Issuu

Glo, Airtel, Dangote, Seven Others Advance to Final Stage in 9mobile Bid Bidders to submit $150m bond Emma Okonji The scramble to acquire 9mobile, Nigeria’s fourth largest network operator, has advanced to the next stage,

with 10 out of the 16 firms that submitted expressions of interest (EoIs) for the telecoms firm, prequalified by Barclays – the financial adviser to the deal – to

proceed to the financial bid stage of the exercise. Sources conversant with the deal, informed THISDAY that the 10 firms, having passed the technical

evaluation bid stage, have been prequalified to submit their financial bids for the acquisition of 9mobile. As part of the financial bid process, the companies

will also be required to submit bid bonds of $150 million each as evidence of their capacity to pay for the acquisition of 9mobile. The companies include

Globacom Nigeria Limited, Nigeria’s second largest network operator founded in 2003 by business mogul, Continued on page 8

Ex-PDP National Chairman’s Son, Allegedly Stabbed to Death By Wife… Page 12 Monday 20 November, 2017 Vol 22. No 8250. Price: N250

www.thisdaylive.com TR

UT H

& RE A S O

Mugabe Refuses To Resign, Risks Impeachment…

Page 10

APGA’s Victory Maintains National Balance of Power Ahead of 2019 Obiano says it's victory for all in Anambra, Obaze protests

Tobi Soniyi in Lagos, Christopher Isiguzo, Onyebuchi Ezigbo and David Eleke inAwka With the emphatic victory of the All Progressives Grand Alliance’s (APGA) candidate, Governor Willie Obiano, in the Anambra State governorship election held last Saturday, the country’s balance of political power has been maintained, leaving the contest for 2019 open.

APC consults

The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) had hoped to use the governorship contest to gain a foot hold in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) dominated South-east of the country, while the latter also made a spirited bid to make the region its exclusive enclave by clinching the only APGA controlled state in the region. Continued on page 8

FULL RESULTS LOCAL GOVTS

APC

APGA

PDP

AGUATA LG

5,807

13,167

4,073

ANAMBRA EAST LG

5,248

20,510

1,132

ANAMBRA WEST LG

4,261

8,152

1,578

ANIOCHA LG

5,297

11,237

6,554

ANYAMELUM LG

5,412

14,593

2,323

AWKA NORTH LG

3,727

7,164

3,347

AWKA SOUTH LG

6,167

18,957

5,354

DUNUKOFIA LG

7,016

8,575

1,530

EKWUSIGO LG

5,412

8,596

3,856

IDEMILI NORTH LG

4,732

12,180

2,767

IDEMILI SOUTH LG

4,063

5,742

2,620

Continued on page 8

MAKING NIGERIA PROUD…

Florence “DJ Cuppy” Otedola (left), and New York University Professor, Samuel Howard-Spink, when "DJ Cuppy" received the New York University 2017 Artistic Achievement Award in New York City… recently

T H I S D AY MONDAY NOVEMBER 20, 2017

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2017 ˾ T H I S D AY

PAGE EIGHT

As MPC Meets, Marginal Drop in Inﬂation May Delay Interest Rate Cut FG may issue $2.5bn Eurobond today Obinna Chima As members of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) commence their last meeting for the year today, the marginal drop in October inflation released recently might make the committee members to retain interest rate at 14 per cent. But some analysts believe that a possible stronger third quarter 2017 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figures to be released today may leave the committee members with no choice but to cut interest rate when they vote on Tuesday. Nigeria’s headline inflation slowed for the ninth consecutive month in October, declining to 15.91 per cent from 15.98 per cent in September. In the last 10 months, cumulative inflation was down by 2.81 per cent, which showed that inflation in the country had moderated significantly. Nigeria’s external reserves

have maintained its upbeat since the second half of the year, climbing to $34.330 billion as of last Thursday. Also, the naira exchange rate has been stable against the United States dollar at N360 to the dollar across various segments of the foreign exchange market. The market has remained stable. The price of the benchmark Brent crude was at $62.25 per barrel as of Friday. However, it is worthy of note that the federal government might issue Eurobond of N$2.5 billion today, which would be the first tranche of its proposed $5.5 billion external borrowing. The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, and her team had flown out of the country to host roadshows in London and New York immediately after the Senate granted the government’s request for $5.5 billion foreign borrowing. Indeed, both Eurobonds that had been issued by the federal government in

February and June this year were oversubscribed, given Nigeria’s stable outlook. To analysts at Lagos-based CSL Stockbrokers Limited, declining Eurobond yields also suggests that the funds may come in cheaper than previous issues. They added: “So far, and unsurprisingly, there have been little or no worries surrounding investor appetite. Besides funding the 2017 budget. We believe this roadshow marks another step in the government’s efforts to bring down the country’s debt servicing cost. “The outstanding US$3bn to be raised, also via Eurobonds, are expected to be substituted with maturing domestic shortterm papers, which are more costly to service, given higher domestic yields. “In addition, we expect reduced domestic borrowing by the government to clear the path for interest rate decreases. Recent years have seen rising interest rates fuelled by increased

government borrowings. By implication, private businesses have had to incur acutely high debt-servicing costs. “The final MPC meeting for the year will hold Monday and Tuesday, during which the members will most likely be inclined towards rate cuts. Effectively, we expect to see the re-alignment of fiscal policy (increased fiscal stimulus) with monetary policy (monetary easing), as well as easing interest rates, fuelling economic growth over the course of 2018.” On their part, analysts at the Financial Derivatives Company Limited (FDC) noted that even though inflation had been moderating, it could swing upwards if there was a surge in money supply and wages increase sharply, causing demand-pull inflation. “We expect the GDP figures to be reflective of an economy gaining momentum on the path to recovery. While it makes the case for an interest rate cut more compelling, we expect

the committee to maintain its wait and see approach and not review current rates until the end of first quarter of 2018,” FDC added. Also, analysts at Cowry Assets Management Limited opined that the MPC would retain the benchmark interest rate despite the sustained moderations in inflation rate amid falling food prices, increase in global crude oil prices with attendant boost in external reserves, convergence of multiple foreign exchange rates and the return to and expected sustenance of economic growth. “Our opinion is partly predicated on anticipated increase in public sector spending, in addition to anticipated increased seasonal household spending amid end-of-year festivities. A key consideration will also be likely increase in interest in the United States amid improving economic developments.“Meanwhile we expect the fiscal authorities to beef up public sector non-oil revenues needed, not only to

finance major infrastructural projects, but also to boost its capacity to service its growing debt, reduce the interest expenses to revenue ratio and thus improve its credit worthiness which could have a positive rub-off effect on private sector borrowing cost,” they added. Also, Afrinvest Securities Limited predicted that the MPC would retain rates at current level, owing to the fragility of the economic recovery and disappointing inflation numbers witnessed so far. “We, however, note that near term outlook still favours easing as guided by the CBN Governor in recent comments. Investors are already pricing this expectation into valuation of debt securities, with average bond yield down 110 basis points since January 2017. We believe there is still scope for more rally in thefixed income market as we expect the CBN to cut its benchmark rate in the second quarter of 2018.

APGA’S VICTORY MAINTAINS NATIONAL BALANCE OF POWER AHEAD OF 2019 But as APGA’s Obiano retained his seat, the power equation remained the same with all the leading political parties maintaining their strong holds preparatory to the 2019 general elections. Announcing the results of the election at the INEC Headquarters in Awka, the Chief Returning Officer, Prof. Zanna Akpagu, said Obiano won in all the 21 local councils of the state. According to the final results, Obiano of APGA polled 234,071 votes to defeat his closest rival, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Hon. Tony Nwoye, who polled a distant 98,752 votes. Mr. Oseloka Obaze of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), polled 70,293 votes to place third. Candidates of the United Progressives Party (UPP), Chief Osita Chidoka, and Progressive People Alliance (PPA), Mr. Godwin Ezemo, placed a distant fourth and fifth respectively with 7,903 and 2,787 votes. There were a total of 2,064,134 registered voters in the state, out of which 457,311 were accredited.

According to Akpagu, there were a total of 448,771 votes cast, with 422,314 votes and 26,457 votes as valid and rejected votes respectively. "With the powers conferred on me as the Returning Officer of the governorship election held in Anambra State on November 18, 2017 I, Prof Zanna Akpagu, hereby declare Willie Obiano of the APGA as the winner of the election and he is returned elected," Akpagu declared at exactly 7:31pm. Savouring the victory that saw him trouncing his challengers in all the 21 local government areas of the state, Obiano showed magnanimity, saying it was victory for all citizens of Anambra State and that no one was the loser. In his acceptance speech, the victorious Obiano thanked the people of the state for reelecting him for another four years declaring that it was time to build a new world. He said the victory in the governorship election neither belonged to him nor his party APGA but to Ndi Anambra, adding that he accepts the historic mandate bestowed on him with utmost humility.

His statement reads in parts: "Umu nnem, the victory we savour today belongs neither to Willie Obiano nor to our great party, APGA. No! This sweet victory belongs to Ndi Anambra! "It belongs to the wheel barrow pushers and the Okada riders who have clearly seen in our recent political experience, a glimmer of light in the horizon. "It belongs to the farmers in Ayamelum, Onono, Ogbaru, Omasi, Omor and Ufuma who have now realized that Agriculture is the future of Nigeria. "It belongs to the teachers and civil servants who have seen that a motivated workforce is the greatest asset of any government and have rewarded our faith in them with an overwhelming verdict at the polls. "It belongs to the illustrious sons and daughters of Anambra State who have seen the star of this great state rise in the Eastern Skies and have answered our call for Aku luo uno; bringing home their Naira and Dollars to put our dear state on the investment map! "This victory belongs to all of us! Umu nnem, this victory

is not a winner takes it all. For in the New Anambra of my dream, everyone is a winner. Everyone!" Obiano called on all those who contested election with him to join hands to build the state. He said: "So, I reach out a hand of brotherhood to my fellow contestants…Oseloka, Tony, Osita, Godwin and others whose names I cannot easily recall here. And I say to you, my brothers: ‘We have all fought a good fight. But Anambra State is the WINNER!’ The interest of Anambra State is bigger than the private ambitions of anyone of us. Therefore, I pray you to join hands with me and build a better place for Ndi Anambra! Our beloved state needs our talent and our time. The time to build a better place is now! "Indeed, this victory is a referendum on the solid resolve of Ndi Anambra to rise above average in all we do. We have demonstrated that we are indeed capable of taking charge of our lives and making difficult decisions that will brighten the future of our children. I have no doubt in my mind that we shall continue to lay the building blocks for a

FULL RESULTS LOCAL GOVTS

APC

APGA

PDP

IHIALA LG

7,894

14,379

4,706

NJIKOKA LG

5,756

16,944

3,477

NNEWI NORTH LG

3,616

10,845

4,157

NNEWI SOUTH LG

2,765

10,465

3,255

OGBARU LG

3,415

6,615

4,416

ONITSHA NORTH LG

3,808

10,138

4,143

ONITSHA SOUTH LG

2,012

7,082

3,423

ORUMBA NORTHLG

3,551

8,766

3,865

ORUMBA SOUTH LG

3,808

8,125

2,412

OYI LG

5,085

11,840

1,296

98,752 234,071

70,293

TOTAL prosperous tomorrow for all. "Ndi Anambra, this mandate is dear to my heart. I see it as a historic call to inspire my people to greatness. I see it as a call to deny myself sleep that my people might sleep better. Umu nnem, I will not give myself rest until our beloved state has fully assumed the status of the model state of Nigeria. This is my promise to you all. "Fellow compatriots, this victory did not come by chance.

It is the final product of the combined efforts of brilliant men and women who sacrificed their personal comfort to ensure that Anambra’s steady march to progress is not derailed.” He thanked President Muhammadu Buhari for proving that under his watch, democracy would sink deeper roots in the Nigerian soil, saying the president promised a free Continued on page 10

GLO, AIRTEL, DANGOTE, SEVEN OTHERS ADVANCE TO FINAL STAGE IN 9MOBILE BID Chief Michael Adenuga; India’s Bharti Airtel, operating as Airtel in Nigeria; Dangote Group’s telecoms business unit, Alheri Engineering Limited, which has the backing of U.S.-based Blackstone Group with an investment portfolio of $378 billion and a Nigerian subsidiary called the Black Rhino Group; Smile Telecoms Holdings, a South African telecommunications group with subsidiaries in Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda; and Helios Towers, the former owner and operator of the largest telecoms tower network in Nigeria and other countries, before it sold its Nigerian infrastructure to HIS. Other firms that have moved on to the financial bid stage of the competitive tender are: Centricus Capital and Africell, a

subsidiary of the Lebanon-based Lintel Group of Companies, with cellular communications operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), The Gambia, Sierra Leone and Uganda; Dubai-based Abraaj Capital, a private equity firm with an investment portfolio of $11 billion; Teleology Holdings Limited, a special purpose vehicle led by a former chief executive of MTN Nigeria, Mr. Adian Wood, and Ericsson; Africa Capital Alliance (ACA), a leading pan-African investment firm based in Lagos; and The Carlyle Group, a U.S.-based multinational private equity, alternative asset management and financial services corporation. A banking source also said that now that the 10 firms have

been prequalified to submit their financial bids for 9mobile, this will be the final process from which a winner with the highest bid submitted for 9mobile, will emerge. The winner, according to the source, will then be invited to negotiate and agree to the payment terms to takeover 9mobile. Should the firm that wins the financial bid stage fail to meet the payment terms within the stipulated period agreed with Barclays, the reserve bidder (or the firm that submitted the second highest bid) will be invited to acquire 9mobile. 9mobile, formerly Etisalat Nigeria, was put on the block early this year after it defaulted on a $1.2 billion loan from a consortium of 13 Nigerian banks.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was forced to intervene to save the company from collapse and prevent creditors from putting it into receivership, leading to a change in its board and management, as well as the new name 9mobile. The crisis forced the telecoms company’s one-time parent, Abu Dhabi-based Etisalat Group, to terminate its management agreement with its Nigerian business and surrender its 45 per cent stake to a trustee, following the central bank’s intervention. 9mobile’s new CEO, Mr. Boye Olusanya, had said soon after his appointment that he was focused on getting the telecoms company back on track to make a profit, while working on the paperwork to eventually raise

new capital, adding that the company was open to new investors. The 13 banks had put a freeze on collecting the principal and interest payments on the syndicated $1.2 billion loan pending new investors, in order to help the company survive. The Nigerian lenders with exposure to the telecoms firm had given Barclays the mandate to handle the sale of 9mobile, after Citigroup and Standard Bank, previously in the running for the role, were dropped.. 9mobile has over 20 million subscribers with a 14 per cent share of the Nigerian market. South Africa’s MTN is the market leader with 47 per cent, Globacom has 20 per cent while Airtel has 19 per cent.

TOP GAINERS NGN NGN C &I LEASING 0.12 1.44 PZ 1.07 22.49 PHARMDEKO 0.11 2.36 LIVESTOCK 0.04 0.88 A.G.LEVENTIS 0.03 0.70 TOP LOSERS NGN NGN UACN 1.70 17.20 BETAGLASS 2.70 51.31 UNIPRESS 0.13 2.53 CHAMPBREW 0.10 1.98 LEARNAFRICA 0.05 1.00 HPE Nestle Nig Plc ₦1,251.03 Volume: 217.750 million shares Value: N 11.705 billion Deals: 3,088 As at 17/11/17 See details on Page 39

% 9.1 5.0 4.8 4.7 4.4 % 8.9 5.0 4.8 4.8 4.7

T H I S D AY MONDAY NOVEMBER 20, 2017

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2017 ˾ T H I S D AY

PAGE TEN

Mugabe Refuses To Resign, Risks Impeachment ZANU-PF sacks him, installs Mnangagwa as leader Okechukwu Uwaezuoke with agency reports Embattled President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe yesterday remained adamant, insisting that he would hold on to power, at least, till the December congress of the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union- Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF), which had relieved him as its leader and gave him up to noon today to resign as president or risk impeachment. ZANU-PF had yesterday appointed Emmerson Mnangagwa, who Mugabe had fired as vice president two weeks ago, as its new leader. The party, according to the BBC, had given 93-year-old Mugabe until noon today to resign as president or face impeachment. But Reuters reported last night that Mugabe had vowed not to resign, leaving the ZANU-PF with no other option than to purse his impeachment.

The embattled president insisted in a broadcast yesterday that he would hang on until the party’s congress in December. “The congress is due in a few weeks from now. I will preside over its processes, which must not be prepossessed by any acts calculated to undermine it or to compromise the outcomes in the eyes of the public," Mr. Mugabe said. “I'm confident that from tonight our whole nation at all levels gets refocused… Let us all move forward,” he concluded. The military had intervened last week, in an apparent attempt to block him from installing his wife, Grace, as his successor. Grace and several other senior officials have been expelled from the party. Tens of thousands of Zimbabweans attended street protests on Saturday, demonstrating against Mugabe who met for long hours with military leaders yesterday before

Mugabe the meeting of the ZANU-PF that eventually showed him the door out of power. While no details of the meeting had been released, Mugabe was said to be seeking more time to negotiate his exit after nearly four decades in power. Cheering erupted when the decision to dismiss him as party leader was announced in Harare yesterday.

One senior official later told the BBC's Andrew Harding: "It's the dawn of a new era. Mugabe can go farming." Zanu-PF's Central Committee also warned that impeachment proceedings would begin if Mugabe did not step down as president by noon local time on today. Impeaching the president would require a two-thirds majority in both houses of Zimbabwe's parliament, which is due to resume on Tuesday. The opposition MDC-T party had tried unsuccessfully to impeach Mugabe in the past, but this time the ruling party - which has an overwhelming majority in both houses - is likely to go against him. The military under the command of the Army Chief, General Constantino Chiwenga, had rolled out the tanks on Thursday, placing Mugabe and his wife under house arrest in an action it said was not a coup

d’état but a move targeted at “criminals around the president.” “We assure the world that this is not a military takeover of government,” an army spokesman said in a televised statement on state television network, adding: “We are only targeting criminals around him (President Mugabe), who are committing crimes that are causing social and economic suffering in the country in order to bring them to justice. As soon as we have accomplish our mission we expect that the situation will return to normalcy.” Although reactions across the globe was muted with leaders calling for calm, peace and respect for the constitution of Zimbabwe, the response in the country was that of support for the military whose action was plainly to force Mugabe out of office. Veterans of the liberation struggle– formerly Mugabe’s

staunch allies – added their voice to the calls for his resignation and demanded that he leave office yesterday. The new ZANU-PF leader, Mnangagwa, is 75 and was touted as Mugabe's likely successor before he was fired on November 6. The ouster of this long-serving veteran of the liberation wars of the 1970s was seen as a ploy to position Grace for the eventual succession of her husband. The ZANU-PF leadership, concluding its meeting yesterday, accused Grace of "preaching hate, divisiveness and assuming roles and powers not delegated to her office”. This was followed by her removal as head of the women's league. The party plans to formalise its decisions at a special congress next month even as one of its members hinted that there could be prosecutions of members of a party faction close to the first lady.

Buhari, PDP Congratulate Jonathan at 60 Omololu Ogunmade and Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja President Muhammadu Buhari has congratulated former President Goodluck Jonathan on his 60th birthday, describing him as one Nigerian leader with a unique history. Buhari, according to a statement by his Special Adviser, Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, facilitates with the former president on behalf of his cabinet and also joins members of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to celebrate Jonathan whom he said recorded an astronomical rise in his political history to the office of the president where he held sway for six consecutive years. According to Buhari, Jonathan's unprecedented political strides from a humble background, underscores the inclusiveness

of Nigeria’s democracy as he prayed God to grant the former president the wisdom and strength in subsequent years to keep serving the country. According to the statement : "On behalf of the Federal Executive Council and all Nigerians, President Muhammadu Buhari warmly felicitates with former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan on his 60th birthday, November 20th, 2017. "President Buhari joins members of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), professional colleagues, associates of Dr Jonathan, and his family in celebrating the unique history of the Nigerian leader, who within a short period rose from being a Deputy Governor, Governor, Vice President to becoming Nigeria’s President for six years. "President Buhari believes Dr. Jonathan’s foray into politics and

Jonathan ascendency to the highest political office in Nigeria from a humble riverine background testifies to the greatness and inclusiveness of Nigeria’s democracy, and serves as an invitation to all those with interest to add value to the nation. "President Buhari prays that

the almighty God will bless Dr Jonathan with good health, wisdom and strength to continue serving the country." In its congratulatory message, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Jonathan as a man of honour and integrity whose track record as a democracy would be indelible in the history of Nigeria. The party noted that apart from consolidating Nigerian democracy by ensuring free and fair elections culminating in the historic presidential election of March 2015, ex-president Jonathan's era witnessed unprecedented infrastructural development in all areas of the economy. In a goodwill by the National Chairman, Senator Ahmed Makarfi, on behalf of the National Caretaker Committee, other organs of the party and the PDP family nationwide, said

the party heartily congratulated the former president on his 60th birthday. The PDP statement reads: "Your Excellency Sir, you are sixty years today and we are proud that you have made wonderful contributions to the stability of our democracy and the overall development of our country, Nigeria during the prime of your age. "As you celebrate your birthday today, one thing Nigerians and members of the International community will never forget apart from your numerous and indelible achievements in office is your Campaign message in December 2014… “I am the most abused President in the world but when I leave office, you will all remember the freedom you enjoyed under my Government”. "Nigerians will remember that under your administration

our economy became the largest and number one in Africa. Nigeria witnessed unprecedented infrastructural development in all areas of the economy. Inflation was at single digits and we had a stable foreign exchange regime. "You consolidated Nigerian democracy by ensuring free and fair elections culminating in the historic presidential election of March 2015 in which you graciously conceded defeat and congratulated your opponent even when there were substantial grounds to dispute the outcome. "Most importantly the rule of law and the human rights of Nigerians was greatly respected. For these and many more you have written your name in gold in the hearts of all Nigerians and you will be remembered as one of the greatest leaders of Africa".

and fair election. In a statement issued in Awka shortly after INEC released results from the 21 local government areas, Okechukwu, however, hailed the president for desisting from any attempt at manipulating the process in favour of the APC. "Governor Willie Obiano benefited handsomely from President Muhammadu Buhari's commitment to free, fair and transparent election. This is a case of democracy convert, who behaved better than old democrats. Otherwise, he couldn't have allowed Obiano to manipulate INEC and security agencies against his party's candidate,” he said. The National Chairman of APGA, Mr. Victor Oye, savoured his party’s victory, saying: "It is a huge victory for us in APGA and all Nigerians. It is a marked and big departure from the impurities of the past where elections were flagrantly and mindlessly rigged.” The Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu also reacted to the outcome of the

election and congratulated Obiano for winning the contest. He said: “I congratulate Governor Willy Obiano on his victory. It is a vote of confidence by the people of Anambra in his leadership style and capacity to deliver more dividends of democracy in the next four years. “But, above all, I believe that the process matters more than the outcome. I commend the good people of Anambra State, INEC, security agencies, media, civil society organisations, election monitors, among numerous others for making the election peaceful.” While commending the major political stakeholders in the election for their sportsmanship, he enjoined those who had issues with the outcome of the poll to toe the path of constitutionalism in seeking redress. Ekweremadu called on Obiano to reach out to his political opponents and also recruit the best hands to move Anambra State forward, irrespective of their political leanings.

APGA’S VICTORY MAINTAINS NATIONAL BALANCE OF POWER AHEAD OF 2019 and fair election and delivered on his promise. He also expressed appreciation to INEC for conducting what he said had been widely adjudged a transparent election in the state. “With this election, INEC has shown that it has fully braced up for the 2019 elections,” he said. Obiano also thanked the Police, the Army and other law enforcement agencies, whose alertness, he said, ensured that the expressed will of the people was not thwarted.

Chidoka, Obaze, Ekweremadu, APC, Others React There were mixed reactions to the outcome of the poll yesterday with UPP’s Chidoka, and PDP’s Obaze holding divergent views even as the APC has suspended comments until its meeting to determine its position on the outcome of the election. Conceding victory, Chidoka said although the UPP performed well, he blamed the

influence of money on politics for his loss. In statement issued immediately after the results of the election was announced, the former Minister of Aviation, said that he was proud of the impact made by his campaign, which he said was purely issues- based. He said: "In all, we hold our heads high; high because we did not lose the poll due to paucity of ideas or lack of “structure”. We lost to superior financial firepower. As Democrats, we concede to the voters’ choices. The true hallmark of democracy is the respect for the voice of the ballot as that of the majority. "On November 18 our people announced strongly their rejection of politicians. They traded their votes because they doubted we would truly represent their interest. While our message resonated with the people they doubted that the political class cared about them. They voted for the highest bidder." For Obaze, the governorship election results announced by

the INEC did not reflect the realities of the votes cast on Saturday by the Anambra electorate. According to him in a statement yesterday: "The over voting and inconsistencies between the counted ballots and card reader data remains exceedingly worrisome. "The uniformity of the incumbent governor wining twenty-one local governments is a political aberration in the context of Anambra politics. "The election results as reported, shows that nothing matters to the Anambra electorate. The people have spoken. They have taken a cursory long term view of what they wish for Anambra State." The APC in its reaction said it would await detailed report of the election before it could make a statement. The National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, said his party was still studying the situation and that he would not immediately take a position on the conduct of the election. Abdullahi who spoke

to THISDAY on telephone shortly after the result of the election was announced by the returning officer said the party's National Working Committee would soon meet to consider the reports of events that took place during the election. He said that it would be premature for him to offer any view on the defeat of the party since its candidate had not taken stock of what transpired and was yet to communicate to the leadership his areas of concern. "We will have to wait to receive report of the election from our candidate and his team before deciding of which position to take," he said. But a chieftain of the APC and Director General of the Voice of Nigeria (VON), Mr. Osita Okechukwu, said the election was anything but free and fair. Okechukwu who was part of the APC team that observed the election described the entire process as "cash and carry", insisting that the governor benefitted from Buhari's commitment to free

T H I S D AY MONDAY NOVEMBER 20, 2017

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2017Ëž T H I S D AY

NEWS

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

â€˜Why I Didnâ€™t Implement 2014 Confab Reportâ€™ Advises leaders to take decisions that will outlive them Former President, Dr. Goodluck Â Jonathan, has reiterated the need to implement the report of the 2014

National Conference, stressing that it holds the key to reshape and consolidate the necessary common grounds and shared values, needed

Ex-PDP National Chairmanâ€™s Son, Allegedly Stabbed to Death By Wife Former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Chairman, Dr. Haliru Bello, yesterday lost his son, Alhaji Biyamin Bello. Biyamin was allegedly stabbed to death by his wife, Maryam Sanda, the daughter of embattled former Aso Savingsâ€™ boss, Hajia Maimuna Aliyu. The attack, according to sources close to the family, was as a result of an allegation of infidelity made against Bilyamin by his wife after she allegedly saw a text message on his phone, details were still sketchy at press time. According to TheCable, the police say they are investigating the alleged murder of Bilyamin Mohammed Bello by Maryam Sanda, his wife. Sanda, is said to have killed

her husband on Saturday night at their Maitama residence, Abuja. Miamuna is said to have stabbed Bello, who would have clocked 36 on November 23, thrice in the back. After stabbing him, she drove him to the hospital for treatment but he did not survive the attack, the reports said. When contacted, Anjuri Manza, spokesman of FCT police command, simply said: â€œWe are investigating the matter.â€? Manza did not make further comments. Belloâ€™s father was the acting chairman of the PDP board of trustees from 2015-2016, minister of defence from 2011-2012, and minister of communications from 2001-2003.

to move Nigeria forward. Â Jonathan also urged those in authorities to take decisions which impact would outlive them, and gave reasons why he did not implement the recommendations of the confab. It was the first time that the former president would be speaking on why his administration passed on the 2014 National Conference report to the next Government. The former president stated this in his goodwill message at the 5th Integration Summit Roundtable in Abuja on Saturday where he was represented by his media adviser, Mr. Ikechukwu Eze. Â Emphasising that the 2014 confab holds the answers to most

of what Nigerians are agitating for today, Jonathan noted that his administration did not have enough time to implement the conference recommendations, given that the report was submitted to him in August 2014, few months before the next general elections. Â Â He president who estimated that it would have taken up to one year to complete the necessary processes for implementation, stressed that a rushed approach within the limited time he had in office before handing over in 2014, would have raised ethical questions. Â Jonathan said:Â â€œI am aware that some people have raised some issues

with the fact that I did not implement the recommendations of the confab during my tenure. I would like to state that those making this kind of claim are not being fair to me. Â â€œSuch people tend to forget that the report was submitted in August 2014, few months before the last general elections. It was at a time that the National Assembly was on break with many of the members already retreating to their different constituencies to prepare their constituents for elections. Â â€œI believe that to have a tidy procedure of implementation, it would have involved committee deliberations, public hearings and town hall consultations, on different segments of the report.Â There is no

doubt that the nation then needed up to one year to complete the processes ofimplementingtherecommendations. Â â€œIt was obvious that my administration, given the time the report was submitted, couldnâ€™t have implemented the report, before the 2015 elections, without running into ethical questions.â€? The former president, while urging his successors to implement to recommendations of the 2014 Confab, emphasised that agitations have continued because â€œwe are still trying to discover the best way to run our Republic, so that whatever policies we pursue or projects we implement as a nation, will benefit the greatest number of our population.â€?

Ibrahim: Governance Remains Poor in Africa Tobi Soniyi Ă“Ă˜ Ă‹Ă‘Ă™Ă? African leaders remain largely unaccountable to the people who elected them into office, the 2017 Ibrahim Index of African Governance has revealed. Â The index,Â a tool that measures and monitors governance performance in African countries, is carried out yearly by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation. Â The index report released today (Monday) further shows that leaders in the continent continue to rank poorly in governance generally. The index assesses governance in Africa under four major headings namely Safety and

Rule of Law, Participation and Human Rights, Sustainable Economic Opportunity and Human Development. Each of these categories contains sub-categories. Â Among the 54 countries considered, Nigeria ranked 35th in overall governance and shows a marginal improvement when measured from 20072016. Out of 100, Nigeria scored 48.1.Â The report said: â€œProgress in accountability is held back by a large deterioration in corruption and bureaucracy.â€? The report shows that 35 countries had declining scores in corruption and bureaucracy in the past ten years.

SERAP, Pensioners Seek ECOWAS Court Intervention over Unpaid Pensions, Salaries The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Court of Justice in Abuja has been urged to order President Muhammadu Buhari to deduct the pensions, salaries and gratuities of pensioners and workers across several states of Nigeria from the statutory allocations of the indebted state governments and pay same directly to the pensioners and workers on a-monthly basis. This was a product of a suit filed by the Socio-economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), Federal Civil Service Pensioners Association, and Association of Retired Local Government Staff and Primary School Teachers in Delta State, suing over â€œviolations of the human rights of workers and pensioners to equality and equal treatment; equal protection of the law and non-discrimination; to dignity and independence; to adequate standard of living and well-being; to property; to work;

to family life; and to economic and social development.â€? Â The plaintiffs want â€œimmediate payment of all outstanding pensions, salaries and gratuities through deductions from statutory allocations of the indebted state governments, and payment of adequate money compensation of N50 million to each of the pensioners and workers who are plaintiffs, and to pay other unpaid Nigerian pensioners and workers adequate compensation.â€? Â Other plaintiffs joining SERAP in the suit number ECW/CCJ/ APP/39/2017 filed last Friday are: First Bank of Nigeria Pensioners (Lagos); Mrs. Comfort C. Owoha; Joseph Agabi; Osemwenkha G.O, and Mrs. J.E. Enabunlele. The plaintiffs are suing for themselves and on behalf of their members and other workers and pensioners across the country whose salaries and pensions have not been paid by the states and federal government for several months.

HONOURING A SAN

L-R: Member, The Nation Editorial Board member, Prof. Adebayo Williams (left): former Vice-Chancellor, University of Lagos (UNILAG), Prof. Oye Ibidapo-Obe; Chairman, The Resort Group, Dr. Wale Babalakin (SAN); former Chairman, Punch Newspapers Limited, Chief Ajibola Ogunsola; Publisher, Vanguard Newspapers, Mr. Sam Amuka and Mrs. Iyabo Ogunsola at a dinner held by Babalakin and Co. for a Partner in the law firm, Mr. Tola Oshobi, on his recent elevation to the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) in Lagos at the weekend.

Lagos to Concession 10-Lane Okokomaiko-Seme Border Road Project Reveals plan to ensure stable power supply

Gboyega Akinsanmi Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode at the weekend disclosed that the state government was ready to concession Okokomaiko-Seme Border road, which it said, would be a win-win situation for the overall benefit of the people. Ambode, also, disclosed that the state government was working hard â€œto bring about constant power supply to all homes and businesses in the state by the end of 2018.â€? He disclosed the plans at an interactive session with captains of industry in the state, noting that the state government â€œis ready to partner with any investor willing

to key into his administrationâ€™s massive infrastructural renewal drive in critical sectors.â€? At the session, the governor acknowledged the significance of public-private partnership (PPP), which he said, was critical â€œto accelerate development and that the government is open to collaborate with interested investors.â€? Specifically, Ambode explained that the state government would be willing to partner with any investor interested in taking up the second phase of the Mile 2 to Seme Border road, a 10-lane road project with median light rail project. He said: â€œAt the moment, work is already ongoing from Eric More to Okokomaiko but

we are willing to partner with any investor interested in taking up the construction of the second phase which is ten-lane road from Okokomaiko to Seme Border. â€œIf we are able to achieve the road project, it will definitely open up and transform the western axis, especially Badagry forever, and the project will also complement the massive projects being undertaken in the axis,â€? the governor said. On power supply, Ambode lamented that the political geography of the country was already affecting the stateâ€™s visionary strategy â€œto solve the power challenges being essentially in the control of the Federal Government.â€? He explained that the state

government had devised strategies to short-circuit power generation, transmission and distribution to ensure constant power supply to the people of the State, noting that were already at advanced stages to bring about constant power supply to all homes and businesses by 2018. He revealed that the state government â€œis also in talks with electricity distribution companies operating in the state to see possibility of supplying 24/7 power to residents at a bit higher tariff than what currently obtains subject to agreement of all stakeholders, while government would be the guarantor of the people.

Again, Militants Threaten Proposed PANDEF Meeting in Warri Emmanuel Addeh Ă“Ă˜ Ă?Ă˜Ă‹Ă‘Ă™a The Reformed Niger Delta Avengers (RNDA), has again kicked against the proposed Tuesday meeting of the Pan Niger Delta Elder Forum (PANDEF) in Warri, Delta State, describing the meeting as a threat to the peace in the region. Security operatives had a few weeks back disrupted a similar meeting of PANDEF at Hotel

Presidential, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, citing threat by the ex-militants to stop the meeting and resume bombing of critical infrastructure in the region. The RNDA, whose members the leader of PANDEF, Chief Edwin Clark, had always described as â€˜ laptop militantsâ€™,Â reiterated the rejection and disbandment of the Clark led group, warning that if the Federal Government allows the meeting

to hold, there would be a series of coordinated attacks on oil and gas pipelines. Led by John-Mark Ezonbi, the group said it arrived at the decision after a meeting held along the creeks of Benin River in Delta state, adding that the aftermath of the proposed Warri event, if allowed to hold, should not be blamed on them. â€œThe lukewarm attitude of the federal government will

spell doom for the region as oil production will stop, following series of well-coordinated attacks that will take place simultaneously across the length and breadth of the region. â€œTo this end, the RNDA has alerted all its commanders spread across the deep creeks in the region as its targets remain major trunk export crude oil pipelines that will bring the nationâ€™s economy to ground zero.

T H I S D AY MONDAY NOVEMBER 20, 2017

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COMMENT

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

TOWARDS SELF REGULATION AND SUSTAINABILITY Edward Ayeni writes on the pressing need to develop the framework for a sustainable charcoal export sector

he current practice of businesses engaging in the export of charcoal without concrete and verifiable efforts at investing in the sustainability of their supply chain, the environment and the community where they operate should be discouraged. As stakeholders, it is our duty to set a timeframe to regularise our operations and processes in line with global best practices. Governments at all levels should resist the allure of banning the production or exportation of charcoal, and instead conduct a thorough review of The Forest (Charcoal) Regulations, taking into consideration the huge investments of businesses in forest leases, reforestation, construction of modern kilns and capacity building of local communities in agroforestry. A cue can be taken from the activities of the Kenya Forestry Service, which introduced practical new laws to legalise sustainable charcoal production to help save forests and also promote trade. As the EU beams the spotlight on charcoal imports from Africa, particularly Nigeria, that do not comply with the European Union Timber Regulation (EUTR), it is time for all stakeholders in the charcoal export sector to set self-regulatory systems in place in line with international market standards. Every country that wants to prove to the international community that its forest products are sourced in a sustainable and responsible manner need to be aligned with the worldâ€™s foremost forest products certification bodies namely Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC). These international certification organisations utilise the services of professional forest auditors to set standards of sustainable forest management. Major buyers of Nigerian charcoal from the EU have set a timeframe for importers to comply with FSC or PEFC standard of sustainability in order to continue to enjoy their patronage. To access their certification services, auditors are

THE TIME HAS COME FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A FOREST PRODUCTS STANDARD BODY FOR NIGERIA, TO BE COMPRISED OF ENVIRONMENTALISTS, THE GOVERNMENT AND BUSINESSES THAT WILL ENTRENCH AN ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY, SOCIALLY ACCEPTABLE AND ECONOMICALLY VIABLE SECTOR

invited from Ghana and Cameroon who have national standards and trained auditors. This brings to the fore the need to build capacity in the areas of forest products legality and chain of custody auditing in our own country. The closest attempt to have Nigerian trained auditors was done by Nigeria Conservation Foundation but was unfortunately stalled by funding constraints. Presently, Nigeria does not have a FSC or PEFC national standard body; neither do we have trained auditors. For a Nigerian company/product to be certified, each business will have to fly in auditors from either Cameroon or Ghana, which is another drain on our scarce foreign exchange. The time has come for the establishment of a forest products standard body for Nigeria, to be comprised of environmentalists, the government and businesses that will entrench an environmentally friendly, socially acceptable and economically viable sector. Consider this a rallying call for institutions like the Federal Ministry of Environment - Forestry Research Institute, Nigeria Conservation Foundation, private forest owners, farmers associations, professional foresters, forest product processors, exporters of forest products to come together to form a national body that will drive the sustainable forest management of our great nation. We should also work to get support from the German International Development Cooperation - GIZ who have done a lot in the areas of value chain analysis of the wood energy sector and sustainable modern wood energy development in sub Saharan Africa. Together we can ensure that our industry continues to thrive in a manner that protects our environment, contributes positively to the economy and positions Nigeria charcoal exports as abiding by government guidelines and meeting international standards. Ayeni, CEO of Anamelo Forest Concession, wrote from Kwara State

SEC AND EFFECTIVE FINANCIAL REGULATIONS Bashir I. Hassan argues that a regulatory agency should perform its task without sentiments

aws â€“ and regulations deriving from them -- achieve their purposes if they are applied and enforced in equal measures to all in the society. The real test of any law and every regulation, therefore, is enforceability, which is reflected in extent of compliance. Every country has laws and rules that govern every facet of its life. These are usually embodied in a constitution that guides its policies that govern the behaviour of the populace. One of the most important facets of modern society, which the government pays attention to, is the economy. All the moral misdemeanor of President Bill Clinton, for example, was overlooked because he was implementing the right economic policies in place and was swiftly re-elected. We all can remember the famous campaign slogan of the 1990s â€œItâ€™s the economy, stupid,â€? which was directed at his Republican opponent in his bid for re-election. Countries, Nigeria inclusive, establish statutory bodies, from time to time, to regulate behaviours of individuals and corporate bodies within the boundaries of their economic activities or transactions. In Nigeria, we have very formidable regulatory institutions that regulate our economy. They include the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) and Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), to mention a few. All these bodies are doing their utmost best to regulate, develop and stabilise our economy. In their efforts to regulate our economy, these institutions often court the ire of some people or corporations deluded by the feelings of being â€œtoo big to be touchedâ€? and all hell is often let loose when their interests are affected.

Thus, it is commonplace that, in the course of carrying out their functions, regulatory agencies come in contact with all manner of people â€” some understanding others naughty. However, whatever the case may be, regulators have the stipulated rules to guide them and compliance with the rules is all that matters. People, whether in their individual capacities or as representing corporate entities, have the tendency to whip up sentiments to elicit sympathy when they find themselves in conflict with the rules. No one should be beguiled by these selfish natural tendencies of the humankind. More often than not, these sentiments are nothing but exaggerated and self-indulgent defences for clear failings on the part of the defaulting party. Such sentimental people often had the chutzpah to drag regulatory bodies to courts of competent jurisdictions or even the â€œpublic courtâ€? playing on the gullible nature of the ordinary persons. Their chief weapon of choice is assassination of the characters of the heads of such regulatory institutions in the media. If the regulatory bodies are not lucky, an opposition politician may pick the news and cash in on the media hype to hit back at the entire government in power. Therefore, to avoid falling victims of deliberate distortion of facts, the public need to find out what are the possible reasons behind the sudden media hype about the activities of such regulatory bodies or the sudden interest in the character of their heads. More often than not, a careful investigation will lead to people having questions to answer in their interaction with such regulatory bodies are behind the negative campaigns. The discerning public should always be guided by the meritorious work of our regulatory institutions and judge them on that basis. Let us use the example of the Securities and Exchange Commission. How

far has it gone in delivering on its key mandates of protecting the investor and development of the capital market? At what cost has its accomplishments been to its image? In 2015, the current Director General (DG) of the SEC, assumed the position at helm of affairs. He made a solemn promise to implement the Capital Market Master Plan. Capital market stakeholders put the plan together in 2013. On assumption of office, the DG had his eyes onrejuvenating the retail end of the capital market, which suffered heavy losses following the capital market crash of 2008. As of December 2014, Nigeriaâ€™s market capitalisation stood at N16 trillion. The new DG believed that, if fully mobilised, the market capitalisation of the largest economy in sub-Saharan Africa ought to be far greater than that. Today Nigeria has recorded some progress because by the second quarter of 2016 the total capitalisation stood at N17.28trillion. One of the innovative ways of encouraging growth in the retail end of the capital market is fast tracking the dematerialisation of shares (moving away from physical share certificate regime), which can be achieved through electronic transfer under the e-dividend platform. I once argued that dematerialisation is an incentive to encourage retail investors come back to the capital market en masse. It is a known fact that the market is one predominantly dominated by equities and government bonds. This means that market capitalisation and activities are concentrated in a few economic sectors (indeed, two sectors â€” consumer and industrial goods â€” make up about 75% of the equities market) and stocks (the five largest companies by market capitalisation make up 56% of the equities market). To address this skewed situation, the DG

set up a market-wide committee to engage potential companies for listing. The committee has done extensive work liaising with regulatory agencies, interest groups and companies on the imperative for listing. In addition, about three companies have been identified that will be listed this year. On the question of what regulations, oversight and enforcement mechanisms need strengthening, as part of the master plan, the SEC held a conference in conjunction with the National Assembly on the legal challenges facing the capital market. Immediately afterwards, it set up three law review committees to look at all the major laws, including the Investments and Securities Act (ISA), the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA), Investment and Trustees Act, Warehouse Receipt Bill, etc. The committees have largely completed their work. Their recommendations will form the capital marketâ€™s consensus positions on the review of those laws. These recommendations promise to be a major landmark in the nationâ€™s financial services architecture, and it will enhance the capacity of SEC to navigate through the requirements of the NASS. Significantly, the report of the committees has the buy-in of all stakeholders in the market. All these are pointers to the commendable efforts of SEC to develop our capital market and to take it to enviable heights. To achieve these, the SEC must continue to put regulations first, shunning all sentiments in ensuring total compliance with the regulations by all operators in the Nigeriaâ€™s capital market. Globally, the norm amongst regulatory agencies is, when compliance is the matter, all sentiments are shoved aside. This should not be any different with our own apex capital market regulator, SEC. Hassan wrote from Abuja

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EDITORIAL STATES AND GRAZING PROHIBITION LAW The federal government should facilitate the transition from nomadism to ranching

o stem the internecine violent clashes between herdsmen and farmers, some states have prohibited open grazing by livestock. With little variations that take care of the peculiarities of the states, the law prohibits movement of livestock and open grazing by them. It requires livestock owners to ranch them, criminalising open grazing and movement of livestock by foot. The law effectively stops age-long nomadism, particularly among the Fulani whose activities in recent times have led to violent clashes with farmers in many states of the federation. No doubt, there is ample justiďŹ cation for the law. Violent clashes between herdsmen and farmers have led to the loss of thousands of lives and property worth billions of naira. But there is resistance from herdsmen who complain that there is not enough time for them to comply with the law. According to their umbrella body, Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, they need more time to comprehend the law and abide by its provisions. Besides, they contend that the law violates their fundamental WE URGE A PACKAGE right to freedom of OF INCENTIVES, movement within INCLUDING SOFT LOANS, the country and that LIBERAL ACCESS TO it is in conďŹ‚ict with international protocols LAND, TRAINING AND PROVISION OF INPUTS TO that established grazing routes across the HERDERS AND OTHERS African continent. It IN ORDER TO FACILITATE is to their credit that THE TRANSITION AND after an initial threat to AMELIORATE THE violence they decided to CHALLENGES ASSOCIATED submit their grievances WITH IT to the law court. This is commendable and we urge them to pursue their legal challenge of the law to a logical conclusion. But beyond that, they should also understand that times have changed. In the history of humanity, the stage of development at which man wandered for a livelihood belongs to the stone age. Let us stop insulting ourselves with romanticising the â€˜nomadic cultureâ€™ by beginning to reap the fullest beneďŹ ts

Letters to the Editor

of our natural endowments through aggressive modernisation of our modes of agricultural production. Brazil and the United States (Alabama) which are some of the worldâ€™s largest cattle producers do not have the menace and insult of â€˜nomadsâ€™. Meanwhile, we are not unmindful of the immediate and short term inconveniences the law would cause to nomads who now need to transit from their traditional mode of cattle rearing to a modern husbandry. Already, there are reports of migration of herders and their herds from Benue State to the neighbouring Nasarawa State and others that are yet to prohibit open grazing. The implication should be obvious as in no time the problems sort to be solved in Benue would be transported to Nasarawa, which may necessitate it also promulgating a similar law.

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HAUSAS AND DEVELOPMENT IN ASABA

owever, we need a holistic approach to the challenges associated with nomadism. That ranching is an enduring solution is not in doubt. But there is need for a more coordinated transition from nomadism to ranching. This is where the intervention by the federal government becomes appropriate. Although Agriculture is on the concurrent list, the federal government needs to provide a guideline that sets the standards on the implementation of the desired transition. We therefore call on President Muhammadu Buhari to provide the platform for a wholesale discussion on the future of animal husbandry in relations to the transition from nomadism to ranching. We urge a package of incentives, including soft loans, liberal access to land, training and provision of inputs to herders and others in order to facilitate the transition and ameliorate the challenges associated with it. The federal government should dedicate funds to advance the herders as long-term, low-interest loans while states that embark on such progressive agricultural policies should be generously grant-aided. If done properly, we can then employ and re-train the herdsmen in modern settled cattle farming. The animals will be healthier; the handlers will earn decent incomes, have decent accommodation, own property and have schools for their kids. Ancillary industries will also emerge and employment opportunities will blossom.

t was the best course of action when the government of Delta State chose to develop the Cable Line neighbourhood of Asaba with a view to transforming this locale into a â€œNew Dubaiâ€? business-and-resort sprawling complex. Really, that is how a state government should function; seek and develop business opportunities that would make the state less likely to depend too heavily on monthly handouts from the central government at Abuja. Even if not for business purposes, state governments should strive to clear city-centres of hovels and a now widely-accepted quote should be recalled herewith: â€œIf truth must be told, it is not the responsibilities of low-income earners to strive to acquire plots of land in city centres and then commence to deface these locales by building slum apartment dwellings; it is the responsibilities of state governors to build decent template-based housing units with sewage processing and all-encompassing external concrete-flooring or tarmac-flooring thrown in the midst to discourage breeding of pests like flies, mosquitoes, fleas, gnats and vermin like rats and cockroaches.â€? So, it was with a sense of sadness and disappointment that I read the Sunday Trustnewspaper headline of Sunday, November 12, 2017, that essentially thrust the resident Hausas of Asaba into victim status. Why this influential Northern Nigeria newspaper should glorify the Hausas of Asaba reveling in victimhood was, well, not quite much beyond my comprehension: that is the superior Northern psyche in the present-day Nigeria when certain parties are certain they are pre-ordained to conquer and dominate. Such a feeling was one of the reasons IPOB campaigned

for the boycott of the Anambra State gubernatorial election. Over there in Zamfara, Katsina, and other Northern states the sitting governments have no qualms ordering bulldozers to pull down decades-old apartments, business premises, and kirk buildings because they want to â€œdevelopâ€? that section of town. The government of Delta State is not out to forcibly dislodge any group of folks, but the resident Hausas of Asaba should not arrest development of Asaba by resisting entreaties to move away from prime locales suitable for real estate development. If state governments of Northern Nigeria take a leaf or two from this desire to boost sources of internally generated revenues from the Delta State Government and given the massive influence that the Hausa-Fulani stock has in the present APC government and the capital that they can thereof influence to move to these states, then there should be very little excuses for the Hausas migrating in droves and settling â€œfor over 200 yearsâ€? at Asaba. By the way, how long now has Asaba been continually inhabited? Furthermore, it is now incumbent upon the people of Northern Nigeria to sit down amongst themselves and discuss what the widespread destruction wrought by Boko Haram has done to the North. If Boko Haram had not arrested development in the North by way of violent jihad then it would not be altogether necessary for Northerners to seek solace in migration and find contentment in other peoplesâ€™ land and even stake a claim to part of the capital of their state.

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

NIMCâ€™S REGISTRATION FEE IN KWANDE LGA

here are several complaints against the officials of National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) in Kwande LGA of Benue State regarding the ongoing registration for National Identity Card as directed by the federal government. According to my investigation, the officials of NIMC who are registering the people of Kwande are collecting money from them as a registration fee. I have done my registration in Abuja without paying for it because I was not asked to pay. My friend, Akula Emmanuel, did his registration in Makurdi, the state capital but money was not collected from him. Gloria John has registered for the same thing in Abuja and many more but they were not asked to pay a fee for registration. But at the headquarters of Kwande Local Government Area in Adikpo, specifically, the registration centre within the Local Government Secretariat, people are paying N200 as a registration fee. In Jato Aka, a community in Kwande LGA, a student of Benue State University, Makurdi, testified that he went to one of the registration centres to register and he was asked to pay N400. According to him, initially, he thought it was a joke but after waiting without being attended to by the officials of NIMC, he had no choice than to leave the place. The concerned authorities should please do something urgently. Awunah, Pius Terwase, Mpape, Abuja

T H I S D AY MONDAY NOVEMBER 20, 2017

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2017

POLITICS

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

M O N D AY D I S C O U R S E

PDP in Dire Straits The race for the position of National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party is tearing the party apart, write Christopher Isiguzo and Segun James

olitics in Nigeria is never simple. It is too diverse, too argumentative, too undemocratic and too complex for any problem created from it to lend itself to easy answers. This is particularly so in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) where what is supposed to be a “simple party leadership election” is now threatening to snowball into another crisis. Last week, a meeting was called by the leadership of the party in conjunction with the eleven state governors from the party’s stable and the Board of Trustees of the party at Enugu, the Enugu State capital. The idea of the meeting was to determine the possibility of agreeing on a consensus national chairmanship candidate ahead of the party’s national convention scheduled for the 9th of December. The underlining reasoning was to avoid another acrimonious convention, a disaster that may lead to the break up of the party. At the end, the meeting failed to come up with a consensus candidate. Not surprisingly, the failure to arrive at a consensus candidate was occasioned by not only disagreements amongst the aspirants for the most coveted position in the party’s hierarchy, but also the inability of the party leadership including the BoT and the governors to agree. Those seeking to secure the party’s ticket for the 2019 presidential election would also not allow a candidate to emerge as a consensus. Each of them indeed has interest in one of the eight aspirants, a situation which made the issue of a consensus chairmanship candidate highly volatile. It is probably too much to hope that there could be a break in the seemingly endless leadership crisis in the party, but some signs pointed in that direction; they did arrive at a consensus on other positions which were immediately zoned. With the intrigues going on within the party, there are more to the emerging crisis than meet the eyes. However, the good news is; come what may, a new leadership for the party must emerge from the national convention. But how such leadership will be able to shepherd the party to the Promised Land is left for time, which is just but a few weeks away! The bottom line is that it is the 2019 general election that will make or finally break the PDP. It is already making it difficult for the party to agree on a chairman. Truth be told, some of its former members who were disgruntled and disenchanted at the happenings within the party at the height of the leadership crisis that rocked the party and had moved on to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) may be coming back, but the loss of the 2019 election may become the last straw that will break the party’s camel’s back. But then, the possibility of this will obviously be dependent on whoever the party picks as its national chairman; and ultimately, the presidential candidate for the 2019 general election. Although good news is in short supply in the polity right now, the economic stagnation and the obvious instability in the APC may be good enough catalyst to propel rejuvenation in the PDP. But who is going to be the next party national chairman or, and more importantly, the presidential candidate of the PDP? This is the most crucial question as race for the party’s leadership reaches crescendo. Barely two weeks to the convention, the situation in the party is very dicey and tension high, as high wired politicking continues round the clock, here is a rundown of the intrigues leading to the convention.

Secondus

Enugu Meeting In the last one month, chairmanship aspirants of the party had been traversing the country and meeting with major stakeholders and leaders as well as soliciting support as negotiations continue. At the last count, a total of nine party chieftains including former Minister of Special Duties, Taoheed Adedoja, former Minister of Education, Tunde Adeniran, former Deputy National Chairman of the party, Bode George, a former acting National Chairman of the party, Uche Secondus, former governor of Ogun State, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, a former PDP governorship candidate in Lagos State, Jimi Agbaje, Dr. Raymond Dokpesi and Chief Akintayo Akin-Deko are seeking for the chairmanship slot. The number, in the consideration of party leaders is believed to be on the high side and if all the candidates are allowed to contest it may lead to a division within the party. This explains the sustained efforts to possibly prune it down or better still go for a consensus. It was in a bid to achieve this objective that the leadership met in Enugu with the contestants, the governors and other critical party leaders. The meeting was attended by

The bottom line is that it is the 2019 general election that will make or ﬁnally break the PDP. It is already making it difﬁcult for the party to agree on a chairman

the Chairman of the Caretaker Committee, Ahmed Makarfi and the National Secretary, Chief Ben Obi. Other party leaders present at the meeting were the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekeweremadu, Senate Minority Leader, Godswill Akpabio, former Jigawa State Governor, Sule Lamido, former Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi, former Benue State Governor, Gabriel Suswam, Chief Tom Ikimi, Ambassador Kema Chikwe and former Senate President, Adolphus Wabara. The party which became an opposition party after it lost the 2015 presidential election now controls just eleven states in the country. In the entire 19 Northern states, PDP controls only two, Gombe and Taraba; both in the North East geopolitical zone. It controls only Ekiti state in the South West while out of eleven states in the South East and South-South, PDP controls eight including Abia, Ebonyi and Enugu for south east and Delta, Rivers, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom and Cross-River for South-South zone. All the governors including Nyesom Wike, (Rivers) Udom Emmanuel (Akwa Ibom), Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia) Ben Ayade (Cross River) Henry Sariake Dickson (Bayelsa), Ifeanyi Okowa (Delta), Ayo Fayose (Ekiti), Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo (Gombe), Darius Ishaku, (Taraba), the host, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi were present, except Dave Umahi of Ebonyi who sent his Deputy, Kelechi Igwe. However, after about seven hours of discussions behind closed door, the meeting failed to arrive at a consensus. The meeting which lasted till midnight had planned to possibly reduce the number of aspirants from nine to possibly two or three however failed to achieve the aim. In place of a consensus, the meeting presided over by the Chairman of PDP Governors’ Forum and Ekiti State Governor; Ayo Fayose

extracted a commitment from the aspirants to support whoever finally emerges as the party’s chairman at the convention. Addressing newsmen at the end of the meeting, Fayose said the atmosphere and team spirit that manifested in the meeting demonstrated the party’s resolve to take over power by 2019. “Our aspirants, PDP chairmanship aspirants have agreed to work together, whosoever emerges as the chairman of the party will be supported by all of us. “We met in Enugu state Government House to deliberate on our national convention and we took time off to meet with the chairmanship aspirants, believing that we want to have a convention that all parties in Nigeria will emulate; convention that will represent the word democracy and serve as template for other parties. “We have responsible people vying for the office of chairman of the PDP nationally and we are on one page and the page is the PDP first and PDP first. And we are leaving Enugu today believing that the PDP will take over power by 2019,” he said. Though, mixed reactions had continued to trail the outcome of the meeting, most party leaders have expressed satisfaction that the meeting could not throw up a consensus candidate, insisting that such a development would have meant a return to the party’s dark past where internal democracy was totally absent. For instance, a member of the party’s Board of Trustees, Chief Chidi Okolo cautioned leaders of the party against any form of imposition in the forthcoming convention. To Okolo, the only way to avoid crisis in the party would be for delegates to the convention to be given free hands to select CONT’D ON NEXT PAGE

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2017

POLITICS

MONDAY DISCOURSE

PDP IN DIRE STRAITS

Akin-Deko

the next set of party leaders, while also asking members of the party to learn from the recent crisis in the party by carefully avoiding the imposition under any guise. Meanwhile, the aspirants have entered into an agreement to observe fair-play rules as rolled out by the party’s leadership which provides for the disqualification of any of the aspirants that runs foul of the peace deal. The accord signed by the aspirants included a commitment to support whoever emerges winner among them, with a proviso that no aspirant shall leave the party or encourage his or her supporters, promoters to do so, as a result of the outcome of the national chairmanship election at the elective national convention. It further stipulates that: “Any breach of the 2015 zero expenditure policy of the party, which prohibits the use of monetary inducement including lodging of delegates and providing money for votes, shall not be tolerated in the 2017 National Elective Convention and shall be a ground for disqualification on or before the 9th December, 2017. “Any aspirant/sponsor/supporter/financier, proven to have done anything contrary to the agreements reached herein and in circumstances that suggest the knowledge of the undersigned persons shall be disqualified from contesting the national chairmanship election.” Six of the nine aspirants were present at the accord signing ceremony, which was presided over by the Chairman of the PDP National Caretaker Committee, Senator Ahmed Makarfi. Before the signing ceremony, Makarfi said that the presence of the aspirants was an indication that they were working together. “You have resolved that whoever that is crowned by God and elected by the delegates will be accepted by you. PDP has not done this before. No matter the divergent interests, the overall interest of the party prevails. That is a sign of greatness and a vindication of good things to come,” Makarfi stated. He disclosed that the accord and code of conduct were drawn up by the aspirants themselves but only presented to the party leadership. Makarfi, however, advised that in order to save time and for early conclusion of the convention, some less competitive positions could be resolved within the zone “so that positions that are competitive can be conducted.” He assured the party that nobody would be excluded from contesting at the convention while pledging a transparent, free and fair election.

Ladoja

Chief Rasheed Ladoja who spoke on behalf of the aspirants promised that the December convention would be a carnival, assuring them that none of the aspirants will leave the party because of the convention so far it is transparent. “It is usual in politics that people should fight for positions and it is an aberration that when you lose, you leave. When you join the party, you did not join to become the chairman or secretary but to be a member. “We shall try to control our supporters so that they do not cause injury to themselves and to other supporters. All of us are serious at making our party great because of the yearning of Nigerian to find a credible alternative.” PDP in Southwest If there is one zone where there is tension over the chairmanship of the PDP, it is the southwest. The region remains the only one out of the six geo-political zones in the country that has not produced the leadership of the party. To them, the quest for the chairmanship should have been left exclusive for the zone instead of the southern part of the country. Luckily, the southeast zone opted out of the race leaving the battle for just the southwest and the south-south zones. The fact that many of the aspirants are from the zone is an indication that many in the party agree that the zone should produce the next chairman. No wonder that Buruji Kashamu a leader of the party and the senator representing Ogun East Senatorial District at the National Assembly accused the Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Caretaker Committee, Senator Ahmed Makarfi of destabilisng the PDP in the south-west zone because of his 2019 presidential ambition. Kashamu alleged that Makarfi had been illegally tinkering with duly elected state

Nigerians expect the PDP to put its house in order and resume its role as an opposition

executive committee of the party with the intention of substituting them with allies sympathetic to his ambition. Although, Kashamu has yet to substantiate the allegation against Makarfi, the insinuation contained therein is an indication that the 9th December convention goes beyond who becomes the chairman of the party. He said that Makarfi had created room for Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State to impose someone loyal to him from the south-south as national chairman of the party at the convention, warning that the activities of the caretaker committee chairman would lead to another crisis in the party. He said: “The activities of Makarfi have been everything to the contrary. He had been going about not even as an elected national chairman with full tenure but much more ridiculously, but like a sole administrator with timeless tenure under the disguise of solving one problem or the other. “Makarfi has allowed his egocentric presidential ambition to blindfold him. He has disorganised the south-west PDP for selfish manipulations with his cohorts, chief amongst whom is the uncultured and erratic Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Ayo Fayose. “As if the disorganisation of the southwest structures is not enough; Makarfi has clandestinely abdicated the leadership role of ensuring an acceptable micro-zoning, he left the national chairmanship hitherto conceded to the south-west for a free-for-all among the three southern zones. “This is to complicate issues among the south and make Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike unfairly positioned to impose a National Chairman of his choice. The major South-South contestants, Prince Uche Secondus and High Chief Raymond Dokpesi are eminently qualified for the National Chairmanship of our party, except for the process and implications of a unilateral imposition. “It is indeed, funny that Makarfi that has evidently shown lack of requisite capacity to be the National Chairman is dreaming of becoming the President of Nigeria. He is a bundle of betrayal even worse than Senator Ali Modu Sheriff.” But Secondus had rejected claim that he was being sponsored by anyone. He said that it was his decision to be chairman of the party and had been reaching out to delegates across the country to help him achieve his objective. A chieftain of the party, Mr. Gbenga Ayodele has rightly observed that the race for the

position of National Chairman of the PDP is fast deteriorating into a free-for-all fight between some of Nigeria’s top political titans both within and outside the party, whose aim is to put their nominee in charge of the PDP as a first step to clinching the party’s 2019 presidential ticket for themselves or for their candidate. He referred to a publication a group - the PDP Redemption Group - alleging that the opposing APC was funding some of the PDP aspirants. According to him, that statement alone although unconfirmed, has heighten tension in the PDP. Ayodele alleged that the race was therefore set to tear the party apart as some of these titans were believed to be ready to work to destroy the PDP if their nominee fails to win the national chairmanship post. He also stated that both the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) were believed to be closely watching the race, especially in view of on-going investigations into some of the aspirants, and also because of the amount of funds being spent traversing the country to canvass for the support of PDP chieftains, especially governors. The Stakes Remain Very High The APC obviously wants to retain power. It will be hoping that the PDP will bungle the leadership choice by appointing someone that will lack the capacity and the credibility to lead the PDP to victory. The leadership of the PDP should not allow this to happen. Democracy thrives where there is a strong opposition. The leadership crisis that threatened to tear the PDP apart forced it to the abdicate that role . Nigerians expect the PDP to put its house in order and resume its role as an opposition. The first step to doing this is to appoint a credible person as its chairman. This idea that anyone can be chairman, on the long run, is not going to help the party. The race for the PDP national chairmanship can therefore only get hotter as unfolding events in the nation shows that the party is still a formidable force that to be reckoned with. If properly handled, the contest could produce a chairman for the party that; come 2019, the party will give the APC a stiff competition to produce the next president. Leaving the choice to chance may prove too costly for the party.

T H I S D AY MONDAY NOVEMBER 20, 2017

˾ T H I S D AY, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2017

FEATURES

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

Death Trap in Lagos With the constant loss of lives to road accidents at Iyana-Itire junction along the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway, Ikenna Ekwerike writes on what has become a nightmare for motorists

Pedestrians risking it across either side of the Iyana-Itire junction along Oshodi-Apapa Expressway

or many, the name ‘Iyana-Itire’ represents death and everlasting sorrow. For others who are familiar with the terrain, Iyana-Itire is a call for utmost watchfulness and patience geared towards personal road safety. In recent times, the Iyana-Itire Bus Stop, located between Ilasa Bus Stop and the popular Cele Bus Stop along the ever busy Oshodi-Apapa Expressway, Lagos, has become notorious for preventable road accidents that have forcefully sniffed life out of many, leaving others with permanent disabilities and disfiguring scars. But beyond the copious loss of lives, accidents at this junction have exposed, sadly, how much of their humanity Lagosians have lost in the era of digital photography on smart phones and the addictive social networks. As it is always the case, incidences in Lagos are typically greeted with mammoth onlookers who gather, basically, to catch a first-hand glimpse of whatever happened. No doubt, even in the past, majority of such onlookers were always there to satisfy curiosity and this earned them the title of ‘Lagos lookers’. Yet, volunteers to offer first aid to the victims, in the case of an accident, were never lacking. Nowadays, not only are helpers scarce, but even the often huge curious crowd that gathers in a twinkle of the eye as soon as the event breaks is taking a most disturbing turn. There is complete indifference to the plight of victims. Not only do they engage their natural eyes, they equally employ their digital eyes which are capable of capturing and transmitting the event, instantly, to the virtual world. They seem to revel in the glamour of technology and the selfish psychological gratification comments from such posts will generate when

In recent times, the Iyana-Itire Bus Stop, located between Ilasa Bus Stop and the popular Cele Bus Stop along the ever busy Oshodi-Apapa Expressway, Lagos, has become notorious for preventable road accidents that have forcefully sniffed life out of many, leaving others with permanent disabilities and disﬁguring scars Lagos State governor, Akinwunmi Ambode....should take urgent steps to save lives at Iyana-Itire Bus Stop

posted on social media platforms at the expense of a fellow human’s life. However, Mr. Ogbonna Enwere, a spare parts dealer at the Ilasa Mechanic Village from Umuahia in Abia State, chose to stand out from the unfeeling crowd on that unhappy day in August 2017 when a vehicle coming from Oshodi towards Apapa rammed into four commuters who were waiting by the concrete demarcation to cross the second lane of the

expressway at Iyana-Itire Junction killing three persons on the spot. “When I got to the scene I noticed that every other person was busy taking pictures of the victims even when it was obvious that two out of the four were still moving and needed urgent attention. I felt we should help them since the police and road safety officials were not around. “So, I immediately rushed to carry one of

the girls but couldn’t lift her alone. So I called others to help me but I was shocked at the responses they gave. They were saying that others had died and that she was most likely going to die too due to her condition which was really critical,” Enwere narrated. The only way Enwere could get help from the crowd of photographers was to claim that the victim was his relative. At first, a man volunteered to assist him but on discovering that the two legs of the girl had been completely shattered, he quietly dropped her and backed off. “It was only then that one well-dressed lady

Ëž T H I S D AY, MONDAY, Í°ÍŽËœ Í°ÍŽÍŻÍľ

FEATURES

A view of the pedestrian bridge at Hassan Bus stop, close to Iyana-Itire Bus Stop along Oshodi-Apapa Expressway

pushed her way through the crowd and joined me to carry her. Funny enough, the keke operators started to run away instead coming to help us carry her to the hospital,â€? Enwere added. While it seems obvious that the culture of fellow-feeling is fast eroding, it is still simply unimaginable why a crowd of humans; men and women; boys and girls; Christians and Muslims alike would pass the death sentence on another just because he or she was involved in an accident that had left him or her badly injured and probably, unconscious. Perhaps, two of the victims of that accident would have been saved had the crowd been a sympathetic one. Aside the girl whom Enwere rushed to the hospital, the only male among the victims was said to be battling for survival and was practically begging to be assisted to live. But the crowd heartlessly pronounced him dead and unfortunately he died. When this reporter visited the only surviving victim of that accident, he noticed that she was in a very stable condition having spent three months in a private orthopaedic facility where her broken legs are being tended. She declined media publicity but full of thanks to God for her life. Sadly, human blood continues to flow, unabated, at Iyana-Itire bus stop. A recent incident occurred in the afternoon hours of Thursday, October 19, 2017 on the same spot where previous ones had been alleged to have happened. The accident claimed the life of a young man, who was also waiting by the concrete demarcation to cross the second lane of the expressway when a lorry driver lost control of his vehicle. Unfortunately, some of the accidents at that spot are not unconnected with the reckless activities of commercial bus drivers, popularly called â€˜danfo driversâ€™, who often stop right in the middle of the expressway to either pick up passengers or get them off. â€œI just heard a very loud sound of a burst tyre and then saw the lorry wobbling down. It hit the concrete demarcation and stopped but I

Unfortunately, some of the accidents at that spot are not unconnected with the reckless activities of commercial bus drivers, popularly called â€˜danfo driversâ€™, who often stop right in the middle of the expressway to either pick up passengers or get them off

The motionless body of the young man crushed by the lorry at the Iyana-Itire Junction along Oshodi-Apapa, lying on the ground

didnâ€™t go to see when people started shouting that it had killed someone because Iâ€™m afraid of blood,â€? said Kola Tijani, a tricycle operator at the junction. Another eyewitness, Adegboyega Collins, lamented that the Iyana-Itire Junction had become frightfully dangerous for commuters. He said, â€œThe rate at which we witness accidents on that very spot where this one happened now is alarming. â€œLess than two months ago, one vehicle ran into four people who were waiting to cross the second lane on that same spot and three out of the four died instantly and the other one

was rushed to the hospital. No one knows if she survived it.â€? For Tayo Jamiu, who also witnessed the accident, the only solution to the unwarranted loss of lives at Iyana-Itire Junction would be the erection of a pedestrian bridge. While the pedestrian bridge option might be a long term solution to the problem, some have suggested government takes certain immediate steps towards arresting the situation part of which should be the posting of traffic officials to the junction to enforce traffic laws and ensure the safety of lives.

It is worthy of note that the nearest pedestrian bridge to the junction which is at Hassan Bus Stop just before Ilasa Bus Stop is about 15 poles away. Traders at Hassan Bus Stop where the bridge is situated, Rosemary and Mrs. Abayomi Sola, attest that road hazards were not very common there compared to what happens at Iyana-Itire. According to them, the unfortunate few who get involved in accidents at that bus stop are usually the stubborn people who will prefer to cross the roads rather than use the pedestrian bridge.

T H I S D AY MONDAY NOVEMBER 20, 2017

T H I S D AY Ëž Ëœ NOVEMEBER 20, 2017

BUSINESSWORLD R A T E S MONEY MARKET OBB OVERNIGHT

A S

A T

REPO 26.67% 27.67%

CALL 1-MONTH 3-MONTH

30% 37.50% 40%

Group Business Editor Chika Amanze-Nwachuku

Email chika.amanzenwachukwu@thisdaylive.com 08033294157

N O V E M B E R S & P INDEX INDEX LEVEL 1-DAY MONTH-TO-DATE

311.95% 0.10% 0.54%

1 7 ,

S & P INDEX 1/4 TO DATE YEAR TO DATE

2 0 1 7

5.58% 18.99%

EXCHANGE RATE N305.95//1US DOLLAR* *AS AT LAST FRIDAY

Quick Takes DBN Warns against Fraudsters

The Development Bank of Nigeria Plc (DBN) has called on members of the public to be wary of fraudulent multi-purpose scheme that are purportedlycalculatingtodefraudunsuspectingpersonsbyerroneously canvasing that the World Bank was giving out grants to individuals to do business in Nigeria through DBN. According to a statement from the bank, members of the public are advised to note that it is not involved in this fraudulent scheme and that the bank only disburses loans to MSMEs through Participating Financial Institutions (PFIs). DBN warned that it will not be responsible for any loss or damage resulting from this fraudulent scheme. The bank only recently commenced lending activities with N5 billion earmarked for disbursement through three microďŹ nance banks (MFBs). â€œHaving been established as a wholesale development ďŹ nance institution, the disbursed amount is for onward lending to over 20,000 micro small and medium scale enterprises (MSMEs) spread across the country. â€œThe three MFBs for the pilot scheme, who were unveiled at an agreement-signing ceremony recently in Abuja were Fortis MicroďŹ nance Bank Plc, LAPO MicroďŹ nance Bank limited, and NPF MicroďŹ nance Bank Plc,â€? it explained in a statement.

FirstBank Hosts Sustainability Conference

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L-R: Chief Executive OďŹƒcer(CEO), Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, Haruna Jalo-Waziri; retired non-Executive Director, Obinna Nwosu; Chairman, Oscar Onyema , and former Interim CEO, Bola Adeeko, during the send-oďŹ€ dinner organised by CSCS in honour of Nwosu and Adeeko in Lagosâ€Śrecently

THISDAY Model Portfolio Slides Further on Continuing Profit Taking Goddy Egene It was a bearish week for the THISDAY Model Portfolio (TMP) last week as it recorded a further decline following continued profit taking by investors. Although the stock market was generally bearish last week, stocks in the TMP suffered significant declines as more investors locked in profits recorded over the past weeks. Consequently, the TMP aggregate gain, which stood at 20.7 per cent the previous week, fell to 17.5 per cent last week ended 17, 2017. TMP, an initiative of THISDAY Economic and Financial Intelligence Unit (TEFIU), is

CAPITAL MARKET designed to enable leading stockbrokers and investment houses in the country share their trading skills and methodologies with ordinary investors. The investment houses involved in the project are Afrinvest Limited, FSDH Securities Limited, Capital Assets Limited, Meristem Limited and Lead Advisory Limited . TMP consists of five different portfolio types constructed individually in conjunction with five leading stockbroking firms in the country with different investment objectives. The project was executed by asking each of the partner

stock broking houses in the country to construct a portfolio of 10 stocks selected according to their individual best judgement and using their best and well tested stock selection and investment strategies. They were then asked to each deploy an imaginary fund of N10 million to invest on the 10 stocks in whatever proportions they considered best. Last Friday marked the 21stt week since the introduction of the portfolios and they have generated a total return of N8.784 million. Apart from Portfolio E that has recorded a negative return of 1.8 per cent since the introduction of the TMP, the remaining

four portfolios have generated positive returns. However, analysis of the performance of the individual portfolios showed that all of them declined last week. Although Portfolio C remained the highest performer, it fell from 34.5 per cent the previous week to 30.2 per cent last week. All the stocks that made up the portfolio closed lower last week. The portfolio valued had climbed from N10 million to N13.445 million the previous week but fell to N13.020 million last week. Similarly, Portfolio D that remained the second highest Continued on page 24

Alleged Tax Evasion: Lawmakers Threaten Arrest Warrant against Telecoms CEOs James Emejo in Abuja The Chairman, House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee investigating the activities of telcoms operators and vendors, Hon. Ahmed Abu (APC, Niger) has threatened to serve bench warrants against chief executives of major telecommunications companies over their failure to appear before it and defend allegations of tax evasion amounting to about N143 billion. At the resumed hearing over the weekend, Chief Executives of MTN Nigeria, Globacom, Airtel Nigeria, 9mobile Nigeria, former chairman of the defunct Etisalat,

ECONOMY Mr. Hakeem Bello Osagie as well as Executive Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mr. Babatunde Fowler, for the umpteenth time did not appear before the committee. Irked by the development, the committee members forced its chairman to issue a warning that failure to appear on a yet to be communicated date, will leave the lawmakers with no other option than to issue arrest warrants against them. Specially, the committee is probing alleged tax evasion

by the big telecoms companies including value added tax deductions on recharge cards as well as ongoing dispute between telcos and value added services (VAS) providers in the industry over questionable revenue sharing formula, particularly in the lottery services operated by mobile technology. Abu specifically noted that the committee had invited Bello-Osagie and the Airtel CEO on several occasions to answer questions on alleged tax evasion by the then Etisalat and Airtel but they failed to show up. He said the attitude of the duo was unacceptable, warning

that should they fail to appear again, an arrest warrant would be issued against them. He berated officials of 9Mobile for the absence of its CEO, stressing that it would invoke relevant constitutional provisions in dealing with the organisation involved. He said the committee decided to revisit the recent exit of Etisalat Group from the country, adding that the circumstances leading to winding up of its operations would not be swept under the carpet. However, the ad-hoc com-

The FirstBank Sustainability Centre has announced the fourth edition of the annual International Sustainability Conference â€“ one of the activities and programs driven by the Centre. The FirstBank Sustainability Centre is a partnership between the bank and the Lagos Business School (LBS). The theme for this yearâ€™s Conference is: â€œPartnership for Sustainable Development and Innovation.â€? The event would convene stakeholders to deliberate on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the various avenue institutions can partner to build sustainable development.The conference is scheduled for Tuesday, November 21, 2017 at theLagos Business School (LBS), complex in Ajah, Lagos. The 2017 Sustainability Conference would expound on SDG 9 which addresses Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, with focus on building resilient infrastructure, promoting inclusive and sustainable industrialization, fostering innovation; and SDG 17 with focus on strengthening the means of implementing the SDGs as well as revitalizing the global partnerships for sustainable development. Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals, Princess Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire has been invited as Guest speaker at the event with other speakers to include the MD/CEO, FirstBank of Nigeria Limited and Subsidiaries; Dr. Adesola Adeduntan,among others. Speaking on the event, Group Head, Marketing & Corporate Communications, First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Folake- Ani-Mumuney, said the bank remains committed to the ideals of corporate citizenship and sustainable businesses practices. â€œWe have continued to encourage business practices and initiatives that will drive higher levels of sustainability and business continuity and that is why we established the FirstBank Sustainability Center in partnership with the Lagos Business School to drive value propositions that will impact our immediate and global environment in a most sustainable manner,â€? she stated.

CHIVITA Products Win Awards

TwoofthemostinnovativebrandsfromthestableofChiLimitedwere recognised for delivering superior values to the market and exhibiting excellence in upholding eďŹ€ective marketing strategies at the 2017 edition of Marketing World Awards. Whilst Chivita Active Vegetable Fruit Nectar came tops in the Best Use of Packaging category, Hollandia ChocoMalt Drink was recognised as the Emerging Brand of the Year in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) category. For Chivita Active Vegetable Fruit Nectar, while its oďŹ€ering of vegetable and fruit in one mix is the ďŹ rst of its kind in Nigeria, it is the brandâ€™s ambient and aseptic packaging, which also again happens to be a ďŹ rst of its kind, that saw it pick up the award for the Best Use of Packaging. The oďŹ€er of vegetable and fruit juice in a packaging that does not require refrigeration and is free from contamination, along with a cutting edge design, rich vegetable, fruit and juice visuals combined perfectly with an appealing colour pallet, is one that resonates with consumers who lead an active lifestyle and are primed to achieve more.

â€œThe 31 December deadline for stoppage of issuance of physical dividend warrants in the nationâ€™s capital market remains unchangedâ€?

Director General of Securities and Exchange,

Mounir Gwarzo Continued on page 24

T H I S D AY Ëž Ëœ Í°ÍŽËœ Í°ÍŽÍŻÍľ

BUSINESSWORLD ALLEGED TAX EVASION: LAWMAKERS THREATEN ARREST WARRANT AGAINST TELECOMS CEOS

mittee similarly quizzed the Nigeria Lottery Regulatory Commission (NLRC) over what it described as unclear revenue sharing formula between Mobile Network Operators and VAS/ Digital content and Mobilebased lottery. Director General, NLRC, Mr. Lanre Gbajabiamila disclosed that while about 295 licensed VAS providers had generated about N80 billion revenues across the four major mobile telecommunications operators, within the past four years , MTN alone had grossed about 50 per cent of the entire revenue. Abu had earlier in the year ordered the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the NLRC to end all existing lottery contracts between GSM companies and lottery operators insisting that the existing lottery contracts which had now gone awry were carried out in breach of the National Lottery Act and constituted illegality. It was gathered that the telcos charged 70 percent of the total share, leaving lottery operators as well as the commission with 30 percent to share, whereas, the initial agreement stipulated that 50 percent should go to the winner at any particular point in time while 30 percent should go to the operator as well as 20 percent to the regulatory commission. However, Gbajabiamila, in his submission to the committee wanted the sharing formula reviewed to a ratio 60- 40 in favour of the VAS providers. He said: â€œThe resources and creativity that continues to be applied to VAS and digital content generation are the key components to the success of the industries. â€œOver the years, collaborations between MNOs and the VAS partners have seen revenue share continue to take a fall from 60 to 30 percent on the average, to as low as 15 percent to VAS providers in some cases.â€? The Executive Vice-Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta had told the committee that although, thereâ€™s an existing memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the NLRC and the NCC, it doesnâ€™t however cover the agreement between lottery operators and the commission.

NEWS

THISDAY MODEL PORTFOLIO SLIDES FURTHER ON CONTINUING PROFIT TAKING gainer, fell from 28.6 per cent the previous week to 24.5 per cent last week. This indicates that the portfolio value, which stood at N12.865 million two weeks ago, fell to N12.452 million

last week. In the same vein, Portfolio B that maintained the third position with 25.2 per cent the previous week, fell to 23 per cent last week, while Portfolio A fell to 12 per

Chika Amanze-Nwachuku AgriBusiness/Industry Editor

Jonathan Eze

Comms/e-Business Editor

Emma Okonji

Capital Market Editor

Goddy Egene

Senior Correspondent

Raheem Akingbolu (Advertising) Correspondents

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

Nume Ekeghe (Money Market) Nosa Alekhuogie (AgriBusiness)

one that declined and another that stagnated. The highest positive return is 81.1 per cent, trailed by 62.1 per cent. This was followed by 47.6 per cent, 38.8 per cent, 24.9 per cent, 17.6

per cent, 13.9 per cent and1.7 per cent in that order. Also, under Portfolio D, the stocks with negative performance remained two( 13.5 per cent and 2.84 per

cent).But the highest price is 62.1 per cent, trailed by 55.9 per cent. Others included: 38.8 per cent; 24.8 per cent; 17.6 per cent; 13.8 per cent; 7.4 per cent and 3.9 per cent.

16 Companies Exit Onne Free Trade Zone It emerged at the weekend that no fewer than 16 companies have withdrawn their operations from the Onne Free Trade Zone. This comes as the Oil and Gas Free Zones Authority (OGFZA) has been accused of damaging the concept of free trade zones in the country. A Port Harcourt based oil and gas industry expert, Dr. Austin Obieze linked the exit of the 16 companies to what he described as â€œrogue behaviourâ€? towards free zone operators in the country. Speaking at the weekend in Port Harcourt, Obieze said the recent attack by OGFZA against a leading free trade zone operator, Intels Nigeria Limited (INL), sent the wrong signal and created panic among businesses operating in the zones. â€œIt was a very bad move by

OGFZA, which was set up to promote trade and attract investors into the country through the oil and gas free zones concept. OGFZA, under Umana Okon Umana are doing the direct opposite of what it was established to do,â€? Obieze said. He said by OGFZAâ€™s action against Intels, free trade zones operation in Nigeria â€œcannot be the same againâ€? as investors will find it difficult to take government for its words. He said: â€œFree trade zones all over the world are created to serve as destination for capital; attract investment, create jobs and aid the transfer of technology to the host country. Free trade zones played a key role in the boom enjoyed by the Asian Tigers. â€œThe Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA)

and the Oil and Gas Free Zones Authority (OGFZA) were specifically set up by the Federal Government to encourage investments in Nigeria in line with the countryâ€™s economic growth aspirations. â€œSeveral incentives were instituted including 100% repatriation of capital investment, remittance of profits and dividends with no import or export licenses required. â€œCompanies operating in the free zones also enjoy immigration non-quota regime and are exempt from taxes such as value added tax, corporate tax, withholding tax, capital gains tax and customs duty on export of goods to other countries. â€œIt was these incentives that attracted several companies resulting in over five trillion naira investments in the zones,

with several thousands of jobs created. â€œNEPZA and OGFZA were set up to serve as enablers of trade but unfortunately while NEPZA has remained on course, Umanaâ€™s OGFZA has obviously lend itself to becoming an object of political vendetta and consequently derailed from its set objectives and the intents of its enabling Act.â€? Among the 16 companies that have decided to exit the free zone are Prodeco International Limited, West Africa Machinery Services (WAMS), MGM Logistics Solutions Limited and Orlean Invest Limited. Also speaking on OGFZAâ€™s battle against Intels, The Managing Director/COO of Samsung Heavy Industries in Nigeria, Mr. Frank Ejizu, said: â€œYou cannot be wooing investors on one hand

and scaring them away on the other hand. It will not work. If there was a violation of the law, then there is a ground for sanction.â€? The General Manager, Finance of the Lagos Channel Management Company Limited, Mr. Joseph Amoni, said the action of the government would scare foreign investors away from the country. Also, the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Maritime Safety, Education and Administration, Mohammed Umar Bago, said the situation was â€œgetting sourâ€?. A former Senior Special Assistant to former President Goodluck Jonathan on Maritime Matters, Mr. Leke Oyewole, on his part, warned against the political witch-hunt against Intels.

DBN to Sign on Commercial Banks, More MFIs before Year-end t(FSNBO JOWFTUPS TBUJTGJFE XJUI CBOL T PQFSBUJPOT Ndubuisi Francis in Abuja

Group Business Editor

cent, compared to 14.9 per cent the previous week. A further analysis of all stocks in the Portfolio C showed that they maintained positive performance except

Newly-established wholesale development finance institution-Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) said it is to sign on commercial banks and more Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs) before the end of the year. DBN recently commenced lending activities with N5 billion for disbursement through three microfinance banks (MFBs). The amount is for onward lending to over 20,000 micro small and medium scale enterprises (MSMEs) spread across the country. The bankâ€™s Managing Director, Mr. Tony Okpanachi, who disclosed this while receiving a delegation of the KFW Development Bank of Germany, in Abuja, at the weekend, said the bank has commenced discussion with some deposit money banks (DMBs) and more MFIs. KWF is a major investor in

DBN According to him, the engagements would culminate in signing deals with them, with a view to expanding the opportunities available to operators in the Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) sub-sector of the nationâ€™s economy. Okpanachi said: â€œCurrently, we are in discussion with several of them. Before the end of the year, we are going to sign on more Micro Finance Institutions and some commercial banks. So we expect that before the end of the year, we will make more announcements as we tie them up.â€? His team, he said, undertook a study tour to Germany in order to take advantage of the long experience of KFW in order to run a sustainable development bank in Nigeria. His words: â€œAbout September, we undertook a study tour to KFW to understand, because we are more like sister firms,

working together. So we undertook a study tour there to be able to understand how they have been able to sustain this model for all these years. â€œThe culmination of that is the technical support that came from them and experience sharing with us, in addition to the funding they provided for us.â€? â€œWe want the assistance to continue. They have a long history of successful operations and DBN wants to learn a lot from them. We want a continuous assistance from them. We want their willingness to support us as we continue in the journey.â€? Earlier, the leader of the delegation and Director of West Africa and Madagascar, Mr. Michael Wehinger, who expressed satisfaction over the operational model adopted by the DBN, said that his organization was ready to provide more funding for the bank. According to him, KFW

saw DBN as a natural partner through which the Germany and KFW, in particular could channel efforts towards strengthening the Nigerian SME sub-sector. He added: â€œWhen the Nigerian government took the decision to establish a Development Bank of Nigeria, we saw ourselves as a natural partner to the bank. We put our funds into it and we also put our knowledge into the process. I am happy all members of the delegation here have had the opportunity to share their views and review the progress in the establishment and operations of the DBN. â€œIt was the wish of the KFW and the German government to support the bank which fosters and promotes SMEs activities because the Nigerian economy, like others need the SMEs to grow,â€? he said. On his assessment of the performance of DBN, the director said, â€œI think DBN is making

good progress. It is not easy to establish a bank from the scratch but it is a good opportunity to get things right and I think DBN is in a good position. It has taken up operations as we have been told and I think it is really a good progress towards financing SMEs in Nigeria. â€œFor the time being, I think there is a lot of money on the table which has to be used. But our point of view is that this will be a long time relationship. We are of the view that as the need arises, in the future, we can extend our funding to DBN. â€œWe are really satisfied. We are also satisfied that having had the management of DBN recently in Germany, it is our sister institution. There were a lot of talks among managements of our domestic partners and the management of the DBN. There was a lot to be shared and to be transferred from our own experience in KFW.

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BUSINESSWORLD

MARKET REPORT

Market Turns Bearish on MSCIâ€™s Reclassification Goddy Egene and Nosa Alekhuogie The Nigerian equities market reversed the gains recorded last week as foreign investors and domestic institutional adopted cautious trading and profit taking following the decision of Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) to delete FBN Holdings, Forte Oil Plc, Guinness Nigeria Plc and PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc from its Main Frontier Markets Indexes. The MSCI main frontier market indexes track large and midcap stocks in the frontier universe. However, the stocks, except Forte Oil, were added to the MSCI small cap index, while Cadbury Nigeria Plc, Diamond Bank Plc, FCMB Group Plc, Glaxosmithkline Consumer Nigeria Plc, Skye Bank Plc and Sterling Bank Plc were deleted from the small cap classification. Although all the changes will be implemented as of the close of market on November 30, 2017, foreign investors and most domestic institutional investors adopted cautious trading after the announcement. Consequently, the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All-Share Index ( ASI), Index shed 1.12 per cent to close at 36,703.58, while market capitalisation settled at N12.774 trillion. But analysts at the Cordros Capital Limited said the bearish trading is an incentive for bargain hunting in the market. â€œNotwithstanding the absence of any major short term catalyst, we think market fundamentals (amid improving macroeconomic conditions) remain strong, and the snippets of profit taking seen thus far in value stocks should create an incentive for bargain hunting,â€? they said. In line with the bearish trend, sector performance was largely negative last week with four of the five indices declining. The Oil & Gas Index was the lone gainer, up 0.8 per cent. The Consumer Goods Index led the losers with 2.9 per cent fall. The NSE Insurance Index shed 2.0 per cent, while the NSE Banking Index closed 1.3 per cent lower. The NSE Industrial Goods Index depreciated by 1.0 per cent. Daily Market Performance The equity market opened on Monday on a positive note buoyed by Dangote Cement that attracted some foreign investors. The value of trading soared to N30.023 billion invested in 336.335 million shares in 3,778 deals N27 billion staked on about 128.992 million shares of Dangote Cement Plc by foreign investors yesterday. The investors, who are from Dubai, invested in Dangote Cement at an agreed price of N210 per share. The purchase price was a discount on the N229.01 opening price of stock for the day. But the shares rose 3.93 per cent to close at N238 per share, thereby contributing to the positive close recorded by the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All-Share Index (ASI). The index appreciated by 0.52 per cent to be at 37,312.28. Ex-Dangote Cement, the market would have declined by 1.0 per cent. The market reversed on Tuesday with the NSE ASI depreciating by 0.96 per cent to close at 36,953.41. The depreciation recorded in the share prices of Lafarge Africa, Unilever, Zenith Bank, Dangote

Cement, and FBN Holdings was mainly responsible for the decline. Equities turnover value was lower, falling by 88.6 from N30.02 billion to N3.42 billion in 4,238 deals. The three most actively traded sectors were: Financial Services (183.92 million shares), Consumer Goods (14.60 million shares), and Conglomerates (14.03 million shares) while the three most actively traded stocks were: FBN Holdings (75.80 million shares), Diamond Bank (33.81 million shares) and Stanbic IBTC (14.41 million shares). Sectoral performance was largely negative with the NSE Oil & Gas

Index emerging the lone gainer with 1.4 per cent. The biggest losers were the NSE Industrial Index and NSE Banking Index that shed 1.4 per cent apiece. The NSE Consumer Goods Index trailed, shedding 1.3 per cent following losses in Nestle (-3.1 per cent) and Unilever Nigeria (-5.0 per cent). Similarly, depreciation in Linkage Assurance Plc (-4.6 per cent) and AIICO (-3.6 per cent) dragged the NSE Insurance Index 0.1 per cent lower. The market extended the bearish trend on Wednesday as the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI)

released the results of its semi-annual index review in which Forte Oil FBN Holdings Plc, Guinness Nigeria and PZ (-8.9 per cent ) were removed from its Main Frontier Markets Index which tracks large- and mid-cap stocks in the frontier universe. Cadbury, Diamond Bank, FCMB Group Plc, GSK, Skye Bank and Sterling Bank have been deleted from the MSCI Frontier Markets Small Cap Index. This development impacted negatively on the market with the index shedding 0.91 per cent to settle at 36,617.45 while market capitalisation pared N116.3 billion to N12.7 trillion.

Top 10 Brokers by Volume Rank

Broker

Description

CORD

CORDROS SECURITIES LIMITED - BRD

Quantity

% of Volume

3,155,696,770

CSL

56.27

CSL STOCKBROKERS LIMITED

390,832,821

6.97

MERI

MERISTEM STOCKBROKERS LIMITED

380,112,329

6.78

SISB

STANBIC IBTC STOCKBROKERS LIMITED

231,432,129

4.13

EFCP

EFCP LIMITED

174,552,693

3.11

FBNS

FBN SECURITIES LIMITED

144,543,394

2.58

RSNL

RENCAP SECURITIES (NIG) LIMITED

108,799,902

1.94

CSSL

CARDINALSTONE SECURITIES LIMITED

91,934,981

1.64

MCSE

MORGAN CAPITAL SECURITIES LIMITED

61,994,067

1.11

READ

READINGS INVESTMENTS LIMITED - BDR

40,996,573

0.73

4,780,895,659

85.25

Value

% Value

Top 10 Total Volume NOTE: The top 10 Stockbrokers are responsible for 85.25% of the total volume between 13/11/2017 and 17/11/2017

Top 10 Brokers by Value Rank

Broker

Description

MERI

MERISTEM STOCKBROKERS LIMITED

54,708,949,966.28

49.93

CSL

CSL STOCKBROKERS LIMITED

28,797,654,349.21

26.28

SISB

STANBIC IBTC STOCKBROKERS LIMITED

5,125,839,826.50

4.68

FBNS

FBN SECURITIES LIMITED

4,543,423,727.34

4.15

RSNL

RENCAP SECURITIES (NIG) LIMITED

3,244,656,842.42

2.96

EFCP

EFCP LIMITED

2,764,584,506.61

2.52

CORD

CORDROS SECURITIES LIMITED - BRD

1,703,019,000.51

1.55

CHDS

CHAPEL HILL DENHAM SECURITIES LTD - BRD

904,173,740.71

0.83

CSSL

CARDINALSTONE SECURITIES LIMITED

517,552,465.66

0.47

ARMS

A.R.M SECURITIES LIMITED - BRD

498,543,799.17

0.46

102,808,398,224.41

93.83

Top 10 Total Value

Market rebounded on Thursday after a two-day bearish trading as the benchmark index appreciated marginally by 0.05 per cent to close at 36,634.89. Appreciation in the GTBank (+1.4 per cent), International Breweries (+3.6 per cent) and PZ (+5.0 per cent) lifted contributed to the positive close recorded by the market. Likewise, activity level improved as volume traded advanced 18.2 per cent to 217.8 million shares while value traded surged 252.1 to N11.7 billion bolstered by Nigerian Breweries Plc that accounted for 31.4 per cent and 81.1 per cent respectively. Performance across sectors was mixed as three of five indices closed in the red. The NSE Insurance Index was the biggest loser, down 0.8 per cent trailed by the NSE Oil & Gas Index by 0.2 per cent. Also, the NSE Consumer Goods Index shed 0.1 per cent. Market Turnover Meanwhile, a total of 2.804 billion shares worth N54.776 billion were traded in 17,792 deals last week by investors on the floor of the exchange, up from 1.316 billion shares valued at N13.784 billion that exchanged hands the previous week in 19,169 deals. The Financial Services Industry led the activity chart with 2.352 billion shares valued at N8.995 billion traded in 9,364 deals, thus contributing 83.9 and 16.4 to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively. The Consumer Goods Industry followed with 178.982 million shares worth N16.849 billion in 4,297 deals, while the Industrial Goods Industry occupied the third place with a turnover of 140.570 million shares worth N27.848 billion in 794 deals. Trading in the top three equities namely â€“ Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc, FBN Holdings Plc and Dangote Cement Plc accounted for 1.917 billion shares worth N29.875 billion in 2,130 deals, contributing 68.4 per cent and 54.5 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively. Price Gainers and Losers The price movement chart showed that 20 equities appreciated in price during the week, lower than 30 of the previous week, while 43 equities depreciated in price, higher than 29 equities of the previous week. A.G Leventis Nigeria Plc led the price gainers with 27.7 price gain, trailed by Forte Oil Plc, which appreciated by 10.2 per cent. B.O.C Gases Plc, Red Star Express Plc and Pharma-Deko Plc garnered 9.8 per cent, 5.0 per cent and 4.8 per cent in that order. Medview Airline Plc garnered 4.4 per cent, just as Fidson Healthcare Plc and AIICO Insurance Plc closed 3.9 per cent higher. Other gainers included: International Breweries Plc (3.6 per cent and 11 Plc (3.0 per cent). Conversely, Caverton Plc led the price losers shedding 21.4 per cent, trailed by Linkage Assurance Plc with 17.6 per cent. C & I Leasing Plc, University Press Plc and Eterna Plc went down by 10.4 per cent. UAC of Nigeria Plc closed 9.9 per cent lower, just as Cadbury Nigeria Plc shed 8.8 per cent. Honeywell Flour Mills Plc and Vitafoam Nigeria Plc depreciated by 8.4 per cent apiece, while Learn Africa Plc declined by 7.4 per cent.

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BUSINESSWORLD

INSIDE BROAD STREET

A view of Lagos ďŹ nancial district

AKINWUNMI IBRAHIM

S&P Assigns â€˜Bâ€™ Rating to FGâ€™s Planned Eurobond Obinna Chima Standard & Poorâ€™s (S &P), one of the global rating agencies has assigned its â€˜Bâ€™ long-term issue ratings to the proposed United States dollar-denominated Eurobonds to be issued by the federal government. The agency in a two-paragraph statement explained that the amount and interest rate, among other details of the bond, would be determined during the placement. The rating by S & P, came few days after Fitch Ratings assigned Nigeriaâ€™s upcoming senior unsecured USD-denominated notes a rating of â€˜B+(EXP)â€™. The assignment of the final ratings was contingent on the receipt of final documents materially conforming to information already reviewed. The rating agency had explained in a statement that the expected rating was in line with Nigeriaâ€™s long-term foreign-currency issuer default rating (IDR) of â€˜B+â€™ with a negative outlook. The rating would be sensitive to any changes in Nigeriaâ€™s long-term foreign-currency IDR. On 31 August 2017, Fitch affirmed Nigeriaâ€™s Long-Term Foreign-Currency IDR at â€˜B+â€™ with a Negative Outlook. The Long-Term Local-Currency IDR is also â€˜B+â€™ with a Negative Outlook. The Senate had last Tuesday approved the request by the executive to raise $3billion from the international capital market (ICM) through a Eurobond or Diaspora Bond issue or a combination of both to refinance maturing domestic debts, and raise another $2.5 billion from multilateral donor institutions to fund the capital component of the 2017 budget. The approval by the Senate followed the adoption of the recommendations of its Committee on Local and Foreign Debts chaired by Senator Shehu Sani (Kaduna, APC). But before the loan request was approved, the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, who presided over Tuesdayâ€™s plenary, had charged the DMO to monitor Nigeriaâ€™s debt profile to ensure it remains within acceptable limits. Meanwhile, money market rates, the open buy back (OBB) and overnight rate rose 10.6 and 11.9 ppt to close at 17.8 per centand 19.8 per cent respectively last Monday. Subsequently, on the back of an improving system liquidity which was positive at N26.1billion last Tuesday, money market rates

MARKET INDICATOR moderated on all other sessions, closing lower last Tuesday (12.2% and 13.4% respectively), Wednesday (10.2% and 11.3% respectively) and eventually a week-low of 6.2 per cent and 6.7 per centrespectively on Thursday. This improvement was largely on the back of Primary market repayments â€“ open market operations (OMO) N141.7 billionand treasury bills Primary Market Auction (PMA) net balance of N0.1 billion which buoyed system liquidity balance to N297.6billion last Thursday. However, rates surged last Friday due to an OMO auction which mopped up N66billion from the financial system. Hence, according to a report from Afrinvest Securities Limited, the OBB and overnightrose to 26.7 per cent and 27.7 per cent lastFriday, implying a 19.5 and 19.9 ppt increase weekon-week. The report further stated that performance in the treasury bills market was broadly bullish as average rates fell on three out of the five sessions. â€œThe week started with sell-offs across long dated instruments as average rate (across three benchmarks we track) rose to three basis points to 17 per cent. â€œHowever, performance was reversed on Tuesday as average rate fell 16 basis pointsto 16.8 per cent after the National Assembly granted the FGNâ€™s request to raise external debt to refinance expensive T-bills. â€œOn Wednesday, rates fell further to 16.5per cent on average, but rose to 18 basis points to 16.7 per cent on Thursday, closing at same level on Friday, indicating a 27-basis decrease week-on-week,â€? it added. At the PMA auction, the CBN auctioned N32.4 billion, N22.8billion and N64.7billion of the 91-day, 182-day and 364-day instruments. Given investorsâ€™ expectation of a near term monetary easing, the 91-day and 182-day instruments were undersubscribed by 54per cent and 38 per cent while the 364-day instrument was oversubscribed by 2.2times. Accordingly, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) allotted N6 billion apiece for the 91-day and 182-day instruments while N107.9billion was allotted for the 364-day instruments at previous stop rates of 13 per cent, 15.3 per cent and 15.6 per centrespectively.

This week, they anticipated an OMO maturity of N200 billion to buoy system liquidity. â€œNonetheless, we believe the outcome of the last MPC meeting for the year would dictate activities in the money market â€“ particularly sentiment for Treasury Bills,â€? the report added. However, last week, the market opened with negative system liquidity balance (N46.6 billion from a deficit of N11.6 bn last Friday) as the CBN conducted OMO sales worth N61.7 billion as well as its weekly Secondary Market InterventionSales of US$100 million.

Forex Market In line with market expectation, the naira/ dollar exchange rate was relatively stable weekon-week at the interbank market (NIFEX), Bureau De Change and parallel market segments at N329.75/$, N360/$ and N363/$ respectively. This, according to analysts at Cowry Assets Management Limited, was amid injections by the CBN worth $195 million into the foreign exchange market of which $100 million was allocated to wholesale (SMIS),$50 million was allocated to small and medium scale enterprises and $45 million was sold for invisibles. At the Investors & Exporters forex window (I&E), the local currency appreciated further against the dollar to N360.40/$ as at Friday. Meanwhile, dated forward contracts at the interbank OTC segment mostly appreciated amid increase in the foreign exchange reserves â€“ external reserves increased week-on-week by 0.75% to $34.33 billion as at Wednesday, November 15, 2017. Also, the 1-month, 2-month, 3-month and 6- month contracts appreciated week-on-week by 0.41 per cent, 0.48 per cent, 0.47per cent and 0.49 per cent to close at N364.34/$, N369.77/$, N375.88/$ and N395.91/$ respectively. â€œThis week, we retain our stable outlook for the exchange rate amid sustained stability in global crude oil prices which should result in further build-up in foreign reserves as well as CBNs continued intervention in the various segments of the interbank foreign exchange market,â€? Cowry Assets analysts projected. Bonds Market Review Activities in the domestic bonds market remained quiet but largely positive during the week as average yield across instruments moderated on all five trading sessions. Average yield across tenors closed at 15.18per

cent on Friday, indicating a five basis points decline week-on-week. According to Afrinvest, the bullish sentiment last week could be attributed to the approval granted by the National Assembly for the federal government to borrow US$5.5 billion in external debt. â€œThe shift in debt portfolio of the FGN is expected to reduce volume of domestic debt securities issuance in the near term, hence the bullish sentiment,â€? they stated. This week, the Debt Management Office will be re-opening the JULY 2021 and MARCH 2027 instruments with offer amounts ranging from N45-N55 billion for each of the bonds. As with trend, analysts anticipated that theauction would be largely successful with similar marginal rates (to previous auction) as well as higher level of subscription for the long dated bond. Bullish sentiment returned to Sub-Saharan African Sovereign Eurobonds last week following the preceding weekâ€™s sell-off. Across all instruments, average yield fell 13basis points, 17 basis points, 23 basis points, 10 basis points, 22 basis points nine basis points, four basis points, eight basis points on the Nigerian, Ghanaian, Gabonese, Ivory Coast, Kenyan, Zambian, Senegalese and South African instruments. Meanwhile, following the recent downgrade of Nigeriaâ€™s long-term issuer and senior unsecured debt rating by Moodyâ€™s Investors Service, one of the leading global rating agencies, has as a consequence led to the downgrade of eight Nigerian banks by the ratings agency. It also downgraded the long-term local and foreign currency issuer ratings of Bank of Industry (BoI). Moodyâ€™s downgraded the long-term local currency deposit and issuer ratings of four Nigerian banks â€“ Access Bank, GTBank, UBA and Zenith Bank â€“ to â€˜B2â€™ from â€˜B1â€™, as well as that of the long-term local and foreign currency issuer rating of BoI. Moodyâ€™s last week also downgraded from â€˜B2â€™ to â€˜B3â€™ the long-term foreign currency deposit ratings of Access, GTBank, UBA and Zenith, Union Bank of Nigeria, FirstBank of Nigeria Limited and Sterling Bank. A statement obtained from the ratings agencyâ€™s website Sunday, showed that it also downgraded the baseline credit assessments (BCAs) of Zenith and GTBank to â€˜b2â€™ from â€˜b1.â€™

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BUSINESSWORLD

NEWS

Afreximbank Raises $150m in Samurai Syndicated Term Loan Facility Ndubuisi Francis in Abuja The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has successfully completed its first ever Samurai Syndicated Term Loan Facility, raising the equivalent of US$150 million, comprising two tranches of Japanese Yen 6.2 billion and US$100 million. Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ

(MUFG) acted as sole Coordinator, Bookrunner, Facility and Documentation Agent Bank for the facility while Bank of Taiwan, Gunma Bank, Shikoku Bank and Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking all joined the Facility in the primary phase. The Facility had initially been for the equivalent of US$100 million, with the two tranches

at JPY4 billion and USD70 million, but had incorporated an accordion feature in order to accommodate further regional investors. The new totals followed the activation of the accordion feature which saw the participation rise to seven banks. Two new banks, Bank of Yokohama and Joyo Bank, acceded to the accordion while two banks, which

Experts Seek Corporate Governance Compliance in Aviation Sector Chinedu Eze Aviation experts have called for strict adherence to corporate governance in the industry, insisting it is a key to the development and growth of the sector. The experts also called for the increase of the number of aircraft owned by an airline from the existing minimum two aircraft to 20. This was contained in the communiquĂŠ issued at the end of the conference organised by Aviation Round Table (ART), a think-tank group in the industry. According to the communiquĂŠ, â€œThere should be a culture of corporate governance and transparency in the business of managing the aviation sector, such that government and other parties in infrastructure-related commercial agreements in the industry should respect the terms of such agreements if the

participated in the initial stage, increased their participations. At the ceremonial signing held in Tokyo, the Japanese capital, Afreximbankâ€™s Executive Vice President for Finance, Administration and Banking Services, Denys Denya, welcomed the high participation in the facility as a reflection of the willingness of those institutions to support the

Service Agreements (MASAs) and International Routes are the nationâ€™s infrastructure and assets, while air traffic rights are like oil blocks and therefore, should not be treated with levity in administration or by unilateral exploitation. Therefore, BASA funds should be used for criticalsafety infrastructure development as provided for in the Civil Aviation Act 2006. â€œThere is also a need to have surveillance cameras in and around every airport in Nigeria to be complimented with the establishment of Aviation Industry Cybersecurity Emergency Response Team (CERT) to enhance aviation security. Additionally, we need to enhance the airport perimeter fences where there are no security fences to sufficiently comply with Annex 17 of the International Civil Aviation Organisation.â€?

per cent per annum for the USD tranche and 0.80 per cent for the JPY tranche. Accompanying Denya to the signing ceremony from Afreximbank were Chandi Mwenebungu, Treasurer; Yomna Rashed, Manager, Treasury; and Dr. Enga Innocent Kameni, Manager, Legal Services. Eighteen banks attended the signing ceremony.

Smile, MediaTek Partner to Launch VoLTE Phones in Africa Emma Okonji

industry is to move forward.â€? The body therefore, recommended that the existing concession/agreements that have developed into controversies affecting the entire industry should be resolved immediately in the interest of the sector, taking cognisance of initial capital invested by the businessmen who brazed the odds to commit their for the development of airport infrastructure and services. The body also urged for end of political interference in the sectorâ€™s regulatory activities and noted that there is a need for the establishment of an inter-governmental agency, Stakeholder Group led by the regulator for the administration and management of Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA) funds and for implementing aviation development plans. â€œBilateral Air Service Agreements, Multilateral Air

cause of development in Africa. He briefed the Japanese lenders about Afreximbankâ€™s performance in 2017 and the Bankâ€™s strategy as well as to update them on its 2017 general fundraising plans. Denya announced that the proceeds of the Facility would be used towards general corporate and trade related purposes. The all-pricing for the Facility is 1.8

Smile Communications and MediaTek have teamed up to bring the latest Voice over Long Term Evolution (VoLTE ) technology smartphones to customers in Nigeria, Uganda, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). This follows validation of the MediaTek 4G VoLTE (Voice over 4G LTE) solution on the Smile network. Smile is one of Africaâ€™s leading providers of fast, reliable mobile voice and data services on 4G LTE and MediaTek is one of the top two global providers of 4G LTE chipset platforms to smartphone makers. 4G VoLTE is a voice technology for high-definition (HD) voice and video communications over a 4GLTE network. Compared to traditional 2G and 3G networks, VoLTE allows consumers to benefit from superior voice, video and

data services on single device and a single data plan. It gives customers the choice of using their data for any service they want including voice and video, allows for faster connection of traditional calls and improves call quality. Announcing the initiative, Smile Group Executive Director Operations, Mr. Ahmad Farroukh, said: â€œAffordability and superior technology are the key factors for a successful rollout of 4G VoLTE. Thatâ€™s why we have combined Smileâ€™sworldclass 4G LTE technology with the MediaTek Helio chipset and MediaTek powered smartphones. â€œOur collaboration with MediaTek will help ensure seamless voice, data and SMS services over LTE with dualSIM, affordable smartphones on MediaTekâ€™s Helio platform. This will enable our customers

to benefit from richer, more reliable services, clearer voice calls, and value added benefits as they use our bundled VoLTE smartphones. It is in line with our commitment to offering affordable smartphones with competitive specifications and data, voice and SMS bundled as a single offer for customers in every market segment.â€? The Director of Corporate Sales for South and sub Saharan Africa at MediaTek, Dominique Friedl, said: â€œVoLTE is recognised as the industry-agreed progression of voice services, enabling operators to make more efficient use of spectrum than traditional voice, eliminating the need to have voice on one network and data on another, and unlocking new revenue potential. We are delighted to work with Smile as it uses this technology to leapfrog legacy mobile voice solutions and provide customers with a new-age user experience.â€?

T H I S D AY MONDAY NOVEMBER 20, 2017

T H I S D AY Ëž Ëœ Í°ÍŽËœ Í°ÍŽÍŻÍľ

BUSINESSWORLD

APPOINTMENT

Commonwealth Investment Council Appoints Anyanwu Nigeriaâ€™s Council Head The Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council (CWEIC), has announced its appointment of Mr. Obinna Anyanwu as its first Country Head for Nigeria, ahead of next yearâ€™s Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. The CWEIC is mandated by 52 Heads of Government to promote trade and investment across the Commonwealth. It explained in a statement at

the weekend, that recognising that Nigeria is vital to this mission, it intends to strengthen its relationship and commitment to Nigerian government and the business community. In support of Anyanwuâ€™s appointment, CWEICâ€™s CEO Mr. Richard Burge is expected to visit Nigeria this month, to rally business support for greater Commonwealth engagement. This would be Burgeâ€™s second

visit to Nigeria since his appointment in March 2017. â€œDuring the trip, he will meet key government and business leaders interested in business opportunities across the Commonwealth,â€? the statement added. CWEIC, in partnership with the UK Government and the City of London, will convene Commonwealth leaders for the 11th Commonwealth Business

Forum on 16-18 April 2018 in the United Kingdom. Eight hundred business leaders and 30 Heads of Government are expected to gather in London to discuss trade and investment. The Commonwealth Business Forum provides a platform for high-level dialogue between business and government leaders from the Commonwealth and an unequalled opportunity

to access new business opportunities from the associationâ€™s 52 member-countries. President Muhammadu Buhari is expected to address the Forum and lead a delegation of Nigerian businesses. â€œA successful Business Forum requires a strong Nigerian delegation representing a diverse range of industries. Nigeria is Africaâ€™s largest economy and a leader in the Commonwealth

Business Community. Where Nigerian business goes, others follow. â€œCWEIC Advisory Board Members including the Governors of Lagos State and Akwa Ibom, Akinwunmi Ambode and Udom Emmanuel, Mr Babatunde Soyoye, Mrs Folorunso Alakija, Mr Chibuike Achigbu, Mr Peter Obi and Mr Greg Ogbeifun have been invited to play key roles at the forum.

Letshego MFB Wins Microfinance Banking Letshego Microfinance Bank said it recently won the â€œExcellence in Microfinance Banking,â€? award at the New Age Banking Summit 2017, which was held in Lagos. The financial institution said it was recognised for its commitment to growth, transformation, as well as its provision of simple, appropriate and affordable financial solutions. Letshego Microfinance Bank Nigeria representatives; Benjamin Muketha (CEO), Richard Tyotule (Head Financial Inclusion), Keneilwe Matseke (Head Consumer Solutions) and Emmanuel Michael (Head Human Resources) received the award on behalf of Letshego Nigeria. The New Age Banking Summit with the theme â€œEnhancing Banking Digitisationâ€? brought together industry experts, regulators and thought leaders to discuss the key challenges and trends of banking in the digital era. According to the organisers, â€œthe digital banking landscape in Nigeria is expected to transform

the country to Africaâ€™s fintech hub. The recent upsurge in digital banking has catapulted the predominantly cash driven country to wider financial inclusion. Letshegoâ€™s Head of Financial Inclusion, Richard Tyotule said, â€œLetshego Nigeria remains committed to its inclusive finance agenda, by increasing access to affordable financial solutions to those members of the community who traditionally do not have access to financial solutions. In this way, we aim to extend the reach of financial benefits to more individuals across the country, ultimately improving life and communities on a collective basis.â€? Ondo State Governor, Chief Oluwarotimi Akeredolu (middle), welcoming the Director General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises ( BPE Letshego Holdings Limited, ), Mr. Alex A. Okoh, to a meeting to discuss the Nigerian Romania Wood Industry (NIROWI ) at the Government House, Akure... recently. the Botswana based inclusive With them is the BPEâ€™s Director of Industry and Services, Mr. Chigbo Anichebe financial service provider, entered Nigeria in 2016, through its acquisition of FBN Microfinance, leveraging on the groupâ€™s regional experience in delivering financial solutions to under-served communities across 11 African markets.

BUSINESS MEETING

Glo Everyday Bonanza Winners in Abuja Emma Okonji

MTN Celebrates Multiple Award Wins with Customers MTN is closing the year with a groundswell of goodwill, recognition and celebration. In addition to being named the Most Valuable Brand by Top 50 Brands Nigeria for the second consecutive year, MTN received the highest accolades at the Nigerian Tech Innovation and Telecom Awards (NTITA) organised by the Association of Telecom Companies of Nigeria (ATCON). The slew of awards won at NTITA included the awards programmeâ€™s most coveted prize, the â€˜Mobile Operator of the Yearâ€™; the prestigious â€˜LTE/4G Provider of the Yearâ€™ and â€˜Customer Experienceâ€? awards; and the â€˜Innovative Project of the Yearâ€™ award for the ground breaking Lumos Mobile Electricity Service powered by MTN. Expressing his appreciation, Corporate Relations Executive, MTN Nigeria, Tobechukwu Okigbo, said â€œWe are honoured by this recognition, and would like to acknowledge the role of our customers, communities,

partners, policy makers and peers who champion excellence and persistently challenge us to do more and be better. From the bottom of our hearts we say THANK YOU! These awards belong to all of us.â€? MTN also received awards for Best Innovation and Corporate Social Responsibility from the Advertisers Association of Nigeria (ADVAN) Awards for Marketing Excellence. These in addition to multiple honours in several professional fields reflect a strong position going into 2018. According to Okigbo, â€œWe are overjoyed to have received such overwhelming recognition in these highly competitive awards, and commend the organisers for maintaining such credible recognition platforms.â€? As the year winds down, the telecoms company said it has several initiatives planned, designed to surprise and delight customers in celebration of a bright future together.

Winners of the Glo Everyday Bonanza in Abuja are celebrating, as the company made good its promise of rewarding its teeming subscribers in the Everyday Bonanza which was launched recently. The presentation event drew dignitaries from federal capital territory, including the Chairman, Senate Committee on Health, Senator Lanre Tejuosho; Senior Special Assistant to the President on Diaspora, Hon. Abike Dabiri; Corps Marshall, Federal Road Safety Commission, Dr. Oyeyemi Boboye; representative of Nigerian Communication Commission, Mr. Fred Adogo and representative of Director General of National Lottery Regulatory Commission, Mr. Yagba Tsav. At the event, fridges, television sets, microwave ovens and generators were given out to over a hundred subscribers who gathered at Gloworld, Aminu Kano Crescent, Wuse 2, in Abuja. Of particular attraction was an Abuja-based applicant, Miss Arziki Safiya, dancing with Glo ambassador, Sani Danja, as she carried away a 32â€? LED Televison set, saying that the luck that brought the gift will

also get her a good job in due course. Mr. Anthony Edekobi Chukwuemeka, an Engineer in Wuse, Abuja, who won a brand new generator said, â€œ I donâ€™t need to buy a new Generator again as planned, Glo has provided one for me and I will make good use of it in my house, especially now that light is not too stable. Kudos to Glo.â€? Other winners Omale Dauda, Shuaibu Momoh and Amadi George, were full of excitement as they collected their prizes of one Microwave oven each. Omale said he would continue to participate in Everyday Bonanza and believed that he will win another prize soon, while Momoh and George thanked the company for its populist policy. Wada Bashir who won a refrigerator said he was very happy for winning the prize. â€œI promise to remain a loyal subscriber of our Nigerian network taking care of usâ€? he enthused.â€? Globacom representative, Mr. Michael Toluhi, said Everyday Bonanza was conceived by the company to appreciate its loyal subscribers by giving them opportunity to win tens of thousands of mouth-watering prizes worth hundreds of millions in naira.

Galaxy Backbone Bags ICT Infrastructure Provider Award

At the just concluded Nigeria Tech Innovation and Telecom Awards (NTITA) 2017, organised by the Association of Telecoms Companies Of Nigeria (ATCON), Galaxy Backbone won the Public Sector ICT Infrastructure Provider of the Year Award. The event, which took place at the Oriental Hotel, Lagos, was a gathering of industry leaders, decision makers, practitioners and the media. The event was a great opportunity for both Information Technology and Telecommunications leaders from both the private and public sector platforms to interact, share ideas and celebrate one another on the successes and milestones achieved during the passing year NTITA also recognised ICT Professionals in the industry that contributed immensely to the growth of ICT in the country. Galaxy Backboneâ€™s Managing Director/CEO, Mr. Yusuf Kazaure, was recognised as the Public Sector ICT Personality of the Year 2017, an award he humbly received from the President of ATCON, Mr. Olusola Teniola. The contributions of Yusuf Kazaure to the growth of

Information Technology in the nationâ€™s public sector, was the reason he won the award. Through his leadership, Galaxy Backbone has expanded its network coverage across over 18 states in the federation and is still currently expanding its reach to the other parts of the country. In receiving the award, Kazaure thanked ATCON, the organizers of NTITA 2017 for the honour being meted on him. â€œI am humbled by this award and grateful for this recognition. Galaxy Backbone will continue to identify itself with the industry and partner relevant stakeholders in the delivery of efficient and reliable ICT services across both Federal and State public institutions,â€? Kazaure said. Galaxy Backbone is the ICT provider and digital Infrastructure agency to the nationâ€™s public sector and it remains an active and prominent player in the telecoms and entire information technology sector, providing network backbone infrastructure and digital connectivity services to partners and stakeholders across the public and private sector.

T H I S D AY Ëž Ëœ Í°ÍŽËœ Í°ÍŽÍŻÍľ

BUSINESSWORLD

NEWS

Corporate Governance Code Will Attract Investments, NCC Insists Emma Okonji Few months after it introduced the mandatory Corporate Governance Code in the telecoms industry, in line with international best practices and principles, the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) is building up sensitisation and awareness campaign around the code, insisting it must be adopted among telecoms operating companies. The reason for the compulsory adoption was based on the ability of the Corporate Governance Code to attract and

retain investment and capital into the telecoms sector. NCC had in 2014, introduced the code and made its adoption voluntary, but decided to make it a mandatory baseline expected to reflect the international flavors of the countryâ€™s telecoms industry, after a two year period of grace. Speaking at the South-east zonal sensitisation workshop on the Code of Corporate Governance for the telecoms industry in Enugu recently, the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, said it became imperative to standardise to international best practices

Students in 180 Countries Benefitted from Cisco Academy in 20yrs Emma Okonji In celebrating its 20 years of operation in Nigerian, the Cisco Networking Academy, which is an initiative of Cisco to develop people in technology education, said it has trained over 7.8 million students in 180 countries, including Nigeria. The Cisco Networking Academy (NetAcad) is the worldâ€™s largest technology classroom, partnering closely with 22,000 educators to deliver a curriculum that gives students digital, problem-solving and entrepreneurial skills needed to get a job, promotion or start entrepreneurial businesses. In Nigeria alone, the NetAcad has trained over 101,000 students of which 41 per cent are female in the past 20 years and currently has over 32, 000 active students and an instructor population of 218 in 167 Academies, seven Academy Support Center (ASCs) and nine Instructor Training Center (ITCs). With many industries experiencing a shortage of Infor-

mation Technology (IT) talent, Cisco Networking Academy is developing a pipeline of IT talent to support digitisation in Nigeria. Speaking at a press conference in Lagos recently, Cisco Regional Manager, Corporate Affairs, sub-Saharan Africa, Alfie Hamid said: â€œCisco Networking Academy plays an essential role in Ciscoâ€™s commitment to positively impact over one billion people by 2025 through digitisation. For 20 years, Cisco Networking Academy has enabled people from all works of life to form part of the digital economy, positively changing the lives, incomes, and narratives of their families.â€? Cisco General Manager in Nigeria, Olakunle Oloruntimehin, expressed Cisco Nigeriaâ€™s commitment to advancing skills in ICT saying, â€œAs we celebrate 20 years of innovative IT teaching, we are proud that the Cisco Networking Academy has contributed to the growth of the Nigerian economy.

HP Launches Pocket-size Photo Printer frames, emojis, text and more.â€? Emma Okonji

Hewlett Packard (HP) has launched its new pocket-sized photo printer that instantly prints 5 x 7.6 cm sticky-back photos from the smartphone. Designed to bring back the fun of printed photos, HP said the launch of the HP Sprocket Photo Printer, would further boost customer experience. Great imagery doesnâ€™t just have to live online, this pocketsize printer allows users to print photos from a smartphone or tablet virtually anywhere, the company said, adding that HP Sprocket, is now available at a recommended retail price of N45,999.00 The Print Category Manager, Central Africa for HP, Allison Alassan, said: â€œHP Sprocket is portable and small enough to fit in a pocket. The 5 x 7.6 cm snaps are instantly shareable, colourful and can even be personalised with filters,

He said some of the great features include: The HP Sprocket App, free on iOS and Android, which allows users to easily customise their favourite smartphone and social media photos with colourful frames, text, stickers, filters and more; Sprocket brings favourite memories to life with vibrant 5 x 7.6 cmsmudge-proof, water-resistant and tear-resistant photos to share, or peel-andstick to decorate bedroom walls, backpacks or create collages and art projects; The portable printer that goes virtually anywhere, and with Bluetooth connectivity, users and all their friends can connect to Sprocket with via their smartphones and tablets and print and share the best photos of the day. Sprocket is available in white with rose gold accents, and black with silver accents, and comes with a 10-pack of HP ZINK Photo Paper and Packs of HP ZINK Photo Paper contains 20 sheets per pack.

by emphasising and enthroning ethics, integrity, accountability and responsiveness in disclosure requirement, which are the values encapsulated in the Code of Corporate Governance for the telecommunications industry. According to Danbatta, NCC developed a programme for further stakeholdersâ€™ sensitisation workshop anchored on zonal basis to further enlighten and gain more robust stakeholdersâ€™ buy-in to ensure attainment of the code stated objectives. The code will certainly renew investorsâ€™ confidence in the Nigerian economy, Danbatta

insisted. Essentially, the code prescribes minimum threshold of global best practices covering processes, procedures and general corporate behaviour for telecommunications industry players, and Enugu is the second city where NCC had taken the sensitisation and awareness of the code to, after Lagos. â€œGiven the critical relevance of the sector to the health of Nigeria economy increasingly becoming the very backbone on which the entire economy runs, and in the light of the volume of nature, volume of investment and capital needed to robustly respond to the

technological disruption which ICT is presently bringing to the legacy ways of doing things, it becomes imperative that the sector should operate on the same standards to be attractive to local and foreign investors. â€œThe code is intended to reassure existing and wouldbe investors that investment is safeguarded by high ethical regime of performance standards,â€? Danbatta said. Citing the unfolding challenges of Etisalat now renamed 9mobile as a good example of that relevance, Danbatta said the regulator has a duty to protect all

parties in the telecoms industry, through the enforcement of the mandatory adoption of the code. To sustain business confidence and faith in the service providers to provide seamless services to their customers, it is expedient that telecoms sector operators comply with this Code of Corporate Governance, Danbatta insisted, adding that whereas the code prescribes sanctions for noncompliance, it also contains reward system for consistent compliance indicating that enforcement and sanctions are not the reasons for promulgating the code.

T H I S D AY MONDAY NOVEMBER 20, 2017

T H I S D AY Ëž Ëœ NOVEMEBER 20, 2017

BUSINESS/MONEYGUIDE

Afrinvest Launches Affordable Investment Option for Nigeria Obinna Chima Afrinvest Asset Management Ltd â€“ a subsidiary of Afrinvest (West Africa) Ltd â€“ has launched the Afrinvest Plutus Fund; which it described as a simple and affordable saving solution designed for all classes of income earners with a minimum subscription of N5,000. The Afrinvest Plutus Fund is an open-ended money market unit trust scheme approved by the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) with the primary goal to achieve overall positive total returns for investors who value stability, liquidity, real returns, and security of their financial assets, in line with unitholdersâ€™ investment goals. A statement explained that the fund is, therefore, offering N10,000,000 units at N100 per unit from 20 November to 18 December 2017.

Speaking about the primary objective of the Fund, Managing Director, Afrinvest Asset Management Limited, Ola Belgore said: â€œThe Afrinvest Plutus Fund has been carefully designed to meet the needs of majority of the Nigerian population to preserve capital, develop a profitable savings culture; and provide a comfortable nest egg for themselves and their families in the simplest and safest way possible. â€œWe have, therefore, introduced this low-risk investment solution that is easily accessible to the people who need it the most, with competitive income and quarterly dividend payments.â€? The Afrinvest Plutus Fund offers investors access to a diversified portfolio of quality, low-risk money market securities including short-term government securities, certificates of

deposits and commercial papers, amongst others. Furthermore, the Fund provides the flexibility of investing on behalf of someone else and for business ventures, provided the necessary documentation is supplied. Belgore added: â€œAt Afrinvest, our clientsâ€™ needs are our foremost priority. In presenting this Fund to the public we are working to correct the notion that investing in securities is complicated and is the preserve of the elite. â€œRather, we want Nigerians to understand and attain the true financial freedom that comes from proper financial planning and smart investment decisions. â€œOf course, we have also considered the need to ensure the security of the funds, and have partnered with Meristem Trustees Ltd and UBA Plc (Global Investor Services Division) as Trustee and Custodian, respectively.â€?

MARKET INDICATORS

S & P AfďŹ rms UBAâ€™s Rating at â€˜B/B,â€™ Stable Outlook Standard and Poorâ€™s (S&P) has affirmed the United Bank for Africa Plcâ€™s rating at â€˜B/Bâ€™ â€˜ngBBB/ngA-2â€™ as well as a stable outlook. The rating agency said it anticipates that UBA would continue to maintain sound earnings and asset quality over the next 12 months, despite the sluggish economy in Nigeria and the high economic risk in other parts of Africa where the group operates. In a statement at the weekend, the S&P explained: â€œThe affirmation reflects our view that the group will maintain its top-tier competitive position in the Nigerian banking sector. â€œUBA benefits from a good franchise in the corporate and retail segments in Nigeria and increasing geographic diversification. â€œOverall, we think the group has an adequate business position. Furthermore, we believe that the group will display relatively stable asset quality and good earnings generation over the next 12 months.

â€œWe assess the groupâ€™s capital and earnings as moderate under our risk-adjusted capital (RAC) framework.â€? It estimated UBAâ€™s RAC ratio (before adjustments for diversification) at 5.2 per centfor year-end 2016, just as it projected that the RAC ratio would remain broadly stable over the next 12 months on the back of the groupâ€™s good earning capacity and expected stable cost of risk. â€œOur forecast assumptions include loan growth of around 20 per cent (factoring in the expected depreciation of the Nigerian naira), stable interest margins, cost control, and moderate dividend distribution,â€? it added. On June 30, 2017, UBAâ€™s capital adequacy ratio was 19.7 per cent, which was well above the regulatory minimum of 15 per cent. To this end, the rating agency expressed belief that it would remain stable over the next 12 months. â€œWe assess UBAâ€™s risk position as adequate, which reflects our expectation that the group will exhibit broadly

stable asset quality in the next 12 months. â€œThe groupâ€™s cost of risk increased to 2.1 per cent in 2016 compared with 0.5 per cent in 2015, before declining to 1.2 per cent at end-June 2017. â€œThis ratio compares well with the sector average. However, nonperforming loans (NPLs; loans overdue by 90 days or more) ratio increased to 4.2 per centat the end of June from 3.9 per cent at end-2016 (1.7% at year-end 2015) and was hit hard by the foreign currency shortages, which mainly affected the general commerce and oil and gas trading companies,â€? it added. The Central Bank of Nigeria allowed banks to writeoff fully provisioned NPLs the same year, without prejudice to the prudential guideline that requires banks to retain fully provisioned NPLs for one year before write-off. This was aimed at avoiding accumulation of NPLs, since banks were expected to record additional provisions in the context of the naira devaluation in 2016.

MONEY AND CREDIT STATISTICS Broad Money (M2)

21,851,454.31

-- Narrow Money (M1)

9,890,813.10

---- Currency Outside Banks

1,523,239.91

---- Demand Deposits

8,367,573.19

-- Quasi Money

11,960,641.22

Net Foreign Assets (NFA)

9,732,990.89

Net Domestic Assets(NDA)

12,118,463.42

-- Net Domestic Credit (NDC)

The Committee of e-Business Industry Heads (CeBIH) has stressed the need to include more Nigerians into the financial system. The group pointed out that there has been a global consensus on the importance of financial inclusion due to its key role of bringing integrity and stability into an economyâ€™s financial system as well as its role in fighting poverty in a sustainable manner. It noted that it was more pertinent in the case of Nigeria as a developing nation to use financial inclusion as a platform not just for growing the financial sector but more as an engine for driving an inclusive economic growth. One of the critical initiatives in this direction was the incorporation of financial inclusion as one of the cardinal objectives of the Nigerian Financial System Strategy 2020 (FSS 2020).

The FSS 20: 2020, according to CeBIH, represents a holistic and strategic road map and framework for developing the Nigerian financial sector into a growth catalyst that will enable Nigeria be one of the 20 largest economies by 2020. It is against this backdrop that the Committee of e-Business Industry Heads chose the theme â€œRepositioning Digital Payments to achieveâ€™ the Financial Inclusion Goals of FSS 20:2020, for its2017 annual retreat. The retreat is expected to focus on and critically examine the progress, status and what needs to be done for the country to achieve the national financial inclusion goals of achieving 80 per cent inclusion such as access to finance, insurance services and plans by the year 2020. The retreat, which has over the years been a meeting point for assessment of the industry

and charting the course of the industryâ€™s direction by for all stakeholders in the Nigerian payment industry is scheduled to hold from the 23rd - 24th November 2017 at the Abeokuta, Ogun State. The opening session of the retreat is expected to be declared open by the Deputy Governor, Operations, Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Bayo Adelabu, with a keynote address by the Chairman of SecureID Limited, Mr. Dotun Suleiman, among others. Speaking on the forthcoming retreat, the Chairman of CeBIH and Chief Digital Officer of Alat, Mr. Dele Adeyinka expressed optimism that the retreat will go a long way in recommending ideas towards achieving the financial inclusion objectives of the FSS 20:2020 as participants will gain insights to principles that have aided financial inclusion in different climes across the globe.

26,821,446.81

---- Credit to Government (Net)

4,824,226.22

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

7,834,536.74

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

--3,010,310.52

---- Credit to Private Sector (CPS)

21,997,220.59

--Other Assets Net

--14,702,983.39

Reserve Money (Base Money)

5,486,804.65

--Currency in Circulation

1,868,735.07

--Banks Reserves

3,268,266.17 Ëž Ă™Ă&#x;ĂœĂ?Ă? Ě‹

Money Market Indicators (in Percentage) Month

August 2017

Inter-Bank Call Rate

CeBIH Harps on Financial Inclusion

(MILLION NAIRA)

AUGUST 2017

22.63

Minimum Rediscount Rate (MRR) Monetary Policy Rate (MPR)

14.00

Treasury Bill Rate

13.35

Savings Deposit Rate

4.08

1 Month Deposit Rate

8.86

3 Months Deposit Rate

10.14

6 Months Deposit Rate

11.51

12 Months Deposit Rate

11.40

Prime Lending rate

17.69

Maximum Lending Rate

31.20 Ëž Ă™Ă˜Ă?ĂžĂ‹ĂœĂŁ Ă™Ă–Ă“Ă?ĂŁ Ă‹ĂžĂ? Ě‹ ÍŻÍąĎą

OPEC DAILY BASKET PRICE AS AT THURSDAY NOVEMBER 16, 2017

The price of OPEC basket of fourteen crudes stood at $59.98 a barrel on Thursday, compared with $59.79 the previous day, according to OPEC Secretariat calculations. The OPEC Reference Basket of Crudes (ORB) is made up of the following: Saharan Blend (Algeria), Girassol (Angola), Oriente (Ecuador), ZaďŹ ro (Equatorial Guinea), Rabi Light (Gabon), Iran Heavy (Islamic Republic of Iran), Basra Light (Iraq), Kuwait Export (Kuwait), Es Sider (Libya), Bonny Light (Nigeria), Qatar Marine (Qatar), Arab Light (Saudi Arabia), Murban (UAE) and Merey (Venezuela) SOURCE: OPEC headquarters, Vienna

T H I S D AY Ëž Ëœ Í°ÍŽËœ Í°ÍŽÍŻÍľ

MARKET NEWS

CSCS Celebrates Adeeko, Nwosu for Meritorious Service Goddy Egene and Nosa Alekhuogie The Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc last week celebrated the duo of Bola Adeeko and Obinna Nwosu for excellent and dedicated services during their time at the company as the Interim chief executive officer (CEO) and non-executive director (ED) respectively.

Adeeko was seconded from the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) to CSCS on January 2, 2017 as the Interim CEO while Nwosu joined the board in February 2014 and was the Chairman, Finance and Stakeholdersâ€™ Relationship Committee. Speaking at a send-off dinner held for the duo in Lagos, the Chairman, Board of Director, CSCS, Oscar Oyema said: â€œWe

are proud of Adeekoâ€™s numerous achievements during his short stint at CSCS which also stands as a testimonial that our trust in his ability to deliver was not misplaced. Some of his notable achievements include the successful delivery and launch of Project Meridian which was the replacement of the companyâ€™s legacy software with a brand new and nimbler Central Securities Depository

(CSD) platform to enhance operational efficiencies and position it to support clearing and settlement of new asset classes.â€? Commenting on Nwosu, Onyema said: â€œWe enjoyed his extensive knowledge and robust contributions towards the strategic direction and growth of CSCS. His unassuming nature and charming personality would be sorely missed. Thank you

for your contributions and demonstration of strong leadership qualities particularly as the Board Committee Chairman of Finance and Stakeholdersâ€™ Relationship Committee.â€? The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, CSCS, Haruna Jalo-Waziri also showered encomiums on the duo, saying that he was always impressed by their depth of knowledge and understanding at any level

of engagement. â€œWe appreciate the good work of Bola and Obinna in CSCS and it is our earnest prayer that you continue in your good work in future endeavours. We also hope we can call on you whenever the need arises and we look forward to continuing our close cooperation on a strong basis of trust. Posterity will also remember your contributions to CSCS,â€? he said.

PRICES FOR SECURITIES TRADED AS OF 15/11/2017

Ëœ ÍşÍ¸Ëœ ÍşÍ¸ÍšÍľ Ëž T H I S D AY

MARKET NEWS

CIS Honours Gowon, Obasanjo, Babangida, DangoteÂ forÂ Market Devt The Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS) has conferred its first honorary fellowshipsÂ onÂ Yakubu Gowon,Â Olusegun Obasanjo,Â Â Ibrahim Babangida andÂ Aliko Dangote in Â recognition of their contributions to the growth and development of the Nigeriaâ€™s capital market.Â Â By this new status, the eminent Nigerians shall become members of the Institute. Speaking at theÂ CISÂ 2017 Stockbrokersâ€™ Conference in Lagos,Â the President of the

Institute, Mr. Oluwaseyi Abe noted that Gowonâ€™s conferment was on the strength of his enduring support for the capital market. According to him,Â Gowon is noted to have laid a substantial part of the foundation for the exponential growth witnessed in the Nigerian capital market in the last four decades through the promulgation of the Nigerian Enterprises Promotion Decree, also known as the Indigenisation Decree 1972. Â â€œThe enactment of that law was a bold step that radically

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€˜sharesâ€™ on the

changed the landscape of the Nigerian capital market. The sale of large state-owned enterprises and multinationals to private investors through public listing gave Nigerians their desired involvement in the commanding heights of the economy and created more employment for Nigerians,â€? Abe said. He described Obasanjo as an advocate of â€˜â€™genuineâ€™â€™ private sector â€“led economy of which the capital market is the back bone. Â â€œHe has consistently called out to the government to leverage

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 16-Nov-2017, unless otherwise stated.

long term funds from the market to drive growth and development.Â Â The banking consolidation exercise of 2004 under his presidency was monumental and created a more diversified, strong and reliable banking sectorâ€? he said. Abe said BabangidaÂ Â liberalised the capital market which led to its enhanced growth. Â â€œHe implemented the privatisation and commercialisation exercise as a component of the conditionality of the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP)

introduced in 1986. The exercise which translated to a more equitable distribution of national wealthy gave every citizen the opportunity to buy into the privatised entities.Â Â HeÂ Â signed into law, Act 105 of 1992 which established the CIS. For that, we are immensely grateful.â€? The CIS boss explained that Dangote, a former President of the NSE is a foremost contributor to the development of the Nigerian capital market becauseÂ listed three of his companies namely, Dangote Sugar Refinery (2007), Dangote

Flour Mill (2008) and Dangote Cement (2010), successively on the NSE, which is considered as a selfless and patriotic act. Listing of a company implies the willingness to share wealth with the investing public. Commenting on the status of Fellow, Abe said it was the highest that a member of the Institute could attain, and holders are treated with the highest degree of recognition, honour and respect in the community of financial experts within and outside Nigeria.

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 176.55 177.72 39.20% Nigeria International Debt Fund 234.34 235.63 10.91% 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 0.83 16.66% ACAP Income Funds 0.63 0.63 79.10% 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 17.99% ARM INVESTMENT MANAGERS LTD enquiries@arminvestmentcenter.com Web: www.arm.com.ng; Tel: 0700 CALLARM (0700 225 5276) Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn ARM Aggressive Growth Fund 17.69 18.22 43.25% ARM Discovery Fund 371.09 382.28 29.22% ARM Ethical Fund 26.05 26.83 16.59% ARM Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 17.78% 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 147.49 148.53 40.23% AXA Mansard Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 18.03% 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.coronationam.com , Tel: 012366215 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Cordros Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 18.33% 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 QUEST 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 1,114.04 1,115.18 9.94% FBN Heritage Fund 146.97 148.21 31.82% FBN Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 18.90% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Institutional $111.03 $112.30 8.09% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Retail $110.73 $112.00 8.54% FBN Nigeria Smart Beta Equity Fund 154.88 157.15 37.57% 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 1.37 1.40 47.48% Legacy Short Maturity (NGN) Fund 2.94 2.94 14.32% 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 2,906.57 2,946.65 32.18% Coral Income Fund 2,420.68 2,420.68 16.15% 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 17.49% 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 17.65% Vantage Balanced Fund 2.07 2.10 23.19%

Vantage Guaranteed Income Fund 1.00 1.00 18.53% Kedari Investment Fund (KIF) 112.97 112.97 16.43% 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 17.35% Lotus Halal Fixed Income Fund 1,039.26 1,039.26 10.31% 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 13.28 13.39 37.44% 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 1.23 1.23 1.23 PACAM Fixed Income Fund 10.93 10.93 10.93 PACAM Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 10.00 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 126.51 128.52 24.73% 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 13.27% 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 2,205.62 2,218.84 20.47% Stanbic IBTC Bond Fund 173.53 173.53 12.71% Stanbic IBTC Ethical Fund 0.98 0.99 27.92% Stanbic IBTC Guaranteed Investment Fund 215.95 215.95 15.55% Stanbic IBTC Iman Fund 170.18 172.38 31.08% Stanbic IBTC Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 17.77% Stanbic IBTC Nigerian Equity Fund 9,498.56 9,610.59 25.27% 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 1.33 1.32 18.01% United Capital Bond Fund 1.51 1.51 23.32% United Capital Equity Fund 0.93 0.91 35.65% United Capital Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 18.80% 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 12.63 12.81 29.78% Zenith Ethical Fund 13.29 13.43 21.22% Zenith Income Fund 18.82 18.82 13.77%

REITS NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

11.41 131.62

1.01% 6.17%

Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

10.89 136.08 105.49

10.99 139.03 107.48

26.16% 37.56% 39.21%

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

4.50 8.55 16.97 19.90 141.56

4.54 8.63 17.07 20.10 143.56

62.50% 21.50% 43.40% 24.61% 11.60%

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€™s website and FMANâ€™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.

T H I S D AY ˾ ˜ ͺ͸˜ ͺ͸͹͵

Nigeria Daily Stock Market Report: 'ůŽďĂů ƋƵŝƚǇ DĂƌŬĞƚ ZĞǀŝĞǁ ĨŽƌ >ĂƐƚ tĞĞŬ ĂŶĚ KƵƚůŽŽŬ 'ůŽďĂů ƋƵŝƚǇ ŵĂƌŬĞƚƐ ǁĞƌĞ ůĂƌŐĞůǇ ďĞĂƌŝƐŚ ƚŚŝƐ ǁĞĞŬ ĂƐ ƚŚĞ ƌĞĐĞŶƚ ƌĂůůǇ ŝŶ ĐƌƵĚĞ Žŝů ƉƌŝĐĞƐ ǁĞƌĞ ƌĞǀĞƌƐĞĚ ǁŝƚŚ ƌĞŶƚ ƌƵĚĞ ƉƌŝĐĞƐ ĚĞĐůŝŶŝŶŐ Ϯ͘ϴй tͲŽͲt ƚŽ ĐůŽƐĞ ƚŚĞ ǁĞĞŬ Ăƚ h^Ψϲϭ͘ϳϳͬď͘ /ŶǀĞƐƚŽƌƐ ƌĞĂĐƚĞĚ ƚŽ ĚĂƚĂ ŽŶ h͘^ ĐƌƵĚĞ ƐƚŽĐŬƉŝůĞƐ ǁŚŝĐŚ ŝŶĐƌĞĂƐĞĚ ďǇ ϭ͘ϴϱŵ ďĂƌƌĞůƐ ůĂƐƚ ǁĞĞŬ͕ Ă ƉŽƚĞŶƟĂů ĚŝƐƌƵƉƟŽŶ ƚŽ KW ͛Ɛ ƉƌŽƉŽƐĞĚ ƐƵƉƉůǇ ĐƵƚƐ ǁŝƚŚ ĂůůŝĞƐ ďĞǇŽŶĚ ƚŚĞ ŵĂƌĐŚ ĚĞĂĚůŝŶĞ͕ ǁŚŝĐŚ ǁĂƐ ŝŶƚĞŶĚĞĚ ƚŽ ĐƵƌƚĂŝů ŽǀĞƌƐƵƉƉůǇ ĂŶĚ ƌĞďĂůĂŶĐĞ ƚŚĞ Žŝů ŵĂƌŬĞƚƐ͘ EŽƚǁŝƚŚƐƚĂŶĚŝŶŐ͕ ƌĞŶƚ ĐƌƵĚĞ ŚĂƐ ĐŽŶƟŶƵĞĚ ƚŽ ƚƌĂĚĞ ĂďŽǀĞ h^ΨϲϬ͘Ϭͬď ĚƵĞ ƚŽ ĞǆƉĞĐƚĂƟŽŶ ŽĨ ĂŶ ŽƵƚƉƵƚ ĐƵƚ ĞǆƚĞŶƐŝŽŶ ďǇ KW ͬŶŽŶͲKW ŵĞŵďĞƌƐ ĂƐ ǁĞůů ĂƐ ƚĞŶƐŝŽŶ ŝŶ ƚŚĞ DŝĚĚůĞ ĂƐƚ͘ DĂũŽƌŝƚǇ ŽĨ ƚŚĞ ŝŶĚŝĐĞƐ ƵŶĚĞƌ ŽƵƌ ĐŽǀĞƌĂŐĞ ĐůŽƐĞĚ ƚŚĞ ǁĞĞŬ ŝŶ ƚŚĞ ƌĞĚ ǁŝƚŚ ŐǇƉƚ͛Ɛ 'y ϯϬ;Ͳϯ͘ϱйͿ ĂŶĚ ZƵƐƐŝĂ͛Ɛ Zd^ ;ͲϮ͘ϭйͿ ůĞĂĚŝŶŐ ůŽƐĞƌƐ͘ /Ŷ ƚŚĞ ĚĞǀĞůŽƉĞĚ ŵĂƌŬĞƚƐ͕ ƚŚĞ h< &d^ ůů ^ŚĂƌĞ ĚĞĐůŝŶĞĚ Ϭ͘ϴй tͲŽͲt ĂƐ ĨƌĂŐŝůŝƟĞƐ ŝŶ ƚŚĞ ƌŝƟƐŚ ŐŽǀĞƌŶŵĞŶƚ ĐŽŶƟŶƵĞ ƚŽ ĂƌŝƐĞ ĨŽůůŽǁŝŶŐ ƚŚĞ ƌĞƐŝŐŶĂƟŽŶ ŽĨ ƚǁŽ ŵŝŶŝƐƚĞƌƐ ǁŝƚŚŝŶ Ă ǁĞĞŬ͕ Ă ŵĂũŽƌ ĚŝƐƚƌĂĐƟŽŶ ĨƌŽŵ ŝƚƐ Z y/d ŶĞŐŽƟĂƟŽŶƐ͘ ZĞůĂƚĞĚůǇ͕ ƌĞƚĂŝů ƐĂůĞƐ ŝŶ ƚŚĞ h͘< ĚĞĐůŝŶĞĚ Ϭ͘ϯй zͲŽͲ z ŝŶ KĐƚŽďĞƌ͕ ƚŚĞ ĮƌƐƚ ĚƌŽƉ ŝŶ ŵŽƌĞ ƚŚĂŶ ĨŽƵƌ ǇĞĂƌƐ͘ KŶ ƚŚĞ ŇŝƉ ƐŝĚĞ͕ ƚŚĞ h^ E ^ Y ƌŽƐĞ Ϭ͘ϱй tͲŽͲt ǁŚŝůĞ ƚŚĞ ^ΘW ϱϬϬ ƚƌĂĚĞĚ ŇĂƚ ĂƐ Ă ƌĞƐƵůƚ ŽĨ Ă ƌĂůůǇ ŝŶ h͘^ ƚĞĐŚ ƐƚŽĐŬƐ ĂŶĚ ƐƉĞĐƵůĂƟŽŶƐ ŽŶ ƚŚĞ dĂǆ ƌĞĨŽƌŵ ƉƌŽƉŽƐŝŶŐ ŽƌƉŽƌĂƚĞ dĂǆ ĐƵƚƐ ǁŚŝĐŚ ƐĞĞŵƐ ƚŽ ďĞ ŐĂŝŶŝŶŐ ŵŽŵĞŶƚƵŵ͘ ĐƌŽƐƐ ƚŚĞ Z/ ^͕ ƉĞƌĨŽƌŵĂŶĐĞ ǁĂƐ ŵŝǆĞĚ ǁŝƚŚ ϯ ŽĨ ϱ ŝŶĚŝĐĞƐ ĐůŽƐŝŶŐ ŝŶ ƚŚĞ ŐƌĞĞŶ ǁŝƚŚ ƚŚĞ ƌĂǌŝů /ďŽǀĞƐƉĂ ĂƉƉƌĞĐŝĂƟŶŐ ƚŚĞ ŵŽƐƚ͕ ƵƉ ϭ͘Ϭй tͲŽͲ t͘ ^ŝŵŝůĂƌůǇ͕ ƚŚĞ ^ŽƵƚŚ ĨƌŝĐĂ &d^ ͬ :^ ĂŶĚ /ŶĚŝĂ ^ ^ E^ ďŽƚŚ ŐĂŝŶĞĚ Ϭ͘ϲй ĂŶĚ Ϭ͘ϭй tͲŽͲt ƌĞƐƉĞĐƟǀĞůǇ͘ KŶ ƚŚĞ ŽŶƚƌĂƌǇ͕ ƚŚĞ ZƵƐƐŝĂ Zd^ ůŽƐƚ Ϯ͘ϭй tͲŽͲt ǁŚŝůĞ ƚŚĞ ŚŝŶĂ ^ŚĂŶŐŚĂŝ ŽŵƉŽƐŝƚĞ ĨĞůů ϭ͘ϰйtͲŽͲt ĚƵĞ ƚŽ ƌĞůĞĂƐĞ ŽĨ ǁĞĂŬĞƌͲƚŚĂŶͲĞǆƉĞĐƚĞĚ ĞĐŽŶŽŵŝĐ ĚĂƚĂ͘ /Ŷ ƚŚĞ ƵƌĂƐŝĂ ƌĞŐŝŽŶ͕ Ăůů ŝŶĚŝĐĞƐ ƚƌĞŶĚĞĚ ƐŽƵƚŚǁĂƌĚ͕ ƐĂǀĞ ƚŚĞ ,ŽŶŐ <ŽŶŐ ,ĂŶŐ ^ĞŶŐ ǁŚŝĐŚ ĐůŽƐĞĚ ƚŚĞ ǁĞĞŬ ŝŶ ƚŚĞ ŐƌĞĞŶ͕ ŐĂŝŶŝŶŐ Ϭ͘ϯй tͲŽͲt͘ dŚĞ :ĂƉĂŶ EŝŬŬĞŝ ůŽƐƚ ϭ͘ϯй tͲŽͲt͕ ǁŚŝůĞ &ƌĂŶĐĞ͛Ɛ ϰϬ ĂůƐŽ ĚĞĐůŝŶĞĚ Ϭ͘ϵй ĂŶĚ 'ĞƌŵĂŶǇ͛Ɛ y dZ y ƐŚĞĚ Ϭ͘ϲй tͲŽͲt͘

/Ŷ ƚŚĞ ĨƌŝĐĂŶ ŵĂƌŬĞƚƐ͕ ƚŚĞ 'ŚĂŶĂ '^ ĐŽŵƉŽƐŝƚĞ ǁĂƐ ƚŚĞ ůŽŶĞ ŐĂŝŶĞƌ͕ ƵƉ ϰ͘ϳй tͲŽͲt͘ ŽŶƚƌĂƌŝůǇ͕ ƚŚĞ ŐǇƉƚ 'y ϯϬ ǁĂƐ ƚŚĞ ďŝŐŐĞƐƚ ůŽƐĞƌ͕ ĚŽǁŶ ϯ͘ϱй tͲŽͲt ĨŽůůŽǁŝŶŐ ƐĞůůͲŽīƐ ďǇ ĨŽƌĞŝŐŶ ŝŶǀĞƐƚŽƌƐ͘ dŚĞ EŝŐĞƌŝĂŶ ůů ^ŚĂƌĞ /ŶĚĞǆ ƚƌĂŝůĞĚ͕ ĚŽǁŶ ϭ͘ϯй tͲŽͲt͘ ^ŝŵŝůĂƌůǇ͕ ƚŚĞ <ĞŶǇĂŶ E^ ĐŽŶƟŶƵĞĚ ŝƚƐ ŶĞŐĂƟǀĞ ƌƵŶ ĨƌŽŵ ƚŚĞ ƉƌĞǀŝŽƵƐ ǁĞĞŬ͕ ĚŝƉƉŝŶŐ Ϭ͘Ϯй tͲŽͲ t͘ ŽŵĞƐƟĐ ƋƵŝƚǇ DĂƌŬĞƚ ZĞǀŝĞǁ ĨŽƌ >ĂƐƚ tĞĞŬ ĂŶĚ KƵƚůŽŽŬ dŚĞ WĞƌĨŽƌŵĂŶĐĞ ŝŶ ƚŚĞ EŝŐĞƌŝĂŶ ŽƵƌƐĞ ƚŚŝƐ ǁĞĞŬ ǁĂƐ ďĞĂƌŝƐŚ ĂƐ ƚŚĞ ^/ ĚŝƉƉĞĚ ϭ͘ϭй tͲŽͲt ƚŽ ĐůŽƐĞ Ăƚ ϯϲ͕ϳϬϯ͘ϲϴ ƉŽŝŶƚƐ ǁŚŝůĞ zd ƌĞƚƵƌŶ ŵŽĚĞƌĂƚĞĚ ƚŽ ϯϲ͘ϲй͘ ĐĐŽƌĚŝŶŐůǇ͕ ŝŶǀĞƐƚŽƌƐ ůŽƐƚ Eϳϯ͘ϬďŶ ĂƐ ŵĂƌŬĞƚ ĐĂƉŝƚĂůŝǌĂƟŽŶ ƐĞƩůĞĚ Ăƚ EϭϮ͘ϴƚŶ͘ ,ŽǁĞǀĞƌ͕ ĂĐƟǀŝƚǇ ůĞǀĞů ŝŵƉƌŽǀĞĚ ĂƐ ĂǀĞƌĂŐĞ ǀĂůƵĞ ĂŶĚ ǀŽůƵŵĞ ƚƌĂĚĞĚ ũƵŵƉĞĚ Ϯϵϳ͘ϰй ĂŶĚ ϭϭϯ͘Ϭй ƚŽ Eϭϭ͘ϬďŶ ĂŶĚ ϱϲϬ͘ϴŵ ƵŶŝƚƐ Ͳ ŽǁŝŶŐ ƚŽ Ă ĐƌŽƐƐ ĚĞĂů ŽĨ ϭϮϴ͘ϱŵ ƐŚĂƌĞƐ ŽĨ E' D Ăƚ EϮϭϬ͘Ϭ ͬƐŚĂƌĞ ŝŶ Ă ĚĞĂů ǀĂůƵĞĚ Ăƚ EϮϳ͘ϬďŶ ĂŶĚ Eϵ͘ϴďŶ ǁŽƌƚŚ ŽĨ ƚƌĂĚĞ ŽŶ EŝŐĞƌŝĂŶ ƌĞǁĞƌŝĞƐ ŽŶ dŚƵƌƐĚĂǇ͘ dŚĞ ƚŽƉ ƚƌĂĚĞĚ ƐƚŽĐŬƐ ďǇ ǀŽůƵŵĞ ĂƌĞ & E, ;ϭϵϰ͘ϮŵͿ͕ E/' Z/ E Z t Z/ ^ ;ϳϵ͘ϵŵͿ ĂŶĚ / DKE ;ϲϳ͘ϱŵͿ ǁŚŝůĞ ƚŚĞ ůĞĂĚŝŶŐ ƐƚŽĐŬƐ ďǇ ǀĂůƵĞ ƚƌĂĚĞĚ ĂƌĞ E/' Z/ E Z t Z/ ^ ;Eϭϭ͘ϬďŶͿ͕ 'h/EE ^^ ;Eϭ͘ϳďŶͿ ĂŶĚ E/d, ;Eϭ͘ϱďŶͿ͘ dŚĞ ǁĞĞŬ ƐƚĂƌƚĞĚ Žī ŽŶ Ă ƉŽƐŝƟǀĞ ŶŽƚĞ ĂƐ ƚŚĞ ^/ ŐĂŝŶĞĚ Ϭ͘ϱй ĨŽůůŽǁŝŶŐ ďƵǇŝŶŐ ŝŶƚĞƌĞƐƚ ŝŶ E' D ;нϯ͘ϵйͿ͘ ,ŽǁĞǀĞƌ͕ ƉĞƌĨŽƌŵĂŶĐĞ ǁĂƐ ƋƵŝĐŬůǇ ƌĞǀĞƌƐĞĚ ŽŶ dƵĞƐĚĂǇ ;ĚŽǁŶ ϵϲďƉƐͿ ǁŝƚŚ ƚŚĞ ^/ ƌĞĐŽƌĚŝŶŐ ŝƚƐ ůĂƌŐĞƐƚ ĚĞĐůŝŶĞ ŝŶ ϳ ǁĞĞŬƐ͕ ĂƐ ŝŶǀĞƐƚŽƌƐ ƚŽŽŬ ƉƌŽĮƚ ŝŶ E ^d> ;Ͳϯ͘ϭйͿ͕ E/d, ;Ͳϰ͘ϳйͿ ĂŶĚ E' D ;ͲϬ͘ϲйͿ͘ dŚĞ ĞƋƵŝƟĞƐ ŵĂƌŬĞƚ ĨƵƌƚŚĞƌ ĚĞĐůŝŶĞĚ ŽŶ tĞĚŶĞƐĚĂǇ ;ͲϬ͘ϵйͿ ĂŵŝĚ ƚŚĞ ƌĞůĞĂƐĞ ŽĨ DŽƌŐĂŶ ^ƚĂŶůĞǇ ĂƉŝƚĂů /ŶƚĞƌŶĂƟŽŶĂů ;D^ /Ϳ ƐĞŵŝͲĂŶŶƵĂů ŝŶĚĞǆ ƌĞǀŝĞǁ ǁŚŝĐŚ ƌĞŵŽǀĞĚ Žƌ ƌĞĐůĂƐƐŝĮĞĚ ƐƚŽĐŬƐ ĨƌŽŵ ƚŚĞ DĂŝŶ &ƌŽŶƟĞƌ DĂƌŬĞƚƐ /ŶĚĞǆ ĂŶĚ D^ / &ƌŽŶƟĞƌ ^ŵĂůů ĂƉ /ŶĚĞǆ͘ dŚĞ ^/ ĞǀĞŶƚƵĂůůǇ ƌĞďŽƵŶĚĞĚ ŽŶ dŚƵƌƐĚĂǇ ĂŶĚ &ƌŝĚĂǇ͕ ƵƉ Ϭ͘ϭй ĂŶĚ Ϭ͘Ϯй ŽŶ ĂĐĐŽƵŶƚ ŽĨ ďƵǇŝŶŐ ŝŶƚĞƌĞƐƚ ŝŶ 'h Z Edz ;нϭ͘ϰйͿ ĂŶĚ & E, ;нϰ͘ϮйͿ ƌĞƐƉĞĐƟǀĞůǇ͘

THISDAY AFRINVEST 40 INDEX Fundamental Performance Metrics for THISDAY AFRINVEST 40 Index

Ticker

/ŶǀĞƐƚŽƌ ƐĞŶƟŵĞŶƚ͕ ŵĞĂƐƵƌĞĚ ďǇ ŵĂƌŬĞƚ ďƌĞĂĚƚŚ ǁŽƌƐĞŶĞĚ ƚŽ Ϭ͘ϱǆ ;ϭϴ ĂĚǀĂŶĐĞƌƐͬϰϱ ĚĞĐůŝŶĞƌƐͿ ĨƌŽŵ ϭ͘Ϭǆ ƌĞĐŽƌĚĞĚ ƚŚĞ ƉƌĞǀŝŽƵƐ &ƌŝĚĂǇ͘ dŚĞ ƚŽƉ ƉĞƌĨŽƌŵĞƌƐ ƚŚŝƐ ǁĞĞŬ ĂƌĞ '> s Ed ;нϮϳ͘ϯйͿ͕ &KZd ;нϭϬ͘ϮйͿ ĂŶĚ K ' ^ ;нϵ͘ϵйͿ ǁŚŝůĞ ƚŚĞ ǁŽƌƐƚ ƉĞƌĨŽƌŵĞƌƐ ĂƌĞ s ZdKE ;ͲϮϭ͘ϰйͿ͕ >/E< ^^hZ ;Ͳϭϳ͘ϲйͿ ĂŶĚ /> ^/E' ;Ͳϭϯ͘ϴйͿ͘ &ŽůůŽǁŝŶŐ ƚŚŝƐ ǁĞĞŬ͛Ɛ ůŽƐƐ͕ ǁĞ ĞǆƉĞĐƚ ŵĂƌŬĞƚ ƉĞƌĨŽƌŵĂŶĐĞ ŝŶ ĞĂƌůǇ ƚƌĂĚĞƐ ŶĞǆƚ ǁĞĞŬ ƚŽ ďĞ ĚƌŝǀĞŶ ďǇ ďĂƌŐĂŝŶ ŚƵŶƟŶŐ ŝŶ ƐƚŽĐŬƐ ǁŚŝĐŚ ĚƌĂŐŐĞĚ ƚŚĞ ŵĂƌŬĞƚ ƚŚƌŽƵŐŚŽƵƚ ƚŚĞ ǁĞĞŬ͘

Afrinvest Securities Limited

(RC 603 315)

(A Dealing Member of the Nigerian Stock Exchange)

Current Price

Previous Current Price Weighting Change

Price Change YTD

Price Change Index to Date

ROE

ROA

P/E

P/BV

Divinden Earnings d Yield Yield

THISDAY AFRINVEST 40 1,472.08

0.15%

47.2%

20.3%

6.5%

6.7x

0.7x

4.2%

11.7%

Guaranty Trust Bank PLC

43.10

1.4%

23.7%

74.5%

26.0%

4.3%

9.0x

2.2x

4.8%

11.2%

Nigerian Brew eries PLC

138.15

0.1%

9.9%

-6.6%

18.9%

8.6%

34.0x

6.2x

2.6%

2.9%

Zenith Bank PLC

24.04

0.4%

12.8%

63.0%

21.7%

3.2%

4.8x

1.0x

8.4%

21.0%

Dangote Cement PLC

6.5%

32.2%

30.4%

15.7%

15.9x

4.5x

3.7%

6.3%

230.00

0.0% 0.0%

6.8%

54.3%

78.4%

19.0%

32.6x

21.5x

0.8%

3.1%

0.5%

4.4%

68.0%

15.1%

2.0%

4.0x

0.6x

6.6%

25.3% 24.0%

Nestle Nigeria PLC

1,250.00

Access Bank PLC

9.86

United Bank for Africa PLC

9.50

-0.8%

5.4%

111.1%

17.2%

2.2%

4.2x

0.7x

7.9%

FBN Holdings Plc

6.62

-4.1%

4.4%

97.6%

2.6%

0.3%

10.8x

0.4x

3.0%

9.3%

Ecobank Transnational Inc

17.00

0.0%

3.0%

65.4%

-14.6%

-1.3%

0.6x

3.6%

-20.4%

Lafarge Africa PLC

7.6x

2.0%

22.4%

50.00

0.0%

1.9%

29.0%

47.1%

9.8%

490.00

-1.0%

4.5x

SEPLAT Petroleum Development C

1.8%

29.0%

-12.4%

-6.7%

Unilever Nigeria PLC

36.10

0.0%

1.4%

13.4%

50.3%

8.4%

22.2x

8.5x

0.3%

4.5%

Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC

42.60

0.2%

3.1%

184.0%

28.7%

3.4%

9.8x

2.6x

1.4%

10.2%

Guinness Nigeria PLC

100.00

-1.0%

1.4%

27.2%

4.5%

1.4%

70.4x

3.5x

0.6%

Oando PLC

5.99

0.0%

1.3%

27.4%

40.7%

4.2%

2.7x

0.6x

Forte Oil PLC

0.6x

-21.3%

48.62

0.0%

0.6%

-42.4%

44.3%

3.7%

12.3x

5.4x

3.0%

0.5%

-39.1%

32.6%

12.0%

9.0x

2.5x

1.4% 37.0% 8.1%

11 PLC

170.00

Total Nigeria PLC

230.00

0.0%

0.6%

-23.1%

37.3%

7.4%

8.6x

3.0x

2.6%

11.7%

68.00

-0.3%

1.2%

69.3%

37.4%

25.9%

9.1x

3.0x

2.2%

11.0%

Okomu Oil Palm PLC

4.7%

11.1%

UAC of Nigeria PLC

18.90

-0.5%

0.7%

14.6%

14.5%

6.3%

2.2%

12.1x

0.8x

5.4%

8.2%

Conoil PLC

28.00

0.0%

0.4%

-25.3%

12.8%

3.5%

8.1x

1.1x

11.1%

12.3%

Fidelity Bank PLC

1.60

2.6%

0.9%

90.5%

8.0%

1.1%

1.4x

0.2x

8.7%

71.6%

-2.1%

1.0%

133.2%

23.8%

10.3%

5.6x

2.4x

3.5%

18.0% 11.4%

Dangote Sugar Refinery PLC

14.25

Flour Mills of Nigeria PLC

34.89

0.0%

0.8%

88.7%

10.4%

2.6%

8.8x

0.9x

3.0%

Custodian and Allied Insurance

3.75

0.0%

0.4%

-3.6%

18.9%

7.6%

3.9x

0.7x

7.5%

7 UP Bottling Co PLC

90.00

4.7%

0.3%

-30.2%

-56.7%

-13.9%

Julius Berger Nigeria PLC

29.33

0.0%

0.3%

-24.0%

-12.2%

-1.2%

-1.8%

0.4%

0.0%

0.9%

0.1%

12.9x

0.1x

55.2%

19.6%

4.1%

5.4x

0.9x

4.4x

25.5% -18.7%

1.5x

-7.8%

FCMB Group Plc

1.10

Transnational Corp of Nigeria

1.35

1.5%

0.6%

Diamond Bank PLC

1.09

-0.9%

0.4%

23.9%

2.5%

0.3%

4.4x

0.1x

Presco PLC

66.00

0.0%

0.5%

64.6%

53.3%

31.5%

3.3x

1.1x

2.3%

30.7%

PZ Cussons Nigeria PLC

21.42

5.0%

0.4%

47.7%

11.5%

5.8%

18.3x

2.0x

2.3%

5.5%

International Brew eries PLC

51.80

3.6%

0.8%

180.0%

24.6%

7.4%

54.2x

12.3x

Cadbury Nigeria PLC

11.78

0.0%

0.3%

14.5%

4.5%

1.6%

33.6x

2.0x

3.0%

Union Bank of Nigeria PLC

6.12

0.2%

0.3%

28.2%

28.3%

5.6%

1.2%

7.8x

0.4x

12.8%

Chemical and Allied Products P

34.00

0.0%

0.2%

6.3%

84.3%

38.5%

14.8x

10.4x

Sterling Bank PLC

1.00

0.0%

0.2%

31.6%

6.1%

0.6%

5.3x

0.3x

GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Niger

6.5%

60.3%

61.2%

23.6%

5.2x

1.9x

1.2%

22.8%

11.9%

3.9%

10.2x

1.2x

2.4%

-3.6%

0.1%

34.3%

9.6%

4.4%

7.8x

0.7x

1.33

T o p 10 G a ine r s

6.7% 19.0%

0.3%

Continental Reinsurance PLC

1.8%

0.1%

C ILEA SIN G

22.7%

0.0%

AXA Mansard Insurance PLC

7.8% 18.5%

0.0%

T ic k er

9.1%

25.25 2.05

P H A R M D EKO

^ĞĐƚŽƌ ƉĞƌĨŽƌŵĂŶĐĞ ǁĂƐ ůĂƌŐĞůǇ ŶĞŐĂƟǀĞ ƚŚŝƐ ǁĞĞŬ ǁŝƚŚ ϰ ŽĨ ϱ ŝŶĚŝĐĞƐ ƵŶĚĞƌ ŽƵƌ ĐŽǀĞƌĂŐĞ ĚĞĐůŝŶŝŶŐ tͲŽͲt͘ dŚĞ Kŝů Θ 'ĂƐ ŝŶĚĞǆ ǁĂƐ ƚŚĞ ůŽŶĞ ŐĂŝŶĞƌ͕ ƵƉ Ϭ͘ϴй tͲŽͲt ŽǁŝŶŐ ƚŽ ƉƌŝĐĞ ĂƉƉƌĞĐŝĂƟŽŶ ŝŶ &KZd ;нϭϬ͘ϮйͿ ĂŶĚ DK /> ;ϯ͘ϬйͿ͘ dŚĞ ůŽƐĞƌƐ ǁĞƌĞ ůĞĚ ďǇ ƚŚĞ ŽŶƐƵŵĞƌ 'ŽŽĚƐ ŝŶĚĞǆ ǁŚŝĐŚ ĨĞůů Ϯ͘ϵй tͲŽͲt ĂƐ ŝŶǀĞƐƚŽƌƐ ƐŽůĚ ƉŽƐŝƟŽŶƐ ŝŶ E/' Z/ E Z t Z/ ^ ;Ͳϯ͘ϱйͿ͕ E ^d> ;Ͳϯ͘ϬйͿ ĂŶĚ hE/> s Z ;Ͳϲ͘ϮйͿ͘ dŚĞ /ŶƐƵƌĂŶĐĞ ĂŶĚ ĂŶŬŝŶŐ ŝŶĚŝĐĞƐ ƚƌĂŝůĞĚ͕ ƐŚĞĚĚŝŶŐ Ϯ͘Ϭй ĂŶĚ ϭ͘ϯй ƌĞƐƉĞĐƟǀĞůǇ͕ ĨŽůůŽǁŝŶŐ ƐĞůů ƉƌĞƐƐƵƌĞƐ ŝŶ >/E< ^^hZ ;Ͳϭϳ͘ϲйͿ͕ D E^ Z ;ͲϮ͘ϰйͿ͕ E/d, ;Ͳϯ͘ϱйͿ ĂŶĚ ^^ ;ͲϮ͘ϭйͿ͘ >ŝŬĞǁŝƐĞ͕ Ă ƉƌŝĐĞ ĚĞƉƌĞĐŝĂƟŽŶ ŝŶ t W K ;ͲϮ͘ϴйͿ ĚƌĂŐŐĞĚ ƚŚĞ /ŶĚƵƐƚƌŝĂů 'ŽŽĚƐ /ŶĚĞǆ ϭ͘Ϭй ůŽǁĞƌ͘

Monday, November 20, 2017

19.1% 9.8% 12.8%

T o p 10 T r a d e s b y V o l u m e

P ric e

P ric e C hg %

1.44

9.1%

SOVR EN IN S

22.49

5.0%

Z EN IT H B A N K

71.8

0.3%

2.36

4.9%

D IA M ON D B N K

54.2

0.9%

T ic k er

Vo lum e

P ric e C hg %

1575.0

0.0%

LIVEST OC K

0.88

4.8%

A IIC O

27.5

1.9%

A GLEVEN T

0.70

4.5%

GUA R A N T Y

13.3

-0.2%

FB NH

6.90

4.2%

12.4

0.5%

UN IT YB N K

0.53

3.9%

FB NH

11.6

4.2%

UN ILEVER

0.0%

37.50

3.9%

T R A N SC OR P

8.4

C ON T IN SUR E

1.38

3.8%

F ID ELIT YB K

5.7

0.0%

D A N GF LOUR

9.00

2.6%

UN IT YB N K

4.2

3.9%

T ic k er

P ric e

P ric e C hg %

T ic k er

Value

P ric e C hg %

UA C N

17.20

-9.0%

1727.5

0.5%

B ET A GLA S

51.31

-5.0%

Z EN IT H B A N K

1726.1

0.3%

UP L

2.53

-4.9%

SOVR EN IN S

787.5

0.0%

C H A M P ION

1.98

-4.8%

GUA R A N T Y

573.2

-0.2%

T o p 10 T r a d e s b y V a l u e

T o p 10 L o s e r s

LEA R N A F R C A

1.00

-4.8%

N EST LE

516.2

0.1%

C A D B UR Y

11.25

-4.5%

D A N GC EM

160.7

0.0%

NP FM CRFB K

1.29

-4.4%

GUIN N ESS

139.6

0.2%

N EM

1.33

-4.3%

UN ILEVER

117.0

3.9%

F IR ST A LUM

0.50

-3.8%

FB NH

78.2

4.2%

OKOM UOIL

66.01

-2.9%

ST A N B IC

69.2

0.0%

Investment Research

Brokerage Ayodeji Ebo | aebo@afrinvest.com

Robert Omotunde | romotunde@afrinvest.com

Bolaji Fajenyo | bfajenyo@afrinvest.com

Omotola Abimbola | oabimbola@afrinvest.com

T H I S D AY MONDAY NOVEMBER 20, 2017

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2017 ˾ T H I S D AY

INTERNATIONAL

email:foreigndesk@thisdaylive.com

Crush Near Morocco’s Essaouira Kills at Least 15 At least 15 people have been killed and ﬁve injured on Sunday in a stampede as food aid was distributed near the coastal tourist town of Essaouira in western Morocco, AFP reported ofﬁcials as saying. The accident happened in the town of Sidi Boulaalam, around 60 kilometres (35 miles) from Essaouira, the interior ministry

said in a statement. Local media said a “benefactor” had organised the food distribution at a stall in the rural town, which was rapidly “submerged in the crowd” of 800 people, mostly women. An investigation has begun to “determine the circumstances of the incident” and establish who was

responsible, the Moroccan authorities said. The interior ministry said King Mohammed VI had issued orders to“provide the necessary help and support to the families of the victims and the injured”. He also decided to “personally cover the costs of victims’ funerals and burials, and the care of the injured,” it said.

US Nuclear Chief Would Resist ‘Illegal’ Presidential Strike Order The top nuclear commander in the US says he would resist any “illegal”presidential order to launch a strike, according to BBC. Air Force Gen John Hyten, said as head of the US Strategic Command he provided advice to a president and expected that a legal alternative would be found. His comments come just days after US senators discussed a president’s authority to launch a nuclear attack. Some of them expressed concern that President Donald Trump might irresponsibly order such a strike. Others though said a president must have the authority to act without meddling from lawyers. It was the first such hearing in more than 40 years.

In August, Mr Trump vowed to unleash“fire and fury like the world has never seen”on North Korea if it threatened the US. Last month, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s Republican chairman, Senator Bob Corker, accused the president of setting the US“on a path to World War Three”. Speaking at the Halifax International Security Forum in Canada, Gen Hyten said:“We think about these things a lot. When you have this responsibility, how do you not think about it?” As for the legality of a strike, the general said that he had studied US laws of armed conflict for many years which stipulates key criteria the president must consider before launching any attack: Necessity,

Distinction, Proportionality and Unnecessary Suffering. The armed conflict report quotes an International Court of Justice ruling which states that while the threat or use of nuclear weapons is not prohibited by international law, “the use of such weapons seems scarcely reconcilable with respect for the requirements of the law applicable in armed conﬂict”. While Senators and expert witnesses agree the president has full authority to defend the nation, commentators have pointed out that because there is no all-encompassing deﬁnition of “imminent attack”, the president is not given an entirely free hand.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2017Ëž T H I S D AY

NEWS

Saipem Wins $5.42bn Contract for Zabazaba-Etan Devt Project in OPL 245 Ejiofor Alike Italian engineering, construction and drilling contractor, Saipem has won $5.42 billion contract for chartering, operations and maintenance for a Floating Production Storage Offloading (FPSO) tanker facility for the Zabazaba and Etan development project in Oil Prospecting License (OPL) 245, THISDAY has learnt.

THISDAY, however, gathered that the $2.96 billion of the contract price, which is expected to be spent in Nigeria in line with the provisions of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act of 2010, is under threat. This followed concern that the contractor is allegedly planning to use sister or affiliated

Aâ€™Ibom Commissioner Escapes Death as Gunmen Kill Sister, 5 Others Another five die in Imo after consuming local gin Okon Bassey Ă“Ă˜ ĂŁĂ™ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Amby Uneze Ă“Ă˜ ĂĄĂ?ĂœĂœĂ“ Suspected hired assassins yesterday attacked the Akwa Ibom State Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Mr. Udoh Ekpenyong in his residence at Ikot Oku usung in Ukanafun local government area of the state killing the younger sister. Meanwhile, in Imo State, it was a black weekend for the People of Umunakara, Imeriennwe Community in NgorOkpala Local Government Area of Imo State as no fewer than five personsÂ were confirmed dead as a result of the consumption of a local gin which may have contained Methanol poisoning. Â Sources said the gunmen numbering about four could have been on the trail of the Commissioner to his country home to assassinate him but since the Commissioner was not found at home they decided to vent their anger on the sister met during the invasion of the comound. Â The hoodlums who flee

the environment after killing the sister of the Commissioner said to be a school teacher reportedly went on shooting spree in the village killing three other persons including a barber while escaping. Identities of those killed could not be ascertained as at the time of filing this report, but THISDAY gathered that the gunmen attacked the compound at about 6am using motor bikes. Â A source said, â€œWe learnt that after the gunmen left the commissioners House they proceeded to the residence of the former commissioner of education, Mr. Matthew Edevbie Aniekan Akpan, but they did not see anybody in the compound, so they leftâ€?. Â The source disclosed that the police have started â€œstop and searchâ€?, in the local government area with a few to unmasking those behind the incident. It was further gathered that three other persons including a police officer were killed on Friday in the same local government area by yet to be identified gunmen.

Babalakin, Ogunsola, Amuka, Danjuma, Obaigbena, IbidapoObe, Others Celebrate New SAN Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Governing Council, University of Lagos (UNILAG), Dr. Wale Babalakin, has emphasised the need for Nigerians who want to be successful in life to be hardworking, dedicated to duty and consistent in whatever they do. This, he added, would be recognised at the appropriate time. Â He spoke at a dinner organised by his law firm, Babalakin and Co. for one of its Partners, Mr. Tola Oshobi, who was recently elevated to the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN). Â According to Babalakin, â€œwe have come to celebrate hardwork because I have never seen a young man who is committed to his work. We have come to celebrate loyalty because you can never find a more dependable ally than Tola Oshobi. We have come to celebrate tolerance and consideration for others. Â â€œWe have been fortunate in our chambers to produce four SANs directly and another four indirectly. And this to me is a big

achievement. â€œ Â He urged Oshobi to keep up the good work that earned him the elevation to the rank of SAN and implored other young lawyers to make hard work their watchword. Others who spoke on the occasion also eulogised Oshobi and urged him not to relent in his efforts. Present at the colourful event are: former Chairman of Punch Newspapers Limited, Chief Ajibola Ogunsola and his wife, Iyabo, Mrs. Gbolahan Babalakin, Publisher of Vanguard Newspapers, Mr. Sam Amuka, Publisher of Thisday Newspapers, Mr. Nduka Obaigbena, former UNILAG Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Oye Ibidapo-Obe, member of the Nation Editorial Board, Prof. Adebayo Williams, The Resort Group Consultant, Prof. Olugbenga Ogunmoyela, Dr. Patrick Dele-Cole, Dr. Sony Kuku of Eko Hospitals Plc and Mrs. Daisy Danjuma.

companies to execute the local content scope of the project in violation of the NOGICD Act and the recommendations of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB). Nigerian Agip Exploration (NAE) Limited and Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo) signed the production sharing agreement at the ratio of 50:50 for the development of Zabazaba and Etan, where NAE is the operator. Â NAE is developing Zabazaba field which has proven reserves of 560 million barrels of oil, as a

standalone development, while Etan field, which is also in OPL 245, will be developed as a tie-back to Zabazaba. The Zabazaba Deepwater field is a Greenfield offshore licence block in the eastern portion of the Niger Delta with water depths ranging from 1,200 to 2,400 metres. Shell and Agip acquired the controversial OPL 245 from Malabu Oil and Gas in 2012 for $1.3 billion. The acquisition has been the subject of a corruption probe and prosecutions in Italy and Nigeria but has not deterred Shell and Agip, which have both

maintained their innocence, from going ahead with the fieldâ€™s development. Agip plans to achieve first oil in 2020 and is determined to start execution of the project in the first quarter of 2018. THISDAY gathered that following the completion of the technical and commercial evaluation of the bids for the main packages in the development of the $13.5 billion Zabazaba deepwater oil field by the NCDMB and NAE, Saipem/Bluewater emerged as the winner of the $5.42 billion contract for chartering, operations and maintenance

for a FPSO tanker facility for the Zabazaba and Etan development project. Â The bid documents obtained exclusively by THISDAY at the weekend showed that of the three companies that submitted bids for the OPL 245 project, Saipem/Bluewater submitted the lowest bid of total lump sum of $5,426,500,714.00 out of which the bidder pledged to execute $2,966,993,161.91 of the work scope in Nigeria, in line with the provisions of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act of 2010.

Nigeria Earned N69.2bn from Solid Minerals Sector in 2015, Says NEITI Bennett Oghifo Nigeria earned N69.2 billion from the solid minerals sector in 2015, an increase of 24% on the N55.8 billion earned from the sector in 2014. This information is contained in the latest independent audit report of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) released yesterday, following the approval of the report by the National Stakeholders Working Group, which is the board of NEITI, according to a statement

by Director, Communications and Advocacy, Mr. Orji Ogbonnaya Orji. The audit report disclosed that the total production of solid minerals in the country stood at 39.27 million tonnes. This represents a reduction of 17% from the 47.1 million tonnes produced in 2014.Â The drop in 2015â€™s production was attributed to insecurity in parts of the country and more stringent approval process for explosives used in mining. However, while mineral

production reduced, government revenues went up in the same year.Â â€œThis increase in revenue was due to the growth in taxes collected from the sector and review of royalty rates paid by companies which came into effect within the year under review,â€? the report stated. NEITIâ€™s previous solid minerals audit reports had recommended upward review of Nigeriaâ€™s royalty rates to align with prevailing industry and present day realities, the statement said. The report also disclosed that

the value of solid minerals exports in 2015 stood at $9.733 million, which was 1.45% of non-oil exports for the year. Lead and zinc topped the chart with 79% valued at $7.7 million, while 175 ounces of gold valued at only $122,000 were exported during the period. The report showed that the solid minerals sector contributed 0.12% to Nigeriaâ€™s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2015, a marginal increase of 0.01% on the 0.11% contribution of the sector to GDP in 2014.

Niger Gov: Zungeru Power Project to be Ready Dec 2019 Laleye Dipo Ă“Ă˜ Ă“Ă˜Ă˜Ă‹ The Zungeru hydro power project in Niger State started by the administration of former President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan in 2014 is to be completed and delivered for use in December 2019, the state Governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello, disclosed at the dam site last Saturday. Â On completion, the dam being constructed with several billions of naira would add 700 megawatts of electricity to the national grid thereby giving respite to electricity consumers in the country. Â Bello, who was on an unscheduled visit to the project site, according to a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Jibrin Ndace, said the Chinese construction company handling the job was â€œworking according to schedule and specifications. â€œWith the commitment of President Muhammadu Buhari to the completion of this project and the pace at which work is in progress on site, I am sure we shall meet the December 2019 deadline for the delivery of the plant. â€œThe level of work done compared to when I visited the dam site last is quiet enormous and encouraging. With what I have seen today and with the briefs by the consultants, officials of the Ministry of Power and the contractor, I am sure we are on course. The project will be delivered as scheduled.â€? Â The governor continued: â€œWe are conscious of the importance of this project not only to our people, but for the nation, that is why we put in place a committee to interface with the communities and the contractors. We donâ€™t want anything to delay the delivery of this project. All hands

must be on deck to ensure that we have a hitch-free operation on site and for the project to be delivered on scheduled.â€? The governor was satisfied with the resettlement programme and payment of compensation to the affected communities by the federal

government but disclosed that he hadÂ put in place a committee to interface with the contractor and the host communities with a view to resolving any differences that may arise in the course of the construction. Earlier, an AssistantÂ Director

in the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, Shetima Hassan, had informed the governor of the progress made so far despite what he said were â€œsome minor challenges which were attended to with the collaboration of the standing committee put in place by the state government.â€?

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2017˾ T H I S D AY

NEWSXTRA

Kwara LG Poll: Protest Trails Election Outcome APC Sweeps All 16 Chairmanship Seats-

HammedShittuÓØ ÖÙÜÓØ Scores of members of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) in Kwara State yesterday staged a peaceful protest over the conduct of the

weekend local government councils elections held in the state. Meanwhile, the Kwara state Independent Electoral Commission( KWSIEC) yesterday declared chairmanship candidates of

Yemi Kale, Coker to Unleash Tourism Potential at ATTWON Forum Former Statistician General of the Federation (SGF) and Chief Executive Officer of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Dr. Yemi Kale, is one of the key speakers that will unleash the limitless potential of tourism sector in Nigeria at the Association of Travel and Tourism Writers of Nigeria’s (ATTWON) first Capacity Building Initiative Series. The event which is tagged: ‘Finding the Nexus between the Stats and Travel’, is billed for ATTWON Creative Hub in Lagos on November 21 at 11am prompt. Other speakers confirmed to speak at the event are DG Nigeria Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC), Mr. Folorunsho Coker, and CEO, First Catalyst Marketing Agency, Soji Odedina, among others. Tourism, accordingly, is said to have contributed 1.7 per cent to gross domestic product (GDP) in 2016, with

an expectation of increasing 1.1 per cent every year till 2025. Kale will explain this alongside the projection by the Institute of Directors (IOD) of N1.56trillion from tourism by 2025. He will be taking relevant and latest statistics from across five sectors of the economy and establishing baseline statistics for tourism. The expert will more especially, attempt to educatejournalistsonhowto reporttravelandtourism,usingstatistics. Thisisparticularlyalandmarkeventfor travelandtourismaskeystakeholderswill bepresenttorespondtothepresentation, especiallyagainst the backdrop of the newly passed NTDC law. Kale, a son of a retired Army General, was born on October 7, 1975 in Ogun State. Some of his achievements include the rebasing of the outdated base year of Gross Domestic Products (GDP), which made Nigeria the largest economy in Africa and the 26th largest economy in the world.

the All Progressives Congress ( APC) winners of the last Saturday council elections in all the 16 local government areas of the the state The aggrieved party members alleged that the elections were marred with manipulations and electoral malpractices in all the 193 wards and 16 local government councils of the state. However, the detachment of anti-riot mobile policemen who promptly arrested the members of

PDP, described them as miscreants, warning that anyone who breaches the peace of the state would be dealt with according to the laws of the land. The state Chairman of PDP, Chief Iyiola Oyedepo, who spoke in Ilorin, displayed scores of ballot papers seized from members of All Progressives Congress(APC) across the state in an attempt to rig the elections, saying some of the political leaders were defeated at their polling

units. Oyedepo, who called for the release of his members from police detention, said his party does not believe in the results to be announced by KWASIEC and the judiciary, adding that the party with its outstanding performance had made strong statement ahead of 2019 elections. He said the opposition members are battle-ready to unseat the present government in 2019

elections, saying the outcome of the local governments elections which would further be improved on are testimonies to that fact. Similarly in a statement by the Secretary to the Sate Government, Alhaji Isiaka Gold, yesterday condemned the protests and called on all citizens and residents of the state to remain calm and law-abiding and await the results of the elections

Onashile Emerges as NIQS President Mr. Obafemi Oluwale Onashile last Saturday night emerged the new President of the Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors (NIQS). Onashile was sworn in alongside eight other members of the National Executive Council (NEC) of the Institute at the end of the professional body’s Biennial Election and General Meeting

Onashile

(BEGM) which was held in Abuja between November 14 and 18. The new NIQS president, 53, is an accomplished and resourceful consultant Quantity Surveyor succeeds QS Mercy Torkwase Iyortyer whose two year term of office expired on Saturday. The Institute had earlier adopted him as its President-in-Waiting following his election as Deputy President at its BEGM held in Lagos in 2015. Onashile, a Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors (FNIQS) holds a Bachelors of Science degree in Quantity Surveying from the University of Ife, Ile-Ife, (now Obafemi Awolowo University) and a Master’s degree in Project Management from the University of Lagos. He is the Group Manging Partner of Consol Associates

Limited with Head Office in Lagos and offices in Abuja, Ghana and Rwanda. A Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), the number one Quantity Surveyor in the country was until last month the Vice President of the African Association of Quantity Surveyors (AAQS).

In his acceptance speech, the new president promised to enhance the capacity of Quantity Surveyors by availing them new skills and training that will enable them to cope with the increasingly challenging complex nature of construction projects and also to reposition the profession to take its pride of place in the Built Industry.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2017˾ T H I S D AY

NEWSXTRA

Calabar Carnival: Ayade Campaigns against Illegal Migration by Africans Human trafficking: Dogara leads delegation to Italy Governor Ben Ayade of Cross River has called on intending African migrants to America and European countries in search of greener pasture to be cautious with the risk involved. Relatedly, the speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, is leading Nigerian delegation to Italy to discuss women empowerment and the fight against human trafficking. Ayade made the call yesterday in Calabar during the flag-off of the 2017 second carnival dry run with the theme: `Migration’. According to Ayade, the theme of the carnival was chosen in

recognition of the plights of Africans who are forced to migrate out of the continent in search of greener pasture and help. ``Not too long ago, we lost about 20 Nigerians who died in the Mediterranean Sea while crossing to Europe in search of greener pasture. ``The excessive migration of young people out of African in search of greener pasture in Europe and America has coursed us the death of many young people. ``The Calabar carnival uses that opportunity to expose the risk incident of such migration.

Africans must understand that the carnival is not all about the street dance, but the interpretation of the theme. ``This theme is very critical. I wonder why the world will not focus on Calabar this year. `` We are trying to tell the world

that Africa is rich enough to be independent and our young men and women will not have to cross to foreign countries at the peril of their own life in search of alternative sources of income,” he said. The governor said the activities of the various carnival bands will

be focused on the interpretation of the theme by way of creating awareness for the intending migrants. Relatedly, the speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, is leading Nigerian delegation to Italy to

discuss women empowerment and the fight against human trafficking. The visit is coming on the heels of the death of 26 Nigerian women in the Mediterranean sea who lost their lives while trying to cross to Europe.

Aregbesola’s Senatorial Aspiration Tears Lagos APC Apart Reject party’s plan for peaceful co-existence Osun State Governor, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola’s aspiration to contest senatorial election in Lagos West senatorial district in 2019 has started causing ripples in the rank of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, THISDAY has learnt. Aregbesola had said he could contest election in any state of the South-west geo-political zone when his tenure ends in November 2018, though claimed he had not then made up his mind to pursue senatorial aspiration in Lagos West in 2019 But some APC chieftains in the state confirmed at the weekend that Aregbesola’s unwarranted interference in Lagos politics was the reason some council chairmen decided to dump the party’s plan to reconcile all interests and ensure peaceful co-existence in its ranks ahead of the 2019 general election. A party chieftain, who spoke with THISDAY anonymously, revealed that Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode’s proposal “to ensure prudent fiscal management in 20 Local Government Areas (LGAs) and 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) and that accountable local government areas / LCDA Executive Councils are constituted marked the genesis of the friction.” He disclosed that the crisis was

intense in six LCDAs in Alimosho where Aregbesola was the leader of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) before he became Osun State Governor in 2010 and four LCDAs in Kosofe. Apart from Alimosho, the party leader noted that the crisis affected four LGA/LCDAs in where a four-time member of Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Bayo Oshinowo, was alleged to be working against Ambode’s plan to effectively replicate the strategic action programmes of his administration at the grassroots. According to him, Oshinowo “is at the root of the crisis because he succeeded edging out Chief Bush Alebiosu and Sen. Olorunnibe Mamora as the APC leaders in Kosofe/Somolu. But Oshinowo is acting alone. He is acting on the dictate and instruction of Aregbesola. Both of them are strong members of Mandate Group, a support group loyal to the APC National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.” He, therefore, explained the rationale behind Ambode’s proposal, noting that it resulted from the irregularity and lopsidedness discovered after the appointment of Sole Administrators in October 2016, noting that most of the sole administrators that appointed in last year were nominated by Aregbesola’s group.

Uzodimma Leads Southern Senators to Historic Calabar Retreat Amid the sustained clamour for a restructured federal project, Chairman of the Southern Senators Forum, Senator Hope Uzodimma, will lead his colleagues to Calabar for a historic retreat on National Unity and Restructuring scheduled to hold from November 23 to 26, 2017. In an interview with journalists in Abuja at the weekend, Uzodimma stated that the retreat is specially designed to bring together top rate stakeholders, who are highly knowledgeable on national issues to brainstorm and proffer options for the right way forward on restructuring. The resource persons for the retreat are men with impeccable nationalist credentials. They cut

across the different zones of the country. Among those expected to speak at the retreat are Governor of Bayelsa State, Seriake Dickson; the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto, Most Rev. Dr. Matthew Hassan Kukah, and the former Senate President, David Mark. Others are the Anglican Bishop of Enugu, Rt. Rev Emmanuel Chukwuma; Governor of Ondo State, Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN); Jigawa State Governor, Mohammad Badau Abubakar, and the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami.

FUN DAY EXTRAVAGANZA

[L-R] The headmaster, Lagos Preparatory School (LPS), Mr. Nick Barret; Visionscape Mascot, Miss Eva Green; Winner of the LPS Fun Day Grand Prize, a Land Rover Discovery donated by Visionscape Sanitation Solutions LTD., Mrs. Chinwe Iguh; Visionscape CEO, Mr. John Irvine; and MC John (Mr. John Itelima) at the 2017 LPS Fun Day.

‘Gani Adams Eminently Qualiﬁed as Aare Ona Kakanfo’ Business magnate, Chief Adebutu Kessington, at the weekend said the Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yoruba land, a title bestowed on Mr. Gani Adams absolutely befits him, adding that he is eminently qualified considering his antecedents. The Lotto boss, popularly referred to as Baba Ijebu, saidAdams has started the work in earnest, and prayed for a successful tenure for the Generalismo

of Yoruba land whom he charged to be conscious of the fact that he is the Aare Ona Kakanfo of the entire Yoruba land and not of a town or city. According to him, a number of people were considered for the title but the choice of Adams fits perfectly. “In my opinion, the Aare Ona Kakanfo title befitsAdams considering his antecedent. Quite a number of people have been considered before

the ball eventually fell in his court and i pray that his tenure will be successful, Adebutu prayed. Meanwhile, Adams has given insight into how he intends to function as the Yoruba Generalissimo. Speaking at the palace of Olu of Ilaro, Oba Kehinde Gbadewole, at the weekend, he said he intended to work with traditional rulers and everybody that he needs to work with to ensure

the unity of Yoruba race and progress of the country at large. Insisting that he will do “everything within my power to ensure this,” Adams said he was one of the people who played major roles in the fight for the enthronement of democracy enjoyed in the country, adding that nothing is too much to do for the sustenance of the hard earned process.

Minister Lauds SONA Group’s Contributions to Economic Growth Jonathan Eze Minister of State for Trade, Commerce and Industry, Hajia Aisha Abubakar, has commended SONA group for its commitment and contributions to the economic growth of the country through their backward integration programme and the employment opportunities it has provided Nigerians. The minister disclosed this in Ota, Ogun State, at the weekend at the inauguration of the company’s new production lines. She added that the

President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration is determined to encourage local industries through its programme on Ease of Doing Business. Earlier, the Group Chief Operating Officer of the Group, Mr. Ashok Manghnani, told the minister that their subsidiary, Food, Agro and Allied Industries Limited remained the largest and most modern malt extract plant in Africa. The company however urged the federal government to ban the importation of sorghum; barley and

Encomium as Jonathan Clocks 60 Former President Goodluck Jonathan will mark his 60th birthday celebration today in Otuoke, Baysela State. A statement signed by his Special Adviser on Media, Mr. Ikechukwu Eze, said the event would take place in the company of close friends and well-wishers. It also stated that there would be no formal dinner as the former president has resisted all entreaties to mark the celebration. It added: “For him, the quiet time with his

family on this occasion will also serve as a welcome break from the grind of an unending run of international engagements, as the world continues to seek his attention. “Despite the desperate efforts that feed into the plot to put the former President and his former appointees under unnecessary pressure, there is no doubt that history will be kind to him for all he has done to uplift the status of his country and people.”

biscuits into the country as Nigeria is self-sufficient on them. According to him, the group has invested over $650m in over 8 subsidiaries and have over 8,000 employees and asked for a generous support by government through policies that will encourage and enhance local manufacturing. He disclosed that they not only have capacity to take care of local demandsbutalsohasstartedexporting to Senegal, Ghana and Abidjan with prospects into other countries in Africa. He cautioned that allowing importation of products the nation have competitive advantage is not good for local manufacturing and will harm the economy of the country. He said: “We produce a vast range of quality products including quality malted sorghum, malt extract, maltose syrup, glucose syrup a substitute for imported sugar. The products are key inputs in breweries, biscuits manufacturing, confectionery& pharmaceutical companies as well as other food and beverage industries. Our fully automated plant can produce 25,000 tonnes of malt extract, high maltose syrup and raw sorghum. “There is therefore the need to increase the tariff from the 5

per cent it is currently to discourage importation as we are comfortably self-sufficient in these raw materials.” While calling for preferential rate for lending to the manufacturing sector, Manghnani called the attention of the minister to the Bank of Industry (BoI) prohibitive commercial rate to the sector noting that it is detrimental to the sector. According to him, no industrial concern can survive on the 15 per cent charged by the bank. In his remarks, the Group Managing Director of the group, Mr. Ajai Musaddi, also asked that the 20 per cent custom duty on ethanol be reversed. He said: “Government should increase tariff on imported biscuit as we are self-sufficient in it besides the miserly 5 per cent duty on imported plastics and pallets including sorghum should be discouraged. Except government takes this bold step the local industries will be endangered due to unhealthy competition.” Hajia Abubakar promised to address some of the challenges the sector is experiencing by providing an enabling environment for businesses to thrive.

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2017

MONDAYSPORTS

Group Sports Editor Duro Ikhazuagbe Email duro.ikhazuagbe@thisdaylive.com

Leon Balogun Injured again, Fractures Hand Moses’ plaudits for Chelsea teammates Femi Solaja with agency report Super Eagles dependable defender, Leon Balogun, is injured again, his Bundesliga club, Mainz 05, revealed at the weekend. Balogun was left out of Mainz’s Bundesliga clash on Saturday against Cologne after featuring for Nigeria in the 4-2 friendly win over Argentina on Tuesday in Krasnodar, Russia. Mainz explained on twitter yesterday why the big centre-back was left out of the clash with Cologne last Saturday. “ @LeonBalogun suffered a fracture to his left hand on Friday and has undergone surgery. Luckily, he will be able to carry on playing,” Mainz tweeted on yesterday. “Get well soon, Leon! “ Balogun recently underwent surgery for broken cheekbones and had to wear a mask while playing for the Bundesliga side and the Super Eagles. Similar injuries had forced him in the past to miss out of Eagles trips. He’s expected to be back to action in just a couple of weeks. Meanwhile, Balogun is one of the players to share in the World Cup 2018 qualification largess from FIFA. Reports claimed at the weekend that Eagles are expected to pocket 30 per cent of the $9.5million

expected from FIFA. The Mainz defender who starred in nearly all the matches of the qualification series is in line to have a piece of the about $3million coming to the team. It may even be higher is Eagles progress from the group phase into the knock out rounds. Another Super Eagles stalwart who is also down with injury is Chelsea star, Victor Moses. The Chelsea wing-back yesterday hailed his English Premier League teammates over the 4-0 away victory at West Bromwich Albion last Saturday. The victory came from Eden Hazard (brace), Alvaro Morata and Marcos Alonso. The 2017 Nigeria Sports Award Footballer of the Year winner is also shortlisted for the 2017 BBC and CAF African Footballer of the Year award. Moses hailed the Blues players on his twitter handle yesterday. “Boys are on fire, another massive win come on the chels #CFC,” the Super Eagles forward noted of the away win. Chelsea is now placed third on the EPL table. The defending champion has gathered 25 point while Manchester City and Manchester United settle for the first and second positions on 34 and 26 points respectively.

Gidi Sharks to Play Arsenal in First Match at COPA Lagos The annual beach soccer tournament, COPA Lagos, organised by Kinetic Sports has unveiled the first Lagos-based beach soccer team – Gidi Sharks. Gidi Sharks has been scheduled to play their first match against Arsenal beach soccer team. This is the first time in the tournament that local talents will be participating in COPA Lagos, which is set to hold between December 8 and 10 at the Eko Atlantic City. The players were selected by Switzerland beach soccer veteran and FIFA Instructor, Angelo Schirinzi, and national beach soccer coach, Adamu Ejo. The team comprises of beach soccer talents from the different parts of Lagos State. They were all selected during a talent hunt programme sponsored by FCMB, Pepsi, Hero Lager and VisionScape. The selected players will get the opportunity of a lifetime to play their first match against the European club champions, Arsenal Beach Soccer team. The talent hunt gave an opportunity to find raw talents and also gave them the chance to express their skills and beach soccer abilities. From Takwa Bay to Badagry, 10 players were selected from each location while Ojo and Ebute Meta contributed 11 and 19 players respectively. The 50 players were then pruned down to 23 provisional players, and then put through intensive training in a two-week

Boot Camp facilitated Schirinzi. The first team made up of 10 players will be selected to play Arsenal BSC at COPA Lagos 2017. In an interview, Schirinzi said, “Nigeria has potential in football and it can be seen at every street corner. “We intend to make them professional players.” Managing Director of Kinectic Sport, Samson Adamu, while speaking to reporters recently, said, “We brought in one of the best coaches in the world to scout for players from different parts of Lagos. “Beach Soccer is one of the fastest growing sport in the world and we seek to take an early entry advantage. “I believe we have a good number of beach soccer talents; we are a country with a huge passion for soccer and most people have been playing soccer on sand from a young age. “Our goal is to develop a beach soccer league and we are starting with Gidi Sharks, using them as Ambassadors who will develop beach soccer teams in their respectively communities. “Every edition of COPA Lagos brings a unique offering and this year’s tops the excitement, not only with the regular feature of sport, music, dance, fashion, fans’ zone and celebrity entertainment but also, the introduction of a Female Celebrity Match and the “Lagos-based” beach soccer team, Gidi Sharks who will be playing their first match against Arsenal beach soccer team.”

Leon Balogun (left) battling an Algerian forward during Nigeria’s last World Cup 2018 qualiﬁer… penultimate Friday in Constantine

Quadri, Adekuoroye Dominate 2017 Nigerian Sports Award Nigerian Table Tennis star, Aruna Quadri and female wrestling sensation, Odunayo Adekuoroye, both emerged the sports man and woman of the year in the Nigerian Sports Awards 2017. The duo emerged the star of the night at a grand ceremony of the 6th edition of the NSA which held at the Banquet Hall of Eko Hotel and Suites, Lagos and was well attended by sport personalities including ex-internationals, administrators, media personnel and other dignitaries in Nigeria. Super Eagles winger and Chelsea FC stalwart, Victor Moses, emerged Footballer of the Year in the male category beating off competition from Stephen Odey and Anthony Okpotu, while star player of the Super Falcons and Dalian Quanjian FC of China, Asisat Oshoala picked up the award for the best female footballer of the year. She beats off competition from Ebi Onome and Rashedat Ajibade. The award is coming shortly after Oshoala similarly won the Golden Boot award in the Chinese women league. D’Tigress Star, Evelyn Akhator was crowned the Ball Sport Person of the year, after her performances at the FIBA Championship 2017 which steered her team to glory while D’Tigress were also rewarded by winning

the team of the year. The organisers admitted it was a tough call to make between Akinwunmi Ambode (Lagos State) and Emmanuel Udom of Akwa Ibom, for the Best Sport Governor of the Year award as both of them have contributed immensely to the growth of sports in their respective states. They were both crowned as joint

winner of that sports governor of the year category. Vice President, Africa Table Tennis Federation (ATTF), Waheed Enitan Oshodi and a President of the Nigerian Wrestling Federation, Daniel Igali, were both rewarded for their stewardship with the Sports Administrator of the Year award. Sixteen-year-old golfer,

Georgia Oboh, picked up the Discovery of the Year award while Hannah Babalola was crowned the Special Sports Person of the year. Adekuoroye emerged wrestler of the year which makes her the only athlete to pick up two awards in the event, while her long-time coach Akoh Purity picked up the Coach of the year.

56 YEARS IN GOLF AND STILL COUNTING…

L-R: Pro Golfer, Alex Rowland; Group Executive, Retail Banking (Lagos & West) FirstBank, Tunde Owolabi; Vice Captain Ikoyi Club Golf Section, General Musbau Amolegbe (rtd); MD/CEO, First Bank of Nigeria Limited & Subsidiaries, Adesola Adeduntan and Group Head, Marketing & Corporate Communications, FirstBank, Folake Ani-Mumuney, at the Press Conference to herald the 56th FirstBank Amateur Golf Tournament held at the Ikoyi Club 1938…at the weekend

MTN Sponsors First-of-its-Kind Kiddies Mini-marathon In its bid to encourage all-round wellness for Nigerian kids, MTN Nigeria in partnership with St Saviour’s School Endowment Fund has concluded a first ever Lagos Kiddies Marathon event for kids aged between 5-15 years in Lagos. More than 22 schools with over 1,000 kids across the state participated in the race covering 1.2km, 3km and 5km distances respectively. Starting at the premises of St Saviour’s School, Ikoyi, the marathoners ran

through Bourdillon Road and back to the starting line between 7am to 11am last Saturday. Winners of the race were presented with cash prizes from MTN. Gbenle Similoluwa won the first place in the 13-15 year old male category while Ibukun Agbede won the female category. They were awarded N100,000 each. Other winners include; Sogbola Tomi and Amara Balogun in the 9-12yr category while Kechimani

Iheanacho and Adefolaranmi Aliu won in the 5-8 years category Speaking on the initiative, MTN’s Chief Marketing Officer, Rahul De, said that the need to encourage healthy lifestyle for kids early on necessitated the initiative. “It is important to encourage children to imbibe an active lifestyle which includes physical exercise early on in life. When these habits are infused into their learning, it becomes part of them growing up thereby making them

lead healthy lifestyles. As a lifestyle company, we’re in total support of such initiatives,” he said. Chairman, Organising Committee of the initiative, Anahere Ezekiel, also underscored the importance of the marathon. He said: “We want to get kids exercising. We think active kids stay healthy and are smart kids so we try to encourage kids to exercise. This will happen again next year. It started as a walkathon which metamorphosed into a marathon.”

Monday November 20, 2017

UT H

& RE A S O

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MISSILE Amnesty Int’l to Lagos Govt “For the residents of these deprived communities, many of whom rely on their daily ﬁsh catch to make a living, the waterfront represents home, work and survival. Forced evictions mean they lose everything – their livelihoods, their possessions and in some cases, their lives.” Amnesty International Nigeria’s Country Director, Osai Ojigho highlighting the inhuman treatment meted out to the people of Otodo Gbame, a riverine town who were forcibly ejected from their habitat by the Lagos State government.

AZIBAOLAROBERT

GUEST COLUMNIST

To Jonathan, A Man of Courage

ear Goodluck Jonathan, please forgive me if you feel unhappy about this public letter to you. I had to do it as your witness and on the occasion of your 60th birthday. Again, if you noticed, I have called you for the first time by your name instead of brother or daddy as I am used to. In the past, I have read public letters of people who have written plenty untruths about you including, allegedly, children, that have amazed me and the entire family. One alleged you had snipers in the villa. There are many reasons which made it impossible for us to publicly come out to defend you. It’s not your style. But that is a story for another day. While I’m still developing my memoirs about you and your presidency, I feel obliged on the occasion of this your 60th birthday to write you this letter and say ‘hello, brother!’. Sir, for five years of your presidency, I was privileged to bid you good morning and goodnight every other day. You lent me your ears as a good brother would and I spoke truths to you. I stood on moral ground with you. I never sought for any appointment from you even though, as a lawyer of 20 years standing then, a former social activist, and astute businessman, I was imminently qualified for any political position. I never, any day, used your name in vain. I never collected any bribe from anybody for any purpose whatsoever to procure your favour for anyone. As it was then and now, I still boldly say that every person’s matter I whispered to you was based purely on its merit. And I challenge anybody to say or prove otherwise. Not that people did not offer unmerited favours though, in fact a lot, but I rebuffed them all. As I did not have any query about any of these matters from you, I believe I acquitted myself very well. Brother, I am told a lot of times by a lot of people that I’m a man of great courage. But in you I have seen a man of courage which dims mine infinitely. I am filled with enviable nostalgia about your insurmountable courage. I bear witness, Sir. For five years, you were the President. Before then you were deputy governor, governor, Vice President and Acting President. But you came out not a wealthy man. You detest insane wealth acquisition by politicians and public officials. You dealt with every file that came to your table on its merit. I salute you, Sir. You are poor in worldly material wealth but you are very, very wealthy in spirit. Nigerians know that the easiest way to get rich quick is through petroleum deals. Yet, for the billions being bandied around, nobody has ever mentioned any of your relatives as a beneficiary of any. All of them are Lagos people. Yes, Lagos! Sir, I am fully amused at the folly of humans when I hear them call you corrupt. But yes, my brother, you are man of immense wealth, not in silver and gold, naira and kobo. You have no foreign bank account. You have no private jet, no mansions, no shopping malls, no hotels, nothing – just a self-contented modest man rich in spirit. Brother, you are one of the most courageous men I have ever read, heard of or come across. Nothing could be more courageous than you signing the Freedom of Information Bill (FOI) into law. The Nigerian media and civil society desperately wanted it. You gave it to them. I call it the Goodluck Act. Generations of Nigerians will be thankful to you, Sir, for your will to sign this law which nobody agreed to do. Nothing could be more courageous than you acknowledging Moshood K.O Abiola’s place in history and naming the University of Lagos after him. Since 1993 till date, no other President, to my knowledge, publicly mentioned Abiola’s name in any good light

Jonathan until you became President. Not unexpectedly, even those who campaigned for the actualisation of Abiola’s June 12 mandate suddenly came out to oppose you. I saw hypocrisy in its raw form! Abiola’s spirit will remain thankful to you, Sir. Your action has left a very huge moral burden in them that pretentiously used Abiola’s name in vain while pushing their own agenda. You set out to assimilate the Igbo finally into the Nigerian society after the civil war. Was it not you who summoned the courage to appoint the first Igbo man as Chief of Army Staff since the end of the civil war? Was it not you who gave Dim Odumegwu Ojukwu a full military/national burial? You ordered is casket draped in Nigerian flag and buried him in glory. Ojukwu is happier in his grave because you were the president. Nothing could have been more courageous than ordering the military to admit girls to Nigeria’s premier National Defence Academy (NDA) and as combatants in the Nigerian defence forces. For the first time, our girls proudly kit fully in Nigeria’s camouflage. Someday, Nigeria will produce a woman Chief of Army Staff who will thank you for the opportunity. You exhibited uncommon courage when you decided to mop up Almajiri kids from the streets of northern Nigeria and give them quality education. I always watched you when you spoke about it with passion. Don’t worry brother, in two to three decades, maybe, just maybe, one of these youths could emerge a leader of Nigeria and thank you for your noble deed. It was courage to sign anti-gay bill into law. The day you signed that law you knew the West and the allpowerful anti-gay movement and their media establishment will come after you. You had your fears but decided to go ahead and do it for God and for Nigeria. That law became one of the reasons Barack Obama mobilised the West against you. Even the Vatican questioned you. They knew you were not corrupt, Sir. The allegation of corruption was the smokescreen they sold to Nigerians to enable them edge you out. Signing the anti-gay law was one of the reasons you lost their support. Throughout your tenure you pushed gender balance and gender equality too far to the distaste of the maledominated Nigerian traditional societies. Then you boasted to, in your second term, push your appointments to not less than 55:45 ratio of men against women. The more than 35% appointments to women in your government was already, to them, courage taken too far. Majority of those around you were too bothered that you insisted “too much” on qualification for every

appointment you made. Your often-repeated phrase was, ‘is he qualified?’, or ‘is she qualified?’ It was this passion of your insistence for qualifications that more than 70% of your ministers were non-politicians who couldn’t help you in your re-election bid. Your most intellectually grounded ministers, including Olusegun Aganga, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Akinwumi Adesina, Professor Chinedu Nebo, had little electoral value. But you brought them in to transform Nigeria. You always encourage and celebrate education and excellence. You dreamt of Nigeria going to the moon. You got the best of the first-class products of Nigerian universities and sent them to the best universities abroad under your Presidential Scholarship Initiative Project (PRESID) so they could come back and rebuilt Nigeria. You set out to ensure Nigeria makes its own cars through the Nigeria’s National Automotive Council. You had a robust campaign. You were the first president that drove a Made-in-Nigeria car. Sometimes I think. Was it naivety that you didn’t know that the Nigerian market was too large for the western car manufacturers to let you do that? I felt for you. For an African country, it is death sentence to boast to want to achieve technological advancement in any area of endeavour. It is better not said. Your love for the media, media independence and freedom is legendary. You always preached about the need for democracy to encourage free press and divergent views. That surely emboldened you to give Nigerians, nay the Press, the FOI Law. You embraced social media like no other and expanded its frontiers. Today Nigerians freely express themselves through their own media. All thanks to you. You don’t believe in ownership of media houses by political officeholders, nor control of any. Often, I ask some of your hardened critics to mention to me any media house you own or control in Nigeria after 16 years in Nigeria’s political space. None! Brother, each day I gaze at you, I have no doubt you are a meek of the earth. Your forgiving spirit is legendary. Your unblemished love for even your hardened haters is ‘unpolitician’. In short you are not a politician. As I often told you, those who hurt you hurt their spirit. In the build-up to Obama’s second-term election, you assured his emissaries and prevailed on the National assembly not to pass the anti-gay bill until after his elections. You didn’t want to hurt him. After the election, the law was passed and you signed it. Then, he turned against you. He meddled in your elections, Sir! He sent his campaign strategist David Axelrod to come design an anti-Goodluck Jonathan campaign strategy. Then, he mobilised the West against you. Brother, not that am a fan of Trump, but don’t worry. God has taken care of them in Donald Trump. He’s been crying foul Russia meddled in his ‘third term’ bid. His signature programmes are being dismantled one after the other. David Cameron lost out in the UK so soon after in the wake of Brexit. Jacob Zuma has not known peace since then in South Africa. Not even his Owerri statues! When I tell you, you are a man of courage you laugh it off. Wait. Was it not you who warned that nobody should rig elections for you? Was it not you who instructed your aide to source for a most credible Nigerian to appoint as chairman of INEC instead of someone you knew that could have done your bidding? Was that not how Attahiru Jega emerged and you appointed him without ever meeting him? Was it not you who stood in queue, for hours, in public glare and cameras on March 28, 2015, to vote, and your finger print was rejected? Was it not you who vowed to respect the result of the elections whichever way it went? Was

it not you who created and lived the now popular phrase: “My ambition is not worth the blood of any Nigerian”? What more courage would a man in power have than that? Sir, nothing could be more courageous than you calling your opponent to acknowledge defeat before election result was declared. History will remember you for being the first to do so in Africa. Several generations will be inspired and remember your nobility wherever and whenever there is an election in Africa. Still you refuse to agree you are a man of infinite courage? Ok, wait. Was it not you who listened to the yearnings of Nigerians to restructure the country and convened a national conference without influencing the membership or outcome? Don’t worry, someday that document will become the bedrock of Nigeria’s progress. Was it not you who refused to go to court to challenge the result of the elections in spite of hug pressure to do so? Was that not the first in the history of our country and, indeed, in Africa? You have set records that will live for ever in the memory of Nigerians, nay, the world! You are resilient. A man who always acknowledges is mistakes and retreats. You always consult far and wide to take a decision. Even though you are an embodiment of intellectual power horse, you do not betray any allknowing attitude but you rather listen to the best of opinions and experts. You too often acknowledge your weaknesses as if you are the only one with weaknesses. Don’t worry, everyman has his weaknesses and yours not near those of lot of men near your status. Was I not the one who announced to you on March 30th, that you lost the elections? That evening, you were seated alone in your very small guestroom. Waripamowei Dudafa and I were the only ones with you. We knocked the door and entered. The smile you beamed at us, the conveyor of the bad news, lives with me till eternity. I thought what a God that created you! That you did not betray any sense of ill feelings at the news of losing elections to remain the most powerful officer in Africa! Such a calm, cool gentleman! I’m one in a million, lucky having you as my brother. Sir, on 29th May, I was the last of your relatives to leave the Villa. As your motorcade rolled bye I gave it a salute. I was filled with mixed feelings – a feeling of joy that finally you have been liberated from the evil machinations of hawks whose only primary unquenchable lust is to serve their insatiable, pecuniary desires, and the feeling of departure of a good man who honestly has Nigeria as his only project. Sir, I’m your brother and, even again, now and ever I bear you witness. History will remember you as one of the most detribalised Presidents Nigeria ever had. Living under your shadows for five years of your Presidency without any public outcry of overbearing influence in your government, without ever entering and flying your presidential jet or going close the presidential wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe airport for that matter, without harassing or abusing the rights of any Nigerian, etc, are, indeed, acts of courage. For that, I am proud I acquitted myself very well. It was not for you I did this. It was to disprove historical misconceptions. In my early adult life as an activist, I vowed that if ever I found myself in or around power, I would prove that it is possible to be in or around power without abusing it. I proved it, Sir. For that I am also a man of courage. Am I not? Happy Birthday to you, my brother, the uncommon Nigerian! r Robert, cousin of former President Goodluck Jonathan, is a lawyer, businessman, former human rights activist and pro-democracy campaigner

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