and I have confidence in the ability of government to engage with them.

There is no other option but engagement.

This is like a guerrilla war, you can’t really dislodge them.”

In his own thoughts on the way forward, Yusuf said,“Government should scale up its engagement with the stakeholders in the region and live up to its promises to them. Even though destroying national assets is not a good approach to expressing discontent or to protest, it is important that government engage with them. The respite that we’ve had so far was due to engagement. “

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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 ˾ NOVEMBER 12, 2017

BUSINESS/ENERGY

A technician working on prepaid meters

Metering Challenge: Options before Discos Provision of meters for electricity consumers has proved a tricky task for the 11 distribution companies, but there appears to be light at the end of the tunnel. Chineme Okafor writes

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good number of Nigerians who use electricity from the 11 electricity distribution companies in the country tend to think that the Discos are very comfortable providing them electricity without meters to accurately gauge their consumption.To these consumers, the Discos’continued resort to estimated billing practice as against the provision of metering facilities proves their liking for unmetered billing.

There is also the notion that the Discos believe they would not make from metered billing as much money as they are making from estimated billing, which leaves room for indiscriminate award of bills and manipulation.

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission has a legal process for estimated billing in areas where meters are not available.

However, the Discos deny these allegations and insist that they lack the huge capital investment needed for the metering of power consumption.

Metering Gap As at August, NERC records showed that the total number of customers registered by the 11 Discos as eligible electricity users within their respective networks was 7,476,856, while those metered were 3,451,611. This leaves a metering gap of 4,025,611 and a collective metering percentage of 46.16.

The records also revealed that four Discos – Abuja, Ikeja, Eko, and Benin – were tops in their meter deployment efforts with the 52.17 per cent, 55.95 per cent, 60.73 per cent, and 69.49 per cent deployments, respectively. Enugu, Kaduna, Kano, and Yola were behind with the meagre 27.72 per cent, 37.24 per cent, 34.43 per cent, and 23.61 per cent deployment levels, respectively. Ibadan, Jos, and Port Harcourt Discos maintained average meter deployment percentages of 41.35 per cent, 48.72 per cent, and 48.54 per cent, respectively.

Because the electricity sector privatisation, which was concluded in 2013, predicated the share purchase agreements of the Discos upon various agreed Average Technical Commercial and Collection (ATC&C) loss

reduction levels for the Discos, a 100 per cent metering plan within a timeframe was expected of the Discos to ensure comprehensive coverage of consumers.

The comprehensive roll out of metering facilities was also expected to guarantee and protect the Discos’ revenue, minimise losses to them in technical and commercial levels, as well as protect customers from unfair and estimated billing.

Tricky Path The Discos have continued to complain about the huge financial commitment required to provide meters.They have pointed out through their association, Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors, that the inadequacy of rates charged by them has limited the capital investment required to improve on their retail of electricity, including the provision of meters for consumers.

They have also explained that there were several other issues that had contributed to the slow pace of metering in the sector. The added, however, that since the distribution assets were handed over to them, they had made efforts to improve on metering, though, not as much as they would have wanted to.

“Meter fraud is huge – by-passing, tampering, recoding, hook-ups, is a big issue to us even in places we had installed meters already,” said Mr. Sunday Oduntan, Executive Director for Research and Advocacy in ANED. “In a particular Disco this constitutes about 62 per cent for non-maximum demand and 43 per cent for maximum demand customers, pool of fraudsters has been inflated hugely by the corrupt staff let go

by PHCN and ourselves,”Oduntan added.

To overcome them however, he said:“Major scale organised meter fraud has to be combatted by tamper proof meters – split unit and pre-paid installed in areas already fully enumerated.”

“For the area being metered, all the transformers and sub-transformers must first be themselves metered to create an audit trail of accountability. Disco must be reorganised around feeders and sub-feeders and every connection on every feeder must be traced and enumerated into our customer database.”

“Database has the capability to monitor consumption

(and lack of consumption) by individual meters to detect meter fraud, and by sub-feeder and feeder to identify corrupt staff. Until this is in place metering will not work, most will simply be by-passed,”Oduntan added.

Directive Despite the challenges, the government feels the Discos have a duty to meter their customers and do that as soon as possible to improve their revenue collection and retail services in the market.

Minister of Power,Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, recently asked the NERC to expedite action on a metering regulation it had planned to introduce for the electricity market. Fashola told NERC that he wanted the regulation to be completed before the end of November, and that with it, the commission would be able to give operational licenses to meter suppliers who could help close the metering gap and resolve its related challenges.

The minister indicated that the supply of meters would have to be resolved through the new regulation from the NERC. Previous Attempts While the metering gap existed even before privatisation, there had been previous efforts before and after privatisation, mainly by NERC, to cut down on the number of Nigerian electricity consumers without meters. The central objective is to eventually end estimated billing and adopt 100 per cent metering as the basis for billing all electricity customers in Nigeria.

The sector inherited a meter maintenance fee or charges, which were then levied on consumers by defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria for meter deployment and maintenance. These charges were eventually cancelled as a component of electricity bills or tariff to consumers by the NERC after it was decided that the charges did not help the deployment of meters by the Discos, and so there was no reason to continue them.

The regulator further pushed the Discos to respect their metering obligations to their customers as contained in their share purchase agreements, and even introduced a respite it called the Credited Advance

Payment for Metering Implementation (CAPMI) under which consumers were free to advance payments to their Discos to procure and install meters to them and get rebate in the form of electricity units over a period necessary to offset their individual investments in the meters.

Eventually, the CAPMI scheme turned out to be inadequate to close the metering gap after it was discovered by NERC that the Discos also abused it and were diverting consumers’ payments to them for meters to other ventures and not living up to their obligations. The regulator subsequently ended the scheme and asked the Discos to clear existing orders from consumers in the CAPMI scheme, while continuing their investments in metering.

New Regulation But following the slow pace of investments in metering by the Discos, NERC then announced its consideration of three new options that could be adopted to close up the metering gap.

According to NERC, the three options currently under consideration would eliminate the regime of estimated billings. A document on this from the commission explained that the three options under consideration were Meter Service Providers (MSP) scheme, modified Credited Advance Payment for Metering Implementation (CAPMI), and franchising in rural and urban settlements.

Under the MSP scheme, which looked more like the introduction of a new value chain-metering, in the market, NERC said licensed MSPs could be financial institutions, venture financiers or even Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and meter manufacturers with the capacity to provide comprehensive meter services to electricity customers. It said the MSPs would own the metering infrastructure on a lease basis, including replacement of faulty and obsolete meters, but will also enter into medium to long term meter service agreements with Discos, which would then integrate in their vending systems provisions that allow the MSPs to get deductions from customers’ vending.

(See concluding part on www.thisdaylive.com)

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ NOVEMBER 12, 2017

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INTERVIEW Enelamah: Our Vision is to Make Nigeria an Attractive Business Destination Nigeria has just hosted a global high-level policy and private sector trade and investment facilitation forum. In this interview, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah, offers perspectives on federal government’s drive to facilitate trade and ease of doing business. Ndubuisi Francis provides the excerpts:

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igeria has moved up the ladder in the World Bank Ease of Doing Business ranking. What were the things they considered, and what areas are you looking at for improvement?

It’s not something we take for granted and we don’t take it for granted because it’s good to adopt a purposeful approach to issues because the president came and said one of the priorities he was going to do is making it easier for people to do business.

As you know, last year, he inaugurated and commissioned the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council chaired by his Excellency, the Vice President and other stakeholders, ministries, departments and agencies of government that are interfaced to the public. We will be working on a number of profound measures which are the indices that the World Bank measures. These indices are the life cycle of running a business; from how you start a business, business registration to how you get the various permits, construction permits, paying your taxes to getting credit access, to funding, to all the things around dispute resolution and so on. Not surprisingly, around access to credit, we are now one of the top ten in the world. The bills that were passed by the National Assembly were important--both the bills in terms of collateral, access to collateral, both of which border on sort of how SMEs and businesses access credits. They also like the fact that we automated and made it easier to register businesses, pay taxes , at the state level when it comes to construction permits we made it easier to deal with things that go with land title, things like access to electricity and some other areas. There is more work to be done; we need to increase the capacity and also elaborate technology to get there but the important thing is that after sliding for so long and moving up, it shows that we are now heading in the right direction and the momentum can continue.

As important as the World Bank ranking, it’s not ranking per se but it is making it easier for people to do business. The objective we are looking at is how can we make life easier for people? How can we remove the bottlenecks and roadblocks and things that get in the way of people running their businesses efficiently?

Our vision is to make Nigeria one of the most attractive and easiest places to do business in the world and that is our mission.

Some people are saying it is still not easy to do business in Nigeria. What are the measures being put in place to change the narrative?

You know the genius about Einstein is that he talked about the theory of relativity; most things are relative. So when they say it’s still not easy, we are saying it is easier. When it comes to registering businesses now, you can do this within 24 hours. There might be subsequent things you need to do that might take a few more days but the important thing is that it is automated, which is a big deal. Two, are all the key processes that are linked to that automation.

Three, we monitor for the improvement and we keep getting better. We are committed to getting better; so it’s a journey. We believe that we are not stopping-- we will keep going.

You told us that under the executive orders, we are going to see greater synergy among the security agencies in trying to do a one-stop check on cargoes and others, but people are still complaining that the necessary actions

World Bank when they start doing their work and it will reflect them. We are not saying that ease of doing business can be solved in one year. I expect that this journey can continue for many years but we need to keep getting better and better, because we are not standing still--we are dealing with a moving target.

Are there institutional frameworks put in place to make the reforms sustainable, even when another administration comes on?

There are a number of things we are doing to ensure that reforms will be sustained and to codify the new rules and directives. One of the things that helped us this last time is that we worked very closely with the National Assembly and they passed a lot of bills like mobile access for collateral. Now, one of the things we are working with them now is something we call omnibus bill which will capture all the reforms that we are making and codify them. So, yes we are working on codifying these changes into a law and we are working on it with the National Assembly.

What would you say about Nigeria, Africa and WTO agreements?

WTO is a multilateral agency that looks after trading. Africa, right now, is going through a continental free trade area negotiation. WTO is concerned about creating the right enabling environment for trading to happen around the world. So, for Africa, the key is to learn from the experience of others to protect themselves against things like dumping, making sure of standard goods. All those things need to be codified; they need to have rules in a way that we can use those rules to leverage any abuse that they harbour.

Nigeria is hosting a high-level policy and private sector trade and investment facilitation forum. When we talk about trade facilitation, air link is key. It’s easier to connect Europe and the Americas by air than fly within Africa. What is being done to redress this?

Enelamah have not been seen.

There are several things we need to get right.

First, the basic infrastructure. The ports in Lagos are among the busiest ports in the country.

There are lots of congestion because maybe due to excess cargoes that they are meant for.

There are challenges with goods and exiting the ports. There’s also a whole idea of leveraging technology through a single window, which means that they are using technology to do all the processes and all those people at the port can then be at the back end of that electronic window and that’s something getting a lot of attention. I think it’s something that’s between the Ministry of Finance, Customs authorities, and Trade – all working together under the umbrella of the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council. Many also said that the Executive Order tries to streamline who should be in or out of the ports. So, there’s a transition process that was meant to be shorter but has not been completed. We need to make the investment in technology.

The way the World Bank actually talks to users, the business people, the SMEs and so on; it is the feedback from them that goes in.

So, if you are doing a reform, for instance, access to credit or paying taxes or dealing with obtaining electricity, construction permit, business registration, dealing with insolvency and the things we have talked about and for some reason that work has not been completed; therefore the customer is not getting the benefits yet so you won’t get the credit. You have to complete the work. There are a number of reforms we are working on; remember we had a national action plan earlier in the year that had about over 50 reforms. We scored ourselves 70 per cent and we were scored 70 per cent. We are now going through a second wave of reforms this October/November and the number of reforms are even more; over hundred reforms. Some are small while some are big but they are all around helping people to run their businesses and the whole idea is that as we make those reforms, then we will now share them to the

The whole area about infrastructure in Africa is about time we quit talking about it and start doing something about it, which is why one of the priorities of the president is addressing the infrastructural gap in Nigeria. Our roads, rails, airports need upgrading. One of the things we need to do in Africa is to make sure we create more agreements and understanding to increase the connection because these are based on agreements that are negotiated.

We also encourage the states to have one-stop shops that could have their own people and some of these agencies that could house their staff to provide services to the states. So, I think it’s an initiative that is very well received and in appreciation of the role the office of the president and Vice President have played in it and also the work we are doing here in the ministry.

I think it’s good. There are areas for improvement. If you look at trading across borders, there are a lot of things that are going on.

First of all, we have established a national office for trade negotiations to build our trade relationship with other countries, to make sure that we have the right agreement. Secondly we are a signatory to WTO (World Trade Organisation) trade facilitation agreement.

Presently, the Presidential Enabling Business Council is working to eliminate bottlenecks and unnecessary roadblocks. Another thing is the single window, the automation of clearing goods. So it makes trading across borders easier.

These are reforms that are on-going that I’m confident about.

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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 ˾ NOVEMBER 12, 2017

INTERVIEW Salawudeen: Insurance Can be a Good Foreign Exchange Earner for Nigeria Dr. Ahmed Olaniyi Salawudeen is the President/ CEO, Standard Insurance Consultants Ltd. He is a renowned insurance broker, who has made giant strides in his more than 40 years of practice.

With integrity and transparency in his dealings that have won him many laurels across the globe, Salawudeen, whose company has offices in Nigeria, Dubai, United Kingdom and China, speaks on how insurance can help Nigerian economy, in this interview with Funke Olaode. Excerpts:

Y

ou’ve demonstrated a high level

Consultants Limited?

of integrity, transparency, and ingenuity in Nigeria’s insurance sector, which is viewed with much scepticism. What has kept you going?

Well, what has kept me going is like a slogan of a bank: I keep to my word. My ‘A’ is A and won’t come back later and say it has changed to B. And because of that, when people are coming to me they know that they are going to hear the truth from me. Again, with modesty, my humility nature too has helped over the years in this business. So I try to live above board, maintain my integrity and integrity in whatever I do. I try not to be sellfish.

With that, things will come to you easily without struggling for it. Finally, if I have the means, I try to help my fellow human beings.

It was founded over 36 years ago with the aim to provide solution to the teeming population of Nigerians. Our duty is to make sure that anybody that has insurance through our company in the case of any claim should be able to get their claims as and when due. We specialise in Energy Insurance Placement, Aviation and Space, Marine and General Insurance, Oil and Gas, Construction Engineering, Marine Hull and Cargo, Professional Indemnity, Life Insurance and Special Risks. We can arrange good insurance for kidnapping and ransom. So I sleep, breath and eat Insurance.

In a way, it is my life. Apart from that, we are professionals with experts in various aspects of insurance. The National Insurance Commission recognise us as one of the professionals in Nigeria and with business of re-insurance programme.

You will be honoured by The World Confederation of Business in Dubai on Wednesday November 15, 2017. What does this mean to you and the country?

As a veteran broker and successful entrepreneur in the Nigerian insurance industry, what is the winning formula that you recommend for those coming behind?

I feel elated and overwhelmed being recognised by a reputable global body. It means a lot to us at Standard Insurance Consultants Limited. There is no doubt that it will bring glory not to only us as a Nigerian company but to Nigeria as a whole. It shows that despite our challenges in Nigeria, there are companies that are doing very well.

Well, the winning formula is for all the associations and bodies of insurance company have to work together and unite to forge a strong alliance. All arms of insurance including the regulators must come together. And, we must be able to create confidence in the insuring public because the business is about trust, trust and trust. We need to erase the notion from many quarters that it is a legalised robbery.

Can you tell us about the organisation and why more Nigerians and companies should join them?

The World Confederation of Business (WORLDCOB) was founded on September 9, 2004, in the city of Houston, Texas in the United States of America.

The initial vision of WORLDCOB’s founders was to create an international business organization that would bring together and recognize those companies who were leaders in their field, striving day in and day out to boost growth of the economy of their countries and the world making them models to be followed. That is why the BIZZ international business award was created. This award offers a wide range of benefits to aid in these companies’ development.

As an astute insurance guru, who has won many laurels, how do you feel about this award?

Recognition is not something you can buy as we know that integrity plays a big role in all human endeavours. We didn’t apply to join them; they look at our antecedents and gave us an excellent mark. It means a lot; to be recognised by a reputable global body is overwhelming. This no doubt it will bring glory not to us as a Nigerian company but to Nigeria as a whole. It shows that despite our challenges in Nigeria, there are companies that are still doing very well.

Are you the first Nigerian to be honoured?

I wouldn’t know that. I only know about this and this year 2017, Standard Insurance Consultants is the only company being honoured from Nigeria come November 15 (Wednesday) in Dubai.

What informed the decision of WOLDCOB to honour you with this prestigious award?

They must have seen our company’s performance; our profile and pedigree of integrity and all that we stand for come to that decision to honour us.

I don’t know them from anywhere and is not something that I apply for. In fact, when they contacted me I had to look for their website to know what the organisation is all about.

What does the award mean for you?

Why it is that many people don’t like taking up insurance policies unless they’re compelled to do so? Tell us why it’s important to obtain insurance policies.

Salawudeen As a professional, getting recognition from a reputable international body is overwhelming. We have been in insurance business in the last 36 years and we are one of the top five insurance brokers in Nigeria with international offices in Gambia, UAE, corresponding office in England and an affiliate office in China.

Having won this award, what’s your next target?

My target is to continue to be doing good business with integrity. And anybody that gives us business, we must give the best services to our teeming clients. So I will continue to ensure that my company continues to render qualitative and unique services to Nigerian markets globally.

How would you use the opportunities that come with this award to forge a strong alliance with United States insurance businesses, if none existed before now or deepen the existing relationship between the countries’ insurance markets?

This is another opportunity for the country because this global organization is ready to sit with us and discuss how we can get insurances from other countries away from Nigeria alone.

But there is something you have to understand, that insurance is an invisible business export. If you check the Great Britain, her only invisible export is insurance. If you get businesses outside Nigeria it is a very good exchange earner. If Nigeria insurance companies have been doing that, people

will pass business to Nigeria from Asia, Africa, and Europe. South Africa has been doing it very well and we can also do the same. As said, we would sit with WORLDCOB and discuss how we can get insurance into Nigeria.

But considering the challenges of low economy (coming out of recession), do you think it is it is possible to penetrate the market and will foreign companies like to commit their funds to Nigeria?

When it comes to insurance business even United States cannot give me insurance in their shores, they as a country still have to insure their businesses wherever they are. Like the Hurricane Maria, Joseph and the recent disasters, do you think America can bear it alone? It is not possible.

They have to insure in Europe, Asia and all over the world including China. Even China does her insurance somewhere else. You don’t have to operate insurance only within your domain. It is an international thing that moves round. The most important thing is for the insurance company is to have integrity and good profile, good rating.

And if you are well rated, you can get business anywhere in the world. This award is a very good move to penetrate international markets more. For instance, we are getting marine business in the United Kingdom. Britain doesn’t have anything but depends on banking and insurance. So if your local market is strong it will attract international businesses that will boost the economy.

Can you tell us about Standard Insurance

Let me make it very clear it is only in Nigeria that you have this situation. Anything you do anywhere in the world, you must have insurance otherwise nobody will come near you. There was a Tornado or Tsunami in the United States the other time insurance companies don’t wait for people to come, they themselves are going about meeting their clients to come for claims. For instance, if you want to fly an aircraft without premises insurance, no airline will take you. Unfortunately in Nigeria, insurance is not being practised as it ought to be. It is important to obtain insurance policies because people have to realise that it is important in case of any disaster. Nobody prays for an eventuality though. For instance, if you take Life Insurance and you die prematurely it will take care of your dependants. But if your wife doesn’t know about this, what happens to that family? The idea then is that whatever insurance money received should cushion and help the family left behind. Education insurance, for instance is to take care of the education and its responsibilities in case the bread winner dies. For instance, if you go to the bank to take a mortgage loan, this also requires an insurance because if you take a N100 million loan and just pay N5 Million. If you die who will pay the balance? Of course, the bank will take over the house from the family. In order to avert this, insurance would intervene. So, insurance is very important in all facet of life. Motor car is just a minor business in Nigeria. Life, Mortgage, Aviation. Education etc. are very important.

Do you think you’ve all that you set out to do in your career?

In life, nobody can say he has fulfilled all life aspirations as long as you are still breathing. You can only try and do your best. I am still very agile and ready to meet the demand when the need arises.

24

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ NOVEMBER 12, 2017

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/Ŷ ĐŽŶĐůƵƐŝŽŶ͕ ƚŚĞ ƉƌĞƐĞŶƚĂƟŽŶ ŽĨ ƚŚĞ ϮϬϭϴ ƵĚŐĞƚ ŽĨ ŽŶƐŽůŝĚĂƟŽŶ ďLJ ƚŚĞ WƌĞƐŝĚĞŶƚ ŵĂLJ ďĞ Ă ŶĞĐĞƐƐĂƌLJ ĐŽŶĚŝƟŽŶ ƚŽǁĂƌĚƐ ƌĞŇĂƟŶŐ ƚŚĞ ĞĐŽŶŽŵLJ͕ ĮdžŝŶŐ ƐŽŵĞ ŽĨ ƚŚĞ ŶĂƟŽŶ͛Ɛ ƐƚƌƵĐƚƵƌĂů ŝŵďĂůĂŶĐĞƐ ĂŶĚ ƌĞƐĞƫŶŐ EŝŐĞƌŝĂ ŽŶ Ă ƉĂƚŚ ŽĨ ƌĞĐŽǀĞƌLJ ĂŶĚ ŐƌŽǁƚŚ͖ ďƵƚ͕ ƚŚĞ ƐƵĸĐŝĞŶƚ ĐŽŶĚŝƟŽŶ ƚŽ ĂĐŚŝĞǀŝŶŐ ƚŚŝƐ ǁŝůů ĨƵŶĚĂŵĞŶƚĂůůLJ ĚĞƉĞŶĚ ŽŶ ƐƉĞĞĚLJ ĂŶĚ ŚŝƚĐŚ ĨƌĞĞ ƉĂƐƐĂŐĞ ĂƐ ǁĞůů ĂƐ ƉƌŽƉĞƌ ŝŵƉůĞŵĞŶƚĂƟŽŶ ŝŶ ŽƌĚĞƌ ĨŽƌ ƚŚĞ ďƵĚŐĞƚ ƚŽ ĂĐŚŝĞǀĞ ƚŚĞ ĚĞƐŝƌĞĚ ƌĞƐƵůƚ͘

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ƵƌŝŶŐ ƚŚĞ ǁĞĞŬ͕ DŽŽĚLJ͛Ɛ /ŶǀĞƐƚŽƌ ^ĞƌǀŝĐĞ ĚŽǁŶŐƌĂĚĞĚ ƚŚĞ EŝŐĞƌŝĂŶ 'ŽǀĞƌŶŵĞŶƚ͛Ɛ ůŽŶŐ ƚĞƌŵ ŝƐƐƵĞƌ ĂŶĚ ƐĞŶŝŽƌ ƵŶƐĞĐƵƌĞĚ ĚĞďƚ ƌĂƟŶŐ ƚŽ Ϯ ĨƌŽŵ ϭ ǁŚŝůĞ ŬĞĞƉŝŶŐ ƌĂƟŶŐ ŽƵƚůŽŽŬ ƐƚĂďůĞ ĐŝƟŶŐ ƌĞĂƐŽŶƐ ƌĂŶŐŝŶŐ ĨƌŽŵ ƵŶƐƵĐĐĞƐƐĨƵů ĞīŽƌƚƐ ƚŽǁĂƌĚ ŚĂǀŝŶŐ Ă ƌŽďƵƐƚ ŶŽŶ Žŝů ƌĞǀĞŶƵĞ ďĂƐĞ ǁŚŝĐŚ ůĞĂǀĞƐ ƚŚĞ ĞĐŽŶŽŵLJ ĞdžƉŽƐĞĚ ƚŽ ĨƵƌƚŚĞƌ ĞĐŽŶŽŵŝĐ Žƌ ĮŶĂŶĐŝĂů ƐŚŽĐŬƐ ĂŶĚ ŚŝŐŚ ĚĞďƚ ƐĞƌǀŝĐŝŶŐ ĐŽƐƚ ǁŚŝĐŚ ŝƐ ƉƌŽũĞĐƚĞĚ ƚŽ ƌĞŵĂŝŶ ŚŝŐŚ͘ ĞƐƉŝƚĞ DŽŽĚLJ͛Ɛ ĚŽǁŶŐƌĂĚĞ͕ ǁĞ ĚŽ ŶŽƚ ĞdžƉĞĐƚ ƚŽ ƐĞĞ ĂŶLJ ŶĞŐĂƟǀĞ ŬŶĞĞũĞƌŬ ƌĞĂĐƟŽŶ ĨƌŽŵ ŝŶǀĞƐƚŽƌƐ ǁŝƚŚ ƌĞŐĂƌĚƐ ƚŽ ŝŶƚĞƌĞƐƚ ŝŶ EŝŐĞƌŝĂŶ ĚĞďƚ ƐĞĐƵƌŝƟĞƐ ĞƐƉĞĐŝĂůůLJ ƚŚĞ ^ŽǀĞƌĞŝŐŶ ƵƌŽďŽŶĚƐ͘ KƵƌ ǀŝĞǁƐ ĂƌĞ ĨƵƌƚŚĞƌ ƐƵƉƉŽƌƚĞĚ ďLJ ƚŚĞ ĨĂĐƚ ƚŚĂƚ DŽŽĚLJ͛Ɛ ůĂƚĞƐƚ ĚŽǁŶŐƌĂĚĞ ŽŶůLJ ƉƵƚƐ EŝŐĞƌŝĂ͛Ɛ ƌĂƟŶŐ Ăƚ ƉĂƌ ǁŝƚŚ ^ΘW ͞ ͟ ƌĂƟŶŐ ǁŚŝůĞ &ŝƚĐŚ͛Ɛ ƌĂƟŶŐ ŝƐ ƐƟůů ŚŝŐŚĞƌ Ăƚ ͞ н͘͟ ,ĞŶĐĞ͕ ǁĞ ŽƉŝŶĞ ƚŚĂƚ ƐƵĐĐĞƐƐŝǀĞ ŝƐƐƵĂŶĐĞƐ ŽĨ ĨŽƌĞŝŐŶ ĚĞďƚ ŝŶƐƚƌƵŵĞŶƚƐ ǁŝůů ƌĞŵĂŝŶ ůĂƌŐĞůLJ ƐƵĐĐĞƐƐĨƵů ĂƐ ŝŶǀĞƐƚŽƌƐ͛ ƉƌĞĨĞƌĞŶĐĞ ĨŽƌ ŚŝŐŚ LJŝĞůĚŝŶŐ ĞŵĞƌŐŝŶŐ ĂŶĚ ĨƌŽŶƟĞƌ ŵĂƌŬĞƚ ĚĞďƚ ŝŶƐƚƌƵŵĞŶƚƐ ůŝŶŐĞƌ͘

ƐƵƉƉůŝĞƌƐ͕ ǁŚŝĐŚ ŚĂǀĞ ďĞĞŶ ĚƌŝǀĞŶ ďLJ ƚŚĞ ŽŶŐŽŝŶŐ ĂŶƟ ĐŽƌƌƵƉƟŽŶ ƉƵƌŐĞ ďLJ ƚŚĞ ƌŽǁŶ WƌŝŶĐĞ͘ ĐƌŽƐƐ ƚŚĞ ĚĞǀĞůŽƉĞĚ ŵĂƌŬĞƚƐ͕ ƚŚĞ ďĞĂƌƐ ƉƌĞǀĂŝůĞĚ ƚŚŝƐ ǁĞĞŬ ĂƐ ƚŚĞ h͘^͘ ŝŶĚŝĐĞƐ ǁĞƌĞ ĚƌĂŐŐĞĚ ďLJ /ŶǀĞƐƚŽƌƐ͛ ƌĞĂĐƟŽŶ ƚŽ ƚŚĞ ^ĞŶĂƚĞ͛Ɛ ƉůĂŶ ƚŽ ĚĞůĂLJ ƚŚĞ ŝŶƚƌŽĚƵĐƟŽŶ ŽĨ ĐŽƌƉŽƌĂƚĞ ƚĂdž ĐƵƚƐ ƵŶƟů ϮϬϭϵ͘ dŚƵƐ͕ ƚŚĞ ^ΘW ϱϬϬ ĂŶĚ E ^ Y ůŽƐƚ Ϭ͘ϭй ĂŶĚ Ϭ͘Ϯй ƌĞƐƉĞĐƟǀĞůLJ t Ž t͘ ^ŝŵŝůĂƌůLJ͕ ƚŚĞ h< &d^ ůů ^ŚĂƌĞ ĐůŽƐĞĚ ϭ͘ϲй ůŽǁĞƌ t Ž t͕ ĂƐ ƌŝƐŝŶŐ ƉŽůŝƟĐĂů ĐŽŶĐĞƌŶƐ͕ ƐƚĞŵŵŝŶŐ ĨƌŽŵ ƚŚĞ ƌĞƐŝŐŶĂƟŽŶ ŽĨ ƚǁŽ ĐĂďŝŶĞƚ ŵĞŵďĞƌƐ ǁŝƚŚŝŶ Ă ǁĞĞŬ͕ ǁĞŝŐŚĞĚ ŽŶ ŝŶǀĞƐƚŽƌƐ͛ ĂƉƉĞƟƚĞ ĨŽƌ h͘<͘ ĂƐƐĞƚƐ͘

'ůŽďĂů ƋƵŝƚLJ DĂƌŬĞƚ ZĞǀŝĞǁ ĂŶĚ KƵƚůŽŽŬ

WĞƌĨŽƌŵĂŶĐĞ ĂĐƌŽƐƐ ƚŚĞ ŝŶĚŝĐĞƐ ŝŶ ƚŚĞ Z/ ^ ĐůĂƐƐŝĮĐĂƟŽŶ ǁĂƐ ŵŝdžĞĚ ĂƐ ϯ ŽĨ ϱ ŝŶĚŝĐĞƐ ĐůŽƐĞĚ ƚŚĞ ǁĞĞŬ ŝŶ ƚŚĞ ƌĞĚ͘ ŚŝŶĂ͛Ɛ ^ŚĂŶŐŚĂŝ ŽŵƉŽƐŝƚĞ ĂƉƉƌĞĐŝĂƚĞĚ ƚŚĞ ŵŽƐƚ ŽǁŝŶŐ ƚŽ ŝŵƉƌŽǀĞĚ ĐŽŶĮĚĞŶĐĞ ŝŶ ƚŚĞ ĐŽƵŶƚƌLJ͛Ɛ ĞĐŽŶŽŵŝĐ ŽƵƚůŽŽŬ ǁŚŝĐŚ ďƵŽLJĞĚ ŝŶǀĞƐƚŽƌ ƐĞŶƟŵĞŶƚ͘ >ŝŬĞǁŝƐĞ͕ ƚŚĞ ^ŽƵƚŚ ĨƌŝĐĂŶ &d^ ͬ:^ ůů ^ŚĂƌĞ ŝŵƉƌŽǀĞĚ Ϭ͘ϰй͘ KŶ ƚŚĞ ŇŝƉƐŝĚĞ͕ ƚŚĞ ĚŽǁŶƚƌĞŶĚ ŝŶ ƚŚĞ ƌĂnjŝů / Ks ^W ǁĂƐ ƐƵƐƚĂŝŶĞĚ ĚƵƌŝŶŐ ƚŚĞ ǁĞĞŬ͕ ƐůŝĚŝŶŐ Ϯ͘ϰй t Ž t͘ /Ŷ ƚŚĞ ƐĂŵĞ ǀĞŝŶ͕ /ŶĚŝĂ͛Ɛ ^ ^ĞŶƐ ĂŶĚ ZƵƐƐŝĂ͛Ɛ Zd^ ĨĞůůϭ͘ϭй ĂŶĚ Ϭ͘ϭй ƌĞƐƉĞĐƟǀĞůLJ͘

ĞƐƉŝƚĞ ƚŚĞ ŽŶŐŽŝŶŐ ƌĂůůLJ ŝŶ ĐŽŵŵŽĚŝƚLJ ƉƌŝĐĞƐ͕ ƐĞŶƟŵĞŶƚƐ ĂĐƌŽƐƐ ƚŚĞ ŐůŽďĂů ĞƋƵŝƚLJ ŝŶĚŝĐĞƐ ƵŶĚĞƌ ŽƵƌ ĐŽǀĞƌĂŐĞ ǁĂƐ ŵŝdžĞĚ͕ ƚŚŝƐ ǁĞĞŬ͘ Kŝů ŵĂŝŶƚĂŝŶĞĚ ĂŶŽƚŚĞƌ ƐƚƌŽŶŐ ǁĞĞŬ ĂŐĂŝŶƐƚ ƚŚĞ ďĂĐŬĚƌŽƉ ŽĨ ŐƌŽǁŝŶŐ ĐŽŶĮĚĞŶĐĞ ŝŶ ĞŶĨŽƌĐĞŵĞŶƚ ŽĨ ƚŚĞ KW ƉƌŽĚƵĐƟŽŶ ĐĂƉ ĂŶĚ ƌŝƐŝŶŐ ƚĞŶƐŝŽŶƐ ŝŶ ^ĂƵĚŝ ƌĂďŝĂ͕ ŽŶĞ ŽĨ ƚŚĞ ǁŽƌůĚ͛Ɛ ůĂƌŐĞƐƚ Žŝů

/Ŷ ƚŚĞ ƵƌĂƐŝĂ ƌĞŐŝŽŶ͕ &ƌĂŶĐĞ͛Ɛ ϰϬ ĂŶĚ 'ĞƌŵĂŶLJ͛Ɛ y dZ y ĨĞůů Ϯ͘Ϯй ĂƉŝĞĐĞ t Ž t͘ ,ŽǁĞǀĞƌ͕ :ĂƉĂŶ͛Ɛ EŝŬŬĞŝ ϮϮϱ ŵĂŝŶƚĂŝŶĞĚ ŝƚƐ ƵƉǁĂƌĚ ŵŽŵĞŶƚƵŵ ƚŽ ŐĂŝŶ Ϭ͘ϲй t Ž t͕ ƌĞĂĐŚŝŶŐ Ă Ϯϱ LJĞĂƌ ŚŝŐŚ ŽŶ tĞĚŶĞƐĚĂLJ͘ ^ŝŵŝůĂƌůLJ͕ ƚŚĞ ,ŽŶŐ <ŽŶŐ ,ĂŶŐ ^ĞŶŐ ƌŽƐĞ ϭ͘ϴй ŽŶ ƚŚĞ ďĂĐŬ ŽĨ ŚŝŶĂ͛Ɛ ŝŵƉƌŽǀŝŶŐ ĞĐŽŶŽŵŝĐ ŽƵƚůŽŽŬ͘

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dŚĞ ĚĞůĂLJ ŝŶ ƉĂƐƐĂŐĞ ŽĨ ƚŚĞ ϮϬϭϳ ďƵĚŐĞƚ ƐƚĂůůĞĚ ŝŵƉůĞŵĞŶƚĂƟŽŶ ŽĨ ƚŚĞ ĐĂƉŝƚĂů ĞdžƉĞŶĚŝƚƵƌĞ ďŝƚ ŽĨ ƚŚĞ ďƵĚŐĞƚ͕ ǁŝƚŚ ŽŶůLJ ĂďŽƵƚ EϰϱϬ͘ϬďŶ ĞdžƉĞŶĚĞĚ ĨƌŽŵ Ă ƉƌŽƌĂƚĞĚ ĮŐƵƌĞ ŽĨ Eϭ͘ϭƚŶ ĨŽƌ ,ϭ͗ϮϬϭϳ͘ dŽ ĂĚĚƌĞƐƐ ƚŚŝƐ͕ ƚŚĞ ϮϬϭϴ ƵĚŐĞƚ ŵĂĚĞ ƉƌŽǀŝƐŝŽŶƐ ĨŽƌ Ă ĐŽŶƟŶƵŝƚLJ ŽĨ ŽŶŐŽŝŶŐ ĐĂƉŝƚĂů ƉƌŽũĞĐƚƐ ǁŚŝůĞ ƐŽƵƌĐŝŶŐ ĨŽƌ ĂůƚĞƌŶĂƟǀĞ ŵĞĂŶƐ ŽĨ ĨƵŶĚŝŶŐ ƚŽ ĮŶĂŶĐĞ ŶĞǁ ƉƌŽũĞĐƚƐ͘ ŽŶƐĞƋƵĞŶƚůLJ͕ ƚŚĞ ĨƵŶĚƐ ĨƌŽŵ ƚŚĞ EϭϬϬ͘ϬďŶ ^ƵŬƵŬ ďŽŶĚ ƌĂŝƐĞĚ ŝŶ ϮϬϭϳ͕ ĂƌĞ ĞdžƉĞĐƚĞĚ ƚŽ ďĞ ĐŚĂŶŶĞůůĞĚ ƚŽǁĂƌĚƐ ƚŚĞ ĚĞǀĞůŽƉŵĞŶƚ ŽĨ Ϯϱ ŬĞLJ ƌŽĂĚƐ ĂĐƌŽƐƐ ƚŚĞ ĐŽƵŶƚƌLJ ǁŚŝůĞ ŐŽǀĞƌŶŵĞŶƚ ĐŽŶƟŶƵĞƐ ƚŽ ůĞǀĞƌĂŐĞ ŽŶ WWW ĂƌƌĂŶŐĞŵĞŶƚ ĨŽƌ ƐŽŵĞ ĐƌŝƟĐĂů ƉƌŽũĞĐƚƐ ƐƵĐŚ ĂƐ ƚŚĞ ĮŶĂŶĐŝŶŐ ŽĨ ƚŚĞ ŽŶŶLJ ŽĚŽ ZŽĂĚ ĂŶĚ ƉĂƉĂ tŚĂƌĨ dŽůů 'ĂƚĞ ZŽĂĚ͘ ůƐŽ͕ WŽǁĞƌ ƐĞĐƚŽƌ ZĞĨŽƌŵƐ ǁĞƌĞ ŝŶĐůƵĚĞĚ ŝŶ ƚŚĞ ϮϬϭϴ ďƵĚŐĞƚ ŽĨ ĐŽŶƐŽůŝĚĂƟŽŶ͘ dŚĞ WƌĞƐŝĚĞŶƚ ŚŝŶƚĞĚ ŽŶ ƚŚĞ ƉůĂŶ ƚŽ ƌĂŝƐĞ ĂŶ ĨƌŝĐĂŶ ^ŽǀĞƌĞŝŐŶ 'ƌĞĞŶ ŽŶĚ ďLJ ĞĐĞŵďĞƌ ϮϬϭϳ ƚŽ ĂŝĚ ƚŚĞ ĂŝůŝŶŐ ƐĞĐƚŽƌ ďLJ ǁĂLJ ŽĨ ĮŶĂŶĐŝŶŐ ƌĞŶĞǁĂďůĞ ĞŶĞƌŐLJ ƉƌŽũĞĐƚƐ͘ ,ĞŶĐĞ͕ Ă ƚŽƚĂů ŽĨ EϮ͘ϰƚŶ ;Ϯϳ͘ϵй ŽĨ ƚŽƚĂů ďƵĚŐĞƚͿ ǁŝůů ďĞ ĞdžƉĞŶĚĞĚ ŽŶ ĐĂƉŝƚĂů ƉƌŽũĞĐƚƐ ĨŽƌ ƚŚĞ ϮϬϭϴ ĮƐĐĂů LJĞĂƌ͘ KƵƌ ǀŝĞǁ ŝƐ ƚŚĂƚ ďƌŝĚŐŝŶŐ ƚŚĞ ĞŶŽƌŵŽƵƐ ŝŶĨƌĂƐƚƌƵĐƚƵƌĞ ŐĂƉ ŝŶ ƚŚĞ ĐŽƵŶƚƌLJ ĐĂŶŶŽƚ ŽŶůLJ ďĞ ƌĞƐŽůǀĞĚ ďLJ ƚŚĞ ŐŽǀĞƌŶŵĞŶƚ ǁŚŽƐĞ ƌĞǀĞŶƵĞ ĐĂƉĂĐŝƚLJ ĂƐ ǁĞůů ĂƐ ƌŽŽŵ ĨŽƌ ůĞǀĞƌĂŐĞ ŝƐ ĂůƌĞĂĚLJ ďĞŝŶŐ ƐƚƌĞƚĐŚĞĚ͘ Ɛ ŵƵĐŚ ĂƐ ǁĞ ĂůŝŐŶ ǁŝƚŚ ƚŚĞ ƉŽƐŝƟŽŶ ŽĨ ŐŽǀĞƌŶŵĞŶƚ ŽŶ ƚŚĞ ŶĞĞĚ ƚŽ ĐŽŶƟŶƵĞ ƚŽ ŝŶǀĞƐƚ ŝŶ ŝŶĨƌĂƐƚƌƵĐƚƵƌĞ͕ ŝƚ ŝƐ ƉĞƌƟŶĞŶƚ ƚŽ ƐƚƌĞƐƐ ƚŚĂƚ ƚŚĞ ŵƵĐŚ ŽĨ ƚŚĞ ƐƉĞŶĚŝŶŐ ĐĂŶ ďĞ ĚŽŶĞ ďLJ ƚŚĞ ƉƌŝǀĂƚĞ ƐĞĐƚŽƌ ƚŚƌŽƵŐŚ WWW ĂƌƌĂŶŐĞŵĞŶƚƐ ŝĨ ƚŚĞ ĂƉƉƌŽƉƌŝĂƚĞ ƐƚƌƵĐƚƵƌĞƐ ĂŶĚ ĨƌĂŵĞǁŽƌŬ ĨŽƌ ĮŶĂŶĐŝŶŐ ĂƌĞ ƉƵƚ ŝŶ ƉůĂĐĞ͘

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ĞƐƉĞĐŝĂůůLJ EŽŶ Žŝů ƌĞǀĞŶƵĞ ;Ϭ͘ϯƚŶ ĂĐƚƵĂů ǀƐ͘ Eϭ͘ϰƚŶ ƉƌŽũĞĐƟŽŶͿ͕ ĚĞƐƉŝƚĞ ƌĞĐĞŶƚ ĚƌŝǀĞ ƚŽ ŝŶĐƌĞĂƐĞ ƚĂdž ƌĞǀĞŶƵĞ ǀŝĂ ƌĞĨŽƌŵƐ ƐƵĐŚ ĂƐ ƚŚĞ sŽůƵŶƚĂƌLJ ƐƐĞƚ ĂŶĚ /ŶĐŽŵĞ ĞĐůĂƌĂƟŽŶ ^ĐŚĞŵĞ ;s / ^Ϳ͘ tŚŝůĞ ƚŚĞ WƌĞƐŝĚĞŶĐLJ ŚŽƉĞƐ ƚŽ ŝŵƉƌŽǀĞ ŽŶ ĞdžŝƐƟŶŐ ƚĂdž ƌĞĨŽƌŵƐ ƚŽ Ɛƚ ŝŶĐŽŵĞ ĨƌŽŵ ƚŚĞ EŽŶ Žŝů ƐĞĐƚŽƌ ĂƐ ǁĞůů ĂƐ ĞŶŚĂŶĐĞ ĂĐƟǀŝƟĞƐ ŝŶ ŽƚŚĞƌ ƐĞĐƚŽƌƐ ŽĨ ƚŚĞ ĞĐŽŶŽŵLJ͕ ƚŚĞ ŽĚĚƐ ŽĨ Ă ƐŝŐŶŝĮĐĂŶƚ ŝŶĐƌĞĂƐĞ ŝŶ ƚĂdž ƌĞǀĞŶƵĞ ŝŶ ƚŚĞ ƐŚŽƌƚ ƚĞƌŵ ƌĞŵĂŝŶ ůŽǁ͘

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ŽŵĞƐƟĐ ƋƵŝƚLJ DĂƌŬĞƚ ZĞǀŝĞǁ ĂŶĚ KƵƚůŽŽŬ WĞƌĨŽƌŵĂŶĐĞ ŽĨ ƚŚĞ ůŽĐĂů ŽƵƌƐĞ ǁĂƐ ůĂƌŐĞůLJ ƉŽƐŝƟǀĞ ƚŚŝƐ ǁĞĞŬ ĂƐ ƚŚĞ ďĞŶĐŚŵĂƌŬ ŝŶĚĞdž ĂĚǀĂŶĐĞĚ ŽŶ ϯ ŽĨ ϱ ƚƌĂĚŝŶŐ ĚĂLJƐ ŝŶ ƚŚĞ ǁĞĞŬ͘ dŚĞ ŵĂƌŬĞƚ ŽƉĞŶĞĚ ƚŚĞ ǁĞĞŬ ŽŶ Ă ŶĞŐĂƟǀĞ ŶŽƚĞ͕ ĂƐ ůŽƐƐĞƐ ŝŶ E/d, ; ϭ͘ϬйͿ ĂŶĚ h ; Ϯ͘ϬйͿ ĚƌĂŐŐĞĚ ƚŚĞ ^/ ŵĂƌŐŝŶĂůůLJ ĚŽǁŶ ϮďƉƐ͘ &ƌŽŵ ŵŝĚǁĞĞŬ͕ ƉĞƌĨŽƌŵĂŶĐĞ ǁĂƐ ŵĂũŽƌůLJ ŝŶŇƵĞŶĐĞĚ ďLJ ĂĐƟǀŝƚLJ ŝŶ E' D ĂƐ ƚŚĞ ^/ ƌĞďŽƵŶĚĞĚ ŽŶ dƵĞƐĚĂLJ ;нϬ͘ϮйͿ ĂŶĚ ŐĂŝŶƐ ǁĞƌĞ ĞdžƚĞŶĚĞĚ ŝŶƚŽ tĞĚŶĞƐĚĂLJ ;нϬ͘ϯйͿ ŽŶ ƚŚĞ ďĂĐŬ ŽĨ ƉƌŝĐĞ ĂƉƉƌĞĐŝĂƟŽŶ ŝŶ /ŶĚƵƐƚƌŝĂů 'ŽŽĚƐ ƐƚŽĐŬƐ͘ ,ŽǁĞǀĞƌ͕ ŽŶ dŚƵƌƐĚĂLJ͕ ƚŚĞ ƵƉƚƌĞŶĚ ǁĂƐ ƌĞǀĞƌƐĞĚ ĂƐ ƉƌŽĮƚ ƚĂŬŝŶŐ ŝŶ E' D ƉƵůůĞĚ ƚŚĞ ďĞŶĐŚŵĂƌŬ ŝŶĚĞdž ϮϰďƉƐ ƐŽƵƚŚǁĂƌĚ͘ KŶ &ƌŝĚĂLJ͕ ƚŚĞ ^/ ĐůŽƐĞĚ Ϭ͘Ϯй ƵƉ͕ ĨŽůůŽǁŝŶŐ ŐĂŝŶƐ ŝŶ 'h Z Edz ;нϭ͘ϮйͿ ĂŶĚ E/' Z/ E Z t Z/ ^ ;нϬ͘ϲйͿ͘ ŽŶƐĞƋƵĞŶƚůLJ͕ ƚŚĞ ůů ^ŚĂƌĞ ŝŶĚĞdž ƌŽƐĞ Ϭ͘ϱй ƚŽ ĐůŽƐĞ ƚŚĞ ǁĞĞŬ Ăƚ ϯϳ͕ϭϮϬ͘Ϯϴ ƉŽŝŶƚƐ ǁŚŝůĞ ŵĂƌŬĞƚ ĐĂƉŝƚĂůŝnjĂƟŽ

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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 ˾ NOVEMBER 12, 2017

ŝŶĐƌĞĂƐĞĚ EϲϮ͘ϱďŶ ƚŽ EϭϮ͘ϴƚŶ͘ ĐĐŽƌĚŝŶŐůLJ͕ Dd ĂŶĚ zd ƌĞƚƵƌŶ ĞdžƉĂŶĚĞĚ ƚŽ ϭ͘Ϯй ĂŶĚ ϯϴ͘ϭй ƌĞƐƉĞĐƟǀĞůLJ͘ ĐƟǀŝƚLJ ůĞǀĞů ƐŽŌĞŶĞĚ ĂƐ ĂǀĞƌĂŐĞ ǀŽůƵŵĞ ĂŶĚ ǀĂůƵĞ ƚƌĂĚĞĚ ĚĞĐůŝŶĞĚ ϯ͘ϰй ĂŶĚ ϮϮ͘Ϯй ƚŽ Ϯϲϯ͘Ϯŵ ƵŶŝƚƐ ĂŶĚ EϮ͘ϴďŶ ƌĞƐƉĞĐƟǀĞůLJ͘ dŚĞ ŵŽƐƚ ĂĐƟǀĞ ƐƚŽĐŬƐ ŝŶ ƚĞƌŵƐ ŽĨ ƚŽƚĂů ǀŽůƵŵĞ ƚƌĂĚĞĚ ǁĞƌĞ / DKE ;ϭϰϳ͘ϮŵͿ͕ & E, ;ϭϯϮ͘ϴŵͿ ĂŶĚ &/ >/dz ;ϭϬϬ͘ϲŵͿ͖ ƐŝŵŝůĂƌůLJ͕ ŝŶ ƚĞƌŵƐ ŽĨ ƚŽƚĂů ǀĂůƵĞ 'h Z Edz ;Ϯ͘ϲďŶͿ͕ E/' Z/ E Z t Z/ ^ ;ϭ͘ϴďŶͿ ĂŶĚ & E, ;Ϭ͘ϵďŶͿ ůĞĚ ƚŚĞ ĐŚĂƌƚƐ͘

^ĞĐƚŽƌ WĞƌĨŽƌŵĂŶĐĞ ǁĂƐ ŵŝdžĞĚ ƚŚŝƐ ǁĞĞŬ ǁŝƚŚ ϯ ŽĨ ϱ ŝŶĚŝĐĞƐ ĐůŽƐŝŶŐ ŝŶ ƚŚĞ ŐƌĞĞŶ͘ dŚĞ Kŝů Θ 'ĂƐ ŝŶĚĞdž ůĞĚ ŐĂŝŶĞƌƐ͕ ƵƉ Ϭ͘ϴй t Ž t ŽǁŝŶŐ ƚŽ ĂƉƉƌĞĐŝĂƟŽŶƐ ŝŶ &KZd K/> ;нϭϬ͘ϯйͿ ĂŶĚ DK /> ;нϮ͘ϱйͿ͕ ǁŚĞƌĞĂƐ ƚŚĞ ĂŶŬŝŶŐ ĂŶĚ /ŶĚƵƐƚƌŝĂů 'ŽŽĚƐ ŝŶĚŝĐĞƐ ĨŽůůŽǁĞĚ͕ ŝŶĐŚŝŶŐ Ϭ͘ϱй ĂŶĚ Ϭ͘ϰй ŚŝŐŚĞƌ ĂƐ ŝŶǀĞƐƚŽƌƐ ƚŽŽŬ ƉŽƐŝƟŽŶƐ ŝŶ / DKE ;нϵ͘ϰйͿ͕ 'h Z Edz ;нϰ͘ϯйͿ ĂŶĚ E' D ;нϬ͘ϵйͿ͘ KŶ ƚŚĞ ŽƚŚĞƌ ŚĂŶĚ͕ ƚŚĞ /ŶƐƵƌĂŶĐĞ ĂŶĚ ŽŶƐƵŵĞƌ 'ŽŽĚƐ ŝŶĚŝĐĞƐ ĚĞĐůŝŶĞĚ ϭ͘ϭй ĂŶĚ Ϭ͘ϭй ŽŶ ĂĐĐŽƵŶƚ ŽĨ ůŽƐƐĞƐ ŝŶ >/E< ^^hZ ; ϭϮ͘ϴйͿ͕ D E^ Z ; ϯ͘ϮйͿ͕ E/' Z/ E Z t Z/ ^ ; Ϭ͘ϴйͿ ĂŶĚ &>KhZD/>>͘ ; ϰ͘ϭйͿ͘

/ŶǀĞƐƚŽƌ ƐĞŶƟŵĞŶƚ ǁĞĂŬĞŶĞĚ ƚŚŝƐ ǁĞĞŬ ďƵƚ ƌĞŵĂŝŶĞĚ ƉŽƐŝƟǀĞ Ăƚ ϭ͘Ϭdž ;ĨƌŽŵ ϭ͘ϯdž ůĂƐƚ ǁĞĞŬͿ ĂƐ Ϯϵ ƐƚŽĐŬƐ ĂĚǀĂŶĐĞĚ ĂŐĂŝŶƐƚ Ϯϴ ĚĞĐůŝŶĞƌƐ͘ dŚĞ ƚŽƉ ƉĞƌĨŽƌŵĞƌƐ ƚŚŝƐ ǁĞĞŬ ǁĞƌĞ s ZdKE ;нϯϬ͘ϮйͿ͕ hZz ;нϮϮ͘ϭйͿ ĂŶĚ &KZd K/> ;нϭϬ͘ϯйͿ ǁŚŝůĞ , DW/KE ; ϭϰ͘ϯйͿ͕ >/E< ^^hZ ; ϭϮ͘ϴйͿ ĂŶĚ > thE/KE ; ϵ͘ϵйͿ ǁĞƌĞ ƚŚĞ ďŝŐŐĞƐƚ ůŽƐĞƌƐ͘ Ɛ ŶŽƚĞĚ ŝŶ ƚŚĞ ƉƌŝŽƌ ǁĞĞŬ͕ ǁĞ ĞdžƉĞĐƚ ƚŚĞ ƐƵƐƚĂŝŶĞĚ ƌĂůůLJ ŝŶ Žŝů ƉƌŝĐĞƐ ƚŽ ĐŽŶƟŶƵĞ ƚŽ ďƵŽLJ ŝŶǀĞƐƚŽƌƐ͛ ĂƉƉĞƟƚĞ ĨŽƌ EŝŐĞƌŝĂŶ ĞƋƵŝƟĞƐ͕ ŚĞŶĐĞ ƚŚĞ ƉŽƐŝƟǀĞ ƉĞƌĨŽƌŵĂŶĐĞ ŝƐ ĂŶƟĐŝƉĂƚĞĚ ƚŽ ďĞ ŵĂŝŶƚĂŝŶĞĚ ŝŶ ƚŚĞ ĐŽŵŝŶŐ ǁĞĞŬ͘

DŽŶĞLJ DĂƌŬĞƚ ZĞǀŝĞǁ ĂŶĚ KƵƚůŽŽŬ /Ŷ ƚŚĞ ŵŽŶĞLJ ŵĂƌŬĞƚ ƚŚŝƐ ǁĞĞŬ͕ ŝŶƚĞƌďĂŶŬ ƌĂƚĞƐ ƚƌĞŶĚĞĚ ůŽǁĞƌ ĚĞƐƉŝƚĞ KDK ŵŽƉ ƵƉƐ ďLJ ƚŚĞ E ŽŶ Ăůů ƚƌĂĚŝŶŐ ĚĂLJƐ ŽĨ ƚŚĞ ǁĞĞŬ͘ ƚ ƚŚĞ ƐƚĂƌƚ ŽĨ ƚŚĞ ǁĞĞŬ͕ KƉĞŶ ƵLJ ĂĐŬ ;K Ϳ ĂŶĚ KǀĞƌŶŝŐŚƚ ;KsEͿ ƌĂƚĞƐ ĐůŽƐĞĚ Ăƚ ϯϳ͘ϱй ĂŶĚ

ϯϴ͘ϵй ƌĞƐƉĞĐƟǀĞůLJ͕ ĨƌŽŵ ϯϲ͘ϯй ĂŶĚ ϯϵ͘ϰй ƌĞĐŽƌĚĞĚ ŽŶ ƚŚĞ ƉƌĞǀŝŽƵƐ &ƌŝĚĂLJ ĂƐ ƐLJƐƚĞŵ ůŝƋƵŝĚŝƚLJ ĚĞĮĐŝƚ ǁŽƌƐĞŶĞĚ ĨƌŽŵ EϮϳ͘ϬďŶ ƚŽ Eϴϲ͘ϵďŶ͘ dŚĞ ĚĞĐůŝŶĞ ŝŶ ůŝƋƵŝĚŝƚLJ ǁĂƐ ĚƵĞ ƚŽ KDK ĂƵĐƟŽŶƐ ŽŶ &ƌŝĚĂLJ ĂŶĚ DŽŶĚĂLJ ǁŚŝĐŚ ŵŽƉƉĞĚ ƵƉ Eϭϭ͘ϳďŶ ĂŶĚ EϮϱ͘ϱďŶ ƌĞƐƉĞĐƟǀĞůLJ ĨƌŽŵ ƚŚĞ ƐLJƐƚĞŵ͘ ,ŽǁĞǀĞƌ͕ ŽŶ dƵĞƐĚĂLJ͕ K ĂŶĚ KsE ĚĞĐůŝŶĞĚ ƚŽ Ϯϲ͘ϱй ĂŶĚ Ϯϲ͘ϯй ĚĞƐƉŝƚĞ Ă ůĂƌŐĞƌ ůŝƋƵŝĚŝƚLJ ĚĞĮĐŝƚ ŽĨ EϭϬϵ͘ϱďŶ ǁŚŝůĞ ƚŚĞ ƉĞdž ďĂŶŬ ŵŽƉƉĞĚ ƵƉ Ă ƚŽƚĂů ŽĨ Eϰϴ͘ϮďŶ ǀŝĂ KDK ĂƵĐƟŽŶ͘ >ŝŬĞǁŝƐĞ͕ ŽŶ tĞĚŶĞƐĚĂLJ͕ K ĂŶĚ KsE ƌĂƚĞƐ ĨƵƌƚŚĞƌ ĨĞůů ƚŽ ϮϬ͘ϴй ĂŶĚ ϮϮ͘ϯй ƌĞƐƉĞĐƟǀĞůLJ ĞǀĞŶ ĂƐ Eϯϱ͘ϳďŶ ǁĂƐ ĐůĞĂƌĞĚ ďLJ KDK ƐĂůĞƐ ďLJ ƚŚĞ E͘ dŚĞ ƐůŝŐŚƚ ĚĞĐůŝŶĞ ŝŶ ůŝƋƵŝĚŝƚLJ ĐĂŶ ďĞ ĂƩƌŝďƵƚĞĚ ƚŽ ƚŚĞ ƵŶĚĞƌ ƐƵďƐĐƌŝƉƟŽŶ ƚŽ ƚŚĞ ŝŶƐƚƌƵŵĞŶƚƐ ĂƵĐƟŽŶĞĚ ŽŶ tĞĚŶĞƐĚĂLJ ǁŚŝĐŚ ƐĂǁ ƚŽƚĂů ŽīĞƌŝŶŐ ƚŽ ƐĂůĞƐ ƐƚĂŶĚ Ăƚ EϮϬ͘ϬďŶͬ EϮ͘ϮďŶ ĨŽƌ ƚŚĞ ϵϵ ĚĂLJƐ ŝŶƐƚƌƵŵĞŶƚ ĂŶĚ EϰϬ͘ϬďŶͬ Eϯϯ͘ϱďŶ ĨŽƌ ƚŚĞ ϭϴϯ ĚĂLJƐ ŝŶƐƚƌƵŵĞŶƚ͘ ,ŽǁĞǀĞƌ ŽŶ dŚƵƌƐĚĂLJ͕ KDK ŵĂƚƵƌŝƚLJ ŽĨ EϮϯϯ͘ϴďŶ ŽīƐĞƚ ƚŚĞ ŝŵƉĂĐƚ ŽĨ KDK ƐĂůĞƐ ǁŽƌƚŚ Eϴϯ͘ϮďŶ͕ ŚĞŶĐĞ͕ K ĂŶĚ KsE ĚƌŽƉƉĞĚ ƚŽ ϳ͘ϴй ĂŶĚ ϳ͘Ϯй ƌĞƐƉĞĐƟǀĞůLJ͘ K ĂŶĚ KsE ƌĂƚĞƐ ĐůŽƐĞĚ Ăƚ ϳ͘Ϯй ĂŶĚ ϳ͘ϴй Ăƚ ƚŚĞ ĐůŽƐĞ ŽĨ ƚŚĞ ǁĞĞŬ͕ ĚŽǁŶ Ϯϵ͘ϭй ĂŶĚ ϯϭ͘ϲй t Ž t ƌĞƐƉĞĐƟǀĞůLJ͘ /Ŷ ƚŚĞ ƚƌĞĂƐƵƌLJ ďŝůůƐ ŵĂƌŬĞƚ͕ ƐĞŶƟŵĞŶƚ ǁĂƐ ďƌŽĂĚůLJ ďƵůůŝƐŚ ƚŚŝƐ ǁĞĞŬ ĚĞƐƉŝƚĞ ƐƵƐƚĂŝŶĞĚ ƉƌĞƐƐƵƌĞ ŽŶ ůŝƋƵŝĚŝƚLJ ůĞǀĞůƐ͘ KŶ ƚŚĞ ĮƌƐƚ ƚǁŽ ƚƌĂĚŝŶŐ ƐĞƐƐŝŽŶƐ͕ ĂǀĞƌĂŐĞ d ďŝůůƐ ƌĂƚĞ ĐůŽƐĞĚ Ăƚ ϭϲ͘ϳй ĂƉŝĞĐĞ ůŽǁĞƌ ƚŚĂŶ ϭϲ͘ϴй ƌĞĐŽƌĚĞĚ ƚŚĞ ƉƌĞǀŝŽƵƐ &ƌŝĚĂLJ͘ ,ŽǁĞǀĞƌ͕ ĂǀĞƌĂŐĞ LJŝĞůĚƐ ĂĚǀĂŶĐĞĚ ϭďƉ ƚŽ ϭϲ͘ϳй ŽŶ tĞĚŶĞƐĚĂLJ ĂŶĚ Ă ĨƵƌƚŚĞƌ ϯϬďƉƐ ŽŶ dŚƵƌƐĚĂLJ ƚŽ ĐůŽƐĞ Ăƚ ϭϳ͘Ϭй͘ EŽƚǁŝƚŚƐƚĂŶĚŝŶŐ͕ ƚŚĞ ƚƌĞŶĚ ǁĂƐ ƌĞǀĞƌƐĞĚ ŽŶ &ƌŝĚĂLJ ĂƐ ƌĂƚĞƐ ĚĞĐůŝŶĞĚ ϮďƉƐ ƚŽ ϭϲ͘ϵй ŝŵƉůLJŝŶŐ Ă Ϭ͘ϭй ŝŶĐƌĞĂƐĞ t Ž t͘ /Ŷ ƚŚĞ ĐŽŵŝŶŐ ǁĞĞŬ͕ ǁĞ ĞdžƉĞĐƚ ƚŽ ƐĞĞ ƐƵƐƚĂŝŶĞĚ ŝŵƉƌŽǀĞŵĞŶƚ ŝŶ ƚƌĂĚŝŶŐ ĂĐƟǀŝƟĞƐ ŽŶ ĂĐĐŽƵŶƚ ŽĨ ƚŚĞ ĞdžƉĞĐƚĞĚ ŝŵƉƌŽǀĞŵĞŶƚ ŝŶ ůŝƋƵŝĚŝƚLJ ůĞǀĞůƐ ĨŽůůŽǁŝŶŐ Eϭϰϭ͘ϭďŶ ŝŶŇŽǁ ĨƌŽŵ KDK ŵĂƚƵƌŝƚLJ͘

&ŽƌĞŝŐŶ džĐŚĂŶŐĞ DĂƌŬĞƚ ZĞǀŝĞǁ ĂŶĚ KƵƚůŽŽŬ /Ŷ ĂŶ ĞīŽƌƚ ƚŽ ŵĂŝŶƚĂŝŶ ƐƚĂďŝůŝƚLJ ĂĐƌŽƐƐ Ăůů ƐĞŐŵĞŶƚƐ ŝŶ ƚŚĞ &ŽƌĞŝŐŶ ĞdžĐŚĂŶŐĞ ŵĂƌŬĞƚ͕ ƚŚĞ

ƉĞdž ďĂŶŬ ŝŶũĞĐƚĞĚ h^ΨϭϬϬ͘Ϭŵ ǀŝĂ ƚŚĞ ǁŚŽůĞƐĂůĞ ^D/^ ŝŶƚĞƌǀĞŶƟŽŶ ǁŝŶĚŽǁ ŝŶƚŽ ƚŚĞ ƐLJƐƚĞŵ͕ Ăƚ ƚŚĞ ƐƚĂƌƚ ŽĨ ƚŚĞ ǁĞĞŬ͘ ŽŶƐĞƋƵĞŶƚůLJ͕ ƚŚĞ ŝŶƚĞƌďĂŶŬ ŵĂƌŬĞƚ ƌĂƚĞ ĚĞƉƌĞĐŝĂƚĞĚ ϯϬďƉƐ t Ž t ƚŽ Eϯϱϴ͘ϭϬͬh^Ψϭ͘ϬϬ ĨƌŽŵ ůĂƐƚ &ƌŝĚĂLJ͛Ɛ ĐůŽƐĞ ŽĨ Eϯϱϳ͘ϭϱͬh^Ψϭ͘ϬϬ͘ ^ŝŵŝůĂƌůLJ͕ ƚŚĞ E &y ƌĂƚĞ ƚƌĂĚĞĚ ǁŝƚŚŝŶ Ă ƟŐŚƚ ďĂŶĚ Ăůů ƚŚƌŽƵŐŚ ƚŚĞ ǁĞĞŬ͕ ƐƚĂƌƟŶŐ Ăƚ EϯϬϱ͘ϵϬͬh^Ψϭ͘ϬϬ ŽŶ DŽŶĚĂLJ ƚŽ ĐůŽƐĞ Ăƚ EϯϬϱ͘ϵϱͬh^Ψϭ͘ϬϬ ŽŶ &ƌŝĚĂLJ͘ ƚ ƚŚĞ /Θ ǁŝŶĚŽǁ͕ ƚŚĞ EĂŝƌĂ ĚĞƉƌĞĐŝĂƚĞĚ Ăƚ ƚŚĞ ƐƚĂƌƚ ŽĨ ƚŚĞ ǁĞĞŬ͕ ƐĞƩůŝŶŐ Ăƚ EϯϲϬ͘ϱϳͬh^Ψϭ͘ϬϬ ŽŶ DŽŶĚĂLJ ĨƌŽŵ EϯϲϬ͘Ϭϱͬ/h^Ψϭ͘ϬϬ ŽŶ ƚŚĞ ƉƌĞǀŝŽƵƐ &ƌŝĚĂLJ͕ ďƵƚ ĂƉƉƌĞĐŝĂƚĞĚ ƚŽ EϯϲϬ͘ϰϲͬh^Ψϭ͘ϬϬ ŽŶ dƵĞƐĚĂLJ͕ ďĞĨŽƌĞ ŵĂƌŐŝŶĂůůLJ ĚĞĐůŝŶŝŶŐ ϰďƉƐ ƚŽ EϯϲϬ͘ϯϯͬ h^Ψϭ͘ϬϬ ďLJ ŵŝĚ ǁĞĞŬ͘ ,ŽǁĞǀĞƌ ŽŶ dŚƵƌƐĚĂLJ͕ ƚŚĞ E & y ƌĂƚĞ ŝŵƉƌŽǀĞĚ ƚŽ EϯϲϬ͘ϱϱͬh^Ψϭ͘ϬϬ ďƵƚ ĚĞĐůŝŶĞĚ ƚŽ EϯϲϬ͘ϬϬͬh^Ψϭ͘ϬϬ Ăƚ ƚŚĞ ĐůŽƐĞ ŽĨ ƚŚĞ ǁĞĞŬ͕ ŝŶĚŝĐĂƟŶŐ Ă ϱ ŬŽďŽ t Ž t ͬĚĞƉƌĞĐŝĂƟŽŶ͘ dŚĞ ƉĂƌĂůůĞů ŵĂƌŬĞƚ ƚƌĂĚĞĚ ŇĂƚ Ăůů ƚŚƌŽƵŐŚ ƚŚĞ ǁĞĞŬ ƚŽ ĐůŽƐĞ ŇĂƚ Ăƚ Eϯϲϯ͘ϬϬͬh^Ψϭ͘ϬϬ &ŽůůŽǁŝŶŐ ƚŚĞ E ŝŶƚĞƌǀĞŶƟŽŶ Ăƚ ƚŚĞ ƐƚĂƌƚ ŽĨ ƚŚĞ ǁĞĞŬ͕ ĂĐƟǀŝƚLJ ůĞǀĞů ŝŶ ƚŚĞ /Θ tŝŶĚŽǁ ƐƚƌĞŶŐƚŚĞŶĞĚ ƌĞůĂƟǀĞ ƚŽ ƉƌĞǀŝŽƵƐ ǁĞĞŬ ĂƐ ƚŽƚĂů ǀŽůƵŵĞ ŽĨ ƚƌĂŶƐĂĐƟŽŶƐ ũƵŵƉĞĚ ϭϵ͘Ϯй t Ž t ƚŽ h^ΨϲϴϮ͘ϵŵ ĨƌŽŵ h^ΨϱϮϳ͘ϴŵ ŝŶ ƚŚĞ ƉƌŝŽƌ ǁĞĞŬ ƚ ƚŚĞ &D Y Kd ĨƵƚƵƌĞƐ ŵĂƌŬĞƚ͕ ƚŚĞ ƚŽƚĂů ǀĂůƵĞ ŽĨ ŽƉĞŶ ĐŽŶƚƌĂĐƚƐ ŽĨ ƚŚĞ EĂŝƌĂ ƐĞƩůĞĚ Kd ĨƵƚƵƌĞƐ ĐŽŶƚƌĂĐƚƐ ƐƚŽŽĚ Ăƚ h^Ψϯ͘ϭďŶ ĂƐ Ăƚ &ƌŝĚĂLJ ϭϬƚŚ EŽǀĞŵďĞƌ͕ ǁŝƚŚ ƚŚĞ WZ Ϯϱ ϮϬϭϴ ƌĞƚĂŝŶŝŶŐ ƚŚĞ ŚŝŐŚĞƐƚ ůĞǀĞů ŽĨ ƐƵďƐĐƌŝƉƟŽŶ Ăƚ Ă ǀĂůƵĞ ŽĨ h^Ψϱϵϯ͘Ϭŵ ǁŚŝůƐƚ ƚŚĞ ƌĞĐĞŶƚůLJ ŝƐƐƵĞĚ K d ϯϭ ϮϬϭϴ ŝŶƐƚƌƵŵĞŶƚ ǁĂƐ ƚŚĞ ůĞĂƐƚ ƐƵďƐĐƌŝďĞĚ ǁŝƚŚ Ă ƚŽƚĂů ǀĂůƵĞ ŽĨ h^Ψϰϰ͘ϱŵ͘ tŝƚŚ ƚŚĞ ƐƵƐƚĂŝŶĞĚ ƌĂůůLJ ŝŶ ŐůŽďĂů Žŝů ƉƌŝĐĞƐ ĂŶĚ ƐƚĂďůĞ ƉƌŽĚƵĐƟŽŶ ĚƵĞ ƚŽ ƌĞůĂƟǀĞ ĐĂůŵ ŝŶ ƚŚĞ EŝŐĞƌ ĞůƚĂ ƌĞŐŝŽŶƐ͕ ǁĞ ĂŶƟĐŝƉĂƚĞ ƐƚĞĂĚLJ ŝŶĐƌĞĂƐĞƐ ŝŶ ƚŚĞ ůĞǀĞůƐ ŽĨ ŽƵƌ ĞdžƚĞƌŶĂů ƌĞƐĞƌǀĞƐ ŝŶ ƚŚĞ ŶĞĂƌ ƚĞƌŵ͘ Ɛ ƐƵĐŚ͕ ǁĞ ĞdžƉĞĐƚ ƚŽ ƐĞĞ ƐƵƐƚĂŝŶĞĚ ŝŶƚĞƌǀĞŶƟŽŶƐ ďLJ ƚŚĞ E ŝŶ ƚŚĞ ĨŽƌĞŝŐŶ ĞdžĐŚĂŶŐĞ DĂƌŬĞƚƐ͕ ŝŶ Ă ďŝĚ ƚŽ ŵĂŝŶƚĂŝŶ ƌĞůĂƟǀĞ ƐƚĂďŝůŝƚLJ ĨŽƌ ƚŚĞ EĂŝƌĂ͘

ŽŶĚ DĂƌŬĞƚ ZĞǀŝĞǁ ĂŶĚ KƵƚůŽŽŬ WĞƌĨŽƌŵĂŶĐĞ ŝŶ ƚŚĞ ůŽĐĂů ďŽŶĚƐ ŵĂƌŬĞƚ ƌĞŵĂŝŶĞĚ ƋƵŝĞƚ ĚƵƌŝŶŐ ƚŚĞ ǁĞĞŬ͘ ǀĞƌĂŐĞ LJŝĞůĚ ŽƉĞŶĞĚ ƚŚĞ ǁĞĞŬ ƐůŝŐŚƚůLJ ďƵůůŝƐŚ͕ ĚĞĐůŝŶŝŶŐ ϮϱďƉƐ ƚŽ ĐůŽƐĞ Ăƚ

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26

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ NOVEMBER 12, 2017

BUSINESS/ECONOMY

Towards a New Approach to Solid Minerals Mining in Nigeria Key stakeholders in the solid minerals sector have adopted a new attitude to business, which holds great potential for efficiency, reports Chineme Okafor

A gold mining site

T

he mining of solid minerals has not really benefitted Nigeria, despite the country’s huge mineral deposits. The country is blessed with a variety of solid minerals, which include gold, iron ore, coal, uranium, and bitumen.

Nigeria operates as a single mining jurisdiction governed by the national constitution, which makes mining governance an exclusive preserve of the federal government. This governance structure is seen as the biggest hindrance to the development of the country’s solid minerals sector.

Underdeveloped According to the 2014 audit report of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, the solid minerals sector contributed only about N55.82 billion to the federal government, accounting for a mere four per cent of the country’s total national export earnings for the period. Similarly, the sector, which is dominated by unskilled artisanal small scale miners, and largely unorganised mining activities, according to the NEITI audit, contributed just 0.11 per cent to the Gross Domestic Product within the period.

The report also regretted that government agencies responsible for the management of the solid minerals sector had been unable to account for billions of naira that should have accrued to the country from the sector. It stated in its valuation of the sector that solid minerals had the potential to contribute far more than it did.

New Attitude To chart a new way forward for the sector, the federal, state, and local governments, as well as communities that host mining activities met last week in Abuja for the first time. The maiden edition of the National Council for Mining and Mineral Resources Development summit had in attendance relevant ministers of the federal and state governments, traditional rulers, host communities’ representatives, and experts in the solid minerals mining sector.

The NCMMRD summit sought to assess existing reforms in the sector, brainstorm on them, and proffer credible solutions to the challenges that have held the sector down.

The two-day meeting considered 36 memoranda under five thematic areas, including minerals sector governance, illegal mining operations in the country,

mineral export challenges, security challenges and economic sabotage, as well as regulatory and legal frameworks in the sector. And parties agreed on several actions that could unlock the sector’s potential.

Of the actions and positions adopted at the summit, one stood out, as experts said it could become the game changer for the sector. That was the decision that governments at all levels and relevant stakeholders should collaborate to build a single partnership framework for the sector’s development.

According to the communiqué from the summit, which THISDAY obtained from the Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel Development in Abuja, the parties agreed, among other things that:“There should be synergy among federal, state governments and local government areas through the instrumentality of Minerals Resources and Environmental Management Committee (MIREMCO) as provided for by Section 19 of Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act, 2007; as well as a synergy between the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development and the state governments to improve operational collaboration and enhance communication for effective execution of the roadmap for the growth and development of the mining industry.”

Experts say partnership between the federal, state, and local governments with regard to the mining sector would go a long way in breaking down existing barriers to the sector’s development and profitability.

Under the extant laws, the responsibility of licensing and regulating mining operations in the country resides solely with the federal government.

This has created unhealthy developments, such as illegal mining activities, poor revenue collections from mining operations, and systemic hostility to private mining operators by states.

The new collaborative efforts would open up new opportunities for the federal, state, and local governments to brainstorm and take decisions on mining operations with limited frictions, and a lot of goodwill.

To buttress the impact of the partnership, especially on the issue of consent for titles, the communiqué stated,“Council took cognisance of the provision of the Constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), Section 100 of the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act, 2007, and various stipulations of Minerals and Mining Regulations of 2011, and on that basis, expresses support for the ministry’s

stated intentions to explore feasible administrative models to involve states in the process of issuance of consent only for the granting of minerals titles.”

Similarly, parties at the summit decided to concretise the new partnership with the setting up of a forum of state commissioners responsible for mineral resources development in their respective states, to constantly engage the federal government on crosscutting areas in mining activities.

Beyond Collaboration Stakeholders at the forum also identified some actions with immense potentials to drive the development of the sector. The communiqué recommended that a private sector driven single export window policy should be adopted to enable the country ascertain the right values for its minerals that are exported. It explained,“Modalities should be put in place at every exit point and ports in the country for quantity and quality analysis. This will monitor and record all mineral exports and ascertain appropriate royalties and certifications, including the installation of weigh bridges, credible international inspection outfits and the likes. This will also promptly address the mineral revenue leakage that occurs through the exit ports.”

Stakeholders similarly suggested that the federal government should focus on minerals revenue collection and plugging gaps in data collection that cause revenue leakages in the sector.

They stated, “In issuance of the certificate of origin, the federal and state governments should collaborate through MIREMCO in analysing and tagging of minerals at source with a view of determining appropriate royalties; government should encourage value addition plants from ores to concentrates with appropriate and reasonable incentives.”

Considering the critical role of the Central Bank of Nigeria, the customs, and immigration in mineral exports, stakeholders at the meeting requested that they be included in all policy formulation and strategies to enable the country attain seamless processing of mineral export.

To address the menace of mineral theft and revenue loss from illegal mining, stakeholders at the meeting said,“The on-going formalisation of the artisanal and small scale mining groups into cooperatives should be maintained and continuously invigorated.”

They added, “The curbing of illegal mining

activities should be pursued continuously and existing framework to curb minerals smuggling should be activated by relevant agencies, existing audit and control mechanisms for monitoring of mineral exports to curb under-declaration of mineral exports should be strengthened.

“The repatriation of proceeds, royalties and taxes accruing from exported minerals through the appropriate government procedures and channels should be vigorously pursued.”

On respect for the fundamental human rights of people and host communities within mining belts, which the Gwom Gwom Jos, Da Jacob Gyang Buba, emphasised at the seminar, the communiqué stated,“Effort should be made to acknowledge the issues of human rights in the policy framework and protect the citizens’ right to clean and sustainable environment.”

Parties equally agreed that all mining activities should be operated under the minimum health and safety standards stipulated by the International Labour Organisation.

In his remarks at the meeting, the Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, said he was optimistic that the new partnership, which the council represented, would help to accelerate growth in the sector through adequate oversight and guidance, as well as strategic input from states and host communities. Fayemi said the sector had witnessed unprecedented growth in the last two years, stressing that the partnership would accelerate the growth and pursuit of shared wealth and job creation for Nigeria.

“I am convinced that Nigeria’s mineral resource endowments can be optimally exploited for the benefit of Nigerians through collaborative governance of the mining sector by governments and communities at all levels – this event is a huge step in that direction and we appreciate you for being a part of it,”the minister told the stakeholders.

He added,“Already, we achieved a 300 per cent increase in revenue (royalties and fees) between 2015 and 2016, and as at July of this year, the sector had already surpassed the entire revenue of N2 billion generated for the whole of 2016.

“To stem the illegal trading of minerals, the ministry has registered over 30 mineral buying centres, and enacted the revenue and reporting compliance agreement with the Nigeria Customs Service, which has improved the policing of mineral exports.”

27

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R Ëž ͚ͺË&#x153; ͺ͸͚Ϳ

MARKET NEWS

Caverton  Offshore Support  Shares  Gain 30% on Renewed Demand Shares in Caverton Offshore Support Group Plc (COSG) surged 30.2 per cent last week on renewed demand by investors who are taking position ahead of improved end of year results.

The stock appreciated  from N1.29 to N1.68 following higher demand, a development analysts linked to  positive investorsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; sentiments towards the equity as they hope to see better results at the end of year.

The company, which

is a   leading provider of marine, aviation and logistics services to local and international oil and gas companies in Nigeria, recently   recorded a profit  for the nine months ended September 30, 2017.

Specifically, COSG reported arevenue of N14.834 billion in 2017, up from N14.448 billion in 2016. Administrative expenses was reduced significantly from N7 billion to N3 billion in 2017, while finance costs

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 â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;sharesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; on the

fell to N1.056 billion from N1.143 billion. The company ended the nine months with a profit after tax of N1.193 billion in 2017, as against a loss of N1.041 billion in 2016.

Speaking on the results and future prospects, the Chief Executive Officer of COSG Mr. Bode Makanjuola  said  they  have been able to contain the administrative expenses during the period by about 61 per cent  arising majorly from the impact of the

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 9-Nov-2017, unless otherwise stated.

government intervention in stabilizing the foreign exchange rate market as well as consistent paying down of  their  loan which now resulted in  their finance charge dropping by  eight per cent.

According to him, as Nigeria gradually moves out of recession, the company  remains optimistic for an improved business operating environment. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The impending commencement of our helicopter service

contract for Chevron as well as the completion of our Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul facility (MRO in Lagos are just some of the positive developments we are looking forward to.

Meanwhile we are doubling efforts to refocus our marine business strategy and are confident of positive results as we move into Q4. With the revenue increasing by  three  and profit after tax of 169 per cent over 2016 Q3 result, we remain determined to ensure

optimal use of the business resources,â&#x20AC;? he said.

Market operators had raised bright prospects for   COSG   when the company said its subsidiary, Caverton Helicopters,  had been awarded a 5-year logistics support contract by Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL), operator of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC/CNL Joint Venture, for provision of aviation services with a 2- year renewable option.

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 178.71 179.84 40.88% Nigeria International Debt Fund 234.11 235.36 10.79% 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 0.82 0.82 16.55% ACAP Income Funds 0.63 0.63 78.56% 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 17.92% enquiries@arminvestmentcenter.com ARM INVESTMENT MANAGERS LTD Web: www.arm.com.ng; Tel: 0700 CALLARM (0700 225 5276) Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn ARM Aggressive Growth Fund 17.97 18.51 45.52% ARM Discovery Fund 375.11 386.42 30.62% ARM Ethical Fund 26.31 27.10 17.76% ARM Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 17.74% 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 151.62 152.68 44.15% AXA Mansard Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 18.36% 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 19.04% Paramount Equity Fund 11.57 11.87 23.63% Women's Investment Fund 94.94 97.47 12.28% 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 18.18% CORONATION ASSEST MANAGEMENT investment@coronation.com Web:www.coronationam.com , Tel: 012366215 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Coronation Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 17.70% Coronation Balanced Fund 1.00 1.01 0.47% Coronation Fixed Income Fund 1.00 1.03 1.56% 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 1,109.95 1,111.08 9.57% FBN Heritage Fund 147.41 148.66 32.22% FBN Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 18.23% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Institutional $110.86 $112.07 7.90% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Retail $110.21 $111.42 8.01% FBN Nigeria Smart Beta Equity Fund 157.78 160.09 40.14% 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 1.39 1.41 48.98% Legacy Short Maturity (NGN) Fund 2.93 2.93 14.05% 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 2,930.66 2,971.57 33.29% Coral Income Fund 2,413.23 2,413.23 15.79% 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 17.80% 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 17.75% Vantage Balanced Fund 2.08 2.11 23.78%

Vantage Guaranteed Income Fund 1.00 1.00 18.50% Kedari Investment Fund (KIF) 112.95 112.95 16.41% LOTUS CAPITAL LTD ďŹ ncon@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 1.16 1.18 17.33% Lotus Halal Fixed Income Fund 1,038.00 1,038.00 10.19% 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 13.26 13.37 37.18% Meristem Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 18.82% 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 1.21 1.23 21.36% PACAM Fixed Income Fund 10.87 10.93 4.58% PACAM Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 16.70% 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 127.22 129.06 25.34% 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 1.41 1.41 12.88% 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 2,206.67 2,220.05 20.53% Stanbic IBTC Bond Fund 173.08 173.08 12.42% Stanbic IBTC Ethical Fund 0.98 1.00 28.57% Stanbic IBTC Guaranteed Investment Fund 215.21 215.21 15.15% Stanbic IBTC Iman Fund 171.77 174.00 32.31% Stanbic IBTC Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 17.82% Stanbic IBTC Nigerian Equity Fund 9,542.61 9,654.97 25.85% Stanbic IBTC Dollar Fund (USD) 1.05 1.05 5.00% 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 1.31 1.32 17.30% United Capital Bond Fund 1.49 1.49 22.26% United Capital Equity Fund 0.89 0.91 32.36% United Capital Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 18.50% 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 12.69 12.87 30.49% Zenith Ethical Fund 13.33 13.47 21.60% Zenith Income Fund 18.78 18.78 13.51%

REITS NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

11.41 131.57

1.01% 6.13%

Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

11.05 138.52 107.10

11.15 141.52 109.12

27.97% 40.02% 41.34%

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

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS Fund Name Lotus Halal Equity Exchange Traded Fund SIAML Pension ETF 40 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 GrifďŹ n 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

4.58 8.81 17.23 20.20 140.91

4.62 8.89 17.33 20.40 142.91

65.36% 25.18% 45.53% 26.48% 11.10%

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 managerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s website and FMANâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;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.

28

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ NOVEMBER 12, 2017

TR

UT H

& RE A S O

N

LIFE LESSONS WITH AYO AROWOLO

ayo.arowolo@thisdaylive.com

came at a price.

Soon after my wife and I got married and we started raising children, we decided that we were not going to allow house helps take care of our children because it’s at that young age you mold their character. We decided one of us had to resign from work. I first offered to my wife that I would like to resign and look after the children but she laughed and said since I was bringing in more money, so she would resign, because I didn’t want to force her to resign, so I offered to resign but she resigned her job, stayed at home. And we agreed that when the youngest child would be heading to boarding house in secondary school then she could go back to work. What a wonderful woman she agreed and stayed with our children, no wonder the children today are doing excellently well. All of them have graduated from top class universities all over the world and they are working with very big companies. That decision paid off as my wife is now back in school pursuing her PhD which was her original plan which she had to let go to take care of the children. It was a big sacrifice and it was worth it.

REVELATION IS KEY FOR BUSINESS SUCCESS

LESSON

3

– Charles Aladewolu Engineer Charles Aladewolu, 71, Chairman/Chief Executive of Teco Group of Companies, National Director of Full Gospel Men’ Fellowship International, and former Chairman of Nigerian Netherlands Chamber of Commerce said , in this life lessons interview with me, that it is possible to run a business successfully without borrowing using timeless truths. Enjoy.

LESSON

1

Revelation is key for business success We all know and subscribe to the fact that information is key to running a business successfully. From personal experience however, I have come to realise that more than information, what gives you an unusual advantage over competition is revelational knowledge, that is, the ability to gain insight into what has not happened. Information helps you to make reactive decisions because it is knowledge about something that has happened which you then use to build up what you think may happen.

But revelation is the mother of information because revelation has to do with something that has not happened but that spiritually you are made to understand that it is going to happen and which helps you make what I call proactive decisions.

In business, there is nothing as good as that; you can beat your competitors to it because you have the fore knowledge.

Three years ago, the Lord asked me to invest in certain kinds of machines in my workshop in the area of agro business. Initially I queried the wisdom in that because at that time people were not buying those kinds of machines. I was wondering why the Holy Spirit was nudging me to invest in them.

That of course was because at that time attention was in oil and gas - not agro business. But He said go ahead and I obeyed.

We went ahead to invest heavily in those machines. Now you can see that everybody is now moving in the same direction we had been inspired to go into three years earlier.

That has helped us because now we are ahead

09067059433 (SMS only)

of the competition because we already have the machines and people are requesting we manufacture equipment for palm oil extraction, for chicken processing and all that for them. We finished buying those machines when we did not even see any customer coming.

Revelation is more important than information because it helps you to make proactive decisions.

LESSON

2

Building a great home demands sacrifice.

I have come to the understanding that the home front needs to be right for a man to succeed in business and in life generally.

Married over thirty years ago, God has blessed us with six children, three men and three

Integrity has cash value The nature of my business is contract based.

You finish one project and you don’t know when the next one will come. That means at the time there is no contract; you would be paying salaries to people who are doing nothing. We prayed and the Lord answered our prayers.

There was an advert for a project. Every time we were putting in our bid, we laid the bid on the floor and prayed over it before submitting.

Seven contractors put in their bids, but we won. We were happy. There was however a big hurdle: according to the terms of the contract, we were to finance the project and be paid 15 days after delivery.

For me that was not a problem; I thought I could just go to the bank and raise the money.

Unfortunately, that did not happen as all the banks we approached for a letter of credit refused insisting that we must have our own cash or good collateral for a loan.

I was about going back to the customer to tell them sorry, I couldn’t raise the funds to execute the project when the Holy Spirit told me to go to the manufacturers of the equipment abroad and tell them to manufacture them and ship them to me that I would pay them as soon as the customer paid. That didn’t sound possible, especially given the negative reputation about Nigeria and Nigerians. But as a last resort I took the gamble and travelled abroad to see the manufacturers and when I made the request, incredulity was written all over their faces, but the MD of the company who had remained silent all these while, eventually spoke in my favour. He told other management members present that Charles is a good man and my request was granted.

They did the manufacturing and delivered to us and exactly 14 days after, the customer paid the full amount into our account.

I transferred the manufacturers’ money to them and since then we have been doing business together and they have never for one day asked for letter of credit.

That is integrity in business. Integrity is money. I have had instances where people started business without money.

LESSON

4

women and as of today we have many grandchildren for which we are thankful to God. We are still in good health and all our children are God fearing because we had to create the atmosphere to bring up our children in a way that they serve the God that we serve. But these

Don’t put too much hope on people Sometimes people you think you can trust more or less prove themselves at the end of the day that they are not as trustworthy as you thought.

I remember there was a time I was going to start a line of business and I thought I needed help from a bank. Since I wasn’t well known then the bank requested I bring in a respected personality who would be a director of the company. I went to a senior friend who asked for a copy of my business plan and my feasibility report, which I gave him. I believe

the man read the business plan and feasibility report and got carried away. I took him to the bank and introduced him. After two weeks I went back to the bank to see if my application would be granted, the bank manager said sorry, we are not granting you the loan. I later discovered that the man I introduced went back to the bank and said he was interested in that project and that he was not going to support me to get the financing.

A year later I was traveling and got to a place, I saw the machineries that I designed, the one I specified for my equipment being offloaded and I inquired to know who owned the land and it turned out to be this same senior man I took to the bank. He had money so he used his money to import all the things. The spirit said to me, go and support him. After some days of hesitation, I went to him and asked if there was a way I could help him, he said he needed a good engineer that will help him set up. I introduced a good engineer to him who helped him do the installation. After some time, the business folded up and the man went into bad debts.

LESSON

5

Not all partnerships work When I was starting this business, I thought I would do it with somebody that I thought I could trust and so when we first set up our first company, we structured it such that it would be a 50/50 percent or thereabout in terms of ownership. But just at the point when the company was to kick off it became very clear to me that I was in the wrong partnership.

And the Holy Spirit said to me at that time you didn’t ask me before you went into this and so I had to quit and I left 100% of my own share for him then went to register a complete new company. Am glad to say that while this new company I left to start at that time is prospering today, the other one I left for him has since gone oblivion. So if am going to advice people I say ‘if you must go into partnership, know very well who this other person is, is he in the same faith with you? Does he share your values?

There is the need for some care.

LESSON

6

Don’t over stretch your resources Before you go into a second business, you must build the business on ground to stand firm and have positive cash flow. Don’t run around chasing too many things because if you spread yourself too thin, nothing will work well.

When you have done that and the cash flow is positive, you must train people. You must get to a point where people will be able to do the business without you being directly involved. I know many of my colleagues they cannot go on leave because they have to be there every day.

There are some of my businesses that I don’t even visit in six months and they are running.

Let that company stand on its feet. When that is done, you can move to another business.

My advice has always been, do one business and make it stand firm and then the extra profit you are making from there, you put into another business.

I invest in stocks, sometimes I lose money, but when I lose money I don’t take it out, I leave it there until it regains what it lost. That’s my strategy. These are four areas you can invest in: Real estate, Stock market, ICT and Business systems

LESSON

7

You are really not alone I have experienced certain events personally that made me to conclude that we are really not alone; there is a divine plan for every one and this could come in different ways…

You can read the full lessons at http://tinyurl. com/y8bodjaa MISTAKES If I were to start all over again, I would start with production instead of fabrication. The man who is producing household goods decides what quantity he can produce and put into the market, but the man who is into fabrication depends on contract, the decision is not in your hands.

ADVICE Be a good reader: you must read a lot because readers are leaders and leaders are readers. If you don’t read you would remain obsolete in a couple of years so learn to read.

A

WEEKLY PULL-OUT

12.11.2017

DAYO ISRAEL

A VOICE FOR THE YOUTH

30

T H I S DAY, T H E S U N DAY N E W S PA P E R Ëž ÍŻÍ°, Í°ÍŽÍŻÍľ

COVER

DAYO ISRAEL

A VOICE FOR THE YOUTH He likes to decorate himself with fancy titles like Social Entrepreneur or Civil Society Diplomat who functions as Special Representative to the United Nations for many organisations. That does not really explain that Dayo Israel was already earning over N1 million per month from UNICEF Nigeria when he was in his 20s. Nseobong Okon-Ekong reports his trajectory from an unusual childhood to an emerging leader

H

is father retired as a Group Captain in the Nigeria Air Force.

Unfortunately, he died when his son was 11 years old. At that time, if anyone had told Dayo Israel that he would someday become one of the emerging leaders in Nigeria, he would very much doubt it. This was when newspapers - a present legacy of his grandfather that he could feel and touch - became his companion. His mother was not the only wife of his father and this disadvantaged position galvanised her to drive Dayo and his sibling to succeed. To comfort himself, he talks of his family as multipronged and not a polygamous family.

He admits now that her concern was driven more by fear. Her mantra was, â&#x20AC;&#x153;my children must succeed so that my enemies will not rejoice over me.â&#x20AC;? To overcome these anxieties, she created a world that excluded the appearance of anything that may corrupt her children, including television. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Some of those things that my mother did are laughable, but she took them seriously. We could not watch television.

We did not have a normal childhood, playing around with other children.

When she was not around, we would peep from the fence to catch a glimpse of television in a neighbourâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s house, although we had a small television in the living room, we could not touch it without her permission.â&#x20AC;?

He was still laughing over these reminiscences. The next revelation was seemingly devastating to his reputation, but he did not mind sharing the information. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I used to bed wet till I was 10, not because anything was wrong with my bladder, but if you wake up at night to use the toilet, it was sure that my mother would be awake, praying and you could not go back to sleep. She would force you to join her prayer session. So, I opted to lie in bed, relieve myself and continue sleeping rather than join her endless prayer. She would pray for the General Overseer, pastors, elders, ushers, legislators, councilors, governors and the president. I did not understand it. What did I have to do with all these people?â&#x20AC;?

However, with the benefit of hindsight, he is thankful that this strict regime instilled a lot of positive virtues and values that have guided his life till today. â&#x20AC;&#x153;She wanted us to be spiritual. We grew up in Ebute Metta where we had all these poor people. She would constantly point out to us that she did not want our future to be like those people. My friends

were always scared to come to our house.

If you were in our house on Saturday, we start prayers at 5pm and we will not end till 12 midnight. She used to borrow money to pay our school fees. That is why I love my mother. I celebrate her till today.â&#x20AC;?

Dayo went to Government College in Ikorodu. For a season, he was a day student and recalls walking all the way back home to Ebute Metta.

That sounded too far-fetched, but he insisted that he actually made that distance on foot many times because school fees were increased and he had to drop out of the boarding house to become a day

31

NOVEMBER 12, 2017 ˾ T H I S DAY, T H E S U N DAY N E W S PA P E R

COVER student. “When my mother noticed that I was returning home very late. She moved me to Government College, Eric Moore in Surulere. The students in that school were always getting into a fight with those of a neighbouring school at Onitolo. One day, I was nearly beaten to death. To save my life, my mother moved me to Methodist Boys High School where I finished my secondary education at 14 years.” It was the same age that he was elected into the Nigerian Children Parliament as the first Deputy Senate President; quite an eventful teenage for a boy who started secondary school living with his grand father in Abeokuta.

“I started working for UNICEF Nigeria at 14 years. I was a Collation Assistant for the Global Movement for Children Campaign, it was led by Dr. Nelson Mandela. In 2001 when they were going to hold the General Assembly for Children in New York, UNICEF Nigeria supported me to attend the event. Unfortunately, there was a bomb blast on September 11 and the event was postponed till the next year. I was there. I met lots of leaders.”

Because he was not allowed to interact with other children at all, newspapers that his grandfather bought dutifully, became his closest contact to the outside world.

What dominated the news of the day was pro-democracy activism. Dayo imagined himself an activist. It wasn’t just an idea he romanticised, he actually went in search of the leaders of the day and took his place beside them.

“I had an uncle called Taiwo Ajala, He was a lawyer. I wanted to become a lawyer like him. I got into Lisabi Grammar School at the age of eight.

When Gani Fawehinmi did his One Million Man March I was in the crowd.

I was interested in human rights, governance and leadership. From a young age, I have always been positively restless. I was always interested in what was happening around me. At the age of eight, I held a crusade. I read in the Bible about Josiah, David and Solomon, all these young people who became king.

That inspired me.”

As soon as he left secondary school, he became a volunteer for the United Nations programmes. He was also preaching the gospel in buses around Lagos. “I believe everything I am doing today is a calling.”

Dayo Israel has spent more of his life working with non-governmental service institutions. He has been in their circle for so long that he has become the shadow of many leaders in civil society, governance, faith and politics. He has maintained his closeness to many of them through the years. Among other things, at the moment, he is one of the top aides of Senator Jide Omoworare.

Dayo became an acquaintance of many leaders. Some of these relationships developed into enduring friendship and alliances. From former Presdent Olusegun Obasanjo and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, to Senator Remi Tinubu, activist lawyers, Olisa Agbakoba, Femi Falana, Hafsat Abiola-Costello, Pastor Enoch Adeboye and Pastor Sam Adeyemi, Dayo paid his dues, eventually earning the privilege to enter the inner circle of some of these personalities.

At the same time, he made a name for himself, becoming increasingly well connected as a voice for young people in Nigeria and Africa. “We have done a lot.

As Deputy President of the Children’s Parliament, I was one of the people who crafted the Childs Right Act in Nigeria.

In 2002, President Obasanjo appointed me as the Chairman of the Summit on Nigerian Children. I have been holding programmes that build capacity for young people in Nigeria. In 2004, I held the UN Young General Assembly in

…with Pastor Sam Adeyemi

Dayo Israel with Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa

Nigeria. We had 156 young people from all over the world and the Diaspora. In 2002, I took eight young people to the UK. I was a teenager myself. I have led a delegation of business and government leaders to the Commonwealth Business Summit in the UK since 2014.

Today, Dayo is touted as one of the 100 Most Influential People of African Descent, and describes himself as a Social Enterpreneur. Well, that depends on who is asking.

At other places, he presents himself as a Civil Society Diplomat who functions as Special Representative to the UN for many organisations to the UN. “I currently serve as Head of Operations for the Commonwealth Africa Initiative. I am also Vice President Operations of the US Exchange Alumni Network, the International Visitors Leadership Programme. I work with GHLEED Foundation, an international NGO. I oversee its operations in Africa.”

If you still can’t put a finger on what he does, this explanation should help. “I was a Consultant to UNICEF Nigeria. I was working on the Lagos State Violence Against Children Committee as National Officer Basic Consultancy. I was earning One Million Naira a month. A UNICEF driver earns N450000 a month. These are outstanding institutions. They pay their staff good money and pension.

My organisation is called a Fresh Start Initiative. I am the Founder and Executive Director. I have GHLEED Foundation that I am a member of the board and I am also the director of

Africa operations. It is an international organisation with headquarters in the UK.” Dayo doesn’t see anything wrong in receiving generous amounts as salary charity works. “Yes. It is service to humanity, but if you have given your time, how do you pay your bills?” With that question he wanted me to appreciate the necessity for a good reward to those who serve humanity. “I also work for Youth for Transparency International. I attend UN meetings representing YTI. I have a lot of experience in operational management. I help organisations set up operations.”

For 22 years, he has been a Civil Society Diplomat, instead of minding his space as a lawyer; a specialty he enhanced by studying International Relations at master degree level. He had his doctorate in view when the then Minister of Youths, Bolaji Abdullahi, sought his services.

He has not gone back to the UK since to complete his doctoral studies or go the Nigeria Law School for his call to bar examinations.

“It is not yet time to practice law. My interest is really in development. I may go for it when I stabilise a bit more. Right now, I am pushing a movement to see what young people can achieve in our continent. It is taking a lot of my time.

We have different platforms like ‘Ready Run Win’, ‘Not too Young to Run’ and ‘Emerging Political Leaders Summit’.

With these platforms, we train young people to go into politics. I am not keen to be a lawyer, but I need the knowledge for everything I do.”

AS DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE CHILDREN’S PARLIAMENT, I WAS ONE OF THE PEOPLE WHO CRAFTED THE CHILDS RIGHT ACT IN NIGERIA. IN 2002, PRESIDENT OBASANJO APPOINTED ME AS THE CHAIRMAN OF THE SUMMIT ON NIGERIAN CHILDREN. I HAVE BEEN HOLDING PROGRAMMES THAT BUILD CAPACITY FOR YOUNG PEOPLE IN NIGERIA… IN 2002, I TOOK EIGHT YOUNG PEOPLE TO THE UK. I WAS A TEENAGER MYSELF. I LED A DELEGATION OF BUSINESS AND GOVERNMENT LEADERS TO THE COMMONWEALTH BUSINESS SUMMIT. TODAY, DAYO IS TOUTED AS ONE OF THE 100 MOST INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE OF AFRICAN DESCENT

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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 Ëž ÍŻÍ°, Í°ÍŽÍŻÍľ

with Ě&#x201C;

͎ͯͯ͜ͲͲ͡ͳ͹ͰͲË&#x153; nseobong.okonekong@thisdaylive.com

Trace Explains Music and Deals Partnership With Jumia

I

n a first-of-its-kind live music event in Nigeria, two of the biggest names in the online retail and entertainment sector are collaborating to pull-off a trend setting festival for shoppers and music buffs.

Going by the name, MAD (Music and Deals) Festival, the carnival-like affair is promoted by entertainment media giant, Trace Naija Television and the huge online retailer, Jumia on its Black Friday platform.

Mr. Sam Onyemelukwe, Trace Naijaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Managing Director explained that the partnership will provide customers the opportunity to enjoy a family-friendly retail experience while enjoying the best music Lagos has to offer. He further hinted on what informed the working relationship. According to him, â&#x20AC;&#x153;We looked at our target audience and saw an opportunity to create some synergy between both brands.â&#x20AC;?

Flaunted as the biggest explosive combination of Nigerian music and Black Friday excitement for shoppers and music buffs, the Trace/ Jumia MAD Festival holds on November 18 at the Kingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s College grounds in Victoria Island, Lagos. The show is free, but attendees may only be admitted if they register.

Some of the performers on the bill of the TraceJumia MAD Festival include Falz, Simi, 9ice, Mayorkun, Niniola, Lil Kesh, Sound Sultan, Skales, Pencil, DJ Xlusive, Wande Coal, DJ Consequence and Nedu. They are expected to showcase their best in thrilling customers, while there is incredible app flash sales and lots

of giveaways.

Chief Executive Officer of Jumia, Juliet Anammah stated, â&#x20AC;&#x153;the Jumia website would see a significant increase in inventory across all categories including: fashion, electronics, phones, computers, home, baby, health, beauty, travel and food, with up to 80% discount on regular prices on up to 1,0000,000 products from 15,000 vendor merchants. Customers who download the Jumia mall app will also receive special vouchers and access to flash sales in addition to instant push notifications when deals go live.â&#x20AC;?

The management of Trace Naija projects a growth in the affiliation between the two companies that will lead to the creation of an annual event to celebrate Black Friday and build stronger brand affinity. The expectation is that the MAD Festival will influence the future of online trade in Nigeria. Onyemelukwe revealed, â&#x20AC;&#x153;one of our objectives is to get about 10k app downloads. We believe that online shopping is the future of Nigerian retail and with this type of event, promoted by Trace Naija and Jumia, there is going to be an explosion in e-commerce.â&#x20AC;?

Included in this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Jumia Black Friday shopping activities is an online wheel of fortune which churns out exclusive shopping vouchers.

Also on the line-up are hourly flash sales and app-only deals with super low prices.

Customers will have the opportunity to also enjoy discounts from Jumia Food and Jumia Travel.

BLADE RUNNER 2049 STORMS CINEMAS A new Hollywood sci-fi movie, Blade Runner 2049 has hit the cinemas across the country and has since attracted film aficionados to the box office.

The premiere of the movie held amidst soft music, drinks and canapĂŠs at the prestigious Silverbird Cinema, Victoria Island, Lagos. The event attracted celebrities including Mr Jonathan Murray-Bruce , executive director, Silverbird Group; Ugochi Ihezue, Most Beautiful Girl Nigeria (MBGN) 2017; Emmanuella Yaboh, MBGN Miss ECOWAS, and Stephanie Agbasi, MBGN Miss Universe, who all dazzled on the red carpet, posing for the paparazzi and fielding questions from the press.

Murray Bruce was all smiles having thoroughly enjoyed watching the film, describing it as â&#x20AC;&#x153;quite fantasticâ&#x20AC;?. And for MBGN Miss ECOWAS, Emmanuella Yaboh, the â&#x20AC;&#x153;sci-fi movie is thrilling. The flying cars particularly got my attention,â&#x20AC;? she enthused.

In fact, visually stunning and narratively satisfying Blade Runner 2049 will strike a chord in the hearts of movie lovers, as they throng the cinemas when the film opened across the country.

Distributed by Silverbird Film Distribution, Blade Runner 2049 deepens and expands its predecessorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s story while standing as an impressive filmmaking achievement in its own right. 30 years after the events of the first film, Blade Runner unearths a long-buried secret that has the potential to plunge whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s left of society into chaos. Officer Kâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s (Ryan Gosling) discovery leads him on a quest to find Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford), a former LAPD blade runner who has been missing for three decades.

Kâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s job is to track down bio-engineered human beings also known as replicants.

But heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s beleaguered by erroneous childhood memories that he imagines to be real. Kâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hologram, Joi, who goes with him everywhere through the help of a mobile projector, dies when the projector is destroyed. Does K survive in the search for his identity? Why is Niander Wallace so engrossed with the idea of creating replicants? What are replicants? The movie aptly answers these questions.

Set in California in a futuristic year 2049, Blade Runner is a remake of Riddly Scottâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 1982 movie, Blade Runner, which in itself is based on Philip K. Dickâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s novel, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

Aside Harrison Ford and Rhyan Gosling, the film parades other season actors like Robin Wright, Ana de Armas, Lennie James, Dave Bautista, Carla Juri, Jared Leto, Mackenzie Davis, and Sylvia Hoeks.

The soundtracks employed in Blade Runner 2049 also speak to the humanity of it.

They are apropos to the themes of the movie.

When K meets Rick Deckard, they fight and fight until they eventually resolve their differences with Elvis Presleyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hit song, I Canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t Help Falling in Love With You playing at the background.

With blood chilling sound tracks, amazing special effects that create real life impressions of annihilation, and cinematographer Roger Deakinsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; seemingly impossible camera angles, Blade Runners 2049promises to be a pleasant cinematic experience.

GBENGA OYELAYO, AKIN OLADEJI TO REDEFINE LUXURY LIFE WITH GOLDGENIE Are you thinking of luxury gifts for the ungiftable either on their birthday, wedding anniversary or any other momentous occasion? Worries no more as Nigeria luxury market is about to be revolutionise with the planned coming of Goldgenie, the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s premier luxury customization business, into the country: thanks to two young Nigerians â&#x20AC;&#x201C;Gbenga Oyelayo and Akin Oladeji- who have been appointed as its international master franchise holders for Goldgenie Nigeria.

The international brand, after its successful launch in London, UAE and Saudi Arabia, have find Nigeria a new veritable destination for its customisation and concierge services, which will be launched in Lagos before the end of the year.

Speaking on the coming of the Goldplating brand into Nigeria, London-based Oyelayo said: â&#x20AC;&#x153;It is a great delight to bring the Goldgenie luxury brand to Nigeria for the exclusive benefit of Nigerians. It is a known fact that anywhere in the world, Nigerians are renowned not only for how to create wealth but also for appreciating

Akin Oladeji and Gbenga Oyelayo

Sam Onyemelukwe, MD of Trace TV (r) with Juliet Anammah, CEO of Jumia

luxury lifestyle. Many of them already have access to customized, including gold-plated items acquired overseas, but we felt it will be appropriate to bring the services closer to their door steps here in Nigeria.â&#x20AC;? According to the London-based young entrepreneur, everything is been put in place to ensure that Nigerians enjoy the full art of luxury living others enjoy in the developed world.

He said the services will include customized gold-plating of corporate, executive and personal gift items; jewelries; car emblems; home and office interiors and accessories. Goldgenie has steadily risen to become the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s number one goldplating brand with hundreds of everyday items that can be customized in 24 karat Gold, Rose Gold, Platinum and Swaronski crystals.

The brainchild of British entrepreneur Laban Roomes, after appearing on Dragonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Den and procuring funding from James Caan, Goldgenieâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s popularity skyrocketed as they emerged as the go-to gold plating and luxury customization business for some of the most elite businesses and individuals in the world.

With names like Apple, Lexus, HTC, Harrods, Selfridges, Rolls Royce, Samsung, Honda and Nokia touting their services, Goldgenie is poised to grow even bigger.

The brand has also created 24-carat gold plated mobile phones for actors such as Denzel Washington and Tyrese Gibson, blinged up microphone for singer Rihanna; a Gold-plated iPod for Elton John and Usain Bolt and customized personal effects for the Beckhams. Goldgenie has even gold-plated a toilet for the Sultan of Brunei.

Also commenting, Oladeji, co-partner

Goldgenie Nigeria, noted that with time, there will be business opportunity for interested Nigerians who can also come in as Goldgenie franchisees. According to him, there will be an affiliation as Goldgenie Certified Professional with no royalties on any product plated, opportunity to work from home; complete turnkey package; mentoring/guidance from the Goldgenie team; dedicated business team to help in the setting up; enough plating solution to recoup the initial investment; free training and free setting of a website BOOK ON FEMALE DIRECTORS FOR LAUNCH IN LAGOS Ladies Calling the Shots, a book chronicling the exploits of 16 female film and television directors in Nigeria will be launched in Lagos on Monday November 13.

The event will hold at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, Kofo Abayomi, Victoria Island, under the chairmanship of Former Governor of Ogun State, Chief Olusegun Osoba.

Other dignitaries expected at the event are Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Akinwumi Ambode; President, Wellbeing Foundation Africa and wife of Senate President, Mrs Toyin Saraki; Wife of the Governor of Kwara, Dcns Omolewa Ahmed; Speaker Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly, Hon Onofiok Luke; Managing Director of The Nigerian Ports Authority, Ms Hadiza Bala Usman; Vice Chancellor, Kwara State University, Professor AbdulRasheed Naâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Allah; and President of the National Association of Nigerian Travel Agents (NANTA), Mr Bernard Bankole.

Written by Niran Adedokun, a Lagos based Public Relations Consultant, Lawyer and Writer, the book profiles these directors right from their early days through their educational career and eventual choice of filmmaking.

Adedokun, who is one of the early reporters of the home video revolution which later metamorphosed into Nollywood says the book was inspired by the irrepressible spirit of ladies who have forged on in this male dominated area of endeavour in spite of all the challenges that they face.

The book, which is over 290 pages is premised on the relatively obscure nature of the directorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s role in the filmmaking process and the need to celebrate the women who are making Nigeria proud on this front.

Host at the public presentation, which takes off at 12pm, will be award winning actor, Femi Jacobs; while the book will be reviewed by award winning writer, Toni Kan. Published by Grace Springs Africa Publishers, Ladies Calling the Shots features female directors like Lola Fani Kayode and

NOVEMBER 12, 2017˾ T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R

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ENTERTAINMENT the late Amaka Igwe amongst others.

MADU JOINS YOUNG NATION You may have known him as Rexy Brown when he first stepped into the music industry in 2010 but the artiste who is now known as Madu is the latest addition to the fledgling management company Young Nation Ltd. The management company is founded by Kamal Ajiboye, Nelson Ononiwu and prolific media personality, Olisa Adibua. The three personalities have vast knowledge of the entertainment industry having worked in different levels of the media and showbiz industry over the years.

Madu who recently released his new single “Kampe’ is signed to Heritage Live Entertainment, owned by the astute entrepreneur, Prince Kenneth Obalum.

An indigene of Anambra state, Madu’s passion for music was so intense that he suspended his academics just to learn the intricacies of Nigeria’s music terrain.

Although, mainly self-taught, Madu is highly skilled in the production and mixing of music. He also plays different music instruments.

“Music is something I cannot do without.

I have intense passion for it,” he said in an interview.

The 28 year-old singer’s music style is versatile. He described himself as the new generation artiste who is influenced by different genres of music. His new release ‘Kampe’ is a fusion of Afro pop and R&B. It is a love song that boasts of three languages: Efik, English and Pidgin English. Kampe celebrates beauty in all shades. It conveys a message that is universal and emphatic on loving oneself irrespective of shortcomings.

The song is produced by DJ Coublon while the video is directed by Clarence Peters.

With Young Nation, the artiste had already gone through some refining. A good pointer to this the change of his stage name.

According to Olisa Adibua, the name change was very important to the brand’s identity. “I believe that people should connect with where they are from. I also believe that we should sell what is intrinsically Nigerian and African. Madu is a gifted young guy. His journey so far has been good but now we are taking it to a whole new level. We believe that the connection between Young Nation and Heritage Live Entertainment is the catalyst that will propel Madu to the next level.”

NINIOLA DEBUTS ‘THIS IS ME’ ALBUM, SIGNS WITH KOBALT MUSIC GROUP It is a season of good tidings for the songstress Niniola who recently debut her ‘This is Me’ album. Apart from rewarding her fans with a beautifully arranged album, that showcased her versatility and creativity, Niniola is now signed Kobalt Music Group, an independent rights management and publishing company. Her manager Michael Ndika made the announcement during a media parley to celebrate the launch of her new album.

“Niniola is a very talented artiste who has achieved a lot within a short period that most people don’t know about. She got currently signed on to Kobalt music for publishing which is a deal that will make her write music for international artistes.

Kobalt is about third or fourth biggest publishing company in the world. So in the next couple of years will see Niniola writing songs for international acts.”

Niniola rose to fame in 2013 when she emerged the third runner-up on MTN Project Fame season 6. Since that spotlight, she has gone to garner accolades for singles both locally and internationally.

She was a nominee in the 2015 Nigeria Entertainment Awards and also a nominee in the upcoming All Africa Music Awards (AFRIMA) where she will also perform.

Her debut album according to the artiste is a snippet of what she can do as she sampled different styles of music while staying true to her unique afro-house genre.

The 13-track album features dancehall reggae king, Patoranking, hip-hop Apala musician, Terry Apala, Devin Di Dakta and Charmant. The tracks are a blend of dancehall, afro-house, RnB and genres.

The album also includes her popular hit ‘Maradona’ which was released earlier in the year. Staying true to her roots, the Ekiti born artiste titled most of her songs in Yoruba. According to her, it was a deliberate attempt to celebrate her Yoruba heritage Speaking on the title of her album, Niniola said “This is me is as honest as it can be vocally. I don’t just have my genre

Harr Ehi Brimah and Hon. Emmanuel Agbaje (right)

Preparations Enter Top Gear for Ososo Festival Vanessa Obioha In a bid to properly harness the potentials and opportunities that the annual Ososo Festival in the Akoko-Edo area of Edo State offer, its organisers have engaged a leading marketing and event agency – Neomedia and Marketing Limited to help raise the standard of organisation and marketing of the festival to international level.

At a press briefing held to commemorate the partnership in Lagos, the Chief Executive Officer of the Marketing agency, Mr. Ehi Braimah, said the appointment of his agency was strategic to further entrench the mission and vision of the organisers of the festival among stakeholders.

He also added that his agency, with experience in marketing of international brands and events, would not find it tough in galvanizing necessary support that would make the carnival appeal to the world.

“As a carnival that has already taken a life of its own and has appealed to relevant stakeholders, our job is to help the organisers attract potential sponsors and guests that would make it a revered carnival that everybody will identify with.

It gladdens my heart personally that the proactive government of Edo State, under afro-house but I also have RnB and other genres. This is me telling you that I can jump on any beat as long as I feel good about the beat. So this is just Niniola who loves to sing and dance.”

To commemorate this great achievement with her are her manager Michael Ndika, veteran OAP Olisa Adibua and entertainment entrepreneur Nelson Ononiwu.

“I’m one of her music fans and knew when she started this journey. And each step of the way, she had a plan; she knew what she is going to do and it’s good to see her plan comes to fruition. There are three things I liked when I met her: being a female, not pursuing the regular music and releasing album. These traits are very hard to find nowadays in today’s generation of artistes.

It’s adventurous and bold. ” said Adibua of the songstress.

Born Niniola Apata, the graduate of Biology Education hails from Ekiti state and is the sixth child of her parents. She is currently signed to Drumroll Records ALL THE WAYTO LOKOJA WITH JEFF AKOH Ex-winner of Project Fame West Africa, Jeff Akoh stakes a claim as Nigeria’s next big music sensation with the release of his first body of work entitled Lokoja.

Lokoja, a 16 track album, is officially released internationally across all digital stores today, Friday, October 27th as the singer’s 21st birthday gift.

The album is the creative brainchild of Nigerian entertainment powerhouse, Temple Management Company (TMC) through its music subsidiary, Temple Music

the leadership of Mr. Godwin Nogheghase Obaseki, has not only bought into the carnival; the government has created a good platform for its growth. With what is on ground, 2017 edition will be a watershed’’, he said.

Also speaking at the event, the state’s Commissioner for Arts, Culture, Tourism and Diaspora Affairs, Honorable Osaze Osemwegie-Ero said the state government would harness the potentials of Ososo Carnival as part of its plans to boost the state’s economy through the development of 58 newly identified tourism sites across the state.

According to the Commissioner, who said he personally visited Ososo recently to verify the potentials of Ososo community as a veritable hub for economic and social development through tourism, expressed delight at the state of its preparedness towards the hosting of the forthcoming carnival which takes place every December.

“The natural potentials of Ososo community as a tourism hub cannot be overemphasized. It must be highlighted and developed as part of this administration’s deliberate policy to create employment – particularly for the youths. By doing this, we are indirectly curbing crimes as the saying goes that ‘an idle mind is the devil’s workshop’.

(TMPL) and foremost American showbiz company, Roc Nation.

Jeff Akoh dazzled judges with his amazing voice and showmanship in 2015 to emerge as the best singer in West Africa. He is the youngest to win the popular music reality show, Project Fame West Africa. Arising from his triumph, the Kogi State-born singer has been tipped to leave a big mark on the music scene.

Ahead of the album, there has been anticipation among lovers of good music with the singer’s previous release two hot tunes, Shokolokobangoshe and Gbadun (Your Lovin). The new tunes have been getting generous airplay across Nigeria.

In Lokoja, Jeff Akoh’s vocal dexterity is matched with experience of household names in music production including Cobhams Asuquo and TY Mix. The talented Temple Music singer also worked with UK-based group, Team Salut, Oscar and Benie Macaulay.

Jeff Akoh’s versatility shines through as he experiments with several exciting music genres like R&B, Reggae, Pop, Afropop, Afrobeats and House.

The singer reveals, “For me, Lokoja has been a rewarding journey coming from Project Fame West Africa. I must recognize Ultima Limited for laying the foundation. The title says it all. Lokoja is a confluence where several rivers meet. Likewise, my album is the product of different influences that music lovers will appreciate. Please don’t take my word for it.”

Also speaking, Mark Redguard, Head Of Entertainment, TMC, noted that Lokoja is more than just an album but is also a statement. He said,

Jeff Akoh is a talented singer and sound engineer who trained at SAE Institute, Cape Town, South Africa. Raised in Abuja, the Federal Capital City of Nigeria, he is popularly known for winning the eighth season of Project Fame West Africa in 2015.

Before then, together with his brother, Fred Akoh, he contested on Glo Naija Sings in 2010 at the age of 13 finishing in the Top 10.

To his credit, he has released a single entitled Never Let You Go and a feature with Yemi Alade entitled Kissing (Remix).

The Temple Management Company Limited (“TMC”) is a full-service creative talent and event management company incorporated in Nigeria and operating in the Entertainment, Sports, Media and Art sectors.

Using a 360 approach to management, the company oversees the day to day business/affairs of creative talents and ensures that they maintain sustainable competitive advantage over the rest. TMC prides itself in its ability to operate on a global scale.

The company’s mission is to continually improve on African content, bridge the gulf between talents and their foreign counterparts, and guarantee that processes are in line with international best practices.

WHINE UP WITH MISS MISS FT. SKALES Nigerian female rap singer MISS MISS (formerly LIL MISS MISS), known for her previous music releases such as Temptation (ft. Banky W), Gidi Girl Twerk (ft. Chuddy K), No Whine Me (ft. Del B) to list a few, recently teamed up with hip hop artiste SKALES to give us the much anticipated visuals to her summer released single titled, WHINE UP. With Afrobeats currently taking over the global sound, Miss Miss successfully infuses the catchy sounds of Afrobeats and Caribbean vibes while maintaining an international sound that cuts across all boarders.

The video is set to take over your music TV screens for a while and is sure to keep you dancing and in the mood with her contagious energy, boss attitude and catchy dance moves. Therein, MISS MISS also captures the spirit of women empowerment and feminine independence all while keeping it a catchy tune.

With WHINE UP doubling as her official US debut single, the rapper is looking to take her game a notch higher as she courts the international market on the wave of the huge demand for African music out there at the moment.

Jeff

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ NOVEMBER 12, 2017

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ENTERTAINMENT NEWS

From Hollywood to the Art World, Sexual Harassment Crisis Widens Vanessa Obioha

After nearly drowning Hollywood’s most celebrated artistes, the floodgates of sexual harassment are about to submerge the art world. Like it did with Hollywood’s movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, The New York Times few days ago published another investigative report on Benjamin Genocchio, a big player in the art world.

The report detailed various accounts of women who have had one ugly ordeal with the artist over the years.

These women who mostly worked with him when he was the executive director of a top international art fair, Armoury Show claimed that Genocchio made sexual advances on them at work.

One of the women, Colleen Calvo- the marketing coordinator at the time when Genocchio worked with Artnet News before moving to Armoury Show- told New York Times that he ran his hand up her sequin pants while she was helping check in guests at the company’s holiday party in 2014. He went on to make a lewd comment about that moment being the only time he could touch her rear without getting yelled at.

Another woman, Shane Ferro who worked at Blouin’s Artinfo said Geno loved to place his hands on her neck.

She said that encounter made her to be afraid of male bosses.

Some of the words the women used to describe his actions include predatory, aggressive and frisky, although some of

them claimed he stopped if being told that his lewd comments are offensive.

Genocchio an art critic started his career in The Australian. He was once an art writer for New York Times and an editorial director of Blouin Media.

These women, mainly colleagues or subordinates, are boldly speaking out now after the outcome of Weinstein sexual scandal. The ever-widening scandal has roped in many top players like the actor and producer Steven Seagal who was recently accused by the Portia De Rossi. Rossi claimed that Seagal harassed her during an audition for one of his films where he unzipped his pants before her to create an off-screen chemistry. Rossi is the fourth woman to accuse the actor of sexual misconduct.

Comedians are not left out in the fray as comedian Louis C.K was also accused of masturbating in front of two women, Dana Min Goodman and Julia Wolov in 2002. Other women has also spoken about his sexual misbehaviour.

Although, Genocchio’s actions didn’t fetch juicy headlines like Weinstein, they however cost him his job.

Shortly after the report was published, Armoury Show announced that Genocchio was replaced by the deputy director Nicole Berry. At the time of this report, Genocchio only apologised for his behaviour while claiming that he has “never intentionally acted in an inappropriate manner nor spoke to or touched a colleague in a sexually inappropriate way.”

Genocchio

NEW YORK FASHION FILM FESTIVAL CALL FOR ENTRIES The New York Fashion Film Festival is now calling for entries for its 2018 edition.

Now in its seventh consecutive year, the festival annually hosts a screening of selected fashion films followed by a panel discussion focusing on the nature of fashion and its growing relevance to the world, business fashion of fashion and the potential of fashion imagery to be deployed as a platform for invention, creativity and cultural inquiry.

For its eight edition, the festival is accepting submissions from everyone in the fashion community; from students, professionals and major fashion brands, as it seeks to investigate the evolving genre of fashion film. Entries will be open till January 15,2018.

NYFFF is produced by the MPS Fashion Photography Program.

WILL TAYLOR SWIFT MAKE HISTORY IN MTV EMAS TONIGHT? The ‘Look What You Made Me Do’ crooner so far has had an amazing year with the rebranding and record breaking streaks. But will her winning streak continue tonight at SSE Arena, Wembley, London where the MTV EMA’s will hold? Swift dominates the award with six nods in the ‘Best Artist’, ‘Best Look’, ‘Best Pop’, ‘Best Video’, ‘Biggest Fans’, and ‘Best US Act’, categories. Following her closely is Shawn Mendes who clinched five nods. He is in a fierce competition with Ed Sheeran, Ariana Grande, Kendrick Lamar, Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift in the ‘Best Artist’ category.

Ed Sheeran also got four nominations alongside Kendrick Lamar. Sheeran is nominated in ‘Best Live’, ‘Best Artist’, ‘Best Song’ and ‘Best UK & Ireland Act’.

As the music glitteratis gather for another epic night, expectations will run high on Swift and other big contenders. It is the second time London is hosting the event and as such, the frenzy will be a notch higher. Moreover, the music group U2, recipients of this year’s Global Icon Award kicked off the event yesterday with a special performance at the Trafalgar Square.

Lined-up performers for the night include Demi Lovato, Shawn Mendes, The Killers, French Montana, David Guetta among others. The show will be hosted by Rita Ora.

Taylor Swift

Louis C.K

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Cry for Justice against a Rapist Policeman The disturbing news of the alleged rape of a 14 year-old girl in Onitsha by a policeman went viral last week. In This piece, David-Chyddy Eleke takes a second look at the incidence, the cry for justice by concerned individuals and groups and the move by the police to purge itself of criminal elements

O

kpoko in Ogbaru local government area near Onitsha, the commercial nerve centre of the South east is unarguably the most dangerous slum in the town. It has grown to be a notorious neighborhood where everything bad seems to thrive. The area is mostly habited by low income earners, and this is evident in the shanties that dot the area, which serve as residential place for families.

Crime, drug, prostitution and gambling are not hard to find here.

A visitor to the area does not need to look too far to find these out. The area is also notorious for the production of fake household items including soft drinks, alcoholic drinks, soap and others items which are all faked in shanties around the neighbourhood.

The area alone is serious trouble for security agents including the police, national drug law enforcement agents, Standards Organization of Nigeria, SON, National Agency for Food Drug Administration and Control(NAFDAC) and other regulatory agencies who storm the area frequently to arrest drug peddlers, fake manufacturers and other criminals.

Perhaps, the nature of the area may be the reason some of the toughest and most courageous police officers are posted there to help combat the level of crime in the area. Corporal Barau Garba with force number 275601, who is attached to 7PMF Sokoto is one of such officers. He was on what the police force call special duty, which usually entails the transfer of mobile policemen to places across the country to help maintain peace in troubled areas.

For a policeman who stays and works far away from his family, it would be understandable that officer Barau may have need for sex; especially as Abraham Maslow, an American psychologist had in his hierarchy of needs stated that sex was one of manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s basic need in life, but Barau in the quest to fulfill that need picked the wrong person.

In major towns across Anambra State, government had abolished commercial motorcyclists, popularly known as Okada from plying some major roads, while they are also restricted from carrying out their business after 7pm. In Onitsha, police take advantage of these in two ways; first those on duty make brisk business arresting stubborn okada operators who insist on continuing their business after 7pm. The operators always â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;settleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; them to avoid their motorcycles being impounded.

Secondly, police officers who are not on duty take advantage of the restriction to put their motorbike to commercial use, ferrying stranded passengers to parts of Onitsha where buses do not ply. Most of the police officers are known to have bikes, and are usually not arrested by their colleagues for working during the restricted time, and since passengers are usually stranded at such times and do not have a choice than to board

Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris

whichever commercial motorcycle they see, the policemen working as okada operators charge higher and makes cool money before dawn to augment their pay.

It may have been in this way that officer Barau was strolling on his bike sometime last week when he sighted Miss Amina(not real name), a 14 year-old girl whose father had sent on errand from Hausa Quarters, Asaba, Delta State to Onitsha, which is a short distance just across the River Niger Bridge to buy a few things for him.

Amina had lost her transport fare back home and was stranded on the streets of Onitsha, probably thinking of how to get back to Asaba when she was accosted by Barau.

Amina must have heaved a sigh of relief being accosted by Barau, who she must have considered as a big brother, having come from the north like her, and probably been sure of that by his speaking Hausa language to her.

It must however have been in full trust that she climbed the officerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s motorbike and he sped off. Though it was not reported if Barau had told her she was taking her to her house or to his, but he sped to his house, located inside the Okpoko police division, where he dumped her, and allegedly satisfied his sexual desire with her for days. How he managed to conceal her for the six days he allegedly had her without the knowledge of his neighbours was a surprise.

A visit to the Okpoko Police division showed that police officers, especially those on special duty lived in shanties constructed with wood inside the barracks. These shanties THISDAY learnt were transferable to other police officers in the case of transfers. Barau inherited and has also been living in one of the shanties, the same place he had allegedly locked Amina in for six days, and always coming back from work to satisfy himself with the little girl.

THISDAY gathered that the little Amina

was able to work for her freedom one night when her abductor was deep asleep, probably after feasting on the innocent girl; she took his phone and dialed her fatherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s number, alerting him of her whereabout, which helped her subsequent release.

There have however been a huge outcry over the action of the police officer, with groups and individuals calling for sanction on him. A human rights group, Resource Centre for Human Rights and Civic Education (CHRICED) first accused the police of attempt to cover up the crime. The group in a statement signed

by Dr. Ibrahim Zikirullahi, the groupâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Executive Director warned, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Her case is just one of many instances in which the Police have been unwilling to act when young girls have been violated. The failure of the Police to move against sex offenders has encouraged rapists across the country to get bolder with their hideous conduct. It is not tenable that the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s law enforcement institution has to wait to be pressured before taking action over cases like this. The case offers an opportunity for the Police to prove its critics wrong; the public will be watching to see its next steps,â&#x20AC;? said the group.

The call however may have yielded fruit as Anambra State police commissioner, Mr Garba Umar has confirmed the arrest of Corporal Barau Garba on Sunday. CP Umar told journalists that the command moved in on hearing of the disturbing news and arrested the culprit, who he said is currently facing police internal disciplinary procedure. He described the action of the police officer as a very sad one for the command and police in general, which does not reflect the core values of the Nigeria Police force, while

vowing to ensure that justice is done.

He said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;The command wishes to confirm the arrest of force number 275601, Corporal Barau Garba attached to 7PMF Sokoto but deployed to Anambra State on special duty for the alleged abduction and defilement of a 14years old girl of Hausa quarters in Asaba, Delta State. The erring policeman was arrested, defaulted and detained accordingly; and is facing police internal disciplinary procedures. He will be arraigned before the appropriate court of the land as soon as the criminal investigation against him is concluded,â&#x20AC;?

Umar said.

Though the errant police officer was not paraded before journalists, the commissioner said that confession from the culprit was that he picked up the wandering minor in Asaba and took her to his house, but never had sex with her.

THISDAY also gathered that Barau insists that he kept her for only two days as against the six days he is being accused of.

Umar insisted that even if he did not have sex with her, he is still culpable for taking her home instead of the usual procedure of reporting lost persons. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Nigeria Police Force is one organisation that does not spare one of its own in things like this, and I can assure you that justice will not only be done, but seen to have been done.â&#x20AC;?

THISDAY gathered that medical examination on Amina showed that she was raped repeatedly for six days by the police officer who abducted her, to the point of sustaining a ruptured private part.

A source told THISDAY at Okpoko that allegations of rape involving police officers in the police division were not new. The source said police men, especially those on special duty see their posting out of their stations as opportunity to enjoy themselves and satisfy their immoral quest.

THISDAY Gathered that a similar incident concerning a nursing mother with a five months old baby who was allegedly raped by a police officer in one of the shanties in Okpoko police station was swept under the carpet on the grounds that the lady could not prove that she was raped as she was in the station on the invitation of the policeman.

A journalist, Mr Nweke Nweke told our correspondent that the brothers of the raped lady had threatened to deal with the culprit, but his colleagues who also hail from Benue State and were serving in the division dismissed the siblings of the victim with a wave of the hand, saying that as far as the DPO of the station was their brother from Benue State too, nothing could be done to bring the errant police officer to book.

But CP Garba reacting to allegation that lots of such atrocities, including extortion has been happening in Onitsha axis, with his men as the culprit said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;That is speculation. We cannot work on that. If you have a case against a policeman, bring it to us and mention the particular case and the person involved, and I can assure you that we will not spare that person. I tell you, the police does not spare its own that does the wrong thing. Look at the case of the girl that was raped, it is being handled, and justice must be done. So it is not wise to just say our men are doing this or doing that without saying exactly what they have done.â&#x20AC;?

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PERSONALITY

The Knighthood of Dan Okekenta Tony Eluemunor

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he multifaceted aspects of the Holy Roman Catholic Church have given it an incredible mystic as well as lustre that many have, for thousands of years, found to be complex, complicated and intriguing.

What with the Catholic Churchâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lengthy history, diplomatic presence at the UN and other 180 countries, its own Central Bank and currency, security agencies and postage stamp; indeed, its very own state â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the Vatican City.

Saturday November 21, 2017, the city of Awka, the Anambra State Capital, led by its First Citizen, Governor Willie Obiano, thronged the St. Patrickâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Cathedral, to witness one of the captivating aspects of this truly ancient church; how it bestows honour on those it regards with great respect. That day, Dr Dan Anaebo Okekenta, from Enugwu-Agidi, Anambra State, received a rare honour from the Catholic Church with his â&#x20AC;&#x153;investitureâ&#x20AC;? (please read admission or inauguration) into the Pontifical Equestrian Order of St. Gregory the Great. I pray this is not a vulgarization of the elegant and official nomenclature in Latin: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Ordo Sancti Gregorii Magni!

The Order of Knights of St. Gregory was established on 1st September 1831, by Pope Gregory XVI, seven months into his papacy. It remains one of the five Orders of Knighthood of the Holy See. The honour done to Dr. Dan Okekenta that day is bestowed upon Roman Catholic men and women and sometimes in rare cases to non-Catholics in recognition of their personal service to the Holy See and to the Holy Roman Catholic Church, through their unusual labours and their excellent examples set forth in their communities and their countries.

Sharing with Dr Okekenta in that investiture that day were Dr. Chike Akunyili, (husband to late Prof. Dora Akunyili), Prof. Fidelis Uzochukwu Okafor, Vice-Chancellor, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University (formerly Anambra State University), and Chief Anthony Obiagboso Enukeme, Managing Director of Tonimas Nig Ltd. Even among those heavyweights, Owele (Dr) Dan Anaebo Okekenta stood out. Not only was he born into a humble family at Enugwu-Agidi town, Njikoka LGA of Anambra state, he was orphaned at age eight. But today he has not only pulled himself up by his bootstraps, lapping up education eagerly, he is the author of a highly-regarded book â&#x20AC;&#x153;The History of Knights of St. John the Baptistâ&#x20AC;? which sells like hot cake across West Africa, United Kingdom, Germany, the United States of America as well as in Nigeria. This man who supports selfimprovement with all his might holds two honorary Doctor of Philosophy degrees from foreign universities.

Okekenta, as a business man, is a massive employer of labour who owns the largest Nigerian Breweries distributorship in the Northern part of the country. He is the founder and chairman of several companies including Worldgate Group Ltd, Anaebo Consultancy, FZ LLE (Dubai), Izoma Nig Ltd, Anaebo Real Estate Ltd, Worldgate Properties Ltd, Anebsons Hotel Ltd, etc.

Yet, it is in the service of the Catholic Church that Okekenta

Okekenta

has stood out as a veritable star. He has been Chairman of the laity councils of several parishes, patrons of many societies and has also received sundry awards from various Catholic Church segments and societies. He has generously contributed to the development of the Church in many capacities in the Dioceses of Awka, Abuja, Minna, Makurdi, Otukpo, Gboko, Katsina-Ala, Onitsha, Enugu, Lokoja and even as far afield as the Apostolic Vicariate of Southern Arabia..

Okekenta has always served his society through humanitarian efforts and so has been Suleija Rotary Club President, District Chairman, Rotary International Group Study Exchange, Patron, Niger State Boys Scout of Nigeria, FCT Patron/Senior Advocate of Peace, Peace Corps of Nigeria, member, Abuja Chamber of Commerce, National Trust for Scotland, Edinburgh, UK, San Antonio Fiesta Commission, Texas, USA and Association of Business Executives, Chicago, USA, etc.

The Papal Knights of St. Gregory award is usually made on the recommendation of Diocesan Bishops or Papal Nuncios (Vatican Ambassadors to specific countries) for distinguished services. It is thus the preferred award to acknowledge an individualâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s particular meritorious service to the Church. A Bishop wishing to recommend an individual for this honour will draw up a suitable letter proposing the candidateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s name, with a C.V., and forward it with his recommendation to the Apostolic Nuncio. The Nuncio may consult with the Bishop then he will forward the recommendation to the Vaticanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Secretariat of State (Foreign Affairs Ministry). There the candidateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s name is considered carefully and, if approved, a Diploma is drawn up in Latin (and the candidates forenames are translated into Latin) and this receives the signature and seal of the

Cardinal Secretary of State to the Pope. It is then delivered to the recipient.

Out of the four persons honoured at that Saturday November 21, 2017 investiture, at Awka, three - Okekenta, Akunyili and Enukeme â&#x20AC;&#x201C; are members of the Knights of St. John International (KSJI). Even among the three, Okekenta stood out easily because of the role he has played in that hugely respected and ancient Order of the Catholic Church that was founded by the 10th century AD and stands for the Roman Catholic Church virtues of faith, hope and charity.

Okenkenta made global news when he became the first Nigerian to be elected into the Governing Board of the KSJI in 2011, as Trustee of the Supreme Commandery, KSJI, New York and he later rose to become Second Supreme Vice-President, KSJI worldwide. He is also the First Vice-President of the Nigerian KSJI arm, called the Supreme-Subordinate Commandery. Most of all, as the founding Chairman, Supreme Board of KSJIâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s St. John Foundation beginning from 2002, he has been overseeing the global charitable works arm of the KSJI. He holds the exalted rank of a Lieutenant-General in the KSJI a religious, military and social order; the first Nigerian to soar to that remarkable height.

After the investiture, a thanksgiving mass was held for Okekenta at the St. John Parish, Enugwu-Agidi. Gov. Obiano said in his goodwill message: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Your investiture is an acknowledgement of your excellent value to the church and its mission to humanity.

The Papal Knighthood is a call for the recipient to stand up to the task of a standard-bearer of the church and its missionâ&#x20AC;?.

Secretary-General, Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria and KSJI Supreme-Subordinate Spiritual Director, Rev Fr. Ralph Madu, encouraged Okekenta to see his elevation as a â&#x20AC;&#x153;catalyst for greater efforts in the service of God and humanityâ&#x20AC;?.

KSJI Abuja Grand President, Arc. Jerome Nwokeji, also appreciated the role of the Lt-Gen in the development and growth of the local Church and the KSJI Order, lauding the leadership style of Sir Okekenta, one of his predecessors in office and acknowledged that the Papal honour is a good testimony of his immense contributions to God and humanity, as he has been using his three Ts (time, treasure and talent) wisely.

The parish Priest of St. John Enugwu Agidi, Rev Fr. Bernard Anaebene thanked God for the honor and appreciated the Bishops for finding Okekenta worthy of the recognition of such merit. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We take pride in your service to the church and humanity, you are a worthy ambassadorâ&#x20AC;?, he added.

The Knights and Ladies of KSJI thronged both the Awka Cathedral and the Enugwu-Agidi Church in Okekentaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s honour.

Besides the thanksgiving Mass, there was a grand reception at Okekentaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Residence, where several priests, religious and lay faithful joined Gov. Willie Obiano and Anambrarians to celebrate their illustrious son.

Okekenta, an ardent family man, is married to Lady Comfort, a woman leader in her own right and an active top officer in the KSJI Ladies Auxiliary. They have seven children, a girl and six boys â&#x20AC;&#x201C; one of whom is studying for the priesthood. â&#x20AC;&#x201C;Mr Eluemunor, a journalist, is a member of the Knights of St. John International.

Dantoro: Passionate about Serving Humanity Jameela Nuhu Sanda

M

r Murtala Dantoro is the Chairman/CEO of Youth Initiative for Entrepreneurial, Leadership and Development (YIELD), which was founded ten years ago and is based in New Bussa, Borgu, Niger State.

Dantoro grew up in Ghana where he discovered the passion to serve humanity.

He volunteered in various NGOs in Winneba, Accra, Kumasi, Tamale and Cape Coast in Ghana, helping to create awareness on obesity, girl-child education, and human rights.

From Ghana he travelled to the Republic of Ireland for his education in University College Dublin, where he earned a Bsc (Hons) in Housing and Community Studies. He continued his passion to serve humanity where he joined a community-building platform created by the Irish government called Rialto Community Network. He established a community health forum in the Rialto area in Dublin, acting as an advocate for the

Dantoro

group in discussing and raising awareness on health concerns.

Dantoro later joined New Communities

Partnership, an NGO based in Dublin. He participated in a series of programs and projects relating to community building.

Back in Nigeria, he delivered lectures on Transformational Leadership in Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Schools in Borgu, Niger State. He has successfully supported the less privileged to have access to third level education and founded the Youth Unified Forum to promote social inclusion in Borgu Niger State.

On that platform he discussed the importance of building relationship and establishing communication channels between leaders and their followers, creating awareness on equality in economic, social, political and cultural aspects.

YIELD is currently sponsoring some students that are less privileged in secondary schools and universities, with majority being girls. YIELD empowerment programs help widows identified in the two local government areas in Borgu Emirate (Borgu and Agwara Local Government) as well as a scheme for

youths that are into agriculture and trade.

YIELD donated pharmaceutical drugs for free in 10 wards in Borgu Local Government and donated free uniforms to orphans in both Borgu and Agwara Local Government. It has her liaison officers in all the 20 wards that make up the two Local Governments.

Dantoro believes that for one to make change, one needs to start at home, which is why he situated the YIELD office in his hometown.

YIELD is in partnerships with some NGOs. African Youth Empowerment in Agriculture and Industrial Development (AYEID) and LEAH Foundation are some of them.

Dantoro has worked and built strong relationships with international NGOs - Trocaire, Concern Worldwide, Irish government on Aid and Diaspora matters, and was involved in promoting trade between Ireland and Nigeria.

Dantoro is an Advocate for change, social inclusion, entrepreneurship, quality education, health care, and community development.

T H I S D AY SUNDAY NOVEMBER 12, 2017

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RIVERS STATE GOVERNMENT SARS PERSONNEL/SOLDIERS ATTACHED TO THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORTATION ATTACK GOVERNOR NYESOM WIKE'S CONVOY IN PORT HARCOURT

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ivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike on Saturday escaped assassination as Special Anti-robbery Squad Operatives and soldiers of the Nigerian Army in the motorcade of the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi attacked his convoy.

The governor who was on project inspection was attacked at Nwanja Junction on Trans-Amadi Road.

The SARs Personnel and Soldiers in the Minister's convoy hit down the Governor's Escort Rider and attacked the policemen in the pilot car.

Mr Seimeikumo Debewari , Aide -De- Camp, to the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, supervised the attack, which included damage of cameras held by journalists. The same Mr Debewari is the police officer who was assaulting members of the Rivers State House of Assembly in the fracas of 2014.

Also part of the attack, was the Commander of Rivers SARS, Mr Akin Fakorede who received the Minister of Transportation at the Port Harcourt International Airport and accompanied on his trip.

After the attack, the Rivers State Governor continued with his inspection of Projects. Governor Wike was not harmed, despite the attack.

The Minister of Transportation had over 50 SARS Personnel , Soldiers and Mobile Policemen in his motorcade. However while the SARS officers stepped down to assault the convoy personnel of the Governor, the soldiers remained in their vehicle and watched from there.

Simeon Nwakaudu, Special Assistant to the Rivers State Governor, Electronic Media. 11th November, 2017.

Pictures: Scene of the attack on the Convoy of the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike by soldiers and SARS Personnel attached to the Minister of Transportation, Mr Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi on Saturday at Wanja junction on the Trans-Amadi road in Port Harcourt.

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AFRIFF AND THE WITCHES PAGE 66

12.11.2017

THE ALLURE OF THESE TIMES An installation by Jelili Atiku at the Lagos Biennial

EDITOR OKECHUKWU UWAEZUOKE/ okechukwu.uwaezuoke@thisdaylive.com

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Both Art X Lagos and the Lagos Biennial attest to the universal impersonality of art forms and even danger of unwholesome art forms, says Okechukwu Uwaezuoke

t the Old Running Shed, dereliction stares visitors in the face. And come to think of it: doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t the sombre ambience beneath its roof rub off on the babel of artistic expressions displayed here? The exhibition of the mainly conceptual offerings, in both 2D and 3D, interpolate into the grim world of the soulless old locomotive engines and scavenged coaches. Now resting in this pantheon of the long dead metal monsters, built in 1898, are a modular kitchen that was once used for Nigeriaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first prime minister Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s train and a carriage said to be part of the Royal Train in 1956, when Queen Elizabeth II visited Nigeria.

This space and its reliquaries of a once glorious past have been repurposed as the main exhibition venue of the inaugural edition of the Lagos Biennial, which opened on Saturday, October 14 and closes on Wednesday, November 22.

To get here from Jaekel House (which doubles as a museum), visitors need to look out for the tiny white signposts. The words on the signposts, which are made with white paper, are marked out in black felt pens. They point the way from the Jaekel House, past a cluster of old rundown railway staff quarters and finally across an old rail track.

Besides the Old Running Shed, the Lagos Biennialâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s other exhibition venue is Ilukwe House, which is almost a literal stoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s throw away from Jaekel House, further down on the other side of the tarred Federal Road. This is where the audio-visual installations are housed.

Recesses on both floors of the building offer sanctuaries to works that revolve around its theme, Living on the Edge.

Wrapped in the mantle of its history, this Railway Compound â&#x20AC;&#x201C; embedded in the Lagos mainland neighbourhood of Ebutte-Metta â&#x20AC;&#x201C; manages to remain an islet of serenity amidst the bedlam of its environs. Is it then surprising that it now assumes the enviable status as the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s high-profile international art venue?

Curiously, its artistic director Folakunle Oshun laments that: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Art, for too long, has proffered beautiful but unrealistic and unachievable solutions to the issues of society; asking more questions than it answers.â&#x20AC;? In other words, this otherwise laudable endeavour is all about making art more intelligible to the obtuse masses and relevant to their needs. While acknowledging the close connection of art to beauty, its relevance to some message that falls within its scope of influence cannot be discountenanced. Yet, like any genuine thing in existence, it does not accomplish its duty without carrying out beauty in its wake. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Should art remain in its most essential form, whether or not it achieves a tangible goal?â&#x20AC;? Oshun wonders. It is, therefore, the biennialâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s aim â&#x20AC;&#x153;to investigate the realities of the losers in societies around the world â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the unseen majority who are pushed to the brink of their existence; in both political and cultural ramificationsâ&#x20AC;? that informs the choice of its theme.

The scene dissolves into the Civic

Visitors at the ArtX Lagos.

Centre in the upmarket Victoria Island neighbourhood of Lagos. A flashback to the final day of the second edition of Art X Lagos. The international art fair, which is arguably West Africaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first, held from Friday, November 3 to Sunday, November 5 at the venue.

Featured were a miscellany of galleries from Nigeria, South Africa, UK, Ghana, Senegal, Ivory Coast and Cameroon as well as artists from 15 countries. Among the galleries were Arthouse â&#x20AC;&#x201C; The Space, Bloom Art, Retro Africa, Signature Beyond and SMO Contemporary from Nigeria, Fondation Donwahi from Ivory Coast, Galerie Atiss from Senegal, Gallery MAM from Cameroon, Nubuke Foundation and Gallery 1957 from Ghana, Stevenson Gallery from South Africa, Tafeta and Tiwani Contemporary from the UK. Four independent artists â&#x20AC;&#x201C; namely, Polly Alakija, Rom Isichei, Lakin Ogunbanwo and Oluseye â&#x20AC;&#x201C; also exhibited a curated selection of their works. Another curatorial selection

by Missla Libsekal, the founder of art journal Another Africa, featured: NĂĄstio Mosquito (from Angola) and Pere Ortin, Lemi Ghariokwu (Lagos, Nigeria), Yaw Owusu (Accra, Ghana), Rahima Gambo (Abuja, Nigeria), Johnson Uwadinma (Port Harcourt, Nigeria), Olu Amoda (Lagos, Nigeria) and Wura Natasha Ogunji (Nigeria / USA).

In a nod to the 20th anniversary of the death of the Afro-beat legend Fela Anikulapo-

Kuti, Lemi Ghariokwu â&#x20AC;&#x201C; renowned for designing Felaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s album covers â&#x20AC;&#x201C; was invited to speak and inspire younger generation of artists. Then, there was Rahima Gambo, whose photography project titled â&#x20AC;&#x153;Education is Forbiddenâ&#x20AC;? (a loose translation of the dreaded words â&#x20AC;&#x153;Boko Haram), is set in the north-eastern Nigerian town Maiduguri and show an assortment of veiled northern Nigerian schoolgirls. A photographer and journalist, she relives the impact of colonialism on the locality and memories of attacks on educational facilities by the Islamist terror group. The Ghanaian Yaw Owusu creates value with a collage of near defunct and â&#x20AC;&#x153;worthlessâ&#x20AC;? one pesewa coins while Rom Isichei zooms in on his recent creative repertoire on the effect of digital technology and social media, which are aptly titled " New Artitudes".

A quick cut to video art offerings; the inevitable constituent of any international contemporary art encounter. Two videos rehashed old time-worn themes in the screening room.

Artists painting and drawing in real time, visitors displaying their colouring skills on a â&#x20AC;&#x153;danfoâ&#x20AC;? mini-bus and Lubee Abubakar taking random portraits of randomly-selected visitors added more

zest and colours to the event.

As a homage to Ben Enwonwu, one of the undisputed artistic greats in recent memory, a collection of his 57-year-old wooden sculptures owned by Access Bank held court on the ground floor of the Civic Centre.

No doubt, both the Lagos Biennial and the Art X Lagos are enriching additions to the already vibrant Lagos art scene. For this is an art scene that for quite sometime now have been stirring to life between October and November with such highoctane events as Lagos Photo, the Society of Nigerian Artistsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; October Rain and the Arthouse Contemporary Limitedâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s auctions.

Yet, the breathtaking visual puzzles, worthy of first-rate international platforms, easily robs these local events of their uniqueness. For they blur seamlessly into the impersonality of the other international art meets. Artists now seem to draw from power-centres of similar thought-forms. This is even when they operate from different geographical locations.

Also, with this increasing impulsion towards universalism â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and the consequent yearning for global acceptance by artists â&#x20AC;&#x201C; grotesque forms, whose effects on the viewersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; sensibilities can be anything but ennobling, are continually dredged up.

An inst

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nts as well as to the lurking

tallation by Jelili Atiku at the Lagos Biennial

ARTS & REVIEW\\ART FESTIVAL The Inverted Pyramid; Adapted from a novel by Emeka Dike

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THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER Ëž VEMBER 12, 2017

ARTS & REVIEW\\ FILM

AFRIFF AND THE WITCHES Stories by Yinka Olatunbosun

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he Wait. It was long like a maiden's skirt, but for the hot mixes from the wheels of steel at the red carpet, it could have been a bore, leaving many high-heeled feet sore. The wait was for the first movie screened at the opening night of African International Film Festival (AFRIFF), the seventh edition, which took place at Genesis Deluxe Cinema, Oniru, last Sunday. Actors, filmmakers, movie producers and other stakeholders in the industry arrived in trickles a few hours before the screening of the first set of movies for networking and if you like, glass clicking.

All seemed set as the special guest of honour and Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, surrounded by his entourage, walked in briskly.

Not so fast. A hand restrained this reporter from following the media team that gathered around the minister into the cinema hall. "Use the other entrance," the stern looking, lightskinned lady said. It was about five minutes away. At the other entrance, after showing proof of invitation, a text message, entry was denied again. "Please, use the VIP entry," another lady said, which should have cheered me up except for the fact that entry had been denied there at first.

Sensing that there was a disconnect between the very cultured organisers and the persons manning their entrances, this reporter demanded loudly why journalists from electronic media gained entry without scrutiny while others were given the run around.

The intimidation. With a voice towering above my height and the sum of those of the bouncer and "stern lady", I gained entry into the venue as the soft-voiced explanation failed to work.

"I screamed my way to get in, do I need to scream to get a seat?" I gently asked the usher who quickly got a seat for me in the front row.

It was later discovered that many colleagues who got in to witness the opening night were denied entry several times. Some never entered.

Recovering from the private fear of being turned away after driving for two hours on a light traffic Sunday, I settled into the cool temperature in an atmosphere of banters, kick-started by the Commissioner of Information and Culture, Lagos State, Steve Ayorinde.

He promised that his speech would not be as long as Herbert Wigwe, CEO, Access Bank, a major sponsor for the festival. He welcomed the visiting stakeholders to the state which is hosting the festival for the second time.

"Lagos has always opened its arms and doors to visitors, ideas and collaborations," he said.

"The art, tourism and entertainment sectors

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Shula are major doors through which engages in collaborations with the world. It is important to inform you distinguished guests that Lagos welcome the colours and glamour that AFRIFF brings to the state because we identify with education and entertainment values that the festival brings to the screen. We cannot have enough of such platforms especially in a 21 million city state like ours. AFRIFF is only seven this year. But it has already made remarkable impact such that this might as well be its Golden edition given that this year's festival is coming at the time that Lagos just celebrated the 50th anniversary as a a state."

Ayorinde further described Lagos as "a city with a vibrant artistic soul", a fact that resonates in the spirit of the nightlife entertainment.

Earlier, in his speech, the CEO, AccessBank, Wigwe drew parallels between his financial institution's mantra and the dream for the movie industry in Nigeria.

"We need to take our future into our hands," hesaid. "My partner and I went from country to country, mobilising the private sectors to

prove a point that we cannot keep waiting for the international community to support us.

We have raised a lot of money and tripled the awareness."

"What Access Bank is doing in the film industry is that we want to raise the standards, invest more in infrastructure so that we can compete across the world," he continued, as he microphone projected a few noises. Were the witches to blame? Well, Wigwe didn't say but only added, "it will get better." The audience was amused.

In his opening remarks, the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed highlighted the key objectives of the festival and why it has been consistently successful.

"For the past seven years, AFRIFF has continually created a rendezvous for film-makers from Nigeria, Africa and the rest of the world, not only to exhibit excellent movies but to engage in creative conversations to improve the profession and set a new agenda for the motion picture bloc," he began.

"We are pushing for a single-digit interest on loans for infrastructural developments for the Industry.

We are supporting the building of 100 community cinemas to be evenly spread across the country. We are close to having world-class preand post-production facility using the current NTA infrastructure with a few additions.

"We want to ensure that in the focus on studio facilities, one is located in every geo-political zone of the country. And on the back of the DIGITAL SWITCH-OVER of our television, we are ensuring that the set top boxes are enabled to allow our 24 million TV households to buy our movies with and without the need of data.

This way, the home goes digital."

Meanwhile, the opening movie that night is a one-hour, thirty-minute long film set in Zambia titled, I Am Not a Witch. Directed by Rungano Nyoni, a debut film-maker, this impressive story of an eight-year-old girl, Shula, accused of witchcraft, proves to be an expose on how absurd bureaucrats profit from the culture of witch detection prevalent in many African societies today.

Shortly before the screening, a short CNN interview of former Akwa Ibom State Governor, Senator Godswill Akpabio with Becky Anderson was previewed. In it, he spoke extensively about his efforts then as a governor to stamp out random accusations and stigmatisation of suspected witches in the state. While acknowledging the existence of deadly supernatural powers, Senator Akpabio revealed that in most cases, women and girls are marginalised and ostracised on the basis of suspicion. This compelled him to enforce a legal framework that protects the rights to life and dignity for all indigenes of the state, witch or not.

Finally, the movie we had all come to see was loading on the screen. Titled, I am Not A Witch, it captures the sheer agony of a girl child wrongly accused of witchcraft, being groomed for marriage, and forced into a travelling witch show organised by a profiteer cum public official.

At the witches' village, she was received with mixed feelings as she was the youngest of the lot.

The witches, inspite of themselves, showed her love, devising means of letting Shula listen to the lessons at a nearby school, within ear-shot. Eventually, they gave her a "befitting ceremony" after her death. Her death was painful- a shocking stab to the hearts of many seated in the auditorium.

Undoubtedly, through this movie and several others screened at the week long event, AFRIFF has remained an eye-opener on the powerful role that African cinema can play in telling our stories with a view to expose societal foibles and propel necessary change.

FADUGBA'S FEMALE FORMATION

he ambience at the airy pool side behind Temple Muse, Victoria Island captures the reality of every human's quest for survival. The painting, done with unusual musky hue, is one in the series of works

by Modupeola Fadugba, in her first solo show with the optimistic theme, Heads Up, Keep Swimming. At a press preview of the show which opened on November 6, Fadugba introduced her multimedia pieces, relishing the moment after laborious months of painting, fact-checking and preparations for a much anticipated solo exhibition.

Fadugba develops the theme against the backdrop of swimming, a skill she thinks is a rarity amongst women of colour. Hence, she assembles images of women, across several age brackets, to articulate her message of equity, feminism, and social justice. Born and raised by Nigerian diplomat parents, Fadugba had the privilege of multi-cultural childhood, and issuesofidentitynaturallybecameherpreoccupation as soon as she veered into art as a profession. As a child, educated in United Kingdom and United States of America, swimming was an essential life skill she learnt at school.

Every swimmer knows that swimming can be tiring, hence,theneedforperseverance,wordsofencouragement and team spirit. Fadugba inadvertently taught this through her visual narratives comprising of synchronised female swimmers. Inspired by her find

in Ibadan, Fadugbaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s clusters of female swimmers as subjects of most of her works is no surprise. But while visiting with her parents in Ibadan, she was surprised to discover an international school where young girls learn to swim, even as synchronised swimmers. She, a guest speaker at one of the schoolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s event, is expecting to host a handful of these brave friends of water with her show in view. At the exhibition opening, her paintings will be showcased alongsidealiveperformancebysynchronisedfemale swimmers that speak of togetherness, and if the strength in unity.

Fadugba had just returned from an art residency programme in Casablanca, Morocco, perhaps with baggage full of clothes and rich cultural ideas, awaiting â&#x20AC;&#x153;baggage claimâ&#x20AC;?. To identify her works as they roll along the conveyor belt, you must look out for signature style, a technique in burnt paper which generally gives each piece a dated look. Fadugba explained that her use of burnt paper is to hint at the value of the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s currency-deteriorating.

Having lived in others parts of the world where coins are considered as part of legal tender, she articulated her thoughts on female heroes by engraving their images in history through her well-thought out paintings.

Take for instance, the large burnt paper coin showing the artistic interpretation of the image of Nigeriaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s medicalheroine,Dr.StellaAdadevoh,whoidentified

the first Ebola victim in 2014, saving Africaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most populous nation from what could have been a major catastrophe. Fadugba told the art journalists the story behind the making of this phenomenal piece. She recalled that at a point, it became very necessary to meet Adadevohâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s son whose account added more emotional feel to the work. Coupled with artistic liberty, Fadugba played aroundAdadevohâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s braids, emphasisingtherightside,splittingtheimagevertical to give a compelling interpretation to the physical characteristics of this brave woman.

When asked why Fadugba chose to appropriate the coin motif in her work, despite the reality that Nigeriansnolongerspendcoinsineverydaytransactions, the award-winning artist revealed that the coin still represents a piece of memorabilia, while notes can fade or tear with time.

Hence, that quality of durability fascinates Fadugba and explains why she made several miniature pieces capable of attracting young art collectors. Born in Togo in 1985, Fadugba had been drawn to coins as a child- which came to play in body of works titled, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Heads or Tailsâ&#x20AC;?. She validates her career in art with art commitment to using her art to fight for global access to education, especially for girls making a debut at Art X Lagos last weekend, with support from SMO Contemporary Art. This exhibition sponsored by Zircon Marine, Zenith Capital and Veuve Cliquot runs till November 27.

Pink heights

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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 ˾ NOVEMBER 12, 2017

CICERO

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

IN THE ARENA

Before 2018 Budget Travels the Familiar Road With the presentation of the 2018 budget by President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday, it is important for all the actors in the budgeting process to avoid the pitfalls of the past and work together in unison for the collective goal. Olawale Olaleye writes

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mphasis on time proved an essential factor in a budget process as President Muhammadu Buhari, last week, side-stepped some of the tardiness often associated with budget presentation since he assumed office in 2015. This time, he consciously moved to restore the budget calendar to the January-December fiscal cycle.

Tagged the budget of consolidation, Buhari, on Tuesday presented N8.612 trillion 2018 Appropriation Bill to a joint session of the National Assembly, which represented a 16 per cent increase over the N7.441 trillion 2017 budget.

According to the breakdown, of the N8.6 trillion estimate, the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing got the lion share of N555.8 billion, signifying the administration’s commitment to infrastructure development, expand the economy and create more employment opportunities.

The Bill also proposed N2.428 trillion as capital expenditure, representing 30.8 per cent of the budget, N3.494 trillion for recurrent expenditure, N2.014 trillion for debt servicing, N456 billion for statutory transfers, and N220 billion for the Sinking Fund to retire maturing bonds to local contractors.

As it is, the key parameters and assumptions for the 2018 budget proposal were set out in the yet-to-be approved 2018-2020 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP), which had been committed to the Senate and House Committees on Finance, Appropriation and National Planning.

Apparently impressed by this positive turn of event, especially with the timely presentation of the budget, the President of the Senate, Senator Bukola Saraki, and his counterpart in the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, hinged the early passage of the budget on the cordial relations between the executive and the legislative arms of government.

To say that the last two budgets were far from being impressive is not only saying the obvious but alluding to the thinking of a majority of Nigerians as evidenced by facts. With a rather poor kick-off in 2016, which resulted in controversies – ranging from the budget being declared missing to having two copies of it in circulation and later allegations of padding – the 2016 budget seemed jinxed from the start.

Buhari presenting the 2018 budget

But if anyone had thought that the 2016 budget would be gone with such mediocrity, you only needed to have waited for the 2017 fiscal projection. It was as if government learnt nothing from the experience of 2016 and the same thing, with even worse characterization fraught that bill.

This would later result in bitter rivalry between the legislature and the executive to the extent that the budget was stalled for so long, unfortunately with avoidable diatribes between the lawmakers and some of the key ministers. In a nutshell, the 2017 budget was a poorer version of the tawdry and mediocre process that typified that of 2016.

But with the step taken last Tuesday

by Buhari through an early presentation of the budget, an idea conceived to meet his administration’s target of restoring the budget calendar, the 2018 budget may eventually travel a different road that may impact the economy positively,

at least before the next election. The time may be short but not insufficient to establish change in a way that would redefine the entire curve of development.

The president put it succinctly when he contended that, “Nigeria’s journey out of the recent recession was a revealing one.

We heard many opinions from within and outside Nigeria on how best to address our economic woes. We listened carefully and studied these proposals diligently.

“Our belief has always been that the quickest and easiest solution may not necessarily be the best solution for a nation as diverse as ours. We took our time to create a balanced and equitable response, keeping in mind that only tailored Nigerian solutions can fix Nigeria’s unique problems.” That is it…evolving a Nigerian solution to a Nigerian problem in a manner addresses the realities.

But Saraki’s prognosis is a reminder that it is not yet uhuru. Listen to him: “Many businesses were adversely affected by the

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

Alleged Corruption in the Army

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n anonymous but brave soldier from operation Lafiya Dole recently wrote an open letter to President Muhammadu Buhari.

He claimed his letter was inspired by an online correspondence between Dr. Idris Ahmed of CUPS and Army spokesman, Brigadier General S.K. Usman, adding: “I have decided to take a major risk and write to your Excellency directly over this issue.”

After a subtle attempt to describe himself without directly mentioning his name, he pointedly told the president there was serious corruption in the army. He spoke about how they were poorly fed; how they got the most miserable treatment after any engagement with terrorist and how they

were not paid their operation dues despite taking a risk for the nation and ready to pay the supreme price.

“Your Excellency, corruption in the Army is real, and it is killing us,”he said emphatically. Perhaps, the president too is not oblivious of this ugly fact.

With the recent trial of some senior army officers over failed contracts, the president cannot allow this anonymous letter to go uninvestigated. An urgent investigation into the allegations made by this soldier is even more important because they affect the president’s primary constituency – the military.The president should not allow this issue to be swept under the carpet because a lot is at stake for not only his anti-graft war, but also the unending war against insurgency. Alleged corruption in the army is real and the president must be interested.

Buratai

recession; many lost their means of livelihood. As the country emerges from that period of uncertainty, the question on the lips of many Nigerians has been this: How does the recovery translate into tangible economic benefits for me?

“We must remember that the real gains must be felt on a personal level by the individual, for economic recovery to have meaning. People are seeking to get back to work but cannot find jobs.”

These are the issues that the 2018 budget must address. It is too late to start mealy-mouthing what the issues are when it is almost the twilight of the administration. There is pain, hunger, anguish, anger and staggering disappointment in the land, all of which the two last budgets have failed to address.

Maybe, just maybe, the 2018 budget will attempt an effort. It is then the consolidation which this budget proposes can begin to have a meaning, even to the average person on the street.

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ NOVEMBER 12, 2017

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BRIEFINGNOTES El-Zakzaky: When Will the Rule of Law Prevail?

The continuous detention of the leader of Islamic Movement in Nigeria, Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky, and his wife, Zeenat, for almost two years without trial is a sour point in the human rights rating of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration, writes John Shiklam

Zakzaky and his wife, Zeenat

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y December 14, it would be two years since the Muhammadu Buhari administration detained the leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky and his wife, Zeenat without trial even against court orders. Unfortunately, the case of El-Zakzaky and wife has however become oneoftheworstcasesofhumanrightabusesbeing recorded against the administration of President Buhari.

Zakzaky and Zeenat had been in detention sinceDecember14,2015,followingaclashbetween his followers and the Nigerian Army in Zaria, Kaduna State. Many of his followers, who were equally arrested during the incident, are also in prison custody facing different charges.

By next month, the Islamic leader and his wife would have spent two years in detention without trial despite a court order for their release.

AnAbujaFederalHighCourthadonDecember 2,2016,declaredtheircontinuousdetentionwithout trial illegal.

Counsel to the Shiite leader, Femi Falana, had approached the court to demand the release of the duoseveralmonthsaftertheirarrestwithoutbeing charged to Court, arguing that their continuous detention was unlawful and a violation of their fundamental rights.

Justice Gabriel Kolawole, who presided over the case, had rejected submissions of the counsel to the State Security Service (SSS), Tijjani Gazali, that El-Zakzaky was being held in protective custody of the SSS, noting that, “I have not been shown any incident report or any complaint lodged by residents around the neighbourhood that the applicant has become a nuisance to his neigbourhood,” as claimed by the SSS. The judge had declared that the decision of the government to hold the Shiite leader for so long amounted to great danger.

Citing the death of a former leader of the Boko Haram leader, Mohammed Yusuf, the judge had observed that, “If the applicant dies in custody which I do not pray for, it could result in many needless deaths.”

He however ruled that the continued detention of the couple violated their rights under Section 35 (1) of the Constitution and provisions of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights.

Consequently, he ordered that the Shi’ite leader and his wife be released within 45 days and must be provided with a suitable accommodation and security.Thecourtalsoorderedthefederalgovern-

ment to pay a fine of 50 million to El-Zakzaky and his wife.

Dissatisfied with the decision of the court, the federal government filed an appeal on January 27, 2017, on the grounds that the trial judge erred when he ordered that a suitable accommodation and security be provided for the duo.

Thegovernmentalsochallengedthejurisdiction oftheAbujacourt,sayingtheallegeddestructionof the Shi’ite’s leader’s property occurred in Kaduna.

The appellant stated further that the judge erred in law when he lumped two cases together in his judgment stressing, that two separate judgments ought to have been delivered by the trial judge.

Almost one year after the appeal, it is still pending as the Islamic leader languishes in detention.

Several human rights groups had condemned El-Zakzaky’sdetentionwithouttrialanddescribed it as one of the worst human rights abuses. His followers have also not relented in demanding for his unconditional release.

Ibrahim Musa, President of IMN media forum, in a recent statement said the federal government’s refusal to release El-Zakzaky despite the court order is the “height of impunity that had ever been committed by a democratic government in this country. It is even worse when a court has ordered the release of such a person, and the government contemptuously holds him.

“Even previously under a military dictatorship headed by Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, nobody was detained without an order made, pursuant to a decree, the States Security Detention of Persons Decree Number 2 of 1984.

“Nobody was detained without an order made by the detaining authority. Today, there is no such law. So, our case cannot be worse under a democraticdispensationasagainstwhatoccurred

in that military junta.

How can you detain somebody for about two years, without trial! This is illegal and undemocratic,” Musa said.

FalanahasalsowrittenmanyletterstoPresident Muhammadu Buhari, demanding the release of the IMN leader. The latest of such letters was dated November 6, (last Tuesday), in which he urged the president to stop the physical and mental agony that has been inflicted on the duo by releasing them to travel abroad for urgent medical attention.

He noted that the refusal of the federal government to release them, despite the order of an Abuja Federal High Court has created a “dangerous impression that the federal government does not operate under the rule of law.

“We urge Your Excellency to terminate forthwith the physical and mental agony that has been inflicted on our clients by releasing them from illegal custody and allowing them to travel abroad for urgent medical attention,” Falana wrote.

The human right lawyer also lamented the deterioratinghealth conditionof El-Zakzaky,who, according to him, “was at a risk of total blindness” while his wife is still going through “excruciating pain and agony” as a result of bullets still lodged in her body.

“Incasethefederalgovernmentisnotpreparedto direct the State Security Serviceto comply with the ordersoftheFederalHighCourt,wearecompelled to urge Your Excellency to order the release of the couple on health grounds.

“Although Sheikh El-Zakzaky lost his left eye while he is on the verge of losing the right eye sequel to the brutal treatment meted out to him by the armed soldiers, the State Security Service has denied him foreign medical treatment recommended by the local specialists, who had

Zakzaky and Zeenat had been in detention since December 14, 2015, following a clash between his followers and the Nigerian Army in Zaria, Kaduna State. Many of his followers, who were equally arrested during the incident, are also in prison custody facing different charges...By next month, the Islamic leader and his wife would have spent two years in detention without trial despite a court order for their release

attended to him.

“Even the alternative arrangement put in place by the family of the Sheikh to bring eye specialists from abroad to treat him in custody has equally been rejected without any legal justification. It may interest Your Excellency to know that the medical condition of Mrs, Zeenat Elzakzaky is by far worse than that of her husband.

“For reasons best known to the State Security Service, some of the bullets lodged in her body during the brutal attack of December 14, 2015 have not been extracted up till now.

In the circumstances, she has been subjected to excruciating pain and agony on a daily basis. Her life which is currently in danger may be saved and prolonged if she is allowed to receive adequate medical attention without any further delay,” the letter read.

El-Zakzaky’stravailsstartedonDecember12and 14,2015,whenhisfollowersclashedwiththeNigerian Army in Zaria. The IMN members, were reported to be conducting a “hoisting of flag ceremony” at theirHussainiyyaBaqiyyatillahcentreanddecided to block strategic locations on the highway from Samaru and at PZ railway junctions.

Incidentally, the convoy of the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, who was in Zaria to attend the Passing out Parade (PoP) ceremony of the Army Depot, was caught up in the blockade.

Senior army officers on the COAS entourage were said to have made frantic efforts to persuade the IMN members to remove the barricade for the convoy to pass, but they allegedly refused to open the road, which led to the forceful clearance of the roadblocks by soldiers as they allegedly opened fire to disperse the crowd.

Unfortunately,thisledtotheclashesthatclaimed the lives of 349 members of the IMN, who were buried in a mass grave in Mando area of Kaduna metropolis.

Suffice it to say that the IMN members had always been accused of lawlessness and lack of respect to constituted authorities, including the Nigerian state. They have been accused on many occasions of operating a state within a state.

In Zaria and elsewhere, residents accused IMN membersofillegalroadblocks,impositionofillegal curfews and checkpoints in and around Gyallesu area, where El-Zakzaky resides.

Theywereallegedtohaveoncestoppedtheconvoy of the former governor of Kaduna State, Alhaji MukhtarYero,andorderedhimoutofhiscartowalk.

(See the 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 ˾ NOVEMBER 12, 2017

CICERO/REPORT

R-L: Dayo Adeyeye, Ahmed Markafi, Ben Obi, Bode George and other PDP members

Flashes of Crisis at PDP State Congresses Heighten Fear over December 9 Convention The outcome of the PDP congresses in some of the states is a precursor to what to expect at the December 9 national convention, writes Onyebuchi Ezigbo

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n December 9, the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is expected to hold its all-important elective national convention. The exercise will not only serve to pick national officers of the party but will be seen as an acid test for its much-touted desire to bounce back to reckoning and possibly retake the power it lost to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2015. No doubt, a lot is at stake in this national convention and the PDP cannot afford to toy with the opportunity.

However, in the build-up to this epic event, there are signs that the journey might be turbulent for the PDP. To prepare adequately for the national convention, the party needed to set its structures right at the state level, having resolved the crisis that bedeviled it at the national level. It needs to harmonise issues especially in some of its state chapters, where there have been disagreements, crisis of confidence and even factional executives.

The party, most importantly, is required to put machinery in motion to elect delegates that would participate in the elective convention in December. As part of the moves to resolve outstanding disputes in some state chapters of the party, the National Caretaker Committee under the leadership of Senator Ahmed Makarfi appointed state caretaker committees in states such as Oyo, Ogun, Anambra and Adamawa.

These caretaker committees were mandated to help reconcile the warring factions and organise congresses that would produce national delegates for the convention. But so far the exercise has not been quite smooth-sailing as it has pitted many contending forces against one another.

For instance, the Oyo State chapter of the PDP is presently engulfed in another survival crisis as leaders of the party on Saturday held two separate state congresses. The congresses were said to have been held simultaneously at the Baptist Secondary School, Oke-Ado and Watershed ground, Old Ife road, both in Ibadan, the state capital.

In the end, two persons emerged leaders from the parallel congresses. While Chief Jacob Adetoro emerged from the Oke-Ado congress, Alhaji Kunmi Mustapha emerged from the Watershed congress. One of the major reasons for the two parallel congresses was said to be the failure of the leaders to agree on how to share party executives among the different interest groups within the Oyo PDP. What is particularly worrisome about the

resurgent crisis in the Oyo PDP is the fact that the party was still basking in the euphoria of having attracted back to its fold one of the key elements in the state, a former governor, Alhaji Rashidi Ladoja, and his supporters.

But his re-entry seemed to have reenacted the old rivalry between the former governor and others led by Seyi Makinde, Senator Hosea Ayoola Agboola and Hon. Mulikat Adeola Akande.

Those at the congress held at the Watershed ground include Senator Rashidi Ladoja, Chairman of the party’s caretaker committee, Hon. Tunde Akogun and other stalwarts of the party. Whereas at the Oke-Ado congress, there were, Makinde, former Social Democratic Party (SDP) governorship candidate in the state, Senator Agboola, Hon. Akande, Alhaji Hazeem Gbolarumi, Alhaja Bose Adedibu, Hon. Oluyemi Taiwo, Hon. Tirimisiyu Okunola, and Hon. Dare Adeleke..

In the end, the two congresses produced parallel executives with Chief Ogunlade Segun and Mr. Wasiu Adeleke emerging as Vice Chairman and Secretary respectively at the Oke-Ado congress while the Watershed congress on the other hand, produced Alhaji Wasiu Emiola as State Secretary and Engineer Akeem Olatunji as Publicity Secretary.

An intriguing aspect of the development is that most of the leaders of the Oyo PDP still expressed their commitment to work together to ensure that the political party returns to power in the state in 2019 even with the seeming polarisation.

Makinde was recently quoted as saying, “What we are witnessing here today is normal in politics. There is no rancour among us”.

If one can describe the situation in the Oyo state PDP as a mild disagreement, that of Ogun state chapter is a rather different kettle of fish as the factions are set apart, perhaps, by irreconcilable interests and are in the courts.

In Ogun PDP, what appears to have heightened the crisis is the supremacy battle between former governor Gbenga Daniel and a serving Senator representing Ogun East senatorial district, Senator Buruji Kashamu.

The duo is said to be behind the seemingly unending struggle for the party structure in the state.

Whereas a recent congress ordered by the Makarfi-PDP National Caretaker Committee produced a new state party executive led

by Chief Eddie Oyefeso, the other faction loyal to Senator Kashamu has rejected its outcome, insisting that it was illegal. The

faction led by Mr. Bayo Dayo had earlier approached a magistrate court in Abeokuta, where it obtained an order to restrain the state Caretaker Committee from going ahead to conduct the congress.

The National caretaker committee chairman, Senator Makarfi, has responded to the development in the Ogun PDP chapter, accusing Senator Kashamu of instigating the crisis in Ogun State chapter. Inaugurating the caretaker committees for Osun and Adamawa States at the PDP national secretariat, in Abuja, Makarfi maintained that Ogun State was one of seven states, where caretaker committee were appointed to take over the affairs of the party.

Makarfi regretted that Ogun PDP caretaker committee has not been able to function due to the refusal of the existing state executive committee, which is loyal to Kashamu to hand over to it. On the other hand, pro-Kashamu state executive committee claimed it has court orders recognising it as the valid executive committee, which are yet to be challenged in the appeal court.

“It is very unfortunate that some members are still rushing to court over party matters without following due process. This must stop forthwith, members should embrace peace. We are all members of the party and the interests of all party members will be protected. From now on, going to court on party matters will be seriously resisted by the leadership. You must look inward for peaceful resolution of your grievances as contained in the party’s constitution,” Makarfi said.

Adamawa State is another area, where trouble is brewing due to the fallouts of the recent state congress. Supporters of the former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, who is being rumoured to be planning a return to the PDP, have clashed with some stakeholders of the party in the state.

An aggrieved stakeholder of the PDP from Adamawa, Dr. Umar Ardo, took his protest to the PDP headquarters, where he submitted a petition. Ardo, who is a former Special Assistant to Atiku on Research and Strategy, alleged in a press conference in Abuja on Tuesday that the conduct of state congress in Adamawa was deliberately skewed to favour supporters of Atiku Abubakar.

Ardo, who submitted a petition against the outcome of the Adamawa State congress to the party national leadership, accused the members of the state caretaker committee of flouting the party’s constitution and directive

of the national caretaker committee. He alleged that state caretaker committee simply shared the positions of the state executive committee among themselves.

Some of the areas of dispute arising from the last Saturday’s congress in Adamawa State include the chairmen and delegates in Yola South, Girei, Numam Madagali and Jada Local Government Areas. Although his claims are yet to be verified, Ardo was vehement in his condemnation of what he described as acts of impunity perpetrated by the state caretaker committee and accused them of transmuting themselves to substantive executive of PDP contrary to their mandate.

Battle for the National Chairmanship Aside from the turbulence being witnessed in the conduct of state congresses and selection of delegates to the national convention, another area that is presently giving cause for worry is the tussle for the next national chairman of the PDP. The battle for the coveted chairmanship seat is becoming intense by the day and it is not certain if efforts to broker a consensus amongst the contenders will succeed.

Amongst the aspirants that are jostling for the chairmanship seat are former Deputy National Chairman of the PDP, Chief Bode George; founder of Daar Communication Plc, Chief Raymond Dokpesi; former Acting National Chairman, Uche Secondus; Ex-Ministers, Prof.

Taoheed Adedoja and Prof Tunde Adeniran; former Oyo State governor, Alhaji Rasheed Ladoja; former Ogun State governor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, and Mr. Jimi Agbaje.

So far, George, Dokpesi, Daniel, Secondus and Adeniran have purchased the nomination forms, while others are expected to do so before the end of the deadline. Also, Dokpesi submitted his nomination form last Wednesday.

But indications emerged yesterday that the effort to broker a consensus among the chairmanship aspirants may prove difficult because of the various interests of those who want to secure the chairmanship position.

Apart from the antics of the presidential hopefuls, who are known to be pulling the strings behind the scene, another interest group that is openly canvassing to take control of the party structure by snatching the chairmanship seat has members of the Board of Trustees (BoT). This group, made up of old and experienced politicians, have allegedly regrouped to support one of their own, Prof. Adeniran to see if he could clinch the job.

They were said to be behind the attempt to

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CICERO/REPORT

In Kogi, the Drama Never Ceases The lingering face-off between the Kogi State Governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, and Senator Dino Melaye assumed another condescending twist during this year’s Kabba Day celebration, writes Yekini Jimoh

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he political tussle between the Kogi State Governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello and the Senator representing Kogi West senatorial district, Dino Melaye resurfaced recently during this year’s Kabba Day celebration, which took place at Kabba township stadium. The annual festival was organised by the Kabba Development Association to celebrate the people of Kabba and also to raise funds for the union.

It is an annual event that brought home the who-is-who in the state, including those in the diaspora. The event usually unites the people of the ‘Owes’. From politicians, doctors, businessmen and women, market women and students – they all see the event as the only thing that brings joy and happiness to the community.

Thus, this year’s event was quite colourful as the people trooped out in their thousands to witness the occasion.

Among the prominent indigenes invited to the event included the paramount ruler of Ife, the Oni Ife, Oba Enitan Adeyeye Ogunwusi, Ojaja II; Governor Bello and Senator Melaye; a member of House of Representatives, Hon. Tajudeen Yusuf and Hon. James Faleke; the Speaker, Kogi State House of Assembly, Hon. Yomi Matthew Kolawole and other national and state assembly members and traditional rulers, among other dignitaries.

Different traditional dancers also partook of the event with colour, donning the venue that was filled to the capacity.

Melaye arrived at the venue at about 1pm with hundreds of his supporters dancing to the traditional music provided by the locals. But before the event proper, THISDAY reliably gathered that some traditional rulers from his area had visited the Senator and told him not to come for the event.

According to the Speaker, Kolawole, if Senator Dino Melaye had listened to the advice of the elders by not attending, there would not have been any reason for thugs to capitalise on his presence to unleash terror on the field.

“Senator Dino Melaye attended the Kabba Day last Saturday against the advice of the traditional rulers and Okun Elders Council,” he lamented.

According to a source close to the traditional rulers, Dino was advised to avoid anything that would bring problem as the governor was expected to grace the occasion. Dino was also asked to advise his supporters to stay away from trouble.

At the end of the meeting, Dino promised not to do anything that would disrupt the occasion, reminding them he was a sitting senator. However, from the meeting, he proceeded to the venue, where he was welcomed by his supporters.

THISDAY learnt that after his arrival at the venue, some hours later, some of the organisers approached and informed the Senator that the governor was already in Kabba but lodged at one of the hotels in the town. According to the sources, the governor categorically told the organising committee that he would only come to the venue if the Senator was not there.

After this was brought to his notice, he allegedly promised to listen to them. But minutes later, he was called to the podium to present his speech and donation, which he did and at the end of his speech he donated N3million naira and left.

As he was approaching his Bullet proof Mercedez sport utility vehicle, to make way for the arrival of the governor, some thugs from nowhere attacked him with objects such as stone, sachet water and other dangerous objects.

He lost the windshield of one of his cars to the attack as the venue suddenly turned to a theater of war. The security

Bello

Melaye

agents on the other hand did everything possible to bring the ugly situation under control.

Dino at this time was able to zoom out of the venue in his car due to the quick response of his security aides.

But for obvious security reasons, Bello who was already in Kabba for the programme failed to turn up at the venue even though his advance party was already on ground before the attack.

Melaye was duly invited for the event just as the governor but their long standing feud played out and marred the celebration as many dignitaries scampered to safety.

Bello, in a swift reaction, said he took a proactive step to avert an impending chaos that would have resulted in the loss of lives and property at the event.

Spokesperson to the governor, Mrs. Petra Akinti Onyegbule, noted that the governor’s inability to make a scheduled appearance at Kabba Day was to prevent the possible insurrection that could have disrupted the peace of the event.

“The alleged attack on Dino Melaye by some aggrieved Kogi west youths would have been worsened if the governor was present at the event”, saying as the father of the state, the governor decided to stay off to avert further violence.

“As the chief security officer of the state, whose job is to ensure the protection and safety of lives and property of the citizens, Governor Bello is committed to making sure that the onerous task of ensuring the safety of the entire citizens was never compromised,” she stated.

She hinted that the governor had said it many times that no single life is worth being lost for any political

misunderstanding.

“If my appearance would hurt anyone, I would rather stay away and let everyone be at peace. Kogi is for all of us, and together we shall build the state of our dream.”

The governor, however, urged the youths to shun any act of violence that could disrupt peace across the state, stressing that every life is important to him irrespective of who is involved.

Responding too, Melaye told newsmen that he was attacked by men he claimed to have been sent by the Kogi State government.

“Two out of the Ebira boys that attacked me in Kabba on Saturday were sent by Kogi State Government but were arrested by the Police but later granted bail following the intervention of the state apparatus. The thugs from Kogi Central were led by a member of Kogi State House of Assembly, Hon Abdullahi Bello,” he alleged.

He stated that his superlative outing at the occasion had angered the governor and his entourage, adding that the thugs also invaded his constituency office, in Kabba, shooting sporadically, in apparent belief that he was at the building to commission the facility.

People who spoke to THISDAY on the development were of the view that the event should have brought the governor and the Senator together and make peace in the interest of the state.

According to them, what happened in Kabba was a strong indication that 2019 general election in the state may not be peaceful considering the chain of ugly political events around the state.

t FLASHES OF CRISIS AT PDP CONGRESSES HEIGHTEN FEAR OVER DECEMBER 9 CONVENTION t Continued from Pg. 69 edge out some contestants from the South-west under the pretext of brokering a consensus.

Some of the leading members of the BoT like a former Minister of Information, Prof. Jerry Gana and former Deputy Senate President, Ibrahim Mantu, have been traversing the country lobbying for endorsement of their candidate of choice, Adeniran.

The move has not gone down well with other aspirants. One of them, Dokpesi has kicked against it, describing the development as an attempt by the BoT to have total control of the party structure. He accused some members of the party’s Board of Trustees (BoT) of trying to hijack the party ahead of the national convention.

According to Dokpesi, some members of the BoT were behind the attempt to scheme out some aspirants from the South-west under the guise of building a consensus. Expressing his concerns in an interview with journalists the day he returned his nomination form at

the party’s national secretariat last week, the founding chairman of DAAR Communications condemned what he described as attempts to intimidate the Makarfi Committee into endorsing micro zoning arrangement outside the resolution and constitution of the PDP. “Members of BoT want to take over the party. Some people want to use BoT to take over the day-to-day running of the party.

Members of BoT have been going out with some aspirants. They have been meeting delegates and stakeholders of the party.

Some of them (BoT members) smart as they are, are peddling rumours that the BoT has endorsed some aspirants as their choice of national chairman. But we know that the BoT has not met,” Dopkesi said.

But the Makarfi-led NCC has openly distanced itself from any move to endorse a particular aspirant. Rather, it has insisted that it would ensure a fee, fair and transparent national convention. It has also put paid to

the contentious issue about micro zoning of the national chairmanship seat to a particular zone in the south.

While reacting to insinuations that the leadership was behind the move to alter the micro zoning arrangement, which ceded the national chairmanship seat to the South-west, Makarfi said there was no truth in the assumption.”

He however cautioned against pushing the leadership of the party to assume powers that could make it act arbitrarily and which the party will later regret. Makarfi who said this during the opening of the 76th National Executive Committee (NEC) of the PDP recently, said the NCC has no power ascribed to it to warrant its interference in the choice of chairman of the party.

On the outcome of the meeting with aspirants, he said they sought and obtained from the aspirants the fact that they would all approach the contest with decorum.

A former President of the Senate, another

top member of the PDP, Senator David Mark pleaded with party faithful to reflect on the issues that led to the fall of the PDP in 2015 and do well by avoiding the pitfalls at the convention. He warned against impunity and imposition of candidates.

As it is now, everyone in the PDP appears to be taking positions based on permutations for the 2019 presidential ticket and where their interest will be served best. According to the approved schedule of activities for the forthcoming PDP elective convention, the sale of nomination forms and submission of completed forms is November 19, while screening of chairmanship aspirants will take place on November 22.

But many observers have cautioned against allowing the struggle for the next chairman of the PDP to generate another round of intra-party crisis as the party may ill-afford it and may not have a second chance of recovery before the 2019 elections.

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ NOVEMBER 12, 2017

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SUNDAYINTERVIEW Samuel Ortom

Ortom

Open Grazing Prohibition Law is a Win-Win for All

In spite of objections from herders massed in the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, the Open Grazing Prohibition Law takes effect in Benue State amidst fears that its implementation may lead to exodus of Fulani nomads from the state. But Governor Samuel Ortom in this interview with Bolaji Adebiyi and Iyobosa Uwugiaren says the law, which seeks peaceful cohabitation between herdsmen and farmers, is a win-win solution to hitherto internecine violence in the state

T

he law prohibiting open grazing by livestock has just taken effect. What is the response to the law so far?

Let me appreciate God for the courage to commence the implementation despite the intimidation and blackmail by those who feel impunity should continue in this country and that we shouldn’t do the right thing. Anyone willing to do cattle business or livestock business in Benue State will have to put in place the machinery for that business. The law is very clear and those who are not willing or who don’t have the capacity to do ranching can leave Benue State to where they can have the opportunity of doing

open grazing. But for us, we are not sending anyone, including the Fulani or any other ethnic group away from Benue State. It is not targeted at any individual or any ethnic group or group of people. All that we want is peace for our farmers and for those who are doing livestock business in Benue State, and we think it is the best option. I will continue to challenge those who think otherwise to bring to the table any other policy or programme that can ensure peace for our people. Because without peace there cannot be meaningful development. So the grace period of May to November, though it was not the right thing to do because once a law is signed by me it is supposed to take effect from that very day. But like I said, we want

the law to have a human face knowing full well that it was a new law, people were not prepared. So we needed to give them time. For us, we were compelled to do it and it remains the only option for peaceful coexistence between farmers and herdsmen because the land is no longer there.

In the 1950s when people talk about cattle, roads and grazing areas, the total population of Nigeria was less than 40 million. In 2012 we jumped to 170 million and by 2017 we should be more than 200 million by my estimation. Benue State in the 1950s was less than one million in population, today, we are over eight million people. Now the land still remains less than 35,000sq kilometres. So, you can see that the

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Continued on Pg.73

upsurge of population has led to land occupation by roads, schools, hospitals, settlements, markets and several other human activities. An average person in the state, which is the food basket of the nation, is a farmer. There is scarcity of land and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s just by the grace of God that Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been able to bring down land disputes all over the state. But there are still pockets of land disputes in some places. If you go round the state you will discover that almost everywhere is cultivated, there is no empty land.

That is the problem, it is not that we hate anybody. I am a peaceful man; I am a Christian and my way of life is not to intimidate or try to stop someone from doing the right thing. I know that the killings, the destructions and all sorts of evil that was going on became too much for us. So we had to put this law in place. We had tried other ways of finding peace amongst the people but there was none.

Talking about shortage of land, is that not going to be a challenge to the implementation of the law? How do find land for ranches?

No, those who want to do ranching can acquire land. The law provides that land should be made available to those who want to do ranching for lease, renewable every year. The whole idea is to confine livestock in a particular place so as not to allow it go out and intrude into somebodyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s farm. That is always the problem. Once they go out there, they become wild and go into peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s farms and if you are a farmer you know that is your own means of livelihood and then somebody is coming with his cattle to destroy it. The anger will make you react.

Most times when they are confronted, fighting ensues and once the herdsmen are attacked, they go and bring their militia. This is one aspect that is very sad. Nigerians we must learn to obey the laws of the land. Why should we allow herdsmen to be carrying arms and up till today security men have not been able to apprehend those militia herdsmen with those arms. These people are not Nigerians, they are not even from here, so why should we allow them to do what they do? What are our security men doing?

What are the immigration people doing to stop them from entering the country?

But ECOWAS protocols allow for free movement of citizens across the sub region.

Where are the travelling documents that they have to cross? Even if ECOWAS allows free movement you must have your documents. I travel to Ghana but I have my passport as an identity. So this is a big challenge that ranching will solve for us. I have a ranch and my cattle are confined in one place and the feeding takes place there and this has brought added advantage to the challenge of unemployment in Nigeria today. If you go to the farm, you will see a lot of young graduates who are employed and who are taking care of the pigs, cattle, chickens and goats.

What has been the response in terms of applications for land for ranching?

I think very few people who are mostly indigenes responded by establishing ranches. Like I said, leading by example, I have ranches, ranching my cattle both foreign and local breeds; I am ranching my pigs, goats, grass-cutter and rabbits. These are modern ways globally, this is what is obtainable. Some people have expressed interest and there are a number ranches within Makurdi and elsewhere where pigs are now confined unlike when they allow them to stray and move about and destroy peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s farms and all that.

I have, however, not seen any of the professional nomads or herdsmen indicate intention to apply for land for ranches.

But they are asking for extension of time to be able to understand the law and comply with its provisions.

We cannot extend the time for implementation indefinitely and allow the crisis to persist. I have not seen them make an attempt to comply even when we offered that when there are difficulties we are willing to help them. We said look: â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;It is a new thing so we must implement it with a human face.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; So you see them not coming fort, they want extension, extension to where? So it is a big problem. I know it is a new thing but let them just try it, they will love it at the end of the day. That is the only way to go whether they like it or not I know that eventually the entire country will not be ready to harbour open grazing because as I talk to you there are many other states going into agriculture. And itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the same problem everywhere with farmers complaining about the menace of herdsmen. Some of the farmers are complaining that they cannot pay the loans they collected from the banks because herdsmen came and destroy their farmlands. Ranching is a win-win situation for both farmers and herdsmen. The farmers can sell their waste to herdsman, the herdsmen can sell their cattle to farmers.

Ortom Now we are gradually entering an election year.

Would you say within the context of the challenges you faced, you have been able to meet the expectations of the people in terms of infrastructural development?

I wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t say I have met all the expectations of the people.

When I came in, there were very high expectations and using the experience I had gathered over the years as a local government chairman, state official and minister of the federal republic, I have been able to moderate our peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s expectations. I met a debt situation. There was over N69 billion arrears of salaries, pension and gratuity.

I inherited over N70 billion contractual obligations.

It was a big problem having overdraft everywhere.

The huge infrastructural deficit in Benue State was a big challenge for people who have businesses. But we have tried our best within the circumstances we found ourselves. We are opening up roads so that we will link them up, the schools especially the primary schools were in a sorry state; Benue State University was shut down for months; the School of Nursing was shut down for about three years; the School of Health Technology was shut down. These are institutions that have been adding value to the Benue people.

Several other higher institutions were shut down. We came in and moved into negotiations. We were able to bring Benue State University back to classes and we also provided all that was needed for School of Nursing to be reaccredited and reopened. Today, the good thing is that the schools are back on track and the students are already attending classes. Apart from working towards ensuring that the university resumed, there was a big problem that was hanging since the inception of the university, especially when the School of Health Sciences was established. Medical students were admitted and some were stagnated, especially the first and second set, for a period of 12 years. That is a course that you do for six years, some were there for 10 to 11 years and they could not graduate because of non- accreditation. We waded into it and by the grace

of God we were able to secure accreditation. Today to our credit we have four sets of graduates from that school who are now medical doctors. We were able to secure loan and match the UBEC fund from Abuja amounting to N7.8 billion, which we have injected into the primary schools development and through a transparent process we were able to award over 740 contracts for renovations and construction of new structures and provision of materials to these primary schools. We are also able to provide all counterpart funding to development partners, including UNICEF and several others who use to provide the fund but were all gone before we came in. We invited all of them back and paid all the counterpart funding. We are working with almost all of them and they are adding value to our development in their various ways. So I wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t say that I have satisfied the desires of my people to support infrastructural development by 100% but they also appreciate the fact that we inherited serious challenges.

Still on the state of the schools, we were at Government College, Makurdi. Why would your predecessors allow such a very important school to become so dilapidated?

Let me tell you something that will amaze you. My predecessor graduated from that school. You wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t believe that. When I saw it the day I went there, I wept. This is because that is a unity school. I queried my commissioner for not drawing my attention to it. I saw where those children were sleeping, oh my God, I said, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;chai, how will someone be wicked to this level?â&#x20AC;&#x2122; And that is supposed to be a unity school for the entire North. Despite the challenge I had. I had to do something. And I have gone the extra mile to borrow money to start renovating the school. That was the state of primary schools too. Primary schools were shut for a long time. I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to be talking about the past again. I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to be talking about my predecessor again, I want to concentrate on whatever I can do to add value to our peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s life. This is

In the 1950s when people talk about cattle, roads and grazing areas, the total population of Nigeria was less than 40 million. In 2012 we jumped to 170 million and by 2017 we should be more than 200 million by my estimation. Benue State in the 1950s was less than one million in population, today, we are over eight million people. Now the land still remains less than 35,000sq kilometres...An average person in the state, which is the food basket of the nation, is a farmer...

If you go round the state you will discover that almost everywhere is cultivated, there is no empty land. That is the problem, it is not that we hate anybody

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CICERO/SUNDAY INTERVIEW t 01&/ (3";*/( 130)*#*5*0/ -"8 *4 " 8*/ 8*/ '03 "-- t Continued from Pg.72 1500 and the rest people donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t go to work, all that they come to do is collect money. We will have no option than to look at those who are doing the actual job because the Bible says the worker deserves his wages. If you are working you should be paid as at when due. I go with this category of people. But the Bible also says that if you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t work you should not eat. So those who are not working and are drawing salary should be delisted from the pay roll. These are the two options that are available. I want to see the deputy governor â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s report to see if it will reduce because my target is after looking at the whole thing, for any reasonable government or organisation you should not use more than 30% of your income to pay salaries.

because I believe that whatever you sow in this life you must reap. So people will have questions to answer tomorrow. So if the people do not ask you, God will ask you definitely, especially when you are here to provide service.

Well you said you have paid some of these counterpart funding, which has helped you to make some of these renovations. How were you able to do that with your merger resources?

When we came in and discovered that our development partners had left, we invited them to a meeting and they told us that they were here to help the state and that the only commitment they required from the state was that it pays its counterpart funding. Some of them paid substantial part of the amounts, leaving a token for the state. Some are 50-50. We calculated our commitments and decided we had to do something.

There is no crime in borrowing, especially when you borrow to effect development, so we approached the banks, then we needed N3.8billion to match with UBEC to get another N3.8billion. That brought it to N7.6billion, which we are using to develop our primary schools. We needed about N2 billion to match our development partnersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; fund to get access to N5.5 billion. We approached the House of Assembly and got an approval to borrow the N5.5 billion. We are already paying back the money. So far we have been doing well.

Looking at your revenue vis-Ă -vis your wage bill, it is obvious that the trend is unsustainable. What are you doing about that?

I must summon the courage to deal with that. I have no choice than to do it. We must put the records right even if I would be the sacrificial lamb, because for the state to move forward we cannot continue this way. Like you have said rightly, at a point, the total revenue that was coming to my state both federation account and IGR was N5 billion. Now we have moved to N6.5 billion. We get about N6 billion from the federation account and an average of N500 million from IGR. Now when you have a wage bill of N7.8 billion that includes overheads and pensions, and you have N6.5 billion income, already if you were to pay salaries alone you are having a deficit of N1.3 billion. You can imagine the security challenges I inherited. That was another story that confronted us when we came in and to be able to deal with it, you had to spend money. The policemen, the military you see, the civil defence, their vehicles and logistics were funded by government because there was no provision from the federal government to take care of most of the logistics that were needed for the security men to deal with the security problem. So running government again is expensive. I do minimum travels especially abroad that I can count the number of times I travel in a year. For the whole of this year I have travelled twice, to China and the UK. And local trips, I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t just do it because I tried to but itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s expensive doing it. I have reduced the entourage and my convoy to five vehicles, yet I am still having some challenges with the security men insisting that I should have more vehicles and more people on the convoy because of my security and all that. Perhaps when

Ortom you look at the cost; you try to avoid it. It is expensive but you must travel to do this work and the cost of running government and several other challenges, natural disaster like it happened here you must clear it. You know that there are issues that affect individuals, which you must give attention to very critically and at same time government must run.

So it has been extremely difficulty. But our prudent management of the scarce resources has helped us to be able to put in place one or two projects too.

That is why I was saying I have not met the expectations of my people but they too appreciate the fact with the scarce resources. So, the salary matter has to be dealt with. Truly it is beyond me and at the last town hall meeting I held for the whole state, I explained this to them and they also said â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;look you have to do somethingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; and the instructions from the stakeholders was that â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;look get all the figures for all the states.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; I am doing that stakeholders meeting this November and thank God the National Bureau of Statistics brought the figures out without much labour and nobody can dispute what the NBS has brought out.

Because sometimes when people hear this N7.8 billion they say no, it cannot be, that we are making it up. So when it came out I said thank God at a time I want to do a town hall meeting and give report to the people that something has to be done about the huge wage bill.

What do you intend to do about it?

There are two ways out but I am working with the labour unions to understand the situation here in Benue and that we could not contend with the high wage bill. It was an agreement between us and them. Initially I said â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;look let us pay everybody across the board 50% of their salary so that at the end of every

month, people should get something.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; But they argued to their advantage and said â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;look donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t worry we understand your problem, so minus two months and pay us one month when later things improve and we have resources you can pay us the arrears.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; So the short fall of five months salaries I have today at the state is as a result of this arrangement.

Every two months we are paying one month so we leave one month behind.

At the local government I think we have about eight months or so. So that was the arrangement. We set up a technical committee to analyse what comes in and what goes out and they (labour) appreciated the challenge that I have and they too concluded that something has to be done to bring down the wage bill and also bring down the cost of running government. So that is where we are.

We have set up a committee headed by the deputy governor to review the wage bill. The first step is to identify ghost workers and we have done biometrics.

Then we look at those who are due for retirement but keep collecting salary.

This is ongoing. I think in the next one week this will be concluded so we can now do something. Now we will look at that if the screening is complete and we have a reasonable reduction we can now put this thing to rest. If they donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t, there are two options available.

We still have to go further; one is to convince the workers that we cannot continue to pay this, so let us go back to a percentage that will give us room to be able to pay salaries as at when due every month. The second option will be that there are so many people who are recruited and are redundant they are not doing any job especially at the local government level. If you go there some local government, like my own, that you just need 200 people to work, you have

We cannot extend the time for implementation indeďŹ nitely and allow the crisis to persist. I have not seen them make an attempt to comply even when we offered that when there are difďŹ culties we are willing to help them...So you see them not coming fort, they want extension, extension to where? So it is a big problem. I know it is a new thing but let them just try it, they will love it at the end of the day. That is the only way to go whether they like it or not I know that eventually the entire country will not be ready to harbour open grazing because as I talk to you there are many other states going into agriculture

But your predecessor said the problem arose because of your inability to manage your resources?

That is politics, if you ask them they will tell you that truly itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s just politics they know and I have a publication that my predecessor granted an interview in which he admitted that he made a mistake by accepting certain salary structure and doing recruitment that made the wage bill rise to N8.2 billion and this was without implementation of teachers minimum wage. When we came in we implemented the teachersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; minimum wage so it went to over N8.2 billion. He said all efforts he made to bring down the wage bill, when he realised that he made a mistake, was resisted by the labour unions. My government is God fearing, we have no time to blackmail or intimidate people. One thing I can say is that we are transparent, we are accountable. When I came there was this challenge that whatever the governor said was a lie. It was a spill over from the last administration. We will ensure that everything we are doing is transparent.

But now we are challenging everyone that if they know anywhere we have stolen, you can bring it out, blow the whistle, after all, you will get 5%. The issue of salaries is not only an issue of Benue State. You know what is happening all over the country as senior media people. You know Bayelsa and Ondo States. They are oil producing states with 13% derivation and many other states.

One other issue that is low is Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), what are you doing about it?

It is one area we have been looking at. Mind you we have improved from N250 million to N500 million. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s about a hundred percent increase. This is a government that has listening ear to the grassroots. While we want to make money, we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to inflict pains on the ordinary people. We are trying to manage it; we are maximising every opportunity that comes. Just last week I met with the Board of Internal Revenue Service and State Executive Council and we encouraged them to improve. We also set up a committee to review the law itself and see how value-added addition could be made in revenue collection.

Sometimes ago, you said you were still waiting for Godâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s direction on whether to run for a second term.

Has God directed you?

I am praying to God to signal me. As at now, I am going at the direction that is not bad. I will make the decision at the beginning of next year. Once God tells me to move, I will move.

There is this growing controversy about President Muhammadu Buhariâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s second term. What is your own perspective?

There is no growing controversy. For me, I have made my position known. I have said that there is no credible alternative to Buhari at this critical time in the history of our country. He remains the candidate to beat. If he declares his intention to contest, I will be there with him. And I will encourage him to contest; continuity helps to build the polity better.

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CICERO/ANAMBRA 2017

Obiano

Obaze

Nwoye

Anambra Governorship Election: The Final Push!

Ahead of next weekend’s governorship election in Anambra State, the final push for votes has become fiercer as all the candidates – the major and the fringes – round off their campaigns. David-Chyddy Eleke writes

T

he past week was particularly an interesting one for the governorship candidates of the various political parties in Anambra State. First was the rumour of the interception of two truck load of sensitive materials in a hotel in the Okpuno axis of Awka. The rumour, which first surfaced on the social media, pointed fingers at the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) as the mastermind. But the national chairman of the party, Chief Victor Oye, quickly called together a press conference to authenticate the interception of the materials and also accused the opposition parties as being responsible.

Oye said the police had possession of the confiscated materials, and that two persons, who were suspected to be members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) were behind the importation of the materials. Oye, who addressed journalists on the subject, said his party would not tolerate any form of rigging in the election and urged the INEC to remain resolute in the delivery of their promise of a free, fair and credible election.

But in what seemed like a funny twist to the entire situation, the state police commissioner and the resident electoral commissioner, Mr Garba Umar and Dr. Nkwachukwu Orji respectively, faulted the report of the interception of electoral materials in Okpuno.

While the police commissioner feigned ignorance of any such arrest in the state, the INEC REC insisted that its materials were not missing and could not have been intercepted in a hotel.

Another issue that has also rocked the political space was the recent interception of voter’s register belonging to INEC in the possession of some politicians in the state. But again, the REC, Nkwachukwu, who was presented with the register after they were retrieved from the politicians, dismissed it as just a printout from the electronic copies availed politicians in the state as a fulfillment of the electoral act, which stipulates that the voters register must be displayed for the participating political parties to study, 30 days to the election.

The Candidates and Their Moves Obiano Consolidates with More Endorsements At the last count, the Anambra State governor and candidate of APGA, Chief Willie Obiano had concluded a tour of the 21 local government areas of the state. The governor, who was at Neni, Anaocha Local Government Council Area, the home town of a former governor of the state, and Obiano’s arch rival, Mr. Peter Obi, perhaps used the visit to Neni to mark the end of local government campaigns, knowing he was visiting the home town of his rival.

The well-attended rally witnessed attendance from notable personalities, who trooped out to welcome the governor, having been heralded with a 21 gun salute.

Obiano reassured them that his government has met its obligations one hundred per cent for the formal take-off by December of the Agulu Hotel Resort, which was handed over to him for completion by their son, Obi. He reiterated that his government does not have any differences with Ndi Agulu, despite the disagreement with their son as they have benefited immensely and will continue to benefit from it. He said the only thing he required from them was their block votes in the upcoming governorship election, promising them that if they supported him, he would reciprocate.

Within the week, Obiano also received the endorsement of popular Catholic priest, Rev Fr Emmanuel Chibuzo Obimma (Ebube Muonso), who prophesied before a huge crowd of members of his church that Obiano would be re-elected for a second term in office.

Speaking at the Adoration Ground, Uke, the priest said the anti-people plan to rig the election would not work. He assured the governor, who came to participate in a special thanksgiving mass that the people are with him as shown by the excitement of the congregants. “Governor Obiano will win the Nov 18th governorship election but there’s plan to rig him out.

God will not allow them,” he said.

He however announced that other candidates for the November 18 Guber Election had in turn came for prayers at the Adoration Ground but commended

Obiano for his good works in the state, noting that “the people know the right thing to do”.

As the state goes to poll next Saturday, many Obiano’s supporters are confident that he would win.

Though the opposition insists that he has underperformed, Obiano claimed he has thoroughly turned the state around. Some of his major achievements include the provision of security, which has made kidnapping and daylight bank robberies a thing of the past. In infrastructure, he insists that he has given Awka a facelift and has completed most roads bequeathed to him by his predecessor, just as he has kept the state afloat even in the period of recession.

An Obiano victory may partly be made possible by the craving for power by the people of the Southern senatorial zone. A zoning arrangement for power has favoured the Northern zone, where Obiano hails from, before power moves to the South. The people also believed that voting anyone outside Obiano might delay the return of power to the south.

Ezeemo Quietly Penetrating the people The PPA gubernatorial candidate in the forthcoming Anambra governorship election, Mr. Godwin Chukwunaenye Ezeemo, has been quietly endearing himself to the people through the signing of a social contract with all groups and people from all walks of life in the state. One needs to see how the gubernatorial hopeful bandies the contract papers everywhere he goes.

In a recent gathering, he revealed that he has sponsored several politicians in the past but that he was disappointed by all of them given their inordinate selfishness at the expense of the Anambra people. He named the current Minister of Labour, Dr. Chris Ngige as one of the politicians he sponsored, who are more concerned with climbing the political ladder than providing sincere leadership to his people.

He said he did not want to dabble into politics, but was pushed to do so by the insincerity of those he had sponsored. Ezeemo said it was at this point that he moved back to Nigeria and established his business headquarters in his hometown, Umuchu, resolving

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CICERO/ANAMBRA 2017 t "/".#3" (07&3/034)*1 5)& '*/"- 164) 506()&3 t Continued from Pg. 74 that he would spend the rest of his life in his place of birth fighting to get to be the greener pasture that Anambra youths are daily dying in the Sahara desert.

During the week too, Ezeemo enjoyed the endorsement of devotees of Catholic Adoration Ministry of the Holy Spirit, Uli, who were estimated at 10,000. The worshippers declared their unalloyed support for Ezeemo as the next governor of the state. This was after an interactive session with them during their routine adoration night programme, where Ezeemo exposed the ills of the current political system and how it had hitherto kept the people stuck in the viscous cycle of poverty in all its ramifications.

He promised that if he is given a chance, he would enthrone social justice, provide free and quality education, cut down the cost of governance and ensure that constant power supply and all other basics of life are made available for all, thereby making Anambra conducive for speedy economic growth and development.

For Chidoka, Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Harvest of Endorsements Chidoka is one candidate that made a very huge leap in the past week in terms of his aspiration. From getting endorsed by traders, Chidoka was endorsed by traditional rulers and again by a number of clergy.

Thousands of traders in the densely populated Onitsha Main Market in Anambra State on Tuesday rallied support for Chidoka, whose support base has continued to swell due to his pro-people plans and programmes. In addition, his stance in defense of the interest of the masses has continued to endear him to the people, which was the reason given by the traders, who suspended business activities to demonstrate their support, when the UPP campaign train stormed the market on Tuesday.

This came on the heels of resounding receptions in Njikoka, Idemili and Anaocha areas, where thousands of supporters, especially youths also abandoned their businesses to show solidarity with the UPP candidate in separate rallies in the areas.

Chidoka, in Saturdayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s election, would be expecting victory as he insists that only he and Obiano are the only two candidates in the race. His media assistant, Richard Ihediwa who spoke with THISDAY said as much. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Chidoka and Obiano are the only two candidates in this race. We are not talking about APC which cannot find its feet anywhere in the south east, or is it PDP that has more factions than they can count? This election is between Obiano and Chidoka, and I am sure that Chidoka will win.â&#x20AC;?

Though young and likeable, his major problem is not being a candidate from Anambra North. But for him and Ezeemo, almost all the candidates in the election are from Anambra North, and this is as a result of a zoning arrangement authored by elders of Anambra State in collaboration with Ohaneze Ndigbo, where they insisted that Anambra North should serve out its remaining term so that the Southern zone of the state can take its turn. The Arrangement looked believable, considering that both Mr. Obi and Ngige, who held sway in the state for 11 years are both from Anambra Central, where Chidoka also hails from. How Chidoka will surmount the arrangement to emerge as governor is yet to be seen.

Obaze Perfects His One Term Deal The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr. Oseloka Obaze has moved from canvassing for votes in Anambra to Lagos, and this seems a good move for him because a large chunk of the citizens of the state live and ply their trades in Lagos. They most probably will return to cast their votes.

Working in sync with the zoning arrangement of the state, which was ceded to Anambra North, where he and the incumbent come from, Obaze has devised

Chidoka

Ezeemo

a very potent method to woo votes from Anambra people. The candidate says that since the northern senatorial zone is entitled to two terms of a total eight years, he would do only one term, since Obiano had already taken one term. This, he said would make it possible for power to move to the south after his four years without delay.

But former central bank governor, Prof Chukwuma Soludo has faulted with the argument that anyone, who says so, either does not know how power works because they have not tasted it, or is plainly mischievous and wants to hoodwink Anambra people. Soludo, who comes from the Southern zone where power is billed to shift after one more term in the north, said electing anyone outside Obiano in the guise of electing someone from the North will delay the return of power to his zone as such a person will definitely seek a second term.

Oselokaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s team visited nine markets â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Electronics/ Electrical Alaba; Balogun Business Association (BBA), APT and ASPAMDA, among others. In each of the markets, Obazeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s message was the same, and were always about his regret on the emergence of the current governor in Anambra State whom he said has failed not only by poor representation of the North Senatorial District, but also by total failure to sustain the gains recorded by his predecessor.

The PDP candidate listed his major campaign thrust to the people, and said his manifesto is hinged on education as the major tool for the emancipation of the people. He said not only would 26% of the budget go to education, 10% of it would go to governmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s critical partners in education, namely, the Church.

He also said they would come out with a template for functional vocational education.

On election day, Obaze would be counting on the votes of the people, especially as he has been tipped for victory in the election by several groups that have endorsed him, but he would also be contending

with his fellow PDP members, who have sworn to ensure that his aspiration ends on a awful note, as they have insisted that he was never a member of the party, but brought in and also imposed on them as a candidate of Obi. Prince Ken Emeakayi, expelled chairman of the PDP in the state, who spoke to THISDAY, said his group, which he described as the authentic PDP in the state would not rest until Obaze was trounced.

Nwoye Boasts Federal Might The fear of most stakeholders in Anambra State is that the federal government may try to favour their own by winning the election, using the apparatus of the federal government as a way for APC to make an in-road into the South-east.

Activities of the medical doctor turned politician have remained under wrap, as he is one candidate, who is known not to make too much noise about his activities, but has continued to move into the hinterlands to solicit for support from the people of the state.

Nwoye, in a campaign ground in Awka, said though he hails from the same local government as the incumbent government, but he would trounce him to show his popularity over the governor. He said he was sure he would win the election in the local government and even go ahead to win in the entire state as Obiano has remained unpopular in the state.

As Saturday beckons, THISDAY has gathered that some members of the APC were already withdrawing their support for Nwoye, albeit secretly. A source, who begged not to be named said letting Nwoye win would truncate the zoning arrangement, which the state already has in place as he (Nwoye), unlike Obaze has never made any comment about doing one term, which means that he may probably gun for a second term. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Most members of our party would not vote for him, even those you read everyday trying to hype him on Facebook.

NOTES FOR FILE

Murder of a Good Samaritan

Ian Squire

A Briton, Ian Squire, who was kidnapped sometime in October, was last week killed by his abductors.

Squire was kidnapped alongside Alanna Carson, David Donovan and his wife, Shirley, the three of whom had since returned home safely to London after their release.

The quartet was working with a Christian medical charity, which provided free health treatment in Delta State, before they were kidnapped.

What happened to Dr. Squire is nothing but manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s inhumanity to man. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s simply banal, insensate and mindless! Dr. Squire and his group of friends came all the way from London, the United Kingdom for humanitarian purposes, speciďŹ cally to take free healthcare services to locals in Delta. What they

got in return for their selďŹ&#x201A;ess service and passion to help was their abduction and murder of Dr. Squire.

Although kidnapping is admittedly a national malady in Nigeria, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s common in that part of the country, where it had become a proďŹ table enterprise before a combination of military onslaught and amnesty programme reduced it drastically.

The federal and state governments must see this criminal activity as a monster that must be completely vanquished for the safety of the people and the economic development of the region. Security agencies must also ensure that perpetrators of this heinous crime are apprehended and brought to justice not only to serve as deterrent but also that a Good Samaritan may not die in vain.

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PERSPECTIVE As the Debate on Oil Exploration in the North IntensiďŹ es Bisi Daniels

L

ike a premeditated incident, last week, three stories were published by different newspapers on this subject; one by this author, deepening the debate on the viability of the renewed push for oil exploration in the frontier basins in the North.

At the centre of the debate is the prospect of a major oil find in the frontier basins.

Oppositionists insisted last week the search is wasteful because years of exploration have yielded nothing of interest to investors. One of them, a geologist and a former staff of an oil major, was elated by stories that confirmed his position. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The frontier basins have nothing to offer,â&#x20AC;? he repeated.

But the President of Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE), Abiodun Adesanya, responds with an analogy of the search for the cure of diseases such as AIDS and major inventions, explaining that some could be long processes which improve over time until success is achieved.

While he worries that no conclusive evidence has been provided by oppositionists to prove that there is no oil in the North, he believes that science and available data support the need to continue the search. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It is an incontrovertible fact that the petroleum system has been established in the frontier basins,â&#x20AC;? he says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This includes finding a source rock, reservoir rock and a conduit that links the two. Once these have been established, there is encouragement to drill for further examination. In the past some of these exercises were done in a hurry.â&#x20AC;?

He finds collaboration in the Group General Manager Public Affairs Division of the NNPC, Mr. Ndu Ughamadu, who explains that, â&#x20AC;&#x153;oil exploration activities and operations, worldwide, are long term investments and efforts. â&#x20AC;&#x153;In some cases, it takes years to make a find. Making a find is not the issue but doing that in commercial and reasonable quantities.

In the Chad Basin, for example, neighboring countries have struck oil. The search took them years. â&#x20AC;&#x153;In our portion of the Chad Basin, prospects of oil in commercial quantities are high and bright. Were it not for the security challenges there, NNPC would have gone far in its efforts. Imagine, we lost lives. And, it takes years to develop oil exploration personnel. â&#x20AC;&#x153;As regards, Benue Trough, Nassarawa and Benue states in particular, prospects for oil find are high. Oil exploration requires patience and understandingâ&#x20AC;?

Former Shell Expert The former Shell Nigeria director and respected geologist, who had urged the country not to walk away from the Chad basin, added during the week that:â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Basin tectonics of the place is irrefutable. The evidence of the opening and closing of the Benue Trough is there - the Andesites. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t even need to discuss the Chad Basin, the evidence is there across the border.

But I said the sediment thickness and volcanic May go against us on our side. If we decide to close our eyes to the science because of political hatred, may God have mercy on us and forgive us.â&#x20AC;?

The former director, had said last week that: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Take Chad Basin: you have hydrocarbons on the Chad side but we have not been lucky to find them on our side in commercial quantities. Reason: sediment thickness, trapping conditions and geothermal history - looks like (emphasis mine) the volcanics that occurred in that trend (and there is evidence in the Biu area) may have resulted in â&#x20AC;&#x153;over cookingâ&#x20AC;? and compromised the trapping. My conclusion: donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t walk away from such a basin. Invest in solid high fidelity

Oil pipe line survey data acquisition and processing, followed by and accompanied by â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;okponkuâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; i.e. sound basin studies. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The same goes for Anambra basin - there the volcanics resulting from the failure of the â&#x20AC;&#x2122;opening of a seaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; linked to the Atlantic.....and maybe the Mediterranean! (plate tectonics) may have over cooked the sediments there.â&#x20AC;?

Politics From the other side of the debate also comes the argument that the whole process has been politicised to score political points from a fruitless exercise. The Executive Director, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), and Head of Transparency International Nigeria, Auwal Musa, is reported to have said: â&#x20AC;&#x153;We should not bring regional politics to everything that can benefit the entire country. The project has not been seen as a national effort to diversify revenue. If it is seen as something meant for national interest, I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t think there is the need for the Sokoto State governor or anyone to lobby. There are signals that it is going to favour one particular region.â&#x20AC;?

A report was being made last week of the visits to and hosting of the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Dr Maikanti Baru by some governors and the issues discussed as follows.

Benue: Recently in Makurdi, where he hosted Baru, Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom enthused: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Benue people would be excited to have such projects come to fruition, because the state and country stand to reap numerous economic benefits from the development.â&#x20AC;?

Baru had assured him of oil exploration activities and biofuel projects in the state, expected to generate over one million direct and indirect jobs for the people of the state.

According to him, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Due to encouraging results of previous geological studies, basin modeling, aeromagnetic, ground gravity and surface geochemistry surveys, and success of ongoing acquisition of seismic data in the Benue Trough, will lead to the drilling of oil wells in the state.â&#x20AC;?

He noted that a contractor, Integrated Data Services Ltd., IDSL, will be contracted to carry out a seismic acquisition campaign with heavy equipment where long cables would be laid with geophones; and pleaded for the protection of the equipment from vandals. Baru also appealed to Ortom to issue a C of O for hectares of land earmarked for

the biofuel project enumerating its benefits to include about 63,000 tons of animal feed per year, 64 MW of electricity and 84 million litres of ethanol fuel yearly, among others.

Ondo: On the same day came reports of an earlier visit of Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu to the NNPC Twin Towers in Abuja for the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding(MoU), to establish a 65,000 million litres per annum biofuel plant in Okeluse, Ondo State.

Baru, according to the statement, said the project â&#x20AC;&#x153;is not fully an NNPC subsidiary and that some investors are also bringing in Foreign Direct Investment into the country for the project.â&#x20AC;?

Gov. Akeredolu expressed confidence that the biofuel project would take off for the benefit of the people of Ondo and the country in general.

Nasarawa: At a similar stakeholder engagement meeting in Lafia earlier, oil search in Nigeriaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s inland basins received a boost following Baruâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s announcement of the commencement of exploration activities in the Nasarawa Stateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s section of the Benue. He said the presidential mandate was driven by the urgent need for the country to increase its oil and gas reserves, thereby improving revenue streams and creating more business and employment opportunities for Nigerians.

Governor Tanko Al-makura expressed delight over the oil search in his state and assured the NNPC of the state governmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s support and that of the people of the state.

Sokoto: During the visit of Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal, to the Twin Tower, Baru said the corporation had commissioned a team to handle a similar mission in the Sokoto basin.â&#x20AC;&#x153;We have been on the issue of exploration in the frontier basins and so far some measures of steps have been taken.

We have already purchased aeromagnetic data and its being interpreted to determine the sedimentary thickness and the basin configuration,â&#x20AC;? Mr. Baru said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We have also awarded a contract for the geological mapping of the basin. I am happy to state here that samples have been collected, mapped, analyzed, and geological modeling executed to ensure data integration,â&#x20AC;? he added.

He said discussions were ongoing with the NNPC subsidiary, Integrated Data Services Limited, to award contract for surface

geochemistry, ground gravity and magnetics.

According to him, this was necessary to determine if hydrocarbon was generated in the basins and importantly, to integrate all data for understanding of petroleum systems in the basins.

In his remarks, the governor said historical records, which revealed the presence of huge deposits of hydrocarbon in the Sokoto Basin and the result of various studies carried out by government in the Sokoto Basin would be transferred to the NNPC to aid its exploration efforts.

Some industry experts are not worried by the political labeling. They say whatever name politicians give a scientific process should not discourage scientists from doing their work. In fact, according to NNPC, the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s frontier basins include Chad, Anambra, Bida, Lagos/ Dahomey, Gongola/Yola and Sokoto basins, as well as the Middle/Lower Benue Trough. They say the Corporation is also an active participant in offshore oil exploration.

Governmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Participation On the active participation of NNPC in the search, experts respond with the example of Ghana, which also explains the need for persistence in oil exploration. According to records, hydrocarbon exploration in Ghana began in 1896 but it was not until 2007 that a major find was made. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It was started by the West Africa Oil and Fuel Company (WAOFCO) who drilled in the area of Half-Asini. They were followed by the SociĂŠtĂŠ Française de Petrole, who began drilling in 1909, although exploration in the country between 1896 to 1967 was intermittent. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Major and sustained exploration activity started with the formation of Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) in 1985 and has continued until today. Ghanaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first petroleum law, the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) Law was passed in 1983, and in 1987 the enactment of the Petroleum Income Tax Law, again by the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC),government provided a separate tax regime for the petroleum sector. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Between the years 1983 and 1989, the GNPC concluded several agreements with a number of foreign firms, and in 1989 the â&#x20AC;&#x201C;â&#x20AC;&#x201C;Bisi, a journalist and author, has many years oil industry experience.

(See concluding part on www.thisdaylive.com)

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PERSPECTIVE

Garlands for Ahmed Bobboi Emmanuel Ugoji

W

hen he was appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari as the Executive Secretary of Petroleum Equalization Fund (Management) Board (PEF) in October 2016, not much was known about Alhaji Ahmed Bobboi in the oil and gas sector.

Stakeholders, especially, individuals and groups doing business with PEF, an organisation set up in the 1970â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s to ensure uniform pricing regime of petroleum products across the country and its distribution was written off as someone who would not hold the fort not to talk of making impact in an agency that was facing a myriad of challenges.

Just as the common adage which says that what an old man sees while sitting down, a child will not see the same even if he climbs to the roof top, people could hardly fathom the justification why President Buhari appointed Bobboi to man PEF especially against the backdrop that the Adamawa-born bureaucrat had clocked 60 years and had served for two decades in the same organisation.

Critics never believed that Bobboi is a man full of ideas and that he was only waiting for an opportunity to explode.

Available evidence has shown that Bobboi has distinguished himself as the man with the Midas touch and one of the best appointments that President Buhari has made going by the unprecedented achievements he has made just within one year in office. It also shows that appointing those who had served in a system as chief executives can be both rewarding and strategic.

It is on record that within his one year in office, PEF which was known for nepotism, favouritism and divisive politics in the past has stabilised.

Observers say that the organisation hardly made giant strides since the past four decades when it was established because square pegs were put in round holes based on a practice where staff deployments were made based on closeness to the chief executive and not on levels of competence.

So far, the 330 staff of PEF now work in harmony as each has been deployed to a team. Bobboi has also refocused their energies just as he had made them to realise that PEF is a national institution whose operations must be in line with the national vision. To achieve the feat he had to reassess staff competences.

To ensure the sustainability of the arrangement, Bobboi introduced a staff posting and deployment policy, the first of its kind in the history of PEF. The unique policy which is reminiscent of what obtains in corporate organisations, insists that for a staff to attain the level of a manager he/she must

Bobboi

have worked in the field and served in various departments so as to be well rounded and equipped to function. The policy is structured in such a way that no staff serves in one department for more than four years. Bobboi benefitted from such arrangement having served in at least seven capacities before becoming the Executive Secretary.

One spectacular achievement of Bobboi is in the area of Information Technology (IT) which has become a core area.

All the 130 locations of PEF operations at depots and tank farms have been fully automated in line with IT needs of the agency and refocused to deliver services at minimum costs and maximum benefits.

The fund is currently working with National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) to develop software that will make it possible for PEF to ascertain the quantity of products available in ships, tank farms, depots, trucks, pipelines and outlets. His interventions in IT has also saved at least N150 million for the Federal Government. From N350 million being paid yearly for IT services in the past, PEF paid N200 million in the one year he has been in office.

Furthermore, through his interventions in IT, payment of marketers has become more efficient and credible as PEF now pays based on services rendered as against amounts quoted on invoices, a major area of leakage in the past years. Payments are now done on weekly basis. On the other hand, allowances accruing for government from the marketers are now being remitted regularly courtesy of a new policy which allows PEF to withdraw its personnel from depots where marketers fail to live up to their financial responsibilities. Relatedly, any marketer that owes is not allowed to import products based on the new rule that PEF must give its nod before any marketer is allowed to engage in such transaction.

A new data center being built in Lagos has reached completion. The centre will serve as a backup for the retrieval of information in case a crash happens in any of the 130 operational locations.

On personnel development, Bobboi has made training compulsory just as such activities are tailored towards staff competences. Staff morale is very high as can be evidenced by the positive comments made about Bobboiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s one year in office. The same sentiments were expressed by members of PENGASSAN and NUPENG who confirmed that they are being carried along by the PEF boss in decision making process.

In the nearest future, Bobboi says that rail equalisation is his next target and that the whole idea is to reduce pressure on the roads. To make this possible, an interaction between National Association of Road Transport Workers (NARTO) and Nigeria Railway Corporation is in the offing. The interaction is necessary so as to avoid unhealthy competition for business space by members of the two bodies.

In addition, a transportation differential zone mapping that will cover mountainous and riverine areas is in the works. The essence is to seek ways of reducing the high cost of transporting products to difficult terrains in the country.

The equalisation of gas distribution to rural areas is also being packaged. This will serve as PEFâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s contribution to environmental protection because all the fire wood used in cooking in the rural areas contributes a lot to deforestation. A study on the equalisation of gas has been commissioned.

In line with the Federal Governmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s war against corruption, Bobboi never shied away from wielding the big stick on erring staff. Since he assumed office, five members of staff have been relieved of their jobs after being found guilty of infractions, while four others have been suspended. Likewise, those who distinguished themselves were rewarded.

Going by his performance within one year, only time will tell the status PEF will attain when Bobboiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s tenure in office runs out in the next three years. â&#x20AC;&#x201C;Ugoji is an Abuja-based Public Affairs analyst

Ă&#x152;Ă&#x2039;Ă?Ă?Ă&#x2022;Ă&#x201C;Ë? Ă&#x2DC;Ă? ĂŁĂ?Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x153; Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2DC; Godspower Adolor

C

onsidering that having an assessment of every venture is very germane, it becomes imperative to carry out a retrospective look at the last 12 months of the Godwin Obaseki administration in Edo State with a match of his promises and his performance.

The key imprint of the agenda heralded at the beginning of his electioneering campaign was to achieve economic prosperity for the state.

It was such that raised hopes that Edo would be transformed into a prosperous land in various aspects of endeavour.

Apart from the key promise of overwhelming prosperity, Obaseki had at his inauguration on November 12, 2016, pledged to provide the needed leadership to move the state forward by building on the foundations of his predecessor. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Today, as we begin our journey to build a new Edo State, I want to repeat and affirm that promise to create 200,000 in the next four years. And we will achieve this by leveraging our comparative advantages and our key factor endowments in production and commerce.

We will focus on commerce and agro-business value chain. Entrepreneurship, investment in industries and technical and vocational skills. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Many of the fundamental socio-economic development has been put in place by you Comrade Oshiomhole, we need to strengthen and expand the infrastructure that has been established so that we can have a foundation of which to build a new Edo State of our passionate dream, â&#x20AC;? he stated upon assumption of office.

He promised to accord the welfare of the people, infrastructural development, agro-allied

Obaseki and industrial growth, job creation, and completion of all ongoing projects in parts of the state, topmost priority.

One year into his four-year term, an analysis of the major promises of prosperity shows the administration succeeding in most sectors and hardly struggling to attain key parameters.

Effective government policies and reforms have been put in place to attract huge investments into the stateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s manufacturing sector, strengthen backward linkages within the sector and ensure the production of quality outputs in a competitive manner.

The governorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s promise of job creation, which many especially youths are so concerned about has resulted in the creation of thousands of jobs within a short time.

Indeed, the march to the two-million jobs

pledge commenced with the employment of 4,200 youths across the state under the Edo state public works programme on July 1, 2017.

In addition to that, the governor directed the engagement and training of 50 civil engineers to supervise the programme.

The beneficiaries worked across the state on 45 inner roads selected under the special window.

At that time, the governor promised to engage another set of 4,200 in August under another window for the construction and maintenance of another set of 55 roads, culminating in almost 100 kilometres across the state.

Of course, some would question the yardstick used for employing the youths in a country with high unemployment rate.

However, Obasekiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s preparedness for governance made that possible with the successful applicants being sourced from the database of unemployed youths developed by the government for the Edo Jobs initiative.

The efforts of the state government in removing barriers to trade and investment include the signing into law, the Private Property Protection Law. The law has criminalised the activities of Community Development Associations in the state.

The CDAs were notorious for harassing landowners by making them pay all sorts of illegal levies and fraudulently sold peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s property until the PPA Law was put in place by the Obaseki-led government.

Similar events had taken place across the state resulting in the noticeable improvements in various sectors.

For instance, the resuscitation of the Auchi Fertilizer factory and the Okpella Cement factory and the blueprint on sports were also products of summits convened by the administration.

The recent award of contract for the construction of 20 stadiums, in the 18 Local Government

Areas of the state and two in Oredo Local Government Area was birthed by the blueprint on sports.

Interestingly, when the intervention in sports is completed, there is no doubt that the state will regain its lost glory in sports.

In the health sector, the prospects of having affordable healthcare in the state are now certain given the ratification of a new Health Bill titled the Edo State Health Law 2017, which will domesticate the National Health Act of 2014.

Instructively, it was learned that the benefits of the bill include the remodeling and standardization of the health system in the state particularly the primary health care which covers 70 percent of the stateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s health challenges.

Accordingly, when passed into law, it will enable the state government to roll out Primary Health Care Models in the three senatorial districts, the 18 Local Government Areas and the 192 wards in the state.

The Central Hospital in Benin City is home to a multi-million Naira project, which, when completed, would compete with any modern hospital in the world. It seeks to end medical tourism in the state.

Speaking on that recently, Obaseki said: â&#x20AC;&#x153;meaningful health care system in Nigeria would be a mirage if government fails to invest in the primary health care sub-sector which is the foundation of a growing society.â&#x20AC;?

Education was not also left out in the ongoing transformation and consolidation in the state, as his focus on basic and technical education would definitely transform schools in the state into models that would produce technically sound youth population needed for industrialisation.

Summarily, these are undoubtedly inspiring signs that Edo is truly working. â&#x20AC;&#x201C;Adolor, a commentator on national affairs writes from Ikpoba Okha

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THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ NOVEMBER 12, 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 ˾ NOVEMBER 12, 2017

GAVEL TO GAVEL

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

From the Senate, the Stories of Mustapha and Idris Two significant events climaxed the activities of the senate last week, writes Damilola Oyedele

L

ast week, the senate entertained two important visitors, whose presence climaxed activities in the red chamber. First, the newly appointed Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. Boss Mustapha, started off by building a new relationship between the Executive and the Legislature. And this was deductible from his visit to the President of the Senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki. The second event was that the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, eventually honoured the Senate invite after weeks of recriminations. With these two events, it was a wrap at the senate last week.

Off to a Shaky Start The relationship between the presidency and the legislature, under the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, took off on a shaky note. While the President had claimed he had no particular preferences for whoever emerged the Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives, it quickly became obvious he was not happy with the choices of the lawmakers: Dr. Bukola Saraki and Hon. Yakubu Dogara.

And while he did not particularly state it, his body language inclined he was not necessarily disposed to working with both men.

While Dogara eventually settled for the President’s choices (veiled as choices of the All Progressives Congress) for Majority Leader, Hon Femi Gbajabiamila, Saraki did not, and picked Senator Ali Ndume as Leader (Ndume has since been replaced with the President’s choice, Senator Lawan).

It did not take long for his Attorney General, Mr. Abubakar Malami to file what later turned out to be frivolous charges of forgery of Senate Rules against the Chairman of the National Assembly, Saraki. The executive also engaged in a long drawn battle with Saraki at the Code of Conduct Tribunal, a battle which was eventually lost.

Perhaps, taking a cue from the (famous or infamous) body language of their principal, Buhari’s appointees seemed to be competing to outdo each other in showing disdain for the legislature.

For starters, ministers and other appointees willfully shunned summons by the lawmakers, and many only showed up after standing committees threatened to issue warrants for their arrest. President Buhari had the likes of Malami, the Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee against Corruption (PACAC), Prof. Itse Sagay, Comprotoller General of Customs, (who has been silent in recent days), Mr. Hameed Ali, seemingly bent on worsening the already frosty relations.

Babachir’s Balderdash The one person who seemed to make the destruction of the relationship between the two arms of government his personal mission was Mustapha’s predecessor, Mr. David Babachir Lawal. Lawal first indicated that the Zonal Intervention Funds, which is very dear to the heart and soul and re-election of every lawmaker, may not be released in the 2016 budget due to dwindling revenue.

He however was not diplomatic enough to accept that the ZIF being part of budget, must be implemented as law. He was later to engage the Senate in a public showdown, when he refused to appear before an ad hoc committee on allegations that he was dipping his hands into the funds meant for relief for Internally Displaced Persons in the North East.

The committee recommended his removal.

His response was that the lawmakers were speaking “balderdash’.

After some mediations, he was summoned again in March 2017, but headed to court to challenge his summon. Then, he made a U-turn and asked for another date, which he never honoured. He carried himself as an untouchable until he was suspended by the presidency, despite his query: “Who is the presidency?”

The rest of the story is still fresh in the minds of Nigerians. Lawal was finally recently fired, and Boss, appointed in his stead.

Mustapha: A New Beginning?

Senate President Saraki and SGF Boss Mohammed during the SGF’s visit to the Senate president at the National Assembly

Mustapha’s first major outing as SGF after his inauguration was a courtesy visit to the Senate and the House of Representatives last Monday.

Perhaps, he deliberately set out to massage the ego of the lawmakers but he spoke some clear truths of the role of the vilified National Assembly leaders in the election of Buhari in 2015, and the collective role of the parliament towards national development. He was emphatic in his message to smoothen things with the legislature for effective implementation of executive policies.

On Tuesday, when the President presented the budget, Mustapha arrived early and was observed working the crowd of lawmakers, exchanging pleasantries and mobile numbers.

He also stayed behind long after the President had left, still networking. His demeanor, which seems pleasant, indicated his readiness to work with the lawmakers.

Mustapha’s moves obviously pleased the lawmakers, leading Saraki to say “the days of balderdash are over”. The Senate has already given him a chance to put his money where his mouth is, and resolve the illegal extension of the tenure of board members of the Niger Delta Development Commission.

Saraki and Dogara may have also subtly set agenda for him. They have hinged the early passage of the 2018 budget on a cordial relationship.

“The early passage of the 2018 budget will depend on this good working relationship. The passage of important Executive Bills that improve ‘ease of doing business’ is also dependent on this. So, Mr. President, the 469 members in this chamber are your true partners that will ensure the success of your administration in achieving its goals and objectives. So, lobby them (not the PDP way), close ranks and let them work for you,” Saraki said.

On his part, Dogara too commended the moves by the new SGF. “Permit me to single out the newly appointed Secretary to the Government of the federation, Barrister Boss Mustapha, who only yesterday, in an unprecedented move, visited the leadership of both Houses of the National Assembly to

canvass support for Government policies and to strengthen the often strained Executive/ Legislative relations,” he said.

Even though the relationship between the Buhari-led executive and the Saraki-led legislature has degenerated, it would take sincere efforts, where words are backed with action, for the relationship to be repaired. Mustapha must go beyond the rhetoric. Right now, he seems to be taking steps in the right direction and truly, the days of balderdash may be over.

Idris’ Cranky Senate Appearance While any presidential appointee would gladly avoid any reason to appear before legislative committees (even for budget defense), Wednesday’s appearance by the InspectorGeneral of Police, Mr. Ibrahim Idris, before a Senate committee, can best be described as cranky.

The committee chaired by Senator Francis Alimikhena is charged with investigating allegations of corruption, nepotism, diversion of funds, sexual liaisons with female officers, leveled against the IGP by Senator Isa Misau.

Idris, who appeared to be on the edge of losing his temper, told the lawmakers he would not respond to any questions or make any comments on the allegations as his accuser has already been dragged to Court. He has also sued the Senate President and members of the investigative committee.

It was clear that he only appeared before the committee, to avoid a standoff that may arise if the Senate issues a warrant for his arrest, as threatened, or perhaps, the president has instructed him to.

While as his counsel, Alex Izinyion noted, to comment on the matter may be subjudice, the learned counsel also realised that the judiciary might not be so inclined to interfere with the work of the legislature, as several judgments have shown. In any case, the matter of diversion of funds (virement) in the 2016 budget is actually a budget matter and can be discussed by the committee.

If the Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly (Senate), Senator Ita Enang

was not at the hearing to soothe tempers on both sides, one could only imagine what would have happened.

It is however necessary to point out that the House Committee on Police Affairs in early 2017 had also conducted an investigation into the alleged diversion of the N7.2 billion appropriated for purchase of Armoured Personnel Carriers (APC) and the rehabilitation of 102 barracks across the country to other uses.

Idris finally appeared for the particular investigation after the House at plenary, threatened to issue a warrant of arrest for him. His submission was taken behind closed-doors. Curiously, the report on the investigation is yet to be released by the House, so the allegation remains an albatross he’d continue to shoulder.

IGP Idris

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T H I S D AY SUNDAY NOVEMBER 12, 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 Ëž NOVEMBER 12, 2017

IMAGES

T

he traditional wedding ceremony and reception of former Miss Ashioma Theresa Ishiekwene, daughter of former Director of Publications, Punch Newspapers, Mr. Azubuike Ishiekwene, and her heartthrob, Ubabuike Kanene Azinge, was held at Ostra Hall, Off Jobifele Way, Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos recently.

Here are some of the personalities that attended the ceremony.

Photos KOLAWOLE ALLI

Parent of the groom, Engr. Anene Azinge and his wife, Dr. Edith Azinge

L-R: Mr. Femi Falana, SAN and Deputy Managing Director, THISDAY Newspapers, Mr. Kayode Komolafe

L-R: Mr. Ogbueshi C.O. Ugboko Chief Tony Ike Ashi.

Delta State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Nick Azinge; Mrs. Rita Azinge and Justice Ngozi Azinge.

The new couple, Mr and Mrs. Azinge

L-R: Parent of the bride, Mr. Azubuike Ishiekuene; his wife, Rume and Mrs. Utu Otutu

L-R: National Publicity Secretary, Alliance Progressive Congress (APC), Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi and Managing Director, THISDAY Newspapers, Mr. Eniola Bello.

Prof. Itse Sagay and Prince Julius Adeluyi Adelusi.

L-R: Mr. Alfred Okoigun and Abike Dabiri- Erewa

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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 ˾ NOVEMBER 12, 2017

IMAGES

L-R: Mrs. Adeluyi Adelusi; Sir and Mrs. Arumemi Ikhide.

L-R: Mr. Louis Odion and Mr. Festus Keyamo, SAN.

Otunba Olufemi Okenla and his wife, Otunba (Mrs.) Modupe Okenla.

L-R: Dr. Mordi Ken and Mr. Muiz Banire, SAN.

L-R: Samsoonisa Keyamo and Esohe Adams-Odion.

L-R: Mr. Tunde Fagbenle; Mr Gbenga Ogunleye and his wife, Mrs. Gbemi Ogunleye.

Mr. Lekan Abdul and his wife, Kunmi.

Engr. Godwin Azinge and his wife, Hon. Josephine Azinge.

L-R: Prof Epiphany Azinge, SAN and Father of the groom, Engr. Anene Azinge.

Managing Director of Punch Newspaper and his wife, Mr and Mrs Demola Oshinubi.

L-R: Mr. Dennis Okogara and former Commissioner of Police (rtd), Dr. Aknold Abuak

L-R: Prof. Pat Utomi and Mr. Ololade Bamidele.

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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 ˾ NOVEMBER 12, 2017

SUNDAYSPORTS

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

Moses, Four others Shortlisted for BBC African Footballer of the Year

V

oting for the BBC African Footballer of the Year is now open as Nigeria’s Victor Moses along with Pierre-EmerickAubameyang (Gabon), Naby Keita (Guinea), Sadio Mane (Senegal), and Mohamed Salah (Egypt) were revealed as the five names to vie for the award.

The past season has been a breakthrough one for Moses who finally nailed down a place in the starting lineup of eventual Premiership champions, Chelsea. After years of loan moves, the 26-year-old cemented his role at Stamford Bridge - so much so that he became an integral member of their Premier League-winning team.

The date Moses might look back on is October 1, 2016, when Chelsea coach Antonio Conte, following comprehensive defeats by Arsenal and Liverpool, switched to a 3-4-3 system and fielded Moses in an unfamiliar right wing-back role at Hull City.

It was his first league start for the Blues in over three years but Moses was far from overawed - producing a man-of-the-match display with his natural attacking instincts and desire to track back.

The Hull victory was the start of a recordequalling 13 consecutive Premier League wins for Chelsea and 22 consecutive league starts for Moses, until he briefly succumbed to injury in April.

Moses played only three internationals this year, but in his first he scored in a sensational 4-0 destruction of Cameroon that knocked the African champions out of qualifying and smoothed Nigeria’s eventual passage to a third straight World Cup. Now Moses could become the first Nigerian since Jay-Jay Okocha in 2004 to win the BBC award. However, he will have to edge out four other candidates who have also put in impressive performances over the past year.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – Gabon and Borussia Dortmund Not once in the long history of the Bundesliga had an African ever topped the league’s scoring charts outright until Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang hit 31 goals in 2016-17.

The tally not only enabled the Gabon international to eclipse the feats of Ghanaian Tony Yeboah, who twice finished joint top scorer in the 1990s, but also become only the fourth man to net over 30 goals in Germany’s top flight - and the first in 40 years.

Equally impressive was the fact the Dortmund star’s 31 goals came from just 32 games, as a player with blistering pace and a poacher’s nose earned his place in the Bundesliga’s team of the year for the second year running.

AChampions League hat-trick against Benfica in March helped him to hit 40 goals overall, one of which won the German Cup final as Dortmund beat Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1.

Aubameyang’s form was so good he was nominated for Fifa’s Best Player of the Year award - the only African to receive such an accolade - while the 28-year-old was joined by fellow BBC African Footballer of the Year nominee Sadio Mane on the Ballon d’Or shortlist.

Internationally, the Gabon captain had a year to forget as his country became only the fourth Africa Cup of Nations hosts to exit in the group stage, despite his two goals in three games.

Naby Keita - Guinea and RB Leipzig Naby Keita may have started the 2016-17 season as an unknown but he ended it with his name in the Bundesliga’s team of the year - a public poll in which the 22-year-old received the most

votes of any midfielder.

RB Leipzig were certainly the surprise package of last season - the Bundesliga debutants finishing in second place - but their Guinean midfielder ran them close.

Just five minutes into his league debut, Keita an unheralded purchase from Leipzig’sAustrian sister club RB Salzburg - scored an 89th-minute winner against Borussia Dortmund to set the tone for the season.

In total, he netted eight league goals - among them a goal of the season contender - while also providing seven assists.

But it is Keita’s all-round game that truly impresses. A box-to-box midfielder who is damaging at both ends of the pitch, he has been described by an opponent as being like “two players”. The fleet-footed Keita is a player most coaches would love to field.

The Conakry-born star impressed so much that Liverpool agreed an African record transfer fee of at least £48m to secure his services in July 2018 - with Leipzig later saying they would not have sold him but for the triggering of his release clause.

Keita is primarily on the list for his club exploits because Guinea found the road to the 2018 World Cup in Russia too tough, even if the midfielder did score in qualifiers against Libya and Tunisia.

Sadio Mane - Senegal and Liverpool Senegal and Liverpool forward Sadio Mane performed so well in 2017 he was not only voted by his fellow professionals onto the PFA team of the year but he was also one of just two Africans to make the Ballon d’Or shortlist.

He also shone as Senegal reached their first World Cup since 2002. A clinical victory over South Africa at the Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane sealed their place in Russia, with Mane key to the Teranga Lions’ victory with both assists in a 2-0 win. In his best goalscoring return for Senegal in a calendar year, Mane struck four times in nine internationals.

It was all a far cry from the beginning of the year as Mane displayed a resilience to match his searing pace, trickery and finishing prowess.

For after an initial blaze of optimism - scoring in Senegal’s first two group games at the Africa Cup of Nations - Mane’s year took a bitter twist.

His decisive miss in the quarter-final penalty shootout against eventual champions Cameroon reduced Mane to a crumpled, distraught figure.

So how Liverpool were grateful for the way in which the steely Senegalese responded, for they had won just once without him in a seven-game spell in which they had exited both domestic cup competitions.

He duly inspired the Reds’ first win since his departure for Gabon when scoring twice in a 2-0 victory over high-flying Spurs, before also netting in vital wins over Arsenal and rivals Everton, against whom Mane scored in home and away wins.

He ended the season with 13 goals - his best Premier League tally - despite missing nearly all of April and May after having knee surgery.

Mane finished his debut Liverpool campaign as the club’s joint top scorer - sharing that honour with Philippe Coutinho despite playing fewer games - and helped the Reds qualify for the Champions League with only their second top-four Premier League finish in eight years.

Liverpool player of the season and players’ player of the season awards soon followed.

Mohamed Salah - Egypt and Liverpool Mohamed Salah may have scored over a century of goals but he will forever be remembered

Moses (left) scored against Camerron and helped Nigeria qualifier for the 2018 World Cup

in Egypt for just one - the late strike against Congo in October that took the Pharaohs to their first World Cup in over a quarter of a century.

Egypt - African champions a record seven times - had not reached a World Cup since 1990, but Salah was given the chance to seal their place in Russia from the penalty spot deep into stoppage time with the score at 1-1.

The 25-year-old somehow ignored the crackling fever to slam home, sparking nationwide euphoria and prompting President Abdul Fattah Al-Sisi to praise the forward’s ability to handle the pressure of over 80 million expectant Egyptians.

The goal cemented his reign as King of the Pharaohs in 2017, with the team nicknamed ‘Salah’s Egypt’ thanks to the winger often inspiring a limited side to the top.

Salah scored five of the seven World Cup qualifying goals that took Egypt to next summer’s tournament. He was equally impressive at the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations, where he earned a place in the team of the tournament after having a hand in four of Egypt’s five

goals - scoring twice - as the North Africans finished runners-up to Cameroon.

However, Salah’s outstanding form has not been restricted to internationals. After joining Liverpool from Roma in June, the start to his Anfield career could scarcely have gone better as he was named the club’s player of the month in August and September.

A goal on his debut helped him rack up seven goals in his first 11 Premier League games, and he has fared even better in the Champions League, with five goals in six games.

Salah’s superb start in England was a continuation of his fine form in Italy, where the diminutive player was a key figure in Roma’s best league placing in seven years.

He scored 15 times and provided 11 assists in a league famed for its defending as Roma finished second, trailing champions Juventus by just four points.

This is the first time Salah has been nominated for BBC African Footballer of the Year and he would be the first Egyptian to win it since the legendary Mohamed Aboutrika in 2008.

Port Harcourt Introduces Night Golf From Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja

M

ohamed Salah may have scored over a century of goals but he will forever be remembered in Egypt for just one - the late strike against Congo in October that took the Pharaohs to their first World Cup in over a quarter of a century.

Egypt - African champions a record seven times - had not reached a World Cup since 1990, but Salah was given the chance to seal their place in Russia from the penalty spot deep into stoppage time with the score at 1-1.

The 25-year-old somehow ignored the crackling fever to slam home, sparking nationwide euphoria and prompting President Abdul Fattah Al-Sisi to praise the forward’s ability to handle the pressure of over 80 million expectant Egyptians.

The goal cemented his reign as King of the Pharaohs in 2017, with the team nicknamed ‘Salah’s Egypt’ thanks to the winger often inspiring a limited side to the top. Salah scored five of the seven World Cup qualifying goals that took Egypt to next summer’s tournament.

He was equally impressive at the 2017 Africa

Cup of Nations, where he earned a place in the team of the tournament after having a hand in four of Egypt’s five goals - scoring twice - as the North Africans finished runners-up to Cameroon.

However, Salah’s outstanding form has not been restricted to internationals. After joining Liverpool from Roma in June, the start to his Anfield career could scarcely have gone better as he was named the club’s player of the month in August and September.

A goal on his debut helped him rack up seven goals in his first 11 Premier League games, and he has fared even better in the Champions League, with five goals in six games.

Salah’s superb start in England was a continuation of his fine form in Italy, where the diminutive player was a key figure in Roma’s best league placing in seven years.

He scored 15 times and provided 11 assists in a league famed for its defending as Roma finished second, trailing champions Juventus by just four points.

This is the first time Salah has been nominated for BBC African Footballer of the Year and he would be the first Egyptian to win it since the legendary Mohamed Aboutrika in 2008.

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High Life

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...Amazing lifestyles of Nigeriaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rich and famous

Love Actually... Billionaire Tunde Ayeni Serenades Wife at 50

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n spite of the storms that his businesses have been buffeted with, in the last two years, billionaire Tunde Ayeni, the former chairman of Skye Bank PLC, still has reasons to throw a party that would remain on the lips of guests for some time to come. It was his beautiful wife, Biolaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 50th birthday last Sunday. An intensely private couple despite their billions and enviable luxury life; Tunde proved, with his wifeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s birthday party that he knows his way around the labyrinth of high society. Not a few were astounded by the crop of elite guests that thronged the Ayenisâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; G.R.A, Ikeja, Lagos, mansion.

From one of Africaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s richest women, Hajia Bola Shagaya; billionaire construction magnate, Princess Oyin Adeyemi; Toyin Okeowo; to Otunba Segun Awolowo, the Executive Director/CEO, Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) and in-law to Nigeriaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Vice President; and former Central Bank of Nigeria Deputy Governor, Tunde Lemo, they were all there to fete and felicitate with the celebrant and her hubby. There were colourful confetti to usher

in the guests and canapĂŠs to whet their appetite ahead of the star-spangled evening. To set the evening rolling, the black tie dinner party had a constellation of continental dishes to choose from and cognacs for the men while the women settled for chilled bubbly of the Armand De Brignac (or Ace of Spades as more popularly known) hue. The billionaire host went around clinking glasses and ensuring his guests never ran short of bubbly while the celebrant, a picture of celestial beauty, took turns taking pictures with all the guests. A lawyer like her husband, Biola is actually a principal partner at her husbandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s law firm and CEO of Divine Endowments, a fashion concern. Turning 50 looks good on Biola, no doubt. Age has not taken away her winsome beauty and happy outlook. She appreciates this priceless fact hence, her predilection for unabashed modesty and moderation in her everyday life. While her husband has remained one of the most enduring faces and names in the business sector, Biola shies away from the klieg lights and has successfully retained her anonymity.

Musa Danjuma

TYDANJUMAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S BROTHER, MUSA, THROWS LAVISH BIRTHDAYPARTY The privileged few that attended the birthday soiree last Saturday, November 4, of billionaire businessman, Musa Danjuma, have not stopped talking about the lavish hospitality they were swathed with.

The younger brother of Retired General T.Y Danjuma added a year.

And to celebrate, he played host to

virtually all the millionaires in Lagos in his stately home in Ikoyi. From rich canapĂŠs to continental dishes, cognacs to champagnes, everything that titillates the palates of billionaires on those rare outings was available at the snap of a finger. Musa played the perfect host, moving from one table to the other to ensure his guests were having a ball and a blast. He did not betray the wrinkles of a man whose name had been dragged into a recent mess involving his ex-wife, Caroline.

The lawyer turned shipping magnate had a smile on his face all through.

There were whispers that he was going to use the occasion of his birthday to introduce his new wife but that was not to be as no visible missus was in sight.

However, gist emanating from his close friends indicates that though he planned to announce his relationship with Daniella Allen, a lady that had become a constant fixture in his life, things changed dramatically that evening. Eagle-eyed Musa was said to have been enraptured by the presence of nubile half caste, Yina. Reported to be in her 20s, drop-dead gorgeous and well-read, Yina, who has a masterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s degree from a university in the United Kingdom where she is based, is actually a Portuguese. But she speaks fluent English with a sonorous accent.

Interestingly, Musa and Yina had

Abiola Ayeni

enough time to chitchat as Daniella was busy attending to guests. While money is reportedly not a problem for Yina who is close to a number of prominent Nigerians, Musa has bathed her with much more than she can reject. Who Musa has been married a record five times is not averse to going the whole hog with Yina if all what we heard was to be believed.

PRESIDENTBUHARIâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;SIN-LAW, BILLIONAIREMOHAMMEDINDIMI, BAGSFOURTHHONOURARY DOCTORATEDEGREE The Borno State-born founder and chairman of Oriental Energy Resources, Alhaji Mohammed Indimi, bagged his fourth honourary doctorate degree from the University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom State last weekend. For a man who once said that he didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t go to school but now employs professors, every honourary award is a testament of how far his entrepreneurial initiatives have brought him. The presentation coincided with the combined 22nd & 23rd Convocation Ceremony of the University. Trust Indimi - a money man who knows the rudiment of putting money to good use - the award ceremony was turned into a carnival.

Uyo might be used to bourgeoisies and millionaires, when the Indimis rode in style into town, the serene city of Uyo

quaked to its fabrics. A father of twenty among several grandchildren, the billionaireâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s private jet was filled with his beautiful daughters and daughtersin-law all attired in the colourful aso ebi specially selected for the occasion. The children littered social media platforms especially Instagram with pictures, all affirming their pride in their billionaire father. Who wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t? Indimi is an in law of former Military president,

Mohammed Indimi

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HIGHLIFE

Segun Agbaje Rolls Out the Drums for Mother-in-Lawâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 80th Birthday

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n youth, she belonged to a temperance society and wore the badge of honour in the shape of a bow of ribbon to show that she would never cave to unrestrained hedonism and other afflictions of youth.

In her twilight, Chief Toyin Olakunri OFR stuck to her creed.

Never for once did she waiver in morality and personal ethics. Hence as she clocked 80 last weekend, her daughter and son-in-law, Derin and Segun Agbaje, spared no expense in celebrating her.

It was star-studded.

Who wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t pray to have Segun as a son in-law? He is loaded cash-wise and well connected. However, it is not every day you see Segun Agbaje, MD/ CEO, Guaranty Trust Bank, in an owambe mood. Last weekend

was an exception. It was the 80th birthday of his dear motherin-law, Toyin Olakunri.

The very reserved technocrat needed little prompting to join his beautiful wife, Derin, and her siblings in celebrating their matriarch and a foremost Nigerian administrator. The two influential families - Agbaje and Olakunri - harnessed all their contacts and connections to gift the octogenarian a day to relish and remember in the twilight of a most glorious life.

Nigeriaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first female chartered accountant, the octogenarian was also chairman of the Education Trust Fund (now Tertiary Education Trust Fund) between 1999 and 2007. She served Nigeria and Corporate Nigeria in several other enviable capacities.

Ibrahim Babangida, whose first son, Mohammed, was married to Rahama Indimi. Both separated acrimoniously recently. But the two fathers remain as close as ever. Indimiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s son, Ahmed, got married to Zahra, the winsome daughter of President Muhammadu Buhari last December which automatically also gives him a shoo-in into the First Family.

SWEETMOTHERâ&#x20AC;ŚTOP BUSINESSWOMAN RANTI JOHNSON REMEMBERS LATE MOTHER Few people get to transit from being utterly indispensable to â&#x20AC;&#x153;eternally unforgettable.â&#x20AC;? A real mother does.

And if she is some caring mother to treasure, she may be succeeded but she can never be replaced. This truth amongst so many others manifested in the manner in which Ranti Johnson remembered her mother last Tuesday.

Interestingly, if top businesswoman and one of the most beautiful and fashionable women in Nigeria, Ranti Johnson, would define her mother, Madam Beatrice Sercy Braithwaite, she would claim that the walls of her heart were lined with gold and silver; she would say that she lived by a moral code that dwarfed old Englandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s claim to chivalry and honour. Then she might say that even in her absence; that old diffident virtuosity she left behind, resonates poignantly like the timeless lyric of a heavenly chant. There are too many ways to describe Rantiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sweet mother, and even the best couched adjectives couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t do justice to the task. Rantiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mother died 5 years ago and her absence has only made her heart grow fonder of her thus she and her siblingsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; decision to host a special remembrance and prayer session for their departed mother in their Surulere, Lagos home. We ran into her at Vaults and Gardens in Ikoyi, where she went to put wreath fresh roses on her motherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s grave. Like a renaissance artist intoxicated by the muse, she chose to paint beautiful and everlasting pictures in memory of her mother.

Madam Braithwaite was remembered as a woman of unimpeachable nobility whose life of compassion and style transcended the familiar and often pedestrian vanities of humanity.

LONDON STANDSSTILL ASJUSTICE OGUNTADEâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;SSTEPSONWEDS

Ranti Johnson

Lagos high society took the Lagos party feel to London Saturday, November 4, as Folusho Aina, the step-son of Justice Adesola Oguntade, retired Justice of the Supreme Court and new Nigeriaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, got married to his heartthrob, Jennifer Ohikhaure.

Venue was the well-appointed Waldorf Hilton Hotel, London. For the first

Chief Toyin Olakunri

Adesola Oguntade dance, the groom, Folusho Aina, the step-son of Justice Oguntade, stared into the eyes of his bride, Jennifer, at their wedding ceremony, as if he meant to rediscover a familiar treasure trove.

Folusho stared into her eyes wondering how many wonders subsist in the two shiny orbs and windows into her soul.

It was a charming, corny, over-the-top moment at an event most noteworthy, perhaps, because of how it drew the crème of Nigeria and Londonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s high societies to celebrate with the new couple. He looked like he would mesh with Jennifer. She looked even more ready to interlock with him in body, mind, spirit and soul. The couple filled up each otherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s glances with muted affectation of undying love.

The high society wedding provided a chance for the Oguntades to flaunt their amazing wealth and international clout. At the colourful reception were the pillars of high society like Chief Adebutu Kessington, Oba of Lagos and Chief Rasaq Okoya, a lifelong

friend of the step father of the groom.

An Edo State indigene, Jennifer, and her beautiful friends were a sight to behold at the reception. The mother of the groom, Modupe and her best friend, Sade Okoya did not however allow the younger ladies outshine them. The wedding unfurled like a performance-art project set in a modern-day enchanted hall. Granted, it was an expensive one. Tested, able hands oversaw all aspects of the event, from dĂŠcor to lighting, to conceiving an expensive keepsakes for attendees and selecting its design, in part, to evoke the pedigree of the uniting families. From the start to finish, scores of guests indulged in bedazzled documentation. Not a few dignitaries in the consummately wired crowd were pleasantly enthralled by the very well-heeled coupleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ingenious way of declaring their undying love for each other and cementing it in holy unionâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; albeit with enormous helpings of fairy tales, expensive perks and ĂŠlan.

NOTEARSFOR FORMER LAGOS DEPUTYSPEAKER,FUNMI TEJUOSHO,ASSHEFORFEITS STATEPROPERTY After a long drawn battle, former Deputy Speaker of Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon Funmilayo Tejuosho, has been evacuated from the official residence of the Deputy Speaker which the state government maintained she illegally acquired and occupied for longer than necessary. Hon. Tejuosho was elected deputy speaker at the outset of the Babatunde Raji Fashola administration in 2007 and impeached in 2009. Between then and now, she has refused to vacate the 5-bedroom semi-detached house located at 3A Sasegbon Street, Ikeja, GRA, thus preventing successive deputy speakers from occupying their official residence.

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HIGHLIFE

Will the Sparks Fly? As Pastor Chris Oyakhilome and His Estranged Wife Come Together for Daughterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Engagement

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arissa Sharon, the beautiful daughter of Pastor Chris Oyakhilome of the Christ Embassy Church, and his estranged wife, Pastor Anita, recently got engaged to her beau, Phillip. Pastor Anita broke the news on her verified Facebook page; â&#x20AC;&#x153;Congratulations to my daughter and sonin-law to be. What makes marriage beautiful is when two become one flesh, inseparable and always enjoying the pleasure of each otherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s company.â&#x20AC;? No such news was posted on the Christ Embassy Church or Pastor Chrisâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; myriad social media platforms. A UK-based gospel singer, Carissa is the first of two daughters of the couple who got married in 1991.

They were the ideal couple who could do no wrong in the eyes of adherents of their Believersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Love World Inc. as the church is also known. But as the ministry and the founding pastorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s profile and prestige grew, the marriage began experiencing turbulence bordering on allegations of abuse and adultery.

The last administration kept a sealed lip and went ahead to reportedly sell off the building to her at what investigators alleged to be far below the actual value for such prime property. The report of a panel of inquiry on illegal sale of public assets said the property was illegally acquired. Thus, the no-nonsense government of Akinwunmi Ambode went all out to legally retrieve the property from the legislator. Apart from Tejuosho, many other highly placed Lagosians are expected to forfeit state properties illegally acquired between 2006 and 2016. However, the legislator representing Mushin has been crying blue murder, alleging that she is the victim of high wire politics in the state.

Sources close to her say her closeness to a former Commissioner of Environment in the state, Dr. Muiz Banire, SAN, may be her Achillesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; heel. Banire has publicly

Funmi Tejuosho

At a time it had become public fodder, members of the church turned a deaf ear to the salacious news emanating from their dear â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Daddyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;sâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; inner sanctum. They were too good, too pious to be cheating on each other, the adherents reckoned.

Eventually, Pastor Chris and Anita separated in 2014 and their divorce was finalised in 2016.

Anita sparked rumours of remarriage a few months after the divorce with the introduction of Schafer to her name. But mum has been the word on this.

One of Nigeriaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s richest pastors with a portfolio of thriving businesses and lucrative properties across the world, the 56-year-old televangelist has yet to remarry though. Now that their 24-year-old daughter has decided to get married and considering Charleneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s closeness to her father, posers have begun to fly as to how the former high school lovers will react to each other on Charleneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s biggest day yet. Will the sparks fly between them during the impending wedding ceremonies

Carissa Sharon Oyakhilome

enough to reconsider reconciliation? The world awaits; but not the legion of

spoken out against the APC leadership in the state on several occasions. What she has been unable to prove however is that she acquired the property legally.

HOW GOMBE STATE FORMER FIRST LADY, HAJIA YELWA GOJE, DIED Grief still nestles at the bosom of former Gombe State Governor, Senator Danjuma Goje, whose wife, Hajia Yelwa, died suddenly recently. In a statement signed by the deceasedâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s son, Ahmed Mohammed Goje, he stated that his 55-year-old mother died in a hospital in the United States of America.

No further information was provided.

But sources close to the influential Goje family said Yelwa, a visible and vibrant First Lady when her husband served as governor between 2003 and 2011, had been nursing an undisclosed ailment for some years but had done well to maintain a strong front. The mother of six had gone to the US for her periodic check up when the Grim Reaper came calling. Hajia Yelwa was the senior of Gojeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s two wives.

Understandably, there has been an outpouring of commiseration for Goje who is in his second term as a Senator.

She was buried last Thursday. In a precedent-shattering ceremony that was at once sorrowful and uplifting, she was remembered as a woman of unimpeachable nobility whose life of compassion and style transcended the familiar and often pedestrian vanities of humanity. The ceremony attracted the crème of Nigeriaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s high society.

They trooped out in large numbers to honour the family. Despite the pain of remembering, no one wished to let go the brilliant memories of Hajia Yelwa, particularly Goje, her loving husband.

Hovering by her side as she was borne toward an enchanted future, he rued the

final departure of his wife, struggling in his grief to deal with the humbling reality that his sweet, chaste wife had finally set out alone into eternity. The flood of despair that poured forth frequently resulted in cascade of tears.

FORMER GOV. JAMES IBORI, NEW WIFE, SENAMI, TURN HEADS AT SARAKI DAUGHTERâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S WEDDING Though former governor of Delta State, Chief James Ibori, has not been very visible on the social scene, when his friend, the daughter of his friend, Senate President Bukola Saraki, decided to start her journey into matrimony with a lavish engagement ceremony last weekend in Lagos, it only behooved Ibori to be physically present. Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t forget, Saraki and Ibori were the two closest governors to late President Umaru Yarâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Adua, a closeness that did the latter in when

James Ibori and Senami Sosu

women angling, scheming and fantasising about becoming Pastor Mrs. Oyakhilome. his South-south brother, Goodluck Jonathan, succeeded Yarâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Adua as president. It wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t however Iboriâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s presence that turned heads; it was the beautiful, proportionately shaped woman beside him, Senami. Senami Sosu, a University of Lagos graduate, was catapulted from sheer obscurity to prosperity and relative popularity when it became obvious that Iboriâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s pulse had become her private ticker tape. Even when she had to go under during the former governorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s trial and subsequent incarceration, the couple remained in touch. Since his release, he has not shied away from showing her off. At the Sarakisâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, they were a sight for sore eyes as there PDA was nonpareil.

Looking regal and royal in the aso-ebi, Senami and her beau probably took more pictures than the new couple as all the who is who gravitated towards their table to say hello.

Sunday November 12, 2017

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Price: N400

MISSILE Magu to Nigerians “The battle against corruption has reached a level where no one could stop it... Those talking about succumbing to pressure do not know Ibrahim Magu. I have no fear in my DNA. The bigger they are, the better for me. I do not fear anybody. The EFCC’s motto is ‘Nobody is above the law’. That is what it is supposed to be; equality before the law is the grundnorm of our constitution. Victory is certain for the common man.”

– Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mr. Ibrahim Magu, emphasising his determination to fight corruption.

SIMONKOLAWOLE SIMONKOLAWOLELIVE!

simon.kolawole@thisdaylive.com, sms: 0805 500 1961

What Exactly Do Nigerians Want?

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¡o what can I compare this generation? It is like children playing a game in the public square. They complain to their friends, ‘We played wedding songs, and you didn’t dance, so we played funeral songs, and you didn’t mourn.’ For John didn’t spend his time eating and drinking, and you say, ‘He’s possessed by a demon.’ The Son of Man, on the other hand, feasts and drinks, and you say, ‘He’s a glutton and a drunkard, and a friend of tax collectors and other sinners!’ But wisdom is shown to be right by its results.” Ladies and gentlemen, Jesus Christ could well have been talking about us, Nigerians, in those words full of frustration but, most essentially, rooted in resolve.

For ages, we have been complaining about the standard of education in Nigeria.

The problem starts from the foundation. If numeracy and literacy cannot be imparted at primary school level, is it at the secondary or tertiary level that students will start learning to read, write, spell and count? When 70% of those who write WAEC/NECO O’Level exams fail every year, would you say the problem started at SS3? We regularly produce university graduates that manage to cheat and beat the system and end up unemployable. As an employer of labour, I am often heart-broken at the quality of applications we receive anytime we advertise vacancies. Absolutely heart-breaking.

I thought I have been hearing commentators, activists and public officials complain about the quality of education in Nigeria for ages.

I thought I have been hearing loud calls for reform. Yet anytime any governor or minister makes an attempt at reform, we murder them. I cannot believe the level of opposition to Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, the governor of Kaduna state, in his attempt to reserve the misfortune of education in his state. He has come under attack for doing what most of us have been canvassing for decades. Someone wants to rid the system of illiteracy and install competence and all he gets for his efforts is abuse — in addition to demonstrations and strikes.

El-Rufai has come under heavy shelling over his decision to purge the education system of teachers that are clearly a danger to the society. Over 20,000 primary school teachers in the state failed a standard test for primary four pupils. Many cannot spell correctly. Some do not know that there is a science behind teaching. Many lack a grasp of the fundamentals of planning a child-centred presentation and the use of teaching aids. Some do not know “mean” and “median” numbers, much less have the ability to calculate them. Many do not know the three states of matter. Some cannot spell “malaria”. These are the teachers moulding the future of this country.

El-Rufai decided to lay them off, pay them off and employ competent teachers.

These public schools, we must understand, are attended by children of the poor, the people we claim to love so much. We can afford to pay millions of naira for our own children to attend private schools where teachers can at least spell “Donald Trump” correctly. We can even afford to send our toddlers to foreign schools to receive the best of education money can buy. But the poor cannot afford it. So their children must necessarily attend the public schools where

El-Rufai

illiteracy is dished out to pupils. They do not have options. Their children have to be taught by teachers who cannot spell even their own names.

We complain about the state of affairs in the country. We then hammer anybody, who tries to put things right. So we attack el-Rufai for doing the needful when we should actually replicate this competency test across the country. Poor quality of teaching is a destroyer of national development. Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, as governor of Edo state, sought to do what el-Rufai is doing now but had to retreat under bombardment from critics. Dr. Kayode Fayemi apparently lost his re-election bid as governor of Ekiti state partly because of a similar attempt at education reform. He was accused of disrespecting teachers “old enough to be his parents”! What do we really want?

In 2006, Mrs Oby Ezekwesili, as minister of education, came up with a plan that would have significantly turned around our education system by now. In a comprehensive package that covers all corners, she showed the sort of thinking that is always so lacking in governance in Nigeria. Her proposal for the Unity Schools would have seen them competing with private schools today. But what happened? We shot it down — on behalf of the “poor masses”. Are those schools better off today? If you reform, you are damned; if you don’t reform, you are damned. We piped, you did not dance. We wailed, you did not mourn. What exactly does this generation want?

To be sure, I am aware of suggestions that el-Rufai could re-train the teachers rather than lay them off. But try teaching a 40-year-old how to spell “Nigeria” and see how easy it is to re-train deadwoods. Would you allow your children to be taught by these Kaduna teachers while they are undergoing re-training? Would you? This does not mean I do not have my own reservations about el-Rufai’s reform management strategy. After all, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, as education commissioner under Governor Bukola Saraki in Kwara state, succeeded with his own reform. The political management of reform is as important as the reform itself.

But that is a different topic.

I have watched the state of things in Nigeria closely in the last 30 years and I am still trying to figure out how we are going to get out of chronic underdevelopment. We complain and cry, but we oppose any attempt to correct things. We are unable to reach anything close to a national consensus on the way forward.

Some just take the opposite direction out of ignorance, some out of mass hysteria, some for political reasons, some for cheap publicity, some out of hardened ideologies and some for no reason. Our inconsistency is amazing.

We would condemn President Jonathan for one thing and commend President Buhari for the same thing — and vice-versa. What exactly do we want?

For instance, we criticised Jonathan for not fighting corruption. I dare say that he lost the 2015 election partly for his failure to frontally confront this monster. We accused him of not having the balls. Now that President Muhammadu Buhari is going after those who had too much free access to the national treasury under Jonathan, we are complaining again. Generals are refunding billions and facing trial. It has never happened in this country. Judges are undergoing trial for graft.

Politicians are refunding money. But we are here murmuring. You fight corruption, you are damned. You don’t fight corruption, you are damned. What exactly do we want?

Of course, I agree that Buhari’s anticorruption crusade so far has only slaughtered his political opponents. I have complained about this too. I wish he would go after corrupt APC elements as well. But even when President Obasanjo went after members of his own party, we still complained. When he fired his friend, the late Chief SM Afolabi, as minister (over the national ID card scam), and sacked Alhaji Tafa Balogun as police chief, he was described as an “ingrate” for removing people who actively worked for his re-election in 2003. Head, you lose.

Tail, you lose. There is practically no step a president or governor will take that will not be criticised, mostly for political reasons.

Obasanjo was accused of being a dictator.

We called him a military ruler in civilian uniform. On the cover of a news magazine sometime in 2002 was a morphed picture featuring half the face of Obasanjo and half the face of Gen. Sani Abacha with the title: “Abachanjo”. We pilloried Obasanjo endlessly. But Jonathan came as a meek and humble president, getting challenged and humiliated by his subordinates and members of his party — and we accused him of being “too soft”. Someone told me: “Obasanjo would not have registered APC. He would not have lost re-election. Jonathan was too gentle.” We don’t want a dictator, we don’t want a democrat. What exactly do we want?

In the final analysis, leadership has to focus on results with resolve. Any leader, who is easily swayed by the crowd, will always be unstable, getting tossed back and forth by every wind of doctrine. There must be sincerity and tenacity of purpose to achieve results. As a Christian, I will repeat the words of Jesus Christ: “Wisdom is shown to be right by its results.” Or, in the words of Prophet Muhammad, “actions are judged according to intentions”. Our leaders should regularly check their intentions, appraise the purpose of their actions and weigh the results. As long as the vision is genuine and the motive is altruistic and fair, the words of the naysayers should not really matter.

This I believe.

And Four Other Things…

POLICE FARCE The Nigeria Police Force is the worst in the world, according to the 2016 World Internal Security and Police Index (WISPI) produced by the International Police Science Association and the Institute for Economics and Peace. We failed on all indices: capacity, process, legitimacy and outcomes. Typically, the police have reacted by saying they are the best in Africa. A wiser response, in my view, is to address these issues. How can we improve coverage? How can recruitment and training be modernised? How can welfare be of global standards? How can operations be effective and efficient? How can our police be professional? That’s how to solve the problem. Attention!

ARRESTING THE ARRESTER I was relieved that Alhaji Ibrahim Idris, the inspector-general of police, finally appeared before the senate committee probing very weighty allegations made against him by Senator Isah Misau (Bauchi central). Idris did not help matters when he shunned invitation to testify in the investigation. Senate threatened him with arrest and I was just wondering: who will arrest the police chief?

In Nigeria? That would be some scene! I know many Nigerians have no trust in the national assembly because of the reputation of the legislators, but we should remember it is a vital arm in a democracy, so we must respect it. I’m happy Idris finally showed up.

Precedent.

GANGSTER’S PARADISE The leak of another volume of documents on tax havens, termed #ParadisePapers after the earthshaking #PanamaPapers, should set policymakers worldwide thinking.

Billionaires and corporate bodies are using these tax havens obviously to avoid, rather than evade, taxes. There are two ways to it: either the tax havens are forced to harmonise their tax rates with what obtain in other countries — or other countries offer rates to discourage the use of tax havens. The nature of taxation is such that rich individuals and corporate entities will always want to part with as little money as possible and there are countries offering them the paradise. Unpatriotic?

SHOT AT SITE In a country where women are still treated as second-class, it is refreshing that someone is stimulating our thinking again.

Niran Adedokun, my friend and brother, will present his book, “Ladies Calling the Shots”, tomorrow, November 13, at NIIA, Lagos.

The book celebrates the sweat of Nigerian female producers such as Lola Fani-Kayode, writer and producer of the great soaps Mirror in the Sun (in the 1980s) and Mind Bender (in the 1990s), and the late Amaka Igwe, movie producer and director, known for so many great things, most notably Checkmate. There are many more on the exploits of female producers in the 300page book that should inspire us all. Action!

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